It's been eighteen years since the great windigo war and Trixie has finally found peace. It looked like things would be quiet forever, but with the threat of the Alicorn Empire around the corner, can Trixie, Twilight, and Amber save the day?
It's been eighteen years since the great windigo war and Trixie has finally found peace. It looked like things would be quiet forever, but with the threat of the Alicorn Empire around the corner, can Trixie, Twilight, and Amber save the day?
This is the fifth and final entry into the Heart Of series. (Not to be confused with the Guardian Hearts saga) If you're new here is a link to the stories in chronological order.
The sun rose high up into the air on this late day. The border town of Rock Haven at the edge of Equestria was a quiet place generally. It didn't used to be this way though, Lemon Hearts could still recall when Celestia had asked her to personally see to coming down here to keep the town safe from the threat of changelings. Of course the evil changelings slowed their assaults over the past year or so, until now where no changelings had been seen in three whole months. According to what Lemon Heart had read in the reports, King Thorax was pleased by this development as it meant Chrysalis had finally stopped trying to conquer Equestria. Yet Lemon Hearts had been in Celestia's school. She knew better than to ever assume things would be so easy with such a deadly threat against them. Something was going on, and her nerves were on edge with every step.
There was a reason why Celestia choose Lemon Hearts to personally lead this particular village to safety. She, much like a good portion of the higher ups in Equestria's military, was an alicorn. Ever since the windigo war had ended a lot of alicorns had appeared. She thought it must have had something to do with the return of the alicorn empire, but she wasn't a scroll master, or a Seeker, or any kind of intelligent pony, at least not by her reckoning. She was a hardened warrior, who lamented losing a childhood to Celestia's school on rare occasion, but was more than thankful for it otherwise.
Lemon Hearts flew around the town looking over the villagers walking about their daily lives. None of them were too much concerned with the threat that was on the horizon. She wished she could keep it that way. That's why she was in charge though, to keep them safe, and to keep the borders clean of enemies. In this respect she had sent scouts out on recon missions at least twice a day. She was waiting to hear back from one of the teams now in fact. She swore if she caught anymore of her soldiers fooling around behind Lover's Rock she was going to start making ponies do laps around the entire settlement.
She flew around the town once more, looking back at the giant clock firmly attached to the side of the town hall. it was six pm already. An hour late for their report. Even fooling around shouldn't take this long. They must have met trouble. Changeling surprise attack perhaps. Lemon Hearts flew toward the barracks on the edge of town. She needed to send another, more reliable team out to go fetch her missing scouts. This close to Southern Equestria meant dangerous beasts, possible dragons, and who knows what else. A shiver ran down her spine as she approached the barracks.
"Come on, Lemon, get it together. It's just another routine problem." Lemon Heart may have said this to herself, but her heart couldn't believe it at all.
For a moment she felt something in the air. An electrical spark that made every hair on her body stand up on end. The world in front of her exploded. Wood flew by and the scream of metal and flames flew past her as she felt the air whooshing by. Her back hit the ground sending pain shooting through her spine and she found herself rolling a few times in reverse. The ringing in her ears was complemented by the taste of copper in her mouth.
Lemon Hearts looked up to see she was thrown a good couple hundred feet away from a flaming ruin of wood, metal, and charred ponies. It took a moment but she quickly realized it was the barracks.
The barracks had exploded!
She jumped up to her hooves and tried to shake the dizziness in her head. Ahead of her she watched as three figures stepped out of the flames. There was a blue bubble shield surrounding them, and each one wore a suit of golden armor decorated with lines of crimson paint. Each one of the ponies before her had unicorn horns, and wings; it was a trio of alicorns.
Lemon Hearts spat a crimson glob to the side and started a march toward them. Her horn was already glowing with anger and fury. "Who the tartarus do you think you are coming into MY town and killing MY ponies!"
The leader of the trio stepped forward. Her dark indigo fur steamed as the shield dropped. "You? a fake Alicorn? I would never think such a pitiful excuse for a being would dare to speak to me like that."
Lemon Hearts didn't need anymore information, she knew exactly where these ponies came from. "The Alicorn Empire."
"Oh, how nice to see at least part of your horse brain works well enough to recognize your betters on sight. Now bow before us and die swiftly."
"Heh, you think that I'm going to bow before a bunch of murderers?" Lemon Hearts glared directly at the mare. Things were starting to connect in her mind. The changelings vanishing. The scouts missing. These alicorn were involved somehow. Yet she didn't have the ability to defeat them here and then. She had to do something first. Lemon Hearts put every ounce of magic she had into a single spell.
The blue mare's horn lit up and the bubble reappeared around them. She was clearly expecting a retaliation. Of course she was going to get one, but not before Lemon Hearts did her duty.
Lemon Hearts spoke loud and clear. "Princess Celestia, we are under attack by the alicorn empire!"
The magic from her horn collected into a ball of golden light and went flying into the air and toward the north at the speed of light. The blue mare's eyes widened. "No you don't! Jacks get that orb!"
The orange stallion jumped into the air. He was fast. Almost Rainbow Dash fast. Yet Lemon Hearts wasn't done. A beam of golden energy whipped out from her horn latching onto the stallions rear leg and dug into his flesh burning at his fur. She whipped her head around swinging him around in a circle and into a building behind her. He went through the wall with bricks collapsing into a pile after him. Lemon Heart focused her attention once more on the blue mare. "You made one huge mistake when you attacked us. You didn't kill me first!"
Amber Light stared out the window of the tallest part of Twilight's Tree Castle. The thick wooden walls, floor, and ceiling all felt like home to her. the green leaves just outside the window were each as large as a filly and almost seemed to glow with their own radiance. The room she was in was stuffy, quiet, and filled with dust. How long had it been since this place was last cleaned? Considering the broom and dust pan she had equipped in her telekinetic aura, she was well aware of when it would be cleaned next... as in the next few minutes.
"Ugh, I hate cleaning," Amber complained as she did her best to ignore the fact that Twilight had once again stuck her with this chore. "What does cleaning have to do with fighting evil monsters and saving the world?"
"It has lots to do with it point in fact," said the almost mother voice from the doorway behind her. Twilight entered the room. One of her eyes was covered by a eye patch which glowed softly at the edges with contained magical energy. Despite being taller than Amber Light, and still being an alicorn, Twilight was devoid of any wings on her back. For some reason she had chosen to never regrow her wings.
Amber let out a sigh as Twilight came to sit next to her on the dusty floor. "How is the cleaning going?"
She glanced up at Twilight, honestly she was one of the only ponies that Amber had to look up at and it still felt awkward. "Slow. I have friends you know, and we would much rather go out and save Equestria."
Twilight shook her head. "Listen, Amber... you're not even eighteen yet, and some of you're friends are hardly even sixteen years old. I will not put any of you at risk until you're full grown adults."
Amber looked up at her and met the steel gaze of Twilight's eye. "But you did!"
Twilight only stared back at her for a long moment before replying, "And I'm still going to therapy for it. I can't put you in the same situation I was thrust in as a kid. Celestia screwed up, and screwed up hard with me and so many of her students. You're poor mother seems to have received the worst of it by far..."
Amber shrugged. "Oh like becoming an alicorn and having it ripped away from her at some gala or something. Yeah, like I haven't heard that story before... over and over and over again."
Twilight's eye softened. "You grew up with all the adults having such amazing stories to tell you. I'm sure that must be hard to know when we keep telling you six to calm down and relax until you grow up."
Amber stared forward. "My big sister even got to go on an epic adventure with you and fight a monster!"
"And I'm still paying for that incident with Maud. Trixie was much more understanding at least."
"But not when it comes to me..."
Twilight reached out and wrapped a foreleg around Amber's shoulder and drew her into a hug. "You're Trixie's baby. She wants to keep you safe. We both know she can't always do that, but at least let her have her security while you're still young. After all she suffered, she deserves that much at least, can you do that for her, for me?"
Amber let out a long sigh and snuggled into Twilight's fur. Somehow Twilight always knew what things to say to make her listen. "Fine... I'll do that, but only because I love my mom... and you I guess."
Twilight laughed. "Well I kinda adopted you so you don't have a choice."
The wind outside blew fiercely causing the leaves to shake and dance about. Twilight's eye narrowed at the sight. Amber felt her grip tighten ever so slightly. "What's wrong?"
Twilight's voice came out quiet, but there was an undertone of hardness to it. "That was Rainbow Dash, she was heading for the castle."
Amber blinked. What was Rainbow Dash? She didn't see her at all. Surely even with all her boasting Rainbow wasn't so fast as to become invisible could she? As the leaves calmed down Amber saw a feint trail of rainbow light in the air. It was so feint that if she wasn't actually looking for it, she never would have seen it. Maybe Rainbow Dash really was that fast, and that awesome.
Twilight rose to her full imposing height and began towards the door. "Amber, I'm going out for a bit. I'll expect you to continue cleaning here. You're doing a great job so far, so don't worry, I'm sure you can do it."
Amber shook her head. "I want to know what has Rainbow in such a hurry!"
Twilight offered a small smile that said she understood, and was not going to budge on her position. No words needed to be said, Twilight left and Amber looked around the room she was left in. At least she would have the cleaning to take her mind off of things. That couldn't hurt after all, now could it.
Cleaning the room didn't take too long. Careful use of some telekinesis, a broom and dust pan later she managed to kill the dust and clean up the empty room. So many rooms in this castle were empty. Heck Twilight didn't even live in the tree castle, only a small selection of staff did, and even they weren't supposed to clean every single room. The entire top floor was actually off limits to everypony save for Twilight, well that and the basement, but the basement was a secret.
After cleaning the room Amber found herself wondering about a bit aimlessly. Now there was nothing to do. She wanted the hot scoop on whatever Rainbow Dash was doing, but if she was in Canterlot by then there would be no chance for her to find out. Of course, Rainbow Dash wasn't her only source of information. Out of all of Rainbow's kids, one in particular stood out in Amber's mind as being a good chance to get some news from. Now she just had to find out where Blackout was hiding.
It wasn't nearly as hard to find out where Blackout would be hiding out as she first thought. In reality there were only a few places the mare could be, and it turned out she was in her favorite hangout. Sugar Cube Corner. The family run business was a three story building, maybe four story if one considered the upstairs loft as two floors in and of itself. It was decorated to look like it was covered in sweets of all kinds and varieties. On the front door a pink sign read in big curvy and friendly letter, 'If you need anything at all, just call for Pinkie Pie'. The current owner of the establishment was perhaps one of the friendliest, and happiest ponies in all of Equestria.
One step in and Amber's nostrils were hit by the wonderful smell of freshly baked donuts, cookies, and was that a cake she smelled in the background? Off in the corner Amber spotted the mare she wanted. In the corner sat a round pudgy pegasus with gray fur and a mane of striking black and white. The image of a lightning bolt was forever painted into her tail with the strange way her tail grew. The black lightning bolt on her flank was also a prominent thing. This was Blackout, and she was currently stuffing her face with a piece of cake, while being surrounded by pieces of cake, some cookies, and half a dozen cupcakes. It should also be noted that Blackout was completely alone.
"Hey, Blackout!" Amber called as she trotted over.
Blackout looked up from her booth and rolled her eyes. "Sup, stretch?"
Amber scowled. Being tall had proven to be useful for her on occasion in the past, but she still didn't like being a giant mare. Sadly that was a problem that perhaps only Big Mac could really understand. "You eating the entire store yourself or what?"
Blackout took a bite of cake and spoke around it. "I'm doing what I want."
This was quickly leading into another fight. Amber didn't want that. She wanted to get info. "I saw your mom take off earlier. What's going on?"
Blackout eyed her suspiciously. "Why are you asking?"
"Because I think you're mom is super hot and I want to get with her. Now tell me what's up."
Blackout snorted and choked on her food for a moment. "Darn you, how dare you make me laugh while I'm eating out the entire store." She recomposed herself and nodded toward the booth across from her. When Amber sat down she continued. "Okay, so I don't really know what's going on, but I did catch a little bit of it. Some batpony showed up, middle of the day, in our living room. It was like the stallion walked right out of the freaking shadows."
Probably Luna's secret service member there to keep Rainbow's family safe. "Scary stuff. What next?"
Blackout closed her eyes. "I'm not sure. They were speaking so quietly that I can't believe my mom could hear them. She can't hear it when all of the kids start fighting, so I figured-"
Amber interrupted. "Blackout, there is a difference between tuning you guys out, and not being able to hear."
Blackout glared. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, I was tuning you out... anyway where was I? Oh yeah, I was telling my story!"
Amber leaned back. "Sheesh, I'm sorry."
"That's better. Now I was saying that even though I couldn't hear them very well I could catch bits and pieces. It sounded like some soldiers got hurt or died or something. And it happened on the southern border."
A spike of fear plunged itself into Amber's heart at the mention of trouble from the south. A good while ago Amber and her friends calling themselves 'the guardians of harmony' were forced to save the entire town from some kind of evil shadow thing. It had possessed everypony that Amber knew. During the fight something weird happened and Amber got super powers, if only for a few moments. It was enough to lay a magical smack down on the monster, but she could see that it was connected to something greater, something from the south. She dearly hoped this was not at all connected.
"Amber... you don't think it's the shadow thing again do you?" Blackout asked, her tone was quiet.
Amber shook her head. "We don't know anything yet. It could just be a changeling attack. Queen Chrysalis does raids against the border after all."
Blackout stared at her food. "Well even if it is another shadow thing, we'll kick it's flank just like we did last time."
Amber wanted to agree, but she hadn't been able to access those powers again since then. She didn't know if she could access them again when needed now... still she could and would try her best. She was Twilight's apprentice, and it was her job to fight the evils in this land to keep Equestria safe. After all her and her friends were supposed to replace the Elements of Harmony or something right... she had to do this.
The front door's bell chimed and Amber looked over to see Fluttershy walking in. Unlike everypony elses mom, she didn't look a day over twenty years old. It was almost as if she was cursed to be young forever or something. Fluttershy saw them immediately and offered them a kind smile. She then went straight to the counter where her wife Pinkie was at and gave the mare a kiss on the cheek. "How's the sweetest baker in Equestria doing today?"
Pinkie's entire face turned red and she stammered for a moment before correcting herself. "The Bestest now that you're here!"
Fluttershy's smile grew. "Did you see our niece is here today."
Amber stood up and started toward the door. "And that's my cue to leave. Thanks for the info fatty."
Blackout retorted, "What, I can't hear you from up there legs!"
Amber quickly snuck out the front door before she could be made the object of attention again. She had still needed info, and now that she had some clues she would need to find a more direct source to steal from. It might be time to hire out a little ninja to do some recon for her.
Trixie found herself staring at a desk filled with paperwork. The large majority of it involved homework assignments which she was finally finished with grading. Poor Tinkerhoof not only had a horrible name, but had completely failed the assignment into arcane history. Trixie was already preparing a plan to help the poor filly with her study, perhaps paring her up with Sparklechime who had great knowledge, but little practical skill would help them both? Being a teacher wasn't exactly as easy as Trixie had once thought it would be. In fact it felt like she was a mother of twenty foals instead of two some days. Still Twilight had been gracious enough to give her this position as the local magical teacher, and Trixie would do anything to make sure she lived up to the faith put in her.
From the doorway she heard soft hoofsteps as they made the floor beneath them groan from age. Trixie looked up to see that beautiful stone colored mare that had always been there for her. "Hey, Maud. Did you need something?"
Maud stared at her with an expression unreadable by most, but Trixie could see her emotions clear as day. The stiffness in her neck, the clenched jaw behind closed lips, and the single minded stare all told Trixie that Maud was preparing to lay down some heavy news. Trixie knew better than to interrupt Maud as she worked herself up to speak to her. So she waited, patiently, for five minutes.
"Lulu," Maud said at long last.
"Yes, love?"
"I'll be leaving town soon."
Trixie smiled but let out a quiet sigh. "I expected as much. The new mine they found near Appleloosa has you interested."
Maud nodded. "I hear they found a new ore in the mine. I want to help out."
Trixie smiled at her and met the mare's beautiful strong eyes. "Don't worry, we'll all be here waiting for you when you come back. Me, Amber, and Val."
Maud's hoof pressed harder against the floor making another groaning sound. More bad news. "I was thinking I could bring Val with me..."
Trixie had to restrain a laugh. She was asking Trixie for permission to take their oldest daughter along, even though Light was a full grown mare, and had always been much more mature and responsible than Amber was. Trixie really only had one answer to the question. "Of course you can take Val with you. I'm sure she's dying for some mother daughter time with you. Also it means I won't worry about you as much with her around."
"You worry more about me than her?" Maud asked.
Trixie laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do. She's proven herself capable of being quite the young hero and able assistant to Twilight in the past. I'm sure if any trouble did show up she'd be the one keeping you safe."
Maud frowned. "I don't like that."
"You don't like that I trust her in dangerous situations more than you, or that I expect her to keep you safe."
Maud nodded.
"Smart rump," Trixie replied. "Speaking of rump... I have some time to kill before I have to finish this paperwork, and we don't have any kids around..."
Maud's eyes almost sparkled at the promise. "I'll get the bathwater ready."
Trixie grinned. "Meet you there in just a couple minutes then. I'll want to grab a few... things for our bath."
With that done Maud when back into the hall and toward the bathroom. Trixie on the other hoof went to the safe behind her and put a hoof on it. There was a sort of warmth behind the safe she couldn't quite explain. She leaned in and whispered in a low voice only she could hear. "Listen now, I don't need you to keep them safe right now. I'll only bring you out if Twilight screws up majorly again."
She waited for a moment and felt the warmth pulsate in response. It was a magical energy responding to her, almost as if to say, 'Alright, have it your way.' Trixie let out a sigh and left the room and the safe behind. She was going to fully enjoy the time she had with Maud before she left on her rock hunting trip. After all, what was a good wife supposed to do with a sexy, and emotionally vulnerable spouse?
***
Twilight felt the wind blast by her as she flew through the air as fast as she could. To anypony looking up at her, they'd see what looked like a glowing pony covered in a pink aura and sailing through the sky at an insane speed. A little spell Twilight had made after losing her wings she liked to call Telekinetic Flight. She rarely used this spell as it was taxing on her magic, and her ability to maneuver with it was very limited. Lucky for her the flight to Canterlot was basically a straight shot from her castle.
She did try to teleport there at first, but for some reason she was having trouble with the spell. So this was the best second option she had at the moment. Besides this spell was easier to use than Greater Teleport, of course it was a lot slower.
She didn't mind the lack of speed, mostly because she knew she needed the time to think about what she was going to do, say, and how she was going to act. Tensions between her and Celestia had never really eased up after the fight in the Archive. The way she used to think and feel about her mentor and adopted mother had changed massively. In fact a lot of the way she treated Amber was due to this change. Despite Celestia's good intentions, her way of training Twilight turned out to be quite abusive. She often wondered if perhaps it was because Celestia was immortal, and mortal concerns, worries, and limits were harder for her to process.
Whatever it was, she was just preparing herself to encounter Celestia more than thinking about what had Rainbow Dash running off.
Actually the better question was, what had Rainbow Dash running off in such a hurry, and had Twilight kept in the dark. It must have been something serious. Serious and possibly personal. Otherwise Twilight would have been warned too. In fact that was going to a question directed at Luna when Twilight did show up. How dare she keep Twilight out of the loop like this.
Twilight recollected every ounce of knowledge she could about what Rainbow Dash was currently doing. She was the leader of the Wonderbolts, a military general, and in charge of a lot of special operations especially involving border security. None of that seemed too personal to Twilight, so there must be something else. Probably something secret...
The ground blurred by underneath Twilight in a sea of greens, browns, and blue. Canterlot Mountain stood imposingly ahead of her. Just a few more minutes and she would arrive. This wasn't going to be any fun.
After a few more minutes of flight Twilight felt the spell slow down and her body began it's decent towards Canterlot Castle. Once the spell was slow enough she could much more easily turn herself towards the front doors and landed with only a soft clip of her hooves. The two royal guards stationed at the doorway looked at each other for a moment with a knowing glance. They lowered their spears in a cross pattern across the door and gave Twilight a stern glare.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle, we are afraid that we'll have to ask you to leave until Celestia's current meeting is over."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "This is a joke right?"
The guard replied. "I'm sorry, but this is a very serious matter we-"
Twilight interrupted without a thought. "You two are merely pegasi, standing before me, and trying to tell me what I can or cannot do." she marched up to the one who'd dare to speak to her and looked down at him. "I am taller than you, have more combat experience by years, am trained in the most powerful of magics, and just flew here from Ponyville with a mere telekinetic spell. Do you two really think you could stop me from doing anything?"
The guard's eyes widened and his voice came out a bit shakey. "Yes, but, but Princess Celestia said you couldn't come in. Don't you respect what she says?"
Twilight laughed coldly and took a few steps back. "In addition to that being just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard, you also forget one very important thing about who you're dealing with."
The guard blinked. "Um... what is that?"
"I invented the teleport spell." Twilight said as her horn lit up and the world flashed pink for just a moment. She reappeared just inside the castle and without a second thought used a simple hold door spell to keep the doors behind her shut. It would take the guards a few minutes to realize what she'd just done, and now it would be even longer before they could get inside.
Twilight didn't hesitate to use her inner senses to feel for magic in the area. The Castle was permeated with it. The tingle at the tip of her tongue told her that the air was filled with the delicious taste of magic. Of course she was searching for a very specific kind of magic. She felt it coming from the throne room. It was powerful, and tasted somewhat like frozen sherbet with it's sweet and sour flavors. This was Celestia's magical aura.
Twilight wasted no time in teleporting to the throne room. In just a blink of an eye she went from the entrance lobby into a long hall way staring at a door. She blinked, this was not where she was trying to go. She was not inside the throne room, but in fact just outside of it. To either side of her stood a royal guard, alicorn stallions each. Behind her stood half a dozen unicorn guards. Before any of them had a chance to move on her she unleashed a mass hold person spell and froze each of them in their tracks. Now all she had to do was open the door.
The door was locked.
Twilight stared at the door in puzzled frustration. She flew here, used spell after spell to get here, and now she was stopped by a freaking locked door. Some deep part of Twilight's mind began to twitch. Her mind saw what she wanted, no, what she needed. She needed to get in there. So she resorted to what she usually did when life gave her lemons, she used magic to try and make magical lemonade. First a locking picking spell, which failed. Next she tried to create a portal through the door. Failed. Once more she tried teleporting herself, and nothing happened.
Twilight screamed in frustration. "Fine! If that's how you want to do things Mr. Door, then I'll play your game and I'll do the same thing I do when I lose at monopoly against Pinkie Pie! I'll destroy the whole darn table!"
Twilight charged up a magical spell. A red laser beam designed to teach this door the ultimate lesson in respect for what, and who she was. She was a freaking alicorn princess!
The door opened up and Celestia stuck her head out. "Please don't break my door, Twilight. I've had this one for fifty years without it being broken."
Twilight blinked. "Fine, just let me in then."
"Have you ever really grown up?"
Twilight smirked. "Not really, my ability to grow up was taken away from me by some selfish thousand year old child."
Celestia let out a long sigh and backed away leaving the door open. "Join us then."
Twilight walked in but gave the door a good final glare. "You won this round, Door."
Once inside Twilight saw a round table had been set up in the middle of the space. Luna was there, along with Rainbow Dash. Celestia closed the door behind Twilight and went to her sister's side. There were four chairs in the room even though there was only three ponies before. Twilight took the empty chair and smiled proudly for breaking her way into this meeting. Celestia grumbled something and Luna replied, "See, I told you that we'd need that forth chair."
Twilight offered her a small smile. "Thank you, Luna. But in the future can you just send me an invite please."
Luna laughed. "And miss out on all the fun of watching you tare those poor guards out front apart. No, I think not."
Celestia closed her eyes. "This is why the medical coverage has grown to accommodate therapy in recent years."
Rainbow Dash laughed. "We were all watching you and taking bets. Me and Luna won."
Twilight blinked and stared at her. "Bets on what?"
Rainbow replied. "On whether you'd respect Celestia's wish to keep you out of this meeting, or if you'd pull a Twilight and break in anyway."
"And Celestia..."
"She lost the bet."
A disgruntled pain hit Twilight's gut. Even after all these years, and after knowing how much Twilight despised her, Celestia was still believing in Twilight. Still holding out hope that Twilight would respect her. It made Twilight feel dirty for breaking in here like this, but she was justified right? Celestia had not only hurt her, but taken away Twilight's chance for a normal life. Wasn't it okay for her to do whatever she wanted now?
Twilight closed her eye and felt herself growing tense. She wasn't going to apologize, but she really wanted to. She just couldn't let Celestia have the satisfaction of an apology, or of ever being right again.
Luna spoke breaking the silence. "So we were talking about the situation down south."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah, I heard from your spy. One of the settlements was attacked, and it was bad."
Celestia replied. "It wasn't just bad, Rainbow Dash. It was a tragedy. The entire settlement was burned to the ground. Most of the soldiers were found dead, some of them horrible injured and are in the hospital with critical injuries."
Twilight responded. "The villagers will be safe at least right. The Changelings want food, not murder."
Celestia and Luna both looked at Twilight at the same time. Their expressions revealed that something was much worse here than what Twilight just suggested. It took a moment but Celestia finally spoke. "Actually a lot of the villagers were... killed."
Twilight blinked. "Wait, what? But why would the changelings do that? They need us alive to feed on our love."
Luna stepped in. "It wasn't changelings."
Rainbow Dash rose from her seat. "What do you mean it wasn't Changelings? Are you saying that something else killed my soldiers?"
Celestia's horn lit up and a golden orb appeared on the center of the table. The magic coming off it was feint but powerful enough for Twilight to vaguely recognize it. An alicorn made this, and their magic was a bit sour in flavor.
A moment later Lemon Heart's voice came out of the orb. "Princess Celestia, we are under attack by the alicorn empire!"
Twilight's mind froze. Lemon Heart was the alicorn assigned to one of the border towns. If she was there then. "Where is she? Where is Lemon Heart?"
Celestia's voice came out soft, quiet and gentle. "Twilight... I have some bad news."
Twilight's mind was racing. "No, no you don't, because she is just fine. She is always just fine. She was always one of the strongest mares I know, I mean she turned into a freaking alicorn for crying out loud. So you only have good news for me, only, good, news!"
Luna rose from her seat and stretched one of her long wings across the table. The wing brushed across Twilight's face sending warmth through out Twilight's body. "Twilight, I'm so sorry."
Twilight's mind flipped as she jerked to the side and using a hoof to swat Luna's wing away. "Don't touch me!"
Luna reeled back. "Twilight!"
Twilight was standing now. "I don't care what you say, she's gonna be alright. I'll prove it to you. I'm going there right now and I'll show you she's just fine!"
Magic began pumping into her horn. It would take every ounce of magical power she had, but she could teleport to the town, at least she hoped she could. She'd not done a teleport like this in some years, and even then she had had help from Starlight. Now she was just forced to do this without the extra help. She could do this though.
Celestia rose. "Twilight, you're going to hurt yourself."
Twilight glared at her. "At least it will be me who did it!"
Luna jumped in. "Twilight, calm down, I'll take you to her bo-"
Twilight screamed. "SHUT UP!"
She unleashed the spell and felt her body launch upwards. This wasn't right, she was supposed to disappear into a flash of pink as the world rushed past her. The world did rush past her, until she hit an unmovable solid force and felt every ounce of her body scream in pain. She collided with the ceiling. The stone cracked and broke as her body hit it. A moment later she felt the world reassert itself and it's rules as she fell. Her entire body was screaming in pain and she watched as the floor raced toward her. A soft blue and gold aura wrapped around her, gently cradling her and lowering her body until it was only a few feet above the ground. Twilight stared up at Celestia and Luna who were both holding her in their auras.
Twilight growled and spoke through a bloody mouth. "She is okay."
Luna shook her head. "Twilight, she's gone. She died giving us this message, I'm sorry but that's all there is to it. You can't save her."
Twilight wanted to laugh, to scream, to cry. All she could do was ask, "How? How could she die if she was an alicorn?"
Amber found herself trotting at a near gallop to her cousins house. She needed to talk to Sophie or Hushpuppy. It wasn't a terribly long walk over to Fluttershy and Pinkie's house from Sugarcube Corner. Normally Amber might even enjoy the walk too, take her time, see the sights, talk to ponies. Yet her mission was clear. She needed a spy and either of Fluttershy's kids could easily serve this purpose. The only question was which one did she want to use?
Once she arrived at the cottage she didn't even bother knocking on the door. Once inside she looked around. The place was filled with hanged photos of Fluttershy and Pinkie, as well as few with all the elements of harmony together. One of them showed the six of them standing before a ruined castle, covered in dirt, scrapes, and bruises, yet they were all smiling. Adventure, that was something Amber wanted more than anything in the world, but she would have to wait until she was eighteen so she could go out on her own without any adults telling her what she was allowed to do.
Amber called out in the house. "Sophie, Hush, you guys here?"
A quiet male voice replied from the kitchen. "I'm only as present as this mortal coil forces me to be." To follow the voice was a young stallion with yellow fur and a long green mane covering half his face. His piercing green eye seemed to see through Amber with an eerie presence. He wore a black hooded jacket with the hood drawn over his head.
"Hey, Hushpuppy, what's up?"
He stared at her blankly. "Like, the ceiling or something."
Amber rolled her eyes. "Where's Soph?"
"She's at her club meeting."
Sophie was a member of quite a few clubs. Though the one she was probably at right then was the stuffed animal club. Amber went once, it was weird. It was just a bunch of weirdos collecting plushies and making their own. It was like half obsessed collectors, and half arts and crafts. Of course Sophie was both of those things in the extreme.
"Okay, well I have something I need done." Amber said with a smile.
"I am not breaking into another pony’s home for you."
Amber looked away at the wall and laughed nervously. "Break into a pony's home? What are you talking about? hahaha."
"If that's not what it is, then what do you want? A poem of how the light has faded from this world?"
Amber shook her head. "Nah, none of your emo crap today. Color's been asking about that though. No I want you to get some info for me."
He narrowed his eye. It was almost as if his eye was glowing as a smile grew over his lips. "Gossip huh. I can always do that."
"Okay, good, because you're getting info on what's going on with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. I can smell adventure in the air, and I refuse to be left out yet again."
He let out a sigh. "Not another adventure. Can't you just like, relax for a minute?"
"And get as fat as Black Out, Tartarus no."
His smile completely vanished. "That's rude. She's not... well she's beautiful just the way she is."
"Oh you think she's beautiful huh? Maybe I should go tell her."
His eye widened. "What? NO! You can't." He stepped forward. "Please, don't do that."
Amber laughed. "Oh come on, you've been trying to hide it, poorly I might add, for years now. Just tell her how you feel?"
"She'll kick my flank if she thinks... I mean, I don't feel anything. I was just making a compliment..." he looked down at the floor.
Amber rolled her eyes. "Fine, I won't tell her, if you do this for me."
"Blackmail... you suck."
"And you're going to find out what's going on at the southern border for me. It's something big, big enough to make Twilight and Rainbow Dash worried."
His brow scrunched up as he stared at the floor. "The Southern Border? Didn't you tell us that there was something down there... something dangerous?"
Amber nodded. "Yeah, and you're the only one taking it seriously."
"Of course I am." He looked up and met her gaze. "The world has some serious darkness in it. I'm not just being 'emo' when I tell you that I can sense something from the south. There's some serious negative energy down there. Scary dark energy."
"Yeah... and it's calling for us to defeat it. We fought the darkness once before, and we can do it again. So what do you say? You in?"
"I've been meaning to study the dark energy going on. The world is being corrupted every day, and I want to know what is doing it." He smiled softly. "So yes, yes I am in."
Amber beamed. "Good, now get to work my little cousin. For tonight we do this."
"What are we doing tonight, Amber?"
"The same thing we do every night, Hush. We try to take over the world."
"He blinked, what?"
"It's a joke. We're just gonna go make plans and stuff. Nothing too serious, yet."
The door behind Amber opened up and Fluttershy walked in. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Amber standing there. Of course Fluttershy had to look up at Amber to meet her eyes. "Oh, Amber, sweetie. I'm glad you're here. I need help from a big strong pony like yourself. Could you help you're poor little fragile aunt?"
Amber rolled her eyes. "Fragile my butt, I saw you throw a guy through a window once for accidently saying something rude about Pinkie."
Fluttershy smiled. "Oh no, I never did that. Just like he never called my beautiful wife fat."
Amber learned that talking to Fluttershy often times came with a load of backstory she just didn't want or need. Also if she was being honest with herself for a moment, hearing some of Fluttershy's stories made her a little bit scary. Amber decided, like usual, to not bring up any questionable content and move onto something different.
Amber knew how to distract Fluttershy from asking any questions about her current mission. "So, Aunt Fluttershy, you said you wanted to teach me how to take care of some of the animals around here?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Of course, and I remember how you declined the offer to be around my stinky pet freaks."
Amber cringed remembering her 'not so friendly' response. "Uh... they don't smell 'that' bad."
Fluttershy looked between her and Hushpuppy and focused on Amber. "So what kind of trouble are you getting yourself into this time, missy?"
***
Trixie stared out at the town from her front porch. Her entire body was relaxed, her soul at ease, and a warm gooey feeling left in her heart. How Maud could make her feel so good, long after making love with her was beyond Trixie's understanding. Of course, she also wasn't arguing about it either. Instead she just continued to stare off into the distance feeling satisfied with how her life had turned out. Retiring from all the big stuff, princesshood, heroism, and even being a stage magician were all things she had done in the past, achievements she was content with having completed. Now she got to be the mommy, take care of her kid, and be a teacher at the same time. Still she knew that soon enough the biggest part of her life these past eighteen years was soon to be over... Amber was seventeen, she was going to be an adult soon, and even if she did stay home for a few more years, she was itching for adventure something hard.
After all, she was Trixie's daughter.
Trixie was going to have to find something to fill her time soon. Maybe she'd pick up a new art form? Go on rock hunting trips with Maud? Who knows, but whatever she did, she was going to do it with the mare she'd pledged her soul to. Together there was no force in this world, mortal or otherwise that could pull them apart. This was the life she always wanted, this was her happy ending.
"Of course," a quiet voice spoke in her ear. "Happy endings don't get to stay."
Trixie nearly jumped out of her skin. Her horn was lit up with a lavender aura preparing for a lightning spell to take care of whatever might be there. She looked around and found nothing. Nopony was there. It was just her, all alone.
Trixie quietly whispered. "Scathe?"
there was no response. Then again, why should there be. Trixie had fully absorbed, and lost Scathe when she lost her alicornhood. There was nothing left of the crazy in her brain...
"Discord?" Trixie dared ask.
Once again, silence. Of course it was silence. The crazy bastard had ran off and vanished about sixteen years ago. Nopony had any news, or information about him since then. Though it wasn't like anypony was really looking too hard. Not after what he did to Fluttershy. No, it was better that he stayed gone.
A timely hoot made Trixie look up and sitting at the top of rafters for her porch awning she spotted an owl who was as young as he was the day Trixie made him her familiar. "Happy endings don't last, Trixie. They never do."
Trixie scowled at him. "Not when you're around, feather brain."
"You had feathers for a moment once upon a time too, don't forget."
Trixie looked away and scoffed. "How could I forget when you're here to remind me. Must be part of the aging process, forgetting all the bad stuff in my past."
Owlicious turned his head to the side. "Aging process. Are you daft? You haven't aged more than a few weeks since you had wings. Even then I think that was just from a loss of magic rather than actual aging."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Oh, so is the back pain, hip pain, and gray hair imaginary?"
Owlicious blinked. "Y-yes... I guess you're not daft, just stubborn."
Trixie had had this conversation many times before. For some reason Owlicious thought she was the same age. At this point she was sticking to the theory that he just didn't understand mortal aging as he was an immortal creature himself. Yet none of these distractions really mattered, if he was here, it was for a good reason. He wasn't the kind of creature to do check ups on ponies.
"What does Twilight need this time?" Trixie asked.
"Why do you always assume that she needs something when I show up?"
"When has it ever been anything different?" Trixie asked. "But hey, I'm not complaining. Maybe this is how I'll spend my time after Amber turns eighteen. I'll do chores for Twilight."
Owlicious laughed at that, it came out sounding more like a series of choked hoots. "I think you'll both find that there will be more serious matters to attend to after that."
Trixie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
Owlicious' voice dropped to only just above a whisper. "You'll find out soon enough. As for why I'm here, you're right in assuming it does involve Twilight. You are to keep this knowledge on strictly need-to-know basis. Only royalty and a few knights are allowed to know this information, since you're the former you get the scoop."
"What happened?"
"Lemon Heart is dead."
Trixie blinked. "Lemon Heart is-"
Owlicious cut her off. "Silence you fool. Nopony other than you can understand me, but everypony can hear you speaking. You heard me right though, she's dead."
Trixie looked down at the wooden floor of her porch. "How?"
"That's still being investigated, but what we do know is it somehow involves the Alicorn Empire."
Trixie felt her face screwing up as she processed the information. In the last seventeen years she was far from close to Lemon Heart, but it still hurt if only vaguely to hear she was gone. What was more pressing to her was the 'how' of the whole situation. Lemon Heart was an alicorn, and they can't just die. The only thing Trixie could think of was if somepony could somehow remove the 'alicorn' from the pony. Only Celestia and Luna had any idea on how to do that, or at least they knew how to cover it up and hide it. Nopony could just take the alicorn out of the pony, well... aside from-
"Red Velvet," Trixie whispered so softly, that there wasn't even sound, just air leaving her mouth.
Owlicious nodded and fluffed his wings for a moment. "Now you know why I'm here. You've been summoned to the Castle."
Trixie stared at him. "Oh wow, so good of you to direct me to 'the castle'. That information is so well detailed that I won't have any problem finding it in Equestria. Next you'll tell me the time for the meeting is in the near future."
"Oh drop your smart flank attitude for one moment, seriously, this is why I quit being your familiar." He shook his head. "You are to meet at Twilight's castle at midnight tonight. She thought it would be a good time to head out without anypony suspecting anything."
Trixie could promise that there would be at least one pony in her household who would be suspecting everything, and it wasn't going to be Maud.
"Fine," Trixie said. "I still have my secret meeting cloak, I'll be there."
Owlicious hooted gladly. "Twilight will be seeing you then." He flapped his wings and swooped out from the rafter and out into the open sky. For a long moment Trixie just stared out at the sunset.
Maud's voice came from the doorway. "I'll keep Amber home tonight."
Trixie smiled and glanced back at her beautiful wife. "You know you're the perfect wife right?"
Maud smiled. "I prefer the term flawless."
Trixie's smile widened. "You rock dork."
Maud smiled at her and returned inside. "I'm starting dinner soon. Help me out."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Makes a pun, then forgets to say please when asking me to help with dinner. If she wasn't so gifted with those hooves of hers, I might just take offense at that."
Yes, this really was her happily ever after. Even so, why did she get the horrible, gut pinching feeling that it wasn't going to last?
***
Night had finally fallen and Amber found herself in her room, lying on her bed, and staring up at her ceiling. Her rear hoof kept tapping the end of the bed post as she tried to quiet her busy mind. It was already dark outside, but aside from a few creaks and groans from the old house there was nothing much to concern herself with. Her mind was still trying to figure out what was going on, even her mom was acting weird at dinner.
Three light taps at the window drew her attention. With just a spark of her horn the window unlocked itself and open up. A dark hood poked its head in along with a yellow muzzle. Hushpuppy's voice came out as a whisper. "The darkness is embracing tonight."
Amber rolled her eyes. "Sure, and did you manage to find anything else, you know valuable?"
A small smile crept over his lips. "Everyone is trying to be quiet about this, but secrets are kept in the dark, and I'm good friends with the dark."
"And what does that mean exactly?"
"That there's a meeting going on tonight discussing whatever is bothering all the adults. All we have to do is find it."
Amber gave him a look. "Okay, well that's a start at least. But if they're meeting in a bar again, I do not want to break in."
Hushpuppy shook his head. "It didn't stop us last time, so I doubt they'll try it again. No, they're going to be looking for somewhere safe, secure, and private."
Amber scratched at her chin for a moment. He had a good point there, but where would they go to hide at? They had to know already that Amber was going to be finding out where they were. Rarity had a usually private house, and more than a few meetings had been held there in the past. However, the problem with that was that Amber couldn't be sure this was something Rarity would be involved in. Fluttershy's house had two kids, one of which were currently standing outside of Amber's window like a weirdo. Twilight's treehouse had proven to be unsafe for meetings time, and time again. The tree castle was a possibility, but it was also way too obvious, they had to stop using it ages ago.
Hushpuppy's voice came out quiet. "Hey, someone's sneaking out of your house?"
Amber rolled off her bed and trotted to the window sticking her head out to join Hush Puppy in looking outside. The back door was currently open with a cloaked pony standing there. Maud's head was sticking out from the doorway and her voice came out quiet and gentle. "Can you walk to the castle by yourself?"
Trixie's voice came out from under the hood. "Of course I can. I'm not that old you know."
"Are you hungry? I packed a lunch just in case."
Trixie shook her head. "I'm going to a secret meeting, not a picnic... but thank you."
"Be safe, love."
Trixie leaned up and kissed Maud on the lips. "I will."
Trixie then trotted away in the opposite direction. Maud watched her for a moment before her head swiveled back toward Amber's room. Hush Puppy ducked into the bush and Amber pulled her head back inside so fast she almost had whip lash from it. They both stayed still and remained silent until they heard the back door shut. Hush Puppy was up first and had his head in her window again. "So, I guess we know where they're going tonight."
Amber nodded. "Now I just have to sneak out of here."
Trixie had to admit that she really didn't like traveling out at night like this. The last time she'd had to use her sneaking cloak was a few years ago, and even then it was only for a small meet up with Twilight. Tonight was different, there were going to be huge concerns brought up, and the situation was looking dire. A dead alicorn, an attack on the border, and one committed by the Alicorn Empire at that. The one thing Trixie always knew would come back to bite her in the flank, but that she desperately hoped never would, bringing the Alicorn Empire back.
Winding through buildings in the dead of night in the silence of this town was surprisingly second nature to Trixie at this point. Few dark memories were left to bother her out here, instead she was less afraid for her own safety, and more afraid for that of the ponies of Equestria. If the Alicorn Empire was declaring war, then it would take more power than Equestria had to actually save them this time. This was all her fault, she caused this when she helped Red Velvet free the Alicorn Empire. She thought she was doing the greater good, and sticking it to the man, or well to the princess and fighting the system. Instead she was being manipulated by a pony who was extremely skilled in using others emotions against them. Red must have made a great politician.
The lights of the giant Tree Castle were on in a few windows. Night lights were still sparse in Ponyville. The sound of something metal hitting the ground ahead of her made Trixie stop dead in her tracks. From around the side of a house a tin can rolled out in front of her. The sound of hoofsteps grew closer. Trixie hid behind the wall and using a bit of magic enveloped herself in an invisibility spell. It was still a hard spell to use, but if she stayed perfectly still the spell worked like a charm.
Around the corner appeared Applebloom and Scootaloo. From the rosy color of their cheeks it was clear the two had been drinking. Scootaloo was the worst of the two as she was practically falling on Applebloom who was trying to walk the two of them home. Applebloom sounded mildly upset. "Scoots, first ya kiss me, now ya fall on me."
Scootaloo laughed. "I'm falling all over you, baby."
Applebloom rolled her eyes and continued past Trixie's hiding spot. "Ah have an important meeting tomorrow over mah latest invention. Ah can't afford to get drunk like this all the time."
Scootaloo laughed some more. "And here I thought you were mad at me over the kiss."
Applebloom let out a sigh. "Ah'm not mad, it was obvious you were trying to kiss my cheek... and missed."
Scootaloo laughed. "Hey, you have another cheek I'd kiss."
Applebloom and Scootaloo were quickly walking out of hearing distance as Trixie watched. "We both have boyfriends, neither of whom I want to give any 'creative' ideas to."
Scootaloo nearly shouted. "Whooo, foursome!"
Applebloom's voice came out sharp like a knife. "Who do you think Ah am? Trixie?"
Ouch, that hurt. Trixie only had a foursome... a few times. Really it was part of a healing process... probably. Still she wasn't that much of kinkster, it was Maud's fault. Either way Trixie ignored the comment from her cousin and decided she might very well have a conversation with her later. For now she was going to complete her mission.
Once she finally reached the castle she actually saw a familiar face waiting for her just inside. Luna stood there with a friendly smile upon her lips. Nopony else was here yet, but once the doors closed behind her Trixie threw back her hood. Hiding her identity wasn't needed inside the castle. "Luna, how are you doing?"
Luna grumbled. "Between taking care of Twilight, and working with my sister... I'm quite stressed to be honest."
Trixie nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Luna's eyebrow raised and a sly smile grew on her lips. "If Twilight makes a mess of things, you can clean it up."
"Just because I'm not a princess anymore doesn't mean that I'm going to be your servant you know."
Luna nodded. "Of course not. You're free to do whatever you want." The way she said it almost came off condescending.
As the two walked down the halls Trixie was reminded of the first princess meeting she'd attended. It was there that she learned one of the most important, and painful lessons about royalty. Everything is a power game. Even friendship is used to manipulate each other. Luna just so happened to be the best at this game, and thus she was forever marked as the least trustworthy of the ponies meeting tonight.
Luna's smile faded the further they walked. They went right past the map room and continued down the halls toward a bookcase sitting in the middle of the hall. To be fair there were quite a few bookcases lining the halls, this one just so happened to be a little bit different. They paused in front of it and with a pull of a few different books, the bookcase slid to the side revealing the secret door. Luna didn't descend right away.
"Trixie," Luna said carefully, and quietly.
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to be honest with you before we go down there. Twilight's taking this hard, and obviously so. But, and I do stress the but, she's not the only one. Each of us are struggling with this. An enemy has appeared that can so easily slay one of us, and with that knowledge comes too the knowledge of how vulnerable even me and my sister really are. There is every possibility that we may not be here at the end of this engagement."
Trixie's eyes widened as she stared at Luna. "It's not like their using Balefire, right?"
Luna offered s small smile. "Wouldn't matter if they were, they still have the ability to do great harm to us. Even the windigo were not so much a threat as this. A lot of secrets will be revealed in coming months, and I fear that twilight will not be able to handle all of them. You on the other hoof... You have earned the temperament needed to handle some of this knowledge. Even though my sister does not wish to have you become so important to these meetings, I do want you to. We'll need a sound head to join us."
Trixie could feel her sense of peace and quiet already slipping away. The life she'd worked so hard for was trying to leave her. She did not spend the last eighteen years fighting for peace and quiet, just to have it taken away at the slightest hint of danger. "I'm sorry, Luna. But I'm retired from all of this. The only reason I'm here tonight is so that I can offer any information that I can to help. I may have some unique insight about Red that can help the rest of you fight this battle, but that's the extent of what I'm willing to offer."
Luna stared at her for a long moment. Finally she looked back down the stairs and started down them. "That is fine as well."
Trixie looked around the hall for a quick moment. For some reason she couldn't get rid of this feeling of being watched. Her instincts may be telling her something, but then again with such high levels of secrecy, there was no way in Tartarus that she wasn't being watched by one spy or another. Trixie let out a sigh and started down the steps toward her meeting.
The staircase went down for ages. The polished oak walls quickly melted into blue crystal walls revealing the original skin of the Crystal Tree Castle from so long ago. The steps became crystal as well creating an eerie echo as their hooves clopped along them. After what felt like a few minutes, and with Trixie's legs burning from the effort they finally exited the staircase and entered a long rectangular room with a table in the middle. A few doors led to other small rooms, one of which was a bathroom, which was currently closed. Celestia stood at the far end of the table looking down at it. A holographic map of southern Equestria stood against it. Trixie followed Luna up to the table but stopped to stare at it.
Red markers along the line of where Southern Equestria met Northern Equestria stood out to Trixie. There were half a dozen of them, and somehow Trixie couldn't believe they were all alicorn attacks. Some of them were in the deep jungle area asking some more serious questions. What was really going on here?
Celestia's voice came out full of warmth and sounding just as youthful as the day Trixie first heard her lectures in the school. "I see you've noticed the map already."
Trixie nodded. "So what's going on here?"
Celestia answered. "These are known Changeling camps. Chrysalis's changelings that is."
Trixie stared at them. "How many babies does she pop out a year if she can make this many camps in all of what, twenty years?"
Celestia laughed. "She doesn't 'pop babies' out."
"Oh?"
"No, she lays eggs."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Of course she does, because why wouldn't she. Creepy alien pony thing."
Luna interrupted. "I think that would be offensive to Thorax's changelings as they do much the same."
Trixie gave her a level stare. "The fact that she lays eggs, and the fact that Chrysalis is a creepazoid are not necessarily the same thing."
The bathroom door swung open with a hideous bang and Twilight stumbled out. Twilight was drenched in sweat, and held aloft in a pink aura next to her was a bottle of Celestia Hellfire Whiskey. Twilight drank greedily from the bottle and pulled away with a look of disgust that was only matched by the hiss she made to accompany it. "How, do ya sthand the falvor?"
Trixie blinked. "Oh my god, Twilight... You're drunk. I'd tell you to go home, but I think you're already here."
Twilight looked, mostly at her, and dropped a few swears that Trixie did not feel like acknowledging. "You, you're the drunk. Not, not... um... not me. There, I told you."
Trixie looked at Celestia. "How long has she been like this?"
Celestia shook her head. "About five minutes after she heard that Lemon Heart died."
Trixie looked once more at the map. So, the Alicorn Empire came in, ruined one of our towns, killed Lemon Heart, and that's horrible, but why are we staring at these locations where Changelings are."
Luna explained. "Because we don't know where the Alicorn Empire has been hiding all this time. Maybe if-"
"Because-" Twilight butted in as she walked into the table and fell over it. "-Changelings are WEIRD! I mean, they like... change."
Luna glared at her. "Twilight, if you're not going to help us in the meeting, you should go lie down."
"No! You're not my mom." Twilight said. She then pointed at Celestia. "I think she is though."
Celestia's face turned pink. "Twilight, please refrain from making comments right now."
Twilight looked over at Celestia. "No! I won't. You know, if I'm really your kid, what you made me and Trixie do was even worse. We were kids, not soldiers. You know I hate you for that."
Celestia lowered her head and looked at the map again. "I... know."
Twilight's voice grew in volume. "BUT! Even if I hate you for that. And I do. I can't help but love you too. You're a total train wreck of a queen, but you're still my mom and I love you for that."
Celestia's eyes widened. "You... you still love me? Even after the archive?"
Twilight gave her a tomboyish grin if Trixie ever saw one. Stood up on her hind legs. "Everypony listen, Celestia's my mom and I lo-" Her eyes rolled back and Twilight fell backwards.
Everypony seemed to reach out at once to try and catch her but it was a gentle pink aura that managed to wrap around Twilight and gently lower her onto the floor. For a moment Trixie stared at Twilight's unconscious form. She didn't grab Twilight, and nopony here had a pink aura save for the sleeping drunk herself. Trixie looked once more at the table, and realized it was a very familiar table.
Trixie cleared her throat. "Luna, is this the very same table you and Twilight like to have your secret sex sessions on?"
Luna's eyes widened. "How did you-"
Trixie's horn lit up and she glanced upward toward the roof. It was a crystal roof and clear enough to see through. A small chamber stood up there for repairing the lighting system. A pink face with a mane of lavender with a red stripe was staring down at her. Next to Amber was Hush Puppy's yellow face staring down. Trixie smiled up at them as she used a bit of telekinesis to grab them both by their ears. "You two are not just grounded, you're both super grounded."
***
Amber found herself sitting on the wooden floor next to Hush Puppy. Her entire body was stiff from a mix of fear and anger. They got caught, and now they were both going to be in a lot of trouble.
Hush Puppy groaned. "They called my mom! Why did you have to do that? Twilight was drunk, she would have been just fine."
Amber glared at him. "Well excuse me, but I couldn't just let Twilight accidently smash her head into the floor or the side of the table now."
"Well at the very least we completed our mission," Hush Puppy said.
Amber nodded. "Yeah, and I can't believe it... You know my big sis met some of the alicorns from the Alicorn Empire before. She even met Red Velvet herself."
Hush Puppy stared at her. "What? Really?"
"Yeah, she said it was the scariest thing she'd ever encountered. But also that Red didn't seem... evil to her."
Hush Puppy put a hoof to his chin. "That's... weird. Your sister has like crazy powers to see evil right? So... she would know if the Red was actually evil or not."
Amber nodded. "Yeah... she would."
"Are we going to have another war?"
Amber shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is that if things are getting as dangerous as they might be, they'll need our help."
A new female voice entered the room. "Who will need your help now?"
Amber and Hush Puppy looked up to see Fluttershy glaring at them. There was an instant pressure in Amber's heart, like something that said she should stay very, very still because an extremely dangerous predator was out stalking for prey. Once Fluttershy closed her eyes the feeling lightened and Amber made sure to look squarely at the floor again. Fluttershy couldn't help it, sometimes she just had this... this look in her eyes that would cut through all of Amber's bullcrap like a hot knife through butter. The only defense that Amber had found was to avoid direct eye contact all together.
Fluttershy's voice came out sharp. "I can't believe you two! Amber, you know that you're supposed to stay inside after dark. It's scary, and it's dangerous out there you know! And, Hushy. You know how scared I get when you sneak out. I was having an anxiety attack until Trixie called me."
Hush Puppy sat up straight. "I didn't mean-"
"No," Fluttershy shook her head. "Not this time you two. You don't get to get out of this. I don't know what they were talking about, or what you two even did, but I heard Luna mention state secrets, and treason!"
Amber's heart skipped a beat. "Treason?"
Fluttershy nodded. "That's right. You two crossed a big line here. And if it wasn't for the fact that your parents are friends with Luna and Celestia, both of you could have gone to jail!" Fluttershy let out a sigh and her voice softened a little bit. "As it was though, I was able to talk them into letting me handle this. So, you two get to do charity work for me, for the next two months."
Amber groaned. "NO! I don't want to clean up dog pee!"
Hush Puppy pushed her shoulder. "Shhh, don't say anything."
Fluttershy smiled. "Too late, Hushy, you get to clean up the 'dog pee' as Amber so tactfully put it. As for you Amber, you get something much worse."
Amber stared at her Fluttershy, forgetting to not make eye contact. "W-what's that?"
Fluttershy's eyes almost sparkled with sadistic delight as she said, "You get to help me with the monsters."
The first ray of dawn slipped through the cracks of the blinds and landed across Twilight's face. Her nose twitched and she scrunched up her face trying to block out the light, but it was to no avail. Next she tried rolling over only to find her face land into something soft, and warm. It smelled faintly of flowers and morning dew. A tingling sensation ebbed out from the warm furry thing. Slowly Twilight opened her eye and saw deep blue fur in front of her. Pushing herself up on her leg she saw Luna's sleeping form next to her.
"Luna?" Twilight asked in surprise. It had been a long time since she got to wake up next to this beautiful mare. The slight pain in her head threatened to kill the moment, but Twilight was strong enough to lie down and push the pain away. Nopony took away her time with Luna, not even herself.
"T-Twilight," Luna's voice barely whispered.
Looking up revealed that Luna's eyes were still closed, but with her face scrunched up she looked to be in pain. "Luna, shh. I'm here."
"Don't die. Please, don't die." Luna's legs moved and her body tightened.
Twilight wrapped her leg around Luna, pulled herself up to head level and whispered into Luna's ear. "I'll never die, I'll always be here for you."
Slowly Luna's body began to relax and a weak smile grew over Luna's lips. For a long time Twilight lay there, pushing the pain in her head away and enjoying the quiet comfort of her sleeping mare. Eventually she realized she would need to move, to get into action, to function again. It took awhile just to recall what had happened yesterday. She vaguely remembered breaking into a meeting with Celestia and Luna, learning about Lemon Heart's death, and then trying to get a meeting set up while also drowning her pain in a half dozen bottles of whiskey. After the third bottle everything became black.
With Lemon Hearts dead and the knowledge that the Alicorn Empire was strong enough to cause some severe damage to them, any sense of security or safety was taken out of the equation. The longer Twilight lay here, thinking about this, the more she felt her skin itching. She couldn't sit here and do nothing; she had to mobilize, to make a plan, to do something. It looked like it was time for the Elements of Harmony to go on another adventure, and once again Twilight would hope that this would be the last one.
Once upon a time Celestia had told her that because of her friends Equestria was safer than it had ever been before. Twilight was quick to call her out on her BS and point out that ever since the Elements of Harmony had returned increasingly dangerous threats had appeared in the world. As if some universal balance was being met, threats that not only took control of Equestria time and time again, but a few that threatened the entire world or multiverse appeared. Memories of that world Twilight discovered, the one that had been completely destroyed and turned to ash flashed back into her mind. From what she'd learned, there was something out there, something still on its way, something that would make every threat Twilight ever fought put together look like a level one rat monster.
That was it, Twilight couldn't lay here anymore. She pushed herself out of bed and as quietly as she could and retreated to her desk. There was a cup of black coffee still sitting on the table next to a collection of notes. Twilight took a seat on her desk chair, and took a sip of the cup of coffee. It was stale, and tasted only vaguely of cinnamon and whiskey. She looked around to find a half empty bottle of Celestia's Hellfire Whiskey under the table and poured a bit of it into the coffee. With another sip she smiled. Perfect.
Hours slipped by and the morning light shifted and changed into the bright light of noon. Her little room was dark, but she had adjusted to the darkness so it was of little concern. The pages of paper lying before her on her desk were collections of every bit of information she had obtained. Every clue she could think of. Everything that may even be coincidentally connected. There just wasn't enough information to form any real plans.
The sound of hooves clopping up the stairs made Twilight glance back. From the staircase leading down to the first floor Applejack appeared. She looked around and her nose scrunched up. "Twi, not only is it darker than a bull’s backside in here, it reeks like one too."
Twilight grumbled to herself for a moment before replying, "I'm not turning any lights on yet. Luna needs her rest."
Applejack looked up to the loft where Twilight's bed was. "You two can fit on that bed?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You ask that every single time, and every single time I reply, it's more cozy on a smaller bed."
Applejack made her way to Twilight and smiled down at her. There were a couple of wrinkles on her aged face, not to mention a few gray hairs at the base of her mane. Twilight glanced back to the small mirror on her desk. She herself was already shaped much more like Luna and Celestia, a long muzzle, neck, and giant in size compared to her friends, but she was also just as young as she was the day she first became an alicorn. As time passed it became increasingly clear to her, which friends she was going to leave behind, and which ones might remain a bit longer. Just how did Celestia really deal with immortality, despite her begging, she'd never revealed the secret to her.
"Twi? You okay? You got that look again."
Twilight shook her head. "I'm fine. Just trying to fix this-" she caught herself when she realized that nopony knew about the attack yet. It was a state secret, and although she could reveal it to Applejack, and would have to at some point, she wasn't sure if it was time to just yet. "I'm working on something for Celestia."
"Does that include drinking, because you reek."
Twilight glared at her. "I do not." Just in case she smelled her leg pit. The fact that Twilight had to swallow her own vomit was probably a sign that she was not as clean as she needed to be. "I'll... clean up in a minute."
Applejack stomped her hoof quietly, probably a favor to Luna. "Not this time, yer gonna put whatever catastrophe yer working on down fer a minute and shower now. Ah ain't gonna let you live like that."
Twilight laughed nervously. "Catastrophe? What are you talking about?"
"Twi, I've known ya for most of my life, Ah ain't gonna pretend like Ah can't tell when something big is going on. Soon yer gonna call a meeting of all of us, and we're gonna go on some new adventure, and we're all gonna fight some monster with the power of friendship, and yer gonna come home and drink yerself to sleep."
Twilight blinked. "You don't know I'll do the last part."
Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and squeezed. "Come on, Twi. Ain't Ah yer second in command? Ah should know how this here barn dance works by now."
Twilight looked back to her mirror. Her fur was sticking out in weird ways due to the sweat. Yeah it was time to take a shower. Reluctantly Twilight nodded and through a headache she and Applejack headed to the bathroom. She felt like a foal but it was clear that Applejack wasn't going to let Twilight off the hook until she was sure she was clean. Hopefully she wouldn't complain about the drinking again too.
***
Trixie paced back and forth in the living room. On the couch in front of her sat her daughter Amber, who was still towering over her even while sitting. This was something Trixie wasn't quite sure of what she should do about. On one hoof her daughter was most certainly grounded for breaking the rules, on the other hoof she couldn't help but to admire how not only did Amber manage to sneak out completely without arousing her suspicion, but sacrificed it all to keep Twilight from hitting the floor and hurting herself. Maud was upset as well, but Trixie wasn't going to make Maud be the bad mom right now, especially considering Amber wouldn't listen to her.
"So," Trixie finally began. "If you were in my place, and your child ran out in the middle of the night, and snuck in onto a secret meeting of royalty, what would you do to punish her?"
Amber smiled. "I'd let her off the hook for being such a kind mare to save her mentor."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "You don't really expect me to let you off that easy, do you?"
Amber looked down at the floor and pawed at the couch beneath her. "Not really."
"Good, at least you have some sense."
"This is so dumb, I'm getting punished for something I wouldn't have if I didn't save Twilight."
If anypony could understand how that must have felt, it was Trixie. Undue punishments were something she was fairly familiar with from her past. Still now it was her time to be the bad mom. "I already agreed to Fluttershy's idea for punishment."
"Oh come on!" Amber complained. "I know she said it was dealing with 'monsters' but let's face it, to her a slightly upset bunny rabbit could be a monster."
A small smile grew over Trixie's lips. "Well you know as well as I do that you won't be fighting anything with Fluttershy. But, that doesn't mean you won't have fun or learn something. Hey, maybe she'll take you on an adventure?"
Amber glared at her. "Oh yeah, the great adventure of feeding fish to her otters or helping her bear friend get honey out of a tree. My heart can barely take it."
"That's the spirit," Trixie replied. "Now you still need to learn a lesson from me though... so I'm revoking your privilege to go hang out with friends for a week."
Amber's eyes widened. "What? No! You can't do that."
There it was, with a simple sentence Trixie managed to figure out that Amber was indeed up to something mischievous, and it was likely on a timetable too. "Actually, I can, and I just did."
Amber grumbled under her breath but didn't argue further. For a moment Trixie was surprised at this. She fully expected another hour of arguments from Amber, but instead Amber choose the silent treatment while staring past her. Well at least it was a victory. The way Amber was staring right through her was a bit concerning though, was this a new rebellious move? To act as if Trixie wasn't there? This felt worse than being yelled at...
A single hoof clop behind her made Trixie swivel around to see both Maud, and Valiant Heart standing there. Maud was tall, not nearly as tall as Amber was, but still tall for a mare. Whereas Valiant Heart was short, shorter than most full grown mares, and had brown fur with a reddish-brown mane that covered half her face hiding what Trixie knew was an off colored eye. Val was probably the strangest earth pony Trixie had ever met, and knowing Pinkie Pie that was saying something, but she was her daughter and no amount of weirdness would change how much Trixie loved her.
Val nodded and offered a small smile. Maud by comparison spoke volumes when she said, "Lulu, Amber, we'll be leaving soon."
It still hurt to know that Maud was leaving again. The trips became less frequent with age, but being pulled away from her love was still painful. "We'll be here waiting for you two to come home."
Amber was off the couch and by Trixie's side in seconds. "Oh, so you're leaving mom, again."
Trixie looked up at Amber. "Honey, she's just going on a business trip. It's her job to-"
"To leave us behind, yeah I know."
Maud's body stiffened, and even though she didn't let it show on her face, Trixie could see and feel how much that comment got to her. For a moment Maud was silent, but then she started to speak, "Maybe I should stay and-"
Trixie interrupted her. "No you don't. This is your dream job, and I know how much you love going on your little rock hunts. You also are doing a lot of good for Equestria. So don't you dare let a seventeen year old filly tell you what to do."
Maud's smile was worth everything in the world to Trixie. "Thank you."
Val shook her head. "Sis."
Amber's face screwed up as if she was processing too many emotions at once from that one spoken word. She settled on grumpy and looked at the floor beneath her. "Whatever."
Trixie asked, "How long do you two plan to be gone this time?"
Maud replied, "We're expecting two weeks, but I hope we can get this done sooner."
Trixie offered a smile to her. "Don't you worry about coming home early for us. You two just enjoy your time together." She changed her view to Val. "And you better keep Maud safe, you hear me."
Val rolled her eye, but the smile she offered spoke volumes of how proud she was to be relied on as a full grown adult. Then again Valiant Heart had proven her abilities on more than enough occasions for Trixie to fully trust the little hero to keep everypony safe, including herself. The next few minutes were spent helping Maud and Val get their bags to the wagon out front. It was Trixie's old stage wagon, now fully converted to a traveling home. Some of the old paint still remained on the side though the only words left was Trixie's name. The thing needed touched up on, but since Trixie retired from show business, she just didn't feel the need to. Still it served Maud well.
Watching those two leave always left a pit of pain in Trixie's heart, but seeing Maud and Valiant go out on their adventures was also one of the best things she'd ever seen. There was a brush of cold air next to Trixie and she felt somewhat more at ease. Under her breathe she whispered, "And you better keep both of them safe too, Boulder Dash."
Twilight felt like she was being forced to do this, but Applejack had made a very convincing argument. For some reason Luna was tagging along as well. The two of them followed Applejack through the town and a few stray stares from ponies made Twilight remember just how odd a sight she and Luna must still be, even after all this time. Her the wingless alicorn, and Luna the Princess of Night. Luna leaned over and whispered into Twilight's ear, "Why are we following the small orange one again?"
Twilight shook her head. "Because we're going to see Rarity."
Applejack hollered back at them. "Honestly, Twi. You do know you done went and hurt Rarity's feelings when you ditched her yesterday."
Twilight wanted to scream about having something much more important to do at the moment, but not only could she not let anypony know about the Alicorn Empire, but Luna had convinced her that she had plenty of time for the small things in life. Maybe Luna knew as well as Twilight that pretty soon things such as going to visit a friend for a small conversation, or apology, would soon be a luxury she couldn’t afford.
The walk through town wasn't that long and she arrived at Rarity's boutique and home faster than she expected she would. For a long moment she simply stared at the front door feeling a knot twisting in her gut. She couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or fear, but whatever it was she hated it. Maybe some more whiskey would wash the feeling away?
Applejack pushed open the door, Luna followed her, and Twilight then after. Once inside the room was somehow bright and inviting despite all the windows being covered by large red drapes. There were a few mannequins with dresses on them, and a full body mirror. A particularly outstanding mannequin was about Twilight's size, and had a dress that took away Twilight's breathe. The dress was black, with dark purple stripes along the side going from the flank to the chest where they connected into a heart shape. The dress curled up at the neck into a series of black spikes. The legs were covered in a material that looked like it was black lace, but something about it seemed tougher than that, metallic perhaps. There was also a nice tangy electrical feeling coming off of the dress. It was positively drenched in magical energy.
Luna raised her eyebrow. "What is this?"
Rarity's voice came from the stairs. "Well you don't have to sound so shocked, darling."
Twilight watched as Rarity descended the staircase. She looked just as young as she had when Twilight first met her, with no obvious changes save for one; her draconic eyes which had a soft glow to them. A friendly smiled was aimed at Twilight. "Twilight, dear, how have you been?"
Twilight shrugged. "About as good as I can be."
Rarity's eyes hardened for a moment as she examined Twilight, and then looked over to Luna. They relaxed just as fast and she reached the bottom step with a small hop. With a glance back to the dress Rarity beamed. "This is my greatest project yet, the Dress of Nightly Love."
Luna gave a small chuckle. "I presume it's a gift for Twilight then."
Rarity nodded. "Of course it is. She needs to be protected if she's going to be able to live a nice long life with you, dear."
Luna smiled. "Well I approve of both the design and the name."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Great, so you're new project is meant to tease me."
Rarity frowned. "Of course not. It's a celebration of the love you two share not an attack on it... oh my, did I... I'm sorry if I offended you."
Luna butted in. "Ignore Twilight, she's just grumpy from the hangover."
Twilight complained, "It wouldn't be a hangover if somepony would have let me finish my morning drink."
Rarity's eyes faltered, and her smile along with it. It took a moment for her to recover and force a smile that didn't quite touch her eyes. "Well I expect you two are curious what prompted me to design this work of beauty?"
Twilight sat down. "You got bored with making dresses that are worth a small mansion and decided to branch out into making dresses that are worth a large mansion instead?"
Rarity shook her head. "Of course not, and who cares what its worth, it's a gift, Twilight."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Right, stop looking the mouth in the gift horse."
Rarity explained, "As you should all know I made a suit of magical, and stylish battle armor for Rainbow Dash last year. It was designed with speed, flexibility, protection, and most of all fashion in mind. She was so taken with it that I have received continuous thank yous from her after every time she's worn it. At first I was afraid she might have been a bit too taken with me, if you catch my drift, thankfully she proved she was still straight as an arrow with her last boyfriend. Anyway, it got me thinking, if I could keep one of my friends safe from harm; why not keep all of them safe?"
For the first time today, Twilight heard some good news. "Oh? That sounds like a great idea."
Rarity nodded. "Of course it was, and I'm so glad you agree. After that first one I really took the time to sit down and consider all aspects of what could go into my next one, what was needed, who needed it, and what it should represent. As for you Twilight, since you’ve really taken to the night and I see how happy Luna has made you, I thought something representing your love would suit you the most. Please keep in mind it's not entirely finished."
Twilight looked at the dress with new found appreciation. Sure it would make her look like some of the villains from her distant past, but that didn't exactly have to be a bad thing. Why shouldn't her enemies fear her wraith, after all she could probably crush an entire kingdom by herself if she really wanted to... well not one filled with alicorns.
Rarity continued. "Some of the features of this piece include, protection from elements, excessive damage resistance, an environmental shield to protect you from any situations including, loss of oxygen, acid rain, toxic fumes, and poison breath."
Twilight blinked. "Poison breath?"
Rarity gave her a serious look. "Have you ever smelled Rainbow Dash's breath?"
***
Amber stood there in front of Fluttershy's cottage pawing at the soil and making a small pit out of boredom. Sitting on the windowsill across from her was a white bunny rabbit who couldn't help but to stare at her maliciously. The thing seemed to hate anypony that was too close to Fluttershy, even family, even family after seventeen years of knowing them. Luckily it was well enough trained it would refrain from pulling any more pranks unless provoked.
The only exception to this rule included Pinkie PIe, Sophie, and Hush Puppy. Though with the last one it was likely more because Hush Puppy was a bit allergic to rabbits and the darn thing was likely sick of being sneezed on. Actually Hush's allergies must have been a hard thing for Fluttershy to deal with as rabbits and animals of all kinds were her entire life.
Hush Puppy spoke quietly. "You know Angle Bunny doesn't really hate you right."
"Yeah right, just look at those eyes."
"He's guarding the house, and maybe me, from you and your bad influence."
Amber looked at him. "Okay, who told him I was a bad influence now?"
He shrugged. "I don't know if anyone said that directly, but he isn't dumb."
Fluttershy's voice came out from the front door just a moment before she did. "Angel Bunny is very intelligent. He even got his GED a couple years ago."
Amber stared at her, ignoring the brown saddle bags she wore and had to ask, "How does a freaking rabbit get a GED?"
Fluttershy giggled. "Through hard work and determination."
Amber groaned. "What are you, a freaking PSA?"
Fluttershy refrained from answering that and instead walked up to them and tossed an extra set of saddlebags onto Amber's back. "You'll need these."
Amber looked at her. "What are these for?"
Fluttershy blinked. "Didn't your mom tell you? I could have sworn I asked her to explain it to you."
"Explain what?"
Hush Puppy took a step back. "I'll keep a close eye on Blackout while you're gone."
"Like Tartarus you will, you're dumb crush is gonna get your teeth kicked in."
Fluttershy sighed. "Hushy, don't tease Amber like that. Also, please take her advice, Rainbow's eldest can be a bit... excitable."
Amber shook herself to let go of the distraction. "Okay, what's going on? Where are we going?"
Fluttershy smiled as if that would fix anything. "We're going out into the Everfree Forest, and we'll be gone a few days as we work on helping the monsters there."
Amber blinked. "You're nuts, I'm not staying a few days in there."
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, would you like me to get Twilight to come so you can feel safer. I know how scary the forest can be for a young filly."
Amber narrowed her eyes. "Oh so you don't think I can take it huh? Well screw you then, I'll go, and I'll be better than anyone else ever was." Seriously how dare she treat Amber like she was a mere foal.
Fluttershy smiled once again and walked to the door. She came back with a large box on her back and laid it down in front of Amber. "You're going to need this then."
The box was rather modest. A brown wooden box, a bit withered from age, and held shut by two slightly rusted latches. Amber pushed the box with a hoof and found it was surprisingly heavy. It was also long, almost as long as her entire body. Placing a hoof on either latches she snapped the latches open and lifted the box lid with modest effort as it creaked from age.
Inside she saw something she'd not seen in quite some time. It was a blacksmith hammer. The head was flat on both sides and black with chips taken out of it from use. The handle was wood, smoothed and polished so there would never be any splinters. Amber took it in her telekinetic grasp and felt its weight. The thing came with a belt meant to hold it on her side through the loops when not in use. The last time she had seen the Blacksmith Hammer was the day she went to save the town from the shadow thing. Twilight had confiscated it afterwards and told Amber once her martial arts training was finished she could have it back. But... her training wasn't over yet.
Fluttershy's laugh snapped Amber out of her trance, and when she looked down to make eye contact with her aunt she got her answer. "Amber, sweetie, I know Twilight wanted to have a big party and everything but she wanted me to let you know, you've passed your martial arts training. At least, the training part of it. Now you can use your weapon to practice the hard part."
Amber snapped the belt around herself and sheathed the hammer at her side. "What's that?"
"The practical part."
***
Twilight was still not positive today was going to be any better than it had been in the past, but she was still trying her best to make it work for her. One thing in particular involved heading toward the big thing she was going to do today, other than the work she was going to be putting towards fixing this mess at the border. She was meeting one of her old students, and best friends. Who knows, maybe this meeting will help with her original mission too?
Speaking of which, Celestia had made a point that Twilight only caught a glimpse of in her drunken state. They knew where several of the Changeling camps were, and with the fact they hadn't attacked in quite some time, they needed to send some scouts on recon to see what those monsters were doing. Some part of her realized she should be less vindictive towards Chrysalis's changelings, they were after all capable of good, but there was too much going on already to allow herself such sentiments.
If Twilight was going to start sending out recon squads though she'd have to be careful. If the Alicorn Empire could destroy an entire town of soldiers, kill an alicorn, and do so without so much as a scratch, then she'd have to take caution with her choices of who should explore the south. After all whoever went there would be facing more dangers than just Changelings.
She'd be meeting Starlight just outside of town at a little ruin that had stood for a long time now, one that Twilight only really discovered a few years back. The old ruin she was fast approaching was the skeleton of a two story house. Half the house was simply missing as though some terrible bomb went off besides it, and the walls were void of large chunks revealing the frame. Black scorch marks over the wood told the story of a fire from long ago. Twilight approached carefully as with any old building like this one could never be quite sure if it was about to collapse or not.
She didn't see Starlight out here so she chose to lie in the grass and pull out her journal. She was keeping a collection of notes, thoughts, and potential plans in here and working on them every chance she had. There was even a mouth drawn map of southern Equestria and the Changeling locations. She already decided that she was going to send Rainbow Dash to one of these locations soon, the mare was fast, had excellent eyesight, and could get a good recon from less than a second of watching any potential site, but more importantly, she could be trusted to take care of herself, even against an alicorn.
Starlight's voice came out from behind Twilight giving the mare a heart attack. "What are you reading?"
Twilight slammed the book shut more on impulse than decision. "Starlight! You scared me!"
Starlight smiled down at her. The pink mare held a few books in her telekinetic aura and was stretching out one of her wings as she read the book titles. "I don't remember which one of these you wanted, so I brought all of them."
Twilight rose to her full height, an imposing site against most, but with an alicorn as old as Starlight they were almost the same height. "Actually I might need all of the history of Southern Equestria volumes so that's good."
Starlight's eyebrow rose. "Seriously? I mean the place is interesting and all, but these books are like, the most boring things on the planet. You know I like a good text book, but the typos, flat writing, and lack of pictures really make them a hard read."
Twilight shook her head. "Even I have a hard time with these books, but they are also some of the few accurate texts referencing Southern Equestria. Right now I need to learn all that I can."
When exactly did Starlight become an Alicorn? For some reason Twilight couldn't remember. Was it after Twilight lost her wing to balefire? Did it matter? Starlight could be trusted to do most anything, and in this case she might really help out. Maybe Twilight found her second scout, assuming the mare was up for the task of going to Southern Equestria. All Twilight could really do was ask, right?
If only Amber had known that being punished meant walking for miles out into the Everfree Forest, she might have actually thought twice about saving Twilight. No, no she wouldn't have really thought twice about that, but she was paying for her actions with some leg pain as Fluttershy seemed intent to go as far as she could into the woods. It had already been a few hours and the sun had long since vanished from sight. Fluttershy had neither told Amber how long they'd be walking for, nor where exactly they were going. Her only guess would have been the Castle of the Two Sisters, but Amber knew better, they were skirting around the place. Just how big was the Everfree Forest really? It felt like she'd entered a world unto itself in here.
Suddenly Fluttershy stopped, causing Amber to stop as well. Fluttershy's ears stuck up straight and twitched. Her eyes scanned around them carefully. Finally she let out a sigh. "I guess we really can't avoid this encounter, much as I'd like too. Amber, pull out you're hammer."
Amber felt her chest tighten as she withdrew her favored weapon. The heavy top weight of the hammer was a familiar comfort. Around her she could hear the woods creak, and groan. Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed on the path ahead of them. A fierce snarl grew over Fluttershy’s face revealing a single fanged tooth.
This was what Amber had wanted, right? The thrill of combat, dangerous adventure, and excitement. If so, then why was she so scared?
“Amber,” Fluttershy said carefully as she walked ahead a few steps. “Get behind me.”
Amber jerked a nod and took a place behind Fluttershy. She waited with bated breath as the noise in the forest seemed to quit working altogether. The silence that filled the area now was deafening.
Off in the distance Amber could see something coming down the old path. It was hard to make out. A sort of shadowy shape, almost equine in form. It moved, less like a pony and more like water floating over the path. Fluttershy’s eyes seemed to light up and her snarl grew into a grin.
Before Amber could react, much less think, Fluttershy leapt forward in a low flight only a few feet above the ground. The shadow sped forward to meet her speed. Just a second before slamming into the shadow Fluttershy pulled upward in a sharp angled rise and the shadow kept moving forward beneath her. The shadow was now heading straight for Amber.
Instinct kicked in pushing the fear aside as Amber struck a combat pose. Her hammer set up to strike the moment the thing got too close. Amber watched as the thing drove toward her at increasing speeds. Her eyes were fixed on the two red pits where the eyes of the shadow thing should be.
A pink and yellow blur smashed into the top of the creature. Black shadowy goop went flying in all directions. Amber could only watch as a large glob flew into her chest. A few more smaller globs splattered her hair and face. For a moment she continued standing there staring at Fluttershy who was half covered in black oil like tar.
Fluttershy shook her head. “We really need to close that pit.”
Amber sat down. For some reason her lungs were starting to burn and her head was getting a bit dizzy. When she remembered to inhale the dizziness went away. For a long moment she stared at the goop covering her and listened as Fluttershy approached.
“Amber? Are you okay?” Fluttershy’s voice came out as soft as silk.
“What… what was that?”
A yellow hoof reached up and squeezed Amber’s shoulder. “A monster.”
Amber looked down into Fluttershy’s worried eyes. “Are there more of them?”
“There will be, unless we hurry.”
Amber felt herself shaking. Why was she so scared all of a sudden? Why did this monster put fear into her. It was only then that she remembered the shadow thing that had nearly destroyed the entire town, had taken over the minds and bodies of all her loved ones, and forced her to fight them. She was shaking now.
Fluttershy’s voice came out gentle. “Okay, we can go home. Twilight can deal with the monster this time.”
Amber shook herself hard, trying to lose the fear. How could she really be Twilight’s apprentice if she was going to be so scared. It was just a weak little slime monster. It wasn’t the big evil threat she’d faced before. Amber stood up, picked up her hammer and walked forward past Fluttershy. “No, we’re finishing this. I still have to repent for what I did, right?”
Fluttershy looked after her for a moment before a smile grew over her lips. She walked forward while shaking her head. “Just like your mother.”
***
Twilight stood in a lone room in her castle. A few machines sat against the wall with a multitude of lights blinking on them. Against the far wall there stood a massive door, it was closed. Twilight hadn’t used this room yet for anything outside of a few test runs. So far it had worked perfectly, but that didn’t mean something couldn’t go wrong in the future. If she wasn’t feeling so pressed for time, she wouldn’t even consider it.
Behind her stood three ponies she was very familiar with. Starlight, Rainbow Dash, and best of all, Luna. Twilight turned to face them and addressed what was no doubt the big question on their minds. “I bet you’re all wondering why you’re here?”
Starlight sighed. “I already know why I’m here, I helped you with that machine, remember?”
Twilight blinked. “That was you helping me?” for a moment she tried to remember, she barely recalled having an assistant of some sort, her whiskey, and then there was some pony else there too.
Starlight blinked. “I did all the location matrix calibrations!”
Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, I must have been drunk.”
Luna’s frown deepened, and Twilight could hear her whisper to herself, “What else is new.”
Hearing that hurt Twilight. She wasn’t drunk that often. She was still sober more than she was drunk, at least fifty one percent of the time. Speaking of which she was itching for a good drink, but that would wait until after the meeting at least. “Anyway, I have an important mission for the three of you. Or should I say the four of us.” With a flick of her magic she created an illusionary map of southern Equestria along with the locations of the Changeling nests they knew of. “These are the six Changeling nests that we have found, right now we are worried about a mass stampede across the border and so we’re going to check out the nests and do a quick, quiet scouting mission.”
Rainbow Dash raised her hoof. “I can do that, but it’s still gonna take me a while to get there, I’m fast, but not that fast.” She then looked at her alicorn company. “And uh… isn’t teleporting that far dangerous for you two?”
Starlight nodded. “That’s why none of us are going through traditional means.”
Twilight added, “This machine, in fact this entire room, is dedicated to creating a self sustaining portal to get us to Southern Equestria where we can start this mission.”
Luna spoke up. “Why are we going on this mission? I understand Rainbow Dash, but why don’t we send some scouts instead of us?”
Twilight smiled at her. “Each of us have special skills and enough power to back them up to make sure no matter how south this goes, it will end up okay.”
Luna’s eyebrow raised. “More south? How far do you plan to take us?”
Twilight shook her head. “You’ve had twenty years, love. Twenty years to pick up this euphemism, and still you missed it entirely.”
Rainbow Dash gagged. “As sickeningly cute as you two are, let’s just get to the battle plan.”
Twilight nodded. “Rainbow Dash and Luna, you each get one of these locations, color coded for ease.” One of the dots on the furthest settlement became rainbow colored, while the second furthers became dark blue. “Starlight, you can use that spell of yours to become two ponies and still do a good job so you get these two,” the two closest became pink. “I on the other hoof will take this one near the center.
“Once we have scouted out these locations we will make our way to the center one, the largest one. I just want a quick flyby for these smaller locations. Check to see how many changelings are there, and if there are any large scale movements or actions. The center is where the danger is, as we believe Chrysalis herself is there. No moving on the city until we all meet up at this location.”
The map changed into the picture of a large mountain ledge sticking out over the jungle below. “This is Hangmares Height, keep an eye out for any Noose Vines, they’ll try to choke you.”
Twilight paused to let go of the spell and recollect herself. “Listen, this is going to be the most challenging part I fear, but I must stress this as the most important. This mission has zero engagement of enemy units. No fights with changelings, diamond dogs, or alicorns. I don’t even want you to fight any monsters unless absolutely forced to, is this understood.”
Starlight bit her lower lip. “I see… this isn’t about the changelings is it?”
Twilight gave her a scowl. “It doesn’t matter what it’s about, we’re keeping Equestria safe and that’s all that matters.”
Luna spoke up. “Twilight, all of us here know about the Alicorn Empire’s recent attack.”
Twilight shook her head. “I am very concerned about these changelings and refuse to fight a war on two fronts…” She paused and then added. “If you see any alicorn involvement inside the nests, head to Hangmares Height immediately and await further instruction.”
Everypony nodded. Somewhere in the back of Twilight’s mind she told herself she wasn’t good enough to lead them, or even send them on this mission. Still she was the only one who could. After all, what was Celestia going to do? Sit on her fury butt until the enemy knocked on the front door and then let the Elements of Harmony take care of it again? Screw that, Twilight was nipping this in the bud now.
With another flick of her magic she threw a lever and the door against the wall opened to reveal, not an entrance into another wall, but rather a lush forest jungle floor. Twilight turned toward it, and without a further thought began the march that would start this mission, and send her into the darkest pits of Southern Equestria.
“Alright everypony,” Twilight said as she withdrew a flask from her saddlebags. She unscrewed the top and took a long drink of the burning liquid. “Mission start.”
***
Trixie sat on her front porch staring out over the flower garden set up against the wall. Across the table from her sat everypony’s favorite pink pony. Pinkie let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair before taking a sip of her lemonade.
“Everything okay?” Trixie asked.
Pinkie gave her a weary stare. “You don’t already know?”
Trixie gave her a hard look for a moment. “If you’re referring to my… ability, no I don’t. I haven’t used it in years.”
Pinkie nodded. “I don’t exactly control mine, so… there’s that.”
“So what’s wrong?”
Pinkie took another sip. “Twilight.”
Trixie leaned back now and gave a low whistle. A dreadful habit she picked up from her cousin Applejack. “Okay, I get it. You can already tell something big is going on.”
Pinkie shook her head. “It’s not about that alicorn thing, though that stuff is s-c-a-r-y.”
Trixie was going to pretend that Pinkie Pie couldn’t read ponies minds for five minutes and forget that she knew about the alicorn empire thing entirely. “Okay, so what’s bothering you?”
Pinkie stirred her lemonade around with the straw. “She’s scaring me. The drinking is getting worse, the things she’s doing that she doesn’t think anypony knows of, using her friends more like weapons then… friends. I think Twilight needs a good long vacation.”
Trixie nodded. “A few weeks off would do good for her?”
“Not a few weeks, years… maybe forever.” Pinkie frowned. “I don’t think Twilight was ever cut out for a stressful position like that.”
Again Trixie nodded. “I agree. I’m just hoping my little Amber can keep her sane long enough to replace her.”
Pinkie’s eyebrow raised. “You think Amber will replace Twilight?”
“Give or take ten years? Yeah. Either her or Valiant, but if Val does she’ll need to learn to speak up more.”
Pinkie shook her head but smiled. “Val doesn’t need to speak to be a Princess.”
Trixie laughed. “True, true, and she already has the weird magic powers down to a tee.”
They both shared in a joyful laugh. Once they had both calmed down Trixie added, “Isn’t it nice that we can have conversations like this on nice, quiet, and boring days.”
Pinkie nodded. “That’s what being an adult is all about. Being boring together.”
***
Amber felt her tall legs running as fast as they could. Fire burning through the muscles as she pushed herself harder. Behind her she could hear the splashes of goo as they landed against trees and rocks. She leapt over a fallen tree and started screaming, “This was the dumbest punishment ever!”
The giant three story tall goo pony must have agreed as it flung several more globs the size of ponies at Amber in response.
The ground cracked beneath Twilight’s hooves. Her mind raced for an answer, any answer as she desperately looked around. The once damp earth of the jungle floor had been burned away into glass. The few trees that still stood had become charred gravestones of a once lush environment. The rocky structures that were used by the changelings were cracked, filled with holes, and partially burned into glass.
Each step of Twilight’s hooves came with a crunch that sent shivers running down her spine. It was supposed to just be a flyby but she couldn’t resist landing once she witnessed this shining green mess on the forest floor sticking out like a tumor. She approached the largest structure she could. There was the faint smell of something rotted, and her mind flashed back to a memory of the Diamond Dogs she’d encountered as a teen. She really didn’t want to look in there.
Still she forced herself to take a peek inside and her heart stopped once she saw the mess. The first thing she saw were round black ovals that were cracked open with some kind of sickly goo running out of the sides, the good wasn’t wet, it was… rotten. Flies were swarming these round shapes feeding from the remains. In the corner lay a couple of bodies, changelings, black hard carapaces were torn to shreds with dry red stains covering the wounds. Even with the shell was mostly intact Twilight could tell from the hordes of ants crawling around the insides that most of the internal structure was long since rotted away.
She took a step inside and the stench of the room hit her like a train. Her instinctual response was to use a magic spell to filter out the smell, but even that was only good enough to tone down the strength of the stench. She walked into the room. Parts of the floor were covered in glass, and the walls were scarred with holes and scorch marks. A battle took place in this room, and the losers were lying in the corner being hollowed out by bugs.
Twilight approached one of the ovals that was missing its top. Her hoof stepped n the goo. Much to her surprise it was rock hard. It had dried out despite looking very wet. It was also crunchy. She felt her stomach twist as she stepped on the yellow substance.
Inside the oval shape she saw it. A small changeling, its carapace wasn’t even done forming and the thing was albino in color with the body more resembling a larva then a pony. These were babies. Changeling babies! The eggs hadn’t been broken by the glass spell, at least not all of them, someone had come in and personally…
Twilight’s stomach turned upside down and she rushed back out of the building. It was only by instinct alone that she remembered to let go of the spell around her head as she opened her mouth and watched her breakfast, plus alcohol leave her body as fast as it could. It took several minutes of vomiting, retching, and crying before Twilight was able to force herself to stop looking at the pool of contents she’d left behind and look up at the sky.
Sure, she hated changelings, at least Chrysalis’s changelings. Heck if she was being very honest with herself she had a hard time with Thorax’s changelings too, her previous experience with battling them was too much to simply forget. Still she could never, ever see anyone being able to kill… babies. To slaughter unborn baby changelings.
Is this why they were pressing so hard against the borders? Were they trying to escape a worse fate than death by a pony’s hoof? Was she instrumental in keeping these changelings here to be exterminated like… like insects?
With horror rising in her mind Twilight realized that this was just one of the settlements, and a smaller one at that. With a flick of her magic Twilight lifted herself up into the air. She needed to reach therendezvous point and get more Intel form her scouts.
Even in her darkest of imaginations, this was so much worse than she thought possible.
***
Amber ran under a tree branch crashing through foliage as her mad dash continued. Behind her she heard trees bending and breaking as the immense weight of the giant slime pony behind her continued its charge. The only thoughts in her head included how to double back and check up on Fluttershy, and how to get rid of the behemoth behind her. The thing was as tall as some of the trees by now and it only seemed to be growing in size with every step.
A ravine appeared in front of Amber and she skidded to a halt. She’d already reached a dead end and turned to face the beast. It was only thirty feet away and closing quick. Her hammer wouldn’t do much good against this thing and her magic was temperamental at best. Still what choice did she have at this point?
Amber charged her horn up with what she hoped to be a quick spell. The beast closed in. Losing a powerful scream Amber charged forward to meet her foe. The slime pony lifted a tar like hoof and lowered it over Amber’s head. She closed her eyes and released the spell.
The world turned hot, and a bright red flash consumed her vision and her world. The sides of her shoulders burned along with her tail and when she opened her eyes she realized she was standing a good forty feet behind the goo monster. The ground around her was on fire. Back where she had previously been, there was a small fire raging as well. A burning feeling filled her nose and she could taste copper already.
“One spell and I already get a nose bleed,” Amber shook her head and looked back at the beast.
The thing was looking around clearly confused she was no longer there. Well according to Aunt Fluttershy this creature needed to be put back in the hole it crawled out from. “HEY BIG BAD AND GOOEY! THIS WAY!”
The thing looked at her and two sickly yellow eyes narrowed. She galloped ahead, heading back to where she’d left Fluttershy. The giant monster followed with earth shaking hoof steps. This creature was clearly out of her reach for now, but she recalled how calm Fluttershy had looked when she encountered it. It was almost as if the monster was no threat at all to her, and when she asked Amber to be the one to distract it, it had shocked Amber.
She still didn’t feel like she was truly capable of dealing with such a threat on her own, but she was confident that with the help of Fluttershy she would take this creature out with hardly any challenge.
In the distance Amber saw it; the large open field where the slime beast had come from. Strange old machines stood out in the field covered with weeds and rust. These machines, as far as she could tell looked almost like some kind of mining equipment, but there was no mine here. Just a really big, really deep hole filled with black goop. However, the one thing she wanted to find was not here.
Fluttershy was missing.
Amber screamed as she entered the field hoping that Fluttershy would hear her and come to her rescue. With a twenty foot tall monster hot on her trail she wasn’t going to be able to do much other than run and scream, and her legs were already burning form the exertion of running so hard.
She slowed down when she neared the pit. The pit was probably the size of a small shed and had black tar rising to only a few inches away from the top. Who knows how deep it went, or what would even happen to anything that fell into it. The sight of a skeletal pony leg sticking out of the tar told Amber that she didn’t want to know.
The earth quaking hooves behind Amber brought her to attention and made her skirt around the pool of black ink. Once on the other side she turned to see the monster still chasing, albeit a little slower now. It was watching the hole with great interest, and moving around it slowly. The thing could probably reach right over it and squish Amber but it was instead choosing to walk around it as if afraid. Amber used this as an opportunity to keep the monster away by having the pit between her and it, so far this was better at slowing down the monster than any of the trees around here had been.
Why was the thing so scared of the pit though? And if it was so scared of it, shouldn’t she be too? Amber shook the thoughts from her head, the one thing she didn’t learn from Twilight was that sometimes thinking too much was a problem.
There was a whistle in the air. A sound she hadn’t heard since the last time she saw Rainbow Dash performing a race. Of course Rainbow had moved too fast to even see her, a problem most ponies had with Rainbow’s personal racing career, but it was a familiar sound none the less. If Rainbow Dash was here, she would be saved.
Amber looked to the skies but instead of a rainbow colored blur like she expected, she saw a pink one circling above them. Amber felt her ears fold back as the pink blur flew up above them, high above them and pierced a cloud popping it much like a bubble.
“It can’t be.” Amber’s eyes widened as she saw the blur take a sharp turn and aim toward the ground. “No, only Rainbow can do that!”
Amber turned and ran as fast as she could. The sound of the air being cut in half by the impossible speed of a pegasus turned into a loud ear piercing whistle. The monster looked up, too dumb to see its own death coming straight for it. Amber only managed to get a dozen or so feet away from the pool when she saw the world around her explode into a pink and yellow light. Her body was hit by a powerful invisible force and her hooves were lifted off the ground. Amber wanted to scream but the air was torn away from her lungs as she hit the ground rolling. She managed to catch it, just barely, but a mushroom cloud of pink and yellow energy erupted behind her from where the tar monster had once stood.
Once Amber ceased rolling she pushed herself up and stared at the pool. It was now covered by a giant boulder. The monster itself was gone. The only thing that stood was Fluttershy, standing on the ground surrounded by scorch marks in the ground.
Fluttershy offered a smile. “What was it I couldn’t do now?”
Amber tried to cough out a response but it merely came out as a series of squeaks.
Fluttershy shook her head. “Twilight was right to ask me to do this. You need some serious training if you can’t handle a slime monster like that. N-not that I’m judging you or anything… just that… I have a lot to teach you.”
Amber sat up straight. “But… but… but…”
Fluttershy smiled. “Come on, our chores have only just begun.”
***
Twilight stood on the edge of the cliff staring out at the expansive jungle before her. She hardly noticed the sound of the ponies talking behind her. Instead her focus was on two things. One the largest settlement of Changelings, home to thousands of the species if not tens of thousands stood ahead of her. Where it would have once looked more like a massive hornet or termite nest, it now resembled a glass crater, miles long and miles deep. The tingle of magic energy coming from it was so strong that it radiated all the way to her position. It tasted of alicorn magic. There was no longer a need to check out the final location. It was gone.
The other thing grabbing at her attention was the fact that from what she’d just been told from her scouts. Every single settlement was much like the first one she’d discovered. All the eggs destroyed, any and all life found exterminated.
A shudder ran through Twilight’s entire body. She’d dealt with death before, but never before had it been on such a large scale. Never before had it been so cold and merciless. In fact she couldn’t recall a single instance in Equestrian history that held this much death save for one, the genocide of the gem eyed pegasi, but that was hundreds of years ago. Could anypony at home even comprehend this much death at once? Could she even comprehend it now?
“Twilight,” Luna’s voice came out as a gentle breeze on a hot summer’s day.
Twilight grabbed her flask and attempted to drink from it. The thing had run empty about five attempts ago, but the motion was familiar and made her feel slightly more at ease. “Yes?”
“We should head back, I suspect this is all we can do here.”
Twilight nodded. “I guess so.”
“Twilight, this will all be alright.”
Twilight glared forward and nearly shouted, “No, it won’t. If they can do this to the changelings, what can they do to us? What will happen to our children?”
Luna placed a wing over Twilight’s back gently petting her. “I fear we already know what they’ll do to us, as they already have.”
Twilight’s eyes burned as she stared forward, unable to look away from the sight. “I guess your right… but how in the world do I save us from this?”
Luna’s voice came out quietly, so quiet that Twilight could barely even hear her. “Maybe we don’t win this time.”
Twilight stood in the map room of the castle, her throat burned from vomiting food and alcohol but she didn’t care. Luna was sitting on Twilight’s chair quietly behind her. Starlight and Rainbow Dash had already left, though they were on call just in case Twilight needed them. Right then she was focused less on if she might need them, and more on what she might need them for.
Luna’s voice came out gentle and soft. “Twilight, you’re going to burn a hole in the floor from pacing so much.”
Twilight threw her head back and groaned. “Already did that, twice.”
She was going to have to tell the other elements of harmony eventually… but when was the right time to drag them into this. Her strongest weapon, her most powerful tool, was the power she had when her friends were with her. Of course the question was, if the power wasn’t enough to stop an army of alicorns, how could she best use the power against her newest foe.
“Twilight,” Luna’s spoke the name as if it weighed as much as a train.
Twilight stared at the map as she let out a sigh. “Yeah, Luna?”
“About what I said before.”
Twilight shook her head. “It’s fine, you just were speaking your mind.”
Luna appeared by Twilight’s side, her head nuzzled into the bottom of Twilight’s chin. From this position Twilight couldn’t see Luna’s face, but she felt the warmth of the body pressed against her side and neck. “Twilight… I didn’t mean what I said.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. Twilight, I’m…”
“You’re just being honest, and now you’re trying to make me feel less stressed out.” Twilight stared at the map. “Truth is, until we find out how or even what the alicorns did to the changelings there’s no way we can stop them. This could be a battle we lose.”
A shiver ran down Luna’s body making her press tighter against Twilight. “Scared.”
Twilight shook her head. “Not particularly, I’m used to world ending threats by now. I am concerned, worried, and very frustrated,” not to mention angry, “but I am not scared.”
A choking pained sound escaped Luna’s throat. For a moment Twilight held there, worried that Luna was hurt somehow. Luna’s body was shaking against her and starting to droop. It took a moment but Twilight recognized the almost alien sound that had come from Luna. It was a sob.
Twilight wrapped her legs around Luna and pulled her into an embrace. Slow and gentle strokes through Luna’s hair helped calm the shaking a bit. Twilight sat there for a long minute just holding and petting her other half. “Luna, I’m here for you.”
Luna pulled back only just enough to meet Twilight’s eyes. Tears were running down Luna’s face making her cheeks damp with sorrow. “I’m scared.”
Those two words froze Twilight’s heart in place. For all the years she’d known Luna. From the moment she first appeared as Nightmare Moon, and then became her small self stealing away Twilight’s heart, all the way past the windigo war, and until now with the loss of an alicorn soldier. Twilight had never seen, nor heard Luna be afraid. As in honest to goodness fear. Quaking terror that was much better suited for a young Fluttershy than it was Twilight’s heroic, champion of the night.
Twilight didn’t know what to do. How could she prove that things would be okay, especially when she knew that would be a lie. This threat was so large that she was already anticipating the worst possible outcome. She was already considering the idea that she might lose someone close to her during the coming months.
The only thing Twilight could think of was a simple one. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against Luna’s. She pulled back only a fraction, just enough to whisper, “I promise I will make everything better. I’m Twilight Sparkle after all.”
It wasn’t much, but Luna’s eyes seemed to relax a little. Even if that was all Twilight could do at the moment, she’d take it. Sometimes a small victory was all she could get, but it was still a victory none the less.
***
Three days.
It had been three whole days of traveling through the woods, fighting monsters, and trying not to get eaten. Amber was sick, and tired of it at this point. She was also exhausted, beat up, and covered in muck. Fluttershy didn’t actually look much better with her hair being a tangled mess filled with sticks and mud. They both looked like wild savages, more than ponies.
Fluttershy glanced back at Amber. The look of fierce excitement in her eyes mixed with a bit of a sad distant look as if she was seeing past Amber. This look Amber had anticipated meant that Fluttershy was about to take her on another challenge, but one that was going to be sad at the end.
“Amber,” Fluttershy spoke as she ducked under a tree branch.
Amber had to duck lower to get under the same branch. “Yeah?”
“I wasn’t going to let you go on this one at first, but you’ve shown how strong you’ve become.”
Amber raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What is it?”
Fluttershy looked ahead and her mouth scrunched up as if she bit into something sour. “We need to… help a creature… take a nap.”
Amber felt the weight increase in her heart. “Okay, what creature.”
“One that’s going to be mad, but it’s just sick… very sick.”
“Contagious?”
“Not to ponies, but it is to other monsters.”
“What creature?”
Fluttershy’s wings pulled tighter to her body. “An Ursa Minor.”
Amber stopped dead in her tracks. “I’m sorry?”
Fluttershy stopped a few feet ahead of her and glanced back. “I… I don’t think we can afford to let the poor baby go for another few days.”
Amber shook her head. “Look, I’d love to show up my mom and be the even Greater and More Powerful Amber Light, but I will not mess with an Ursa anything with you around.”
Fluttershy blinked. “With, me?”
“You darn near killed my mom over an ursa minor!”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Oh no, how did you-“
“She told me. Well okay, Maud told me, but she confirmed it.”
Fluttershy looked down at the dirt. “I see… I guess Maud would be the one to tell you that.”
“So count me out. I refuse to be killed by you.”
Fluttershy stepped forward and put a hoof on Amber’s shoulder. There eyes met. “I would never do that to you! You’re my niece, my family. I… I wasn’t very in control of my emotions when I was younger, but I’ve had many years to work on my anger. I swear, if I didn’t know we needed to do this for the safety of the entire forest, I wouldn’t ask you along. But… we don’t have time to head back.”
Amber glared at her. “And why do you say that now? Why is it only now that you bring up the fact you want me to kill an Ursa Minor?”
Fluttershy nodded to the left. Amber rolled her eyes but followed her gaze. For a moment she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. Just more forest, a clearing, and then more trees.
The clearing looked a bit strange. The ground was littered in bent over, and broken trees as if a flood came through, but it was only in this one circular area. Some of the ground had splotches of black goo. Much like the goo that had made the tar ponies Amber had faced earlier. Only the smell was different. It was sharper, more electric. It smelled like magic.
A patch of brown fur stained with crimson splotches stood out from underneath some of the fallen trees. Amber stared for a moment. Large slashes in the fallen trees made it look like massive claw marks. The brown fur seemed to be attacked to something she could only barely make out. A lump, stained crimson with red meaty gashes all over it.
“I don’t understand-“ Amber started to say.
“That was Harry’s first born, Fuzzy.” Fluttershy’s voice came out stone cold. “His family lived near here. In the cave that used to be there.”
Amber stared at the lump with new found vision. It belonged to one of Fluttershy’s animal friends. There was a mound just a bit further. The mound of rocks and earth looked like an oddly shaped bit of land. Of course if it had once been a cave…
“Okay.” Amber made her decision. “I will not be the one to make the final blow, but I will help you.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you… I just… I thought there was more time before he went mad.”
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Amber asked.
Fluttershy was already marching ahead. “Yes?”
“I thought the Ursa Minors and Majors were all extinct…”
Fluttershy didn’t stop walking. “They are.”
***
Trixie was normally busy with school work all afternoon but she lucked out today and managed to steal away a few free hours for herself. Her first instinct was to do something she hadn’t in quite some time now. To get a spa treatment. The spa was a quiet and calm place as it always had been, with Aloe and Lotus still running the show. They were an odd pair of sisters, very friendly but never seeming to be interested in dating, and no Trixie did not try to seduce… too hard, with Maud’s approval of course. Other than that they were just as youthful looking as they had been the day she first met them.
They were busy giving Trixie the second best hoof massage she’d ever had when a familiar voice played out musically from the spa chair behind her. “Darling, I didn’t know you were here today.”
Trixie glanced back at Rarity and smiled. “Oh you know me, trying to keep myself pretty for the misses.”
Rarity let out a small laugh. “Oh do I know that feeling. Spike loves it when I come home from the spa. I suppose it also doesn’t hurt that I usually come home with some energy to burn if you know what I mean.”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “I think my youngest daughter might have said it best once with, ‘dragon sex, ew’.”
They both laughed for a minute after that. Rarity added, “I suppose I can cancel plans to set her up on a date with this young dragon I know.”
“Rarity,” Trixie said slowly, “I don’t think Spike would like knowing that you have other dragon contacts.”
“And Maud would be upset to find out that your letting beautiful mares all over your hooves.”
For a moment silence passed between them before they both broke out into another fit of giggles.
Trixie giggled. “Ah, jealous lovers, the best, worst thing in the world.”
“Agreed.”
Trixie looked up at the ceiling. There was a painting of a beautiful sky filled with stylized pegasi flying through the clouds and weaving rainbows together much like giant ribbons. The image was new, painted on here by commission a few years ago from an earth pony that Trixie was related to.
Speaking of artistic earth ponies, a female voice broke the silence of the room. “WHO PUT BLACK CRAP ON THE CEILING?”
Trixie and Rarity both looked over to see a peach colored mare standing on her rear legs as if she was some kind of minotaur and pointing at the corner of the room. Her rainbow colored hair flowed around her shoulders going down to the small of her back. Her tail ended in a black paintbrush like tip.
Aloe, or was it Lotus, it was the pink one, went over to speak with Color Splash who was as her name would imply, making a splash. “It was a tar spill. This is why we called you to come and fix it.”
Color Splash groaned, put her head into her hooves and complained, “Do I look like a repair pony to you? I was busy painting the barn again when I got the message someone had ruined my work here.” She glared up at it and growled. “And it’s covering up dad’s face!”
Trixie let out a sigh. No wonder Color Splash was mad, it wasn’t just that her painting was damaged, she could fix that easily enough. It was that Soarin’s face was being covered by the tar. Color Splash really did love that father of hers, even though he was usually too busy helping Rainbow Dash with military stuff. Speaking of which, this made Trixie curious as to how much involvement he was going to have in the upcoming conflict. It really shouldn’t be that hard to deal with, have Twilight and friends blast away a few alicorns with magic friendship powers, and the world would be safe like always.
A bright pink earth pony bounced in next to Color Splash. Her blond tail was curled up at the end almost resembling a lollipop, and her mane did much the same at the ends. She spotted Trixie right away and hopped over to where Trixie was.
Trixie began, “Hey, Sophie, how are-“
Sophie interrupted, “I’m doing great! Did you see Color Splash get mad over there, she’s so silly.”
Trixie noted that Sophie was wearing her sky blue saddlebags with a bumblebee plushie sticking out from the side. The stuffed animal had a small tear in the side with a bit of stuffing coming loose. Sophie followed her eyes and shrugged. “Mrs. Buzzy got a little hurt when I was out playing earlier. She’ll be fine, I’ll fix her up like a real doctor.”
Trixie nodded. “That’s good, I know you two are inseparable.”
“Pfft only because I saved her. You wouldn’t believe the trauma the poor dear went through. Some days, she still smells like bread.”
Trixie blinked. “How… did you get her again?”
Sophie laughed and turned around. “My brother found her for me. He thought I should fix her up and give her a home, he also thought I should give her to Twilight but that didn’t work out so good.”
Trixie found herself wanting to ask more, but she remembered the number one rule. Don’t ask Pinkie and Fluttershy about how they did something weird, and that rule applied to their kids as well. Sophie’s smile faded a little when she looked up into the ceiling. “You know mom has to do something really sad right.”
Trixie sat up. The argument in the background was quieting down but Color Splash was still yelling even with her starting to use her tail to repaint the ceiling. She was standing precariously on a ladder as she did so, but Trixie trusted in the mare’s balancing skills.
“I’m sorry, what does your mom have to do? Can I help?”
Sophie looked back at her. “I dunno, have you ever had to make an Ursa Minor take a forever nap?”
Trixie felt her blood pressure rising as the fire in her heart raged brighter. She stepped up the long stairs of Twilight’s tree castle knowing that the mare was somewhere inside, about ready to receive a scolding worse than anything Celestia could have offered. Sending her daughter out on a mission to kill an ursa minor, how could Twilight even dare to do that to Trixie’s precious baby. Trixie didn’t care if she had to destroy the entire Everfree and kill every last Ursa alive (assuming she hadn’t already) so long as her baby was safe. Though right then she needed Twilight to help with all that.
Several servants gave Trixie a wide berth as she marched through the halls of the castle. The wooden floors echoing with each step. Trixie didn’t need to ask where Twilight was, she could feel the tingle of alicorn magic in the air and simply followed the scent. She wound through the halls until she ended up at Twilight’s Study, there were multiple study rooms in the castle, this one had Twilight’s name in gold over the door.
Trixie pushed the door open and marched in. Twilight sat behind a wooden desk with books piled to either side of her. The room smelled faintly of something dark, cold, and a bit like moon petals, but only Twilight with her lavender scent was in sight. Trixie sneered at Twilight.
“Trixie?” Twilight’s tone was shock at first, then her eyes narrowed a bit and her tone came out hard. “What is it now?”
“Don’t take that tone with me missy!” Trixie stomped into the room and right up to the desk. For a moment she swore she felt something brush by her side but when she reached out nothing was there, just the wind she guessed. She shook it off and focused again on Twilight. “You sent my baby out to fight an ursa minor!”
Twilight scoffed. “Sure I did, and you totally didn’t wipe the race out of existence back in the windigo war. Oh and I still have both of my wings there in my closet along with the skeletons.”
Trixie was at the desk and reared high into the air, letting her forelegs slam down on the desk. The books began to sway but Twilight’s red aura kept them steady. “I don’t need your sass! I need you to get me to my daughter now!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I have much more important things to do right now then waste my time here.”
“I will light you on fire!” Trixie shouted.
A smile crept over Twilight’s lips. “Oh? And how will you do that, you’re not all that great and powerful with magic anymore.”
Twilight was right about that, but Trixie didn’t need her magic. She had another super power she’d put away, but it was only kept locked up safely, not lost or forgotten. “Listen, Fluttershy is going out there with my baby to kill an ursa minor, and I do not want my baby involved with any such starspawn.”
Twilight’s smile faded a bit as she met Trixie’s eyes. “You’re serious? Fluttershy is going to kill an ursa minor?”
“Yes and I want you to take me to my baby so I can keep her safe.”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin and looked down at the desk. “Let’s just pretend for a moment that what your saying is true, that Fluttershy not only found a surviving member of that species of monster, but she is also about to kill it, how come you think I can find them so easily?”
Trixie nearly spat venom as she said, “Because after the entire town was possessed by that shadow thing you branded by baby with a magical ward on the back of her neck. One that would let you track her wherever she went.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “How did you find out?”
“Do you really think I wouldn’t figure it out? Amber gets into hoof fights all the time, all it took was me cleaning her wounds one day to see the mark. A little bit of research told me what it was, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who put it there.”
“Trixie, I can explain-“
“I don’t care! You already did it, now put that ward to use and use it to find my baby.”
Twilight nodded. “Fine, but just so you know, I do have bigger problems then-“
“Then an ursa minor turning my baby into a limp horned unicorn like your friend, what was it Fizzzle Berry or whatever?”
Twilight closed her eyes. “That is not her name, but… fine. I can spare a few minutes to kill an ursa, but you’re staying h-.”
Trixie lashed out with her mind and an invisible force seized Twilight by the neck drawing her close until their noses were touching. “I, am, going, too!”
Twilight blinked and her voice came out a bit rough. “What, what is this, it’s not a telekinesis spell, it hurts.”
Trixie let go of the psychic force around Twilight’s neck and stared her down. “That is just a taste of what I am going to do to any monster that dares touch my Little Light. It’s also something that never leaves this room.”
Twilight rubbed at her neck. “Light…”
Trixie realized that using the nick name must have reminded Twilight of how Amber got her name. She was after all named after Twilight in a small way. Twilight wasn’t just a teacher or mentor to Amber, she was in a lot of ways a third mother to Amber.
Twilight’s horn took on a deep red glow. “You’re right. Right now, more than ever before, I should be looking out for those close to me. I’m being selfish again. Let’s go save Amber, together.”
Trixie nodded. As the world was devoured by the red light of Twilight’s aura Trixie saw the door to Twilight’s office close on its own, even though nopony was there.
***
The forest canopy stretched hundreds of feet above them, blocking out all traces of light. The darkness surrounding them hid odd shifting shapes along with strange noises. A persistent chill in the air made the fur on the back of Amber’s neck stand up. Fluttershy was technically leading but was standing right by Amber’s side protectively.
“Auntie,” Amber said quietly. “What’s with this place? It’s kinda creepy.”
Fluttershy’s voice cut through the darkness like a warm beacon of light. “The Everfree Forest is… strange. The place is like a living creature in and of itself, some parts of it are kind, wonderful, magical. The place where we’re heading is… it’s like the dark thoughts that somepony holds in the back of their mind. It all collects into one place, and is never supposed to be seen by anypony.”
“And so we’re just dumb enough to go marching into the forest’s dark thoughts?”
Fluttershy nodded. “That’s the best description I can think of. Even after all these years this forest is a mystery to me.”
Amber felt a shiver run through her body. “Lucky for us nopony lives here.”
Fluttershy’s eyes grew distant for a moment as she whispered, “Not anymore.”
For a moment Amber was going to ask about that, but some part of her realized that it was likely a sensitive subject for her. In truth Amber did know that a few ponies had tried to live in the Everfree in the past, each one either left after completing a goal, was chased out, or disappeared. This was not a place for ponies, and where Amber was at the moment she felt like it wasn’t even a place for Deer, and they made cities in the more tame parts of the Everfree.
Amber’s hoof stepped into something freezing cold and gooey. With a look down she felt her breakfast rising in her gut. It was the pitch black goo and it was now covering her hoof. After wiping it off on the dirt as best she could she noted the smell was horrible. It was like fertilizer mixed with rotting food. Part of her was reminded of the time she found a dead cat on the road, when her and Hush Puppy poked it with a stick the thing started to smell awful.
That was not a story Amber was willing to share with her aunt though.
Soon after the first puddle of goop Amber began seeing more splotches, puddles, and streaks of goop all over the ground, against trees, and covering the canopy above them. This part of the forest had become dead silent save for the sounds of their hooves and their breathing. It wasn’t much longer before the forest opened up a bit to reveal a massive cave entrance. The sky was still blocked out by massive trees looming over them, but there was just enough light to see a little bit into the cave. The black tar like substance was oozing out from it and covering the ground.
Amber swallowed hard and took a step. Fluttershy’s leg whipped out catching Amber in the chest like a wall holding her back from moving forward. Fluttershy’s eyes had taken on a slightly different appearance. They were sharper, and gleamed in the darkness. Her fangs were pronounced, and Amber watched as Fluttershy’s wings shifted from the soft downy wings of a pegasus to the thin, bony and fur covered wings of a batpony.
Amber had seen Fluttershy transform only once during this trip and even then it wasn’t completely. This transformation was something she recognized as being meant for only a very dangerous threat. Something inside Amber wanted to curl up and die.
There was something else about this environment as well. She couldn’t quite place it, but there was an old magic here. One that left a familiar scent and feeling in the air. She couldn’t quite place it, but she felt like she should know this place, like it held some significance to her but she wasn’t sure why.
Fluttershy studied Amber carefully. “This is going to be dangerous.”
Amber nodded. “I know, it’s a freaking ursa minor. I’m not stupid.”
Fluttershy looked ahead toward the cave. “Just, don’t pull a Trixie on me and try to fight it. Okay?”
Amber nodded. “I’ll be honest, we’ll both be lucky if I don’t turn around and run away crying.” She was only half joking. She wouldn’t cry.
Fluttershy put her hoof down and stepped forward. “Alright, then let’s take care of this mess.”
Every step toward the cave brought with it a drop in temperature. The air tasted like cold wires, do not ask why Amber knew what that tasted like. The silence was like a wall of force making her heart pound louder and louder until it was the only sound she could hear in her ears. The foul stench of rotten meat and magic flowed from the cave making Amber gag. Fluttershy seemed unphased by it.
Amber wanted to leave, to turn around and stop doing this right then and there, but she stayed. Staring into the pitch black cave only brought with it a sense of unease and fear she’d rarely ever felt before. Words of warning danced on the tip of her tongue but she dared not open her mouth to let them loose.
Fluttershy nodded toward the cave and in a voice so quiet Amber only scarcely caught it she whispered, “Light it up.”
Amber reached for her magic, and fumbled with it for a brief moment. She could muster a simple light spell without hurting herself, that much she was certain of. With just a flick of her horn she summoned a few balls of light that went flying into the cave. They illuminated the dark cave revealing the black goop to be covering everything in sight. There was a massive mound of the black tar with patches of translucent blue fur sticking out of it here and there. The thing was larger than most any house in Ponyville proper. Was this the Ursa Minor?
Her question seemed to answer itself as the mound of tar and flesh pulled itself away from the ground with the tar snapping wetly like torn tendons. A round part of it swiveled toward the entrance and two bloodshot yellow eyes stared back at them. The goop parted to reveal two rows of sharp teeth each as long as a pony. It lifted a paw and slammed it toward the earth with a splattering of goo.
Fluttershy backed away. “Amber, what are you doing?”
Amber stood there. Her mind wanted make her run, but her body seemed frozen in place. She couldn’t stop staring into those eyes. They were filled with equal amounts of pain and hate. Another paw slammed down into the earth as the thing lumbered closer still. Its body seemed to be bone thin underneath all that goo, but so much of it was covered up that she could hardly even tell what was supposed to be under it. There was so much of this black tar here, Amber could only wonder at what had actually happened to this monster.
A pair of hooves grabbed Amber by the shoulders and yanked her back forcing her head to look away. Amber’s body began to move under her control again and she found herself running away from the cave by instinct alone. Fluttershy by her side. “Don’t stare into its eyes.”
Amber nodded, she still didn’t feel brave enough to speak. Yet now that they had pissed it off, what were they going to do?
Running away seemed to be all they could do. The earth shook as the giant beast marched after them. It wasn’t moving fast, but with such long legs its walking speed was keeping pace with them. They neared the tree line and Amber watched as Fluttershy flew forward head first toward one of the trees. Her legs hit braced against the tree and like a spring she catapulted backward towards the ursa minor. Fluttershy’s hoof landed in a right hook across the ursa minor’s jaw. The thing’s head snapped to the side and it stumbled sideways from the blow. Black goop went flying off of it and into the earth below. More goo oozed from its body quickly replacing what it lost.
Fluttershy arched up flying skywards once more. A tendril of black ooze lashed out from the ursa’s body and slammed into Fluttershy knocking her out of the sky like a fly swatter. Fluttershy went sailing past Amber and into the forest streaking like a comet before hitting the earth and leaving a ten foot long trench behind her.
Amber looked back at the ursa. It was already walking toward them once more. A long black tendril was sticking out of the side of its body whipping about like crazy. This thing wasn’t just sick, whatever this goo was, it was changing the creature it used to be into some sort of horror terror the likes of which Amber had never seen.
She shook her head and ran toward Fluttershy. “Auntie, we need to run!”
She arrived at Fluttershy’s side and her heart froze. Fluttershy wasn’t moving. A crimson trail ran down her face as she lay there, her chest barely moving up in down from shallow breaths. Her left wing looked like it was twisted backward and from the red soaking from where a sharp angled bone was sticking out Amber knew she couldn’t just move Fluttershy.
For what felt like the longest moment in her life, Amber stood there staring at Fluttershy’s fallen form. Was this… was this what Twilight had to deal with? Did she have to see her friends get hurt, and be helpless to aide them? To know that death was right behind them coming to take away what little precious things remained in her life? Is this… is this what being an adventurer, a hero was really like?
If so, Amber didn’t want any part of this life style. She didn’t want this at all. Fluttershy was hurt, her aunt was hurt. The monster approaching them was beyond anything Amber could deal with. It was going to walk on in and take away one of the ponies that had been so important to her and her life. What would Pinkie do if Fluttershy died? She’d be alone with two kids and she’d probably never smile again. What would Hush Puppy and Sophie do? Hush would probably retreat into himself and never come back out. Meanwhile Soph would probably try to be the joy in the family but her smile would forever be a lie, a mask hiding the pain that would devour her from the inside.
A burning sensation filled Amber’s chest. “No, I can’t let them suffer like that. Nopony deserves to suffer like that.”
The burning sensation spread out like a spider web across her entire body. It hurt, but with the pain came some kind of familiar feeling. Almost like putting on an old dress she hadn’t worn in years.
There wasn’t much thought to it, it was a lot more like instinct. Her body turned to face the oncoming threat. The creature seemed to be moving slower now, much slower. It wasn’t just the monster, the leaves were moving as if in slow motion, sounds were drawn out and distorted. Amber took a step toward the monster and flames spread across her leg, but even though it hurt, it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Twilight once told her of the legend of the Nightmare. A state of being where a unicorn’s magic, nay their entire soul lights up with a furious power. Often times their fur changed color and their mane and tails would light up as well. Although rare it was possible to find unicorns doing this, for only brief moments at a time, almost always from being overly stressed. The Nightmare however, was a different story. It was a pony who could channel this state of being, this raw magical power, into a force of destruction and hurt that would rival even what Princess Celestia could do.
Amber felt her lips curl up at the thought of being the Nightmare herself. Amber focused the feeling running through her entire body into a single spell. Her mane erupted into flames around her as did much of her body as a vortex of fire and hate opened in front of her. Orange fire poured forth from the vortex and outward like a broken fire hydrant. The flames washed over the ursa enveloping it and burning the goop away from its flesh, then it’s flesh away from its bones.
The fire left her body as it poured into the spell. Once all of it was gone the vortex vanished and the fire covering her body went with it leaving only black stains in her fur. The ursa minor had turned into a standing skeleton, it’s bones fused from the intense heat. It took only a few more seconds before gravity returned and forced the skeleton to fall into a loud clattering mess.
With flames burning over the forest floor and on some of the trees around her, Amber knew she had to leave. She turned to face Fluttershy and found instead Twilight Sparkle and Trixie standing next to the wounded pony, both of whom stared at her with looks of shock and horror upon their faces.
Amber took a step toward them and fell. Her entire body went numb and her mouth tasted of copper. While the blackness at the edges of her vision grew she found herself wondering more now than ever before, did she still want to follow in the hoofsteps of her parents and mentor? Did she really want to see her friends in pain like this? Even the comfort of complete blackness wouldn’t pull her away from those thoughts.
***
The golden light of her holy empire shone through the windows into the dark stone building. Several alicorn guards wearing gold and crimson armor stood on either side of the building’s entrance. The doorway was absent of any door, and a black tar like substance was oozing across the floor leading out. The guards horns lit up and incinerated the ooze as it leaked out.
With steps filled with the weight of an entire people on her back she walked toward the door. Inside it reeked like rotting flesh and mold. Crimson light poured from her horn and lit up the room revealing the place to be covered in the black tar. Several pony sized lumps of ooze lay in the corner, bones stuck out of the lumps telling her exactly what they used to be. In the corner of the room she saw a lone crib, the thing covered in black tar. Even with her years of experience dealing with the darkest parts of the world she struggled to see this.
She turned her head and backed out of the room. “Do we know who’s responsible yet?”
One of the guards shook his head. “I’m sorry my Queen. We’ve only heard reports of a lone pony sneaking away into the night from the house.”
“Are there any family members left here?”
He shook his head. “We have reason to believe they were all inside when… this happened.”
Her eyes narrowed on the building’s door. An alicorn was supposed to be nearly impossible to kill. Shy of disintegration she’d struggled to find a way to ever put one down permanently. Not to mention they were supposed to be immune to disease. Whatever this tar was, it looked like a horrible disease, one that was able to have its way with ravaging both mortal kind as well as alicorn kind. Even the gods were not immune to this new threat.
One of the guards spoke up. “Queen Red, what should we do next?”
Red Velvet turned her head and let out a low grunt of annoyance. “Burn it down. Leave no trace of this building nor the black goo inside it.” What she didn’t tell them was that it was time for her to go on a hunt, she needed to find out who could kill an alicorn, how they did it, and most importantly how she was going to keep this a secret from the city itself.
Things were about to get a whole tartarus of a lot more interesting around here.
Trixie stared at the unconscious form of her daughter lying in bed. Several bandages wrapped around her legs and face from small injuries she’d incurred during her ‘adventure’ with Fluttershy. It wasn’t the wounds gained from the fighting itself that stabbed painful feelings of guilt into Trixie’s heart. It was the fact that Amber’s magic harmed her when she used it. It had been a long time Trixie had pushed herself hard enough to cause herself harm using magic, but it was her curse. One she had passed down to her beloved daughter.
At the end of the day her daughter was almost dead and it was her fault. If Maud was here she’d be so disappointed in Trixie. Now she was just waiting for her wife to come home and be disappointed in her at a later date, something to which Trixie did not look forward too. Somehow this felt like she messed up worse than when she cheated on Maud back in the beginning of their relationship, another screw up she never quite forgave herself for.
Amber’s sleeping body looked so fragile, so frail. This was her baby and she was supposed to be taking better care of her. Now what was she supposed to do? Just wait for her baby to wake up from using too much magic and nearly killing herself. The anticipation was horrible. Is this what everypony felt like every time Trixie did something similar?
“Trixie,” Twilight’s voice came out gently behind her.
“Twilight,” Trixie said in a failed attempt to muster any anger. She couldn’t feel angry, just sad.
“She’ll be okay. I promise.”
“You’ve promised a lot of things over the years Twilight. I don’t know why I still continue to believe you.”
“I… don’t either.”
Even if Trixie would have been angry she didn’t mean to hurt Twilight. “Just… let me be alone please.”
Twilight’s hooves sounded off the hard wood floor as she retreated out of Amber’s room. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”
Trixie didn’t think she would need Twilight any time soon. No, just wanted to wait in Amber’s bedroom, watching her daughter and feeling like the scum of the earth.
***
Twilight reached the living room where Fluttershy sat on the couch with bandages covering her wing. Even with the healing magic employed that wing was going to take some time to heal. The bandages themselves were already showing through with red. Soon she’d need another change of bandages, mostly to check if the wound was healing or not.
Before that though, Twilight had a very important conversation to be had with Fluttershy. “So, Fluttershy. Why don’t you tell me about the Ursa Minor.”
Fluttershy’s eyes looked directly at the couch between her legs. “I… don’t know what you mean.”
“Fluttershy I’m neither blind, nor stupid.” Twilight took a seat in the couch across from Fluttershy’s. “Tell me about it, I won’t get angry with you.”
Fluttershy bit her lower lip. Her wings tensed up and a small cry of pain escaped her lips. If only Valiant was here, Twilight could make sure Fluttershy was fully healed. As it stood her magic just couldn’t heal damage like that fast enough. Twilight choose to wait patiently for Fluttershy to respond. Minutes went by in silence and just as Twilight was about to give up on hearing anything from her, Fluttershy finally said, “I’m sorry.”
Well that was a start anyway. “Fluttershy, you know that I’ve done some messed up stuff in secret in the past myself. I’m not going to hold it against you if you thought you were doing something good.”
“I… I just didn’t want the entire race of Ursa Majors to go extinct. I wanted to save… something. Anything, of their species.”
“I can understand that. No one wanted the species to go away forever, that’s too painful to imagine.” There goes Twilight’s empathy classes going to work.
“So when the Ursa that Trixie killed didn’t stay dead I… I thought that maybe it was a gift. I nursed him to health and we became friends.”
Twilight blinked. The ursa minor that Trixie killed? Did she mean the one from back when Trixie was an alicorn and the town was under attack by Frailty? The one that Fluttershy attacked Trixie over? How long has Fluttershy been keeping this secret, nearly twenty years? Even Twilight couldn’t imagine Fluttershy being able to do something like that, and yet here they were dealing with the consequence of a twenty year old secret.
“What happened to bring the Ursa back?”
Fluttershy jerked her head side to side. “I don’t know. I just… I think it was that black stuff. That goo that we’ve been cleaning from the forest. It seems to… make things move again after they die. Usually the animals it brings back just go crazy and attack, but the Ursa Minor stayed sane until recently. He… he was in constant pain though. I don’t think he was meant to come back.”
Twilight nodded, pretending as if she knew this already. In truth she had no idea what was going on. Her magic seemed to reach over to her flask without her knowing and it was half way to her lips before she stopped and realized what she was doing. She set it down and pushed the thought of drinking away until this meeting was over at least. Fluttershy was staring at her now, seemingly more aware of nervous drinking than even Twilight had been.
Twilight cleared her throat. “Well it seems we just have more problems to deal with.”
Fluttershy stared at her. “Twilight, does this have anything to do with what’s been bothering you lately?”
Twilight wanted to answer that. She really did, but she knew she couldn’t do that just yet. Not until they had more information. Although to tell the truth, she wasn’t sure if this was involved with the alicorns or not. Really it just felt like everything was coming to a head on collision at the same time. If another war truly broke out soon, what would Twilight even be able to do? Undead monsters on one side, and alicorns on the other. It felt like this was all going to end in some horrible tragedy… yet she made one vow to herself. If things did get that bad, as bad as she feared it might get for so many years now, she would make sure that none of her friends could be killed, not before she went down fighting for them.
No matter what dark gods she had to make deals with to keep them safe.
Amber opened her eyes. For a moment her eyes were blinded by a golden orange light coming over the horizon. After looking away it took her a few minutes to adjust her vision to see what was around her. She was surrounded by a ruined house, its walls mostly crumbled and its wood stained gray with what looked like layers of dust or ash. The air smelled and tasted stale. She walked forward kicking up a small dust cloud with every step. Something about this ruined building felt familiar though she couldn’t quite place why.
She walked to what used to be a front door and was just about to leave the building when she looked on the floor and saw a face down picture frame. First she tried using her magic but her head exploded into pain when she did so she used the secret earth pony arte of simply picking up the picture frame. The front of the picture frame was caked in a thick layer of dust. She wiped it off with a hoof and saw an old faded photo of her and her family.
Amber set it down and let out a sigh. “I guess this is another nightmare then.” She walked out the door. “Well if this is a nightmare then can I at least be an alicorn warrior princess?” Much to her pleasure a pair of wings with the tips glowing red hot like embers appeared on her sides. A hammer was slung to her left. “Now this is better.”
Outside she saw the world around her. It was all covered in the same gray dust, not a single piece of greenery. Not a single full building. To her right she saw what looked like the remains of a giant tree made of some kind of rock or crystal, though it was faded with only a vague hint of a pink hue left to it. Several small buildings stood but only just barely.
Amber refocused her attention to where the glaring light was coming from. The horizon was on fire, or maybe it was just the sunrise, she couldn’t tell as it burned too brightly to look at directly. Amber walked, step by step toward the light. After awhile she heard some steps ahead of her and she jumped behind a ruined wall and hid. With a careful peak around the corner she saw a young mare only a couple years older than her at most. The mare was sky blue, wore the magical cloak that Trixie gave to Amber years ago, and was an alicorn. The mare was looking out ahead of her watching another odd sight. It was another young alicorn, this one had all the same colors as Twilight Sparkle but was like shorter than Amber was, so maybe it represented Twilight’s kid? The purple alicorn in question was speaking with a mare that even Amber could recognize; Starlight Glimmer. The pair were too far away for her to hear them but it sounded like some kind of argument.
A much more mature voice appeared behind Amber nearly shocking her out of her hiding place. “Amber? What in the depths of tartarus are you doing here?”
Amber turned away and saw Luna staring down at her. Her body was covered in dirt, dust, scrapes and bruises. She wore a tattered hooded cloak and a scarf covering her muzzle. “How are you here?”
Amber turned away to look at the other ponies she had been watching but they were gone now. Vanished from plain sight as if they never existed. She turned to face Luna who was still here and Amber shrugged. “Just thought I’d have another nightmare.”
Luna’s eyes widened. “Nightmare? This isn’t a-“
The orange light burned brightly across the landscape and the temperature sky rocketed. Amber found herself instinctively hiding behind the wall too afraid to look out behind it. Yet everywhere the light touched it burned. Luna’s horn lit up and a cool shield surrounded them. “I cannot promise that I can keep you safe for long. This battle is meant for the gods. You should not be here.”
Amber stood up and looked around the wall and saw a burning alicorn made completely of flames and fury sending a tidal wave of flames out from her horn burning at a dark cloud of pure black hate. The cloud loomed down around the flaming alicorn but was burned away as it tried.
Amber stepped back until she bumped into Luna. “What is that?”
Luna nodded. “That is my sister, fighting off against the most evil threat we’d ever seen. The one even that felled even the Elements of Harmony. This world is gone. Nopony stands here to fight save for us two, and we will not give in until our favored enemy has fallen to our magic.”
Luna stepped forward. “This world may be covered in the ashes of our loved ones, but even that will not stop us from defeating this one last foe.”
Amber looked down at her hooves. “Ashes of our-“ she suddenly felt sick.
Luna stared down at her. “Seems like your time here is up.”
Another voice cried out to her. It was familiar as well. It sounded like… a screaming royal princess. “AMBER LIGHT, IT IS TIME THAT YOU AWAKEN FROM YOUR MOST HORRIBLE OF VISIONS!”
Amber blinked and the world around her disappeared. Now she found herself in her own room again. She was in her bed, her head hurt, and something heavy and warm was lying by her side. Amber looked down only to see her mom’s head lying next to her. Her head hurt really bad. Rubbing at her temples didn’t make her headache go away, instead it only rubbed some dirt off on her face. Looking down at her hooves her heart froze in stark horror and confusion.
Her hooves were covered in ashes.
***
Twilight found herself once again pacing, this time it was outside of Trixie’s home. The ground was already beginning to protest under the weight of her hooves and her rapid movements. The only thing she could think of was how much she’d nearly screwed up. Amber nearly died on this mission. She was supposed to be better than Celestia. She wasn’t supposed to put her student in harm’s way like this. Yet now here she was, with an injured student, an upset mother, and an injured friend. Where was she screwing up at?
The flask tasted of bitter fire as she took another pull from it. By now she should have been empty, of course that was before she found Trixie’s hidden whiskey stash. It wasn’t good whisky by any stretch of the imagination, it was fairly cheap but it worked. Refilling her flask was about the only thing she got right today.
The sound of hooves approaching behind her came with the gentle sent of moon petals. Twilight didn’t need to turn around in order to know who was coming her way. “Luna, I’m surprised your still here.”
Luna’s reply was gentle but there was a slight hesitation to it. “I thought you could use the company.”
Twilight felt herself smiling. “You seem to know me better than I know myself most of the time.”
“Do you even know yourself anymore?”
Twilight looked back at her and saw the unreadable expression in Luna’s eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You didn’t have enough whiskey in that flask to still be drinking from it. Where did you get more?”
Twilight shrugged. “My flask was like, half full for some reason when I left. Thought the least Trixie owed me for saving her daughter was a quick refill.”
“Hmm.”
Twilight felt her eyes narrowing on Luna, but managed to catch herself before speaking out loud her protest to that judgment. “Luna, we have bigger concerns than my choice of liquids right now.”
Luna grumbled. “I agree. These… tar things. They have not spread outside of the Everfree Forest yet, but that does not mean they couldn’t if left unchecked.”
Twilight nodded. “I am going to issue a careful watch of magic hunters to patrol the outside of the forest. Specifically for these tar creatures.”
“That is a surprisingly reasonable action.”
Twilight growled. “Why is it surprising?”
Luna shook her head. “I’m tired is all. We are dealing with things that even I am not sure what to make of. I’m sorry if my exhaustion is making me… grumpy.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Ditto.” She looked up at the night sky. The moon was full tonight, its bright light shining down and filling the air with a unique kind of magic that was far too familiar to Twilight at this point. Of course this meant that Pinkie was going to have her hooves full with her wife tonight as well.
“Twilight, what are we doing?”
Twilight blinked. “What… what?”
Luna was only a few inches away from her now. There muzzles almost touching. “There are threats popping up all over now. Dangerous ones. As if the world we carefully built was coming undone now by just a few crazy events. What are we doing?”
Twilight lowered her head and let her face fall into Luna’s neck. The warmth of Luna’s fur against her face was more than a comfort for her now, it was a need. “We are surviving. Dealing with each threat as it appears. For now, until we can gain more information this is all we can do.”
Luna completed the gesture by laying her muzzle on top of Twilight’s head. “We should confer with my sister about what is going on. Mayhap she would have a solution to our current problems. Even if we are the same age she is far more experienced then I.”
Twilight nuzzled into Luna’s neck. “Alright. If you go with me I’ll… talk to her again.”
Luna’s muscles moved as Twilight felt a smile grow over her lips. “Thank you. And for being such a good princess, I say you deserve a just reward.”
Something stroked Twilight’s rump drawing a quick and quiet yelp from Twilight. She looked up to see a magical and mischievous look in Luna’s eyes. Well… if this was what Luna had in mind, Twilight had to agree, it wasn’t a bad idea.
Twilight stood once more in the imposing ivory castle of Princess Celestia. The city below and behind her was lively even this late at night. This was about the last thing she wanted to do. Confronting Celestia, especially after how shameful she had acted. Luna was only a few feet away giving her a reassuring smile. It didn’t make Twilight feel any better. The only thing that relaxed her nerves was the burning liquid in her flask, of which she took another drink of to steel her nerves. Luna’s smile all but faded in an instant.
Twilight walked toward the double doors and braced herself for what could possibly be another confrontation. Opening the door revealed the great hall where Celestia and Luna’s thrones stood. With each step into the room Twilight felt herself growing tense. Celestia was there on the throne staring down at her with an unreadable expression. It could have been a cold glare, or a disappointed stare, whatever Celestia was feeling was hidden behind that stoic mask.
Twilight and Luna walked to the middle of the hall. The whole while Twilight’s mind was racing to remember what had happened the last time she was in front of Celestia. They were meeting in her basement, and… Twilight had found a few bottles of Celestial Hellfire Whiskey. Everything after that was a blackout until she woke up with everypony mad, but much to her surprise they were angry with her student and not actually her.
This was going to be a diplomatic meeting and Twilight was positive she’d done or said something horrible… again. So her first action had to be the most important chess move made tonight. Twilight lowered her head and braced her pride to take a hit. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia replied. “Oh?”
“Yes, I know that what I did when I was… drunk was horrible. I’m sorry I said and or did that to you. I hope that you can at least look past my actions so we can work together to keep our country safe.”
A smile appeared over Celestia’s lips. She must have known that it took a lot for Twilight to lower herself like that. Much worse it meant she knew she had that much more power over Twilight at the moment. Twilight had to simply deal with it though. She chose to get blackout drunk and do something horrible.
At length Celestia spoke. “I forgive you. Now let’s move on to what brought you here tonight. I’m sure it must be important if you’re apologizing right out of the gate like this.”
Twilight let out a sigh and rose to her full height. “There is a new threat to Equestria, one that possibly rivals that of the Alicorn Empire.”
Celestia gave her a long quiet look. No emotion could be seen behind those eyes, yet the room itself seemed to fluctuate in temperature growing warmer and colder. “Explain?”
“There seems to be a substance. This dark tar like slime that is capable of bringing life back from the dead but mutating it into a sort of monster in the process. It brought back an Ursa Minor turning into… well a monster.”
Luna nodded. “This ooze seems to be growing out of the Everfree Forest. I would be so bold as to suggest it might even be a manifestation of pure evil, the likes of which we have not seen in almost a millennia.”
Celestia turned her head away to stare at a glass mural against the wall. This one showed the mane six all coming together and using their elements of harmony to create a rainbow. It was one way to look at the events of Nightmare Moon but in a more positive light, showing the coming together of a new group of heroes rather than the destruction of an old enemy. “Primordial ooze… this feels familiar but I fear I only know of one pony who might have knowledge on this substance.”
Twilight didn’t have to guess who it was. Her mouth felt like it was vomiting acid as she spoke the name, “Starswirl.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “The creature who took your wings from you shall not be given the time of day. We shall solve this conundrum ourselves.”
Twilight shook her head, pulled her flask to her mouth and just before taking a drink said, “He’s locked in a magic sealing tower, at this point all he can do is talk.”
Celestia let out a sigh as Twilight drank from her flask. “He could do much more than that, though I believe he already obtained his goal.”
Luna snarled, lifted her wing and swatted it near Twilight’s flask. The wing froze mere inches from the flask and Twilight could only stare at the beautiful feathers mere inches from her face. Luna’s wing retreated and she shook her head. “I cannot allow you to face this demon.”
Twilight recalled her promise. That no matter what dark gods she had to face she was going to save this world. She lowered her flask, the taste of burning whiskey still strong on her lips. “Luna, this is my choice. I am going to ask him some questions.”
Celestia looked between the two of them and finally settled on looking up at the ceiling. “I fear that even should we survive another war, the cost might already be too high.”
***
Valiant Heart stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the series of canyons filled with red sandstone, sparse vegetation, and crystals growing out like weeds. This place was stunning. Sure rocks weren’t her hobby so at most she could guess by the colors that she saw sapphires, rubies, and emeralds growing out of the sandstone. Maud had tried to correct her a couple times already but the most she remembered was that one of the rocks was called a lapli uzily or something.
Maud was actually down below her using some climbing gear to scale down the canyon and a pickaxe in her mouth to chip away at some of the gems. Valiant smiled down at her. Maud was in her element.
A young foal’s voice spoke next to her. “I wonder if she’s really happier in Ponyville than she is here?”
Valiant looked down at the colt next to her. This was Boulder Dash, her spirit guide and much to everypony’s surprise, Maud’s child who died in a miscarriage. Even through that though Boulder wanted nothing more than to keep his mom safe. “Why can’t she be equally happy in both places?”
Boulder Dash smiled. “I was just mirroring your thoughts.”
Valiant nodded. “Okay, so… sometimes I wonder that too. Especially with how harsh Amber can be on her. I understand why Amber doesn’t like Maud, but it’s not very fair.”
Boulder nodded. “Amber is going through some hardships right now herself. I’m sure she’ll come around soon.”
Valiant looked up and nodded. “Me too.”
For a long moment they simply stood there enjoying the brief silence. Only the sound of Maud’s pickaxe below them and the wind could be heard. The wind sounded strange here on the top of the canyon. Like some kind of low quiet whistle. For a moment it almost sounded like a long drawn out scream.
The screaming sound grew in intensity. Valiant looked over the edge and saw that Maud was just fine, smiling and happy as she worked on some kind of gemstone. Valiant looked around but couldn’t see anypony around them. “Boulder, do you hear that?”
Boulder’s body faded in and out for a moment before he looked around himself and his eyes widened. “I feel that.”
It took a moment but the next time the wind rushed by her she felt it too. There was a chill in the air. One that almost stung her fur. Yet it was hot out here, almost too hot. This chill wasn’t natural. It was also coming from the direction of the village behind them. The village was about twenty miles away but she could just barely make it out far below them on the horizon. She could even make out the family rock farm and the cottage she spent so many months in helping Twilight heal after the windigo war. New Slate, a place for ponies to restart after suffering through the darkest of times.
Valiant narrowed her eyes. “Trixie told me that there was something dark hiding under New Slate. Do you think-“
Before she could finish she watched as three pillars of bright light broke free from the earth and rose up into the heavens piercing the sky. Each one of them was purple and seemed to fluctuate from bright to dark. In the sky above the town a triangle of dark energy appeared. The energy triangle had to be larger than the entire town. Valiant stared at it in disbelief. The sound came rushing towards her as a deep rumbling sound that shook the earth. Valiant watched as the triangle of light centered over the town shot down towards the earth and upon contact exploded into a massive bright light. The wind rushed at her, the ground shook and Valiant felt herself thrown back over the edge of the cliff.
Maud’s hood reached out and wrapped around Valiant’s pulling her tight against the cliff face. She hit the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of her lungs. For a long moment the two just stood there, Maud staring down at her making eye contact, and Valiant staring right back up.
Boulder Dash floated down towards her and didn’t need to say a thing as his body sunk into Valiant’s. The two of them now merged gave Valiant access to her most powerful of abilities, in this instance she felt her body floating up on its own. With a little bit of help she aided Maud into floating up to the top of the cliff. The two of them landed safe on the ground and Boulder left Valiant’s body.
Now that the bright light was gone she looked on the horizon. Where there had once been a small town there was now a crater. A massive hole in the earth that stretched on for miles. Every nearby farm, cottage, or outpost was replaced by the crater. Valiant’s eyes drifted further and further out. The crater couldn’t have reached that far. It had to be safe. The place was far out of the way. She kept searching with her eyes, going further and further but she couldn’t see it. The rock farm, the Pie Family Rock Farm, she couldn’t see it.
Maud took a step forward. Her lower lip was trembling. Valiant watched in silence as Maud closed her eyes. Valiant opened her mouth and began to say, “They might-“
Boulder interrupted. “No, they’re not.”
Valiant closed her eyes. She searched out with her energy. Combing over the town, the farms, the outposts. Boulder was right. There wasn’t a single sign of life to be found there. A cold dark presence appeared there and a shock went through her soul forcing Valiant to retract her energy. She opened her eyes and found herself in a cold sweat. There was no life down there, but there was something. Something far, far worse then she’d encountered before and it might have just noticed her.
“Mom,” Valiant’s words came out sturdy as she steeled herself for what was to come next. “We have to go, now!”
Maud looked back at her. Her eyes were glossy, tears streaming down her face. Valiant nodded. “We are getting you home.” If only she was a unicorn, she could teleport them home. Now they were going to be on hoof, and probably running away from whatever monster just destroyed the entire town, but they were going to make it, they had to.
Twilight found herself standing in front of Trixie’s door. The letter floating by her side was drawn in her own writing, it was written word by word from the brave familiar who gave her the message. She just wasn’t sure if she was going to have the ability to tell Trixie what happened. What this meant for the country, or for her family. Was this going to be the darkest message she had to give out during this coming war? She prayed to every star in the sky that it was.
She knocked at the door, each rap feeling like an anchor dropping into the sea. This was it, she was going to do this.
The door opened and Trixie stood there smiling at her. “Twilight! I’m so glad you’re here. Amber’s had some questions for you, and I know you’ve been busy and all but my grounded daughter is still your student, I think you can take a minute or two to answer some questions for her.”
Twilight glanced at her letter and then back to Trixie. “Trixie… where… I mean. I have some heavy news. News that you’re going to have to be very careful about talking to Maud about when she gets home from her mining trip.”
Trixie’s smiled faded. “That… might take awhile. Why is Pinkie okay?”
Twilight nodded. “She’s fine. It’s… I don’t know how to say this. I’ve never had to say this before. In all my years as a princess you’d figure at least once I’d have to talk about something like this. Wait, why is it going to take awhile for Maud to get back?”
Trixie let out a sigh and slumped against the door. “She was supposed to come straight home after her mining trip but decided to take a trip to New Slate instead. So… it’s going to be a few more days before she comes home. Family stuff I guess.”
Twilight glanced at the note. Her heart was breaking all over again. She took a drink of her whiskey to steady her nerves. Somehow this became easier, if only by a small margin. “That’s… listen, Trixie. New Slate, New Slate is gone.”
Trixie stood up straight. “What do you mean, gone?”
“Everypony there, every home, every farm. Your cottage, the Pie Family Farm. All of it is… it’s gone.”
Trixie’s eyes widened, her pupils began to shrink. From the back room Twilight heard a door open and saw Amber’s head poke around the corner. “Twilight? Mom? What’s going on?”
Trixie’s head snapped back to look at her daughter in an almost impossible speed. “Go to your room.”
Amber raised an eyebrow. “But Twilight’s right th-“
“I SAID GO TO YOUR ROOM!” Trixie shouted. Her voice cracking with hysteria. “If you don’t go now, I swear to all the stars in the sky you’re going to regret it!”
Amber’s eyes widened and she slowly backed away. Trixie waited until she heard the door shut before looking back at Twilight. “Now what did you say about my wife and daughter?”
Twilight took a step back. “I didn’t say anything about them, yet.”
An invisible force wrapped around Twilight’s neck and pulled her forward to Trixie. Trixie’s muzzle pressed against Twilight’s and her beady eyes were so close they were almost touching Twilight’s. “I thought I heard you say that my wife and baby were gone.”
The force around Twilight’s neck tightened and her air was cut off. She struggled for breath, only managing to get a few scraps of air in her lungs. The look in Trixie’s eyes were something insane, like a mad mare standing before her unable to accept reality. This, this was going to be how she died. Delivering a message and being misunderstood. “Please don’t kill me.”
Trixie’s pupils started to expand again and the force left Twilight’s neck. Before she could respond she hit the floor. Her entire body was in pain but she was breathing again at least. Twilight could only watch as Trixie’s body was rigid. Her eyes still narrowed. “Who did this?”
“W-what?”
“Who took my family from me?”
Twilight blinked. “The… Alicorn Empire.”
Trixie’s words came out like hot fire as she spoke, “Red. That whore betrayed me, tortured me, and nearly ruined everything I had once before. Now she came back to finish the job.” A spark of electricity flew from Trixie’s mane. Twilight watched as Trixie walked past her and out onto the front yard. The sky was growing dark above them. “But I will not let her get away this time. Your right, you and Owlicious both. I’ve been denying it for years, hoping to live a normal peaceful life.”
Lightning crackled in the sky above. Twilight stared in fear. It wasn’t supposed to storm today. No pegasus was preparing a storm. This was some kind of freak accident happening, it had to be. It couldn’t be anything… or maybe.
An idea came to mind and without a second thought Twilight acted upon it. Twilight sat up and clutched the letter close to her chest. “They took them from you, Trixie. And they’ll keep taking from you and everyone else until there is nothing left to take.”
Trixie roared into the sky and the lightning followed as if under her command. “I will not rest until I have charred the bones of every, single, alicorn in that floating kingdom of fools gold!”
Twilight rose to her hooves. “How, how can you do that? Your just a unicorn.”
Trixie closed her eyes and screamed. Tears flowed down the sides of her cheeks. The sky began to cry drops of rain in response. It was as if the gods had heard her cries and responded. A bolt of lightning flew down from the heavens and hit Trixie dead on. The bright flash of light came with an explosive sound and a force of wind that nearly threw Twilight off of her hooves. When the wind and light calmed down Twilight opened her eyes to see something she never thought she’d see again.
Trixie stood there, looking ten years younger. Her fur was damp from the rain. Electricity was sparking off her coat. A pair of wings matching her fur sat on her back. She looked back at Twilight but the anger was gone from her voice, in its stead was just a sad, empty sound. “I never wanted to come back to this, Twilight.”
Twilight nodded. “I understand, but now that we have you back, we can use your help.”
Trixie stared up into the crying sky, letting the rain mix in with her tears and wash them away. It was heart wrenching to see Trixie this way. Twilight knew that she could fix this, she could help Trixie’s heart feel better. If she did she might risk losing the alicorn she needed to fight this evil. Would that be worth it? Losing a one of her most powerful allies? One that could cause a lot of harm to the enemy. Twilight took a long pull from her flask, in fact she didn’t stop to breathe until the entire thing was empty. Once it was drained, her mind and heart were steady once more. This was a decision she could die with.
She looked at the note one last time. It read as followed.
“Twilight, this is Valiant Heart, me and Maud just watched New Slate get completely destroyed. Nothing is left. Some… some evil, dark force was behind it. I don’t know if it was an alicorn, or a demon, or that thing mom met in the caves when she was young. The thing that possessed you. All I know is that me and Maud are okay and alive, but we have to return on hoof, all the way across the country. It will take a long time but we will come home, I will not let Trixie or my sister lose either of us.
Your faithful assistant, Valiant Heart”
With just a bit of magic the entire letter went up in flames. She watched as it turned into ash and vanished forever without a trace. She caught Trixie looking at her with sad eyes. Twilight nodded and smiled. “There’s no need to read the message to you now, you already know the truth. Now let’s avenge your family.”
Luna landed in the middle of the massive crater dug into the earth where the town of New Slate once stood. Teleporting here was easy enough. The guards she had with her were circling the sky and keeping a look out. The ground beneath her hooves was glass which cracked and broke beneath her weight. It was just like what happened to the Changeling hives. The only difference was it felt fresh.
She couldn’t quite explain it. There was certainly alicorn magic at play here, something she was familiar with, but there was something else too. A dark energy that felt almost like an old suit she hadn’t worn in many many years. It was cold, bitter, and tasted sour. Her mind filtered back to memories of when she was Nightmare Moon. Could it be possible she was looking at the aftermath of a new creature possessed by the Nightmare Spirits? Surely they wouldn’t drive a pony to destroy and murder on such a large scale, they wanted to be worshiped, not to destroy. Even Twilight could confirm that a kingdom led by Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world through her history of traversing the multiverse, it just would have been dark and cold without the sun.
She couldn’t imagine the Nightmare Spirits would do this. Even when they corrupted Rarity they did not seek death. So if not them, it was something like them. An ancient creature of darkness. She hadn’t spoken to Twilight about it, but she was beginning to doubt if this was truly the work of the Alicorn Empire. Even they wanted to rule and enslave, not… this.
Speaking of her doubts, she was still curious as to what Starswirl had revealed to Twilight in their meeting. Luna could not stand going anywhere near the monster and his prison, so she let Twilight do that task on her own. Still… what had he told her?
Out of the glass crater Luna managed to find something still remaining. Half buried in the glass and sand she saw what looked to be a bottle of unopened Celestial Fire Whiskey. This was Twilight’s poison of choice. Of course Twilight would drink distilled toilet water moonshine at this point. Luna lifted up the bottle and felt her insides twist and knot. With maybe just a bit too much energy Luna smashed the bottle against the glass. Now if only she could do this with Twilight’s horde of the stuff there life could go back to the way it once was.
Still she saw no signs of life here, nor any signs of who had created this disaster. Whoever was responsible was still out there, and so it was on her to perform her most important duty. She and her guard were to locate, safeguard, and bring home both Valiant Heart and Maud Pie. Judging by the traces of dark energy going toward the canyons to the west, she had an idea of where to go first.
***
Twilight stood there, her legs felt wobbly and her mind clouded. Before her stood all of her friends, her Ponyville family. Pinkie was a mess. Her hair had completely deflated, and her head what was visible of it was buried into Fluttershy’s mane. Trixie was off in the corner staring out the window at the storm that was brewing outside. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Rarity had found time to come here and keep Pinkie and Trixie company. Twilight’s flask was empty and her lungs burned for more of the elixir to deal with this situation. It was like everypony expected her to fix it, to come up with some kind of solution. Twilight on the other hoof just wanted to crawl under a bed and stay there until the Celestia died of old age.
Rarity made her way to Twilight’s side. “Twilight, have you given it any thought as to how we’ll break the news to the kids? Especially poor Amber.”
Twilight didn’t want to say anything, but she was certain Amber already had an idea of what was going on if she didn’t know exactly what was going on. The moment Luna returned from her search this charade would be over, and Twilight was spinning her mind in circles trying to find a way to fix this problem before it got any worse. Her only solutions were pretty horrible. Maybe she could swear Valiant and Maud to an oath of secrecy?
No Maud couldn’t be trusted with that. Valiant could though… so how could she keep Maud silent, keep Trixie and the others from finding out she lied about Maud and Valiant’s death?
Twilight stood up and walked towards Fluttershy’s kitchen. Rarity followed. “Darling, I know it’s hard, but we need you on this. Please tell us what to do.”
Twilight grumbled a reply that was mostly nonsense. Once inside the kitchen she began opening the cupboards. She had a pretty good idea of where it would be. She just needed some to think, some to get her mind working so she could figure out a plan. One cabinet had dishes. Another cereal. Another cans. One opened up to a family of squirrels who were enjoying a dinner at a table and started squeaking curses at Twilight for opening there cupboard, she closed that one.
“Twilight, what are you doing?” Rarity asked.
Twilight ignored her. What she was looking for wasn’t in here. It wasn’t in any of the usual places. How could she be expected to deal with this stress without her magic potion. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the pantry closet. Upon opening it she found an army of cans, dry foods, and anything one could need for baking. Up at the top shelf there was a bottle of pinkish-red wine, unopened. It was far from her choice but it would have to do.
With a flicker of magic Twilight brought the bottle down and opened the top.
Rarity let out a sigh. “I do suppose times like this are made easier with alcohol. I’ll get the glasses and you can poor them for the others. Good thinking, Twilight.”
Twilight gave Rarity a glare. Put the top of the bottle to her mouth and whispered, “You think I’m sharing?”
She drank greedily from the bottle as Rarity stared with wide eyes. The liquor calmed her nerves and guided her thoughts. It became increasingly obvious what she was going to have to do to keep everything sane, stable, and safe. Once half the bottle was downed she pulled away from it and offered the rest to Rarity. Rarity took it still eyeing Twilight with the oddest look in her eyes. Twilight smiled, took a step sideways and said, “I was joking, I only wanted half of it.”
Twilight almost laughed as she said the most brilliant thing she had all day, “I can’t believe I forgot that I know memory erasing spells.”
***
Luna flew through the air. Behind her she had two alicorn guards, each leading their own squadron of soldiers. Each squad consisted of 3 pegasi, one of which was pulling a flying wagon that had some supplies and a unicorn guard on the back. These were all Celestia’s guard wearing their golden armor with pride, Luna’s team would be waiting for the night search as they were better adjusted for it.
The red sandstone canyons stretched on for miles and were far more complex than she could have ever imagined. If it hadn’t been for the faint light energy she could sense out here she’d have no idea where to even start. The fact she could feel that energy was both a lucky break and a curse. On one hoof it meant she could find Valiant with more ease. On the other it meant that whatever monster destroyed New Slate could as well.
There was a lucky break for her for once. She spotted Valiant Heart and Maud Pie traveling on hoof in the general direction to central Equestria. Luna nodded to her scouts indicating that they should continue circling. She then led the wagons down to the earth and landed on the plateau with gentle grace. Valiant stopped moving and looked at her, the one visible eye told Luna that she must have known Luna was there awhile ago.
“Valiant Heart, Maud Pie, are either of you two injured?” The moment Luna asked this she felt like an idiot, of course they wouldn’t be, not with Valiant’s healing magic.
Valiant shook her head. “No, not physically.”
Maud had stopped moving but there was a blank look to her eyes. Like she wasn’t entirely home right then. Of course the poor mare must have just watched her family be wiped out from existence. There weren’t even any ashes to burry. Just glass. She was surely going to suffer for a long time after this, as would any pony else that had family here. That’s two equestrian villages now that were wiped from the world thanks to this… darkness.
Valiant looked around. “We should hurry.”
Luna nodded. “I agree. Whatever caused this may still be around.”
Valiant’s attention was drawn to a spot on the horizon behind them. “One of them is.”
Luna’s eyes followed. For a moment she wasn’t quite sure what Valiant was staring at. First she felt it. Like a tidal wave of cold energy washing over the area. Luna’s fur stood out on its end from the chill. The energy was followed by a streaking bolt of purple smoke. It flew through the air towards one of Luna’s guard’s flying above. The pegasus in question ducked out of the way but the purple smoke brushed by his wing and he loosed a scream as he fell to the earth. One of the pegasi guards swooped in and caught him before he hit the ground and turned back toward Luna. He landed and set the guard down. Luna stared in horror at the pony’s wing, part of it had been burned off, where it had been burned she could see ash, or dust falling off the wing. It didn’t look like the wound was growing any worse, but this injury alone might ground the pegasus for life.
Luna faced forward toward where the bolt of smoke had come from. Her eyes focused on a lone figure on the horizon. It seemed to be a lone alicorn. Stripped of any armor or clothing. The alicorn stood there, its pure white fur was stained with black veins running through its body. His purple mane was stained with black streaks. Yet the one thing that really hit Luna were his eyes. They were two hollow, gaping black holes with only two points of purple light emitting for pupils. Was this really one of the Alicorn Empire?
Amber stood outside in the pouring rain. This rain, the embodiment of her mother’s pain, outrage, and sorrow. Nopony had told Amber what was going on yet, but she didn’t need to have them tell her. She heard what Twilight said. That Maud and Valiant were…
Her memories came flooding back to her of all the time she’d spent with Maud over the years. When Amber was still young and learned her first spell, the smile on Maud’s face was a sort of magic in itself, she was so proud of her little unicorn baby. When Blackout beat Amber up and Amber had to walk home covered in scrapes and bruises, Trixie was busy at school but Maud was there, and with the most gentle hooves cleaned up the wounds making sure she was okay, Maud was even too afraid to give a hug to Amber, afraid she’d hurt her. The first time Amber snuck out late at night and Maud caught her. Oddly Maud wasn’t angry, she actually insisted on joining Amber and they took a nice long walk in silence, but that silence spoke volumes about how much Maud trusted Amber.
When Amber looked at it, her petty anger towards Maud was pointless. Sure, Amber had to watch Trixie cry herself to sleep on so many nights alone because Maud was gone at work. Yet they always had a home, always had food, always had the bills paid. It must have taken both Trixie and Maud’s combined wages to keep them living so well.
So if it wasn’t just seeing her mom crying so often that made Amber mad at Maud, why was she still so angry with her?
Amber knew the answer. She didn’t like the answer. She didn’t want the answer. But, she did know the answer.
“I just wanted to spend time with you…”
A crack of thunder up above seemed to respond to that one desperate plea. Never again would Amber have the chance to spend time with her other mom. With Maud. The Alicorn Empire took her from them. Trixie would never be the same, Pinkie would never be the same, Amber would never be the same.
Furthermore they took Valiant Heart, Amber’s big sister. Sure she was a weird and quiet nerd, but she loved her sister. Helping her sneak out at night to go explore the world. Just being present when Amber was hurt or alone, even if she didn’t say a word, Amber knew she was there to listen. How often had Amber told her deepest secrets to Valiant Heart? How often did Val keep her secrets safe and sound?
Amber felt her legs shaking beneath her. She took a step forward and felt one of her legs buckle beneath her. The rain had soaked through her mane, and her fur. It was making the entire backyard muddy. Amber forced herself to stand, her legs burned with ache and pain, but she embraced the pain and used it to motivate her to stand tall and strong. With Maud and Val gone, somepony had to be the strong one in the family, and since Trixie was going to be weak for a long time it was going to have to be her.
But that wasn’t what Amber wanted. She just wanted her big sister, but more importantly she…
Amber threw her head back and screamed at the weeping sky, “I JUST WANT MY MOMMY!”
All the pain inside her mixed with the sorrow and she felt her scream vibrate through the air. Her horn flickered with light. Her body began to warm up. Steam rose off of her body where the rain hit her. She continued to scream. To focus all the pain, all the hate, all the sorrow and loss into that scream. The ground around her shifted, globs of mud began to lift up separating themselves from the wet earth. The steam hitting her became a thin mist. Her horn flared into a bright light and she felt her mouth fill with bright, hot energy. Her screams became a torrent of flame focused at the heavens.
It lasted all about five seconds and then it stopped. Her mouth was dry, her fur singed, and the mud fell around her splattering her coat. Amber hit the ground, all the energy in her bones was sapped away from the magic she unleashed. She stared up into the sky, at least it had stopped raining. Looking around her she could still see the rain though, landing in a near perfect circle around her. In the sky there was a perfect circle cut through the clouds.
Her scream literally pierced the heavens.
***
“HOW MANY?” Luna demanded over the sound of roaring explosions.
One of her alicorn guard, absent one leg and an eye stood there unbalanced staring at her. They were hiding behind a giant boulder, and could still hear the explosions from behind them. He looked at her but he didn’t seem to be quite there. It took him a moment but he finally managed to say, “Five dead, not sure how many wounded.”
Luna cursed. The side of her face was caked with dry blood, and her left leg was burning from a large gash she’d healed only enough to continue on. Wherever the hell Maud and Valiant were she didn’t know. She sent them away with one of the sky carriages. Luna and her squad were supposed to be holding this thing back. Whatever the tartarus it was, it was not an alicorn and she was damned sure of that.
Another explosion nearby sent rocks flying at them forcing Luna to put herself between the debris and the injured guard. She looked at him. “You’re out of the fight, lay down soldier.”
He didn’t argue, though it took him a moment to figure out how to lay down with one leg missing. Lucky for him it was cauterized, he’d survive, might even grow the limb back in a decade or two. For now Luna had to go out and face this demon.
Luna walked, each step aching worse than the last and moved around the corner. She had at least ten guards when she started. If five were dead, who knows how many injured, and two of them were busy flying Maud and Valiant Heart back home, then she might be facing this thing alone.
Around the corner she saw it. The alicorn stood on a higher plateau overlooking the one she was on. Craters were scattered all around her. Several dead were lying in more pieces than a jigsaw puzzle. She ignored them and focused on the stallion up on the cliff.
It looked down at her. Its expression was muted, as if it didn’t feel anything during this fight. Not excitement, anger, nor terror. It just stood like a machine ready to kill. Luna ground her teeth and spread her wings far and wide. This was going to be it. She had to put it down now, but between her and Celestia she was not the fighter of the two. She really only had one plan. A very stupid and dangerous one. A very Twilight Sparkle styled plan.
The monster’s horn charged with the dark smokey energy. She charged toward it, letting magic pump into her horn. It unleashed a volley of dark smokey energy missiles. She ducked and weaved between them. Each one that grew too close burned at her flesh like acid but she pressed forward. She continued pouring as much energy into her horn as she possibly could. There was only one place for a monster such as this.
She collided into the beast and wrapped her legs around it. The thing’s body burned with frigid cold energy. She unleashed all of her magic and felt the world cry out as it was ripped in two. Every muscle of her body screamed as she and the monster were torn from that location and dragged, dozens if not hundreds of miles across the world. The air grew hot yet the beast stayed cold.
She saw a sea of red before her. She flew towards it allowing the heat to burn and blister at her body. Her lungs were empty of breathe but she pushed forward. The monster wiggled and writhed in her grip. Too late she thought as she let go of the beast and spread her wings trying to force the heat coming at her from the red sea to push her up. Her body jerked and angled sharply upward until she saw a rocky ledge and she flew toward it. The last she saw of the alicorn monster was the splash it made as it slammed into the molten red. Her body crashed into the hard earth and she rolled several times before finally stopping.
Every single muscle in her body ached. Her head was spinning. Copper flavor filled her mouth. Still she was able to push forward. She crawled, inch by inch toward the edge of the ledge she crashed on. The sea of molten magma bubbled twenty feet beneath her. The heat rising from it was enough to burn her skin. Her eyes were seeking rapidly for any trace of movement.
Sure even Queen Chrysalis couldn’t have lived through this, but that didn’t mean anything to her now. Until she saw a corpse she wouldn’t stop.
Ahead of her the magma stirred and she growled as an alicorn form rose from the magma. The thing aimed itself toward her. Took one flap of its wings splashing the magma off to reveal bone. It leaned forward and fell back into the magma below. This time sinking for good.
The thing actually almost survived magma… not even a feat an alicorn could do, well most alicorns. Whatever she had just killed… it was far from anything she’d ever seen in this world.
Luna pulled away from the edge and laid down. Her entire body was in pain. Her magic spent. It would take some time to heal from this. Still she would heal and then she would tell her sister what she fought. They were not facing the Alicorn Empire, she was sure of it now. They were facing something far older, far more dangerous. Maybe… maybe this was the threat that Starswirl had warned them of before.
The worst part was that according to Valiant Heart, there were still two more of these things.
Even wasted like she was, Twilight had to admit that Fluttershy’s house was a nice place for everypony to just lay around and cry at. The only two here not crying over the loss of Maud and Valiant were her, because she knew better, and much to her surprise Trixie. Trixie just stayed at the window staring out at the pouring rain.
Princess of Friendship eh, she should be able to handle this. Twilight walked over, or rather stumbled in the correct direction of Trixie and stopped only when she hit the wall next to the window. This was a successful move she decided.
Trixie glanced at her. “I can’t… I just… there’s got to be someway they survived, right?”
Twilight waved a leg around trying to blow off the depression. “It’s whateves. Jus drink, and it will be better.”
Twilight offered a share of her flask now refilled with more of that red wine, now that she was able to simply enjoy the flavor she decided it was strawberry. Trixie shook her head. “The others can get drunk. I need to go to New Slate. I have to search for them myself.”
Trixie smiled at Twilight and shook her head. “Unless Luna can bring them back from the dead, no… she can’t. I just need to see it myself.”
Trixie began walking past Twilight to go to the door. Twilight’s mind ran into overdrive she had to fix this, and now. She slumped forward and aimed her fall right into Trixie’s side. The two of them came crashing down into the middle of Fluttershy’s floor. The others all turned to stare at them all of a sudden.
Twilight laughed. “Woops.”
Trixie glared at her. “Twilight… I know this is hard on all of us, but you can’t get drunk like this every time something bad happens.”
Pinkie chimed in. “T-Twilight… M-maybe you should g-go home. I… I need to just…” She closed her eyes and choked on her last words.
Fluttershy finished for her. “Pinkie just lost her entire family, Twilight you need to go home and sober up.”
Trixie growled. “I’ll walk her home.”
Applejack added, “Ah can go too.”
Trixie shook her head. “No, I’ll take her myself. I… could use the fresh air.”
With a bit of magic and an orchard colored aura Trixie lifted Twilight up and off the ground. She then started to the door levitating Twilight behind her. Well at least this was keeping Trixie busy, she wouldn’t find out about Twilight’s deception this way. Being drunk saved the day!
Once outside Twilight immediately regretted trying to keep her secret as the rain slammed into the two of them. Trixie let out a sign and shot a purple beam of light into the sky. The rain stopped but the clouds remained. “It’s the best I can do, I don’t even know how I summoned a storm in the first place.”
“Alicorns be crazy, amiright?” Twilight added tactfully. “Glad I ain’t one no more.”
Trixie blinked at her. “You just lost your wings, your still an alicorn.”
Twilight waved her hoof and blew a raspery as it was the only proper response for a lady of her stature.
Now that the rain had stopped though Twilight could stare out over the town of Ponyville. The river was raging, puddles of water were everywhere. Some of the roads had flooded. Was this all Trixie’s fault or was this destruction Twilight’s fault?
Twilight let out a sigh upon thinking of all the events she probably ruined. She probably ruined a lot of pony’s days. “What am I even doing anymore?”
“The best you can.” Trixie replied without a second thought.
Twilight didn’t believe her at all. “No, I’m not. I know I could do better. I used to know how to do better. When I was young…”
“When you were young everypony was able to completely abandon their home lives to help you. Now you have to worry about thinks like keeping Fluttershy’s kids safe, you can’t just drag them all into conflict anymore. So of course it’s harder. You have me and Amber though.”
Twilight wiggled her legs uselessly three feet above the ground. “Put me down.”
“You can’t walk.”
Twilight wiggled some more. “Sure I can. At least let me try.”
Trixie gently set Twilight down on her legs. She was unstable but standing. “Trixie, I… I think I need to tell you something.”
Trixie looked back at her. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t cause their deaths. I’m not ever going to blame you for that.”
Twilight felt her lower lip tremble. What was left of her heart was already beginning to break. She could just wipe Maud’s memories and make it so that nopony ever found out that she lied about their deaths, but for some reason she felt like she needed to come clean. She was too drunk to make this decision. She decided she would just keep her mouth shut until she got home.
The sound of wings flapping caught Twilight’s attention. She and Trixie both looked up into the sky to see two carriages flying through the air. Each one being flown by a single pegasus. One of them had Luna lying down in the back, the other had Maud and Valiant Heart.
Twilight swallowed. “Memory spell don’t fail me now.”
Trixie glanced at her for only a second before looking back at the carriages. Once her eyes saw Maud and Val they widened and she took a step forward. “Maud? Maud! MAUD!”
The door opened up behind them and Pinkie was outside in a flash. “I can feel her! She’s here!”
The two of them looked up in the sky as the carriages circled around and finally landed at top of the hill where Fluttershy’s house was located on. Twilight stumbled toward the one carrying Luna and prepared her magic spell in her horn.
Before Maud even touched the ground Trixie and Pinkie had already rushed her. They had Maud in their legs squeezing her tight before she could even speak. Valiant landed next to them and was dragged into the embrace via Trixie’s magic.
Twilight stared at them but as she tried to focus on them she started to see eight ponies instead of four, the ponies had doubled. Luna was staring down at Twilight with an odd expression on her face. “Twilight, what are you doing? Did you not order me to retrieve these two for you after you received Val’s letter?”
First Twilight heard a collective gasp, followed by a silence she had never before heard in her life. Twilight looked around to see all the ponies effectively staring at her. At least using a memory spell on all of them would be a lot easier than using it on any single pony.
Rarity’s eyes widened and before Twilight could even see it, a beam of light flew from Rarity’s horn zapping Twilight’s. It stung a little but that wasn’t the real issue. Her spell had been disrupted. How was she supposed to wipe out there memories if she couldn’t focus.
Rarity stepped forward. “You were planning on wiping out all of our memories!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Were implies that I’m not still going to do it.”
Trixie’s shocked expression changed into that of anger. “You! You… YOU LIED!”
Twilight shrugged and the motion almost knocked her over. “I got an alicorn princess back, now I can fix this. Just hold on a second while I charge the spell again.”
Pinkie spoke next, though she didn’t look angry. Her pupils had become pinpricks. And she was shaking. “You can’t be the real Twilight. She’d never lie to us about… is everypony else even hurt? Is the rest of my family still alive?”
Twilight’s ears folded back. “I… Don’t know.”
Luna answered that. “I don’t know what Twilight has told you, but New Slate is gone. Maud and Valiant Heart are the only survivors. Pinkie, I am sorry but the rest of your family are gone.” She paused a moment but then added, “Twilight did send me and two squads of guards to make sure that Maud and Valiant Heart were brought home safely if that helps.”
Applejack took her hat off and held it to her chest. “Twi, even if you did send help fer them, why did you tell us Maud and Val were dead. That’s mah family you lied about. Haven’t Ah lost enough family already?”
Twilight shook her head. She had to focus. There was a way out of this. Magic was the answer she was sure. Maybe though, maybe she could lie her way out of it. Twilight lifted her flask to her lips and was about to take another sip when a dark blue wing smashed the flask down into the mud spilling the contents all over the earth.
Luna’s voice was like cold steel. “You got drunk and told them that Maud and Val were dead? Why? Why would you do that?”
Rainbow Dash chimed in. “You heard her. It was so she could get Trixie to become an Alicorn Princess again.”
Twilight stared at the flask, now empty of her sweet elixir. She needed that. She really needed that. Anger filled her heart replacing any hurt or fear she might have had previously. That flask had her answer to solve this mess and Luna just went and ruined it. Twilight stood on her hind legs and put all of her weight into her forelegs as she shoved Luna. “YOU TOOK MY BOOZE!”
Much to her surprise Luna actually went down into the mud. She laid there for a moment, still, quiet. Her eye opened and stared up at Twilight, looking as if she was seeing some kind of strange fearsome creature instead of Twilight. It was only then that Twilight saw the injuries. Blisters, scrapes, a large scabbed over gash on her left leg. Luna was hurt, and hurt badly.
Twilight landed on her four legs and almost fell on her stomach. “N-n-no, Luna. I didn’t know, I didn’t see… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Twilight tried to take a step forward but Luna recoiled and closed her eyes tight. Twilight stopped. She looked around. Every single pony was staring at her the same way, as if they were looking at some kind of… changeling. Twilight half stumbled half ran to the front gate to leave, she had to get out of there. She stopped when she saw Amber standing on the hill leading up to Fluttershy’s house. She too looked at her the same way as everypony else.
Twilight didn’t have any answers. Her flask was still in the mud, there was no more booze, she couldn’t think. Her heart was racing, her mind with it too. She could feel her breathing fast and rapid, she was hyperventilating, but if she passed out here, she’d die, they’d surely string her up for what she did. Oh gods, how could she do this to her friends, she could see it now, she really was a changeling.
Twilight’s horn lit up and she could only manage to say, “I’m so sorry.”
The world around her vanished with a pop. She couldn’t stay there, not like that. She had to leave, and go far, far away.
Twilight opened her eyes. Around her she saw bright warm light and heard the soft music of a guitar in the background. The floor beneath her was hard and cold, but she was able to roll over and put her weight on her hooves. She rose to find herself in a small antechamber, the glass pane windows let in some soft morning light. Outside foals were playing and a few ponies were enjoying the morning. This was not Ponyville.
Books lined the wall to her side, including a set of encyclopedias focused on the history of magic. Behind her she heard some hushed voices talking quietly. She was sleeping on a hard wooden floor, a blanket had been laying next to her, it looked twisted and knotted as though she had fought with it in her sleep. Something felt off about her body. She wasn’t sure exactly what. The room around her felt huge as well. Maybe her perception was just off.
Twilight wasn’t sure how she got here, or what happened before. She knew only that she needed to get back home. Luna would surely be worried sick about her now.
Twilight walked out of the anti chamber speaking loudly, “Starlight?”
Starlight’s voice came out gentle from nearby. “I’m right here, Twilight.”
She looked over to see both Starlight and Sunburst sitting happily by a fireplace. Sunburst was playing a guitar. He was getting better at it. Twilight approached them and sat down. “Starlight, what happened? Why am I here? I need to get back, Luna’s going to be worried and so are my friends.”
Sunburst let out a nervous cough as he stopped playing the guitar. “I’ll uh… I’ll go um… check on our daughter. I’m sure she needs help with her magic lessons.”
When he walked by Twilight she noticed he was actually taller than her. How could he have grown so tall?
He left the room and even though Twilight couldn’t understand why, she felt like something was really wrong. “Starlight, why is he acting strange? I just want to go home.”
Starlight’s voice came out gentle as could be. “Twilight, you’ve been in a drunken induced coma for three days. We tried moving you but you kept biting us when we tried. I barely even managed to clean most of the vomit off of you.”
Twilight sniffed herself. Yep, vomit. “So… why am I here?”
“Don’t you remember what you did?”
Twilight shook her head. “Did I wet myself at one of Pinkie’s parties again?”
Starlight narrowed her eyes. “How can you suggest something like that without any shame?”
“After the fourth time it happened I gave up on the idea of shame.”
“Maybe you should start caring again now that you don’t have any friends.”
Twilight blinked. For a moment silence passed between them. Starlight cleared her throat and said, “What I mean is that uh… well… I’m sorry.”
Twilight stared at her. “Are they… is Ponyville gone?”
Starlight blinked. “Good heavens no! There all still alive and well, or well enough. Heck Trixie is even an alicorn now.”
Twilight stared at her. “She’s an alicorn now? That’s amazing! I have to congratulate her.”
Starlight put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and squeezed gently. Her hoof was giant compared to Twilight’s small shoulder. “I’d stay away from them if I were you. In fact I wouldn’t even go back to Ponyville, not for a long long time.”
Twilight stared at her. “But… why? And what do you mean I don’t have any friends?”
“Oh gods, Twilight, how could you not remember what you did to them, what you did to Luna?”
Twilight stared down at the floor. Those words hit her harder than she expected. She couldn’t remember, the last thing she recalled was the conversation she had with Starswirl the Bearded before going back to Ponyville with Luna. She remembered that what he told her caused her to drink, a lot. After all what he suggested… how were any of them going to survive at all?
Starlight let go of Twilight’s shoulder. “Blackout drunk is it? That doesn’t fix the situation, in fact it might make it worse… at least when I went back to the town after a year I remembered starting a cult to take down the princesses, and could apologize for all the brain washing, drugs, and orgies.”
“Oh no, I didn’t start an orgy did I?” Twilight quickly replied.
“No you… you did something far worse. You hurt all of your friends, and… attacked Luna.”
Twilight met her eyes. Even though she couldn’t believe those words, she could see it in her old student’s eyes, she was telling the truth. “How did… how do you know?”
Starlight offered a small smile. “After you showed up at my house, teleporting onto our dinner table spewing puke like a fountain, I decided to find out what would drive you to drink like that. Turns out everypony except for Luna were more than willing to tell me exactly what had happened.”
“And Luna?”
“She went home to her sister’s castle.”
“So Celestia knows too… I wonder if she’ll try to kill me now…”
“Are you kidding? Celestia locked her sister up on the moon once, and was forgiven for it, I think Celestia will cut you one last break.”
Twilight looked at the book shelves. A lot of these books were gifts from Twilight to Sunset. They both shared a passion for knowledge and the only difference between them seemed to be the fact that Starlight got pregnant before becoming an alicorn.
“Twilight?”
Twilight shook her head. “What do I do now?”
Starlight wrapped her legs around Twilight and pulled her into an embrace. It wasn’t just her hoof, Starlight’s entire body was massive compared to her own. Or rather, Twilight quickly realized she had actually shrunk in size. “I think it’s my turn to do for you what you did for me. I can’t teach you magic but I can give you a safe place to live while you recover.”
“Recover from what?”
“Alcoholism.”
“I’m an alicorn, alicorns can’t get addicted to drugs.”
Starlight pulled away and met Twilight’s eyes. “Are you sure about that?”
“I… uh… don’t know anymore.”
“That’s a start.”
Twilight leaned into Starlight’s embrace and let out a sigh. “Thank you.”
“But you do have to abide by a few rules if you’re going to stay here. For me, you revoked my use of time travel magic. For you, I’m not allowing you to have any form of alcohol at all. Don’t worry though, we don’t drink in this house so you won’t be tempted.”
The thought of not having alcohol hurt, it hurt almost as much as knowing she just blew it. She just ruined her entire life. All of her friends, but most importantly, her Luna, hated her. She needed to know, she needed to know exactly what happened, so she could never, ever do it again to the only two friends she had left.
“Starlight, please tell me everything.”
Starlight pulled away and with the warm embrace gone Twilight just felt cold and empty. “Alright, but in return I want you to tell me what you and Starswirl talked about.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell you everything.”
***
Twilight stood on top of a lone hill. The grass here was green but there was something in the air. Or rather a lack of something. There was no magic here. Even Twilight’s internal store of magic was gone, only the magic contained in her missing eye still remained. In front of her stood a tall tower, made of gray stone with barred windows and a metal door barred from the outside. This was where the most dangerous prisoner in Equestria was contained, Starswirl the Bearded.
Each step up to the front door came with it an increased weight upon Twilight’s soul. Luna was only a few hundred feet away, at the barrier with the other guard and waiting for Twilight to wrap up here. At the drop of a single word the entire tower could be leveled in an instant with explosives packed beneath and around the tower. This place could easily become her own tomb is she wasn’t careful. Of course once she reached the door she saw a face hatch. Using her hoof she opened it and saw a brilliant library inside. A fireplace which was burning by a few pieces of wood and a map of Equestria laying on a table. Starswirl was standing by the table.
“Starswirl,” Twilight said his name as if it were a curse.
Her glanced over at her and sighed. With a few steps he made his way to the door. “You. Of all the ponies who hate me in this era, you seem to have a personal grudge against me the most. Is it because you were close to Spitfire, or is it because I took your wing?”
Twilight growled. “You didn’t just take my wing, you took my future. Our future.”
He smiled at her. “No, what I did was give you all a future. But of course you’re starting to realize what I did for you, that’s why you came here. To ask about the thing I was preparing you for.”
Twilight blinked. “How did-“
Starswirl interrupted. “Do not think for a moment that I had not planned for this. You have shown over the years to be the one pony above all that I could trust to save us from this fate. You will need the Alicorn Empire before this apocalypse ends.”
“Apocalypse?”
“You’ve already seen it once. A world void of all life, with only dust remaining in the cold empty expanse of nothingness.”
Twilight thought back to the world she discovered when she first faced off against Starlight Glimmer. The final world she encountered, the final multiverse she entered. That world where nothing remained. Even a world where Tirek killed and destroyed everything was better off than that. Of course it was only the first of such worlds she had discovered once she began searching out the multiverse to try and map it.
He nodded. “You know of what I speak.”
“Worlds filled with dust and emptiness.”
“Precisely. It would seem that every world is on a sort of timer. So far ours has been lucky enough to push back that timer, time and time again. With the sacrifice of my team, the original Elements of Harmony if you will, we were able to stop the threat for a long time. We locked the darkness in a pocket dimension where time stood still.”
“Then why are you worried?”
“Because I was locked in there up until a couple hundred years ago. Then I was knocked out of the pocket dimension.”
“So you’re saying that if you could be knocked out of the pocket dimension…”
“Then this entity could as well.”
The thought of her entire world becoming nothing more than ash and dust like the various empty worlds she’d visited in the past made her stomach turn inside out. Her reflex was to bring her flask to her mouth using telekinesis, but in this anti magic zone she was forced to use her hooves to take a swig. After this conversation she was going to have two things she could do to fix this. One, get as much alcohol inside her as she could as quickly as possible, and two figure out a way to stop this threat.
“Is it possible to destroy this thing?” Twilight asked.
Starswirl was quiet for a moment as he seemed to think it over. “The only force I can think of would be the Elements of Harmony, but even that might not be enough to stop it. Locking it away in another pocket dimension would work to buy us some time, but if at all possible we should aim for complete destruction rather than imprisonment.”
“There is no ‘we’ there’s a me and my friends,” Twilight said.
He smiled. “That’s fair enough. Lucky for you you’ll have access to more alicorn magic than has ever been seen on this planet before. Not only that you also have the spirit of chaos on your side. I think it’s fair to assume that you can now keep this world safe, Elements of Harmony or no.”
Twilight had to agree with him there. If she could get the Alicorn Empire to work with her on this, they’d be able to stop any threat, even if it was some kind of world devouring monster. The only thing she needed now was a starting point for more research. “Starswirl, what is this creature I’m facing.”
“It is the evilest entity I have ever encountered. A primordial being capable of destroying the entire world if not stopped. This is The Pony of Shadows.”
Trixie stood in the abandoned office of Twilight Sparkle. She expected the mess of empty whisky bottles covering the floor behind the desk, trash piled in the corner, and books strewn about as if they were rats swarming the place. What she didn’t expect was a series of folders with Trixie’s name on it.
The first one was fairly easy to understand as it had a message written on its cover just for her. “Trixie Lulamoon, if these documents find their way to you then know that I have been taken out of the equation. Whether I’m dead, injured, or kidnapped it doesn’t matter. What matters now is that you need to keep the world safe, you’re the only pony that I can trust to take my place, at least until Amber has grown up enough to really help out. Please share these documents with Valiant Heart as well as she still works close with me on these projects.”
Trixie felt hesitant to open it up for a moment but let out a sigh and resigned herself to being forced to do this. It was true, with The Princess of Friendship gone, having up and run away everypony was looking for someone to fill her place. Trixie might have dragged her family to the castle and wouldn’t let them leave her sight for more than two seconds, with Maud actually standing right outside of the office looking… quiet. Even so Trixie couldn’t abandon her other friends and if what Valiant had told her was true, she couldn’t abandon her country as well. If this country fell to those dark creatures then even Trixie’s family wouldn’t be safe from harm. The best way to keep them safe in the long run was to pick up Twilight’s slack and do the job best suited for an alicorn princess. The Greatest and most Powerful Princess that is.
Trixie walked out of the room and into the next one over where Amber was sitting. She was surrounded by books and staring at them with a distant expression. She hadn’t talked much since Twilight vanished. Out of everypony here, perhaps the betrayal hit Amber the hardest. Knowing that her mentor, teacher, and the pony responsible for her future turned into such a mess must have really destroyed her. It destroyed everypony.
Now that Twilight was gone, Trixie really had to step up to the plate. Luna retreated back to the Canterlot castle, and everypony in town was more or less shellshocked and trying to simply live there normal lives. Each one of them knew though, that soon that would end. Whatever darkness was coming for them it was going to be more than they’d ever faced.
Trixie did make sure to do one thing that Twilight had never done. “Amber, I need your help.”
Amber looked back up at her. “What’s up?”
“You know that were going to be facing some real hardships soon. Even if Maud wanted to keep you safe, I need your help. Will you help me keep Equestria safe?”
Amber smiled briefly. “Sure… but um… sure.”
Trixie nodded and left, Amber followed her out. Outside in the hall sat Maud and Pinkie. Pinkie had basically attached herself to Maud’s side after she returned. Considering they both lost their entire family, it was understandable. Maud saw the ruins, and from her description it was… whatever did this was a threat beyond anything Equestria had ever seen.
Amber trotted over to Maud’s side, laid down and snuggled into her. “Don’t leave me again, mom.”
Maud’s lower lip quivered and she laid her head down over Amber’s. “I won’t.”
Trixie smiled. This was the first time in many years that she’d seen Amber and Maud be… family. They’d lost Twilight, but Trixie realized this loss led to them gaining each other once again. This time Trixie was going to keep her family.
Trixie went back into the office and stopped short. Valiant was in here, and she was reading through the notes. She glanced up at Trixie, didn’t speak a word and only nodded to a small pile of notes, folders and journals that were now on the table. Valiant must have found something that Trixie needed to read. The first one was labeled, “Twilight’s Journal of the multiverse.” This was going to be a long day.
***
Luna laid on her bed, her everything had a dull constant ache to it. Her physical wounds had all healed by now, those didn’t trouble her. The ache instead seemed to end at the tips of her hooves, but it started from her heart. All she could do was stare at the last piece of her she had left, the flask, now clean but empty was sitting on her dresser. She knew she should throw it away, but for some reason she just couldn’t bear the thought of throwing away the last piece of her Twilight she had left…
“Where are you?” Luna whispered to herself.
A knock at the door was quickly followed by the gentle voice of her big sister. “Luna, how are you doing?”
Luna buried her head into the pillow and groaned. “Go away.”
The door opened only a couple of inches. “Sister, I’m here for you. You know that right?”
Luna refused to look up. “I… I don’t want to live forever if it means feeling like this.”
The door creaked open and the sound of hooves followed. They only stopped once they were at the foot of Luna’s bed. The air grew warmer just from her presence. A wing laid gently upon Luna’s head stroking her mane. “It’s been a long time coming, Twilight…”
Luna flinched at the use of her lover’s name.
“It’s my fault. I made her into the pony she is today. Luna, I’m so sorry. If only I’d been a better mentor to her, a better… mother. You’d have had a stable pony to stay with you, not… not this. This never would have happened if I didn’t screw up so completely when raising her.”
Luna glanced up only to see Celestia, kneeling by her bed. Her head facing away with a pained expression carved into every line of her face revealing if ever so slightly the true weight the ages have had upon Celestia’s physical form. “It’s not your fault. She chose this… I’m wise enough to realize that.”
Celestia didn’t look at her but her features eased slightly. “It’s hard for me to believe that, considering that it was I who saw the early signs, it was I who forced her to go through such traumatic events. I could have simply done my job myself instead of forcing it upon my student. One who did not have the mettle for the tasks.”
Luna reached out with a hoof and wiped away a tear rolling down Celestia’s face. “If I had been by your side, mayhaps I could have helped prevent this. For so many years you were alone, you could only do what you thought best for everypony. The weight on your shoulder is that of the lives of every living creature in Equestria, I do not blame you, cannot blame you for what choices you made. Neither should you.”
Celestia opened her wet glossy eye. “But… it ended up hurting you.”
“I ended up hurting myself.” Luna rose her head up. “I saw the signs as well and chose to ignore them instead of facing up to them. Silence, was in retrospect, the wrong choice.” Luna took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Now let us go back to our posts, we have a duty to Equestria that is larger than either of our self pities, now more than ever.”
Celestia smiled. “With you by my side, I think we can face any challenge and come out on top.”
Luna returned the smile. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
***
Trixie stared at the pile of notebooks she had just torn through. Vague memories of the research she’d seen long ago about multiverses being turned into baron wastelands filtered through her mind. Val was still reading some of the notebooks in her pile. The thing that really stood out to Trixie were the last two reports that Twilight had left. One speaking of the changeling hive’s annihilation, and the other one written about the fall of the first settlement to these dark alicorns.
It seemed like they were targeting mostly smaller settlements along the borders for now, though they clearly had enough power to completely wipe out the changeling hordes. So why hadn’t they attacked Equestria in full force yet? One surprise attack on Canterlot and everything would be in disarray, easy pickings for these monsters.
Over the past ten years there were memories that Trixie had done her best to shove down and forget. Ones that were coming back so easily now. She recalled seeing one of these death worlds herself once, a world completely devoured by dust and ash, she saw Twilight meeting Starlight there. She had personally encountered one of these dead worlds.
One other memory she did not wish to ever remember was her final encounter with Frailty. That mare that had taken so much from her and Val. So much from all of them in fact. Trixie had made sure that she suffered for a long time before she died. The wraith and anger that hid inside of Trixie’s heart was something she wished to never experience again, and yet there she was, after Twilight’s lie she was about to unleash horrors far worse upon her enemies. Even releasing Lord Tirek himself if she had to, to make them suffer.
Lucky for everypony, it wouldn’t come to that.
Yet there was one other memory, or rather a few of them connected to a single character that she had forgotten until then. A person who, in his own awkward way helped her out. One who had also done something confusing, strange, and perhaps cruel to their best friend forcing him to vanish for sixteen years. Maybe he had just done what Twilight did, something he viewed as good, but was in fact confusing and hurtful.
Twilight could hardly believe her eyes as she read through the book. It was an early book she’d written herself about magic and the theories behind how it worked. She wrote this book herself, many years ago, back when she was still living in a tree house and before she became an alicorn princess. Yet the words in it felt foreign, strange, and not at all like something she’d make.
“In my studies of magic here in Ponyville I’ve learned two important lessons. Lessons that have changed my entire view on how magic worked, and what magic even is. The first is that everypony can use magic, from the earth pony all the way to the unicorn, everypony has magic in them. The second is that magical power can be vastly increased by the power of friendship.”
Twilight blinked. “Friendship…”
It had been a long time of Twilight trying to increase her personal magic. Trying to gain as much power as possible. Shoving almost all of her excess power into that missing eye of hers. Yet where did all that power go? It was gone now. She was tiny, only as tall as the average mare, and her magic felt like it was weak, limp. Only the magic stored in her eye remained like that of a burning torch out in a dark unforgiving sea.
Had she really forgotten how the magic of friendship worked? Was it just her? Did everypony forget? So many questions yet in her current state of affairs it was impossible to get any answers.
Her throat was dry.
Twilight took a sip of water from a nearby glass but it did nothing to wet her throat. The words on the page were becoming fuzzy again as well. Twilight closed the book and let out a sigh.
“Still having trouble reading?” Starlight asked from nearby.
Twilight was in the anti-chamber surrounded by books she’d written in her youth. Most of which were about friendship and the magic surrounding it. With her flask gone she needed to find an answer to fix what she’d done. Somehow though she suspected these books would not hold any answers for her.
“Yeah,” Twilight admitted. It’d been an eternity since she last had a drink. Her throat was dry, her mind scattered and vision blurry. In the back of her mind she could hear a little voice telling her to find some booze, that would surely make her feel better and give her the answers.
Yet she knew better. It was the booze that gave her the answer which destroyed her friendships in the first place. No, she was better off not taking the elixir’s advice ever again. No matter what promises that little voice told her.
“Twilight,” Starlight said gently. She walked over and knelt down by Twilight’s side. “I know it must be hard, but it will get better.”
Twilight looked at the books around her. The constant migraine already scratching at the back of her mind once more. “No… not this time.”
Starlight reached out with a hoof and stroked Twilight’s cheek. “I’m sure it will. Just give it some more time. Even with… what you did… I think given enough time, and effort on your part, they’ll come around.”
“I just abandoned them. I… I mean, Trixie is trying to take my place and, and-“
Starlight put a hoof to Twilight’s lips and shooshed her. “No, you can’t go back and help right now. Right now you can only focus on yourself. No more stress. Just relax, if you can’t read some books, go on a walk outside. Some fresh air might help.”
Twilight nodded. Reluctantly she agreed with what Starlight said. It was all the overbearing stress that put her in that dark place, this dark place. Now she just needed to let it all go and start again. Make a new life, a new Twilight. Going on a walk might help. At least she could walk in a straight line now.
It was bright and sunny outside. Almost too bright forcing Twilight to avert her gaze from anything skyward. The town itself was a quiet little place built on a leveled hill top. The town was built in a sort of circular spiral with the roads all going in circles. Lots of lush green bushes, colorful flowers, and trees dotted the town. Ponies as they always have, came out in herds on days like this, and even with the small population of this town that rule was true here as well.
Twilight meandered about town for awhile. Watching ponies go about their daily lives, window shopping, and maybe taking a bite or two of some wild daisies when nopony was looking. It was pleasant but no matter where she went or what she did there was a constant scratching at the back of her skull. Something that begged her to find what she really wanted. She pushed those thoughts aside, there had to be something else she could do.
Much to her surprise she found herself winded after only a half hour of walking. Luckily for her there were plenty of shady places by tall trees to rest at. She actually found one near a small stream and laid down. It was a lot harder to keep moving then she thought it would be, or should be. Was this an effect of her shrinking to the size of a normal mare, or the loss of her alcohol?
A high pitched voice came out of the tree above her. “Aww wookin to take a wittle nap?”
Twilight shot a glare upwards at the pink pegasus mare sitting in the tree. She looked young, maybe in her late teens. “I’m resting because it’s a nice day outside.”
The mare dropped to the ground and smirked back at her. “Oh, is it? I thought it was stormy and gloomy outside.”
Twilight growled. Maybe she’d just find another place to rest at. She picked herself up and took a few steps away when the mare called out to her. “Wait, I… sorry, was I too mean?”
Twilight looked back at the mare. She was giving puppy dog eyes to Twilight, yet with Twilight’s instinct to never trust anything, she wasn’t sure if it was genuine sorrow or some kind of manipulation. “Yes, you were quite rude.”
The mare’s ears folded back and she pawed at the earth. “Sorry, I… I was just trying to be funny.”
“Making fun of ponies is not the same as being funny.”
“I guess you’re right.” She looked away.
“If you’ll stop being rude I’ll stay here,” Twilight offered.
The mare’s ears perked up. “Oh really! Thank you. I’m sorry, I’m not so good at the whole ‘friendly pony thing’.”
“I could tell.”
Twilight laid back down and watched the stream for a moment. The mare kind of shuffled nearby looking a bit out of place and awkward. After a quiet sigh Twilight said, “My name is Twilight. What’s yours?”
The mare beamed. “I’m Cozy Glow. Nice to meet’cha! There aren’t too many ponies around my age here so… I thought I’d try and talk to you… kind of messed that one up.”
Twilight shook her head. “It’s fine. Take a seat.” She thought about what she just heard for a moment and asked, “How old do you think I am?”
“Twenty… two?” Cozy asked.
Twilight laughed bitterly. She was in her late thirties but hey, whatever magic trickery made her look young and unicorn again she’d accept. “Fair enough. How old are you?”
“Um… twenty two. I know I don’t look it though.”
Twilight had to admit the mare looked nothing like a twenty two year old.
***
Trixie had found the library to be the best place for studying. There was a fireplace in the corner, one that had her family currently sitting in front of and warming up. It was getting a bit chilly at night now. As for Trixie she was surrounded by books and trying her best to shift through the mess. The only real lead she had was that the villain they were facing this time was called ‘The Pony of Shadow’ and for her that basically meant nothing. Even Val had only heard scarce rumors of such a creature. All of which were horrible.
From what Trixie could gather, it was a monstrous creature, a destroyer of worlds, and one that seemed to creep through multiverses eating them. At least that was how Trixie imagined it worked from Twilight’s half drunken notes. Of course if half of what Trixie had read was true, she could understand wanting to drown out reality with booze.
It was odd. Taking Twilight’s place as the pony responsible for trying to fix the mess and save the world. Despite what Twilight had done to her, what she’d done to Amber, Trixie just couldn’t bring herself to hate Twilight. Maybe it’s because Trixie herself had done some horrible things in the distant past. Her mistakes with the Alicorn Amulet, with Fluttershy, with helping Red Velvet get her wish. Trixie had done more to nearly destroy and kill her friends than anypony else. Yet she was always given a second chance, a third chance, a fourth and fifth chance.
She could at least give Twilight a chance, so long as Starlight kept her word and rehabilitated her. The drunken Twilight was untrustworthy but perhaps a sober Twilight could be a useful friend again. Maybe she’d even be like she used to…
Fluttershy’s voice spoke gently from behind Trixie’s ear. “Worried about her?”
Trixie nearly jumped out of her chair. When had Fluttershy snuck up on her like that? At least Fluttershy looked better, after that healing from Valiant Heart her wings looked good as new. Trixie shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
Fluttershy glanced over at the fireplace. Pinkie Pie was there beside Maud. Pinkie’s mane had remained downcast and heavy since the revelation of her families death. Fluttershy spoke in a quiet voice that only Trixie could hear. “You know what she did to us, what she was planning to do to us, and what she might have done in the past.”
Trixie swallowed. “Yeah… I do.”
“Who knows how many times she’d done something bad, and just… erased our memories.”
Trixie set the book down and focused on Fluttershy’s eyes. They had a steel gaze to them, one that did not betray a single emotion. Yet Trixie could feel it, there was a mixture of hate, confusion, fear and hurt emitting from Fluttershy’s heart. Her mind however was a brick wall and without some serious effort Trixie was not going to get any thoughts from her. Instead of mind reading Trixie decided to let out a sigh and lean back in her chair. “So you wouldn’t give her a second chance?”
Fluttershy looked at the table. “Spike… has been telling us of some of the things Twilight has done, even when she was young and not an alcoholic. It wasn’t the alcohol that made Twilight do the things she has… it just helped.”
Trixie’s back tightened. “She’s always been secretive, and… well manipulative. But she’s also always tried to do her best to keep us all safe.”
“She killed the Pinkie Pie Clones.”
Trixie felt her entire body tightening up. “I… I uh”
“And… and you knew about it, but… none of us did. How could she even think of harming Pinkie? Pinkie Pie!”
“It wasn’t easy, and she didn’t kill them all.” Trixie said. “It nearly destroyed her to do that. And when she found out a few survived she hid them. From everypony. Gave them homes, new names, and just let them… live. She’s never healed from that.”
Fluttershy pawed at the earth. “It’s not the worst she’d done to us. At one point she… Spike told us what she did right before she became a princess. She changed all of our cutie marks, our destinies. Just… what? Practicing a new spell without thinking about what it did?”
Trixie shrugged. “I know she didn’t mean to do that.”
“She also left us to die in some of these alternate universes. She didn’t try and save us at all.”
Trixie could feel her ears folding back against her scalp. “I’m sure she had reasons. But… wait hold on a minute. You’re acting like you didn’t already know that Twilight killed the Pinkie clones.”
Fluttershy nodded. “None of us did. I… I’m kinda mad at you for not telling us all these years.”
Trixie stood up straight. “That’s because she told you all. I was there, I watched it when she broke down sobbing and begging for you to all forgive her for doing that. You all forgave her.”
Fluttershy’s eyes began to widen. “What… but… no, no she didn’t. We’d remember something like that.”
Rarity’s voice broke in like a battering ram. “Not if she had erased our memories of it.”
Fluttershy looked over at her. “But… she would never… she didn’t…”
Rarity eyed Fluttershy. “Do you remember how you became a werebat pony?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I was cursed by an apple.”
Trixie looked over at her. “I think she meant the first time.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, I bit an apple but it was cursed to turn a pony into a werebat.”
Rarity bit her lower lip. “What… what if I told you that wasn’t how it happened?”
Fluttershy sat down. “I might suggest you were lying to me, um… if I was um… bold.”
Rarity shook her head. “Twilight turned you into the werebat pony when trying to get a bunch of bats to stop eating all of Applejack’s’ farm.”
Fluttershy shivered. “N-no… she helped me get better. She didn’t…”
Trixie interrupted. “Hold up, I’ve read Twilight’s journals, I know she turned Fluttershy into a batpony. How come Fluttershy doesn’t remember?”
Rarity looked back at her shoulder. “For the same reason I don’t recall becoming an alicorn after I died.”
Trixie laughed. “But you’re not an alicorn.”
“Not after Twilight took my alicorn magic from me.”
Trixie’s laugh was cut short.
Rarity explained. “Apparently I was struggling with the memories of dying. I… well me and spike had gotten trapped in a cave, we were there for weeks. We had water but ran out of food. I couldn’t watch my Spikey Wikey starve so I… gave him the last of the food. I guess that act of selflessness turned me into an alicorn and I teleported us out of there after that.
“I only stayed an alicorn for a few hours. I couldn’t cope with the memories and begged Twilight to remove them from me, as well as my wings. She took all of my magic, my wings, and my memories. Then swore Spike to silence on the subject until just now.”
Trixie rubbed at her foreleg. “So the reason you’re not aging…”
“Is more due to me being part dragon now then it is the alicorn thing. Still it proves my point.”
Trixie felt herself shaking. “Which is?”
Fluttershy spoke for everypony there. “That Twilight was willing, and able to erase our minds.”
Trixie watched as her family sat nearby the fireplace at one end of the library. It kept them nice and warm as the days grew dark and cold. Of course from what she heard the pegasus teams were bringing a cold front to the town and even if she didn’t understand weather science enough to know why, she agreed with most everypony, it sucked.
Of course she wanted to join her family, but she was currently stuck at a table with a pile of unfinished paperwork. Half of it had stains smelling faintly of alcohol with scribbles that when legible were still gibberish. Some of it was random apologies without any reason given, some of it was complaints, mostly about Celestia, and a very rare page had random notes pertaining to some kind of magic spell Twilight was working on.
At first she had just hoped to finish Twilight’s left over work. The more she found of these spell notes though, the more she grew concerned. It was only a fraction of some kind of spell. Something that involved alicorn magic, a whole heck of a lot of alicorn magic. In fact the numbers here indicated that it required so much alicorn magic that Trixie didn’t think it would be possible to get that much if everyone on the planet was an alicorn. What was Twilight studying to come up with these numbers?
What if she was analyzing how powerful this darkness they now faced was. The “Pony of Shadows” as Twilight’s notes had called it. Could it truly be this powerful?
Trixie’s studies were interrupted as a warm breeze went through the room. Trixie glanced over at the entry room to the library and saw a very surprising sight indeed. Princess Celestia stood there, her very presence bringing with it great warmth. Trixie’s family in the corner all took note of her presence, though at this point they’d all become so familiar that none bowed, they simply watched.
Celestia walked over to Trixie’s table first. “Trixie.”
Trixie nodded. “Celestia.”
Celestia knelt beside the table, and was still slightly taller than Trixie. “I see your studying her notes. Have you made much success?”
Trixie shrugged. “It’s a mess. Half of it is rambling apologies for crimes I refuse to believe. The other half are notes that make little to no sense, or more sense than I feel comfortable with.”
Celestia nodded. “That sounds like her.”
Trixie put her book down and stared at Celestia. She could feel something mixed in with that warmth. A deep emotional wound that was bleeding emotion through. Val must have sensed it as well because with steps as quiet as Fluttershy’s she too had came to Trixie’s side offering a small smile to their ruling princess.
Celestia smiled back. “This event has… affected us all in different ways. I’m sure it has not gone unnoticed how Twilight’s carefully woven web of control has come undone.”
Trixie nodded. “Yeah, it uh… it sucks. I’m just going to be honest. I never expected that Twilight would have done so much damage to her best friends. I don’t think I can fix this mess.”
Celestia looked slightly down and at the table. “She’s always been off… balance. I pushed her into places, and into doing things that made her cross lines she shouldn’t have. I should have taken more responsibility with her. Especially after the damage that had happened to her back in New Slate.”
Trixie recalled how she became friends with everypony originally. They found her living with Maud, a depressed, suicidal, and magicless mess. They fought against some deep, ancient horrors, and Twilight came under full possession of such an entity. To be fair, Twilight had never fully recovered from that event, and perhaps, just perhaps it was the true start of Twilight’s downfall. She’d never stopped to see if Twilight was actually okay. Nopony had. They just all assumed that Twilight, as their leader, would be just fine. But if there was any one thing Trixie had learned about dealing with those elder things. It was that they caused long term psychological damage and trauma.
Thankfully Sunset had gone on a crusade to wipe all traces of those things from this Equestria, and done a great job of it too. Her mission kept her out of politics, and away from friends and family, but she did good work. In fact she wondered if maybe Sunset could help Twilight now.
Trixie reached out with a wing and gently squeezed Celestia’s shoulder. It was tense and surprisingly muscled. “Celestia, we are all to blame for not seeing the signs sooner, or at least ignoring them when we did. All we can do now is hope that when Twilight does come back she will be better.”
“The last two times my students ran away after doing something bad, they changed into villains…”
With her other wing Trixie moved Celestia’s chin to make her there eyes meet. “Listen to me. I am getting daily reports on Twilight’s progress. She is doing fine. Better than she has in years. She even made a new friend. She will come back to us.”
Celestia blinked. “But… will her friends forgive her?”
Trixie felt like something was stuck in her lungs. This was a question she could not answer. Despite how much she really wanted to. If she could do anything she would make everything okay with them, but the damage was done and Twilight might never get those friendships back. Not now.
Val broke the silence in the room with her gentle soft spoken voice. “In time, they will be friends again.”
Both Celestia and Trixie looked at Val. Neither of them spoke as she stared at them with one bright eye. The look in Val’s eye brokered no argument, as if her beliefs were made of stuff stronger than steel. Trixie smiled at her determined, grown up daughter.
Trixie looked back at Celestia. “I know it’s a bit odd, but we’d love it if you joined us by the fireplace for awhile Celestia.”
Celestia looked away. “I’m not interrupting your grief?”
Trixie reached forward and wrapped her legs around Celestia’s neck. “We’re not the only ones grieving here.”
For a moment Celestia froze, likely not used to the pony on pony contact. Slowly she wrapped her massive wings around Trixie and it was like being wrapped up in warm loving embrace of the sun on a warm summer day. After a long moment Celestia pulled away and smiled.
Trixie decided she could put her research away for a moment. In time she will find herself pressed for time without a chance for a break, but that time was not now. She could take a few minutes to simply relax and enjoy the company of her family plus Celestia. After all, Celestia had adopted all of her most gifted children and acted as a second mother to Trixie in her youth, she was for all intents and purposes, her mother too.
With Maud on one side, and Celestia on the other, Trixie enjoyed the rest of the evening in front of the fireplace with her family. It was a beautiful evening. In the back of her mind she could only hope that Twilight could enjoy some of the same warmth she was now.
***
“No,” Twilight said trying to conceal a giggle.
Cozy Glow flittered in the air shaking her curly head back and forth. “Of course it is. How else could something like Lord Tirek be defeated?”
“It wasn’t being punched by magic that did him in.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin and tried to think of how best to explain it. “It wasn’t exactly the magic of friendship either. It was… a combination of ancestral magic and the power of friendship that beat him.”
“Oh come on, he was like a god. You can’t tell me that some happy feelings and well wishes beat him.”
Twilight laughed. “If I did I’d be lying. Simply put if we didn’t have the power of friendship we couldn’t unlock the rainbow magic that beat him.”
Cozy Glow landed. “What happened to the rainbow magic then?”
Twilight felt her face scrunching up as she thought about it. “I… don’t really know. We’ve never accessed it again. The power just kind of… vanished.” Just like her friendships did.
Cozy Glow folded her forelegs over her chest. “Well that’s lame. Sounds like that was the most powerful magic you ever had. Why not use it again?”
Twilight shrugged. “It just never happened again. Not sure why.”
“Maybe you should ‘convince’ the magic to come back.” Cozy made a punching motion in the air.
“You can’t just force magic to work for you. If you could everypony could just become a god like Princess Celestia or Tirek. You need to follow the rules.” And on rare occasion break them entirely.
The echoes of her hooves were heard before she even appeared in the room. Starlight came around the corner and into the antechamber, quickly becoming known as ‘Twilight’s Spot’ bringing a tray with tea and cupcakes. She set them down on the floor between the two and smiled. “Two energetic ponies talking about magic. Sounds like you’re having lots of fun.”
Twilight beamed up at her. “Of course we’re having fun! I didn’t know Cozy Glow had such an interest in magic, and having someone to talk to about it is super fun, she knows a lot about history as well making her doubly interesting to talk to, magic, history, princesses, monsters, villains, and even the rainbow magic,” Twilight paused to take a breath, “she’s like the best!”
Cozy and Starlight both started laughing. Starlight added, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be quite this energetic. It’s nice seeing you having so much fun with your new friend.”
Twilight beamed. “Of course I am. I mean… we are.” Twilight looked at Cozy. “You’re having fun too right?”
Cozy’s face screwed up into a smirk before she exploded into laughter. “I’ve never had so much fun. You’re the best pony ever!”
Twilight grinned. She took a sip of the tea and felt her heart at ease. She then looked at the cupcakes, they had pink frosting on the top of them. For a moment she stared at them, something in her heart twisted and a sharp stabbing pain went out through her heart. “Pinkie…”
Starlight was still laughing with Cozy as they both enjoyed a cupcake. Neither of them were looking at her, so they didn’t see Twilight’s pain for the brief second she allowed it to show. With practiced ease Twilight forced a smile on her face and took all the confused pain she had in her and shoved it deep down in a hole where it would only return when it was the most inappropriate time.
Twilight let out a sigh. It became suddenly clear that for the first time in many years she was having fun, real fun… and it was without any of her friends. Did she really change so much that she pushed them that far away? Or did things just change as she grew older. She didn’t feel that old. In fact it was kinda hard to remember the past twenty or so years of her life. The most vivid memory she even had of Ponyville was not of the castle or the plans she was making. It was the Treehouse, and of a certain magical book of Starswirls that Celestia loaned her. One that had changed her destiny forever.
Twilight found herself staring into the mirror in the bathroom. Her heart and mind were still stuck on the life she left behind. It seemed like just yesterday she was going out to Pinkie’s for slumber parties, Fluttershy’s for tea, Rarity’s for makeovers, Applejack’s for the best apple pie in the multiverse, and avoiding Rainbow’s home because unicorns and clouds don’t go so well together.
She caught herself thinking of herself as a unicorn again. It was odd. She didn’t think of herself as the alicorn she used to be. It just didn’t feel right. Did she somehow get rid of her alicornhood while in that blackout drunk state? How drunk did she have to be in order to lose her alicornhood?
Twilight could use a drink right then to forget the memory of her loss. Still she chose to try and focus on something else. Her eye patch for example. She’d replaced the old one with a simple down to earth white one. There was still a faint glow hiding behind it from her alicorn magic, what was left of it. She feared this would be the last of her alicorn magic, something to be used as the last possible resort.
There was something scratching at the back of her mind. It wasn’t the constant nag to drink some adult beverage, it was something else. Like she was forgetting something important. She ran a brush through her mane and sorted her thoughts out at the same time.
The life she used to have was long gone. It had been over a week now, and she was sure that returning to her old home was no longer possible. Spike was an adult with a family now so he wouldn’t be with her anymore either. Then there was the Pony of Shadows, most of the memories she had involving it or the threat it possessed were more like dreams then memories now. Thinking of how Pinkie had lost her family… it killed Twilight to know that she hadn’t been there for her friend when she needed her most. She really didn’t deserve to have ever had friends like Pinkie Pie.
A knock at the bathroom door startled Twilight. Starlight’s voice came out from behind it. “Good morning, Twilight. You almost done.”
Twilight’s horn lit up and the door opened revealing the giant alicorn form of Starlight. “I’m just brushing my mane.”
“Okay, well breakfast is almost ready. Hashbrowns and waffles.”
Twilight bit her lower lip and forced herself to ask yet again, “Did you get any messages for me?”
Starlight looked away and out into the hall. “I’m sorry, Twilight.”
Twilight felt her entire body sag. “It’s… alright.”
Starlight looked back at her. “Well… we did get something for you. A letter from Princess-.”
Twilight dropped the brush midstroke, leaving it hanging from her mane. “LUNA!”
Starlight shook her head slowly. “Celestia.”
Twilight swallowed. “Oh… oh… kay…”
A letter floated through the air and landed on the bathroom counter next to Twilight. “Just to warn you, I doubt it’s a personal message. It looks pretty official.”
The letter was covered in gold markings with a gold colored wax seal. This was indeed an official letter. Celestia’s personal messages always came as scrolls. It was probably a summons for Twilight’s crimes.
Twilight let out a sigh. “Thank you.”
Starlight backed out of the door. “Join us whenever you’re ready.” She shut the door behind her.
Twilight opened up the letter, not even bothering to read the label. Inside she found an official summons though it wasn’t for her crimes it was an official royal council for her and Celestia. A one on one discussion where she would be, at the very least, lectured for what she had done. Of course Twilight wasn’t sure if she could ever go to the meeting. That close to where Luna lived… When she had absolutely zero right to see Luna ever again.
The dam holding back Twilight’s emotions crumbled and let loose the river of tears. She tossed the letter to the floor along with the brush with a clatter. She leaned forward and laid her head onto the counter. It took every ounce of power she had left to not wail or sob, instead she just cried in silence. Hardly a cry escaped her lips as she sat there letting all the silent pain fall from her cheeks.
What had she done?
***
Trixie walked through the nearly empty halls of the oak castle. The servants worked on cleaning the halls none the wiser to the drama leading to Twilight’s exodus and although they were still growing used to Trixie’s presence they seemed to welcome it. As for Trixie herself she could really only think of how quiet this place was. How had Twilight ever managed to live here in this silence? It was no wonder she regrew her tree house.
She wondered what Luna had once thought of the castle. Knowing her she probably enjoyed the silence and the distance from other ponies. Trixie couldn’t help but to wonder what Luna was up to now? Heartbroken, alone, and back in Canterlot Castle, what was going through her mind?
Even Celestia was coming and leaving frequently. Leaving Luna to be in control of Canterlot while she visited. It was odd having Celestia down here so often, it had been many years since her presence was this active in Ponyville.
Speaking of which…
Trixie came across Celestia standing just outside of a locked metal door. Upon her approach Celestia nodded with a small smile. Trixie nodded back and with a flick of her magic began dispelling the metal door of its many wards.
Celestia’s voice was filled with warmth as she spoke. “So why did you ask me to meet you here?”
Trixie focused on the door as she spoke. “After what Twilight did I realized that it was best for me to be completely and openly honest with you. The last thing I want is to have any mistrust or doubt between us.”
Celestia’s smile faded. “What do you mean?”
The door opened and inside the two could see rows of magic books, each one giving off a dark ominous energy. A few wands, staves, and magical orbs sat on one side of the room. A few swords with glowing runes as well as armor menacing with spikes and jagged edges stood here and there. Trixie walked in leading Celestia to a small safe in the corner. The very safe that had once sat in Trixie’s office.
Celestia looked around. “All of these items are filled with dark magic…”
Trixie nodded. “Yes, it would seem that Twilight had found and locked away many terrible things over the years. From personal experience I know that it can be almost impossible to destroy such items.” Trixie pointed at the safe. “This one is my contribution to the safe.”
Celestia examined it. “I can its dark energy through the safe. What could possibly be in there.”
Trixie stroked the safe with a hoof but refused to open it. “It’s the last shard of the Alicorn Amulet.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “But, how?”
“I don’t know.” Trixie shook her head. “It took transforming me into an alicorn before the amulet could break, looks like one single shard remained.”
“But why do you have it?”
“It came to me,” Trixie said. “I’ve tried to destroy it, I’ve tried to throw it away, the deepest oceans, the most confusing jungles, nor even an active volcano could destroy or get rid of the shard. It continued to come back to me. So I locked it away. Put it somewhere safe that nopony would ever have to worry about it again.”
Celestia nodded, her expression grave. “Just a single shard still gives off that much energy?”
“Yes, it does. Though I fear soon we may have a way to destroy it.” Trixie let out a sigh. “Twilight was working on a spell, one that would require so much magical energy that it would take every alicorn alive to effectively use it. I fear this… Ultimate Magic, was designed for the sole purpose of killing the Pony of Shadows once and for all.”
Celestia glanced toward the open door. “Are you saying that the threat we currently face is truly that great? Can’t we just dump the other two monsters into an active volcano like Luna did?”
Trixie met Celestia’s eyes. “They are not the pony of shadow. They are merely its puppets.”
Celestia swallowed. “I’ve had dreams…”
“Dreams of a massive darkness consuming the world in ash, you and Luna fighting an eternal war against such a monster?”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
“Amber had the same dream. Luna had the same dream. I had the same dream… and Twilight has seen it in person.”
Celestia closed her eyes and let out a sign. “I see… so we truly are facing the end of all things.”
Trixie shook her head. “Twilight might have crapped out on us, but she left a legacy for us to follow. She left us the tools, the knowledge, and the ability to save our world, this world from the darkness that has taken so many others. This might be the greatest threat the world ever faces, but it will not be our end.”
Celestia smiled and looked down at Trixie with soft eyes. “You know, you and her used to have a lot in common.”
Trixie smirked. “Why do you think I used to hate her so much?”
Twilight stood in Celestia’s throne room staring up at the massive throne of Princess Celestia. Luna was nowhere in sight, but even if she was the only thing she would be able to focus on was the dark figure sitting on the throne. Large flames fanned behind the figure casting it into shadow but its shape was unmistakably that of Princess Celestia. Her eyes glowed a deep golden orange.
Twilight tried to plea, “Celestia, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Celestia’s voice boomed at such intensity that the entire hall shook. “NO, YOU HAVE DONE SO MUCH WRONG, HAVE COMMITED SO MANY SINS, AND WORST OF ALL HURT MY SISTER!”
Celestia’s wings spread out, fire plumed with the movement. “I will cleanse your sins from this earth, Twilight. I will cleanse you, from this earth.”
The fire roared into the sky and soared overhead burning at the ceiling. The fire spread out into tendrils with dragon heads at the tip. Each one coiling around Twilight trapping her into a vortex of flames and fury. Twilight laid low. “Please no, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Somepony save me, please save me.”
From the corner of the room something caught her attention. A dark figure watching her with cold blue eyes. Twilight reached out. “Please help me!”
The figure turned its head and closed its eyes. Vanishing from sight. The flames fury consumed Twilight entirely.
***
Twilight sat up, her entire body was covered in sweat. In the darkness of the moonlight it took a moment for her to adjust her eyesight. As the darkness around her turned into vague shapes, bookshelves, windows, a door, and the couch she was lying on all made themselves visible to her. She was in Starlight’s living room lying on the couch.
For a long silent minute Twilight laid there trying to forget her dream, but it only brought on memories of Celestia, of Luna and of her friends. Her ex-friends. Eventually Twilight had to force herself up and out of bed. She went and made a cup of black coffee. For a moment she reached for her flask to add a bit of whiskey to her drink and stopped short.
Not only was her flask completely missing, along with its elusive answers. She was also trying to stay sober. She shook her head and settled for the black coffee. Bitter and cold.
It felt too hot in the house so she went outside and sat on the front porch. The stars were bright and the moon shone with a little less brilliance then it once had. It was still beautiful, but she was sure that the moon would have been brighter if only she hadn’t hurt it so.
A high pitched voice broke the silence. “Don’cha look like a bunch of sadness this morning.”
Twilight looked up to see Cozy’s head poking down over the roof and staring at her. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“I was just taking a late night-early morning fly. It’s quiet this time a night.” She smiled brightly at Twilight. “What’cha doin up this late?”
“Nightmare.”
“Isn’t like, Princess Luna or something supposed to stop those?”
Twilight laughed. “Yeah, if you didn’t break her heart.”
“Oof, sounds like a rough one.” Cozy flittered down and landed next to Twilight. The mare was still a head shorter than her. Reminded her vaguely of Valiant Heart’s size. “So, if you’re up this late already. You wanna do something fun?”
Twilight finished off her coffee, set the cup down on the front porch’s wooden table and nodded. “If it’ll distract me from what’s going on in my head, sure.”
The two, led by Cozy started out into the town. This late at night it was perfect silence, with a slight chill in the breeze. Just enough that Twilight used a bit of magic to summon a pink and white scarf to surround her neck. She also made one for Cozy. For a moment Cozy held it in her hooves and gave a baffled stare at Twilight. “What’s this?”
“It’s a scarf to keep you warm,” Twilight said. “It’s a bit chilly out, thought you might be cold.”
Cozy raised an eyebrow. “What do you want for it?”
Twilight laughed. “Nothing. We’re friends, just wear it and stay warm. It’ll disappear in like twelve hours anyway.”
Cozy put the scarf on but looked uneasy about it. It was like watching Trixie whenever anypony was kind to her all over again. That struck out in her mind. Once upon a time Trixie had been awkward about all this friendship stuff too. Then again she had been hurt, broken, and ruined by a world that was cruel and cold. Was Cozy in the same shape, Twilight prayed she wasn’t.
About ten minutes into walking they reached the end of town. A long hill of grass sloped down into the nearby woods. Twilight stared down it, not quite sure if walking down a slope this late at night was such a good idea. “Where are we going?”
Cozy put a hoof to her chin. “…well… I guess I just wanted fly somewhere. I usually will fly over the forest at night, but you can’t really fly can you?”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Not really. Not even sure if my magic is strong enough to levitate myself for long anymore.”
Cozy landed next to Twilight and sat down. “Well we can just sit here and enjoy the sight of the forest until the sun comes up then.”
Twilight sat next to Cozy and stared out at the forest. “Yeah…”
Cozy’s head fell against Twilight’s shoulder. For a moment fear paralyzed Twilight. What if Luna saw her like this. Another mare leaning against her. Luna would be furious, and hurt, and… and…. Luna was gone from her life. After a moment Twilight relaxed and let the little mare lay against her. The warmth of Cozy’s body was nice against the chill in the air anyway.
“You know, Cozy,” Twilight said, “Life’s been… hard. You’re only, what? Twenty Two? You’re not a hero, not a princess, not one of Celestia’s weapons to use against her enemies. Even if you’ve been lonely in this town your life is safe. When I was seventeen I was forced to go and fight off ancient dragons. The kind that eat mountains. But I was good at it, I was proud to be Celestia’s tool, her blade, her… pawn.”
A sigh escaped Twilight’s lips. “I don’t know where things went wrong. Was it the wars? Was it the cult? Was it getting possessed by alien creatures from an ancient unforgiving space?
“I don’t think so, you know?” Twilight shook her head. “All these memories seem alien to me. Like I’m watching a movie rather than living it. I can remember the moment that Celestia turned against me, wanting to destroy something that was important to me. We actually fought!
“Can you believe that?” Twilight gave it a moment but continued. “Me and Celestia fought like real enemies. It took every ounce of power and smarts I had, but I somehow won the battle. Of course… after that I started to drink more often. I eventually found this flask sitting inside my office. It was just sort of there, and it had a note on it. The note said something like, ‘To Twilight, I’m sorry for the pain you’ve faced, here is something to hopefully help on those darkest of nights’ I thought it was from Luna, but she had no idea how it got there. I realized it must have been Celestia trying to be all sneaky after that.
“Of course the flask helped. It helped a lot. It was like, whenever I drank it, I was given an answer to my problem. It didn’t always make sense. Like, how would giving a chocolate shake to Pinkie when she’s mad because Applejack kicked a hole in her wall help? I didn’t know but I did that and Pinkie calmed right down and they fixed the hole in the wall together. That flask had answers in it. I know it must have been some kind of magical item, there to fix all my problems…”
Twilight bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. “Of course… I was wrong. I was so freaking wrong. It might have given me answers. But I stopped thinking for myself. I just relied on it and on the booze in general to help me decide things. The harder things got, the more I drank. I… I can’t believe I actually got so shameless, so destroyed, so… evil that I used dark magic on my friends whenever things didn’t go the way I wanted them too.”
Twilight wrapped a leg over Cozy’s shoulder and drew her in a bit closer. “The worst part is… that it wasn’t the flask to blame. Nor the alcohol. It was me. I did those things. I don’t deserve friendship, a second chance, princesshood, or… you. If you… If you don’t want to be my friend anymore I’ll understand.”
For a long moment Twilight waited in silence, fearing Cozy’s response. When it didn’t come Twilight looked down at her friend and saw that Cozy’s eyes were shut and she was actually starting too droll onto Twilight’s shoulder. The mare had fallen asleep. Guess she wasn’t as used to late nights like this. However, Twilight was. So she just sat here, holding her friend up to make sure she didn’t fall over, and watched the moon as it sunk behind her to slowly be replaced by the dawn’s oppressive glow.
Even if Cozy didn’t hear a word she said, somehow… Twilight just felt, lighter.
Twilight stared at the book. She’d been reading for over an hour now and her vision was beginning to suffer from it. The words on the pages had become washed over by a layer of fuzz. For a long while she laid there trying to read pas the fuzz yet unable too. It had been many, many years since her vision had done this when reading.
A long time ago, although it only felt like a little bit ago, Twilight would on occasion have issues when reading for extended periods of time. Twilight put the book down leaving it open and with a flicker of magic summoned a pair of reading glasses. Once she put those on she went back to her book. Pieces of her mane kept falling in front of her face though so she put her hair back into a bun before continuing.
She stayed like that for quite some time until she noticed something at the corner of her eye. “Starlight, why are you staring?”
Starlight shook her head. “I’ve just never seen you wear glasses before.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “I haven’t had to since long before I first met you.”
“So you used to have vision problems?”
Twilight put a book mark into the book and closed it. Reading it would seem was going to be an impossibility no matter what she did. “Yes.”
“When was the last time you had to use them to read?”
Twilight grumbled. “I don’t know.” After a moment she gave a better answer. “Back when I was trying to figure out why the Crystal Ponies lost there shininess. We figured it out eventually, but I read a lot of books then.”
Starlight nodded. “So it was before you were an alicorn.”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah it…” she blinked took her glasses off letting them vaporize back into pure magic. She rose to her hooves and galloped to the restroom, shutting the door behind her. Twilight stared into the mirror. “Before I was an alicorn…”
Twilight lifted the eye patch up off her eye and opened it. The magic contained within shone bright, and vivid. Her vision seemed to change, to expand when she did. Hesitantly Twilight forced her good eye closed and sat still. Her breath stolen from her as she realized something was different from before. Something that filled her with unlimited amounts of both joy and fear.
She could now see out of the place where she kept her alicorn magic.
And in the mirror, just behind all the light Twilight saw it.
Her eye had returned.
***
Trixie was standing in the workshop located on the first floor of Twilight’s castle. A large open square space where one would see all kinds of strange machines. Modified vehicles with strange shining weapons built into them, pony shaped metal suits filled with arcane magic and science parts that boggled Trixie’s mind. A few of the weapons looked far too devastating to consider ever using. This place was less a workshop and more an armory.
It had also been locked behind seven layers of magical wards which took her, Celestia, and even Luna three days of cooperative work to disarm. Looking at these weapons she understood why. Celestia looked on with disapproval, Luna had already left like a ghost.
Trixie was looking for something, she wasn’t sure exactly what, but she was looking for it. An orb she assumed from the notes. Celestia picked up one of the weapons, Trixie recognized it as a riffle, only covered in shining runes of many colors. There was a trademark apple on the stock. “What was Twilight making in here?”
Trixie found a pony shaped helmet, it was bright pink and had three balloons etched into its metal. “I don’t think she was alone. I’ve heard tale that Applebloom and Pinkie had been working with Twilight on some secret projects. I just didn’t expect them to be so… militarized.”
From the doorway a familiar voice stated, “Ah can tell you both right now, that most of what we did was military.”
Trixie turned to see Applebloom standing there. She had a holstered revolver at her side. Trixie blinked. “Why are you armed?”
Applebloom shook her head. “What, y’all didn’t think Twilight wouldn’t put some kind of warning system in for us? Ah’m sure Pinkie saw the alarm too, just don’t know if’n she cares enough to stop a possible thief.”
Celestia stared at her. “And you?”
“Ah know the kind of damage these devices can cause if they are let loose into the world uncontrolled.” She eyed them both. “But Ah trust you two to have good judgment on what to do with these.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes at some of the weapons. “These look like… the kind of inventions found only in the Seekers Archive. Weapons I have done my most to keep away from pony’s minds, and thoughts.”
Applebloom nodded. “Yep, most of them are based on schematics Twilight copied from there. She recruited me and Pinkie to help her find the schematics. She recruited Flim and Flam to help construct them.”
Trixie looked around her. “But… why? Why build all of this?”
Applebloom laughed. “After the windigo war Twilight realized that all it would take is one more conflict like that to wipe Equestria from the map… also what do you mean all of this?”
Trixie and Celestia both looked at her with widening eyes.
Applebloom smirked. “This is just a workshop, surely you didn’t think this was all there was.”
***
Twilight walked through the town, her eye patch back on her face. Last thing she wanted to do was to have everypony staring at the light bulb in her socket. Of course she might require that magic eventually. Her mind filtered back to the threat Equestria was currently facing, but out here it felt so far away. Not at all like it was a real threat. Everypony seemed so happy here, not at all concerned for the issues facing the country. Then again Twilight was reminded that this town was a bit odd for a pony town. It technically did not fall under Equestrian jurisdiction due to a series of laws and border markings, this town was actually a sovereign entity but one that let Equestria rule over it due to the benefits gained from the trade goods.
If the enemy was targeting Equestria itself then this town would be safe. It was also likely why she hadn’t seen head nor tail of any soldiers in town. They couldn’t put a military presence here without violating some treaties. Meaning the town was normally defended by its resident ruler and alicorn princess ‘Starlight Glimmer’ and that was fine for smaller tasks. Heck she could likely be a tactical nuke against a horde of dragons if she wanted to, but this threat was beyond anything Twilight could imagine.
She paused to look at the sky. Her throat was growing dry. She wanted some answers, answers to keep everypony she loved safe, even if they didn’t want her. Lucky for her the flask was long gone, or else its allure would be too much for her.
“Hiya, Twilight!” Cozy’s voice chirped.
Twilight was getting used to her random appearances at this point. “Hi, Cozy.”
Cozy landed beside Twilight. “You have that look in your eye again. The one that says like, ‘I’m concerned about something really far away and not important to the here and now’”
Twilight glared at her. “I have a look now?”
“Course ya do. It’s the same look you were making when I first met’cha. The one that made me want to say hi and snap you out of it. You-” Cozy said with a pointed hoof to Twilight’s chest, “-need to stop brooding.”
“You know a little bit of what’s out there at this point. And how I screwed it all up.”
Cozy blew a raspberry. “Come on, Twilight. Those things are left for other ponies. Let’s just focus on having fun, and relaxing, and being super cute.”
Twilight blinked. “Did… you just call me cute?”
Cozy smirked. “Oh you wish. I’m the cute one, you’re the uh… smart one.”
“Oh, wow, thanks.”
“Well it’s true, I’m supposed to be cute and silly, you’re supposed to be smart and edgy.”
“Edgy!”
“Of course!” Cozy giggled. “You’re always like, ‘the world is ending, and it’s all dark, and I did bad stuff and don’t deserve good things’. That’s what I call edgy.”
Twilight sat down. “Of all the things I have been called over the years. Edgy is not one of them.”
“Your welcome!”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Fine, let’s do your plan. Let’s have fun.”
Cozy squeed and flew into the air doing a loop. She stopped so close in front of Twilight’s face there muzzle’s were touching. “YOU MEAN IT!”
“S-s-sure.”
Cozy landed and started to walk forward. “Then come with me, I’m going to show you a secret place of mine! It’ll be an adventure.”
Twilight followed a little reluctantly. There was something about the mare that reminded her vaguely of Pinkie Pie. It caused her heart to ache a little but at the same time it gave her a bit of hope. Maybe Cozy was right, maybe she just needed to relax, have some fun, and try to forget about things best left to better ponies. For now she should just focus on herself and her rehabilitation.
It’s not like anything bad was going to happen anytime soon right?
Trixie and Celestia followed Applebloom to an old abandoned building just outside of Ponyville. It was a massive structure, it’s old walls filled with holes, the roof crumbling down in some places, surrounded by a garden that had long since gone unattended to and overgrown. Applebloom led them through the old courtyard.
Applebloom explained as they walked, “This place used to be a high school about twenty or thirty years ago. Twilight apparently bought the land when she first moved to Ponyville. The school was already closed but she had plans of starting a magic school here.”
Trixie thought back to her own students. Her classes were becoming harder to manage between being a Princess again and trying to figure out the mysteries that Twilight left behind. She missed the quiet life where she could focus more on her students, and her family. Of course she at least had a good substitute for her class.
Applebloom led them through an entrance way long since missing any doors. “Of course Twilight learned that while teaching the lessons of friendship were nice and all, it was all useless when compared to the might of something like the windigo. So she already had the land, we just had to use it.”
Celestia frowned. “That is… certainly one way she could look at it.”
Applebloom glanced back at her. “It is, and it is a view that I personally share.”
They traveled down and through long abandoned corridors. Dirt and dust covered everything. In a few places weeds had actually sprouted through the floor and made there declaration on this land. Cracks in the ceiling let streams of light, almost sparkling as they caught glimpses of dust in there beams. The place also smelled faintly of mildew.
They continued walking until they landed in what appeared to be a large office space. Now bereft of any books, only empty shelves, a desk, and a few broken statues stood here. Applebloom walked to a place behind the desk where a chair might fit and pressed a switch underneath the desk. The floor sunk in revealing a secret stairway going out.
Applebloom looked down there and as a sickly yellow light appeared at the end of the tunnel she said, “We are going to make sure that Equestria is safe, no matter what threat we face. Nopony shall hurt us like Starswirl did, like the windigo did.”
Trixie grimaced. She thought about villages already gone and missing. An enemy that they couldn’t find, and the deaths of essentially the entire changeling race. The enemy had already hurt them, and Applebloom just didn’t know it yet.
Applebloom began the trek down the stairs and into the tunnels below the school. “You’ll see what the past ten years of mine, Twilight’s, and Valiant Heart’s lives have been devoted too. Just follow me.”
***
Twilight felt the wind breeze through her mane as she trailed behind a flying Cozy Glow. She seemed even smaller, and cuter when flying in the air. Reminded her of the first time she met Luna. The smallest, cutest alicorn of all. The memory hurt to recall, but only because it brought with it the knowledge that Luna would no longer be a part of her life. If Twilight could do anything to make up for what she did, she would do it. No matter how hard, nor painful it turned out to be.
“We’re almost there,” Cozy stated as they crossed a flower bed.
The flowers here were mostly daisies, and Twilight couldn’t help but to snatch one up and eat it on her way. If anypony complained they could write it in triplicate and submit it to the department of useless crap for all she cared. She was free. Finally free of all her old burdens.
Cozy was ahead of her now, just entering the other side of the woods. Twilight sped up to catch up. If she lost sight of Cozy now she’d have to find her way back and they had been walking for well over an hour now. She might even have to teleport her way back to Starlight’s place.
Twilight entered the woods and shouted out,” Cozy, don’t go too far ahead.”
Cozy was already gone though. She was already too far ahead. Twilight galloped forward. Leaping over rocks, and stomping twigs beneath her hooves. She did not have the energy for this and in just a few moments of frantic running she stopped, short of breath and looking around for her friend.
“COZY!” Twilight cried out.
There was no response other than the wind and creaking of the trees.
“Great job, Twi.” Twilight said as she looked around. “You stop to fill your fat face with just a few daisies and manage to get lost.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Guess I should return to the meadow. At least there Cozy can find me.”
Twilight turned around and began walking back. She wouldn’t ever tell anypony but she secretly hated hiking. Sure she did it, for her missions, for her education, for her friends, but she hated it. It took a lot of energy and effort to go through forests. Sure the reward was worth it, old ruins filled with lost knowledge, fun time with friends on a camping trip, or defeating a villainous monster. But most of the time it was an annoyance to go through. Now she had to do it all alone.
A chill ran through the air and Twilight found herself needing to summon a scarf to help keep her warm again. Walking back toward the meadow it seemed to just grow colder still. “Great, so a freaking cold front is moving in.”
Twilight finally exited the woods and back into the meadow. The green luscious grass seemed still without the wind and the flowers looked like they were limping sideways. Twilight stared out into the open space as a familiar feeling of dread began to fill her heart. Across the distance of the meadow, just standing there looming out of the woods stood a dark pony. A creature with a black chitin carapace, some cracks were torn open with black oozing goo dripping out of the creature’s body. A pair of hollow eyes that stared on with no emotion, no thought, no purpose. A pair of torn up insectiod wings stood on its back, and a jagged knife like horn stood on its head.
Twilight swallowed. She knew what this was, she couldn’t believe it, but she knew what it had been once upon a time. This was the last thing she expected to see in her life.
Another figure loomed out of the woods. This one was another one of the creatures, only this time its insectoid wings were helping it fly. The second creature was missing its lower half. Where legs, flanks, and a tail should be was only empty air being ruined by a constant stream of the black goo coming from where its upper body had been cruelly torn off.
Another creature stepped out of the woods, half its face was a skeleton constantly oozing black goo. Another one missing one of its wings. Another one with a black orb dangling from the side of its face, a tendril of slime connecting to where it’s eye had once been.
Twilight’s heart and mind was filled with panic. She finally got the answer to one of her questions, one that she never wanted to know the answer to. She finally found out what happened to the changeling horde.
Amber stood there in the large open halls of the castle. The paintings on the wall were all artistic interpretations of the elements of harmony and there adventurers. One showed Twilight’s first visit to Ponyville, and how she met her friends. Another showed the group facing off against Discord. Another still showed not the scene of Twilight’s crowning, but rather the scene where she was turned into an alicorn while surrounded by her friends.
Staring at each of them Amber was able to see for the first time what was really there in those paintings.
Lies.
Twilight, her mentor, her friend, her third mother… the pony she had once trusted more than any other had changed. She had done something impossible. And that one action made this entire place, this castle, this town, feel wrong.
Everywhere she looked inside the castle she could see Twilight and her lies. A burning fury raged in Amber’s heart. She was so angry inside, so angry that it physically hurt. She was also confused. Lost, and stranded without any way of knowing how to feel or what to do.
She just wanted, she just wanted to burn something.
A flicker of light emitted from her horn as the thought of burning these lying paintings down filled her mind. It took all her strength to not do so, but she wanted to more than she could ever admit. She had to be strong, she had to be there for her family. Burning things down in a fit of rage was a weakness she could not afford.
She let out a sigh and closed her eyes tightly until the anger and hate calmed down at least a little.
Fluttershy’s voice came out like a calm in the storm. “I’m proud of you.”
Amber shot her a glare. “Why?”
“You could have burned those paintings down, nopony would even blame you at this point, but you didn’t.” Fluttershy joined her side and nodded. “I certainly wouldn’t.”
Amber leaned into her aunt and stifled a sob.
Fluttershy’s wing draped over Amber’s back and she pulled her in close. “You’re angry. You’re hurt. You’ve been betrayed. And most importantly you’re confused.”
Amber nodded. “Y-yeah.”
“And you’re in a unique position to be hurt in a way nopony else is by this. Twilight was like a mother to you and she finally revealed her true colors to you… to all of us.”
Amber half growled and half sobbed. “Why?”
Fluttershy shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t tell you why. And from personal experience, I know the why doesn’t really matter.”
Amber met Fluttershy’s eyes. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that out of everyone here, I understand the most what it’s like to be betrayed by the person closest to you. To be hurt, betrayed and confused as to how, or why they would ever do something so cruel and confusing. To realize at the very end that the person you saw, the person you knew was a lie the whole time. To be so angry you just want to break something, or somepony, to hurt and destroy and rage until you can’t hurt anymore.”
Amber felt her body trembling.
Fluttershy offered a small smile. “I also know how to get past those emotions and heal from the old wounds.”
Amber’s heart ached wit so much anger and pain that she couldn’t possibly see a way out of this, but if Fluttershy had any answers, any at all, she would take them. “H-how?”
“I practiced martial arts.” Fluttershy beamed. “I started learning when I was hurt. I practiced when I was angry and hurt. And I got stronger and better at them when I was angry and hurt. And I became the best in Equestria when I finally overcame those feelings of anger and pain.”
“So what, I just practice fighting until its better? I’m not a hero so why would I bother doing that?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I can’t teach you magic, I can’t educate you in the history of Equestria, but what I can do is offer to give you what knowledge I do have. I can teach you to fight, to master your emotions and to work through the pain, the hate, and the anger while you’re at it.”
Amber shivered. “R-really?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Just don’t tell Rainbow Dash, she’ll be so jealous that I took you under my wing and not her.”
***
For a much longer moment than Twilight should have, she stood there at the edge of the forest frozen in terror. These truly were undead monsters. Changelings, twisted, grotesque, and oozing with the fell tar like slime. What was this? Was it some kind of plague? Why were these slime things appearing all over now?
One of the creatures took a shambling step forward, splatters of black tar hit the ground around it. It took another step, and another, the shamble quickly turning into an awkward trot. Something in Twilight’s mind finally started to work out the danger she was currently in. Her body seemed to move in slow motion as she turned around and began galloping in the opposite direction. She could hear the sounds of the other undead giving chase. She was now being hunted by a horde of these monstrosities.
Galloping ahead through the forest, Twilight did not get the luxury of dodging or carefully moving this time. Her legs were swatted at by bushes, her hooves kicked rocks. And she ran with the coordination of a blind cat. Which is to say if she could bump into it, she was going to.
The only good news was that despite the fact her enemies could fly and trot, they couldn’t quite keep up with a full fledged gallop. Meaning she could outrun them, possibly. She could try and make a wide run around them, and head back to the village if she needed to. Get Starlight to save her.
Something in her brain twitched and Twilight felt it more than saw it. She moved to the side and a glob of black tar shot out past her landing on a tree ahead of her. She glanced back to see several of the undead changelings had a fell black aura around there horn. They could shoot at her!
Twilight focused and teleported ahead another twenty feet gaining more distance between them and keeping as many trees between her and her assaulters. They shot at the trees sending splatters of the goo everywhere. She didn’t know what that stuff would do but she refused to be touched by it.
A few more teleport spells and Twilight was far ahead of them. She could still hear them behind her but she didn’t keep still for a moment. Her breath was already running ragged. The combination of magic and running was too much on her. She was surprisingly out of shape.
Twilight continued to push forward, through the pain and the exhaustion until the trees began to thin out. She had just enough time to skid to a halt as she exited the treeline. Her body slid in the dirt and only stopped about four inches away from the cliff edge. The cliff went down several hundred feet. Maybe if she was careful she could try and use her telekinesis to float down there… except that she was facing a group of flying enemies.
Twilight turned and faced the treeline. If she could run back along the cliff edge she could try and escape. She started back towards the forest edge but stopped short.
Dozens of pairs of glowing eyes appeared in the woods. Followed by the undead changelings stepping out of the forest. She was surrounded by a half circle of them. With Celestia knows how many of them in the forest between her and her escape.
Floating in the air was a smaller changeling. A young mare or stallion once upon a time, now a slime covered gorebeast missing one of its forelegs. The small one reminded Twilight of Cozy Glow. Where was she? Had she ran away? Was she taken out by them?
Cozy wouldn’t abandon her. Twilight knew that much. That only left one option. Cozy must have been…
The fear in Twilight’s soul was replaced by a burning fury. Instinct kicked in and with a simple spell Twilight summoned forth her sword. The sword that could cut through magic itself, its dark purple blade shining in the light. She had vowed to never use the blade again after Celestia’s betrayal, but now in her current state that old promise was meaningless and hollow.
Besides, if she was going to die here….
Twilight braced herself, striking a combat stance and readying herself for the first changeling dumb enough to charge her. “You might kill me this day, but for what you did to Cozy Glow, to my friend, I will kill all of you in return!”
Twilight snarled, and the first wave of the enemies charged.
***
Trixie and Celestia followed Applebloom through the darkness of the tunnel system. It seemed like the tunnel went down at a slope for ages. At long last they came to a simple metal door against a brick wall. Applebloom braced a hoof on the handle before glancing back at them. “You ready to see what my life’s work has aspired too? What we have done to safeguard the country from all who would seek its destruction?”
Trixie nodded.
With that Applebloom pushed open the door and stepped through. At first Trixie was blinded by the intense light, but pushed forward. She stepped out of the stone floored hallway and into a massive room lined with concrete floors, walls and ceiling. This room must have been nearly a mile long and Trixie could hardly even see the end of it. There were dozens, if not hundreds of suits of armor, all faintly glowing with magical life. Racks, upon racks of weaponry she didn’t recognize, all of which emanated a magical feeling. Large vehicles painted in bright gold and armed with the largest cannons she’d ever seen. There was more than enough equipment here for an entire army if need be.
Beyond all this Trixie saw at the end of the hall a lone blue door. Upon it she saw a surprising sight. Painted into the metal was Trixie’s cutie mark. Trixie had to ask, “What’s in that room?”
Applebloom bit her lower lip. “Ah’ll be honest. Ah’m not too sure. Ah just know that Twilight was making some kind of weapon, something she said could defeat the coming darkness. As if all my weapons couldn’t do that fer us.”
Trixie nodded. “I need to see it.”
Applebloom shrugged. “Fine, suit yerselves, Ah’ll show ya what she made.”
***
Twilight’s heart was pounding in her ears, her breath was quick paced, and her muscles were tense. Still some part of her, some deep, dark part she’d never admit was there was excited. Sure she was going to die here, but she was going to get to take out as many of these undead changelings as she could first. It wouldn’t be much, but maybe this was the kind of death she deserved.
A rich female voice spoke from above her. “You really are pathetic, here take your new plaything and let your betters handle this.”
Twilight looked up just in time to see a large shape heading straight for her. Something heavy and warm collided with her head knocking her to the ground. She glared around her only to see Cozy staring at her, her eyes wide, and her mouth slightly open. Above her Twilight saw a huge black shape in the air. It landed just in front of her and Twilight gasped as she realized it was.
In front of her stood Queen Chrysalis, in her telekinetic aura was a spear pointed at the horde of undead changelings. She faced them with a determined look upon her scratched and scarred face. Chrysalis glanced back at her for but a brief moment and scoffed, “And I thought the princess of ‘friendship’ could handle such a trivial thing such as a Changeling horde.” She faced ahead again. “Don’t think for a moment I am doing this to save you, I’m just here to put the souls of my children to rest. “… you just so happened to be in the way.”
Twilight sat there, stunned by the living revelation in front of her. Queen Chrysalis was there, in the flesh, standing tall as a giant and facing the hordes of her own corrupted and undead children. Twilight’s legs held tightly to Cozy Glow, who had been somehow rescued by the evil queen. Queen Chrysalis’s horn lit up with intense green light that was almost blinding.
The horde charged and Twilight could only watch as Chrysalis drew a line across their ranks with a beam of magical energy. Everything the beam touched burst into flames and was knocked back. The first line of enemies were virtually incinerated, the ones directly behind them were burned and charred. The third wave marched and stomped over the fallen without a second thought.
Queen Chrysalis raged against them. “How is it that you only fight with this much devotion AFTER you die!”
From this angle Twilight couldn’t see Chrysalis’s face, only the back of her head. But the tone in her voice was filled with such anger and disgust that even Twilight felt the burn of her words. The horde charging them however, had not a single care.
Beam after beam hit the oncoming horde but there numbers had increased and were enough that whatever was killed was so quickly replaced by two or three more that the horde was slowly growing closer. Circling Twilight’s group so as to ensure there destruction. Even Chrysalis’s rage wouldn’t be enough to defeat this horde.
Twilight tried to rise. To force herself to fight these monsters. Yet looking upon them a new memory tore into her mind with such power that she couldn’t defeat it. She recalled how she had once faked the death of every pony in Ponyville to ‘prank’ Rainbow Dash and teach her a lesson. Is this what Rainbow saw back then, a horde of undead that were familiar, ones she might have to put down herself?
Twilight was paralyzed with the fear of what she’d done and the fear of the mass of undead ahead of her. She knew she needed to act, to help out, yet she just sat there, clinging tightly to Cozy who watched out with terrified eyes. Twilight was no hero, she was just a mare who’d gained too much power and never needed any of it.
A bright orange flair of light burned from behind them and Twilight turned to see Sunset Shimmer landing on the cliff. Her horn blazing with fire and fury. The flames stretched out and burned into the horde of undead. With Sunset taking the right and destroying their foes with a constant torrent of flame, Chrysalis was freed up to focus on the left half of the horde. Together the two of them worked in tandem to annihilate the horde. Another pony, a pegasus landed beside Twilight. An older Stallion she had only met once before at a social gathering of Celestia’s. Wind Rider.
Twilight blinked. “What’s, what’s going on?”
Wind Rider smirked. “Looks like we’re saving your royal hinny, is what.”
***
Trixie sat with her back against the wall. Celestia was nearby at a table and looking over a few schematics for the device they’d discovered. What would arguably be Twilight’s most powerful creation, and possibly the most devastating weapon. Of course Celestia had already expressed her concerns on with it, Trixie shared many of those concerns herself.
Applebloom was at the other side of the table and chewing on a piece of hey. “Okay, Ah get it, she made something that even Ah didn’t understand. But, these blueprints don’t make too much sense.”
Celestia was eying them with a hard look in her eyes. “If you understand alicorn magic they make more sense. They are… a mess. I’ll admit that, but I can see what she was trying to do. The real question is; does this device poses more of a threat to our enemies or to us?”
Applebloom shrugged. “She was probably drunk when she made these schematics, an Ah think that says a lot about how much we can rely on this device right there.”
Celestia nodded. “I think that when I next see her, I will inquire about this device in person. Until then I cannot allow it to be used.”
Applebloom nodded in agreement. “Ah think that’s fer the best. After all fer all we know it’s a dud, but it could also be a bomb that would make the destruction of New Slate look like nothing.”
Trixie pushed herself back up and walked to the table. Once more she looked over the blueprints. Some of them were smudged. Most had almost illegible mouth writing, and what was readable made no sense. Diagrams showing the device exploding with some kind of light were mixed in with images of the device shooting a rainbow out of it. Did Twilight even know what it was supposed to do herself or was she just letting the alcohol drive her creation?
Trixie looked at the others in the room and made eye contact with each of them. “We’ve seen what is here. Some of it looks useful, and might even be needed. Other parts don’t look like we should touch them. Regardless we don’t have the time to sit here trying to solve the mystery of what Twilight was trying to do. We need to take action, to defend Equestria, and to stop these corrupted alicorns that are threatening us.”
Celestia nodded. “I’ve spent far too much time here grieving, and this mystery is too much for us right now to solve.”
Applebloom looked at Trixie. “Twilight’s already filled me in on a lot of what was happening. If I can be of any help, just let me know.”
Trixie nodded. “We need to start training an elite group of soldiers on how to use this equipment. We’re dealing with creatures that can fly out of a pit of lava, who knows how much destruction it would take to bring them down. Just one of them nearly killed Luna, and there are at least two left.”
Celestia stared at the blueprints one last time and closed her eyes. “I… reluctantly agree. But after we deal with this threat, these weapons, armors, and this orb Twilight made will all need to be locked away or destroyed. This is the only time such weapons should be allowed to be used.”
Applebloom exclaimed, “Destroyed? Now hold on a darn minute, Ah’ve worked mahself half to death to build these. We are not destroying mah metal babies.”
Trixie stepped in. “I don’t think we should destroy them either. But what we do after this fight doesn’t matter if we don’t win this one. Our entire world is at stake and if we have to break any and every rule to save it, then so be it. So long as there is still an Equestria to save after we’re done.”
Celestia nodded. “I agree.”
Applebloom bit her lower lip and then sighed. “I agree as well. If the world gets destroyed there is no point in keeping my creations safe and sound.”
Trixie nodded. “Then we’re in agreement. We are going to finish what Twilight Started and save Equestria.”
***
Amber hit the ground and slid through the dirt a few feet. Her entire side was burning but she knew what was coming next. She rolled over just as the yellow hoof smashed into the dirt where she’d just been. Amber’s horn lit up and a bright light flashed around her blinding even herself but she ran forward, now familiar with the terrain around her.
Fluttershy’s voice was like a dagger right next to her ear. “A trick like that won’t stop me.”
A blur of yellow motion slammed into Amber’s side. Pain shot through her body as she was lifted off the ground and into the air once more. She must have flown a good five feet before she hit the earth and dug a trench in it with her body.
She felt more than saw Fluttershy near her. Amber’s horn lit up and she sprayed a gout of flame around her. Amber saw a yellow and pink blur dance around the flames before landing on top of her, a hoof forcing her face into the dirt with just enough pressure to let Amber know how easy it would be to crush her skull.
Fluttershy’s voice came out quiet, but strong as steel. “You’re defeated.”
Amber glared into those blue eyes. She didn’t speak she just nodded in acceptance.
Fluttershy backed off and her demeanor shifted into something more relaxed and gentle. She reached out with a yellow hoof and Amber reluctantly grabbed it. Once she was dragged up to her hooves Amber felt it, her entire body ached, she had scrapes, bruises, and maybe even a broken rib. Twilight had never trained like this, this was something on an entirely different level.
Fluttershy frowned. “I’m sorry, Amber. I thought… maybe Twilight had trained you to fight better. Maybe I should dial it down even more.”
“Even more?” Amber asked. She shook her head and forced a grin on her lips. She tasted copper in her mouth as she did. “Nah, I’m fine. Once Val heals me up we can continue.”
Fluttershy nodded. “You’ve got spirit. I’ll make a real fighter out of you yet. Even Rainbow Dash will be hard pressed to defeat you.”
Amber didn’t want to mention it, but during her study of martial arts she had already beaten Rainbow Dash once. Of course they weren’t going full force, only using martial arts with no flying or magic. Fluttershy’s combat skills were on an entirely different level. Amber had to wonder if it was possible that Fluttershy wasn’t just the best fighter in the group but in all of Equestria… then again she’d heard tales of how badly she’d beaten Rainbow Dash in the past for a few ‘pranks’.
Probably best not to think too hard on that and to focus instead on making sure she could be strong enough to protect her family. This time Maud’s life will never be put in any danger. Amber would keep her safe.
After all, with Twilight gone, who else was going to do it?
***
The edge of the forest had been charred and burned to a crisp. Lumps of charred or melted changeling lay in piles across the field. Twilight sat there trying not to smell the scent of rotten flesh mixed in with charred meat. Next to her sat Cozy who wouldn’t look directly at Twilight.
Sunset Shimmer had just finished burning the last of a twitching corpse before heading Twilight’s way. Behind her stood the imposing height of Queen Chrysalis who was looking at the bodies around them with an unreadable expression. Wind Rider was circling the sky above checking for signs of anymore hordes.
Sunset spoke proudly. “Good job, Never thought you’d bring her here, but hey you did it.”
Twilight cocked her head to the side. “You wanted me to bring Cozy Glow here? But why?”
Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Uh… not quite. I tasked Cozy with the mission of bringing you to me the moment you landed here.”
Twilight laughed. “Sure, and I’m still an alicorn princess.”
Cozy cleared her throat. When she spoke her voice was quiet, fragile. “Were you really going to fight these monsters by yourself… for me?”
Twilight nodded. “Of course I was. You’re my friend, one of the only ones I have left.”
Cozy shivered. “But you’d die.”
“At least I’d die for a friend.”
Cozy wouldn’t look at Twilight; she instead looked at the ground. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m not a very good friend.”
Twilight put a leg around Cozy’s shoulders and drew her into a hug. “Don’t say that. You’ve just never had one before. Your learning.”
Cozy grumbled. “Even I know that lying is not something you do to friends.”
Twilight swallowed. “Lying?” She glanced back at Sunset who stood there patently.
Cozy mumbled. “Sunset’s telling the truth. I… was supposed to drag you into a meeting with her. That’s why I started talking to you, so you would trust me enough to follow me out here. I didn’t know that I’d… actually care about you. I’m sorry, Twilight.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “I only have one question; am I really a friend to you?”
Cozy shot up straight and looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Of course you are! Just because I’m a liar doesn’t mean I don’t like ya.”
Twilight smiled. “Then I’ll forgive you. Celestia knows I’ve done far worse to ponies I’ve known for far longer.”
Cozy looked away again and closed her eyes tight. “I… thank you.”
Twilight looked back to Sunset and her smile faded somewhat. “So… you have a new party I see.”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah, this time we’re facing a threat that is grave enough we need all the magical help we can get. Wind Rider, fastest pony out there next to Rainbow Dash. Cozy Glow, her knowledge of magic, artifacts, history and planning abilities might even surpass yours. Chrysy here,” she nodded at Queen Chrysalis, “One of the most powerful alicorns in all of Equestria.”
Queen Chrysalis nearly spat the words, “I’m only here to get revenge against the Pony of Shadows for what they’ve done to my people. There is no ‘friendship’ happening here.”
Sunset smirked. “She’s a hard rump sometimes. Anyway, there are only two other ponies that I need. First I need your help, Twilight. You’re a formidable, loyal, and intelligent adversary that even the Pony of Shadows has reason to fear.”
Twilight nodded. “I’m not sure I’m up for fixing the world.”
Sunset replied, “That’s fine cus I’m not asking you too. I’m just asking for you to help. I’ll save the world this time.”
Twilight nodded. “I’ll… I’ll do my best. Just try to remember I’m not an alicorn anymore, I’m just a unicorn now.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah cus that’s so hard to remember with your lack of wings and height reduction.”
Twilight growled. “And who is the last pony you needed?”
Sunset’s eyes lit up. “Not exactly a pony, but someone you are very familiar with. I need the God of Chaos himself, Discord. And I think I figured out where he’s been hiding all this time.”
***
“My Queen,” an echoing male voice said in the Golden Halls.
The Red Queen looked up from her golden throne. Crimson tapestries lined the walls and a long red carpet lined the food of the throne all the way out to the front doors where she saw a lone alicorn guard come in. His armor was more crimson than it was gold indicating his higher rank among the Empire’s soldiers.
“Speak,” She said as he stopped at the foot of the stairs leading up to her throne.
“My Queen,” He said as he bowed. “I have news of the outside world.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, what did you find out?”
He rose nervously. “This infection, the dark plague as some have began calling it, it comes from the world below.”
She nodded. “Where from?”
“Rumors of it spreading in Equestria have sprouted up. Though from what I hear it is only affecting animals and the changelings.”
The Red Queen scoffed. “Of course those insects would be infected. Where are they?”
“Gone.”
The Red Queen stood from her throne. “What do you mean gone?”
“Their homes, their tribes have all been destroyed by some kind of powerful magic. Nothing but craters, cracked with glass have remained. There are similar reports of several villages in Equestria suffering a similar fate.”
The Red Queen glanced toward her wall where a long tapestry hung. It showed an image of the return of the Alicorn Empire. It’s golden city returning in a flash of bright light and floating above a world of red. They’d had peace so far, and nothing was dumb enough, or at least powerful enough to interfere with that. Now something was threatening her peace, and it wasn’t Princess Celestia. It wasn’t something entirely new.
“What’s the oldest reported sighting of this disease?”
The guard answered. “The oldest one we found is actually from hundreds of years ago. Of course the disease was blocked off and not allowed to infect the world then. Seems a wizard of some sort had discovered a pool of pure dark energy. It killed all who entered it, and would sometimes reanimate them into a twisted dark force. Rumors circulate that this is what created the Changeling race.”
“What did they do to stop it back then?”
“Much like Equestria does with all its problems they sealed the cave off and forgot about it.” The guard explained. “Of course the lower life forms would do that. Only an alicorn could recognize the threat of such a pool and destroy it accordingly.”
The Red Queen spread her wings wide, blocking out the sun rays from behind her and casting a long dark shadow across the room. “And what of the message I received?”
The guard raised an eyebrow. “You mean the one from the lower life forms? They are still awaiting a reply from you I would assume. As a mortal should after praying to their gods.”
The Red Queen nodded. “Then I shall answer those prayers.”
Trixie stood in the map room looking at the map of Equestria. It took nearly an hour to figure out how the zooming function worked on the thing but she did finally manage to get it to zoom into New Slate. Or at least the crater that used to be New Slate. Now it was just a glass crater spanning several miles in diameter.
“I used to live there,” she whispered to herself. “Dusty Soul, Bubble Wishes, the Pie Family…”
Trixie shook her head and scrolled the map closer to the border. After a few minutes she found the second crater. The recent settlement was simply another crater, smaller in size, but still devastating to see. This was the final resting place of Lemon Hearts as well as many, many others. Trixie scrolled past the border and into Southern Equestria where the Changeling Settlements had once been. More craters, most of which were smaller still save for the one focused on what had been the main hive.
How many had died already, hundreds, thousands? There hadn’t been a good estimate yet, but if this continued anymore there would only be more death. Now with Twilight gone, it was up to her to save everypony. The weight of having so many lives both alive and gone resting on her shoulders was almost enough to drive her to drink. It was no wonder Twilight had become such a mess. How many times had she been in this position over the years? How many late nights did Twilight sit here staring at the map and seeing how many lives depended on her success?
Honestly, it was no wonder why Twilight collapsed the way she had. Trixie was almost afraid that if she was in this position long enough, she might suffer a similar fate. She already knew to what extents Twilight was willing to go to keep everypony safe, but to what extents would Trixie push herself?
She didn’t want an answer to that question, but judging by how she reacted when she thought Maud was taken away from her…
“Lulu,” Maud’s voice spoke from behind Trixie.
Trixie didn’t glance back. “Yes, love?”
Maud brushed against Trixie’s side. Her dress was missing and warm fur pressed against Trixie’s. “You look stressed.”
Trixie glanced at her. “Yeah… I guess I am. Thinking of all these lives, all these ponies I’m responsible for… How did Twilight last as long as she did?”
Maud nodded and met Trixie’s eyes. “She had ways to relieve the stress.”
Trixie stared into those deep and endless eyes. “I don’t think she was relieving stress very healthily.”
Maud pressed her face up against Trixie’s. There muzzles touched. “You have a healthy way to relieve stress.”
Trixie swallowed. “Oh… yeah?”
Maud’s lips gently brushed against Trixie’s. “Let me help you.”
Trixie glanced back at the table one more time. It was a brilliant piece of magical technology, a resource that was valuable beyond compare, and most importantly, it was a flat surface that was within immediate reach. Yeah, Trixie was going to do some good stress relieving all over that table.
***
Twilight could taste the familiar electric energy of magic in the air. Canterlot; home to the largest population of unicorns in all of Equestria, not to mention the largest population of alicorns. If she recalled correctly there were just under one hundred alicorns living in Canterlot. Most of them in service to the country whether they were military or otherwise.
Twilight knew that ponies would recognize her, alicorn or not, so she had been just smart enough to wear a hooded robe of deep blue as she had stalked through the city. The closer she got to the castle the more stress she felt pounding on her heart. She did not look forward to this meeting, but she needed to be here.
On the way she recalled Sunset’s simple mission for her. To quote the fiery alicorn daughter of the sun, “We need your help in finding Discord. Thanks to Chrysy here we discovered that he has been locked away in some kind of magical artifact, and with the levels of chaos magic rising in Canterlot Castle lately I can only assume his prison is there as well. Find him, free him, and advise him of the situation.”
Twilight groaned. She did not want to be the errand filly here, nor did she want to be Discord’s savior once again. Of course as always, Sunset had a point. To combat this new threat she was going to need to have Discord helping out. His level of magical might was beyond imagination.
Once at the steps to the castle she was forced to reveal her face to the guards before she was allowed to pass. Inside it felt a bit quiet, though there were servants about they were also quiet and few if any noble ponies were in sight. Did Celestia send them all away for this meeting? What was Celestia planning for?
“Be brave, Twilight,” Twilight whispered to herself. She was going to have to do this, and like so many challenging things in the past twenty years, she would have to do this alone.
She walked through the halls making her way to the grand hall where Celestia would no doubt be waiting for her. Luna would surely be there to scold her or worse as well. Twilight arrived at the doors. The guards took one look at her, and then opened the doors.
Inside Twilight saw Celestia sitting upon her throne. She was giving an unreadable look at Twilight. The only thing Twilight could think was that Celestia looked stoic, powerful, and distant. Despite how warm the room was, Twilight felt a chill run down her spine.
She walked into the grand hall and listened as the doors closed behind her. She got about halfway to the throne before she stopped and felt her instincts kick in as she bowed to Celestia. Bowing, she hadn’t done that in a long time, yet it felt so natural for her. After she bowed she rose and met Celestia’s eyes once more to see they had softened a little. “Princess Celestia, you summoned me?”
Celestia frowned. “Twilight, your late.”
Celestia’s wings spread wide and with a powerful flap of her wings she soared into the air and flew down to a position in front of Twilight. Once again Celestia towered over Twilight, a giant, a leader, and a god all wrapped up into one. The air grew warmer still with her so close. “Why are you so small?”
Twilight looked away and focused instead at the murals. She saw murals depicting her and her friends, there adventures, there challenges, their lives. “I’m… not an alicorn anymore.”
Celestia nodded. “I read the reports, though I thought them overblown. I can sense it though, your body is no longer producing alicorn magic.”
Twilight bit her lip. She just wanted this to be over as quickly as possible. “I know why you summoned me here, and before you mention it I… I’ll just make this easy.” Twilight looked back at Celestia and made sure to make eye contact. “I, Twilight Sparkle, hereby relinquish my position as a princess.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “You what?”
“I am not going to be a princess anymore,” Twilight said with as much strength as her shaking legs would allow. “I’ve abused my power, my friends, and… the love of my life. I will do my utmost to stay out of any future affairs of the kingdom and try to live a simple life where nopony should be bothered by my presence.”
“Twilight, I-“
“Please, Princess Celestia,” Twilight interrupted, “I know I’ve caused too much hurt. I know that you’re only tolerating my presence here because you need to make it official. As soon as I sign whatever papers are needed, I will leave you and no longer trouble you… and for whatever its worth, I am sorry.”
Celestia shook her head. “What are you saying? Twilight, I didn’t ask you here to remove you from being a princess, or to scold you.”
“Then why did you send me such an official and impersonal message?”
“Because every letter I send through normal means is read by several hooves before they reach their destination.” Celestia stated. “If I’d made it personal somepony could use that against me, against you, or tartarus be damned, Luna. I am not kicking you out of your position, I simply wanted to see if you were okay. You’re still my daughter, when I adopted you I made a vow to raise you the best I could.”
Twilight sat down and cocked her head to the side. “But… I attacked Luna! Why aren’t you punishing me? That’s your sister, you should be teaming with anger, with rage, with fury!”
Celestia lowered her head until she was at the same level as Twilight. “Don’t get me wrong, Twilight. I was angry, but I know whose fault your behavior is. It’s mine. I was a poor mother to you, and I continued to push you past your limits and made you suffer until you became like you had. The fact that you’ve healed so much only after going so far away is all the proof I need to know that you’re addictions, your behavior, your… fall, was all my fault.”
Twilight worked her mouth several times trying to find the right words. This was not how things were supposed to be. This was not how Celestia was supposed to act. This was all wrong.
Celestia rose back to her normal height and her horn gave a soft golden glow. “I also summoned you here because you forgot something.”
A small burst of golden light in front of Twilight was followed by the appearance of a familiar item that Twilight had very little interest in. Her flask. It hung in the air, and Twilight could now smell the magic coming from it. It was begging her to drink from it, to let it give her the answers she needed to save her world from destruction.
Twilight took the flask in her own telekinetic aura. The gold light replaced by a deep red. Twilight stared long, and hard at the flask. It smelled faintly of booze still. She opened it. Her heart was racing. Just one sip. Nopony would really care right? And she knew it would tell her where to find Discord. Just one sip and she could get her answer, help Equestria and then never use it again.
Just, one, more, drink.
Twilight felt it hovering near her lips. Her eyes met Celestia’s and she saw something in them she hadn’t seen in a long time. Fear. Celestia was scared, like she was watching something horrible right before her eyes and couldn’t help but watch. Celestia was scared of Twilight drinking from the flask.
It was just enough to shock Twilight back into being in control. She threw the flask down onto the ground and watched as its liquid, green and slimy oozed out of the lid. Despite her best efforts Twilight just couldn’t get enough breath in her lungs to still her beating heart.
Twilight stared down at it. “Destroy it.”
“Twilight?” Celestia said.
“I, I can’t do it myself.” Twilight admitted. “I can’t defeat my own demons myself, please. I won’t ask for any favors ever again, but please destroy this accursed thing.”
Celestia smiled down at Twilight, put a hoof over the flask and with a bit of effort squashed it beneath her. The green goo splattered out of it. And Twilight had to look away. It was like watching a family member pass away, she couldn’t watch the thing that had given her so many answers over the years die like that, but she needed it to be destroyed. She almost broke her promise to Starlight.
The air next to them shimmered and a dark towering form appeared. Twilight stared up into the dark blue eyes that stared down at her. Tears were streaming down those blue cheeks and onto the floor. Luna’s voice shook as she said, “You really destroyed it?”
Twilight felt her entire body quake. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it was about to give out. Luna looked healed now, at least from the physical wounds. She couldn’t look away from those eyes. “Luna, I-I-I-I c-c-can’t do that anymore. It d-d-destroyed me. Took away everything I loved. I c-c-cant-“
Luna jumped forward and Twilight recoiled in fear. She was sure she was going to be attacked in retaliation for her previous action. As Luna wrapped her forelegs around Twilight and dragged her tiny body into her fluffy, warm chest, Twilight realized it was far worse than being attacked, she was being hugged.
“Twilight, I am so proud of you.”
It was far, far worse than being attacked.
Celestia smiled at them. “Honestly, I don’t know what either of you two were worried about anyway. The flask is empty.”
Twilight felt her insides dying, her mind cracking at the seams from things not going the way they were supposed to. But even in her current state of disrepair she couldn’t ignore what Celestia said. She glanced back to the flask to see its cracked sides still leaking green goo. Far more green goo had pooled out of it than could ever fit inside. “If it was empty, why is it leaking?”
Celestia looked down at it. “It’s not…”
The green goo bubbled, and twitched. Twilight watched as it slowly lifted off the ground and shaped itself into a familiar form. It stretched its arms above its head and arched its’ back. The little green goey form of Discord gave her a one yellow eyed stare and said, “Being stuck in a flask will give you such a crick in the neck.”
“Listen here, Twilight. Never tell your ex that she’s looking like she put on some weight. Otherwise she’ll lock you up in a magical flask for over a decade.” Discord laughed as he spoke.
Now Twilight noticed that everypony was staring at the small goey form of Discord. With a fascination that was caused by a mixture of shock and horror Twilight watched as Discord grew to his normal height and his body solidified back into its old form. He stretched, worked his arms and legs, and yawned as if he was just getting up from a nap.
Twilight blinked. “Discord?”
He almost purred in return. “That’s my name, try not to wear it out.”
Well she had completed her objective… but now she had a lot more questions and a distinct feeling of disgust rising up inside her. “You were inside my flask?”
Discord laughed. “Of course, how else do you think I was able to help you out so much these past ten years.”
For a long moment Twilight simply stared, stunned into silence that not only was her flask actually a magical artifact, but it was where Discord had disappeared too for all these years. There were so many questions she had about this, about everything, of course she didn’t know where to start.
Luna jumped in with a question, “So… which part of you was the mouth piece of the flask?”
Discord winked. “You don’t want to know.”
Twilight could already taste bile on the back of her tongue. This was not the line of questioning she wanted to go down, ever. Instead Twilight decided to change direction. “So, all these years, every time I’ve gone to the flask for answers… it was you giving them to me?”
Discord shrugged. “Who else could answer all of your questions besides me?”
Twilight growled. “You, you were responsible for destroying my whole life.”
Discord’s yellow eyes met Twilight’s and she felt a chill run down her spine. “Now, now, Twilight. Was I the one who killed the Pinkie Clones? Did I brain wash the entire town into falling in love with a doll? Did I force the entire town to play a ‘prank’ on Rainbow Dash letting her think she killed everypony and zombiefied them just to teach her a lesson?”
Twilight swallowed. All of these examples were from back when Twilight was sober, and Discord was still everypony’s friend.
Discord nodded. “You see, Twilight. You already caused wounds that may never be healed, all I did was force you into a place where you’d have to see the damage you did, and actually work towards fixing it.”
Twilight lowered her head and took a step back. He was right. She had been an awful pony in the past. How many times did she do things that were pretty horrible but never once questioned them. Heck she had spent an entire day spying on and stalking Pinkie Pie once, because she was obsessed with Pinkie’s psychic powers. She knew better, but she did it anyway.
Discord nodded. “Now you can actually reflect on your actions and try to make up for them.” He then studied Twilight and a cold smile grew over his lips. “Ah, I see your little spell worked.”
Twilight looked back up at him. “What do you mean?”
“You wanted to go back in time to before you had hurt your friends,” Discord laughed, “Let’s just say that was a terrible idea. So I helped you do something better.”
Twilight could feel herself, it was like her skin was crawling. She knew for awhile that something had happened to her, but her blackout drinking had blocked the memory of exactly what. “What did I do? What did you do to me?”
“I did not do anything to you, Twilight.” Discord put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth. “You did this all to yourself. You reversed your own clock so to speak. Rewound time on yourself to a point just before you became an alicorn. I realized your addiction, your power, and your mistakes were all too much for a thirty something year old Twilight to handle. So what better way to fix it all then to rewind to a place where your body wasn’t afflicted by so many devastating traumas. As far as I could see, it was the only way to heal you and get you back on the right path.”
Twilight sat down. “So I really am just a unicorn again.”
Discord met her gaze and grinned. “I think you’re missing the point, Twilight. You ARE a unicorn again.”
Twilight stared at him blankly. “So… what?”
He glanced at Luna and then back to Twilight. “Not sure if it’ll work with Luna being a female and all, but you can finally fix one of your most painful problems. Since you’re not an alicorn, you no longer have their problems, right?”
Twilight stared at him for a long moment in silence. What he was trying to suggest was going right over her head. What was he trying to imply here? She glanced at Luna who seemed to be contemplating something herself. Was she just not getting it?
Luna glanced down at Twilight, “Twilight… I think he’s implying that you and me, we, could do something we’ve always wanted to do.”
Twilight blinked at her. “I don’t get it.”
“Since you’re not an alicorn,” Luna said as she leaned down to brush her muzzle against Twilights. “You can get pregnant.”
Twilight blinked. “I… I can?”
“How many nights have you spent crying in my embrace about having lost the chance to be a mommy?”
Twilight looked back at Discord. “But why?”
Discord shrugged. “Nopony expected it? Don’t ask chaos why it does things, it just does things.”
Celestia let out a sigh. “I think he’s trying to say that in his own way, he cares about you and wanted to help you.” She smiled at Discord. “And he’s still trying to fix some of my mistakes.”
Twilight felt lighter. It was like this huge weight she had held for so many years, for so long she had just grown accustomed to it being there, was gone. Sure she’d lost her friends, pushed them all away, and ruined the friendships. Still she somehow had Luna in her life, and further more had made new friends in the likes of Cozy, but most important of all, she was able to finally have her own kids. She swore that after the threat to this world was over with, she’d finally settle down, settle down and start the family she’d always wanted.
Maybe… maybe she could try and repair the damage done to Amber while she was at it. After all she had pretty much adopted her… and then abandoned her much like she did everypony else. Once this over, once she saved the world this one last time she would try and make it up to the others.
In order to do that though, she was going to need Discord’s help.
***
Trixie sat at the map table in the same chair once occupied by Twilight Sparkle. Each of the other five elements of harmony had taken their respective seats around the table. Maud was sitting on a chair Trixie had dragged in for her, and as always was by her side. Of course these chairs were the single most uncomfortable thing in the universe, even more so when they were crystallized. Whoever decided that they didn’t need cushions was a liar and could go straight to Tartarus.
Floating in the air held aloft by a lavender aura Trixie held a letter she’d received from Princess Celestia. She didn’t think it would fix things, but she knew it was important now more so than ever before to have a complete open door policy. She wanted to make sure she was being fully honest with the other five.
“So,” Trixie started, she already felt uneasy about this but was going to try her best, “I received news from Princess Celestia. News that I thought you should all be made aware of.”
Everypony had a growing look of concern in their faces. Once everypony seemed to have acknowledged what Trixie was suggesting, she continued. “Luckily it’s good news this time around. Twilight showed up for her meeting with Celestia.”
Rainbow Dash made a sour face. “Oh, yay. And what did she do this time, vomit on Celestia’s hooves?”
Trixie fixed her with a glare. “She’s sober now. Like, actually sober.” Trixie let that sink in for a moment. Rainbow Dash’s expression softened. “In fact, Celestia tried to give the flask back to Twilight, but Twilight refused it, she even destroyed the thing.”
There was a small gasp from them around the table. Rarity chirped in. “She almost got into a hoof fight with me once cus I accidently misplaced it when she left it at my house… are you sure she really destroyed it?”
Trixie nodded. “Yes, because it was only thanks to that destruction that we discovered that it was actually a dark magical artifact. One that had been slowly consuming and corrupting Twilight for many years now.”
Everypony gave a nervous look at one another. At length Applejack spoke, and she seemed to speak for everypony at the table. “Look, even if that’s true, some of the stuff she did to us, it was long before she ever got that there flask. We ain’t just gonna let her back into our lives because she was being corrupted by a magical whatever.”
Trixie nodded. “And I understand that. I don’t expect you to forgive her, I wouldn’t ask you to do that. But here me out on this. After the flask was destroyed, Discord actually came out of it.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Discord was imprisoned in the flask for many many years. If you ever wanted to know why Twilight would get magical answers from the flask, know things she couldn’t possibly know, and was acting, for lack of a better term, ‘chaotic’ it was thanks to him telling her what to do. She still chose to do those things at the end of the day, but I wanted you to know why her actions had become as manipulative as they had.”
Everypony seemed to be quiet and sit on that for a little while. Trixie was sure that nopony there would want to let Twilight back into their lives, not ever again. They were right, some of the things Twilight had done over the years, they stretched all the way back to when Twilight was first in Ponyville. She’d done some absolutely crazy things, and flirted too closely to chaos too often. Honestly, Trixie felt she finally understood why Discord and Twilight seemingly hated each other for so long. They were too similar in certain ways to one another, and hated seeing themselves in another person. Or so she assumed.
After awhile Fluttershy rose from her chair and spoke. “I’m glad to hear she’s getting better, but after the damage she and Discord both caused me and my family.” She fixed a gaze at Pinkie. “I won’t forgive either of them.”
Applejack was next. “It was mah family, yer wife, Trixie.” She shook her head. “Even hearing this, Ah can’t let her back in. Ah have to keep mah family safe.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “She’s a piece of crap. I’ll work with her, but don’t expect me to be nice or anything.”
Rarity looked down at the table. “For Spike’s sake I’ll be nice to her. But I will always keep both eyes on her. She can’t be trusted. My poor Spikey Wikey is still torn up about how she just left all of us. Nopony makes my hubby cry. Not even his own mother.”
Everypony turned to Pinkie Pie and waited in silence. Several long seconds passed by. Trixie could almost hear the slow ticking of the clock. Finally, Pinkie Pie spoke, it was quiet, almost a whisper, but every word was as clear as day, “She faked my sister’s death. I… I don’t ever want to see her face again.”
Trixie slumped back in her chair. She’d tried, but the damage was done. She couldn’t fix this mess, and she sincerely doubted that Twilight could fix it. If even after these revelations they wouldn’t let Twilight back into their lives… she highly doubted anything would fix this.
Trixie let out a sigh. “I suppose there’s only a couple more things you should know then. Twilight is currently in a recovery program to get better from her alcoholism. She’s living with Starlight Glimmer’s family right now. She has decided she wants to retire from being a princess, not that Celestia will let her, and last but not least; Twilight Sparkle is no longer an alicorn, she’s a unicorn again.”
Everypony glanced at Trixie at the mention of the last thing. It seemed to surprise them that of all the ponies who would revert from being an alicorn it would be Twilight Sparkle. Trixie agreed, she wasn’t going to go into detail about how Twilight came to be a unicorn again, but she was still surprised never the less.
“Now,” Trixie said, “Let’s get on with the really important part of today’s meeting. Twilight’s secret weapon to fight the Pony of Shadows.”
Amber sat at the edge of the hill Fluttershy’s cottage was built on. She could see over Ponyville from here. It was a quiet and sunny day. Yet there had been an unmistakable chill in the air. It seemed almost like it was growing colder by the day, in very small increments to be unnoticed by most.
Hush Puppy was staring over the town himself. “I had a strange dream last night.”
Amber didn’t bother glancing over at him as she replied. “You always have strange dreams.”
“This was one was weird though.”
Amber let out a sigh. “I guess I’ve had a few weird dreams myself lately. Go ahead and tell me yours.”
Hush Puppy shrugged. “I don’t really get it myself. I was on some kind of throne. The world around me was, weird, brown clouds raining who knows what, animals with impossible features running in herds, the land itself was a confused mish mass of colors and patterns. It was like the entire world didn’t make any sense. And there I was, on my throne laughing like I was having the time of my life.”
“Weird,” Amber thought back to some paintings she’d seen in Twilight’s castle. “Sounds like you’ve seen Color’s artwork a bit too much.”
Hushpuppy shrugged. “Maybe. It was weird. What’s worse though is that I saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends approaching my throne. Twilight glared at me as if I’d personally ruined her life, in fact all of them were angry at me. They also seemed… younger. Even my moms looked really young. Twilight’s horn lit up and every pony turned into a freaking rainbow.”
“A rainbow?”
“Yeah, and then they shot me with the Rainbow. My body stiffened up, everything hurt, and I woke up screaming.” Hushpuppy shivered. “The worst part was when I woke up my entire body was freaking stiff.”
Amber nodded. “Sounds like you’re having some abstract dreams, something to do with how everything we know is changing around us or something.” Amber thought about it for a moment and added, “Wait, Fluttershy looks really young still, how could she look younger?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, she just looked… innocent?” Hushpuppy bit his lower lip and almost whispered, “And I wanted to completely destroy that innocence.”
“Dude, gross.”
He shot a glare at her. “Not like that. I mean, I wanted to just torment her, force her to stop being kind, caring, and innocent. To show her how dark and messed up the world is supposed to be, and to force her to accept my way of thinking.” He looked up at the sky. “I think I’m struggling with how she doesn’t really get me, you know.”
Amber nodded. “I was there for a little while. Took me almost losing Maud before I realized she doesn’t have to understand me, she just needs to love me, and I love her so were okay.”
Hushpuppy nodded. “I guess so. I do love my moms, but they just don’t really understand me.”
Hushpuppy nodded. “Thanks for listening, it really means a lot.”
“Oh shut up, cus. Or maybe I’ll tell Blackout how you really feel?”
Hushpuppy glared at her. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Amber grinned and stood up. “Oh, I wouldn’t now?” Amber started to run off in a random direction, it took a moment but Hushpuppy was chasing her and shouting for her to stop. Of course she wouldn’t really tell Blackout, but it was just too fun to tease him.
***
Trixie found herself waiting inside the dining hall in Twilight’s castle. It wasn’t often used, but it was clean. With everything made out of wood it was a strange calming area. Intricate designs were burned and etched into the wood work along the walls, ceiling and floor. Whatever the symbols they formed meant, assuming they meant anything at all, was only for Twilight to know. While Trixie could only wonder at them.
Since her hopes of helping Twilight’s friends forgive her were bust, she was busy trying to figure out the next step to save Equestria. The elements of harmony couldn’t be counted on, not this time. Those days were over now, and it was time for Trixie to figure it out herself. She had all the power, responsibility, and tools of a princess, but none of the skill to use any of it.
Still she had a job to do and she was going to do it.
There was a soft sound, almost like a polite cough from behind her. She hadn’t heard the door open at all but she knew he was there now. She glanced back at him. A pony wearing a dark cloak with only just the tip of his muzzle visible from underneath. “You have a response?”
He gave out the tiniest of nods. “I do. They have accepted your proposal.”
Trixie glanced back at the table. This felt wrong, it felt dirty, but she had to do this if she was going to save Equestria. There was no way around it this time. Yet she wasn’t going to be as stupid as she had the first time around. She’d grown since then, matured. No, this time she was going to make sure that the world was safe and despite the danger, she would do everything she could to save it. Of course she’d already convinced with Princess Celestia and got her approval for this plan.
She had to ask, “Do you think it will work?”
He shrugged. “Crazier things have happened.”
Trixie smiled at that. He was right, crazier things had indeed happened. “Thank you, Shade.”
Shade turned. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m helping out because if I don’t our world will be consumed by darkness, but I still expect to be fully paid.”
“You’ll get what you ask for,” Trixie assured him. “But it will have to wait until the danger has passed before you can get it.”
Shade nodded. “That’s good enough for me.”
Trixie watched as he walked to the door. “Shade, do you mind if I ask why you want to have a private island?”
He paused and glanced back at her. “Even shadows need to settle down. You didn’t think you were the only one who just wanted something as simple as a family did you?”
She smiled at him. He didn’t need to say more, he’d already given her more information than he’d wanted to. He was always a secretive pony, if it wasn’t for her relationship to Valiant Heart, he’d likely not have given her any information at all. Since he trusted her to know that much she decided she would keep his secret safe, even from Celestia.
***
It had been a little while since Twilight was able to return to Starlight’s home. Looking at it from outside made her feel almost apprehensive about going back in. She’d only been gone a few days, but it felt like years had passed. She was already back into her old secrets, but she was sober this time, and refused to drag anypony else into the mess she’d put herself in.
She stroked the scarf around her neck out of nervous habit. The red, brown, blue and green scarf had trimmings of orange and looked a bit like a clusterfun of colors. Of course it was more than just a scarf as she heard a voice reply to her, “Would you stop petting me already, you’re giving me a rash.”
Twilight put her hoof down and whispered. “I’ll do whatever I want, now be quiet you’re supposed to be a scarf, not an immortal god of chaos.”
“I’m only staying like this until I recover my full strength, then I’m going back out on the town. Maybe I’ll visit Flu-“ Discord’s voice cut off and he corrected himself, “I’ll… uh… I still have friends in Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “I’m sure you do. Now be quiet as I try to pretend my life is a quiet normal one again. Please.”
“It takes too much effort to speak anyway,” Discord’s voice quieted down.
After a few moments of silence Twilight decided he must have really meant it when he said it took too much effort. After being trapped in a magical prison for over ten years, he really had seemed drained of energy. He hardly snapped his fingers more than once or twice in all the time he’d been free for. Actually, after he first spoke to Celestia and Luna he had slowed down on talking at all too. Very unlike the creature of chaotic fun who would never shut up from her past. Even Discord was feeling like he had aged now.
Twilight sucked in a breath and walked up to the front door. She entered it and saw Starlight standing a few feet behind it and smiling at her. “So, did it go well?”
Twilight smiled. “Yeah, it did.”
“Where’s Luna?”
Twilight pawed at the hard wood floor, looked down and entered the house before closing the door behind herself. “She’s still at the castle. She might be proud of me for quitting drinking, she might be willing to forgive me for what I’ve done, but she doesn’t trust me just yet. I’ll have to spend the rest of my short life span trying to make it up to her.” Twilight looked up and met Starlight’s eyes, “But I will make it up to her.”
Starlight walked over and nuzzled Twilight’s forehead. “It’s nice to hear you having hope again. Now come on, it’s time for dinner, and we can’t start without all of the family being there.”
Twilight smiled. “Is it okay if I bring a friend?”
Starlight smiled. “Is Cozy outside?”
Twilight shook her head and pet her scarf. “Nah, he’s right here.”
Twilight stared out the window at the darkening sky. “I’m serious, Starlight.”
She could practically feel Starlight roll her eyes for the hundredth time as the reply came, “Sure, Twilight. Your scarf is really Discord in disguise. He’s been hiding there the whole time.”
“No he was imprisoned in my flask, when I destroyed it he was freed.”
Starlight replied with a gentle voice that was so full of disbelieve that Twilight could choke on it. “Uh huh, and that is okay. He can stay here too.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “You know what, fine, maybe I’m just losing my mind. At least I’m sober and friendly.”
“Precisely.”
If Starlight was any closer Twilight felt she could have smacked her for that. Either way she was sick of trying to convince her that her scarf really was the lord of chaos himself. Of course since he was quiet as a rock since she entered the house she was beginning to doubt it herself. Still she had found him and needed to contact Sunset again. Twilight wondered if Cozy would disbelieve her too…
The night went on like normal, with Twilight lying on the couch as everypony else slept. She glanced at the clock every now and again until she saw the clock strike twelve. With a huff she pushed herself out of bed, grabbed the scarf and went to the door. As quietly as she could she left the house.
She was only a few steps down the road before she heard the flaps of wings followed by Cozy landing next to her. “Heya, Twilight. You ready?”
Twilight shook her head. “I’m never ready when it comes to saving the world, but then again, who really is?”
“Exactly!” Cozy bumped her shoulder into Twilight’s. “I’m so excited your part of the team now.”
Twilight bit her lower lip. “Hey, Cozy… you’re my friend, right?”
“Of course I am,” Cozy said.
“Because you did… well you were getting close to me originally to scout me out for Sunset’s team.”
“Y-yeah…”
“But you’re really my friend?”
Cozy stopped and made eye contact with Twilight. “I’ve never had a real friend before. I know what I did was sneaky, but that doesn’t mean we’re not friends… right?”
Twilight smiled. “Of course it doesn’t. I just wanted to make sure you really wanted to be my friend. I don’t have too many of those anymore.” Even with Luna choosing to keep her, she still lost her old life. Nothing she did would ever bring it back but perhaps that was okay. Especially with Starlight and Cozy Glow by her side.
They walked together for awhile longer in relative silence. In the past week or so it had warmed up a little so it wasn’t as cold at night this time. They made their way back to the woods and ventured into it. This time Cozy stayed close to Twilight’s side as they traveled through the woods and out to the field clearing where Twilight had first encountered the undead changelings.
There had been a few tents set up there and a small campfire was burning with Sunset sitting at its side. Chrysalis was sitting across from her. Sunset was speaking, “I never knew that Siren babies could be such a hoofull, I mean every time they sing some magical thing happens.”
Chrysalis replied, “Yes, magical children can be quite the challenge to raise. Especially ones with monstrous powers. Too often my children would play jokes on me by transforming into pieces of scenery only to jump out at me.” Chrysalis’s lips curled up at the corner. “It was good training for their eventual roles.”
Sunset stared at her. “Do… do you think you might ever have more?”
Chrysalis looked up at the sky. “I do not know. Having them, raising them, it is nice, but losing them… Even a monster like me isn’t invulnerable to such weakness.”
Sunset’s eyes closed half way and she looked down at the earth. “How… after this is done and we save the world, if we’re still here… what will you do?”
“I do not know… This is… something new for me. You are perhaps the only creature that may be able to understand, even if only a little.” Chrysalis’s eyes looked over at Twilight and she snarled. “Of course we will continue this conversation never.”
Sunset looked over. “Twi, Cozy, what’s up?”
Cozy sauntered up to them. “Oh nothing, just walking my best friend to our camp.”
Twilight caught up with her and took a seat by the fire. She thought it best to not mention what she’d heard them talking about. Especially with the glare that Chrysalis was giving her. For a moment Twilight tried to ignore it but then she realized it wasn’t exactly her, Chrysalis was glaring at. It was the scarf.
Twilight looked up at her. “Could you stop glaring at us?”
“No,” Chrysalis said. “It’s my least favorite fashion accessory followed by my least favorite pony.”
Twilight groaned. “Whatever, at least Discord doesn’t care what you think of him.”
Discord’s voice almost purred outward. “Oh come now, Twilight. She’s simply jealous that I’m wrapped around some other pony’s neck now.”
Twilight swallowed. “A-anyway, what’s the plan from here?”
Sunset smiled as she looked back into the fire. “Once Wind Rider returns with the airship, we’re going to be taking the fight to the Pony of Shadows now. And I have just the plan. Though, it’s going to be quite the wait…”
***
Trixie stared into Luna’s eyes. “You have to help me, Luna. This is imperative.”
Luna sat on a couch with a book floating in front of her face. Canterlot castle was quiet at this time of night. Yet Luna and her batpony guards were wide awake. Luna didn’t look away from her book as she responded, “And why should I help you in this mad quest?”
“Because it may help save Equestria.”
Luna lowered the book just a little. “You realize the madness in this right?
Trixie looked at the bookshelves lining the room, this was one of the private studies belonging to the resident princesses. A few paintings of scenery from forests to mountains hung from the walls along with some deep blue tapestries. The whole room just seemed to exude an air of quiet about it.
“I do, but I also recognize that standing here doing nothing is going to get many more innocents killed. Who knows how the Pony of Shadows makes its corrupted alicorns? It could be making more right as we speak. If we don’t become proactive we’ll surely lose this battle.”
Luna shut her book and set it down. She was staring directly at Trixie this time. “I fought one of those corrupted alicorns. Just one of them took down my entire squad and nearly killed me. It took teleporting it into an active volcano to win. Even then it tried to come right back at me. And you’re suggesting we just go up and fight them?”
Trixie met her steel gaze with one of her own. “Better that then to wait for them to do the same to us.”
Luna stared at Trixie in silence for a long while. No sounds passed between the two, just the dead silence as they both sat there. Their eyes met and fought for dominance over the conversation. Finally at length Luna closed her eyes. “I will at least humor you enough to hear your idea, but I make no promises to approve anything.”
Trixie smirked. “Trust me, after you hear my plan you’ll have to admit it’s good, or should I say Great and P-“
“Trixie, if you expect me to take you seriously you will not use your catchphrase.”
Trixie pouted. “…fine.”
***
RUN! Run, was the only thought that could go through Amber’s mind as she raced through the woods. Sure there were monsters in here, some of which she couldn’t face. Sure the Everfree was a place easily lost in. Sure she had no idea if she was going in the right direction.
But what was chasing her was far worse than any of that.
The saddle bags at Amber’s sides were heavy, but she had to keep them and their contents safe at all costs, at least until she got to the old castle. Her legs burned from the effort, and sweat was already pouring down her face. Behind her she could swear she heard the snapping of branches. She felt it before even knowing what was going on, Amber ducked her head low and watched as a branch the size of street light speared past her. Amber let out a shriek and doubled down on her running speed.
Rocks, bushes, and trees swam past her as she sped through the dark woods. Bushes cut at her legs. Rocks nearly tripped her. Holes in the earth threatened to grab and snap her hooves in half. Amber exited the dense woods and ended on a small tunnel created in the woods. The remains of a cobbled stone path lay scattered at her hooves.
Finally she was on track. Amber turned right and felt like this was the best direction to head. The sounds of branches snapping in quick session behind her only fueled her decision. Amber charged forward as quickly as her legs would take her. She caught it just behind her. A yellow blur of fury broke through the woods behind her and hovered there in the road. Long pink mane dripping down towards the ground as those furry bat wings nearly buzzed in rapid motion. A pair of red eyes glared at her and Amber’s heart climb up into her throat.
How was she really going to out run that? Amber kept running. All she could do was run, and run fast. Of course no speed on this earth would beat the speed of the monster chasing her. Even Rainbow Dash couldn’t outpace this creature.
Amber heard a harsh crack in the air and felt something approaching. She channeled magic into her horn and felt the world pop around her as she teleported ahead thirty feet. Just where she was standing there was a ring of fire and a boulder shoved into the earth.
“A BOULDER! COME ON!” Amber screamed as she ran faster still. This wasn’t training anymore, this was an actual life or death situation. Just a little further she was sure.
She reached the end of the forest created tunnel to see a large canyon with a single wooden bridge crossing it. Amber was about to cross the bridge when a yellow blur flew ahead of her and smashed thorough it collapsing the entire thing. Amber watched as the bridge fell and the yellow blur hover in front of her. Amber stared at Flutterbat, but made a mental note not to make eye contact. Look at the body, not the head.
No bridge, meant no way past the canyon. Her speed wasn’t fast enough to outrun the monster facing her. The canyon was a good few hundred feet across. If she’d had her own team here she would have asked her cool flying friend to go across and build the bridge. But she didn’t have that, she only had herself and her own power to rely on.
Flutterbat hovered closer still. The air seemed to be electrified with a sense of absolute danger. Even that Ursa Major was nothing compared to the threat in front of her now. Just past Flutterbat, Amber saw it, the Castle of the Two Sisters. It’s ruined state stood as a testament to what had been, and what could be again.
Amber charged up her horn. “This is going to suck.”
With a yell Amber charged forward. Flutterbat growled. Amber jumped off the ledge and toward Flutterbat. Her horn flashed in an explosion of fire and smoke. Her body screamed in protest, her mouth tasted like copper, and she felt everything burn as she flung herself through the aether and across the canyon. She appeared on the other side of the canyon, her fur singed, her skin burning, and her mane and tail frayed.
She glanced behind herself to see a confused looking Flutterbat.
Amber took the chance to run. Her speed was lowered but the castle was only forty feet, maybe sixty away. She ran as fast as she could. Behind her she heard a shriek of rage and fury. All she had to do was deliver the package, not herself. Amber lifted the saddlebags off of herself. She felt the air crackle around her. She threw the saddlebags ahead of her with as much magical might as she could. She watched them rocket toward the castle of the two sisters. The blur of yellow and pink whoosed past her with enough fury to throw Amber off her hooves and into the dirt.
Amber watched as the blur chased the saddlebags, her speed fast enough to bring her closer and closer to the bags. The top came open just a moment before Flutterbat collided with the bag midair. Amber watched as Flutterbat landed and tore the bag open with her fangs. She pulled out a delicious red apple and bit into it as if it was the most precious thing in the whole world.
Amber pushed herself up and limped toward the castle. By the time she got there Flutterbat’s eyes had returned to their normal blue hue, and the bat like features were already shifting back into that of a pegasus. Fluttershy looked up at Amber and shook her head. She removed the apple from her mouth.
Fluttershy spoke quietly. “You failed to bring even a single apple in contact with the castle before I got to them.”
Amber laughed and pointed with a bum leg toward the entrance of the castle. Fluttershy followed the leg and her eyes widened as she saw a single apple laying just on the inside of the front door. Amber smirked. “Not a single apple huh?”
Fluttershy’s smile widened. “I sit corrected. You passed this test, now we can get you healed up and start your real training.”
Amber’s jaw dropped. “You were throwing spears and boulders at me, and that wasn’t real?”
Fluttershy met her eyes and for that one instance the entire world seemed to quiet as Fluttershy spoke, “You have only just begun your training.”
The gentle breeze coming in from up on the castle ruins was pleasant. Amber had to wonder how many times she or her friends had snuck off to this location to relax or have fun. Now here she was, training with her aunt and trying to become strong enough to keep those close to her safe from harm.
The sun was only just now starting to dip towards the horizon and the endless sea of green leaves and tree tops before her rustled with the breeze. She felt it before she saw it as Fluttershy came to sit next to her. For a long moment they watched the horizon in silence.
Fluttershy eventually held out a wing which had an orange juice box. Amber took it, punched the straw through and began drinking. Fluttershy smiled. “It’s been nice spending time with you.”
Amber nodded. “Yeah, feels relaxing out here, I mean when you’re not pounding my face to a pulp.”
Fluttershy winced. “I’m… is this too much for you?”
Amber shook her head. “No, I’m okay. Val’s here and her healing magic is keeping us both in good shape.” Amber thought about it for a moment before adding, “I have to become strong enough that even Twilight couldn’t hurt my family.”
Fluttershy nodded. “You’ve heard she’s sober now right?”
Amber shrugged. “Mom told me, I don’t care.” It was a lie but it was easier to not care most times then to think too hard.
Fluttershy looked off into the distance, and her eyes took on that look that said she was seeing something far away and from a different time. “When those closest to you betray you, it hurts. Especially when it doesn’t make sense, and it’s confusing or scary.” Fluttershy frowned. “I sometimes wonder though, if they truly do want to repent for their actions, should we let them?”
Amber struggled with that herself. She had found herself many times thinking about what she would do if she encountered Twilight again. Attack her, scream at her, cry… or maybe she’d be able to forgive her. Not much point in thinking about it too hard though because it really seemed like Twilight was never going to come back, and maybe that too was for the best.
Amber stared into the horizon realizing she had another question. “Who hurt you?”
Fluttershy didn’t respond right away, but when she did it wasn’t satisfying. “A person I once called my friend.”
“What did they do?”
Fluttershy put a wing to her chin in thought. Seconds turned to minutes as Fluttershy sat there quietly. Amber gave up on trying to get an answer when Fluttershy said, “Hushpuppy.”
Amber looked at her. “Uh… what about him?”
“I haven’t spoke about this to anypony since it happened. Maybe I should finally say something. Hushpuppy is-“
The sound of Valiant’s hooves approaching them interrupted Fluttershy’s conversation. Once she was close she spoke in a near whisper, “Dinner’s ready.”
Fluttershy’s ears folded back. “Oh, did you…”
Valiant shook her head. “Maud.”
Amber stood up and smiled. “I love mom’s cooking. Come on, Auntie, let’s go eat.”
Fluttershy nodded and rose. It was only then that Amber saw something on her Aunt’s neck. It looked like a black mark. It took her a moment and she realized it must have been a hickey left by Pinkie. Oh god, why did Amber have to see that?
Fluttershy offered a weak smile and the three of them went on. Amber made a mental note of what Fluttershy had said. There seemed to be a secret about Hushpuppy after all, but now that Val had interrupted them she wasn’t sure she’d ever find out exactly what. She made a note to speak with Hushpuppy about it after dinner, these ruins were made for secrets after all.
***
There Trixie sat in the middle of a meeting with Celestia and several of the council which formed Equestria’s leadership, and all she could think of was how far away she was from her Maud. At least she was sure she was safe back at the old Castle of the Two Sisters with Val and Amber to watch over her, but all she wanted was for Maud to be wrapped up in her embrace.
A unicorn stallion with gray fur and an orange mane spoke with a pompous accent that showed his wealth like a sore thumb. “I don’t believe these corrupted alicorn things could ever pose a real threat to Equestria.”
Celestia politely smiled at him. “But you see one of them nearly bested Luna and a squad of alicorns.”
“Maybe, but she did kill it, did she not?”
Celestia replied, “True, but there are still two more.”
“And so they should think twice before coming after our glorious kingdom a second time.”
The mare next to him was a reddish brown earth pony with a dark brown mane. “I agree with Cinder here. There is clearly no need to worry, after all we’ve had much more dangerous threats and come out on top.”
The last one was a pegasus with dark blue fur and a teal colored mane. She sat back in her chair watching the other two carefully. A scar over her lip told of a past with violence and no shame to let others know it. Her eyes glanced over at Trixie’s and locked on. There was a confidence and power behind those eyes, one that showed she was not afraid of anything and had earned the right to be. Trixie reached out psychically to get a grasp on the mare and felt a well of deep and resounding strength.
The pegasus stood up on her hind legs and looked at the other two. “Cinder, Rosey, you two clearly want something for your support in this cause. The EUP will fall if we don’t all work together, so spit out your demands already and let’s get this over with. I have a battle to prepare for.”
Cinder scoffed. “Oh, Vigilance, you are always so direct, it’s unbecoming of a mare of your stature.”
Rosey stuck her nose up. “But fine, if you must be impatient about this then I suppose I do have an appointment with a massage therapist today anyway.”
Celestia smiled at Vigilance and the smile was returned. Celestia looked at the other two. “Okay, what are your requests for your assistance in the defense of Equestria.”
Cinder let smiled. “It would seem to me that it would be very taxing for our unicorn wizards to divert there focus from the development of new spells for Equestria to stand guard against some non threat. I think that an increase of funding and less restrictions on our studies of necromancy would be only acceptable.”
Celestia ground her teeth. “You’re looking for blood aren’t you?”
“I’m looking only for the best way to help Equestria, My Princess.”
Trixie let out a sigh and rose from her seat. She’d been listening in, not to just the words they’d been speaking for the last half hour but also to what was going on inside their skulls. “Listen, Cinder, I think a raise in funding is acceptable, but we are not letting you have more access to necromancy. In fact your basement experiments on Project Dark are going to be taken down along with you if you refuse our request for assistance here.”
Celestia mouthed the words, “Project Dark?”
Cinder’s eyes widened. “I, I don’t know what your speaking of.”
“3rd street, sublevel three, room F17, passcode; Celestia’s Blind Eyes.” Trixie stated. Her eyes met Cinders. “I already have a team ready to deploy on that exact spot, and oh boy I wonder what they’ll find?”
Cinder swallowed. “Support, why didn’t you say so? You can have a full contingent of wizards right away, armed with the best defense and assault spells money can buy.”
Trixie glanced over at Rosey. “Do I really need to bring up your School of the Pink Rose, or should you just offer soldiers to our cause now.”
Rosey looked back and forth between the two other council members. “Of course I’m going to help, and I’m sure I don’t know of any schools.”
“Yeah,” Trixie nodded. “Of course you don’t. Just be careful not to get any diseases from your whores after this.”
Rosey’s smile faded. “I surely don’t know what you speak of, and if I did, I can assure you there are screenings for any… illnesses.”
Cinder actually raised a hoof. “Speaking of which, if your going to bring up Project Dark, maybe you could offer some assistance… what if we had discovered originally, as of a month ago, a disease, one that actually… brings the dead back to life?”
Trixie stood up she’d been listening into his mind in spurts, caught only enough information to know where Project Dark was, and that it had to do with necromancy, however, details were mostly unknown. “What do you mean?”
Cinder let out a sigh. “Cat’s out of the bag I suppose. Your research into my… studies is accurate, but it’s missing the reasoning behind it. I found a new disease, one that is of great concern. We actually have a hospital wing built and secreted specifically for this.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “So you weren’t just creating zombies for fun, your actually studying this illness you found.”
Cinder nodded. “Yes, and it all started with patient zero. Our agents found him wondering the homeless town in Canterlot, and he had already infected most of the other homeless. We have them quarantined, made a few examples of prisoners with testing, and realized that this might pose a much greater threat then we know.”
Rosey swallowed. “Um, so we have evil alicorns on one side, an entire empire of slaver alicorns on another, and in the middle we have zombies in our own backyard… please tell me there is alcohol nearby.”
Celestia stood up. “Cinder, we need to see the doctors studying this and these patients immediately.”
Cinder nodded. “Then I’ll let you into Project Zero… and you’ll see the Shadow Sickness for yourselves.”
***
Twilight sat aboard the airship waiting for everypony to show up. So far there was only her, Sunset and Wind Rider. It had been an exceedingly long wait. After all Cozy was busy doing who knows what, and Chrysalis was who knows where. In fact she wasn’t sure if Chrysalis would show up at all.
Wind Rider took a seat near Twilight. “How ya holding up kid?
Twilight glanced up at him. “You know I’m over thirty years old.”
He smiled. “Even so that’s still a kid to me.”
“I’m doing fine. Just glad I’m not in charge anymore.”
Wind Rider gave a whistle. “Couldn’t handle the responsibility I take it.”
“Yeah, too much stress. It’s hard, and when you realize how easy it is to lose the ponies you care about it becomes harder. I made a lot of mistakes and I don’t ever want to go down that path again.”
Wind Rider nodded. “I tried being a leader for awhile myself. Don’t know if it applies to your situation, but I started to go down a dark path myself. Even retirement didn’t help. I ended trying to maintain what little power I thought I had left, hurt some ponies that didn’t deserve it.”
“You mean Rainbow Dash?”
He nodded. “She’s one of them. Tried to frame Rainbow Dash. Got a few mares pregnant and left over the years. Now that I’m old I want to try and make up for some of the damage I caused. Try to meet some of my kids.”
Twilight looked over to Sunset who was pacing back and forth. She looked like she had something serious on her mind. Though with what, Twilight didn’t know, she hadn’t exactly been open with Twilight since she came back. “She looks stressed.”
Wind Rider nodded again and put a cigarette to his lips. “Yep, has every right to be too. This quest is kind of a redemption path for all of us.”
Twilight’s horn lit up and the end of the cigarette lit up. “You know those will kill you.”
“If I don’t kill myself in some crazy stunt first,” He laughed. “Honestly though, been doing crazy stuff with Sunset for years now. She found me in a dark place, found a few of us that way and gave us all a purpose. Most of us have retired since then but it’s been me and Sunset from the beginning. I think it’ll be the two of all the way till the end.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “With the threat that this Pony of Shadows poses, that might be sooner than we think.”
“Not with Sunset at the helm, figuratively speaking. I’m not letting her actually pilot my ship. Got it fair and square in a card game against those incest twin unicorns.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I uh… do you mean Flim and Flam?”
“Yeah, those guys are creeps. Coming from me that’s really saying something.”
Twilight shrugged. “Smart ponies though, good with technology… so Sunset’s been taking in troubled ponies for awhile then?”
Wind Rider smiled. “First it was me, well I guess first it was actually the sirens but she married into that.”
Sunset stopped mid pace and glanced at them. Wind Rider cleared his throat. “Then it was me. Lightning Dust, Suri Polomare, Flim and Flam, Trixie. Heck she even got Tirek to join us for a small adventure once. She’s good at helping villains redeem themselves.”
Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. “Haven’t heard his name in awhile.”
Wind Rider shrugged. “I think he went home to the kingdom of demons. Had plans to rebuild his home and try to reconnect with his brother.”
Twilight glanced toward the forest clearing. “Why is Cozy with us then? She seems innocent.”
“Seems is the key word.” Wind Rider let out a breath of smoke and watched it dissipate for a moment. “When we found her she had spent the better part of ten years gathering all the magical artifacts needed to remove all magic from this world. Sunset actually stopped her, not even by beating her up or anything, but by talking to her. Trying to really understand why she wanted to do that and validating her feelings. Turns out the kid blamed all her problems on magic but never considered how much more damage would be caused if it was gone, all the deaths and all the pain. She had a troubled childhood to be sure.”
Twilight bit her lower lip. “Sunset’s better at my job then I am.”
“You never fell before,” Wind Rider said. “How could you know how to help a villain without understanding them before hoof? Now that you’ve been one, what do you think?”
Twilight had to think on that for a good long minute. Minutes went by but Wind Rider patiently sat by smoking and relaxing in quiet. Finally she thought she might have had an answer. “I know now, better than ever before, that villains think there doing the right thing, that they usually have some hurt that drives them from a place of pain to make them do evil things. In my case I wanted to keep my friends safe, to keep my world safe, no matter what I had to do.”
Wind Rider nodded. “That’s about the gist of it. Now that you’ve been there, do you think that other villains could have hope to become good guys?”
Twilight nodded. “If I can, after all the things I’ve done, then I think anypony can. Even Chrysalis, if she actually wanted to repent that is.”
The sound of hooves landing on metal sounded nearby and Twilight looked over to see Chrysalis standing there with her nose stuck in the air. “Like I’d ever repent, it is not my fault you prey species are too weak to deal with real predators.”
Twilight growled but otherwise said nothing. Cozy landed next to Twilight and smiled down at her. With everypony now here Wind Rider put out what was left of his cigarette and stood up. He made his way to the steering wheel while Sunset made her way toward Twilight and the others. Sunset stopped in front of them and let out a sigh.
It took a moment but she finally spoke. “Listen, everypony, we are about to go on a dangerous mission to tackle the heart of this darkness. To go to southern Equestria where these corrupted alicorns came from, find out where the Pony of Shadows is lurking and to end him before he causes any more death or destruction to our world.”
She let out a sigh and her tone became more gentle. “There’s a good chance we’ll get hurt on this mission. That not… not all of us might come back. If you want to quit now, nopony will blame you. If you want to stay, then I thank you.”
For a moment she waited, and when nopony voiced any concerns she continued. “Thank you. This mission, it’s going to be my last. After this I’m done saving the world, I’ve done this job too much, and I don’t want to do this anymore. Ask Wind Rider, I’m supposed to be retired. But, I will do this one last mission and save our world.
“My plan is simple. We find where the Pony of Shadows is. I suck in all the magical energy I can physically handle plus a whole lot more, and then we work together to absolutely destroy it. Most of you won’t see any combat, you’re here for your knowledge, your skills, and my trust in you, but it will still be dangerous… are there any questions?”
Twilight stood and met Sunset’s eyes. “I only have one; when do we leave?”
Twilight found herself sitting in the back of Wind Rider’s airship. It was going to take a few days to get everypony there, but they were going, and to quote ‘take the fight to the Pony of Shadows’. Twilight had explained to Starlight that she was going to leave, and even explained what she was going to do, at least what she understood. The look Starlight gave her when Twilight said she and Sunset were going to fight the Pony of Shadows, it still haunted Twilight. It was like Starlight was saying good bye for the last time, but of course Twilight knew that couldn’t be it. Sunset had a plan, and since she was a better, smarter, and more capable pony her plan was going to have to work.
She laid her head down on a pillow that was an uncomfortable mixture of colors and heard a gasp coming from it as she did. Discord’s voice emitted, “Well I’ll be, Twilight Sparkle, how dare you?”
Twilight groaned. “Shhh, I’m trying to nap.”
Discord’s voice almost purred. “Oh, and why would you want to nap now when you’re on an adventure, I wonder?”
“Because I want to cuddle.” Twilight closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off.
Discord was retorting something but Twilight missed it as her body grew heavy. The last thing she heard was Discord nearly whispering in her ear, “Get some rest, at least one of us needs energy to deal with this mess.”
The world around Twilight felt cool, and a piercing white light filtered into her vision. Twilight opened her eyes to find herself no longer on the ship. Its rusted metal walls with flaking gold paint having been completely replaced by a large open plane surrounded by glowing white flowers. The moon hung in the sky casting a blinding white light over the land. In the distance twilight saw a familiar wooden castle.
A dark blue wing laid down over Twilight’s body. She looked up to see Luna staring down at her. “Twilight, you seem stressed.”
Twilight stared up into those huge eyes that were as deep as the ocean, but as warm as a hearth on a lonely night. “I’m… I just wanted to spend some time with you.”
Luna smiled. “You can always spend time with me.”
“I’m going to Southern Equestria with Sunset to fight the Pony of Shadows.”
Luna looked away, back at the moon and stared at it in silence. Her wing tightened its embrace pulling Twilight closer still. For a long moment they simply stared out together at the moon. At length Luna finally replied, “If you need anything, anything at all, just dream and I’ll be there when you awake.”
Twilight nuzzled into Luna’s neck. “I know. But I promise, Sunset has a great plan, she’ll keep me safe and I’ll return having saved the world.”
Luna replied, “Why are you doing this?”
Twilight stared into that moon. Its surface seemed to ripple and change. She saw a reflection of Applejack. It lasted for a moment before shifting into Rarity. It changed still into Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and finally Trixie and Maud. Twilight felt her heart ache with each change of the images. She knew why she was doing this, she knew that with the elements of harmony destroyed thanks to her, she would have to take up the mantle alone and save the day. Unicorn, Alicorn, or earth pony it didn’t matter, Twilight was a hero. She would save them. She had to save them.
And maybe, just maybe if she did they’d forgive her.
Luna let out a quiet breath. “Twilight, even if you succeed it won’t change things.”
Twilight shook her head. “I have to do something.”
“Couldn’t you just apologize to them?” Luna glanced down at Twilight. “I know they might not accept it, but it would be better than this.”
Twilight shook her head. “Apologizing isn’t enough, I have to repent… and even if they don’t care, I still need to save them.”
The image in the moon changed one more time to show Luna. Twilight let out a sigh. “I have to save everyone close to me.”
Luna shivered. “If you see those evil alicorns. Run. Teleport as far and as fast as you can. And leave anypony else behind. As soon as you’re safe, dream and I’ll come get you.”
Twilight nodded. “I have no plans to do any fighting, but if things go south…” She knew she couldn’t really abandon Sunset, or Frailty. Heck if she was really part of this group abandoning even the likes of Chrysalis would be wrong, they were on the same team now. However, it was also important to let Luna know she’d be safe. “…I’ll keep myself safe and contact you, I promise.”
Luna leaned over and pressed her lips against Twilight’s. She pulled back just enough to whisper, “Now, since I have you all to myself for a few minutes, let me take advantage of it.”
Twilight swallowed. Sorry Discord, this dream might get a little… personal.
***
The midday sun was high in the sky and even with its bright light Amber could feel a chill blowing in from the Everfree Forest. Being so close to it, she could feel it more than the others who were currently inside the old ruined castle. A part of her wanted to, no, it needed to understand why it was so cold. Step by step Amber approached the woods. It was subtle but she could feel it grow a bit colder the closer she got.
The darkness in the woods seemed more impassible than ever. How many times had she and her friends snuck in there, went to the old castle and hung out? Amber could almost hear it. Like a whisper coming from the woods, a voice was calling out. She strained to understand what it was saying but it was so muffled, so quiet, so far away. She walked closer to the forest line, she could feel a brush of cold air against her fur, her breath was visible in the air.
She could almost hear it. Was it a cry? Was it a call? What was it?
Hushpuppy’s voice broke her stance. “What are you doing?”
Amber looked back at him. “Can you hear it?”
Hushpuppy joined her by the woods. “Hear what?”
“The voice? It’s whispering?”
Hushpuppy raised an eyebrow at her. “You… you only just now started to hear that?”
Amber blinked. “Wait what?”
Hushpuppy looked around. “The forest, it’s been whispering for as long as I can remember. Once we came here to start your training I heard mom mention it to Maud. It was the first time I heard anypony else talk about it. I just figured you could hear it too.”
Amber shook her head. “No I’ve never heard this before. What is it?”
Hushpuppy looked back into the woods and narrowed his eyes. “You know what, I want to know that too.” He grinned and met Amber’s eyes. “I mean, unless you’re chicken?”
Amber glared at him. “I’m not chicken. And you know what, I’ll go find out what it is.”
Hushpuppy added. “Wait a second, you might not be chicken but don’t be stupid. The woods are still dangerous. Let’s go together.”
Amber nodded. “Fine by me. With Fluttershy’s training, nothing in these woods can scare me now.” Even though she said those words proudly, some part of her didn’t believe them. The woods seemed more dangerous now than ever before, but still she had faith in her new found training and power.
Amber took the first step and Hushpuppy followed along without missing a beat. They were going to discover what was lurking in these woods, and what was making that noise. It was a mystery, one that these two could easily solve, she was almost certain of that.
Each step into the woods made things darker still. It wasn’t long before the light from the castle glade had faded from them. The tree of harmony might have kept the castle glade and valley clean and bright, but here there was nothing but darkness. The air was getting colder still, and both Hushpuppy and Amber’s breathing left visible trails of fog.
Hushpuppy’s eyes had a determined look to them that she had never really seen before. What was he hearing from this voice all these years? What did it mean to him? For Amber it was simply a mystery and a minor annoyance. Yet if she had to hear it for so many years and nopony else could, how would she react to it?
They walked over tree roots, around thick bushes, and past jagged rocks and strange plants. Lucky for them they’d heard enough stories from there folks to avoid any and all blue plants. It took a good while but eventually they found their way into a dark place where even the towering trees above them only ended in more darkness.
Amber had to ask, “What is this place?”
Hushpuppy wasn’t looking up, his eyes were focused on something ahead of them. His ears perked. “I’m not sure, but I hear the word, ‘home’.”
Amber glanced at him. The whispers were more frequent now, but they were no louder or clearer to her. He must have had some kind of special connection to the magic here. Not surprising considering who her parents were. “So, any other bits of wisdom oh mighty tree talker?”
Hushpuppy shrugged. “Not yet. I’m still trying to figure out what this place is.”
The trees around them were starting to look different somehow. The bases were becoming larger but thinning out as they reached upward but widening again at strange angles. Branches grew out and reached into other trees circling around them and branching out to yet more trees. A few trees even had large round openings that revealed hollowed insides. The largest tree yet, one that made the width of Twilight’s tree castle look like a twig stood silent as a grave. Its bark was a pale gray, the large opening lay covered in dust with many smaller openings much like windows all around it.
Amber walked toward the large opening and poked her head in. It was dark, dust covered the floor and she felt a freezing cold draft come from inside the massive tree. She back peddled from the frozen air alone.
Hushpuppy stared into the woods. His eyes seemed to take on a slightly different look. They were almost… yellow. He ground his teeth. “It’s here.”
Amber looked into the darkness. “What’s here?”
“The voice.”
Amber let out a quiet shaky breath. She focused a bit of magic and set a glowing pink light above her horn. “Well, if we’re going to finish our mission, let’s do it already.”
Hushpuppy glanced at her. “Why is your light on?”
“Because it’s pitch black in there, and we can’t see.”
He looked ahead. “I can see just fine… weird.”
“Yeah, weird.” Amber grunted.
Hushpuppy took the lead and together they walked into the tree. The construction here was amazing. Even with all the layers of dust she could see the way pillars had been grown out of the earth and into the ceiling far, far above them. Her light only illuminated a good thirty feet around them, and seemed to be shrinking bit by bit the deeper they walked. Halls had been grown into the wood work, as well as stairs and rooms. Most of these they ignored, it was actually a pretty straightforward walk to get to where they needed.
The largest hall yet, one lined with long tables and what appeared to be chairs with some kind of gnarled root oblong shaped thing sitting on them. It was like someone had carved parts of a tree into strange shapes and set them at the chairs almost like some kind of dinner. No plates, nor cups though so the scene wasn’t complete. The layer of dust here told Amber that whoever or whatever made this had done so long ago.
It took minutes of walking but they finally reached the end of the hall and saw a massive throne sitting in front of a larger still table. There was a huge version of the gnarled root thing sitting on top of it. Only on what could be argued to be its head, there were two antlers sticking out, massive in size and carved with runes.
Hushpuppy stared up at it. “That’s it.”
Amber stared at it and felt the room drop a degree or two. The light spell around her shrunk before her very eyes until it was only ten feet around the two of them. Hushpuppy was still staring at the giant throne. The whispering was louder here. For the first time Amber started to hear the words.
It was like a hundred different voices all crying out at once. Their voices a song, singing in sorrow and pain in some kind of eternal whisper. “The darkness came, and with a bang, it took it all, our homes and bones, they would fall.”
Amber swallowed. “Hush, we should leave. This is… I think this is dark magic.”
Hushpuppy looked away and around them. “I think your right.” His eyes surveyed the room around them and narrowed still. “Let’s go, now.”
Hushpuppy began with a trot back toward the entrance. Amber followed close behind quickly matching his speed. The voices around them were growing louder still. Sobs could be heard like drum beats behind the lyrics. “We had our hopes, and our dreams, but she came in and as it seems, we lost it all, with our fall.”
Hushpuppy’s eyes were darting left and right and he turned his trot into a full gallop. Amber matched his pace again. She couldn’t see what was past ten feet around them. She couldn’t see the tables, or the chairs or the things on the chairs. But she really, really didn’t want to.
The voices were shouting now. The sobs and some kind of cracking, snapping sound filled in as the instruments of torment to their howling song. “But in our restless tombs we rise, forever trapped in our minds, our hearts and souls have died, so you two will lose it all, when we make you fall.”
They reached the end of the grand hall and Amber caught a glimpse of part of the table nearby. The chairs stood there, but the chairs, the chairs were empty. Amber felt rather than heard herself screaming. Hushpuppy was still leading them. They ran, and ran, and ran some more. The cold became less oppressive the closer they got to the exit. Once they saw the exit they both ran out of it and into the open area of large trees once more. Behind them the voices had quieted down once again to a mere whisper. The air was far warmer out here, and Amber could no longer see her breath in the air.
Amber looked down at Hushpuppy. His eyes were both pale yellow with red pupils. His teeth bared in a grin showing off fangs. A giggle escaped his lips. “That was, haha, that was, hee, that was fun.”
Amber looked back at the entrance to the massive tree. “What, exactly, about that was fun?”
“There pain, haha, it was, oh my goodness, it was, hee hee, ha,” Hushpuppy looked back at the tree and waved a hoof as if he could see someone she couldn’t. “This! This is what I have been saying for years now! There torment is beautiful, and hilarious.”
Amber felt her lower lip tremble. “N-no, it’s not. It’s scary. It’s bad. I… I just want to go home.”
Hushpuppy looked up at her. “Scary?”
For a moment she stared into his eyes, and then she looked down and away. She couldn’t look at him. Those eyes were scary too.
Hushpuppy’s laughter was gone, his breathing calmed, and his voice came out soft. “I… I’m sorry. Your right, I… that was scary. It was fun, but it was also scary. I… why did I think it was funny?”
Amber looked up and Hushpuppy’s eyes were normal again, they were green, they were wide with fear, but they were normal. “We should go back to Fluttershy, and tell her what we found. Maybe the forest isn’t safe.”
Hushpuppy nodded. “I… I’m sorry.”
Amber shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize. I think that the fear just got to you more than it did me. Let’s go home, get some hot coco, and try to calm down. Before I go crazy.”
Hushpuppy nodded.
With a trot to their step they headed home. This forest, this place that felt far too dead for its own good, was way too spooky, and way too dark to be sticking around in. Though with this new… quirk of Hushpuppy’s, she had more questions now then she ever did before about him. About him, and about what Fluttershy didn’t get the chance to tell her about him.
Blackout stood in her room. Her door was cracked open just a bit and she could hear her mom just outside of it. Her mom did not sound happy, not in the least.
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
A stallion’s voice replied. “I just wanted to see her.”
“You don’t get to just ‘see her’ whenever you like.”
There was a brief silence but the stallion replied. “Rainbow, I’m getting old, I won’t be here forever. Just let me see her, get to know her, that’s all-“
“No, you don’t get that luxury, pal. We had a single night of very regrettable fun, the sex was great, but you left me with a reminder of your presence and vanished. So no, if you wanted to see her you’d have been here a long, long time ago.”
His voice replied. “I didn’t know. I was busy with a mission and I didn’t know you were pregnant.”
“Oh and I’m sure you say that to all the fillies you knocked up.”
He was silent for a moment. “I… might have done that. But I’ve been trying to make amends for it, meet the kids, get to know them. Even if I was a piece of trash back then, the older I get, the more I realize that I need to do something, leave something behind.”
Rainbow Dash replied. “You already did, and she is special, but she isn’t yours. She never will be, and if I have it my way you’ll never get to know her.”
Blackout could feel the pit in her stomach growing. It was like there was a black hole in her heart. She knew who this was, the stallion had come by three times in the past month trying to talk to Rainbow Dash, each time she would force Blackout to go to her room and stay there. It was pretty freaking obvious who this stallion was.
Blackout wasn’t going to keep hiding just because her mom said so. Even if she got scolded, or grounded for the rest of her life, she had to see him. Just once.
Blackout opened the door and stepped out of her room into the entrance way of the manor. She saw her mom by the front entrance, her eyes shot a glaring look toward Blackout. Blackout shot the glare back and then turned to look at the stallion.
He was an old stallion, a really old stallion with blue fur and a silver striped mane. Around his neck he wore a white scarf. He looked at Blackout with a pair of silver eyes that widened as he saw her. Blackout smiled at him.
Rainbow Dash spat a few curses and then demanded, “Get back in your room, this instant.”
Blackout stuck her nose up in the air and flittered around, or well with her weight she kind of floated around with her wings. “I’ll do what I want.” She flew circles around the pair trying to size up this pegasus stallion. She caught a glimpse of some kind of airship outside, it looked like Sunset Shimmer was out there waiting for him. “Wow, you hooked up with Sunset after my mom, nice.”
Rainbow Dash nearly vomited a torrent of curses amounting to, how dare you and, I’m ten times better than Sunset. Of course Blackout ignored them all and landed next to the stallion and stared up into those old eyes. “So, you my dad or what?”
Wind Rider smiled and opened his mouth. Rainbow Dash interrupted, “I may not hit her because she’s my baby girl, but you, I will beat every bone in your body senseless if you speak.”
Winder Rider smiled and winked at Blackout. This seemed to set Rainbow Dash off more. He let out a sigh. “The name’s Wind Rider.”
Blackout smiled. “I’m Blackout, best darn pegasus in Ponyville.”
Wind Rider corrected, “Best darn pegasus in Equestria more like it.”
Rainbow Dash marched up and had her hooves on Wind Rider. “That’s it, you’re gone and if you come back, even if you bring your little body guard, I’m going to rip your lungs out and then strangle you with them.”
Blackout nearly shouted, “MOM, STOP! He’s my dad, I have every right to meet him!”
Rainbow Dash shot a glare at her. “Not until you are eighteen you don’t. And if we’re both lucky he’ll die of old age by then.”
Rainbow opened the door and shoved Wind Rider out of it. “Now get the tartarus away from my home, and my family you evil, conveying, cheating man whore!”
Wind Rider glanced back at them. “Alright, alright. Just remember kid, Wind Rider’s the name. I’m kinda a big deal.”
Rainbow Dash glared. “No, you’re a washed up has been, now git!”
She slammed the door with enough fury to shake some of the clouds off of the walls. Rainbow Dash leaned against the door huffing and puffing for a good minute. She cracked her neck to look at Blackout. “Go, to, your, room.”
A sudden pang of ‘I’m in soooooo much trouble’ hit Blackout like a lightning bolt. She didn’t need told twice to know she needed to leave immediately. She flapped her wings, took off in a speeding start, and without much aim managed to collide into the wall next to her door. She slid to the floor and for the longest moment she just lay there. Her face had cloud burn on it, and hurt. Not that she couldn’t handle the pain, she totally could. She also didn’t keep her face in the floor because she was afraid she might cry, I mean, she’s Blackout, Rainbow Dash’s daughter, she’d never cry.
It was like when her body hit the floor, her heart crashed into the floor as well. Her heart was so heavy, her body was so heavy, she tried to lift herself up and she couldn’t. She just… gave up and laid there. Face first in the floor.
She could feel Rainbow Dash’s hooves approaching. She was going to get spanked wasn’t she? Just because she was too fat to fly back to her room properly.
She felt something soft touch her shoulder and jolted. Rainbow’s voice came out rough, but not loud. “I… I know this is hard for you. But I just can’t trust a thing like him around my precious baby. When you’re eighteen you can do what you want, but for now… Just respect my decision please.”
Blackout rolled her head to the side and stared up at her mom. For some reason Rainbow Dash was blurry, obviously this was because Blackout had hurt her eyes in the fall, not because she could cry, that was impossible. “But… he’s my dad.”
“He’s also a bad person.”
“But…”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, I’m sorry I won’t allow it. No ifs, no ands, and no buts. Especially no buts. Just… let me help you to your room because you’re totally grounded.”
Rainbow Dash had to support most of Blackout’s weight, but she was clearly strong enough to do it. With a bit of help Rainbow Dash helped carry Blackout back to her room and even laid her down on the bed. Blackout rolled away from Rainbow Dash and closed her eyes. Her eyes still hurt from crashing into the wall.
Rainbow Dash walked away to the door. “I… You know everything I do is for you guys. Because I love you guys.”
Blackout didn’t reply. Her throat hurt cus she was sick now too.
Rainbow Dash walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Blackout laid there, and because she was sick and hurt, and not for any silly emotional reason, she laid in bed and didn’t move for the longest time. This wasn’t fair, how could this be fair. She glanced at her window, cracked open to let cool air in. There was no way this could be fair to her, or to anyone. What if… what if Wind Rider really did die before Blackout turned eighteen? He was already old, he could have a heart attack at any minute.
An idea came to her mind. She only had to ask herself what would Amber do in this situation and she realized exactly what she would do. Blackout forced herself up and went to her window. She slid it open and although it was a tight fit she climbed out of it and looked around. Just at the front of the house, the airship was still there it hadn’t moved yet.
Blackout smirked. “I guess I always wanted to see what it was like on an airship.”
***
Amber sat there staring at Fluttershy and Maud. Both of them had listened to her and Hushpuppy’s story but neither of them had reacted yet. Amber was just waiting for their response, honestly she was hoping they’d call this thing quits and go home already. She liked the training, she needed the training, but these woods were not safe and it felt like they were only growing more dangerous by the day.
At length Fluttershy finally spoke, “Maud, what do you want to do?”
Maud pawed at the stone floor beneath her hooves. “Lulu promised we’d be safe here.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, she did. I understand why she told us to stay here right now as well.” Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. “In all of Equestria, this castle, this valley, and the caves beneath it are probably the safest place. The Tree of Harmony resides here, the elements themselves give off the most pure form of energy there is. Even with the woods surrounding this place being created by Discord himself over a thousand years ago, this one central location is safe.”
Maud nodded. “No more trips into the woods.”
Fluttershy smiled. “I agree. The woods are too dangerous. So unless you are with me or Maud, stay out of the woods.” Fluttershy looked back at the Castle wall behind them. The section seemed newer, cleaner, the door against that wall was in fact newly made and came from Appleloosa. “Twilight’s reconstruction attempts here were pretty good, we can live comfortably in the new wing, train in the old courtyard or valley, and stay as long as we need to, or at least until this scary business passes.”
Amber felt like the world around her was changing. With the revelation of the Corrupted Alicorns there wasn’t much anypony could do against such a force. Yet Amber knew there had to be more, more dark secrets, or things on the way to come. This was only just the beginning to something far more serious, of that she was sure.
Amber glanced over to Hushpuppy and Sophie who were sitting at a table against the wall playing cards. Hushpuppy was clearly listening to the conversation and not really paying attention to the game, Sophie was holding her stuffed rabbit and staring at the cards but she looked a little distant as well.
Fluttershy spoke gently, “It’s okay, let Pinkie and Maud take care of their concerns.”
Amber glanced up at her. “I don’t like hiding here when the world is in danger, can’t we do something?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Maybe once upon a time the Elements of Harmony could, but that’s… not possible now. Let’s just do as your mom said, stay here, stay safe, and let her take care of the big bad scary stuff.” Fluttershy leaned closer and whispered into Amber’s ear. “And don’t forget, that our training will help you become strong enough to do something if they need you.”
Amber nodded. “Okay, I guess you’re right.” She didn’t like being here, but this place was safe, and she was at least surrounded by family she liked. Yeah, her mom had to be right, she could take care of the scary stuff and Amber could keep the family safe.
Amber found herself smiling. “Well, what are we waiting for then? I thought you were supposed to be training me?”
“Twilight?” Celestia’s voice came out with a slight demanding tone.
Twilight snapped to attention. Celestia’s personal study was large, large enough for a whole family to live in. Celestia was lying on the couch and reading a book, she was looking down at Twilight who lay on the floor doing much the same.
Twilight cleared her throat. “Um, yes Princess Celestia?”
“Did you learn anything new?”
Twilight looked down at the book again. The words were all jumbled together and made little to no sense. The moment she thought she understood a word it would shift and change into a different one. “No, I… don’t think so.”
Celestia nodded. “Of course not. You never learn.”
Twilight blinked. “I’m… I’m sorry I’m not smart enough.”
“Nopony is as smart as me,” Celestia said. “That’s why you should always listen to me and never question my authority.”
Twilight nodded. “Of course, Princess Celestia, who would ever dare to question you?”
Celestia’s eye narrowed on Twilight. “You have.”
Twilight stood up. “N-no I haven’t. I’d never question you.”
“When I forbid you from entering the dark library.”
Twilight felt her mouth working for her, speaking before she could even think. “I broke into it.”
“When your friend Fluttershy killed my phoenix.”
“I tried to help cover it up.”
“When you nearly destroyed Ponyville with parasprites that you made ten times worse with magic, instead of listening to your friends.”
“I lied to you about it.”
“When I wanted to destroy the Seeker’s Archive.”
“I fought you, and tried to kill you for it.”
Celestia closed the book. “So, what have you learned today?”
Twilight smiled and spoke without deciding to. “That I’m a traitorous little cur and should never be trusted.”
Celestia nodded. “And what will you do about it?”
Twilight looked out to the balcony. “I’ll throw myself off the ledge to make up for my misdeeds.”
Twilight began walking to the balcony. She tried to stop herself but she couldn’t force her body to stop. It was like fighting against concrete, she couldn’t stop her legs from working against her. The doors to the balcony opened up on their own and she stepped out onto the ledge.
“N-n-n.” Twilight tried to say anything, do anything to stop herself from getting to the edge. But she couldn’t. She climbed up onto the ledge and was stopped short.
A soft wing brushed the back of Twilight’s neck and she looked over to see Luna standing there. Luna smiled softly and it was like Twilight’s muscles lost all power. Luna’s lips moved and a moment later, out of synch with the motion she heard the words, “Wake up, Twilight.”
***
Naps didn’t work well to pass the time for Twilight. She had to admit, passing through Ponyville was challenging. Sure Wind Rider had to stop off and try and see his daughter one last time. They were going to war, he didn’t know what his chances were anymore than she did. Rainbow Dash was of course her usual ornery self but Twilight couldn’t blame her either. She was sure that Wind Rider didn’t tell her what was going on. So all Rainbow had to go on was how Wind Rider acted nearly twenty years ago when they were dating for a time.
Could Twilight ever be strong enough to get past it if Luna cheated on her with younger more attractive mares? She didn’t think so, but at least as a unicorn she wouldn’t have to live with such an atrocity for eternity. She would die someday. Lucky for her she also had a lot more trust in Luna then Rainbow ever had in Wind Rider.
Twilight remained below deck in the boiler room. It was warm here, and the hum of the engine was soothing. With her magical talking scarf and her books she was fine not going out and confronting any of the passengers among this ship. Chrysalis had found a dark room to reside in, sometimes Twilight could swear when she was walking through the ship she could hear Chrysalis chittering away. It was unnerving to say the least.
How far out were they? It had been over twenty four hours since they left Ponyville so they could be anywhere by now. The ship didn’t exactly move the fastest. Twilight stood up, shook herself and opened the hatch leading to the hallway. She walked out and as she passed by a dark room she could hear that haunting chittering sound. It stopped as soon as Twilight walked past the room.
Twilight walked up the stairs and made her way to the deck where she saw Wind Rider at the helm looking more like a pirate captain sailing into the great unknown then a retired Wonderbolt. Sunset was staring out over the deck. All around them were red rocks, jagged spires of sandstone, and desert plains as far as the eye could see. Of course Twilight knew this would change into a lush jungle soon enough. She’d once taken this trip on hoof to charge after Queen Chrysalis, but this time she was in an airship with the same foalnapper as an ally. Times were certainly changing.
Twilight made her way to Sunset’s side. “So, how long before we get there?”
Sunset closed her eyes. “At this pace, tomorrow at the latest, maybe a few hours if the wind continues to favor us. We’ll arrive at the changeling ruins soon.”
Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. She’d already seen those ruins. “Why are we going there?”
Sunset didn’t look away from the horizon. “We’re only observing them on our way, you didn’t know what you were facing back then. Now that we do, I realize we missed something important.” She bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to drag Chrysy back there, to remind her of that mess, but from the readings I got, there is a powerful dark energy brewing there and I’m sure it’s the Pony of Shadows. Its best to take it out now, rather than allow it to continue drawing strength.”
Twilight could agree with that. “Best to nip this one in the bud before it can destroy Equestria.”
“Exactly.”
Twilight let out a sigh, this was going to be a long trip and she did not look forward to it whatsoever. At least when this was done and Sunset’s plan was completed she could go back to her simple life in Starlight’s town. Or perhaps move to the castle and be beside Luna all the time?
Cozy Glow oddly enough had to be somewhere on the ship, Twilight just wasn’t sure where. She’d find the mare sooner or later for now she was going back to her boiler room. To hopefully avoid any more creepy Chrysy encounters she activated a spell making her hooves silent as she went down the steps. Once more she passed by a door that was ajar revealing only darkness inside. Once more she heard the chittering noises from inside. This time they didn’t stop as Twilight passed the door. For a moment Twilight was just going to walk past but then she got curious, why did the sounds only stop when Twilight noisily walked past before, but now that she was silent as a ghost the sounds kept going.
Twilight went to the door and pushed it open. Inside she saw Chrysalis with her back facing the door. The light from the hall entered the room and Chrysalis replied in a low growl, “Shut the door and leave if you value your life.”
Something was off. Chrysalis’s ears were folded back and her wings seemed to droop to her sides. It was like all the energy had been drained from her being. Was she also weakened like Discord?
Discord’s voice came out, he sounded tired but he spoke gently, “Twilight, don’t leave her.”
Twilight glanced down at her scarf. She was going to ask why, but thought better of it. A look around the room revealed a bunk bed, a dresser and a mirror that was aimed at an odd angle in the room. It reflected Chrysalis from the front but with the lack of light Twilight couldn’t see her properly. With a flick of the light switch the lights came on and Twilight could see the reflection much clearer.
Green slime ran down the sides of Chrysalis’s face, stemming from her tightly closed eyes down her cheeks and pooling into a puddle at the floor. It didn’t take an interspecies biologist to realize that Queen Chrysalis was… crying. She opened her eyes, they were red and blood shot and her mouth worked slightly as a chittering sound escaped her lips.
Twilight sat down, she was floored. “That sound, your, your sobbing.”
Chrysalis didn’t dare look back she just closed her eyes again. “I am the Great Queen Chrysalis, I am fear incarnate, I, do, not, cry.”
Twilight shook herself and walked into the room. “Chrysalis, I-“
Chrysalis’s wings flared and she spun around to face Twilight. “I will skin you if you and wear you like a coat if you do not leave this instant.”
Twilight stayed still for a moment but watched as those wings began to droop. The green tears were still flowing from Chrysalis’s eyes. After a moment the chittering sound escaped Chrysalis’s mouth and she shut her lips tight. Twilight continued forward until she was only a couple feet away from the giant.
“Chrysalis, I’m sorry.”
Queen Chrysalis glared down at her. “I blame you.”
Twilight didn’t look away from those eyes. “I’m sure you do.”
“We just wanted a new home.” Queen Chrysalis’s body was shaking. “A home, and some food, warm loving food. Yet you stole that away from us, made my children starve, I fed them all that I had in me, but they starved and died, and it was only the animals in that jungle that rebuilt us. We found a way to survive off them.”
Twilights nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Yet when those monsters first came to our attention we realized we couldn’t face them. I couldn’t face them.” Chrysalis nearly spat her words. “So we ran, we ran to the border, trying to escape and you cut us down like dogs. We tried to break through, to sneak through, to fight our way through but again and again you cut us down. On one side we were annihilated and corrupted by these Corrupted Alicorns, and on the other your people murdered us like dogs.”
Twilight stamped a hoof. “If you’d just have talked to us, we would have helped your people.”
Chrysalis glared at her. “Why would we trust you, not only after all we’ve done to your kind, but after all you’ve done back to us?”
Twilight stared up at her. “Because I offered you a chance to redeem yourself once, and that offer never went away.”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened. “You…” her lips trembled and it was like she was reliving something that Twilight couldn’t see. Then her eyes narrowed and her horn glowed. Twilight was lifted into the air and moved out of the room. She was dropped into the hallway just outside. The lights inside the room went off and Chrysalis spoke as the door closed. “Just leave me alone.”
Twilight watched the door close and lock. She let out a sigh. “I… I tried.”
Discord replied. “You did good, after all she didn’t skin you alive did she?”
Twilight shook her head and headed back toward her boiler room. “I failed her and her people. I failed the changelings. I don’t deserve to any kindness.”
Twilight entered her room, shut the door behind her and laid down on her pillow and blanket pile. She was ready for another nap, so that she could sob into Luna’s embrace about her most recent failure. She looked for her box of cheese chips. It was nowhere by her side. She looked around and saw them in the corner, in a pair of gray hooves belonging to certain young pegasus. An overweight, gray fur, black and white lightning bolt hair colored pegasus.
Blackout stared at Twilight, “Uh… sup?”
Twilight blinked. “Oh… gosh darn it, now Rainbow’s going to kill me.”
Discord laughed. “Now this is what I call a fun road trip.”
Blackout looked at Twilight’s scarf. “Did your neck thing just… talk?”
He found himself lying on the cold floor of a cement building. It was dark in here. The floor was cold, wet, and sticky. Oh god was it sticky. Every muscle in his body ached but he pushed himself up. He had to escape. He had to get out of here, everything felt wrong. He tried to take a step and knew something was wrong, he lifted his leg up, but it felt like he could still feel his hoof on the floor, he kept lifting but no matter how high he lifted his leg up he could feel his hoof on the floor until he heard a cold wet snap.
He swallowed. Something that wasn’t saliva rolled down his throat and melted into his lungs. It’s okay, it’s okay, it was just mucus. Yeah, you’re sick. That’s all.
He stepped forward. Each step was easier than the last. Each one came with a wet snapping sound. He wanted to vomit but he wasn’t sure if he even could. He had taken a few steps and bumped into a wall. The wall was covered in a thick slimy surface, it was cold and seemed to stick to him unnaturally. Where was a light when he needed one?
The sound of hooves from far away made him turn his head. He saw a sliver of light appear in the distance and then the light exploded into the room. All around him he saw thick, black slime covering everything. In the corner he saw the slime starting to lighten to a purple color. A large mound of slime sat there. What looked like the shape of heads, legs, and wings or tails stuck out awkwardly from the purple mess. The mess of slime moved and a head appeared with a pair of hollowed eyes and a gaping mouth as if it was trying to scream with no lungs to make sound.
He looked back toward the light and saw a staircase leading up. Was he in a basement?
A lone pony stood at the top. They wore a dark purple cloak and all he could see was a malicious grin. “Looks like you’re finally moving. Lord Smooze would be pleased to see my progress.” The door began to shut. He tried to rush forward to the door. He needed to get out of here. He just had too.
He tripped on the slime covered floor and fell forward. That’s when he saw it for the first time. His foreleg… no, no, what, what happened to him? The slime, why was there so much slime?
***
Trixie walked through the hospital wing. From every direction it felt like she could feel the coughing and not just hear it. Beside her stood Princess Luna. Together they walked down the halls and could see through open doors ponies of all sorts from young and old lying on beds. They all had one thing in common though, each one of them had some sort of black or purple mark on their body. Sometimes it was on the face, sometimes the hoof or leg or the neck. Each one of them had the mark, and each one looked sicker than the last.
They reached the end of the hall and saw a group of doctors wearing masks all staring at Trixie and Luna with wide eyes. One of them spoke up, “Why are you not wearing protective gear?”
Trixie shrugged. “We’re alicorns, we’re immune to disease.”
Luna added. “I also threw a magical shield upon us before entering.”
The doctor nodded. “At least one of you is smart enough. Come with me.”
Trixie scowled. “I could have said that too.”
The doctor led them down a separate hall, these all had locked doors. At the very end there was one door that was open, two guards wearing masks and armor stood there. Each one had some kind of spear with a glowing tip by their sides. Trixie hadn’t seen such weapons employed by guards in the past, these must have been special. They wore gold and orange armor with the symbol of a white sun on the flanks of their armor. Luna seemed to tense up as she walked past them.
The doctor walked into the room and Trixie and Luna followed. Inside there was a loan bed, and a white tarp covering it. Black stains oozed through the sheets and goo fell onto the floor spilling into a pool. This… this looked familiar.
The doctor explained. “This is, as far as we can tell, patient zero. Reanimation happens every few days, so the guards are outside to keep him still while we study. The doctor went to the bed side and gently pulled the sheet up. There was a sticky sound that made Trixie’s hooves curl and her stomach rise. The sheet pulled back with tendrils of black goop stuck to it. Underneath Trixie saw what looked like a mix of rotten purple meat and black goo in the shape of a pony, and a skeletal structure exposed underneath. The eyes were hollow, and lidless creating an eternal stare into the abyss.
The doctor continued. “He was found stumbling in an alley, confused and mumbling to himself about being sick and escaping the darkness. We put him in quarantine until his first death. After that we were getting ready to autopsy him when he reanimated. It was more than just frightening, he attacked the doctors. Luckily they were able to escape but we had to figure out what to do. Guards put him down and we tried again. Just after the autopsy he got up again.”
Luna blinked. “So he’s undead?”
The doctor stared at her. “We’ve all been taught that necromancy is a lie.”
Trixie muttered under her breathe, “How better to keep ponies from practicing it if they think it’s a myth.”
The doctor stared at the corpse again. “That’s just it though. We aren’t sure what he is. Or how he works. The other cells in this wing that are closed each contain a very similar patient. The ones in the open rooms you saw, we suspect they have the same disease.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Wait, there diseased and their doors are open?”
The doctor shook his head. “It’s not airborne, thank Celestia. We suspect it only spreads through physical contact, and we aren’t sure how potent it is.”
“Then why are the doors open?” Luna asked again.
The doctor let out a sigh and pulled down his face mask. There were streaks of black lines over his cheek. “Because all of us here didn’t know it was spread through touch.” He put the mask back on and looked at the corpse once more. “I know it’s not very scientific, but I pray to everything that is holy whoever this stallion used to be isn’t still somehow… sentient.”
Luna nodded. “For your sake, I agree.”
Trixie swallowed. What was she supposed to make of this? There were just over fifty ponies here that were sick, and they could only hope it was contained here. Canterlot city was not supposed to be in danger from a sickness. One that looked so familiar.
It took a moment but Trixie recalled where she’d last seen this sickness. “The Everfree Forest.”
Luna looked at her. “Surely you can’t mean this is the same kind of thing you and Twilight found.”
Trixie nodded. “Far too similar for my taste. Just… we could kill those things, if this one isn’t staying dead…”
Luna asked, “Did anypony actually check on the corpses after a few days?”
Trixie blinked. “Oh… oh… no.”
***
Twilight walked down the halls once more. This time Blackout was by her side.
Blackout was walking next to her. “So uh… are you like, actually Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight glanced at her. “Yes, I am.”
“OMG, you really did become a unicorn and you’re TINY!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I am still much older than you, I’ll have you know.”
“Sure, but uh…” Blackout cut herself short. “Um, you’re not going to tell my mom are you?”
Twilight glared at her. “You really think she doesn’t already know? She just doesn’t know where we left too and I hope for your sake she catches up with us before we get there.”
They reached the stairs and Twilight looked up them. “You made the biggest mistake of your life coming with us on this trip.”
Blackout shook her head. “Nah, you’re just going to beat up some bad guys right?”
“We’re fighting a foe that even the princesses couldn’t face alone. And we’re fighting multiple of them.”
Blackout swallowed. “Well uh, I’ll just punch him. I’m good at that.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Doesn’t matter, we’re sending you home.”
Twilight marched up the steps and found Sunset sitting on the deck. The sunlight around her was strong like an intense beam of energy focused into her being. In fact Twilight would go so far as to suggest that Sunset might even be glowing herself. She approached and felt the heat around Sunset, it was actually hot enough to make Twilight keep back.
Sunset had her eyes closed. “What do you want?”
Twilight spoke, “We have a stowaway, Rainbow’s kid. We need to teleport her back home.”
Sunset did not open her eyes. “I cannot do that. It would take an incredible amount of power for even a one way trip that far. I need every ounce I can summon for this battle.”
Twilight let out a sigh. She was right; it was going to be a challenge. “Then we’ll head back and you can drop me off somewhere in Equestria. I’ll take her home myself if I have to.”
Sunset replied. “Again we cannot do this. Our path is set, my power is secure. We have only one chance at this. Besides, shouldn’t Rainbow Dash already be on her way by now.”
Twilight had to concede with that. Honestly she didn’t know what Sunset’s actual plan was, but she assumed it would be enough to save the day. The amount of power she was bringing into herself right then was incredible, it probably even surpassed Celestia’s in strength. Sunset couldn’t hold that kind of power for long, so it would seem they were stuck on this course. Of course Rainbow had to be on her way already.
Until then, however. “Hey, Blackout, why don’t we go meet Wind Rider until your mom gets here? Get out of Sunset’s mane.”
Blackout’s eyes widened and almost sparkled as she replied. “I could toats do that!”
Twilight nodded. “Well that settles it then, let’s go chill with the Rider.”
Going back over the deck and up to the steering wheel where Rider stood on his hind legs steering proudly Twilight realized that maybe, just maybe if Rainbow Dash didn’t kill everyone here for kidnapping her kid, maybe some good might come of this. Upon there arrival Wind Rider looked over with a boyish grin and said, “Ladies.”
Twilight smiled. “Mr. Rider.”
“Oh please, my father was Mr. You can call me Wind Rider.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. He was always a flirtatious stallion. One of the things she’d heard an earful of from RD over the years, assuming she got drunk enough first. Blackout took a seat next to him and stared up with wide eyes. For a moment she didn’t say anything but when she did she demanded, “Tell, me, everything, about, you.”
Wind Rider smiled and stared off into the horizon. “You know most folks these days don’t ask me about myself. So I’ll gladly tell you the greatest story you’ve ever heard, the Tale of the one and only Wind Rider.”
Twilight had already heard all of this before, but Blackout had probably never heard any of it. Seeing that look of amazement in Blackout’s eyes actually reminded her of a young Twilight looking up at Celestia. Back when things were simple, blind optimism and faith were something she excelled in.
Cozy’s voice chimed in from next to her. “Is he really going on about himself to that kid?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “That’s his daughter, let them have their moment.”
Cozy snickered. “Even worse.”
“Oh hush you.” Twilight smiled. “So, where have you been?”
“Hiding, sleeping, eating. Haven’t seen you in a bit.”
Twilight rubbed at her scarf. “Yeah, doing the same really. Sleeping lets me spend time with my Luna. I… well I want to spend time with her before we get to our destination.”
Cozy bit her lower lip. “You know where we’re going?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “I wasn’t positive until I spoke with Chrysalis. Now I’m certain. The Pony of Shadows comes from somewhere south of the old Changeling Hives. So we’re heading further south then that. To where I believe the ground zero is.”
“I don’t want to make any hazardous guesses, but I’ve studied the maps, I’ve explored a large part of the country down there.” Twilight thought back to the one place she saw on the map, the one she’d visited the outside of only once. She’d gone there, by herself and even with her immense alicorn power she could feel that whatever darkness lay in wait for her was something that came from the ancient world, something that needed to stay hidden and forgotten for all time. “It’s a dark pit, once guarded by an elite royal guard tower, now left abandoned. The pit leads to an ancient ruin that as far as I know only the likes of Starswirl ever explored though his notes are almost nonexistent on its subject matter save for the fact that it was a place nopony should be allowed to remember. its name is deceptively simple in modern terms, we now call it Ye Olde Obblilite.”
“That name sounds silly.”
Twilight could feel herself shiver as she recalled what Starswirl had called it. “It’s original name, however, is; The World Eater Pit.”
Amber’s horn lit up and surrounded her with a bubble of fire. She couldn’t see her target but she could feel her. The air seemed to shift in subtle ways as Fluttershy’s nearly invisible movement and speed created new currents. It had taken the better part of a week to figure it out the first time, now she was beginning to learn how to read those currents.
What she was reading right then was that Fluttershy had flown far away from her. Seeing as how they were training in the bottom of the valley again, this did not bode well when there were so many places nearby for Fluttershy to move. Just like that the air shifted, a sudden push and pull let Amber know Fluttershy was on her way back and she was coming in fast.
Amber strengthen her shield and prepared for the worst. Suddenly she felt Fluttershy stop. What was she planning?
In the sky she saw a black dot. It slowly grew in size. Surely Fluttershy had stopped moving so what was this thing heading her way? The larger the dot got the more apprehensive Amber felt. It was a large circle at first, and then it started to round out. When it became apparent that it was the size of a wagon Amber understood what was heading her way.
Amber put more magic into her shield and braced herself as the boulder crashed down into her shield. It shattered upon impact. Her shield flared and she watched as the bits of flaming rocks went into different directions. Amber roared, “YOU THREW A ROCK AT ME!”
Fluttershy’s voice whispered next to Amber’s ear. “How else was I supposed to distract you when you were watching my movements so closely?”
Amber spun and transformed her shield into a flaming whip that lashed in a spiral around her. Fluttershy was only inches away from her and flipped back out of the way of the fiery whip. Amber stared at her target trying to keep her eyes on her this time. She just had to land one hit and she’d win the duel, but if she got hit…
Amber’s horn flared once more and she felt the magic in her rising to its full fury. Her mouth tasted like copper. Fluttershy flittered around like a little wasp waiting for the opportunity to sting. Amber waited. Seconds drawled by like minutes as Fluttershy flittered about almost aimlessly. Finally Fluttershy vanished from sight and Amber felt the air blow past her right side.
Amber jumped to the left and just where she was she saw Fluttershy swinging at empty air with a hoof. Amber released her pent up spell and her entire body exploded in a fiery explosion. The fire raced out and hit Fluttershy across the side sending her sailing back and into the hard rocky earth. Amber stood there, her muscles burned, tiny cuts and burns covered the surface of her legs and sides. Yet she stared on at Fluttershy who was busy picking herself up out of the trench she had carved.
Amber spat a red glob to the side. “I think that should count as a win.”
Fluttershy shook her head. There was a trail of crimson running down the side of her face but she was smiling. “That is a tie.”
Amber took a step forward and felt her legs collapse beneath her. She hit the ground and cried out in pain. All of a sudden the hurt was doubled and she had to force her legs underneath her to force herself upright once more. “No, I hit you first.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “You hurt us both at the same time.” She walked calmly over to Amber. “And did much more damage to yourself in the process.” She smiled and looked up at Amber. “Of course, few ponies can say they’ve actually made me bleed. You’ve now joined the ranks of people like Trixie and Queen Chrysalis.”
Amber blinked. “I…” Suddenly she felt way too dizzy. Amber sat herself down, and the pain seemed to lessen a little. “Ow.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Whatever that move you used is, it’s powerful, but it is costly. So unless you want to put your allies in danger after they come to pick up your body from using it, I’d advise against using it in combat.”
Amber laid her head down. “I can agree to that.”
Valiant Heart seemed to float down from the valley edge to where they were standing. That was when Amber knew she’d gone too far. If she was seeing earth ponies fly she’d hurt herself too much. As Valiant Heart got to work healing her Amber smiled. “I’ll accept a tie.”
***
Twilight was still sitting on the top deck and reading a book to pass the time. The land beneath them had already changed into a rolling see of green lush jungles. Near the wheel she saw Wind Rider at the helm with Blackout by his side. Just past them the shaft of golden orange light was still circling around Sunset much like a beacon of hope that cut through the clouds themselves. Whatever Sunset was doing, it was going to be amazing.
Wind Rider’s voice changed gears ever so slightly, “And then I met your mom. Rainbow Dash, the one pony who could beat me, surpass me and to top it all off she was a better hero than I was.” He paused for a moment but continued, “I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t impressed the first time I saw her. I was also incredibly jealous.”
Blackout waved a hoof dismissively. “Whatever, everypony is jealous of mom. That’s nothing new, you’re still cooler.”
Wind Rider smiled. “Thanks for that, but I think maybe you should give her more credit. Honestly I’m glad we get to spend this time together but you really should have listened to your mom.”
“No, I shouldn’t have, she lies, she’s never around, and she won’t even let me meet my own dad.” Blackout crossed her legs over her chest. “Why should I listen to her?”
“Because in a lot of ways she’s right about me.” Wind Rider explained. “I’m not proud of it but when I first met your mom, after my initial impression of her, my jealousy took over. I tried to frame her and ruin her career. I thought that the record of mine she beat was the last thing I owned, the last thing that was mine. So her taking it drove me a little crazy.”
Twilight saw him for a moment, his eyes glossed over and the lines around them grew more intense. In that moment she saw a life time of regrets inside him. He closed his eyes and refocused on the path ahead. “I made a serious mistake and I guess… I couldn’t make up for it.”
Twilight felt a part of her heart grow heavy. She looked around. Wind Rider never talked about his friends, sure he talked up his various conquests with mares, but the only two ponies he seemed to ever really respect of were either Rainbow Dash or Sunset. In fact he was so dedicated to Sunset that he was willing to risk it all for her. Maybe, just maybe he too had been alone and needed a friend despite his mistake could he be forgiven and redeemed? Twilight thought about Starlight, she destroyed the universe with her spell several times over, or well at least created several timelines where everything was ruined. Yet Twilight took the time to get know Starlight, forgive her, and help her redeem herself. The amount of deaths that Starlight caused with those timelines is innumerable, the amount of times Twilight was forced to watch her friends and loved ones die or suffer in those timelines caused mental wounds that still hadn’t closed… and what did Wind Rider actually do? Cheat on Rainbow Dash, and try to frame her but got caught for it?
Was Wind Rider really beyond redemption for such trivial things? Honestly from what Twilight had seen, he had hardly even flirted with anypony since she met him, let alone actually taken a pony to bed. He was old, but age didn’t mean he didn’t have a friendship problem that needed fixed. Something inside Twilight stirred. An old light, once snuffed out by time and misery began to glow and she stood up. Without even thinking about it she had already decided, she would fix the wounds between Rainbow and Wind Rider, she didn’t expect them to date, but she could get them talking, get them to be friendly again. She was sure of it.
Cozy cleared her throat. “Uh, Twilight? You good?”
Twilight shook her head. “Um, yeah, sorry I think I got caught up in something.” She sat back down.
Blackout was looking away from her dad now. Wind Rider was quiet as well. In her moment of realization, Twilight missed something. She listened in again.
Blackout spoke. “I… I don’t know how you could do that to somepony, even mom. Still that was like seventeen years ago right? Like, I’m still part of both of you, and I don’t think you two should still be all crazy because of something that happened so long ago. I mean… did I really cause that much of a problem?”
Wind Rider looked down. “You are not a problem. You are a blessing upon this world kid, and with my charisma and your mom’s looks, you’ll do a lot of good here.”
Blackout nodded. “Thanks, dad.”
Wind Rider smiled wide. “No problem. And hey, once this is all said and done, if your mom doesn’t kill me first, I’ll teach you how to fly my ship.”
“What’s the ships name?”
Wind Rider looked ahead once more. “The Dash.”
Something stabbed into Twilight’s heart when he said the name. She knew the ship had been around for a long time. Originally owned by the Flim Flam brothers but since they were out of the picture Wind Rider had taken it over. He obviously renamed it but to think he’d name it something so obvious after all this time… was he really still a bad person? No, she didn’t think so, he had made some huge mistakes, and once upon a time he was a bad person, but now, now he’d grown and learned from his mistakes. She’d argue that Wind Rider was probably an okay guy, and since she was the element of magic, she was going to make sure she helped him out with his current friendship problem, once this mess was over.
Blackout looked ahead with Wind Rider. “I like that name.”
In the distance ahead Twilight could see something. The air was growing, oddly purple. She used a bit of magic and teleported to the front of the ship and looked forward. This was impossible!
There was some kind of sea? A sea of purple liquid covering where the jungle once was. Spires of dark purple rock seemed to jut out at sharp angles out of it. The ooze seemed to cover everything in sight on the horizon. When did this sea get here? What was it?
From the sea far ahead she saw what looked like a massive tendril rise up out of it. A huge ball of purple ooze formed at its tip and it leaned back and away from them. What was this stuff, it looked familiar but she couldn’t quite place why.
Discord’s voice rang out. “Oh crap, not this again!”
The tendril whipped forward and the ball of ooze launched itself from the tip. Twilight watched as the ball of ooze flew toward there ship growing larger still by the second. It was massive, and it continued growing in size until she realized it was larger than the entire ship.
Wind Rider’s voice cried out over the deck. “Hold onto your rumps ponies! This is going to be a wild ride!”
Twilight held onto the railing with all her strength as the ship sharply dived downward. The ball of purple ooze flew right overhead hitting the air where the ship had been just moments prior. They’d just barely missed the ball of ooze.
The ship pulled up and Twilight saw the sea beneath them. The sea of purple ooze bubbled and popped. Grey rocky islands littered the area. Grey trees devoid of branches sat on a few of the islands along with a few black moving shapes. Upon examination Twilight could see the vague shapes of animals, deer, and even a few changelings shambling on the islands.
Twilight swallowed. “So this is like the stuff in the Everfree Forest.”
Queen Chrysalis was by her side and staring down at the islands the passed over as well. “This is the Pony of Shadow’s doing. He corrupts and drains the life of anything he touches. Even the animals here are consumed and then transformed by his fell magic.”
Twilight looked ahead. The giant tendril was still whipping about in the air. They were heading straight for it. To her right she could make out what had once been a waterfall, now instead of water pouring over its cliffs, it was the same purple ooze.
Twilight stood up and teleported back to Wind Rider. “I know where we are.”
Wind Rider smiled. “Glad someone does, this place has been completely transformed from when I saw it last. Kinda like a certain rainbow colored mare I know.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “To our right we have Hatchway Falls, so that means if we head left we can find-“
Wind Rider gave out a whistle as he looked left. “Now that is one hole I do not want to stick myself in.”
Twilight teleported once more to the side of the ship and stared out. As the ship began turning towards it she could only marvel. The land was surrounded by high cliffs of grey stone, but then leveled out into a flat sea of purple ooze. In the center of that ooze was a massive, circular pit of impossible size and stature. That was it. That was where the darkness was coming from she was sure of it.
The ship was aimed toward the pit and steadily heading toward it. The tendril they’d avoided from before was gone now. Having sunk back into the sea. Twilight shivered at the thought of where it might have went, or what it was attached to.
Several of the tendrils spouted out of the pit and coiled into the sky. Each one undulating with rhythmic sync to the other. Sunset moved, for the first time since they left she actually moved. She stood up and flapped her wings once to carry herself into the air. She looked down at Twilight, “You’re in charge while I’m gone.”
Twilight blinked. “Wait… what?” She shook her head. “You said I didn’t have to be in charge of anything, that all I had to do was follow orders!”
Sunset smirked. “That’s an order.”
She flew off toward the tendrils. The three tendrils seemed to sense her approach and each grew a large glob of purple ooze at their tip. Each one flung its load one after the other at Sunset. Sunset didn’t so much as blink as her horn flashed out with golden orange lasers. Each laser that hit home into an ooze ball imploded it sending the ooze scattering out into the opposite direction.
Sunset was flying faster now, so fast that she was in between the three tendrils in a heartbeat. Her wings stuck out and her entire body sent out a shockwave of golden energy that disintegrated everything it touched. A horrible roar of pain rang out from beneath them with such force it shook the ship itself.
Out from the pit shot a massive mountain of purple ooze. A large opening in its top swallowed Sunset whole. It continued to rise far above the ship and then leveled out as it turned to face the ship. The top of the mountain bent over toward them and Twilight could see it clearly now. It was a massive mouth with dripping ooze saliva and two massive gooey eyes glaring at the ship.
It spoke, or sang rather. “I’ve been so hungry. You wouldn’t imagine. When your empty, it’s all one can manage.”
Discord’s voice came out almost sounding disappointed. “Oh, great, it’s the Smooze.”
Twilight blinked. “Like the one you brought to the Gala that one time?”
Discord laughed. “No, Twilight. Like the one from the legends, created by a trio of evil witches to destroy all of the harmony in Equestria. Basically it’s the biggest threat you’ve face so far… um don’t let it touch you, it’s not pretty.”
The Smooze continued its singing. “Oh you better believe it, you can’t unsee it, there’s not time to snooze, when your covered in ooze, because I’m here baby, the big bad Smooze!”
Discord continued. “OH, and it sings.”
Twilight blinked. “Um… so touching is bad, what happens if you’re eaten?”
Discord’s scarf tassels shrugged. “Beats me, never saw that happen before.”
The Smooze’s mountainous shape expanded like a bubble. The Smooze grew tendrils to rub at it like it was an upset stomach. “Oooo, aaahh, maybe some indigestion, in this nation, might be bad, and I’m a little mad.”
The upset bubble started to boil and golden light pierced its way out of the Smooze’s stomach. Sunset’s voice rang out. “STOP SINGING!”
The mountain exploded after that. Huge globs of purple ooze flung out in every direction. Some of them heading straight for the ship. Chrysalis’s horn lit up and the ooze slammed into a green bubble shield that formed around the ship. Chrysalis snorted. “I refuse to get any of that slime in my mane.”
Twilight smiled. “Classic Rari-“ She felt her stomach drop. “Uh… Chrysalis.”
Discord replied. “Watch yourself now, you may start to become endeared to Chrysy. Trust me, that never ends well.”
Twilight shook her head. “Anyway, now that it’s dead let’s investigate that hole.”
Wind Rider coughed. “That is the one thing I am proud to say I have never done.”
Twilight growled. “Shut up and fly us to Sunset.”
The ship picked up a bit of speed. It took only another couple of minutes before they were situated over the massive hole and Sunset was back on board. She gathered everyone near the steering wheel and began. “With the defender of this place gone, we can now go in and end this threat once and for all. The only two of us who are immune to the ooze are me and Chrysalis, me with the impossible levels of magic I’ve obtained and Chrysy since she was born of the stuff. Discord could have fit too, but it seems he’s less reliable now.”
Twilight nodded. “Discord, can’t you transform into something a little more useful to go with them? A cat, or a dog?”
Discord laughed. “Oh how low you must view me to think I’d become such loathsome creatures. No, I’m quite content here in my fashion state. I assume Rarity would very much approve.”
Sunset rose into the air, her body positively glowing with the magical might inside her. This was it. They were going to end this threat once and for all. Hopefully long before the Pony of Shadows reached his true power of destruction. A shadow loamed across the deck and a cold chill filled the air. Droplets of purple ooze landed on the deck and Twilight looked to the side just in time to see the Smooze up and out of the sea once more. A wicked grin spread across his face and his fist pulled back.
With lightning speed his fist lashed out and slammed into the side of the ship. A green light covered everypony and everything on the ship as it went flying sideways toward one of the mountains. Twilight blinked and then she saw the mountain collide into the ship and her world exploded into agony.
***
“Twilight!” a voice cried from far away.
“Twilight!” the voice cried again, closer this time.
“Twilight!” It called once more. A female with a beautiful soothing tone. Twilight didn’t think anypony should ever make such a voice be stressed out enough to cry like that.
“TWILIGHT!” Luna’s voice screamed into Twilight’s ear.
Twilight opened up her eyes. “L-Luna?”
She was somewhere pitch black, no light, no warmth. Just darkness around her. “Luna, I think I’m hurt.” She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she was sure it was true.
Luna’s voice came in gentle and determined. “We are already on our way. Survive until I get there. I don’t care who you throw under you, you will live.”
Twilight laughed. “I would never do that.” She shook her head and felt pain explode in her neck. “I… I’ll never let anyone down again.”
Luna’s voice cracked. “I… I know. I love that about you, but please survive. We’ll be there soon. Also… wake up.”
***
Twilight opened her eyes and felt the cold rocky surface beneath her. She could see flat grey rock on one side, and open purple sky on the other. In the distance she saw a golden firefly flying around a moving mountain of purple sludge. The sludge would reach out and then light would flash out from the firefly and destroy the mountain’s limb. Of course the mountain of sludge would just regrow it moments later.
It took a moment but Twilight found strength to move. She put weight on her left leg and pushed up. Pain shot through her entire body but it wasn’t as bad as it could be. She looked around and saw a green light glowing over her body. Crimson stains splattered the ground all around her. Once she pushed herself up the light disappeared.
Behind her she saw the ship wreck. It was tipped onto its side with most of its goods spilled out onto the flat plateau on this mountain. Nearby she saw Queen Chrysalis standing and looking away from her, there was a soft green glow to her horn that quickly vanished. Wind Rider had a broken nose and was lying against the side of the ship with Blackout and Cozy by his side.
Twilight checked her neck and found her scarf still there. How did they all survive? How had all of them safely landed on this mountain top? It was a statistically impossibility. With Sunset fighting the Smooze behind them they should have all died, or mostly died.
The sounds of hooves clopping against hard stone from behind her snapped her out of that thought process. She spun around, her body still hurt but was fully functional again. She saw it just in time as two deer, each covered in black goo and rotten flesh appeared. There antlers were sharpened into deadly blades. Twilight swallowed. “Out of the fire-“
Discord finished, “-Into the popcorn maker.”
Twilight glanced down. “That’s not how it… you know what, fine. Into the popcorn maker, why the heck not?”
Twilight’s horn lit up and her sword came into existence in front of her held strong in her red aura. She could feel the glowing energy in her left eye. If she needed it she would use it, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to blow the last of her alicorn magic onto some dark things. Behind her she heard more hooves clopping and saw in the reflection of her blade another pair of these corrupted deer had arrived behind her. Lucky for her Chrysy was facing them, unlucky for them the changeling queen was against them.
Chrysy spoke. “This does not make us ‘friends’.”
Twilight smirked. “Of course not, I still owe you for that scar you gave me when I was kid.”
Chrysy smiled. “Oh, you do hold grudges? I thought ponies were ‘above’ that sort of thing?”
Twilight beamed. “Not if it’s some giant bug that stung us.”
The two deer facing twilight charged and she returned the favor. They were fast, faster than the other undead she’d faced. Just as they hopped next to her they separated. Twilight spun her blade to the right and cut through the head of the deer there. The one on her left rammed its head sideways and Twilight ducked just as the sharpened horn grazed her back.
She slid to a stop once she was past them. The deer she’d cut fell to the ground, dead. The other one turned to face her. Chrysy had shot green bolts into the two on her side and their bodies were simply twitching, sizzling messes now. She was simply watching Twilight on her side, appraising Twilight’s skill with the blade.
The deer charged and Twilight charged again. The deer jumped up this time, going over her head. Twilight dropped into a slide and stabbed up. The blade met its gut and slid its way out behind it. The deer landed behind her and collapsed into a gooey pile.
Twilight rolled up to her hooves and spun around. No more targets stood to face her. Still she felt like this was only just the beginning. What was that dream of hers anyway? Luna… Luna was coming. She’d managed to reach out to her, so now she just had to do as Luna instructed, she had to survive.
Chrysalis backed up until her back was facing Twilight’s once more. “I can sense them… my children. They’re coming.”
Twilight struggled with what to say, but she settled on, “I’m sorry. I’ll help you put their souls to rest.”
Chrysalis snarled. “Only I should be allowed to do so, but if you’re going to offer to do my bidding, how can I pass this chance up?”
Twilight snickered. “Okay, Chrysalis Sempai.”
Chrysalis shouted. “Prepare yourselves, they come!”
The horde began climbing the mountain. Deer side by side with Changeling. Each one clawing their way up the edge to be the first one in to get to the shipwrecked survivors. In the background Twilight saw Sunset get smacked by the Smooze and go flying into the distance mountain. The Smooze moved slowly toward the mountain after it’s downed pray.
Behind her Wind Rider rose to his hooves and held a pistol in his mouth. It was one with a red gem on the side indicating its elemental power of fire. One of Applebloom’s designs. How he got his hooves on it she didn’t know. Cozy Glow and Blackout were huddling together pressed against the wall. They were both too young to be out here in the thick of it like this. Yet another mistake of hers to put into the history books, but that could wait, for now she had to fight.
Twilight screamed. “Take a triangle position and kill anything that dares to touch those fillies!”
Chrysy screamed back. “You don’t order me, I order you to take said triangle formation!”
Wind Rider marched out and grunted. “Not my first rodeo, filly.”
The horde was now upon them and it was up to Twilight to save the day. This time, this time she wasn’t going to fail.
Twilight hacked. She slashed. She stabbed. One by one she felled changeling and deer alike as they charged her. Duck under the blade, swipe at the legs, stab another as she rises, and crush the head of the one she felled with her back hooves. On and on she took them down. Her body ached, her muscles burned but her heart and her mind were one in duty and death.
Behind her Wind Rider was moving like a dancer. His wings covered in bladed tips lashed out like spears, lashing, stabbing and tearing at things near him. His gun fired actual fireballs into the nearest and furthest targets. He could move, duck, weave and flip over his enemies without ever having to fly using his wings instead as the most deadly appendages she’d ever seen.
Chrysy by far had it the easiest. A constant sweeping beam of green disintegration beam wiped her foes out before they even reached her. There was nothing that could stand against Chrysalis, something Twilight had learned herself long ago.
One of the ones by Twilight leapt over her. She reached out with her blade but the deer had jumped high enough to avoid it. It landed a good five feet behind her and charged straight for Blackout and Cozy.
A beam of green energy cut it short before it got there. Chrysalis shouted back. “Take of your lines minion or else face my wraith for failing my orders!”
Twilight was covered in goop, gore, and chunks of she didn’t want to know. Yet seeing that made her smile. With Chrysalis on their side they could handle this horde. In fact it was time for Twilight to get a little crazy herself. She began to dip into that pool of alicorn magic.
Discord’s voice cut out like a sharp knife. “NO! Save that for the real threat!”
Twilight normally would argue with him, but when he said real threat she was sure he had access to information she did not. In this one instance, it was better for her to listen, though it would make this battle longer and harder still. Yet if there was something worse on its way, she feared what it could be.
She cut more down. One by one. It seemed the majority of the horde was facing on the nearest targets. Only a few of the deer seemed keen on getting past there lines. Each one was failed as it tried. Yet there was one thing Twilight hadn’t noticed until she saw a fireball explode into a changeling’s face right next to hers. There line was being pushed back. Little by little there triangle was shrinking until they were close enough that the possibility of interfering with one another was real.
Chrysalis must have retreated in order to prevent being overrun by herself. She was shooting the occasional glare Twilight’s way. She must have known Twilight had more power stored behind but wasn’t using it. She knew that just using it now, just a little would be enough to push the tide. Give them a breather, maybe stop the horde completely.
Chrysalis cried out. “Get down you TWO!”
Her horn lit up and Twilight could feel it, she didn’t need the warning. She ducked down and so did Wind Rider. A wave of green energy flew from Chrysalis’s horn and rushed out into the horde. As it brushed over Twilight’s head she saw a few stray hairs turn to ash. As the light washed over the horde the changelings and deer fell into ash and vanished. The wave rushed out over the edges of the plateau and for a moment things were quiet.
Twilight looked around. Everything up here that wasn’t part of their crew was gone. For the moment it really was just them. Twilight looked at Chrysalis but she turned her head and scoffed.
Twilight laid there for a moment. Her face was covered in sweat which mixed with the black gore soiling her face and came down in smears that were certain to stain her fur. Wind Rider looked only mildly better than she did. Chrysy was pretty much clean of any gore, though even she seemed to have sweat running down her face and was out of breathe. Maybe her magic was not quite as infinite as Twilight had believed.
Twilight looked back at the two sitting against the ship wreck. “You two okay?”
Cozy nodded. Blackout was shaking, her pupils were tiny. She wasn’t Rainbow Dash, she was just a normal filly who’d acted tough to try and look good to her mom but was just a scared kid inside. For crying out loud running away from home like this was the worst thing she’d ever done. Even Amber held up better against such odds…
Twilight stood up. “Wind Rider, this mission is failed. Can you fix the ship?”
Wind Rider stood up. “While you were out I did look at it. It’ll fly… for about two minutes.”
Twilight looked at him. “And then?”
“Then it will explode.”
Twilight blinked some sweat and blood out of her eyes. She wiped a leg at her face and stamped her hoof. “Damn it! I can’t let Rainbow’s kid get hurt.”
Wind Rider nodded. “I agree.”
Chrysalis growled. “I don’t think we’re getting out of her either way.”
Twilight followed Chrysalis’s glare and saw the Smooze punching the mountain that Sunset had crashed into. Chunks of the mountain were sailing off and landing into the sea creating huge splashes below. The top of the mountain was virtually gone at this point. Where was Sunset? Why wasn’t she fighting anymore? Did she actually lose all of the magic she’d built up?
A flash of brilliant gold light lit up and Twilight watched as the purple ooze that formed the Smooze began to turn grey and solidify. The grey raced up its arms and covered it’s head and body in mere seconds. It continued going until it reached the sea below and continued to stretch on for hundreds of feet away from the Smooze’s now frozen form. A golden flicker of light flashed from the mountain top and then reappeared on the mountain in front of Twilight.
Sunset was there. Her face was a crimson soaked and swollen mess. Parts of her fur were covered in the purple ooze. The glow that had covered her earlier had dimmed considerably. She spat something crimson and white onto the ground… a tooth. “Chrysalis, I need you. We’re ending this now.”
Chrysalis stared at her in silence for a long moment. Finally at length she said, “No.”
Sunset blinked her non swollen eye. “What?”
Chrysalis scoffed. “I have avenged my children. I am done here.”
Twilight looked at Chrysalis. “Then what… what are you going to do?”
Chrysalis smiled. “Should be easy. Even without a ship I assume all of us can fly. Because I find the idea of owing any of you a favor for saving me, I will repay it immediately by helping the rest of you fly out of here and somewhere considerably less purple.”
Twilight looked down at the ground. She tried to force herself to not smile. “Thank you, Chrysalis.”
“You have been an excellent minion so far, Twilight.” Chrysalis admitted. “Now continue to do your Queen’s work and help us move this sorry mess of an alicorn with us.”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah.” She looked at Sunset. “Okay, time to go.”
Sunset growled. “No.”
Twilight shook her head. “We’re done here. We tried, we failed. We need to leave and come back later.”
Sunset shouted. “I have never failed! You, you have failed, over and over and over again! But I have never once failed in my duty to rid this world of its evil!”
Twilight took a step back. “But… Starlight, your losing magic.”
“I have enough.”
Wind Rider spoke up. “Listen, kid, you don’t have enough strength to finish this. We need to go back, let Celestia know what we learned and come back with a stronger force, maybe a fleet.”
Sunset roared. “NO!” Black lines spread out from her legs up towards her body. The purple goo that was on her began to sink into her flesh. “I will end this now, or never! If you don’t help me so help Celestia’s left buttcheek I will make you!”
Twilight stared at the lines running Sunset’s legs. “Discord… what happens when you get the goo on you?”
Discord cleared his nonexistent throat. “You um… you change.”
Sunset roared. “FINE, Screw all of you! I’ll do this myself!” Her wings flapped once and she rocketed into the sky.
Chrysalis shot up after her. “I am you’re queen and I demand you come with us right now, Sunset!”
A beam of gold energy shot out and hit Chrysalis. The beam went right through her left foreleg and wing. Chrysalis screamed as she came tumbling back toward the mountain top. Twilight’s horn lit up and her sword dropped to the ground. She caught Chrysalis in her aura and gently laid her down. “Oh Celestia, oh no.”
Twilight ran to Chrysalis’s side. “You can fly can’t you? Can you heal?”
Chrysalis stared at her with a hate filled eye. “Do I look like I can fly?”
“Heal?”
Chrysalis’s horn flickered to life and lasted for only a moment before dying. “There may be more reason I declared it was time for us to leave. Even though I’m clearly strong enough to handle this-” she flapped her wounded wing, “-I would rather be at full str-“ her face screwed up and she cried out as her wing went completely limp.
Twilight looked at it. The hole was the size of her hoof. If her leg was in the same state then she wasn’t walking or flying anywhere. Twilight couldn’t lift them all back. Wind Rider and the other two couldn’t hold Twilight and Chrysalis as they flew back. Twilight was going to be hard enough to carry, but a giant like Chrysalis would take three or more ponies alone.
In the sky Twilight saw Sunset floating far above the hole. Her entire body was glowing and a ball of golden flames had formed around her. What was she planning? She was mad with whatever corruption was taking root in her, so whatever she was doing it was going to be bad for everypony.
Discord piped up. “Twilight, your magic.”
Twilight blinked. “Oh my goddess, you’re right! You’re always right!”
“Thank you.”
Twilight looked up at Sunset and then down at Chrysalis. “I… I only have enough magic for one miracle spell… what… Discord what do I do?”
Off in the distance the giant Smooze mountain started to crack. Purple ooze leaked from the cracks like fell tainted blood. His arm shattered and his fingers began flexing spraying purple goo all over the mountain’s top. Twilight found herself shaking.
“D-Discord, he’s back.”
“Twilight, you can’t kill the Smooze.”
If Twilight saved Chrysy she might be able to get the four of them out of there, but that would leave Sunset behind to die. Sunset had kids, she was a mommy! Meanwhile if she saved Sunset, she was in horrible shape and there was no telling if any amount of alicorn magic could actually save someone from that kind of corruption, only Val was here. If she teleported everypony as far away as possible she could still only teleport ponies touching her. And turning the Smooze to stone again wouldn’t stop him for long…
Wind Rider walked up to Twilight. “It sounds like you only have magic enough for one spell.”
Twilight nodded.
He smiled. “Well good news is that we can work around that. Listen, I don’t know what Sunset is going to do, but it won’t work. I can tell you that much. That Smooze thing will be back up and running in a matter of minutes and you need to either move everypony or heal them.”
Twilight nodded. “I was never good at healing magic as a unicorn. It has to be my alicorn magic to heal.”
Wind Rider flexed his wings. “Good thing I can still fly, right?” He glanced at the ship and flexed his wings again.
Twilight sat down. “Explosion?”
Wind Rider nodded. “I’ll fly the ship into the Smooze. Fly back here on my own, and after Sunset completes her useless spell she’ll come back right? Then you can teleport us all away.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, yes I can do that!”
Wind Rider walked toward the ship. “Hey, Twilight, keep her safe.”
Twilight nodded. “No undead will touch her while I’m here.”
As Wind Rider walked past Blackout he paused. “Hey, Blackout.”
Blackout was shaking uncontrollably as she looked up at him. He smiled down at her and took off his white scarf. He wrapped it around Blackout’s neck and said, “I’m letting you borrow this kid. It’ll keep you safe until I come back.”
Blackout pawed at the scarf. “D-d-dad, I… I love-“
He interrupted her. “Love you too, kid. Now do me and your mom proud and go sit by Twilight okay?”
Blackout tried to stand up but her legs shook too much to walk on her own. It took Cozy Glow’s help to get Blackout over to Twilight’s side. The four of them watched as Wind Rider flew onto the side of his ship, pressed a few switches and the ship gently drifted upwards. It was making a horrible grinding sound as it spun around flying sideways and began heading toward the Smooze. Part of the Smooze’s back was cracked and open at this point. He was right, they only had a few minutes.
The sun began to glare down at them and Twilight had to look away it was getting too bright. For a moment she didn’t look up, but then she realized that the sun was actually closer to the horizon and the blinding light was coming from above them. She glanced up and using a hoof to help block out the light she saw where Sunset had been it was now replaced by a miniature sun, roughly the size of a cruise ship.
Twilight gasped. “What, what is she doing?”
Chrysalis spoke in a shaky tone. “Her plan, I’m just not there to join her.”
“Her plan?”
Chrysalis coughed. “There is only one way to end a world ending threat, Twilight. The price you pay for it will always be the highest.”
Twilight blinked. “What, what are you talking about?”
Chrysalis spoke gently. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”
“No! She hasn’t told me anything about her plan!”
Chrysalis coughed again. “Not the plan. About her family?”
Twilight stood up. “What… what are you saying?”
Chrysalis met Twilight’s eyes. “If you had your family, your kids, and everything you love taken away from you, what would you do to avenge them?”
Twilight blinked. Her eyes were stinging and it was becoming hard to see. She wiped at her eyes and looked up again. “No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No! NO!”
Twilight tried to flap her wings and jumped into the air. She landed on her hooves and realized she didn’t have wings to flap. She was just a useless unicorn again. “Discord, Discord do something! Please, I need your help.”
Discord’s voice came out gentle, soft, and sad. “I… Twilight, I’m virtually powerless. If you want I can make you a cup of tea. I’ll be the cup, but I can make it. Anything more… I can’t do that anymore.”
“Then of what use are you to me!” Twilight screamed
Discord replied. “Clearly not enough.”
Cozy Glow reached up and stroked Twilight’s leg. “Let this go, Twilight. We’ll take Wind Rider and leave.”
Twilight looked up. “I can fly. I can make wings. Butterfly wings, that melt in the heat of the sun but I can make them!”
Discord cried out. “Are you daft! Sunset is literally living up to her name, your wings will melt before you can even take off!”
Twilight closed her eyes and stomped a hoof. “Then what do you suggest?”
“I don’t know anymore! I didn’t plan for this!”
Twilight looked ahead and saw the airship collide into the purple back of the Smooze. The ship sunk into its back slowly, but she could see him. Like a little fly Wind Rider was flying away. He was safe!
A purple tendril lashed out from The Smooze and wrapped around Wind Rider’s waist. Twilight’s eyes widened. Blackout stood up and screamed, “DADDY!”
Twilight knew it. If it had been a leg, or his tail, Wind Rider could have cut it off and flew away without being corrupted. The tendril had wrapped around his waist. Even if he broke away he wasn’t going to get away clean. He also wasn’t going to be strong enough to break away on his own, he wasn’t some madly powered alicorn, the corruption was likely already taking hold of him.
The ship exploded into a blast of furious flame and shrapnel. The explosion quickly enveloped Wind Rider and continued to grow. Whatever was inside that ship seemed to be so strong it actually cut the mountainous form of The Smooze in half. The top half of the Smooze fell into the purple sea and sunk. The other half crumbled and sunk beneath it. Blackout was still screaming but the words were lost on Twilight.
She looked up. The sun had grown into a blinding white ball. Sunset’s form descended toward the hole and it was in that moment Twilight knew what was going to happen. She searched inside herself and grabbed hold of the power inside her left eye. With a toss of her head she threw the eye patch off and it flew away in the wind. Her eye cast a golden light around them. She wrapped her legs around Cozy and Blackout and jumped back to land on top of Chrysalis’s good wing. She checked and made sure that Discord was as tightly wrapped around her neck as possible and then wrapped what was left her legs around Chrysalis’s waist, good thing she was so thin.
The miniature sun was still sinking toward the hole. It was almost reaching it now. Twilight needed to make sure that no matter what she saved everyone here. Just to make absolutely sure that she didn’t leave anypony behind, she bit down into Chrysalis’s wing as hard as she could. Chrysalis yelped but gave no other response.
Twilight felt her eye burning, her body screaming in pain as she channeled the full power of an alicorn through her mortal body. Her muscles were in agony her soul was on fire and her mouth was filled with a copper taste. It kept building up, the magic kept filling her and she let it grow until she felt her mind slipping. Then she let the magic all go into the world in a single spectacular spell.
The world was washed out in a ball of heat and flame and Twilight teleported herself and her group as far as she possibly could. There was only one place she could think of where any sort of safety would be; The Royal Guard Watchtower.
***
The world formed itself again around Twilight and her group. They all were dropped onto the top level of the old tower. Dust covered everything and was kicked up as there explosive presence landed. In the distance Twilight could see the purple sea but more importantly she saw the ball of glowing light. It was massive. It was larger than any of the mountains and it was growing larger still.
A force of kinetic energy blasted out along with a gust of wind so strong it threatened to push Twilight back and cut at her face. The ball of light just kept growing and growing. It was so large that the mountainous size of the Smooze itself was only a mere fly compared to it now. It seemed like it would continue growing and never stop at this point.
Yet it did. It reached a certain size and stayed there. Larger still than any mountain or city that Twilight had ever seen. It reached that point and stayed there. She half expected it to shrink but it just remained… it was too bright to keep watching but they waited. Seconds became minutes, and still it remained its same size and did not shrink.
Twilight finally gave up on expecting that miniature sun to go away anytime soon. She instead looked to her friends. Cozy was sitting there, holding Blackout in her legs. Chrysalis was actually unconscious. Her wounds had started to bleed a little. Twilight didn’t have any alicorn magic left in her but she easily found some old flag of Equestria and tore it in half to make bandages for Chrysalis’s wounds.
The old Royal Guard Watchtower had been abandoned many years ago, but at least here, at least for now they were safe. Once she made sure that nopony else was going to… to leave, she would take a nap and contact Luna. For now, she was going to make sure what was left of her group, her friends, were all okay.
Twilight opened the hatch to go to the lower level and found herself surprised by a store room of old canned foods and gallons of purified water. They would be okay here for as long as they needed to. While she was searching for an actual medical kit she heard Discord.
“I… I’m sorry,” Discord said, his voice somber.
Twilight looked under a cupboard and actually found one. Unopened and locked with the most simple of locks. “You saved us.”
Discord’s voice cracked. “Not, everyone.”
Twilight opened the medical kit and saw everything was still there. Including the pain killers that Chrysalis was going to need when she woke up. “If you didn’t stop me from wasting the last of my alicorn magic sooner we’d all be gone.”
“But… I’m the god of chaos, I should be able to do whatever I want.” Discord’s voice wavered. “And I wanted everyone saved.”
Twilight closed her eyes. For a moment she allowed them to stay shut. She could feel the tears streaming down her face. “Even you can’t save everyone, Discord. But you saved us, you’re a hero.”
Discord’s voice grew quiet and the last words he spoke for the rest of the day were, “Then why don’t I feel like one?”
Twilight couldn’t answer that. She didn’t feel like a hero either. Still, she had ponies to look after and as Sunset had ordered, she was the leader and she was going to take care of them until Luna showed up. After that… After that she would need to think of what next. For now, make sure no one else left her, after that they could mourn.
“Make a list, Twilight,” Twilight told herself. “Stay organized. Save ponies. You can do this. You got this.”
Twilight went back up the stairs to the top level and with needle and thread got to work on repairing Chrysalis before moving her to somewhere less exposed to the elements. Twilight could do this. She had to do this. After all, there was nopony else there to do this… She was ready to take charge and save the world again, after all following somepony else failed horribly.
Twilight was going to save the world once again, she had to.
Twilight stared out the top of the watchtower. The miniature sun that Sunset had created with her sacrifice was still there, strong, bright, and as present as ever. The purple sludge around it had burned into black obsidian, and the purple sea itself was retracting every day, growing smaller if only by a few feet. Of course going near it was still a death sentence as the undead monsters seemed to live inside and around the sludge.
Twilight closed her eyes and went back down the stairs into the Royal Guard Tower. Some cleaning had been done, the dust had been swept away and the top two or three levels were more or less habitable. The store room had been searched for food, water, and medical supplies, more than enough to last them for months, maybe even years. Not much in the way of weapons though.
The next floor down was the dorm where the beds lay. Queen Chrysalis was far too large to lay in only one so they’d shoved two of the cots together to make a bed for her. Her leg and wing were still bandaged and healing up but the healing was slow. Sunset had caused some real damage to her, not life threatening, but costly in time.
Blackout was lying on another cot and reading one of the books they’d found littered here. Much to Twilight’s Surprise it was the Daring Doo anthology. Guess some guard really liked them, well now Blackout could too. As for Cozy she was another floor down.
One more floor down and Twilight was in a kitchen/dining area. Cozy was organizing some of the supplies. She’d already had three piles going, and was sorting those into even more piles. It had only been a couple of days, Luna had sworn she would be on her way, but how much longer before they could expect rescue was beyond Twilight.
Cozy’s voice rang out to Twilight as Twilight was just about to go down yet another floor. “Twilight, you okay?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine…” She was lying. She was not fine, no one here was fine. Blackout was crying herself to sleep at night and crying out for her mom to save her. Chrysalis was sleeping most of the time. Twilight was out of alicorn magic and even though she was happy to have two eyes again, she felt powerless to stop anything should it come knocking on their door.
Finally there was Discord who was still stuck being her scarf and virtually powerless himself. It was just the five of them, five misfit ponies and monsters trying to survive long enough to get rescued by the real heroes. Yet Twilight was confident that she would succeed at this one single task. She just had to hold out… even she could do that.
She had to.
***
Amber walked alongside Fluttershy, Maud, Valiant Heart and her two cousins. It was decided to go back to town to pick up a few things and haul them back to the castle. If they were going to be staying until this whole mess was over then they’d really need to prepare. Sure, Twilight’s efforts had created a safe and sustainable safe haven at the Castle of the Two Sisters, but there were personal artifacts as well as modern pleasures that were missing from the castle. This was decidedly one of the last trips they might get to come back to Ponyville for awhile, so they were making this one count.
There was a path through the woods back to Ponyville and much to Amber’s surprise much of the darkness was not found on it. Almost as if the forest had created this path especially for safe travel. Perhaps the tree of harmony had kept this path safe for them?
Sophie spoke in a bright cheerful tone. “I’m getting the rest of my stuffed friends. I only brought Miss Daisy Bunbun, I need her sister Cutie, and there other furry friends if we’re all going to be living in a castle, otherwise they’ll be lonely.”
Amber rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they’ve been fine.”
“What if the monsters get them though?”
Amber let out a sigh. “Monster’s don’t want your stuffed animals.”
Sophie huffed. “Well then there dumb, cus I want them so they must be special.”
Hushpuppy chimed in. “Well someone is ‘special’.”
Fluttershy snapped. “Hushpuppy, that’s not polite. Say sorry to your sister.”
Hushpuppy grumbled. “Fine. I’m sorry you’re so special, Sophie.”
Fluttershy snapped again. “Hushpuppy, you need to be nice.”
Sophie smiled. “He is being nice. He thinks I’m special. Or… is it not nice to compliment me?”
Pinkie Pie added. “Of course it’s nice. It’s Hushy’s tone that’s not friendly.”
Sophie’s eyes widened. “Ooooohhh, okay. But… he’s kinda always grumpy. I don’t think he can help it.”
Hushpuppy grumbled. “I’ll stop being grumpy when the world stops ending.”
Amber let out a sigh herself. “Geeze, did you have to deal with this when you were our age?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, but it was usually just AJ and Rainbow arguing who was the best.”
Pinkie giggled. “Well they were both wrong, because obviously you are the best.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Pinkie… You’re the best too.”
It was nice seeing them be happy for a moment. In fact it was almost like all the darkness from the past several days were finally going away. Maybe things were looking up. Some happiness could only be asked for during times like this after all. Also it could be noted that the new scarf Fluttershy was wearing was quite fetching. It was pink and had several yellow and blue balloons on it. Pinkie seemed pleased by it as well.
They finally exited the woods and found themselves back in the large open space of rolling green hills, flowers, and in the distant the town of Ponyville. To their right they could see Fluttershy’s cottage. Spike, Rarity, their daughter Jade and five young colts and fillies were all waiting in front of Fluttershy’s house. Rarity was knocking on the door with extreme prejudice.
Fluttershy flapped her wings and flew over to her house. Amber used a teleport spell to join her there. Once there Amber heard Rarity complaining, “If that mare doesn’t open this door this instant I’m going to freak out!”
Fluttershy’s voice came in gentle. “I-I could open the door, but I’d have to g-go back inside first.”
Rarity spun around to face Fluttershy. “You! Where have you been? Rainbow Dash dumped her kids on me and expected me to take care of five pegasus kids! How am I supposed to do that, and keep my business running at the same time?”
Fluttershy replied, “Um… maybe take a break from work?”
Rarity growled. “I did that and guess what, ponies aren’t buying dresses now. So unless I figure out how to fix that, my shops in Manehatten and Talltale are going to close.”
Rarity threw her hooves in the air. “War, sickness, paranoia, take you pick! All I know is that I need to fix this otherwise the Rarity Boutique Empire will fall!”
Spike added. “She’s really stressed out about this, she’s had to lay off some of her staff this month alone.”
Rarity glared at him. “We don’t speak of that! They are not fired, they are on… unpaid vacation until we get this business back on track.”
Amber wasn’t sure exactly what was going on with Rarity’s business, but if she had to fire ponies… honestly Amber couldn’t imagine Rarity ever firing somepony, no matter how bad they were at their job. So if things were bad enough for that, they were really bad. Now it was time for Amber to start worrying, this war hadn’t even started, not really but with two villages gone off the map, countless dead, and some scary stuff happening in the Everfree Forest… she couldn’t blame ponies for not spending money on attire.
Rainbow’s kids were having a blast though. She realized half of them were chasing each other around like crazy, the other half were chasing random animals around. Yep, Rainbow’s kids. Unruly and crazy just like their mom. How had Rarity been watching them all this time.
Rarity spoke again. “Fluttershy, darling, please take care of them, as well as Jade for just a few days until I get a battle plan for this. I can’t afford to lose my business.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I agree you need to work on your business. I can’t promise I can take care of them that long though… um, what about Applejack?”
Spike answered. “She was our second plan. You just seem better with kids.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Oh my, I… thank you. I’m glad you think so. But… why do you have Rainbow’s kids for a few days? Where is she?”
Rarity threw her head back. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”
“W-what?”
Rarity clarified. “Twilight Sparkle is still making our lives a living tartarus. She along with Wind Rider took off with Blackout. Now Rainbow has to go and find them and get her kid back. Honestly, what is wrong with that mare?”
Spike interrupted. “Now hold on, we don’t know if Twilight had anything to do with that.”
Rarity took in a deep breath and exhaled. “You’re right, Spikey Wikey. I’m sorry. We do know that Wind Rider did, but Twilight might not be involved… maybe.”
Fluttershy lowered her eyes a bit. “Unless she thought it would be in our best interest.”
Rarity nodded. “Exactly my thoughts.”
Amber didn’t want to think about Twilight. She’d messed up too much already but… still she wanted to see her again. To know with her own two eyes that she was okay. After all was said and done, Twilight was there for most of her life. Now she was the villain everypony hated, she was the cause for Amber to get strong and protect her family, she was the one who caused endless amounts of pain and hurt… but Amber just wanted Twilight to be okay.
Rarity must have picked up on Amber’s feelings because her next words were, “I’m sure that Twilight didn’t plan this… um, maybe she was foalnapped like Blackout was?”
Amber stuck her head up, she could feel magic going into her horn. “What?”
Rarity stammered. “Um, well uh, what I mean is, um… Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy spoke calmly. “Twilight’s fine, Amber. She isn’t in any danger. I also don’t think Blackout was foalnapped. She probably ran away against her mother’s wishes, much like a young unicorn I know.”
Amber felt her heart beat slow down and the magic start to leave her horn. “R-right… actually that makes sense. Still…”
Fluttershy spoke. “Rarity, we are on a time table here, so unfortunately I can’t babysit right now. Go to Applejack, I’m sure she’ll help out, she’s good with kids too, I mean she has a farm.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Yes, you’re right. A farm, and a farm means they have space to fly and play and be out of my mane for five seconds!” She looked at Spike and then Jade. “Spike, Jade, grab a kid or two, we’re going to Applejacks.”
***
Trixie found herself yet again sitting in a room at a table with Celestia at the opposite end, Luna in the middle, and much to her surprise, Rainbow Dash on the other side of Luna. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were bloodshot, her forelegs crossed over her chest, and her breathing was a bit shallow.
Luna was speaking, “So there you have it. Sunset may have dealt a serious blow to the enemy, but we now have a rescue mission on our hooves.”
Rainbow Dash growled. “Why don’t you just teleport us there and get this done with. My kid is behind enemy lines for crying out loud!”
Luna spoke again. “Because, as I’ve mentioned a dozen times, we don’t have a safe LZ yet. If I teleport me, or a group into Southern Equestria now, we’d likely end up in an ambush before we know it, or worse yet, inside that toxic Smooze. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we’re trying to save your daughter, not kill her only living parent.”
Rainbow Dash growled. “Whatever, just make the plan and let’s do this already or I’m flying there myself.”
“Flying there yourself and what? Going to make every living and unliving thing there know where Twilight’s group is hiding? And what, carry them all back one by one?”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “Who said I’m carrying anyone else back? Just Blackout.”
Luna swallowed. “The worst part is that something is interfering with my ability to contact Twilight’s team. I’ve made contact for only brief moments with Twilight, and she gave me all the information she could but I haven’t been able to contact her again since.”
Trixie rose on her hind legs and placed her forelegs on the table. “This isn’t even the worst news.” Trixie’s horn lit up and a map of Equestria grew out of the table. Dark spots were placed in a few different cities across Equestria. “These dots represent places where the Shadow Sickness has appeared. Now we’ve done our best to keep the sickness down and secret, but we don’t know how contagious it is yet, if it spread quickly, it could devour Equestria in months, maybe weeks.”
Celestia nodded. “The Solar Knights have done a fantastic job in rounding up and capturing those infected before they can cause too much chaos. Yet there are only so many of them that can do this job, and the cases are spreading faster than they can move.”
Trixie nodded. “So we have the external threat from Southern Equestria, a horde of undead monsters just waiting to attack our borders. We have a disease inside our boarders causing more undead. And we have two missing corrupted alicorns who are goddess knows where, doing goddess knows what. We have our plates full.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So, what are you saying?”
Trixie sat down and looked at the map she’d created. “That we’re about to be hit hard, harder than anything we’ve ever faced and we will need powerful allies to get through this.”
Trixie glanced at the door behind them and said, “You can enter now.”
A tall alicorn wearing a crimson cloak walked in. Her yellow wings and horn were almost all that could be seen aside from the long red main trailing to the floor from underneath the hood. She walked up to Trixie’s side and withdrew her hood. Rainbow Dash gasped, Celestia narrowed her eyes, and Luna curled her hooves.
Red Velvet smiled revealing several fangs. “As is our natural born duty, The Alicorn Empire is here to save the day.”
Fang felt his muscles burning as he pulled the pickaxe over his head. His arm swung forward and struck deep into the crystalline wall with enough force to dislodge a rather hefty size of pink crystal onto the ground. How long had this shift been without a break, six, seven hours? The fur of his brow was covered in sweat and he used his arm to wipe it off. Dirt mixed with sweat on his arm to create a streaking mess.
Once upon a time six hour mining shifts were just fine, in fact they were enjoyable. Him and the rest of the pack would dig and dig all day, it was the most enjoyable time of his life. Sure some of his kin were lazy but the rest like him were proud of the work they did, the tunnels they’d carved the structures they’d built.
The Diamond Dog Empire was once a proud place to be a part of. Once upon a time, when dogs were strong and led by their alphas, back before laziness took hold like a disease, and long before ponies interfered with their lives. The stump of a left arm he had was all the proof he needed that ponies had no right of interfering with dog lives.
He could smell it before he heard it. The crackle of magic from down the chain. Many dogs, ponies, donkeys and even a few things he wasn’t familiar with were working on the mines. A stallion in golden armor was walking his way with a glare from under that helmet that promised only trouble. Not wishing for another scar he lifted his pick axe again and struck the wall.
The stallion’s horn crackled with electricity and he heard a scream that curdled his blood. He kept working on the wall in front of him but glanced sideways. Some stallion with green fur and a blood red mane lay on the ground screaming. The guard spoke with authority and disgust, “Applecore, you filthy criminal sack of rotten apples. Get up and do your one job.”
The green pony pushed himself up, picked up an pick axe in his mouth and began to work again. The blood around the ponies mouth could either be from working too much or from the beating, Fang couldn’t tell. He just kept working in silence.
The guard seemed to not be done just yet as he shouted. “You’re in here for life, and why, because you and your little gang raped how many ponies? Male, female, adult, child? The crimes of that little gang you were part of will forever mark you as a piece of trash worthy only of burning in a fire. You’ll be here till you die, you know that right.”
Applecore stopped, glanced at the guard and did something that Fang was surprised by. He talked back. “The Blackhearts were the only family most of us knew, and they took better care of us than any ‘guard’ could. You’re the ones who failed us.”
The guard smirked. “I didn’t give you permission to speak, filth.” His horn lit up and Fang looked away as the screaming began anew. Applecore had been here for who knows how long, and despite constant beatings, torture, and harassment he’d survived.
It made Fang think back to how he’d gotten stuck here himself. He was part a small tribe diamond dogs down south. Some members of his gang had kidnapped some whining mare that wouldn’t shut up. Of course a few members like him saw no need to capture her, she could sense gems sure, but it was the dog’s duty to dig, what is a dog who does not dig? Their antics were fun at first but grew old quick. It was when the mare’s friends came bursting in on them that the real trouble began.
Fang was among the first to fight back against the intruders, and he had found some purple unicorn that was unawares. Or so he thought when he had raised his claws against her. Something in her eyes threw him off guard. Some kind of deep seated hatred, as if she was looking at the most evil and dangerous thing she’d ever seen, but there was no fear in those purple eyes. Only pure hatred and disgust. The mare took his arm, and then later came back with a force of guards to take as many of the dogs into prison as she could. He could hardly fight with one arm, let alone dig.
Once he was caught he found himself in this mine. Somewhere deep under the earth and working until he died. Most here at least had some kind of court meeting, a judgment laid upon them by a judge and jury. He was one of the few that simply awoke here, with judgment already passed and his execution only delayed by how long he could mine.
However, he was a dog, mining was his life, and if that would be his end, then so be it. He would die like a dog, proud, hard working, and gathering as many gems and crystals as the ponies wanted. It was of little surprise now that imprisonment offered him more honor than his own tribe had.
The guard stopped behind him and stamped a hoof. He stopped and glanced back at the guard. The guard glared up at him. “Fang, you’re lucky, you get to have a break. We’re moving you to the new tunnel to assist. Good luck lighting dynamite with one limb, mutt.”
Fang nodded. A break sounded nice. But dynamite was a challenge. He’d survive, or die, he didn’t much care, but he’d do the job either way. After all, this was his sentence for his tribe’s crimes. Even if they were all gone now, he’d serve out there punishment in silence and pride.
***
Amber walked down the streets of Ponyville with Maud and Valiant Heart by her side. The streets felt a little more quiet than usual, not as many ponies were out and about despite being a bright sunny day. It felt strange; it wasn’t even a Sunday so it wasn’t like everypony was at church. They turned around the corner to cut through market street since it was a short cut home and paused.
The venders had lines going back dozens of ponies. The shops had lines going out of their front doors. Anything from food to household supplies was being virtually stormed by the crowds of ponies. A few ponies were actually shoving each other out of the way to get food first. Ponyville had never had much of a police or guard force to keep the peace, never needed it, but here she saw a few guards, armed with wooden sticks trying to keep the more aggressive ponies from going into a full gallop head first into the venders.
Amber even saw the prices of food, and they were at least three times what they were before. What the heck was going on here?
Maud picked up a newspaper that had fallen by the way side and Amber peered over her shoulder to see the cover. “Danger and Death strikes Equestria as another town vanishes and its population goes missing.”
Amber swore under her breath. Of course everypony was going crazy, it finally got out that villages were disappearing. Nopony even knew what was going on or why, just acting on instinct to try and get supplies to keep themselves and their own safe. So looking at this mess here, she could only hope things calmed down soon… yet after seeing some of the horrors living in the Everfree Forest she couldn’t help but to feel that this was only just the tip of the iceberg. The entire ship already hit the thing, it was about to sink.
Amber realized if ponies were getting this antsy there might actually be a bigger concern. “We need to go home, now.”
Amber’s horn lit up and for the second time that day she teleported herself along with her family a bit further into town. Closer to their home. She missed the mark by only a hundred feet or so, but she was glad to see the house was relatively safe. Her head was starting to hurt from the over use of magic, yet no nose bleeds so she was safe.
Before her training with Fluttershy just a single teleport like this might have caused her a nose bleed. Now she could do this and only get a small migraine. The training was really paying off. In no time soon she was sure she’d rival even Twilight in raw magical power.
They went to their home and it was as if nothing had changed. The door was even still locked from when the left. After opening and going inside Maud paused to look at them. “This might be the last time we’re here for a long while. Get food, supplies, and whatever you want to bring with you. Put it on the porch and I’ll help move it to the cart.”
Amber and Valiant Heart nodded. Each went out to go get there stuff. Minutes went by and of course Valiant Heart was finished first. Amber was still putting comics and study books into various suitcases when Valiant appeared at her door. Valiant was quiet as ever as she asked, “Do you need help?”
Amber looked up at her. “I… no, just help mom, this should be done soon.”
Valiant came inside the room and sat down on Amber’s bed. This was neither helping nor leaving. “What should I bring?”
Amber set a series of children stories Trixie had written into one of the suitcases. Each one of these seemed to feature Twilight as an antagonist who always learned a friendship lesson that Trixie taught… of course Trixie would write this, it also formed some of Amber’s earliest impressions of Twilight as a selfish uncaring, and troublesome individual who just needed a friend to help guide her way… maybe there was more truth to that then she’d ever cared to admit.
“I don’t know, bring something you care about.”
Valiant looked down at the floor. “I don’t have much…”
Amber knew that Valiant’s room was always a bit bare. She’d already packed the stuffed cat toy she’d had since before Amber was born, but other than some books and photos there didn’t seem to be much in Valiant’s room. Amber shrugged. “Don’t you have something you care about? Something that means a lot to you?”
“I do,” Valiant said. “Books from the Seekers archive. Books Twilight gave me.”
Amber froze. She looked back and saw Valiant staring at the wooden floor with a dead stare in her eye. Amber swallowed. “Val… bring them.”
Valiant looked up and met Amber’s eyes. “But she was the one who gave them to me… won’t ponies be mad?”
Amber screwed up her face and felt some fresh anger flow through her. “Who cares what ponies think. Listen, Twilight… she was an important part of our family for a long time. If those things still mean a lot to you, bring them.” Amber glanced over at a series of journals that were sitting in a neat pile in her closet. Journals written by a much younger, much more friendly and socially awkward Twilight. With a flicker of her magic they lifted into the air and she placed them into a suitcase. “I know I will.”
Val gave a weak smile. “I… when you’re done will you help?”
Amber felt her heart cry out in pain. Of course it wasn’t just her who was still hurting over Twilight. How many years had Valiant Heart been an assistant to Twilight, how many adventures filled with danger and excitement did they go on? Of course Val was hurting. Amber walked over to her big sister and wrapped her forelegs around her. “I think I’m mostly done here. I’ll give you all the help you need.”
Valiant wrapped her legs around Amber and squeezed gently. “Thank you.”
***
Trixie was sure they’d be surprised, even angry in fact, but she did not expect this. Everypony just sort of accepted Red Velvet’s presence here at the meeting. Obviously Celestia already knew that Red was here, but Luna and Rainbow Dash were quick to just accept this and not fight. Heck it even seemed like they agreed with Trixie’s assessment of the situation needing Red and the Alicorn Empire’s involvement.
Of course, hearing that this sickness existed in the Alicorn Empire and actually had taken a few of their own down helped with their willingness to let Red stay, she was sure. Of course even she was shocked to hear that this shadow sickness not only appeared in the Golden City, but also that alicorns were susceptible to it, though exactly how remained a mystery.
Red’s voice almost purred as she spoke. “Looking at these outbreaks, this pattern is not exactly a normal one.” Her wing pointed from Talltale to Manehatten, to Canterlot, and then to the Golden Empire which was apparently out over the sea floating somewhere safe… or at least it was safe. “There is no way a carrier would be able to travel these distances this quickly, so unless one of my alicorns took a vacation to explore the mortal lands or there is a very long incubation period… well this pattern seems unreasonable.”
Trixie had to agree. “If this wasn’t from a carrier, how would this get around so quickly? Where did it even originate. We thought it started in Canterlot but looking further into it we realized that multiple outbreaks began at roughly the same time in these different cities.”
Luna added in. “Not only that but my Lunar Knights have looked in on the cases and the individuals lives, not one of them seem to have had any contact with the other outside of their own city. So unless our patient zero or patient zeros are not the first ones to be infected, there is somewhat of a mystery here.”
Trixie added. “None of these ponies went to the same concert, the same vacation, or trip. There’s not much in the way to connect their behaviors.”
Rainbow Dash spoke. “Kinda like the corrupted alicorns right? Just attacking random towns that aren’t really connecting and vanishing when we’re not looking only to appear somewhere else.”
Trixie nodded. “Patterns of randomness like this makes me think of Discord, but we know he’s safe with Twilight… so the question is what’s really going on?”
Red spoke next. “Our researchers have discovered that this illness seems to originate, or at least have some strong connections with this pool of darkness. One found here in Equestria, in Hollow Shades, and one that spawned the birth of the changeling vermin.”
Trixie rubbed at her lower jaw. “Hmm, there’s also something similar in the Everfree Forest. The tar slimes that exist there are dangerous, but nothing at all that could infect others.”
Celestia spoke, her words were filled with authority and determination. “Then until we have enough information to find the source, I suggest we research each place of potential interest. Hollow Shades, The Everfree Forest, Talltale, Manehatten, and here, Canterlot.”
Rainbow Dash rose to her hooves. “Yo, we’re not done here yet. I’m here, I’m willing to help, but not until I get my daughter back.”
Celestia nodded. “Of course. I believe you and Luna can prepare a suitable plan to evacuate Twilight’s group from across the borders. After all, you both have someone you love there.”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “And after she’s safe, I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
Luna nodded. “I’ll send my knights out to scout some of these locations ahead of time.”
Red butted in. “If you’re going to Southern Equestria, I advise extreme caution. The horde there is growing by the day, we still don’t know where they are getting more changelings from but it seems like there numbers are expanding. Worse yet, they do have flyers… specifically dragons.”
Rainbow Dash gave her a glare. “Since when have they had dragons?”
“Since the corrupted alicorns ventured into the dragon lands. From what we’ve gathered they don’t have any ancient or elder dragons, but even adult dragons can cause serious issues and prove to be quite the challenge.”
Trixie nodded. “You’ll need more support. You’ll need to go get Starlight, she still has loyalty to Twilight, I’m sure she’d be more than willing to help you get her back… and if anypony out here is powerful enough to vaporize dragons, it’s her.”
Celestia seemed to agree. “Then we should all have a mission here. I’ll divert my resources for the main cities affected by the disease. Rainbow Dash and Luna I assume you’ll be going to Southern Equestria on the rescue mission.”
Luna added in. “I’ll have my knights investigate Hollow Shades as well. It is my town, and I should be the only one allowed to rescue it.”
Celestia gave Trixie and Red a look as if asking them what they were going to be doing. Trixie took in a long breath and exhaled. This was the last thing she’d wanted to do, but she knew there was only one pony who could really help her here. “I’ll be venturing into the heart of the Everfree’s darkest places. I’ll be taking the only pony known to successfully live in the most dangerous places of the Everfree, places even the deer were afraid to go.”
Red smiled. “Thank you for the compliment.”
“It’s not a compliment.” Trixie stated. “You just proved to be better at being a monster then the creatures living there.”
Celestia rose from her seat. “Then if we’re all ready to go, let’s get ready. Equestria, no, the entire world may be in terrible danger here, and it is up to us to stop it before the world ends.”
Rainbow Dash stood in front of a squad of eight ponies. One half wore golden armor, had white fur and fire colored manes of red and orange. The other half wore purple armor had dark blue fur and blue and purple manes. Two fire teams, fireteam Sun and fireteam Moon. Fireteam Moon had all pegasi. Fireteam Sun all unicorns. Rainbow Dash marched in front of them examining them one by one for any fault, but found none, they stood tall, firm, and proud. She could actually sense the threat levels these ponies gave off.
Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m used to commanding larger forces then this, but keep in mind I am the leader of the Wonderbolts, small force strike teams are my thing.”
Luna replied from behind her. “You are not the only one in command here, Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Sure, but how often do you lead troops into the heart of battle.”
“Enough to realize your tactical mind is useful.” Luna’s horn lit up and the lights in the warehouse came to life one by one.
In the distance Rainbow Dash could see a dark blue airship. Its design was quite unlike any ship you’d see in the ocean. Sharp points, smooth and sleek designs. The sails on the top of it were currently unrolled as a group of ponies wearing overalls and caps were busy checking them. Rainbow Dash had to admit this thing was pretty nice looking.
Luna admired the ship herself and glanced down at Rainbow Dash. “So, the ship has yet to be named. I could think of a few, but seeing as how you’re leading this operation, would you care to do the honors? So long as you don’t name it something juvenile that is.”
“How fast is he?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Luna nodded. “Fastest ship ever built. Even has twin Solar Cannons added that can swing out of the sides and fire blasts capable of penetrating solid steel.”
Rainobw Dash smirked. “Fast as lightning, and it penetrates things…” Rainbow Dash felt her heart crack a little as she thought about what she was going to do. Her kid was out there, in danger and going to be needing a real rescue. The stallion who had helped her create Blackout was gone now, but for some reason she felt like he was still around. He was a bastard in life, but he only wanted to make amends at the end, and she had been too selfish to really let him do so.
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh and resigned herself to this incredibly stupid name. Even if only in spirit, he was going to make up for putting Blackout in danger by saving her. “We’ll call him, The Rider.”
Luna smiled. “The ship that rides the wind, Wind Rider… I’m surprised, you actually came up with a good name.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t meet Luna’s eyes. “Nah, I just stole it, but it sounds pretty cool doesn’t it?”
***
Amber walked through town her family by her side. Maud was pulling the wagon behind her, now stacked with virtually everything they owned it felt like and the home was left locked behind them. Of course they weren’t quite done yet, they were also going to Twilight’s Tree Castle to do some non consensual looting before going back to the Castle of the Two Sisters.
The atmosphere here was only feeling dark. Few ponies were outside, and although most smiled, it seemed like a few were trying to shy away from them, and one group of ponies were actually glaring at them. Amber didn’t understand why, or what had happened to her home. Of course ponies were scared, entire villages were just up and vanishing, but this seemed a bit absurd to her.
Lucky for them, Fluttershy was already at the castle herself, a wagon being pulled by Pinkie. Fluttershy nodded to Amber, even without words they both knew one of the most important things they needed to get was currently stashed inside here. They weren’t exactly sure what it did, nopony was, but they weren’t going to risk leaving it for any crazy looters. At least a small group of guards still stood at the front of Twilight’s castle, as Twilight’s Apprentice, and Princess Trixie’s daughter, Amber had full run of the place, but it looked like outsiders were going to be deterred for now.
Amber and Fluttershy entered the castle and didn’t take long to get to Twilight’s private study. Inside it was cleaner, but there was still a mess of papers left behind by a mixture of Trixie and Twilight’s attempts to formulate a plan and research the Pony of Shadows. Yet it was none of these that they were looking for. It was in fact a single safe in the back that held the object that Amber needed. She had the code and upon using it managed to get the safe to open up.
Inside Amber found the round orb. It was a metal orb decorated with a mess of gemstones. It gave off a faint magical aura. She shoved it into her saddlebag and it hardly fit. She was about to leave when she saw something laying on the floor of the safe. It was just a single sliver of some kind of red gemstone. Upon picking it up Amber felt a deep sense of magical power, raw and unshaped residing inside it. The thing also felt a bit cool to the touch, colder then perhaps a gem should feel. Into her saddlebags it went.
There was a folder next to it that Amber wasn’t familiar with. The writing looked old and there were yellow stains on it. Amber opened it up and saw a few mouth scrawled notes. Clearly written by Twilight but from when and where she wasn’t quite sure.
“I think I’ve finally figured it out. The one thing Celestia had been keeping from me all of these years, an inkling I had when I first met Nightmare Moon but only grew worse as time grew on. Alicorns are powerful, immortal, and hardy creatures. Yet for all the good alicorns have done there is a dark side to them as well, a dark side that I wish to never see.
Sneaking into the Dark Archive led me to find various notes, books, and histories on alicorns from before Celestia and Luna. Once I would have thought this an impossibility but now I know better. To tell the story, to let you know the truth I have to go to the beginning, the very beginning, to the creation and rise of ponykind.
Once upon a time there were two races. A race of beings of pure light and energy, of order and perfection. These were the alicorns and they were many, they were proud, and they were in absolute control of all under their domain. There was another race though, a race of darkness, of chaos, and of imperfections, this was the race known as the Draconiquis, and they too were many, and all chaos and freedom existed in there domain.
For a time the two existed in peace. The alicorns created servants for there menial tasks, pegasi to control the weather, unicorns to create their home comforts and entertainment, and earth ponies to grow their food and build their structures. Their creations, having never before having freedom had never wanted for anything more than to please their creators.
It wasn’t until the Draconiquis encroached on the alicorn lands and interacted with the lower life forms did they finally learn what freedom was. At first they asked for freedom, and when it was denied the lower races took it by force. At first the alicorns laughed as they destroyed their rebellious creations without fret, but soon enough the Draconiquis saw something more than there mindless chaos and entertainment from before, they saw a chance to cause the most chaotic event ever known.
They joined the fray, aiding the lower life forms in their attempt to be free. A long and bloody war came to pass. Many alicorn and Draconiquis both died, many more ponies along with them. It wasn’t until six beings came together to form a new union did a solution to end the war finally come. Two alicorn sisters along with a Draconiquis, a white deer, a demon and a simple earth pony banded together. First they sealed the alicorn race and their empire of perfect order away. Next with no order left to fight, the Draconiquis race relaxed but slowly, one by one they vanished. Seemingly without purpose or order to fight they ceased existing.
With the pony races now free to build, create, or explore to their hearts content, they were free to start their own kingdoms and empires. The alicorn sisters, now the last of their kind choose to pass on their power and teachings to the lower life forms, in an effort to fully remove the alicorns of old from influencing the free world of the future. These two became the Goddesses that many of us worship now. The draconiquis in question went to explore the world and spread chaos himself in an attempt to make sure that the perfect order could never again appear. The deer himself left to create a perfect sanctuary, one that would be forever free of any control by higher beings, and the demon left to his homeland to teach them the value of working with others. Finally the lone earth pony that had helped the four seal away the alicorns was left to his own devices. Many believed he would join his kind and construct a new world, but instead he went south, far south and vanished never to be heard from again. It is said he himself may have become the first pony to ascend to alicornhood from a mortal life, but if he had, where he disappeared too is and will likely forever be unkown.
Now that you know the history of this world, a heresy that would have me executed should it ever be read by anypony I’m sure. I can talk about the dark secret the alicorns truly hid. You see Celestia and Luna both remained in their normal, down to earth and mortal forms, but each one could if they chose, or were pushed to the brink, transform into a true alicorn. The Alicorn Empire were masters of such transformations. Armor, weapons, incredible magic that can hardly be imagined were all parts of these true forms. Of course so too came emotion, rage, anger, sorrow, and domination. The Perfect Order, meant to master ones emotions and to rule with absolute logic and authority. At least that’s what I’ve read.
I feel Celestia and Luna have chosen to remain in their normal forms as a way to distance themselves from the alicorns of old. Yet now that I am an alicorn, I have had moments where my temper has risen and I’ve achieved power beyond even my imagination… I fear that if this True Alicorn form is as dangerous and temperamental as they say, should I ever achieve it, the damage I may cause is uncountable. Hopefully Luna will stop me if I ever do transform…”
Amber slipped it into her saddlebags as well and with a whistle turned on her fetlocks and started toward the door. Fluttershy had filled a saddlebag with books, journals, and notes left behind by the combined forces of Twilight and Trixie.
Amber raised an eyebrow. “Why are you taking those?”
Fluttershy smiled. “I figured it might give you something to do between training sessions.”
Amber rolled her eyes. It felt like homework, she hated homework. Still she would accept it, after all not ever problem could be punched away, sometimes you had to research and study a problem before finding just the right place to punch it.
With this little diversion done, it was time for Amber and Fluttershy to go back to their family and then back to the Castle of the Two Sisters.
***
Before Trixie was ready to leave she had to take another stroll around Canterlot city. It was quiet here now. There were ponies walking the street still, but most had a desperate look in their eyes. The markets were the only places overcrowded with ponyfolk. Trixie had never seen this response, even during the height of the Windigo War things were relatively normal, just cold. Yet even then there was a chance they could fight back, but against these corrupted alicorns, there was no real hope.
Still, Trixie was among the very few who knew this was not the worst to come. She had to think of how best to protect them, to safe guard these ponies. Some movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.
Trixie looked to see a shadow flee into a back alley. There was a cold chill in the air as she saw them for a brief second, somepony wearing a purple hooded cloak. Trixie began walking toward the alleyway.
A pony landed behind her. She could feel Red’s presence without having to look. “Yes?”
Red replied, “It’s about time we leave.”
Trixie stared into the alley. Thoughts of how the infection started in the homeless population came to her. “Not just yet, we need to investigate something first.”
Trixie walked into the alleyway with Red behind her. A few trash bags lay outside of the nearby dumpster. Piles of rotten clothes were further back. The smell was of mildew and something far worse. She remembered what it was like living in those back alleys in Manehatten. All alone, cold, and dark. It had been years since she thought of that time, but the further into the alley she walked the more it came back to her. Valiant Heart, the lone filly just looking for food and friendship, the dumpster home she’d made, the abuse she’d suffered from Frailty and her gang.
Trixie remembered how she killed Frailty. It wasn’t quick, it was slow, it was painful, it was personal. She killed her over and over and over again before finally allowing Frailty to die for good. There was a monster that lived inside Trixie’s body, one she didn’t want to ever let out again, but one she knew could easily return if pushed in the right direction.
Trixie rounded the corner and saw a lone pony standing there. They wore a dark purple cloak with the hood drawn over there face. They were facing a brick wall but turned to face Trixie and Red. There face was mostly obscured but there brown muzzle was visible underneath. They showed their teeth to reveal fangs. “Princess.” It spat the words like venom.
Trixie could feel a darkness coming from this pony, one that she’d only encountered a long time ago and deep inside her own soul. Red’s horn had lit up. Trixie glanced at her. “Don’t do anything hasty. Maybe he just hates royalty.”
The cloaked pony opened there mouth and vomited a torrent of purple sludge toward Trixie. The sludge hit an invisible bubble and the air around her and Red flashed red for a moment. This wasn’t a pony, not any kind she’d ever seen. Trixie’s horn lit up and she unleashed a lightning bolt that went through the invisible shield and toward the cloaked pony. The pony was struck dead center and flew back before slamming into a wall.
They slid to the ground, there hood drawn back to reveal an earth pony who’s eyes glowed a soft purple. The place on their chest where Trixie had struck was burned through and she saw their chest was covered in a mix of brown and purple scales. They glared at Trixie.
“Who are you?” Trixie growled.
“Who I am is not important, but who we are is.” They replied. There body began to change, to melt into a purple slime. “We are the Cult of Smooze, and we will cover the world in his smoozy love.”
Trixie blinked. “What are you going on about? Cult of Smooze?”
The pony laughed. “You too will feel the loving, slimey embrace of our one true god soon enough.” His body was melting into a sewer grate beneath him. “Princess Trixie.”
Trixie shot another bolt of lightning at the pony but it was already gone. Melted into the sewer system of Canterlot city. She stood there for a moment and then cursed. “Another dang mystery! I hate mysteries!”
Red chuckled. “Another puzzle piece to a puzzle we can’t put together. Though I feel this one might be more important then we’d realized.”
Trixie glared at the sewer grate. She reached out mentally but found nothing she could identify down there save for a few rats. Trixie let out a sigh and turned to leave. “Let’s just go to the Everfree, I’ll leave a message with Celestia about this event, might be nothing but it could be everything.”
Trixie and Red were already deep into the Everfree Forest. Was just her, or had the forest grown by an incredible amount since the first time she came here. The very back of the Everfree forest was at the mountain base of Canterlot mountain. It was one flight down and she was already in the deep dark spooky woods.
The sun was only a dim light far above them, flickering in and out as threes covered what little gaps were left for the light to come down. At some point it got so dark that Trixie needed to use a bit of magic to create a violet light around the pair of them. They continued walking further. Each creak, or rustle brought the reminder of how dangerous these woods were. Manticores, giant spiders, and undead shadow things just to name a few.
The deeper they traveled the stranger the sounds in the distance became. Eventually Trixie began to hear what sounded like a whispering voice. It was this point that Red actually changed directions and they seemed to be following the voice.
“What is that sound?” Trixie asked.
Red didn’t look back but explained, “A mistake.”
Trixie wasn’t sure what she meant by that, nor was she positive she even wanted too. They carried onward until the forest began to thin out. Even so it was darker still in the open then it was in the woods. Trixie instantly recognized this place. The overly large trees with hollow rooms, branches that formed walkways above them. This was the Deer City that she had first encountered Red in. Back when Red was cursed and masqueraded as a unicorn, back when Trixie was suicidal, back when Trixie was painfully transformed into an alicorn.
They walked past empty and ruined homes. Past dust covered tables. Across overgrown gardens. Eventually they found themselves at the base of the largest tree Trixie had ever seen. It was so large it made Canterlot Castle looked like a hovel in comparison. The voices were coming from inside it, they were darker and louder but still something she couldn’t quite understand.
Red frowned as she stared into it. “It’s here.”
“What’s here?”
Red walked forward forcing Trixie to follow her inside. “The heart of the Everfree Forest.”
They traveled inside and Trixie was washed in cold energy. This place was absolutely filthy in dark magic. It was so dark she had to use more magic just to increase her light to extend a good thirty or forty feet. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, save for two sets of hoof prints. It looked like some ponies had been in here, and left just as quickly. Oddly enough Trixie and Red were following there trail.
In the corners of the halls Trixie could see strange wooden mannequins, each one looked like a deer, each one was facing them, each one gave off an ominous energy. After minutes of walking they reached what must have been the grand hall. Two long tables stretched out on either side of them going off into the darkness. Chairs, plates, cups were all set down neatly on the tables as if preparing for a meal. Each chair had another one of those wooden deer mannequins. Each one of them had their heads turned, often at odd angles to stare directly at Trixie and Red.
Trixie whispered, “Why are there so many mannequins?”
Red didn’t look at her, nor the deer, she walked forward. “You see them as mannequins?”
“Yeah, wait… what do you mean by that?”
Red paused and then answered, “I see them as corpses. Fresh, dismembered, dissembled, torn in half, corpses.”
Trixie swallowed. “You’re joking right? How could we see the same thing in two different ways like that?”
“Because their spirits, and we see them only as a reflection of ourselves.”
Trixie took a step closer to Red. “You mean ghosts?”
Red shook her head and sped up her pace. “Something like that.”
It took awhile but they reached the end. A giant throne sat there carved of solid wood with a massive deer sitting atop it, it was a masculine shape with two of the largest antlers she’d ever seen. Each antler was carved with runes that gave off a soft glow. Atop its head sat a crown with a gem sitting in the middle.
Red’s lower lip quivered. “Here we are. The heart and the hart of Everfree.”
Trixie stared up at it. “Why do we need this?”
“To find the source of the darkness here, and to stop it.”
Red bowed her head to the kingly mannequin. “I’m sorry.”
***
Red had finally managed to find them, after years of searching the forest, after all the twists and turns, the dead ends and the monsters, she had finally found the deer, and there kingdom was amazing to say the least. In fact she’d only ever seen it once before, but that was just an outlying town, this, this was a fully fledged city. She didn’t even know there could be so many deer in one place.
The deer mostly watched in stunned silence as Red walked through their streets. There massive tree structures were filled with light, the branches with colorful leaves and vines hanging down. Warm light seemed to emit from every residence, and the sky although blocked off from sight was still sending down bright light which covered everything in sight.
She was only a couple of minutes into walking into the city when she saw the largest tree in Equestria, possibly even the world. It was so large in fact that Red could only venture to guess that the majority of the deer population lived inside it. She knew in her heart this was where she needed to go, she could also sense it. Her prize was indeed in there.
A group of deer wearing wooden armor seemed to have vines hanging around there waists as they were lowered in a circle formation around Red. They landed and the vines released them as if possessed of their own free will. One of the guards was a gray colored deer who had a scar over his left eye. He snarled at Red. “Who are you who dares to intrude upon the Heart of Everfree.”
Red smirked. “I, am the one pony in Equestria who could find this city. I am known too some as Red Velvet.” For extra flair she threw in something she’d not said in quite some time, “Pupil to Princess Celestia herself.”
Some of the guards stepped to the side as the largest deer she’d ever seen walked through. He was taller still then Princess Celestia and had a crown with a bright green gem that shined in the light. His antlers were long and covered with glowing runes. A pair of wings were resting against his sides. He was the alicorn equivalent of a deer she supposed, and that meant he was the King of Everfree. His white fur almost screamed with authority and power.
Red stared up into his eyes and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again King Aspen.”
The king’s eternally stoic appearance broke for a moment as he smiled. “I see, you used to be the little red thing that Celestia dragged with her into my halls. My how you have grown.”
Red nodded. “Of course, even foals do eventually grow up, though I admit I feel that it may have been a good hundred years since I was actually last here.”
King Aspen nodded. “You’re not the only thing that has changed.” Beside him appeared a tiny little deer, hardly more than a child she could assume. “Have you met my son Prince Thicket?”
Red could have replied sarcastically about having just arrived, but choose the better part of valor. “Not yet, but it is a pleasure.”
Thicket smiled and the grass around his hooves actually grew taller and a few flowers sprouted near him. This kid was filled with the kind of magic that ponies only dreamed of having. His emotions alone were enough to change the world around him.
King Aspen nodded toward the large tree. “Come with us, Red. We’ll treat you to a dinner at Castle and you can tell us why you came to visit us after so long. If it’s anything like what the last alicorn came to us for, you’ll need our assistance.”
Red followed as they traveled together to the castle. The guards kept a close circle around them. Both to protect the King and his new visitor from harm, but also to make sure that Red didn’t start any herself. “You said there was another alicorn here?”
“Yes, a Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” King Aspen laughed and the scent of fresh flowers filled the air. “They were quite the entertainment, but also proved to be good friends.”
It wasn’t the first time Red had heard that name. Her research had led her to find Twilight to be the new pupil to Celestia, only this time she was far more loyal than any other had been before. Typically after ascendance ponies would leave Celestia’s side, but this Twilight seemed determined to stick by her Princess and give untold amounts of power to Celestia. Terrifyingly high amounts of power. With treaties with Dragons, Changelings, and even converting Discord over to their side, This Twilight Sparkle was a pony worthy of respect and fear in equal measure.
Once inside the so called ‘castle’ Red was indeed treated to the sight of dozens upon dozens of deer residing here. They all moved about with purpose, talked in small groups, or were busy painting or playing music. It seemed that most of the population really did live in the castle. If Red was a paranoid pony, and she most certainly was, she would guess the buildings outside of the castle would normally serve as guard posts in case of emergency with the Castle becoming an impenetrable fortress.
Once in the Great Hall they went to the lord’s table in the back. This hall alone was massive, far too massive to actually fit inside the tree itself. Perhaps it was formed in part of the roots, or did they go underground somehow? The ceiling windows only told her that light could filter in and keep this place warm and bright. The walls and floors were decorated with color and gave the feeling of a friendly atmosphere.
King Aspen spoke as he took flight and landed in his giant throne. “This hall is used by most of the kingdom every night. We pride ourselves on our community and closeness. I know that ponies typically dine alone, so I can understand if our customs come off as a bit overwhelming.”
Red took a seat at one of the chairs and replied. “I’ve been all across the world, this is hardly the strangest thing I’ve seen, but it is one of the most welcoming.”
The kid, Thicket jumped onto the table and then onto his father’s lap. King Aspen laughed. “Thicket, please, there are steps for you to use, no need to jump on the table.”
Thicket laughed. His voice came out so tiny. “It’s fine. I’m up here now aren’t I?”
Red smiled. “This really is a peaceful place.” She was starting to feel guilty for being here. She knew what she was going to ask was going to cause trouble, especially if he thought so highly of Twilight Sparkle. But she had to do this. She had to accomplish this goal. An entire species of poor, defenseless alicorn, children, mothers, and just average pony folk all depended on her for their freedom. She couldn’t afford to care about what lines she would have to cross to save them. It would be an even greater injustice to let them remain trapped forever, Celestia’s favored form of punishment, eternal prison.
Whether it be the moon, turning into a statue, or being locked into a volcano, Celestia would also trap those she hated. Often times for an eternity without a chance for redemption or freedom. If Discord hadn’t proven useful for her agenda, would he actually have been released and given a second chance? After all Tirek wasn’t…
Red let out a sigh. She couldn’t afford to think of Celestia’s sins right then. She had important business at hoof.
King Aspen glanced down at her as a plate of various berries were set in front of her. “So, tell me Red, what brings you back to my kingdom? Has Equestria come to another great tragedy?”
Red lifted a blueberry up in her telekinetic aura and popped it into her mouth. “There was a tragedy happening since long before I was born. My entire race was locked away, trapped in a prison for an entirety, children, mothers, simple shop keeps, and pencil pushers all locked together as if they were all criminals. In order to free my people, I require a single artifact that I know to be in your possession. So it is with a heavy heart that I request to have the Alicorn Amulet loaned to me until I save my people.”
King Aspen’s eyes seemed to darken and the air grew a little colder. “I fear that this is one request I cannot grant, no matter what Equestria has done to help my people, I made a vow to Princess Celestia and to Princess Twilight Sparkle to safe guard this artifact. Only those two together could stand a chance of me releasing such a dark thing into the world.”
Red felt it. A pang of dark energy crying out from above her in the castle. She could almost hear it speaking to her. Offering promises of power if she were to put it on. The Alicorn Amulet had revealed itself to her and was crying out to be freed. Though the artifact in question did not deserve its freedom, it was essential to her plans.
Red rose to her full height. Things were about to get real. “I’m afraid, King Aspen, that my request was made only to be polite. That amulet is coming with me.”
***
Trixie watched as a bright light emitted from the wooden deer carving sitting upon the throne in front of her. The light was almost blinding and she had to look away. A moment later the light was gone and she looked back to see not a wooden deer but rather a tall deer with white fur sitting proudly upon the throne and looking down at the two of them. His body was glowing and if Trixie looked hard enough slightly transparent.
Red didn’t raise her head as she continued to speak. “I don’t regret taking the amulet from you, but I do regret the brutal method by which I had. There was no need for so much death, yet that is what happened. I don’t expect forgiveness, nor to ever be able to make up for the sins I’ve committed, but I do apologize for my actions.”
The kingly deer glanced over at Trixie.
Red continued. “I am here today so that we may ask of you, you’re crown. I’m sure that even in your deathless state you can feel the darkness brewing in these woods, in this world. We need the Heart of Everfree to discover the source of this darkness and end it.”
It was at that time that Trixie realized that the whispering had completely stopped. She looked around and saw hundreds of ghostly deer sitting at these tables. All of them staring with hollow eyes at the pair. What was Red thinking, she was going to get them killed, and Trixie had no faith in her ability to fight one ghost let alone hundreds of them.
A proud voice loud and strong emitted from the deer king. “Red, you came into our home, demanded from us a tool of darkness and destruction, and then proceeded to kill us for the object of your desire. After obtaining it you killed anything that was within sight of you. You truly expect me to give you the Heart of Everfree, no matter what the danger is out there?”
Red shook her head. “I am unworthy of the crown. So I brought somepony who was.”
Trixie gulped. “Wait, is that why you dragged me here?”
The deer king stood up and walked down from his throne. His hooves seemed to land on invisible steps as he walked to ground level and stood before Trixie. His eyes pierced into her soul and she felt a cold shiver run from the tip of her horn to the end of her tail.
The deer king spoke, “Trixie Lulamoon, I can see your soul. Damaged, broken, stitched together yet still holding strong. There are stains of darkness tainting it, and yet walls of hope built around those stains. You have fought many battles, internally and externally, and it would seem you have survived each one becoming stronger in the process. Your life has been short so far, but I can see many great deeds coming from you in the future, yet the potential for darkness exists. What would you say if I told you that by continuing on your current path that you may become darker still, and commit great atrocities?”
Trixie swallowed. She had known there was still a darkness in her. Not some other personality like Scathe, but her own inner darkness that she was not equipped to handle should it arise again. The last thing she ever wanted was to become like Twilight Sparkle. “I’d ask how to avoid doing any of them, and if that’s not possible I’d retire from this quest now. This world has had too many ponies fall to darkness already, I don’t need to add to them.”
The deer king smiled. “With that answer, I’m sure you’ll find your way through those dark times just fine.” His crown lifted off his head and floated toward Trixie before landing gently atop her head. “Take care, Trixie Lulamoon, this crown will help you seek and destroy the darkness in these woods, but its power is useless after that. The answers you seek may be challenging to accept, but once you find them, face them and save this world from The Pony of Shadows, his return should never have happened.”
Trixie watched as the deer king’s body turned to mist and blew away as if never there. The hundreds of deer around them all vanished in much the same way. A bright light began to fill the great hall and for the first time Trixie saw that there were windows on the ceiling. The chill in the area seemed to fade and was replaced by a strange warmth. Beneath her hooves and all around them flowers, vines, and grass began to grow out of the cracks and seems on the wooden floor.
Red looked around and turned away toward the exit. “Looks like there finally at peace… Let’s go. We have a darkness to face, and answers to achieve.”
Rainbow Dash was already onboard the ship they were taking out. The deck was busy with activity and the captain was steering them towards the south. Her mind was set on one and only one goal. Of course she was also ordered to retrieve Twilight and her companions, those that still breathed. The Wind Rider flew through the air at an incredible pace for a ship, nothing compared to her personal speed, but for a giant hunk of metal and sails, it was amazing.
Luna was marching around the top of the ship as well, her eyes too were drawn toward the southern horizon. As fields of green grass, rolling hills and the occasional forest rolled beneath them she knew they were both going out for the same reasons. In fact she was surprised that even with the Shadow Sickness going on that Celestia wasn’t joining them as well.
Luna approached Rainbow Dash and sat down next to her. “Are you prepared for a battle?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “I don’t care what stands in my way, even those corrupted alicorns aren’t going to stop me.”
Luna let out a sigh. “Just one of them nearly killed me and all of my men. If we should be so unfortunate as to actually encounter one, or let alone two of them, we cannot risk dragging them back to Twilight’s group. It would be best to distract them and take them out away from our actual mission.”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Obviously, I’m not that dumb. Also, it’s not like even an army of them could stand up to me in my true form.”
Luna let out another sigh. “You have been going on about that for ages, yet I have never once seen you ‘transform’.”
“Never faced an opponent strong enough to make me use it. I want to be at least a little fair to my opponents after all.” Rainbow Dash chose not to add the fact that the only pony who’d seen it, fought it, and still beat her was of course Fluttershy. That mare was scary when she got serious; she highly doubted anything in Equestria could bring Fluttershy down.
Another alicorn walked out from under the deck and glanced at them with a smile. Starlight Glimmer was here too, and she was more than enough of a match for anything that could threaten them. Once she was in front of them she sat down. “This is exciting isn’t it?”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “Heading face first into the most dangerous place on Equestria, yeah, I guess it might be a little exciting.”
Starlight beamed. “I haven’t been on a proper mission in years. That scouting mission with Twilight was just depressing, I want action, I want magic, I want, well something fun.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “You could always try and join the Wonderbolts if you want more excitement.”
Starlight shook her head. “Full time, nah. I have a family, but I wouldn’t mind joining you for a dangerous mission or two in the future.”
Luna looked past them and back into the horizon. “I’m glad you are here, Starlight. You’re power will be needed… but maybe you should be a little less excited for this task.”
Starlight shrugged. “Why? I mean the stakes are high, but we’re good enough to accomplish anything. I mean even the combined might of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Sombra couldn’t stop us, so what else stands a chance?”
Luna smiled. “Let’s hope for our sake your confidence is well placed.”
Rainbow Dash would be lying if she said she wasn’t at least a little worried about this mission. The stakes weren’t about survival, they were about rescue, and so it didn’t matter how strong she was, she also had to be smart about this. If even one of those Corrupted Alicorns appeared, well… it would be time for a much more desperate plan. All in all she shared Luna’s sentiments, she hoped that Starlight’s confidence was correct.
***
Amber Light and the family were already back in the Castle of the Two Sisters, but the first thing she realized was that the whispering had stopped. After talking to Hushpuppy he agreed, for the first time in his life the voices were gone from the woods. In fact the entire forest somehow felt warmer, and less oppressive.
Back at the Castle everypony was enjoying themselves in what amounted to the living quarters, reconstructed thanks to Twilight. Amber however was not content lying there and being still. She took to exploring the castle, something she’d become familiar with since her training began. In one section there were scaffolds and places where new bricks were being lain, the floors and ceilings reinforced, and a few new buildings constructed.
Amber looked out and imagined what it would be like in just a few more years. After this mess with the Pony of Shadows was over with and everypony was free and safe again. Would her and her friends be able to just enjoy themselves like kids, or would they be forced to be more mature and live their own lives much like their own folks did?
Sophie appeared from around the corner. “Hiya!”
Amber shook her head. “Hey, Soph. What’s up?”
Sophie beamed. “Just exploring the ruins, trying to see if I can find anymore friends for my animal friends.”
“You mean your stuffed animals?”
“Yeppers!”
Amber shrugged. “I might as well help. Let’s go.”
Amber started walking toward a section of unexplored castle. Sophie was hoping alongside her. Her curly yellow tail bouncing along for the ride. They traveled until they got to a hallway Amber hadn’t explored before. The doors here were all shut, and surprisingly made of wood. How could wood last this long? A thousand years should be more than enough time for it to rot into non existence.
Amber pushed one door opened and watched in stunned silence as the thing fell backwards and hit the ground creating a dust plum in its wake. Inside there was a dust covered room, mostly empty save for a metal bed frame, long since missing any mattress or covers. A lone glass window sat against the wall, whatever mural had been there was long since gone with the window itself halfway melted against the stone wall.
Sophie looked at the window. “Neato, how did that happen? Did the sun melt the window?”
Amber shrugged. “Maybe, probably not. It’s a lot more likely that it was just time. One theory states that glass is actually a super slow moving liquid, but uh, science can’t prove it yet.”
Sophie laughed. “Glass isn’t liquid silly, it’s made of sand.”
Amber shook her head. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
They moved onto the next door and pushed it open. This one’s hinge snapped and it swung awkwardly inside before leaning against the wall. It looked to be another bedroom long since abandoned. They tried another door and found instead a staircase going down. At the end of the staircase Amber could see a level floor but not much else from there.
The steps were carved of solid stone so she felt safe enough to walk down them. Sophie followed. Sophie’s voice quieted down a bit as they went. “Um, Amber. You’ll keep us safe right?”
Amber nodded. “Don’t I always?”
“Yeah, but like… remember when everypony was gobbled up by that shadow thing?”
Amber remembered, how could she forget? The thing’s presence even connected to something down south, something horrible, dark, and corrupting. She could only assume this was the first meeting with the Pony of Shadows, but she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure of that. “What about it?”
“Well, it could happen again? Right?”
Amber got to the bottom of the stairs and stepped out onto a balcony overlooking a large room. In the center of the room was a giant machine made of brass and copper. Magical crystals hung from it giving off a faint glow. Another solid stone stair case led down to the machine floor. Amber walked toward it.
Amber replied. “Anything could happen again. But I think we’re better defended against such a parasite. It also seems to me that whatever created that mess has moved onto different tactics.”
Sophie swallowed. “So it’s still out there?”
Amber started down the stairs. “Yeah.”
Sophie followed in silence for a moment until they reached the bottom floor. Once there Sophie spoke again. “Then we have to stop it.”
Amber paused. “You know what that would mean right?”
Sophie nodded. “Yeah, it means the six of us will be in danger, but… I’d rather be the one in danger then let my mommy be hurt or used like that ever again.”
Amber reached the machine and put a hoof against it. It was warm and hummed with silent strength. “Yeah, I completely agree. I almost lost my mom, and that’s when I realized that even if I am scared, even if I don’t want to be hurt, I have to use my power for good. The six of us have some kind of connection, kinda like our folks used to have. I think it’ll be up to us to keep everything safe someday.”
Sophie brushed up against Amber’s side. “You’ll never turn out like Twilight right?”
Amber growled. “Of course not. Why would you even think that?”
“Because you’re our leader… and Twilight was there’s and she well…”
Amber let out a sigh. “I swear I will never become like she did. I’ll learn from her mistakes and do better… I promise cus, I’ll never hurt any of you.”
Sophie beamed. “Thanks!”
Amber looked back up at the machine. There was a control console with a few buttons each one with a label. A big red one said, ‘start’ on it. Despite the faint power coming from the machine it wasn’t enough to activate it. There was a round half ball depression on one side of the consol. It was as large as her head and almost looked familiar. Like something she’d seen was supposed to go into there. She wasn’t sure what it was supposed to go there, but she could hazard a guess or two, and now she was glad she took that magical orb of doom with her. Whatever it did, they could be forced to find out, and if they were, Amber would use it to save her family.
Amber smiled. “I’ll always keep you guys safe. Always."
***
Trixie and Red left the deer city behind, it was now time for the forest to reclaim the land that was once shared by it and the deer. For now Trixie needed to find the source of darkness that resided here in the Everfree Forest. The moment she stepped out of the woods she could feel a change around her. The crown atop her head seemed to grow warm and the darkness of the woods before her lifted to reveal a bright and colorful place. Strange flowers of every color grew in hidden patches around them, vines hung low, forest critters scampered about with little care of hiding themselves from Trixie’s sight or hearing. The entire atmosphere had changed.
Red glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”
Trixie smiled. “Nothing, I just didn’t notice how beautiful the forest was before.”
Red looked around and frowned. “I don’t think we’re looking at the same forest.”
“Probably not.”
Off to one side Trixie could almost see something wrong. Like a strange dark purple tint covering part of the forest. It seemed like less plant life grew in that direction and most of the animals around them, birds, squirrels, and raccoons all avoided it. It really didn’t take a genius to realize that this was where the darkness was coming from.
Trixie marched off in that direction. “Come, I think I’ve found where we need to go.”
Red followed behind. “That crown is showing you the way?”
Trixie nodded. “Yeah, seems like not everything is bitter and dark here.”
They continued to walk in relative silence for some time. Each step continued to bring them into a darker place. Plant life became less apparent until eventually they were in a forest with dead bare trees, hardened grey grass and cracked dry earth. Whatever was here was literally sucking the life from the area. Trixie felt they were on track.
Off in the distance Trixie caught the glimpse of something. It was a ball of pitch black energy waving and shimmering. The closer they got to it the larger it appeared. When Trixie was finally close enough to see it clearly she realized it was attempting to rise out of the earth and was the size of a two story house. At the bottom where it touched the earth small trails of it drifted off and out turning everything it touched dark.
Red nodded. “This is what we were looking for.”
The area was freezing cold with dark energy. How much dark magic was here? It was more than Trixie had ever seen in one place in her whole life. Even the Alicorn Amulet’s darkness was nothing compared to this. Something atop the ball of energy grabbed Trixie’s attention.
She flew up a little bit and saw an old unicorn mare meditating above the ball of energy. Her eyes were closed in tight concentration. Her purple fur was wrinkled and old, her green mane frayed and a mess. Trixie had seen this pony before, in history books of old, this was one of Starswirl’s old alleys. This was… Mistmane. But how? She was a thousand years old at least!
Red joined her side a moment later. “I think we may have just discovered something important.”
Trixie swallowed. “I agree.”
Mistmane’s eyes opened and she shouted. “Get out of here you two! If I don’t concentrate the energy will be released!”
Trixie looked once more into the energy, the pitch black ball of pure hate and death. Something was inside of it. Something she could only barely make out the shape of. It was an alicorn. Trixie swallowed. This did not bode well.
Rarity had to admit Canterlot had certainly looked better. A lot of ponies walking by on the streets seemed to look on edge, though there weren’t very many of them as it was. It didn’t help that she’d encountered at least a dozen ponies who were sneezing, coughing and wheezing since then. She’d activated a health bubble after meeting the first one and had not deactivate it once since. There was something off about the mucus these sick ponies were expelling. It was either black or a dark purple, neither of these was a natural color.
She had to hurry, her shop was in danger of closing down and she did not spend years of her life trying to get this clothing empire up and running only to have it shut down because of some paranoia and sick ponies. She absolutely refused.
Rarity walked down on street and took a corner, she was almost at her shop. A pony nearly bumped into her and her health bubble. The poor soul was a mail-stallion and the moment he saw Rarity he sneezed. Large globs of black goop splattered against Rarity’s health bubble and hung in the air as disgusting filthy reminders of this poor pony’s condition.
He began to stammer, “I’m so-“
Rarity interrupted as she pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to him. “No need to apologize, you’re simply sick. I admire you still trying to do your job in this condition.”
He took the handkerchief and blew his nose into it. “Thank you.”
Rarity smiled. “No need to thank me. Now you keep that handkerchief with you and just try to take care of yourself okay, handsome?”
He beamed at her and trotted past her. “Thank you again.”
She felt happy about making that poor soul’s day. Now she could continue onto her real objective. She managed to reach the shop in no time at all and saw a closed sign on the front. This was not right, it was not time to close. Rarity marched into the store and saw Sassy Saddles packing away dresses. Rarity closed the door behind her and waited.
Sassy had a look of pure stress drawing aged lines across her face as she was carefully folding some articles of cloth and putting them in boxes while putting dresses into suit protectors that hung from a nearby rack. Eventually Rarity cleared her throat to announce her presence and Sassy jumped back. She nearly cursed, “Celestia’s B-“
Rarity raised an eyebrow.
Sassy calmed herself. “Miss Rarity, I am terribly sorry you have to come in such a stressful time.”
Rarity looked around. The place looked empty. “So explain to me why we are closing down here?”
Sassy swallowed. “It wasn’t my fault, we’re being forced to.”
Rarity growled. “And who exactly do I have to slap in the face for trying to shut down my business?”
A majestic voice filled the room with a sense of playfulness she hadn’t heard in some time. “That would be me, of course you’ll either need a stool or I’ll need to lower my head for you to slap me.”
Rarity looked over and saw Celestia herself exit from the back rooms. Rarity stammered for words. “I-I-I wasn’t serious.”
Celestia smiled. “I know.”
Rarity looked around and still felt anger in her gut, yet in the presence of royalty she could contain herself somewhat. “Why exactly are you closing my shop down?”
Celestia glanced toward the window looking out to the city. “You’ve seen the sick out there no doubt. I want to try and keep some of the ponies I know will be needed soon safe. I’m starting with your shop, but I’ll soon have to expand to others I fear.”
Rarity looked outside. It really did seem that at least three in every ten ponies had sniffles, coughing, or a runny nose. There mucus was all a strange mix of black and dark purple. Something was off about this, something she really didn’t like the feel of. “So because some kind of flu is going around your shutting me down?”
Sassy replied. “Rarity, you haven’t been here, you don’t know how scary it is. Everypony seems to be catching it. I don’t want to get sick.”
Celestia agreed. “This sickness might be more than just a flu. So I’m shutting down both of your shops. Sassy, you have a safe place to stay during this time don’t you?”
Sassy swallowed. “I haven’t left the shop in a week.”
Rarity glanced at her. “How have you stayed clean? There’s no bath here!”
Sassy looked down at her hooves. “I’ve been using the sink… its cold.”
Rarity felt her heart drop into her stomach. “Is it really that serious out there?”
Celestia nodded. “It is. And I know you care for your employees, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to put them in any risk.”
Rarity nodded. “Of course not… Sassy, you will be coming with me back to Ponyville, where you will get a real bath prompt and proper.” Rarity looked at Celestia. “Have you shut down my shop in Manehatten yet?”
Celestia shook her head. “Not yet, I will be going there next.”
“Could you do me a favor, Celestia? Could you bring Coco Pommel back to Ponyville for me? I’d rather not think of her being in a dangerous place because of me.”
Celestia smiled. “Of course. I’d not have it any other way.”
Rarity looked out the window once more. “How long before this sickness is gone?”
Celestia walked to the window and looked outside with her. “We are developing a vaccine now, but it might take a few weeks. I’m sure it’ll be all over soon.”
Rarity swallowed. “Is it dangerous?”
“If it wasn’t would I be shutting your shops down?”
Rarity leaned her head against the glass. “I suppose not…”
With a war on one side, and a new illness spreading on the other. Rarity could feel that things were drastically changing in the world. The worst part was that with Twilight gone all they could do was try to take care of the ones they loved… even in these dire times, after all that Twilight had done, she still relied on Twilight to save them… Rarity gave out a little laugh. How messed up was that, still expecting Twilight to save them, especially after how they all… well how they all abandoned her after what she did… Twilight no longer owed them any allegiance, she would have to learn to accept that Twilight wouldn’t help them, the poor dear was suffering with her own problems already. This time… This time they were truly on their own.
***
Trixie landed maybe a good twenty feet away from the ball of pure dark energy. Next to her came Red. With a flick of her magic she summoned forth an old friend that had protected her and guided her through some of her most trying times. Her father’s sword, the Trickster Blade appeared by her side. She withdrew it and focused on the bubble of energy, and on the dark alicorn shape deep inside it.
Mistmane watched from her position above it. “What on earth do you two plan to do?”
Trixie smirked. “To stop this evil here, once and for all.”
Red nodded. “it’s only one of many, but if we stop this one, the other two that remain can be found and slain as well.”
Mistmane’s eyes widened. “Other two? You found two more of these monsters?”
Trixie shook her head. “No, they found us.”
Mistmane’s ears folded back. The bubble beneath her wavered. “If two of these monsters found you, then the pillars guarding them are…”
A line of dark energy cut out from the bubble and tar like liquid poured forth from where the line cut. Mistmane shouted and the bubble began to recollect itself. Trixie watched as the dark alicorn shape inside it stirred. It looked directly at her. Trixie shouted, “Get Mistmane and keep her safe, Now!”
Red was off in a flash. She grabbed Mistmane by the waist and flew away towards the edge of the forest clearing. Mistmane shouted in protest, but she was weakened, likely from the strain of keeping this bubble active for so long. It took only moments before the alicorn noticed. It spread its wings and with it Trixie saw the bubble burst. A concussive force of wind slammed into her pushing her back by a good few feet. A pillar of dark energy rose into the sky piercing the heavens and spread out like a mushroom of shadow and purple haze far above them. The alicorn stepped out from the pillar of dark energy and gazed at Trixie.
The alicorn that stepped out had rotted fur, its meat dripping from bones, its face a mask of horror. Slowly dark energy pooled around its hooves and climbed up onto its body filling in the missing chunks of meat and flesh with dark patches of slime. The thing looked on with two hollow eyes, only twin purple lights emitted from deep within those sockets.
Red swooped in and landed next to Trixie. “So this is the thing that killed them?”
Trixie glanced at her. “Them who?”
Red’s horn lit up and a crimson scythe appeared in the air next to her held in her aura. “The one that killed my alicorns.”
Trixie glanced back at the corrupted alicorn standing before them. “I doubt this is the same one, but it is one of them. If I’m guessing right based on the fact that this was being guarded by a pillar of harmony, it’s one of six.”
Red smiled. “That’s fine. It just means I get to kill more of them.”
Red charged forward in a low hanging flight. Her scythe swept forward aiming at the corrupted thing’s neck. A blade of shadow and steel appeared before the corrupted alicorn and deflected the blow. Red spun around to drive another attack at the thing’s back. It moved and dodged another one of her attacks with speed that shouldn’t belong to the dead. After Red’s attack the thing surged forward and with a flash of its blade it cut a neat line across Red’s shoulder.
Trixie flew foreword. The thing turned around and its blade was already bearing down toward Red’s neck. Trixie’s blade lashed out. The swords clashed in mid air. Trixie drove the creature back, pushing it inch by inch further into the air. She refused to let it kill Red. Not when Red was her only contact with the Alicorn Empire, she still had use.
Red appeared behind the corrupted alicorn and lashed out with a sweep of her scythe. The blow landed home against the creature’s side with enough force to send it flying back into a tree. It didn’t just hit the tree it went clear through it and landed in the dirt behind it. Red and Trixie leveled out there flight and faced toward there knocked down foe. After all that Luna had gone through to fight one of them, Trixie knew this wouldn’t be the end of the fight. This was only just beginning.
Red spoke in quick breaths. “You saved my neck.”
Trixie replied. “I kinda require that head to be attached to your body right now.”
The corrupted alicorn surged forward behind the tree leaving a trail of shadow behind it. Trixie deflected another blow from its blade. Its horn lit up and a blast of dark energy shot out toward Red. Red used her scythe to block the magic blow. The corrupted alicorn’s free leg struck and Trixie felt her face burning with cold pain as she was sent spiraling upwards. Beneath her the corrupted alicorn was unleashing a flurry of fast attacks against Red. Red parried and blocked most of them, but the odd blow would lash out and leave a nick or a cut across an exposed leg.
Trixie had to fight the force of the wind around her to stop. Once she did she channeled magic into her horn and shot a lightning bolt down at the Corrupted Alicorn. The thing dashed backwards just in time to miss the lighting. This gave Red just enough time to fly further away. The corrupted alicorn was deadly in melee, fast and powerful. So it was going to require some good team work to take it down.
The worst part had to be the fact that when Trixie got a good look at the side where Red had left the wound. The black slime seemed to have just moved over and covered the wound as if repairing the damage. What was it going to take to bring this thing down once and for all?
Red flew up higher to meet Trixie. They were both hovering above the tree line now. The corrupted alicorn rose to meet there height but did not close the distance between them. Likely wary of possible ranged magical attacks. Red wiped a hoof at her cheek but it came back crimson. “It’ll take a minute before my regeneration starts to kick in.”
Trixie growled. “What happened down there? Getting too old for this?”
Red snarled. “I’m just starting. What about you? Didn’t know you made such a good punching bag.”
If there was one thing Trixie was sure besides this being the cause of the darkness inside of the Everfree Forest. It was that this fight was only just beginning. Without a sound the corrupted alicorn charged, and Trixie flew forward to meet it.
Amber stood on the railing of balcony high up in the tower of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Out over the sea of green she could see it. Far away a pillar of darkness had erupted like a fountain into the sky covering everything with darkness. She couldn’t tell how far away it was, it was clearly so far away she couldn’t make out any other details. Even with binoculars she could only see the dark pillar. She swore she could make out what amounted to flies flying around it and the occasional beam of light.
Amber’s heart felt like a beating drum. Whatever this thing was the more she looked at it the worse she felt about it. Something dark had woken up in those woods of that she was sure. At the very least the whispering had finally stopped.
Hushpuppy joined her side. “Do you think it’s connected?”
Amber shrugged. “Maybe. The voices stopped a while before this thing appeared.”
Hushpuppy nodded. “Yeah, but now I feel like there’s something far worse out there then whispers.”
A quiet voice appeared behind them and answered. “That’s because it is.”
Amber and Hushpuppy turned around to see Val join them on the balcony. Her one good eye was staring out over the woods with an intense stare. “There’s one of the monsters out there.”
Amber swallowed. “Monster?”
Val spoke quietly. “One of the ones that nearly killed me, mom, and Luna.”
Amber looked again. “Oh no, no, no, we need to leave. All of us now.”
Val shook her head. “No point, you can’t outrun them. But, we’re safe here.”
Amber glared at her. “Oh yeah?”
“This place is safe, and the monster is fighting for its life. It will die soon, I’m sure.”
Amber looked back at the pillar of shadows rising into the sky. “So, something is out there fighting it? Something that can kill it? What’s strong enough to do something like that?”
Val smiled. “The Greatest Alicorn in Equestria.”
Amber felt her lower lip tremble. “Mom…”
***
Out in the horizon the endless length of lush jungle had finally shown itself. Rainbow Dash marched to the edge of the Wind Rider and stared forward. Further on ahead, deep into the jungle she could see what looked like an orange ball of light. It was easily the size of an entire mountain and looked really hot. From what Luna had explained, that was what was left of Sunset Shimmer. She had turned herself into a miniature sun…
“What did Twilight drag my daughter into?”
Rainbow couldn’t allow her heart to be weak, not right now. She had to be strong, Blackout needed her. Those survivors of Sunset’s team needed her. She was a hero, a knight, and a total badass, she wasn’t going to let a little emotional weakness stop her. Yet she couldn’t completely burry the feelings rising in her chest. That miniature sun wasn’t just Sunset’s grave, it was also Wind Rider’s…
Starlight appeared by her side. “So, that’s what she did?”
Rainbow glanced up at Starlight. “Yeah, I guess so. Had to go out in a blaze of glory.”
Starlight frowned. “That joke’s in poor taste.”
Rainbow forced a grin. “It’s not a joke, it’s a compliment.”
Starlight shrugged. “At least we know that it’ll stall whatever was there. It might have even destroyed it. No telling until after this is said and done.”
Rainbow flexed her left wing and felt the muscles tighten and relax. She then did the same for her other wing. She was strong, fit, and ready for this. Out of everypony she was the only one strong enough, fast enough, and experienced enough to handle this crap, but boy did she wish that Fluttershy was here right then. Just having a pony she knew was stronger than her would have made this venture feel much more secure. Out there she knew the threats, hordes of undead, dragons, and likely even a Corrupted Alicorn if not two. The last two of the Corrupted Alicorns could be anywhere… at least there were only two left, and once they were gone the biggest threats would be gone with them. If they encountered one, Rainbow had to make sure to put it down, no matter what she had to sacrifice to do so… it was the only way to make sure that Blackout would not only be safe now, but stay safe in the future.
Starlight spoke quietly. “You know you don’t have to look so serious. This is already the grave of one of Blackout’s parents, don’t let it become two.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “I’m the best darn flier in Equestria, you think I’m going to die here?”
Starlight offered a weak smile. “Of course not. You’re too awesome for that.”
***
Trixie felt the air whip at her mane and burn her exposed cuts. Her body was already starting to heal itself, alicorn as she was but that did not prevent her from taking a deadly blow if she wasn’t careful. Red was hovering next to her as they both faced down the corrupted alicorn that stood before them.
The blade of the corrupted alicorn was like crystallized shadow and just looking at it gave Trixie chills. There was something about it, something felt wrong, deeply wrong and familiar. Thoughts back to that mountain that near New Slate where the abandoned mines, the deep ones, the dark crystals that grew in abundance there all came crawling back to her mind. Could this sword, these Corrupted Alicorns have some kind of connection to the dark god she met in those caves?
The very same god that first took over Twilight and corrupted her…
It was a stupid idea but Trixie decided to tempt fate and reach out mentally towards the Corrupted Alicorn. She could feel the bottomless cold and dark inside it. A deep resounding power was somewhere behind it, something larger, darker, and more powerful than she could ever hope to understand.
A voice she only heard on the darkest nights in her deepest nightmares echoed from inside the corrupted alicorn’s head. “Hello again, Trixie.”
Trixie roared as she withdrew from the thing’s mind. Her own consciousness was burned by the cold, half of her face felt numb, but besides all of that she felt rage renew inside her body. “Deep One! I will destroy you!”
The corrupted alicorn charged forward. For the first time it spoke. Its voice caused her muscles to quiver with fear. “You cannot destroy destiny. You cannot destroy fate. You cannot destroy us.”
Trixie rushed forward and her blade clashed into the creature’s. They spun in a circle and began to dive toward the earth. Trixie slashed, stabbed and swung at the thing. It dodged or parried all of her blows with ease. Its hollow eyes glowed with hateful intent and she felt a blast of cold energy wash her side as the thing’s tail whipped around and slammed into her. She went flying sideways and pulled up just in time to avoid slamming into a tree. There was no time to stop as the corrupted alicorn was hot on her tail. She flew up and saw Red waiting just above the tree line.
Just as the alicorn reached the top of the trees the red scythe lashed out and hit the thing dead center in its waist and sent it rolling backwards in the air. Black ink like blood sprayed from the wound as it rolled. It stopped itself just in time to be hit by a barrage of crimson beams of energy. Each one exploding on contact. Trixie watched as it was sent flying into the forest once more.
It was quiet for just long enough for Trixie to land on a tree branch. She winced as her side ached with frozen pain. Her side was bruised from where the thing’s impossibly tough tail hit her. She looked over to Red who joined her side.
Red smirked. “You’ve lost your touch.”
“Don’t care, I felt that thing’s mind. The thing is a hollow shell but what’s inside it… what’s behind it.”
Red shook her head. “I just can’t believe this is ‘the’ Deep One’s doing. This is the work of the Pony of Shadows.”
Trixie felt a shiver run down her spine. “What if, what if there one in the same?”
Red growled. “You mean what we call the Pony of Shadows might actually be the Deep One?”
Trixie felt another shiver run through her as the air took on a much colder touch. The Corrupted Alicorn was already flying out of the woods. Trixie shook her head. “Maybe?”
Red shrugged. “Let’s go hit up a library after this and find out. For now, we need to end this thing’s existence.”
The corrupted alicorn’s horn began to do something Trixie could only describe as devouring all light around it. Like a pitch black aura only darker still. It aimed it’s horn at Trixie and unleashed a beam of dark energy. Red jumped to the side and flew forward scythe held back ready to strike. Trixie summoned forth a shield around herself. The moment the beam struck her shield the tree she was on exploded with splinters and wood flying everywhere bouncing off her shield and cutting into nearby forest. She was thrown back with the shield cracking at the seams but holding sturdy enough as she flew back into branches breaking them upon contact.
Red reached the Corrupted Alicorn and lashed out with her scythe. The corrupted Alicorn’s blade blocked the blow and then his horn turned on Red. Red surrounded herself in a similar bubble shield but was thrown into the hard earth from the force of the blast with enough force to create a small crater. The beam stopped and Trixie saw Red standing there. Her shield torn to shreds but still hanging. Her yellow fur stained red from many wounds. Her hair hung over her face and it looked like one her legs was unable to support her weight anymore.
Just one attack brought Red down. Another one like that and even Red would be…
The corrupted alicorn’s horn took on that dark light again. Trixie couldn’t let this come to pass. She charged forward. Her speed felt slow in comparison to what she needed. She watched as the beam lashed out and went sailing toward Red. Trixie screamed for all she was worth.
A mist formed in front of Red and the shape of a unicorn was seen for just a moment before the beam of energy hit. Trixie cried out as the beam exploded into a cloud of dirt and debris. Trixie felt electrified as she charged head first into the alicorn. She aimed her horn toward the creature’s side and slammed into it as hard as she could. Once she felt her horn pierce its flesh she channeled lightning into her horn and sent it running through the alicorn. She watched as the thing flew off into the tree line.
Trixie hung there in the air for a good few seconds before lowering herself. She was sure it wasn’t enough to kill it, but her brain was still somewhat working. She had to find Mistmane, and run. She couldn’t defeat this thing here. Not alone.
She looked over at the crater and saw it as just an empty dirt hole. Around her she couldn’t see anyone until her eyes spotted two ponies at the edge of the clearing. Red was lying down and Mistmane stood next to her. Mistmane’s body was partially formed of mist and was quickly solidifying as her horn took on a whispy white glow and began to cover Red’s body.
Trixie smiled. Red was okay. She was okay and so was Mistmane. With that done she could take them both and run. This Corrupted thing could rot here for all she cared.
The forest exploded out toward Trixie and she saw the corrupted alicorn charging her. Where her blast had hit earlier there were now three tendrils made of the black tar. Trixie raised her blade and blocked the thing’s blow. It was like she tried to block a train. The force of the blow was so strong that even with her telekinetic aura holding the sword she was somehow thrown backward off her hooves and over the clearing. The corrupted alicorn’s horn lit up and a beam of dark energy three times larger than the last blasted out toward her.
Trixie raised her shield, but she had zero confidence that a beam three times larger was something she could deal with. Her world was consumed by literal darkness as the beam washed over her and her shield.
The jungle beneath them was rolling by at a faster pace than before. Rainbow had encountered few signs of life, undead or otherwise here. The miniature sun was massive, it was as large as any of the mountains near it, if not larger still and seemed to be incinerating the sea of purple slime surrounding it. If Sunset had to go out, Rainbow had to admit, she went out with style.
They were heading toward the old royal guard tower. She could already see a group of ponies on top of it. There was Twilight, small and unicorn with two eyes and an odd colored scarf around her neck. Some pink pony next to her. A large lump hidden behind them covered in a hooded cloak. Finally she saw the one pony that mattered, the gray overweight pegasus that had meant the whole world to her.
Luna was nearby and reached out toward Rainbow while attempting to say, “Rainbow, wait-“
Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait, she was the fastest pony in Equestria and waited for no god. She was already off the ship and soaring through the air before Luna could finish her sentence. Rainbow landed on the top of the old tower right in front of Blackout and nearly jumped into her daughter as she threw her legs around her and dragged her into a tight embrace.
Rainbow held her close. “You know you’re grounded for life right?”
Blackout held her in return. “Mom… he’s gone. He sacrificed himself to save us…”
Rainbow held her close. “I… I’m so sorry.” Wind Rider was right; he did die before Blackout turned eighteen. She just wanted to protect her daughter from him, to keep her safe. Now though… now she had to wonder if Blackout was really the one she was protecting by separating those two.
Rainbow glanced over at Twilight. Twilight couldn’t seem to look her in the eyes and was fidgeting nervously. Honestly Rainbow Dash didn’t have many words for her, but somehow seeing her now, a lot of the anger she held for Twilight’s betrayals was gone. She felt something else deep down. Pity? Sorrow? She just wanted the old days back where she could trust Twilight and they were friends. Those times were gone now.
Luna appeared along with the rest of the ship next to the side of the old tower. Her giant body was as light as a feather and graceful as a butterfly as she landed next to Twilight. Watching Luna hug Twilight was almost like watching someone eat something with their entire body. Twilight simply vanished beneath those legs and wings. Luna’s head leaned down behind the wings and Rainbow could hear her whisper, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”
Once Luna finally pulled away she saw Twilight there smiling. She looked so young, so happy. When was the last time Twilight looked honest to goodness happy? Even Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember. Was Twilight ever happy after becoming an alicorn? Did she miss something? Something important?
Twilight shook herself and although still smiling she trotted over to the lump of a giant pony hiding in a cloak. “Okay, we need to get everypony on board and get them out of here. We have one injured.” Twilight’s horn lit up and the giant lump was slowly lifted into the air.
A mean voice shot out at Twilight. “Do not lift me like some kind of child!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “The moment you can walk again I’ll listen to you.”
Rainbow sent Blackout onto the ship where the pink pegasus was already sitting. Starlight was there keeping an eye out for everything around them. That voice had sounded familiar and Rainbow wasn’t about to let some mysterious mare on her ship. She and Luna both seemed to have the same idea as they blocked Twilight’s path while she held the hidden pony.
Rainbow spoke first. “Who’s that?”
Twilight swallowed. “Um… the last member of our party.”
Luna’s horn lit up and the hood drew back revealing a face Rainbow had never hoped to see again. Queen Chrysalis was floating there. She looked tired but she was sure to be as dangerous and vengeful as she always was.
Rainbow growled. “You let my baby girl be near that monster?”
Twilight retorted. “She saved us all, you’re daughter would be dead if not for her.”
“Well she didn’t save Wind Rider.”
Twilight growled. “No one could have. By the time he… she was already injured.”
Luna added. “Twilight, despite what she may, or may not have done here, she has still been an enemy of Equestria for longer than even I can remember. We cannot allow her to be on one of our ships.”
Twilight opened her mouth to protest but Queen Chrysalis interrupted. “She’s right. I am the monster. If you should bring me back to Equestria, who knows what I’ll do? I might just eat everypony alive on the way to the ship. You’d be wise to leave me here if you value your life.”
Twilight glanced back at her. “I’m not leaving you.”
Queen Chrysalis’s horn lit up and a beam of green energy flew out and hit the ground near Twilight’s hooves. Twilight stared down at it for a moment and then grinned. “You missed.”
Chrysalis growled and shot another. This time Twilight yelped and dropped Queen Chrysalis hard onto the earth. Twilight bent over and rubbed at her leg. Rainbow felt her eyebrows rise. The second blast clearly missed Twilight’s leg, so how did she get hurt?
Chrysalis sat up. She leaned awkwardly and looked over Twilight’s fallen form. “I… are you okay?”
Twilight smiled and laughed. “I knew you cared.”
“Shut up and show the others where you’re hurt you vile unicorn!” Chrysalis demanded.
Twilight stood up and shook herself clean of the dirt she landed on. “I’m not hurt. I faked it.”
Chrysalis tried to rise, failed and settled on laying down. “Why would you do such a thing? Now of all times when so much has already been lost!”
Twilight turned and faced Rainbow Dash and Luna. “To prove to them that you’re not the same evil pony you used to be. That you’re my friend.”
Chrysalis growled. “So you used me?”
Twilight shrugged lifted Chrysalis in her telekinetic aura again and met Rainbow’s eyes. “If you insist she stays here, I stay too. I will drag her back to safety if I have to.”
Rainbow blinked. This obviously had to be some kind of ruse. She opened her mouth to argue when Blackout’s voice came out from behind her. “Mom, I’ve already seen two ponies die, please don’t make me watch anymore of my friends die too.”
It was like a thousand splinters of pain exploded inside Rainbow’s chest. She closed her eyes and forced out a growl. “Fine, Twilight, get her on the ship and keep her somewhere I don’t have to look at her.”
Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. You have every right not to trust me, but thank you for letting me at least save one pony.”
Rainbow spat. “Now!”
Twilight hurried onto the ship with her villainous alley. Luna leaned down and whispered, “What did Twilight do to make Chrysalis care?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Be herself I guess. Like, her real self.”
Rainbow and Luna joined onto the ship as well and without a second thought they began their journey towards home. Rainbow Dash just wanted to get out of here and to stop worrying about all this mess already. She got her kid, got her ex friend, and saved Sunset’s group. Now she just had too-
Luna pointed toward the horizon with a shout, “Corrupted Alicorn!”
Rainbow Dash followed her hoof and felt her heart drop further still. On the horizon and heading toward them fast, she could see it. It was some kind of rotten alicorn, with bits of bone exposed and a hollow stare, it was heading straight for them. She knew this was bound to happen, but she had prayed she wouldn’t have to deal with this.
Yet she was Rainbow Dash, she was the only pony who could deal with this.
***
Trixie laid there. Her body ached and burned. The cool forest floor was beneath her. All around her she could see broken trees and cratered earth. By her side her sword lay uselessly. Once more she tried to push herself up, but her legs refused to listen to her. It didn’t help that one of them was bent in the wrong direction.
Up in the air she could see the Corrupted Alicorn. It was staring down at her. Above its horn a ball of black energy was steadily growing. It was only about the size of the creature’s head at the moment but she couldn’t tell how large it was going to get before it was done charging the spell.
This was it. With her body broken, her magic frayed, and her ability to defend herself gone she was going to die. She should have known these creatures were too dangerous to take on directly. Even with two alicorns against it, the thing had prevailed with hardly any damage. These truly were monsters.
She was not at all ready to take on Twilight’s role. This wasn’t her purpose, or her destiny. She’d spent most of her adult life as a traveling magician and a teacher. Not as a hero or a fighter. She was about to leave a widowed wife and two heartbroken children behind.
A strong male voice broke her thought pattern. “You look pathetic lying there.”
Trixie looked up to see the white deer king standing above her. King Aspen was his name as Red had explained to her. He looked down with emerald eyes that shined against the black background. “I did not release my crown to you so you could just go and die.”
Trixie laughed and spat out some crimson globs. “Yeah, well I can’t do much about that.”
King Aspen shook his head. “You wield the power of the Everfree, the Heart of the Everfree is on your head right now. Still, even after all this combat.”
Trixie glanced up, she did indeed still retain her crown. Its soft magic was warm against her scalp. Yet even if she still had it, “What’s the point?”
King Aspen’s eyes lit up and she felt magic starting to pour into her from the crown. The amount of magic pouring into her very soul was more than she’d thought possible from a little gem. Only the Alicorn Amulet had such power in the past, and even it paled in comparison to this. She looked up at the King but he had vanished and instead saw the ball of dark energy high above her. The thing was massive now. Easily the size of a two story building. The Corrupted Alicorn, if it had retained eyes would have been staring directly at her.
The magic from the crown continued to poor into her, yet it didn’t mend her broken body. It wasn’t enough to move. Even if she used a spell here, what could she do to really stop this thing?
The corrupted Alicorn threw his head back and slammed it forward as if he was head butting an invisible wall. The ball of energy launched downward toward her. Trixie tried once more to rise but her body refused. Even with this crown she was going to still die here.
Maud, Valiant, Amber, she could see them in her mind clear as day. The ponies she loved the most, her family. They needed her to stay there for them. To protect them. With Twilight gone, who else could keep her family safe?
For the first time since she got her she realized one other thing that set her heart aflame. Once the Corrupted Alicorn was done here, the castle of the Two Sisters was only a short flight away. If it so chose, it could go there and, and, and…
The ball of energy had consumed the trees above her that still stood as well as everything else in front of her. Trixie’s heart leapt up and the magic going into her doubled. Her body seemed to move of its own accord. Broken and battered Trixie pushed herself up and screamed at the ball of energy. Her horn lit up and lavender electricity surged in every direction. A blast of lightning shot forward and slammed into the dark energy. She wasn’t going to die here. Not to this thing, not to something that could hurt her family.
Trixie screamed louder as the ball of energy, although slowed by her efforts still came down toward her. This was not the end of The Great and Powerful Trixie! How could it be? Windigo, Ursa Major, and Frailty couldn’t stop her, neither could this jerk.
The ball of energy came crashing down all around her but Trixie felt nothing. The ball seemed to have bend and twisted around her and her blast of magic. She looked and saw it. Lightning formed a cage around her. A cage that the darkness couldn’t pass. The bolt of lightning shot through the darkness and into the air. The sky above erupted into a brilliant flash of lightning and an explosion of thunder. Rain began to pour down from the heavens.
The dark energy seemed to dissipate around her and Trixie’s lightning cage vanished. Her body was healed though still stained crimson. Her sword floated by her side and she could feel something had changed. Trixie looked down at a nearby puddle forming from the rain. It was hard to make out at first, but she could see herself. Her hair was frayed and stuck out on end, her body was decorated in a lavender armor, and her head still topped by the green crown of the Everfree.
Trixie had seen such a transformation only twice in the past. Once when she was fighting the Ursa Minor, and once again when Twilight had lost her mind after Luna’s injury. The very same event that cost Twilight her wing and eye. Of course something was different as well. Though Trixie felt more magic coursing through her veins than ever before, she still felt normal. She felt in control, and calm. Her emotions hadn’t risen to a point of destruction or rage. She was in complete control of herself.
Trixie flared her wings and lighting and thunder flashed in the sky above as if to proclaim her new form’s existence to the uncaring gods. Trixie looked up at the Corrupted Alicorn. No time to play, she’d wasted enough time here and put everypony at risk already. It was time to end this.
With a flap of her wings Trixie shot into the sky trailing lighting behind her. She was fast, so fast that it wasn’t even the blink of an eye before she was in front of the Corrupted Alicorn’s face. The thing moved as if in slow motion reacting to her sudden charge. Was this how Rainbow Dash viewed the world?
Trixie brought back her hoof and struck the thing in the face. Lighting exploded all around her and she watched as the creature was sent into the earth covered in electricity. He landed with enough force to create a small crater and she shot down toward it. Her blade seemed to split into two and with realization she was now holding a blade of pure electricity on her left and her father’s sword on her right. She plunged both blades into the Corrupted Alicorn’s chest and watched as its glowing eyes began to fade. With a grunt of effort she ripped the blades out sideways watching as gore, bone, and slime exploded in either direction of the creature.
The thing’s eyes faded. Its body began to bubble and boil. Trixie instinctively teleported away and watched as its body exploded into spikes of dark piercing energy. Once the explosion died down she saw the creature’s body there. Slowly it began to melt away and exposed bone. The bones were old, ancient even, and became dust as they were exposed to the air.
Once the creature was gone. Fully gone. Trixie turned to see Red staring at her with two wide eyes. Mistmane nodded in approval. Trixie took a step toward them and she watched as Red took a single step back before seeming to regain her composer. Mistmane smiled and spoke, “Well done. I was afraid only Princess Celestia would have been able to pull off such a feat… if you can defeat one of them, we should probably hurry. My allies, the other Pillars of Equestria will need us.” She waited a moment before her ears folded back. “Well, those who are still alive.”
She’d thought she’d finally done it. Rainbow Dash had finally achieved a power so great, so fast and so cool she thought she could defeat Fluttershy. Of course now that she was lying on her back in the mud, her body aching and twitching, she realized she’d been a fool for thinking she could ever defeat Fluttershy. Hopefully Twilight’s assessment of this battle wouldn’t be too harsh on her, Rainbow already felt like the mud she was lying in for losing again. She also felt, smaller, younger… it was an odd feeling to say the least.
Fluttershy landed next to where Rainbow Dash lay in the mud. Her eyes still had the red coloring of her batpony form but she was otherwise normal. Fluttershy stared down at her. “You almost got me that time.”
Rainbow stared into the sky with a falling heart. “Yeah, sure. You still didn’t use your full strength to stop me. Like, can you read minds or something like Pinkie?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I’ve just learned how to fight you. You’re fast, you’re also very powerful, and that rainbow thing you did was really cool and bright, but you’re fighting style is still very easy to read. Of course most anyone you fight won’t be able to see you to learn your style when you’re doing that rainbow thing so uh… um, it doesn’t matter?”
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. You’ve just had too much practice against me so even if you can’t see me you know what I’m going to do anyway.”
Fluttershy nodded.
A second pair of hooves came crunching from the underbrush. Rainbow Dash looked over at Twilight. She was taller than she had been just a few years ago. In fact she was almost as tall as Big Mac now, it always felt a little awkward to look up at her. She had a wide eye as she stared down at Rainbow Dash.
Yep, her came the scolding for not being very efficient.
Twilight’s voice came out like a sharp knife. “Do you have any idea what you just did?”
Rainbow Dash ground her teeth. “I lost.”
“No, I mean what you just did to yourself?”
Rainbow Dash looked over at her. “Uh… become a living rainbow?”
Twilight looked up at the sky. Rainbow followed her gaze. Several of the clouds in the sky had rainbow colored holes torn through them from the battle. It was as fierce as it was short. “You know by now that every time you do a sonic rainboom you regress in age, you actually become two weeks younger. That rainbow thing you just did, it sped your body up so much to such an impossible extent that every single second you were in that form you were growing younger by days and weeks. I estimate for every minute you’ve spend in that form you’ve grown a year younger.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “A whole year!”
Twilight nodded. “I’ve already come to terms with the fact you’ll be immortal thanks to your speedy hijinks, but this, this is dangerous. I’m sure your body can only regress to a certain age before it can no longer hold the power, but I would say your body might be only nineteen years old again. If you use that power again who knows how young you’ll become.”
Rainbow Dash stared back up at the sky. “So uh… guess this is something I can’t really practice with then.”
“It’s something you can’t use again.”
Fluttershy added, “There was a reason I stopped you so quickly. As much fun as it was to see your power and speed, I could tell it was doing something bad to you.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. “So I finally find a power that lets me be close to beating Fluttershy and it’s too dangerous to use. How is life supposed to be fair…”
***
Rainbow Dash barely had enough time to tell the others, “Get moving, I’ll catch up.” Before she leapt into the air and sped toward the corrupted alicorn at full speed. Rainbow Dash was still faster than this thing even with her base speed and power, she threw a hoof into its face and knocked it aside.
The thing went flying a few feet before looking back at her. Dark magic bled from its horn and tendrils of energy lashed out at her. She flew around and between them with ease. Once more Rainbow flew in for a hit but was met with some kind of dark gray bubbled shield. She flew up and beams of black energy began flying in her direction. The thing’s attacks were steadily getting faster.
With that shield in place and the magic being unleashed at her she realized she needed to end this quickly. Which she could do with ease. After all this wasn’t even her final form.
It had been a few years since she’d even attempted this but it was time to try again. Rainbow Dash took off into the sky leaving a rainbow colored trail behind her. She broke through the purple clouds and kept going up. Once she was up high enough she looped around and began heading toward the ground and the corrupted alicorn. Her body tensed, energy surged through her and she watched as the world exploded around her in a wave of rainbow energy shoving the clouds away and allowing a beam of direct sunlight to come down onto the blighted forest below. She could see the corrupted alicorn down there looking up at her.
Rainbow Dash increased her speed, felt more energy building up. So much energy it almost hurt. Just as she reached the corrupted fiend she exploded a second time and shoved her hoof at the shield. The shield crumbled and she went straight on through to smash her hoof against the thing’s face. It went sailing down and into the ground breaking trees and shaking the earth.
Rainbow Dash didn’t have to look at herself to know how she looked. She’d seen it before and her rainbow colored hooves were proof enough that she’d done it. Her entire body was covered by a layer of rainbow energy, her mane and tail would be flowing as if being blown by a non existent wind and everywhere she moved she left a rainbow trail and sparkles behind.
Rainbow Dash also knew the extreme price for using this form and needed to take down the creature once and for all immediately. The air rippled and grew cold in front of her as the Corrupted Alicorn teleported. Rainbow Dash grinned. “I haven’t had to use this in years. Consider yourself lucky.”
Dark magic surged forth from its horn but it was so slow now. Rainbow moved around it and hit the thing in its side. It went sailing away from her as the magic was abruptly stopped. She flew ahead of it and hit it again sending in yet another direction. Once more Rainbow Dash flew ahead of it and hit it again. It was like playing tennis with herself and the corrupted alicorn was the ball. Finally she hit it with both of her forelegs smashing it down toward the earth. It hit the forest and carved a massive trench dozens of feet wide and maybe a hundred long with its body.
It wasn’t going to be dead just yet. Rainbow Dash charged toward it. She could see it, the things body was all twisted and mangled. It was leaking dark liquid everywhere. One more attack and it would be finished. This time she was ending it.
The energy collected around her hoof becoming an orb of rainbow and glitter. Rainbow Dash collided with the creature shoving the orb of energy into its face and as the orb exploded she leapt back. She watched the explosion of rainbow energy consume and devour the thing’s head and upper torso. Once it was gone all that was left was a pair of legs. Rainbow let the energy flow out of her body, she felt weaker, younger.
Rainbow noticed the legs were still twitching. It was dead now, or at least dead again. How could it still twitch? She cautiously approached and saw it leaking a pool of dark liquid still. This was unsettling to say the least. Rainbow turned to go back to the ship her job was done here.
A blade of dark energy lashed out from the pool and Rainbow Dash had just enough time to duck her head and body to the side. The blade cut through her right wing and white hot pain shot through Rainbow’s body. She rolled to the side screaming as the burning increased tenfold. She looked over and saw the blade of dark energy turn into tendrils. The tendrils were wrapped around a blue wing some feet away from her and the wing was turning into ash from its touch. Just as quickly as the blade appeared the tendrils were gone along with the blue wing.
Despite her screaming and agony she knew where that blue wing had come form but couldn’t’ believe it. Looking over to her right side she saw it. Where her wing had once been was a stub, cauterized and twitching but no wing. Rainbow Dash tried to move, to run to flap her other wing but everything she did hurt. It hurt so bad to move.
Rainbow Dash pushed through the pain and took a few steps. The airship was up above her. She could make it, she had to. Darkness encroached around her vision and with one more step it consumed her entirely.
***
Blackout watched as her mom used power the likes of which she’d never seen before. Then she watched as she killed the Corrupted Alicorn as if it were nothing. Finally she watched as the thing took her mom’s wing and left Rainbow Dash lying wounded and unconscious on the ground.
Twilight, Luna and Starlight had seen the fight but there attention was elsewhere as a looming shadow overhead grew ever closer. The temperature dropped as black flames washed over the ship. If not for those three using their combined magic to create a shield around the ship the flames would have eaten them all alive.
Yet there lay Rainbow Dash, on the ground, vulnerable, dying. Blackout was about to lose another parent. Something inside her began to break, something that was important that she knew she was supposed to have. Her mother lay there, broken, dying, and about to leave for good. She’d already watched her dad die, she wasn’t about to let her mother go too.
With the rest of the ponies stuck shielding the ship from cold dragon’s fire Blackout felt that important thing snap inside her head and her heart. Her body seemed to move on its own and she took flight into the air. She heard somepony screaming her name but it was quickly covered by the sound of a dragon’s roar. Blackout flew up into the air and flew high. She then turned and dived toward the ground as fast as she could. Her body was usually heavy and hard to control but this one time her body was fast, easy to move, and was speeding up faster than she ever expected.
Blackout let out a roar of her own as she sped toward the earth where her mother's body lay. The air around her burst into black lightning. The faster she got the more something built up inside her. It was like electricity, burning hot throughout her body. With one final push for speed the world around her exploded into a pure blackness that she left behind the moment it appeared. She reached her mother’s body and swooped into pick her up. Rainbow Dash didn’t weigh nearly as much as Blackout assumed she would. Her speed was still impossibly fast as she made her way back to the ship and landed.
She laid her mother on the ship and Twilight quickly reached their side. She was screaming but her words were muted for some reason. Twilight was quickly looking at the grizzly wound with a look of horror she’d never seen twilight wear before. The ship suddenly lurched backward and Blackout turned to see the place where the air had exploded around her.
There was a ball of dark energy growing steadily in size. Chunks of earth, entire trees, undead monsters and more were being sucked up slowly from the earth into the black sphere consuming them and growing larger with each object it devoured. Blackout turned to see even the dragon was slowly being pulled toward it. It seemed to realize the danger it was in as changed targets focusing now on blasting cold flames toward the sphere but that only quickened its growth. Even though Blackout had never seen this before, she knew it was about to get a lot worse.
Twilight screamed and her words were starting to become understandable, “-ship moving now! That’s a black hole!”
Starlight and Luna’s magic combined into a sphere around the ship and the ship began moving faster than before toward the north. Toward home. The black hole left behind was growing smaller the further they got but she watched as it finally grew to an impossible amount size and then exploded. Everything it had grabbed, every tree, piece of earth, boulder or body was flung forward like a deadly projectile. It was only by pure luck they had gotten just far enough away that the projectiles wouldn’t reach them but that dragon was too close. The massive undead was torn the shreds and speared by dozens of trees.
Blackout stared in amazement. Had she done that? Was that what she was capable of?
Her stomach began to grumble and she felt entirely too weak. She looked down at herself and her eyes grew in horror. She was skinny. Her legs were almost bone and lean muscle, her stomach wasn’t rounded it was princess thin. Whatever that power she just used was, it seemed to make her skinny, skinny and beyond starving for food.
She glanced at her mom and frowned. Rainbow Dash was breathing, she was okay and somewhere safe, thanks to her. But, her wing… her wing was gone. When Rainbow Dash woke up she’d be devastated to find out. Yet she was alive and for Blackout that was all that mattered.
Trixie had left Red to her own devices and was carrying Mistmane on her back. The old mare still had plenty of energy left and seemed to be recovering by the moment. With the discovery of Mistmane everything was going to change, and one of the biggest ones was going to be there next goal. Finding whatever remained of the Guardians of Harmony.
Trixie found the old Castle of the Two Sister’s easily enough and landed in the courtyard. It took no longer than a few seconds after she let Mistmane down before the air popped sizzled and grew warm next to her as a bubble of fire appeared and from it appeared Amber. Amber didn’t hesitate to essentially pick Trixie up and suck her into an embrace so tight it almost hurt.
Amber spoke, “MOM! You’re here!”
Trixie laughed and wrapped her legs around Amber. She felt a lot more muscular than she had before, benefits of Fluttershy’s intense training no doubt. “Of course I am. How could I not come visit my baby?”
Moments later Valiant Heart and Maud appeared. Trixie had to force herself away from Amber to go hug Val. “I’m so glad you’re here for them when I can’t be.”
Val buried her tiny head into Trixie’s shoulder. “Mmhmm!”
Maud approached them and smiled. “Lulu.”
“Maud.”
Maud looked Trixie’s mane up and down and let out a sigh. She somehow had a hairbrush on her person, maybe she’d been hanging out with Rarity too much again. She grabbed some of Trixie’s tangled messy mane. “If you’re going to be out on adventures you need to at least make yourself presentable.”
Trixie yelped as Maud worked through painful knots. “Maud, I just got done with a- ow!- fight. Of course my mane is- aah.”
Maud shook her head. “No excuses. I might have to punish you later for this.”
Trixie suddenly let go of Valiant heart and swallowed. “Um… you know, I have some free time… maybe I should just get my punishment over with, um, now?”
Maud gave her a level look that could mean anything. “Girls, me and Trixie have some important and private things to discuss. Go play with your cousins.”
Valiant Heart sniffed the air and made a disgusted face. Amber rolled her eyes. “You’ve been married for how long and you’re still bucking like teenagers. I get less action then you two.”
Trixie and Maud both shot a glare at Amber and spoke together. “You should not be getting any ‘action’!”
Amber rubbed at the back of her head. “Heh… um, yeah. I was just joking.”
Trixie glanced back at Mistmane who was staring at the castle with an odd look in her eyes. “Mistmane, this is my family, the tall one is my daughter Amber, the short one is my other daughter Valiant Heart. They’ll take you somewhere you can rest so we will continue our discussion later.”
Mistmane nodded. “Of course. Please tend to your wife’s needs. I’ll be patient, if the world could wait a thousand years for me then I’m sure it will wait a few more hours.”
Trixie nodded and looked back at Maud. “I suppose it’s time for my punishment now.”
Maud nodded. “Follow me, you naughty pony.”
Trixie never felt so happy to be in trouble in her whole life.
***
Fang stood in the new tunnel setting up dynamite into holes dug into the wall. The short rest was needed and the new task was helpful but they continued to send him to these new tunnels day after day. He proved he could survive using dynamite but he could only assume the ponies were still trying to kill him.
It wasn’t until today that things felt a little different, a little strange. The guards who were supposed to be watching him were both facing away and watching the tunnel with weapons drawn as if they expected trouble. Fang was there with one other, a pony with dirty brown fur and a silvered mane.
The pony spoke. “You hear about Applecore? Got locked up in the box for bad behavior.”
Fang grunted. He’d heard, it’s happened before, but Applecore would be released and live some more. At least until he didn’t.
The pony continued. “Things are getting weird here too. Guards are on edge.”
Fang glanced back at the guards who seemed to not be paying attention. They were busy sharing a flask of purple liquid that smelled faintly of grapes and something… else.
The pony continued. “I hear some guards are going missing. Same with some miners.”
Fang glanced at him and spoke in a low gravely voice. “Talking not good, guard get mad.”
The pony chuckled and set his pick axe down. “I don’t think they care. Hey, guards do you mind if we go on break?”
The guards didn’t respond.
He spoke again. “Whoohoo, guards, what if we just walk on out of here? Is that okay?”
Fang looked at the guards. They hadn’t even turned in their direction. Fang set down the dynamite. “Why, guard not yell or beat you?”
The pony smiled far too wide for something living as a prisoner. Fang watched cautiously as the pony walked up to the guard and tapped on the guard’s flank. “Man, I don’t think there all the way here today. Must be sick. Could be something they drank.”
Fang picked up a pickaxe with his one good hand and walked up the other guard. He walked to face the guard. The guard’s eyes were pitch black holes, the sockets were leaking some kind of purple ooze. There was a similar substance coming from their lips. Fang glanced at the pony who smiled and spoke full of cheer. “Don’t drink the wine, I think it might be infected with something.”
Fang gripped his pickaxe tighter. “Who are you?”
The pony smiled from ear to ear, his teeth jagged and sharp, his eyes took on a purplish hue. “Why, I’m the hero who’s ending this prison of slavery and death. If you wish to regain your honor, to dig freely, to visit your kin, come with me and after we pick up a few friends things should be pretty good.”
The pony began walking away. Fang looked at the guards, they were perfect statues but he couldn’t tell if they were dead or not. Streams of purple liquid were beginning to run down their eyes like tears. If he stayed he’d be blamed for this, so he wasn’t given much an option but to leave. If he was going though he wasn’t going to go without some measure of protection. He picked up the bag of dynamite, slung it over his shoulder and followed after the strange brown pony. Once he was out of here he would go visit his kin, assuming any were left alive.
He thought he’d be here until he died, but this was a chance at freedom. Forced upon him or not, he was still going to take it.
“This form is not the most comfortable fit I’ll have you know.” The voice came from a red cloaked pony that stood upon an empty stage.
From somewhere offstage another voice replied with some joy in their tone, “Oh silly, this is exactly what you wanted the whole time. Don’t try and act like it’s not.” “Sophie, this… no your right. I am a big pony now, I can do this.”
The pony cleared their voice and looked out into the empty crowd of nopony. “Welcome one and welcome all, to the greatest show of them all. A tale of hope and broken friendships, a story of ultimate darkness in a world once so full of light. Today we watch the end of the world, but I assure you, it’ll be well worth the ride.”
“See I told you that you could do it.”
“Oh shush you, your mom’s a weirdo psychic.” “Which one?”
***
Celestia stood in her throne room, besides her was her sister, they stared out the broken murals, now windows cast into the open red sky to show the flames flicking toward the heavens. Screams sounded from out there, and smoke choked the sky with tendrils of black cloud streaming through the crimson scene. It was a red dawn if she’d ever seen one.
Luna let out a sigh as she glanced toward the entrance to the throne room. “Did we fail?”
“Not yet my dear sister, after all we have broken nearly a hundred rules for this one plan have we not?”
“Not the first time, you were the one to yank Trixie’s soul violently back from the abyss”
“And I’d yank a thousand more souls back if it meant saving our world from ruin, thankfully I only needed to pull back one.”
The doors to the castle were thrown open and Celestia cast a sideways glare toward her would be intruders. A large lumbering diamond dog, one who had broken the most severe laws in the kingdom having long ago feast upon the flesh of many of her cow citizens. Besides him, though dwarfed in size, was a pony that looked altogether right and wrong at the same time. Dark fur, a green mane, and eyes that were tainted with green glowing light.
The stallion spoke as he walked forward. “My dear princesses, I’d have thought you’d be out there with my horde of diseased ponies, trying to stop the second coming of our lord smooze, to snuff out the light from our dark savior the pony of shadows. Never once did I, the Moist and Malignant Kale, thought that you’d hide away in your-“
Celestia cut him off, “I’m done now, end it.”
A single gunshot rang loudly in the confines of the hall. A moment later Kale, head now entirely missing from his shoulders, fell over onto the floor. A useless corpse that melted into a puddle of purple slime before slowly dissolving away.
Celestia fixed Fang with a glare. “I put you in a prison rather than kill you.”
Fang lifted his paws, or paw rather, and a stick of unlit dynamite fell to the floor. “Pony Princess, you have seen our attack coming?”
Celestia let out a sigh, she tired of this game. “I have seen a great deal many of things. Though we are loath to admit it, as the mortal ponies start to worship us anytime we mention it, and I do not enjoy worship as much as friendship. We alicorns are in fact actual gods.”
Her horn lit up and Fang vanished in a golden light of flames and fury. She would not give him a second chance. How many guards had he killed on his way here? Servants? Citizens? She could smell the reek of gore and death upon his teeth when he spoke. No this time, she sent him to the heart of her very own sun. Let him burn away his sins in an instant of agony. Let him be gone.
Luna stepped down from her throne and cantered down the stairs. “The illusion spell to keep you invisible worked quite well. Thank you, dear knight.”
An illusion spell faded from sight revealing a single stallion standing by the doorway, a revolver in their mouth that they slipped away into its holster. The aging pony ran a hoof through their graying mane. “Seriously, girls, if I’d thought dying would have been this much fun I’d have done it years ago”
Celestia smiled at that. “Don’t let that wind ride your sails this time, we still have work to do, then I’ll release you to your family. I think there’s a little Pegasus that would love to see her daddy again… but for now-“
The wall exploded inward and one of the undead corrupted alicorns flew toward Celestia. Hoof raised in an attack. It was nearly upon her before it froze. A golden aura surrounding it’s body. Celestia looked at it and shook her head slowly. “How rude, I was in the middle of speaking. Couldn’t you wait to die until after I finished?”
The corrupted thing’s eyes widened as the golden aura turned to golden flames. In a mere instant it went from one of the most dangerous creatures stalking this world to a pile of ashes. Celestia let out a sigh. “I had to have help from Red and save up magic for over a week just to do that… anyway as I was saying, Wind Rider, we have work to do and a city to clean up. Please try not to die this time, dragging you back from the afterlife is not an easy task. Red Velvet is already out there with the cure as we speak… so let’s go.”
***
Trixie stood on top of the ramparts to the castle of the two sisters, just since they’d arrived they’d manage to bring Ponyville’s citizens here. Checking for any signs of the corruption before letting them in, but now they were here and they were safe. The castle repairs were nearly finished as well. Over ninety percent of the castle had been rebuilt and restored. Now she stood here beside her daughter, the giant unicorn was the pride and joy of her life.
Amber spoke slowly as she stared out over the Everfree Forest around them. “Are we safe here?”
“Safer than in the town. Remember we saw the corrupted alicorn fly into there just a few hours ago. They won’t find us here.”
“Shouldn’t we like, stop it. You know, before it destroys the town or something?”
“Maybe, but my goal is to keep my family safe. I can’t do that if I’m not here.”
Trixie looked out into the sky. She could see the shape of the airship descending toward the castle. She was already aware of much of what had transpired during their trip, she just hoped that Twilight’s new friend didn’t cause too much of a stir.
The ship landed in the courtyard and Trixie spread her wings to fly down and go meet them. Amber covered herself in a pink aura and jumped out to follow. Once they landed beside the ship they waited with baited breath as the ramp descended.
Trixie saw them, and to her surprise she wasn’t ready for it even knowing what to expect. Rainbow Dash was walking down the steps, her head hung low, one wing entirely missing from her back, nary a stub left behind. Beside her was her daughter Blackout who looked awfully skinny compared to the plump little pony she was before. They glanced at Trixie and Trixie nodded for them to go the castle where Fluttershy and Pinkie nearly tackled them in their overzealous attempts to comfort Rainbow Dash. She’d be in good hooves.
Next was a pony Trixie had never seen before, a small pony named Cozy Glow if she recalled correctly. She was accompanied by Starlight Glimmer who gave them a knowing nod.
Trixie spoke up, “Cozy, you’re welcome here as long as you need. It’s safe here. We promise you.”
The mare smiled. “Please be nice to Twilight, she really helped us. All of us.”
Trixie nodded. “I forgave her awhile ago… so I’ll play nice. The great and powerful princess Trixie can only be the most nice and generous pony after all.” After those two were gone there really was only one pony left to wait for, the one that Trixie was the most nervous to see perhaps. Sure she said she’d forgiven Twilight, and she had meant it, but she was worried that her heart and her brain may not fully agree with that.
Twilight stepped down the ramp, wearing possibly the ugliest scarf that Trixie ever did see. It was just a mash of hideous colors. Besides her was the giant form of the proud Queen Chrysalis. Queen of not much anymore.
Twilight looked up to meet Trixie’s eyes, and for a moment Trixie found herself scowling. A deep boiling rage that made her want to kick Twilight right in her stupid face, but lying about the death of one’s wife would do that. Then she saw the look of pain in those eyes, there was a deep sobering agony in those eyes that made Trixie relax.
Trixie spoke quietly, “Twilight… are you and the queen okay?”
Twilight spoke her voice catching at first before it finished as nearly a whisper. “I’m sorry.”
“Trixie forgives you, now answer her question.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Trixie let out a sigh and shook her head. “Twilight Sparkle, you cannot just apologize for the rest of your life. You know this right? You must actually talk to us at some point. I am certain the others are more willing to let you back in now as well… after… well after everything we’ve been through, we can’t lose someone else we love.”
Twilight sniffled and stood up tall, or well as tall as a unicorn sized pony compared to a giant buggy alicorn could stand. “Thank you, and we’re doing good. Chrysalis has regained most of her energy and we will leave soon.”
“We? As in both of you?”
Twilight offered a sad smile. “We saw the threat in Ponyville on our way here. We’re going to go deal with it.”
“No you are not missy! You are staying here where it is safe and that is-“
Twilight and Chrysalis’s bodies flickered for a moment.
Twilight grinned. “Sorry, Trixie, but we’re already at my castle… thank you for being such a good friend over the years. I’ll make this right, just you watch.”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened. “Twilight, there are two of them!”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she pulled a sword from her side. “Then let’s go kick some alicorn butt.”
They vanished entirely from sight and Trixie felt her heart climb up into her throat. Amber’s horn lit up and she leapt into the air screaming, “NO! You idiot you can’t fight two of them!”
Trixie jumped into the air a moment later flying after her, and much to her surprise, she saw that Amber, even without wings was flying so fast with her telekinesis she’d make a younger rainbow dash jealous. “Wait up! I’m coming too! Amber!”
Amber slowed down as they sailed together over the Everfree Forest. “I’m not going back.” She’d already teleported her hammer to her side as she flew through the air toward Ponyville.
Trixie nodded. “Neither am I.” And with her she brought her father’s old sword. They were going to go kick some alicorn butt as Twilight had said.
As the pair of them drew ever closer to Ponyville they saw the large imposing form of Twilight’s castle. Once a point of pride for her, to say she was friends with the mare that lived there, it left a sour taste in her mouth ever since the revelation of Twilight’s darkness. But even so, she could not have ever wanted what happened next.
The castle exploded.
Massive chunks of the castle went sailing off in various directions as a dark explosion rang from somewhere deep inside the castle. Various debris scattered through the town slamming into the buildings below and crushing them with absolute destructive power. Trixie’s eyes widened as she saw her home town being ravaged by such destruction.
Amber cried out, “TWILIGHT!”
Trixie looked over to see the bundled shape of Twilight held in Chrysalis’s winged embrace as they fell to the earth. Landing hard in the center of a street with enough force to carve a long trench through the soil behind them.
Amber sped up flying toward them. Trixie followed.
A moment later they landed besides the crumpled form of Chrysalis and Twilight. Blood ran down Twilight’s face from a large gash in her forehead. Chrysalis was likewise injured as she looked up at them. Chrysalis hissed. “NOT HER! You don’t touch this one!”
Trixie spoke quickly. “Relax, we’re friends, we’re not the enemy.”
Chrysalis spat green blood to the side and hissed. She clearly wasn’t thinking straight after being hit by whatever kind of spell that was. Still this was dangerous, if the corrupted alicorn could do this then-
Amber turned to face the castle, hammer hung low as she walked toward it. Trixie watched as something in her daughter changed. Her eyes glowing with a baleful orange light, flames flicking off of her horn’s tip, her entire body starting to smoke as if she was on fire.
“Amber, Amber this is too much to handle, we should grab them and leave. Amber?”
Chrysalis coughed and rolled over. Limping she stood while lifting Twilight’s unconscious form onto her back. “It’s too late to flee. We fight and we die.”
“Don’t you mean ‘or’ we die?” chrysalis shook her head and the motion left a cold shiver running down Trixie’s spine.
Two shapes, small as flies but carrying the weight of mountains flew out from inside the castle. The corrupted alicorns flying toward them with such speed the air rippled behind them. Trixie’s eyes narrowed as she realized what they must have done, rather like an injured friend of hers, was it possible the dark alicorns could do a sonic boom? Is that how they destroyed the castle?
As they left a trail of shadowy darkness behind them her fears were confirmed. Trixie raised a bubble shield of crackling electricity around the group, but watched as Amber walked right through it as if it wasn’t even there.
“Get in here now! They’ll kill you!”
The moment was gone though, and the dark alicorns were there. Just as they were about to make contact with Trixie’s shield, Amber swung her hammer around. Just like a baseball bat the hammer swung true into the face of the first dark alicorn, with such devastating force that it sent the alicorn flying back across the ground and through several buildings in the blink of an eye, the buildings collapsing and flying back away with the monster only after it passed entirely through.
The second corrupted alicorn however was more lucky.
It landed on the ground, an explosion of dark energy and power so strong that it shoved Trixie back, her shield crackling and spreading large cracks throughout it from the blow as a tornado of darkness swarmed around them. Amber vanished from Trixie’s sight as the darkness enveloped them.
Chrysalis cursed. “No… no, not another kid, not another child, please no.”
Trixie stared in abject horror as the darkness began to fade and light returned. They stood now on the patch of road they were on, but a massive crater several blocks wide surrounded them. Yet Amber was nowhere to be seen.
“Amber? AMBER!”
Chrysalis stepped up beside her. “You, blue pony, we have a chance, you should take Twilight and flee.”
Trixie ignored her, dropping her broken bubble shield spell and looking over into the pit. “Baby? Mommy’s baby? Do you hear me? Amber Light, you answer right this minute damn you! ANSWER ME!”
Only silence greeted her.
Trixie felt a hollow place in her heart. She should have stopped her daughter. She should have let Twilight and chrysalis die. How could she ever go back home now, how could she face her wife and elder daughter and tell them she let Amber…
The ground shifted below them, rubble and debris shifting out of the way something was climbing through it. Hope filled her heart as Trixie shouted down. “You’re in so much trouble for scaring me like that, come on up here and I’ll get you h-“
A rotted foreleg popped out of the earth, soon followed by the undead alicorn as it climbed out of the earth. Ahead of them the second one was also pulling itself out of the ruins of the buildings it had gone through, missing its jaw entirely but still standing.
These things were tough to kill, but Trixie couldn’t’ focus on that at the moment. She had to find her baby girl. She had to find Amber. She had too.
The alicorns charged in unison and just before colliding into Trixie a green bubble shield flickered to life around them stopping the corrupted alicorns if only for a moment.
Chrysalis shouted, “I am offering to sacrifice my life so you can take your only hope and leave! My species will die with me here and I will accept this so long as you save Twilight, do you not understand what I am doing? I am being what you call ‘good’ for once, so listen you stupid pony!”
Trixie nodded, she could find her baby girl in a minute, she should take Twilight somewhere safe first then come back. Yeah that made sense. Save the injured pony then come back for her daughter, who was clearly safe and sound and just hiding, yeah hiding like a smart pony from the big bad scary ones.
The shield flickered as the two alicorns slammed into it once more. Trixie opened her mouth to tell Chrysalis she’d take Twilight but then closed it once she saw a burning orange light nearby. So bright was the light she was forced to close her eyes and look away.
An explosion sounded in front of them and then the light began to fade, Trixie opened her eyes and stared in bewilderment at the sight before her. She saw Amber light there, floating mid air, her body half formed the other half slowly rebuilding itself out of ash, her hammer floating by her side and a pair of pink wings stretching out on her back. Was she… an alicorn?
Twilight coughed and sputtered. “I-I told you she was the most… powerful thing… in the world.”
Amber light looked back at her mom, her eyes two glowing orbs of power and she offered a smile. “Sorry mom, I’ll let you ground me in a minute, but first I got something to take care of. These dicks put down my mentor and now I gotta show ‘em who’s boss.”
The two corrupted alicorns cried out in rage, a shrill shriek of power and fury as they charged. Amber met their charge with a blow from her hammer. This time the hammer sailed through one of them, smashing the corrupted alicorn into bits mid air, what was left disintegrating into ash and cinders.
The other corrupted alicorn seemed to catch onto the trouble it was in and began flying away. Amber’s entire body shifted violently then vanished from sight. She reappeared in front of the corrupted alicorn midflight and swung her hammer through it. Once more the hammer cleaved through cleanly, smashing the thing in half before both halves disintegrating into dust.
Amber landed on the ground outside of the crater, looked around and nodded. “Well, that was fun.”
Then her eyes closed and she fell to the ground unconscious.
Trixie looked at chrysalis who blinked and stared back.
Chrysalis spoke quickly, “I hereby swear I will reform into a good bug pony so long as you never leave me in a room alone with that daughter of yours.”
Trixie nodded. “Deal.”
***
Some weeks later…
Twilight was in the fully repaired Castle of the Two Sisters. In what was to be her new throne room, this one shared with her lover and partner Luna. Celestia was out curing the sick, turns out a good does of godly magic, thanks in no small part to Red and Cadance’s help, was able to cure this corruption.
Likewise the glowing ball of fire, the miniature sun that Sunset turned herself into had vanished one day. Alongside it vanished all the smooze, as if it had burned out the corruption from the pit and then left now that it’s duty was gone… though still no sign of Sunset herself.
As Twilight sat upon her new throne, snuggled up beside her sat Luna, who’s warm comforting wing held her close. “So… you think you’re pregnant yet?”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Not yet.”
“Good, I like using that ‘stallion’ spell on you.”
“Its weird.”
“In a good way.”
“Yes, in a good way…”
The door to her throne room opened up and a familiar face walked in. Now with a cybernetic robot wing, a gift from Sweet Apple Industries, Rainbow Dash walked in and gave the couple a playful smile. “Reporting for duty, princess.”
Twilight smiled in return. “Where’s the kid?”
“Spending time with her dad, he’s teaching her how to fly a ship. Not that we need that or anything but… well I might take some lessons too if you know what I mean.”
“That sounds great. I’d like to learn how to fly a ship.”
“Back off, filly, he’s my stallion.”
The two of them shared a laugh at that. Twilight was not ever going to be a threat to Rainbow’s fiancé and the two of them knew it. But it was nice to see Wind Rider and Rainbow Dash together again. Having seen him parish herself, she knew that Celestia had to have pulled some major strings with that one, but that was not her secret to tell.
Luna chimed in, “Okay, I have your first order now that you’re back on duty, Rainbow Dash. Go and spend time with your family.”
Rainbow Dash nodded and turned to leave. “Same order as always, got it, later princesses.”
Twilight smiled. “I can’t believe they accept me again… it’s still awkward you know.”
“My love, Discord turned himself into a tacky piece of clothing for you, one that chrysalis refuses to stop wearing, you are the least awkward thing here.”
Twilight nodded. “Trixie teaching her daughter how to fly using her wings is the second most awkward thing. Like… I knew Amber would become an alicorn eventually but not like that.”
Luna agreed. “No, not like that.”
Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity walked in next. They all looked at Twilight with warm friendly smiles. Something she’d never get used to seeing again. Then she saw the little pony hiding behind them.
Twilight let out a sigh. “Did Cozy Glow get up to her pranks again?”
Rarity nodded. “Darling she is quite the hoofful sometimes, are you sure she’s going to be your next student?”
Twilight replied, “Considering that Amber is now officially Trixie’s full time student yes… now what did she do this time?”
It was going to be another fun, and eventful day. At least until Ponyville was fixed up… but considering how many buildings seemed to be appearing around the castle of the two sisters… perhaps Ponyville was simply moving to a new home rather than rebuilding the old one… and Twilight could live with that.
***
A few days after that…
Chrysalis was one of the most dangerous, powerful, intelligent gods out there, few things scared her. For she was mightier than everything. But as the little pony she’d come to call a ugh, friend, these past couple of weeks stood by her side, she realized with a start, she was absolutely terrified.
Twilight offered some words of encouragement. “It’s okay, Chrysy. You’ve earned this.”
“I earn all good things by merit of simply existing… I mean thank you.”
Chrysalis faced a wooden door. The other side of it held the most terrifying thing she could ever imagine. After all she’d been through, all she’d lost…
Chrysalis pushed open the door and saw the large open cavern system. And hundreds of green ‘cute’ changelings all looking up at her. For a moment she felt her heart stop. Then she saw Thorax, one of the few male alicrons in existence.
Chrysalis stepped forward. “I am home.”
Thorax walked toward her. “Good to see you mom.”
And just like that, one single word shattered any of her defenses. Breaking through to her broken, wounded heart and filled her with something she’d so rarely felt before… love.
Chrysalis galloped toward him and threw her legs around him in a tight embrace, sobbing into his mane. “I’m so sorry, mommy’s sorry she hurt you. She loves you all! All her babies, please come here and let mommy show you how much she loves you!”
And before she knew it, she was at the center of a dogpile of hundreds of changelings. Surrounded by love, and even offering love back for the first time to her children. If reforming meant her species got to continue, and that she could be with her kids, she’d reform in every way possible.
Because she was finally happy… and finally home. And the little ugly scarf she kept around her neck, a gift from Twilight, was going to stay here and protect them too.
***
Back on the stage. The red cloaked pony cleared their throat. “And there we have it, the story of the ages. An ending to a tale that’s as old as time. Years in the making, and lovely with its happy ending. To think too, if one or two things had gone wrong the story would end so differently”
Sophie chimed in. “Yeah like the world ending and Amber being a lone hero chasing down remnants of her past. Or Discord trying to commit suicide by killing all magic in the world. Or everyone becoming cell phone using weirdos.”
“how do you know what a cell phone is?”
Sophie shrugged. “I dunno.”
The red cloaked pony shook there head. “Anyway, this story must now come to end, I hope you enjoyed the play, but as for me and Sophie, we have other stories to tell. Other shapes to take, and other ideas to express. So we’re not leaving, not entirely, we’re just… finding a new adventure.”
The empty audience didn’t cheer, or jeer, it just stayed empty and silent as it had done for centuries now. But that was okay, sometimes a story should end quietly, and happily. Not all stories need a truly explosive ending after all.
The red cloaked pony looked to their side and called out. “Oh and Sunset Shimmer, get your fat flaming butt off that couch, we’re leaving now. Seriously go take a nap in a miniature sun for a few weeks and you become a lazy pony. Ugh!”
Sunset Shimmer, currently muzzle deep in a bag of cheesy puffs shrugs and continues eating.
