A fate that is to come from Twilight leaves her with one option, death. But will it work?
“What have you done, Twilight?! What have you done?! You killed us all! You killed us all! You should be dead!”
After a message from a terrible future where ponies are killed by Twilight's hooves as a powerful tyrant including her friends, family and the Princesses, Twilight belives that there is one way to stop all this from happening. Her death.
However, after wakening up from her apparent death, she finds her self in a diffrent future, where ponies are not dying by her taking over but by the mistake of dying and not there save Equestria from everything else. Now, she must find out what has happened to creating this diffrent future. Are her friends all dead? What happened to Celestia? How did she live? And why can't she get back to her own time?
This series was supposed to be M rated but decided to lower it. M rated will be featured in a seperate series if requested. Teen rated cause of light amounts of blood shed but it is mostly curse words, some violence and mild sexual sessions.
Twilight Sparkle stood by the Canterlot cliffs by the waterfall. The cliffs lead straight down to a seemingly bottomless black pit that was almost a mile wide. This was the place. This was the place she will be meeting her end. Here is where she will die.
In front of her, not fifteen feet away was everypony. Her friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Her brother, Shinning Armor, was standing by them. And her two mentors, but friends and now family stood by him. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
“Twilight please!” begged Rainbow Dash, her own face mixed with tears and pain. “Don’t do this!”
“Come one Sugarcube!” yelled Applejack with her own voice of sorrow. “Ya know we can help you!”
Her friends, the one she had met since her first step to Ponyville and became the Elements of Harmony by her side for many years straight, telling her not to jump.
“Twiley, don’t do it!” begged her brother, Shinning Armor. His face was beyond sorrow and his cheeks were streaming with his tears.
Her brother, the one that had loved and raised her since birth, taught her magic, guided her through life and became prince of Canterlot, telling her not to jump.
“Twilight Sparkle, I beg of you!” Her mentor yelled. The one who raised the second part of her life, gave her purpose, trained her and loved her like a second mother, was telling her not to jump.
Twilight, with her own tears, looked upon her whole family. The ponies that loved her and cared for her. The ones that she loved so much, that she was willingly to do anything for them, and that included dying for them.
“You know why I have to do this!” she spoke with tears but with a firm voice. Her eyes met them all. “You know why I have to die!”
They knew why she wanted to do this. They knew why she wanted to die.
Not twenty-four hours ago, they had a visitor, a visitor from the future. That visitor was Sweetie Belle. But this Sweetie Belle wasn’t the kind, fun loving pony they knew of today. No, this older Sweetie Belle looked like she had gone through the worst war of Equestria.
Her once beautiful body was covered with scars and opened wounds. Her coat and mane were streaked with blood in almost all parts of her body. And her face, which once held beauty and grace, was replaced with an angered and soul torn look.
She came into play when all of her friends were visiting the Canterlot. They were all there. They all came to enjoy a private dinner party when she came.
Since it was private, the mane six, her brother and the princesses only knew of what had happened. They all watched as the magical aura that emitted from the center of the room began forming the pony.
Sweetie Belle, though worn and in pain, still managed to look around with her angered eyes yell at her.
“What have you done, Twilight?! What have you done?! You killed us all! You killed us all! You should be dead!”
Sweetie Belle then collapse dead. A magical scroll and recording technology then appeared by her. Nobody had moved for minutes from either pure shock or fear. Rarity immediately ran to her fallen older sister.
Celestia ordered to secure the room so that only they remained in here and nopony else see what has happened.
Reading the scroll out loud, the horrid truth came out.
‘In the ten years that is to come, Twilight Sparkle gains power. She takes in all of the magic and power of the Elements of Harmony and uses it. With it, she is consumed by it and tries to take over Equestria.
With that power, she easily destroys the Princesses, taking their power and ruling over all the lands. Millions perish under her rule and many more to come.
A war begins and between the side of Twilight stand dark forces of unimaginable power against the free ponies. Through her power, she easily is winning the fight and lives are slipping away.
The attempts to assassinate her multiple times have failed; a plan has been created to send a single pony back in time to ensure Twilight’s death to prevent this future has been ordered.
At this point, if Twilight does not die, then this future will be lost. This fate, is unavoidable for the next time she had used the Elements, it consumed her and ended the lives of the other bearers.
I beg you, ponies of the past to join forces and stop Twilight Sparkle before it is too late. The future depends on her death!
Signed,
Trix---
The signing ended there for there had been a streak of blood splatter on the scroll.
Nopony had spoken at all and some of their gazes focused on Twilight. Her face was filled with dread and horror. That just came from the scroll, she dared not imagine what was on the recording device.
That single moment is now what put her in this position now. She was slowly moving back towards the edge, her left back hoof was stepping at the edge.
“Twilight!”
Princess Celestia tried to use her magic but Twilight knew they would attempt to stop her. She quickly conjured up a force-field against any magic.
When Celestia’s magic failed she gave a sad smile.
“I’m doing this for you!” she spoke. They all stopped. “You know what the scroll and video said. It’s unavoidable and I will not be consumed and kill everypony. I won’t do that… not knowing it could happen again.”
“Twilight, please be reasonable!” Spoke Luna. “You do not have to use the Elements!”
Twilight already knew of that.
“I know, but if Discord were to get free or if the other evil creatures and Alicorns were set free, how would we stop them without the Elements?”
The princess tried to speak but nothing came up. Throughout their existence, they have used the Elements of Harmony to stop any evil and keep peace and Harmony throughout Equestria. Discord was one of the few that could stop them without the Elements.
They were not all powerful after all.
When no answer came, Twilight smiled one last time and spoke softly, “I love you all.”
Three steps back and she fell.
“Twilight!” they all yelled. Rainbow Dash was the fastest to react and ran to the cliff before jumping of and diving down. Twilight free fell down the cliff to the dark abyss.
As she did, she saw the colorful pegasus fly down after her. She knew she would come rescue her. As soon as she was within range, Twilight casted a teleport spell that send Rainbow Dash appearing nearly cloud level.
Dash looked around and saw that she was right over the cliff but super high up. She could still see Twilight falling. Without thinking and without any speed, she blasted off in a Sonic Rainbow, already reaching the Canterlot Castle height.
Twilight saw as her friend create the Rainbow with ease and seeing it one last time, she would die happy gazing at the wonderful display. She was getting closer to the bottom for the darkness was approaching more and the colder it was getting.
Rainbow Dash already reached the point of the cliff and picking up speed. Twilight saw Rainbow’s light, lighting up the abyss. Turning her head, she was less than a hundred feet from the floor.
She turned to Rainbow and saw her face. What was not on her face was fear, but sadness and sorrow. Twilight knew that even if Rainbow was to reach on time, she had no way of pulling off at that dive and speed. They would both die before she had a chance.
Rainbow’s tears were beyond falling and Twilight felt her getting close. Rainbow extended her hoof. Twilight saw her approaching fast. They were getting close now.
A final smile and a tear from Twilight, Rainbow’s eyes went wide.
"NO!!"
With the last of her magic, she sent Rainbow back up to the air in the opposite direction, almost like bouncing her away from her.
Rainbow didn’t know it till she shot past the cliff and did a sharp turn.
Her friends and family saw the purple flash of Rainbow Dash and nothing more.
Twilight knew that she was at least ten feet away before thoughts raced into her mind. Why couldn’t she just find other answers to this? Why couldn’t she just speak to everypony about it?
She didn’t care though. For at that moment, she knew one thing and one thing only.
“They were going to live.”
Only Blackness came.
----------------------------- This was written in a matter of two hours so sorry if there are mistakes.
What goes through many ponies and their minds do when they wake up after they think they died? What do they think goes through their minds as their unconsciousness tells them that they are slowly waking up?
Do they wish to remain dead so they can escape the pain? Do they want to wake up thinking that they just fell asleep? Would they want to even wake up or come back from the dead?
Darkness is a blessing that many do not take for granted. It brings sleep to the unrested; brings dreams and happiness to those who seek. Darkness may bring nightmarish creatures but in reality, they are just in their own domain and enjoying it.
Darkness, for Twilight, felt more as if she was waking up. In fact, she slowly opened her eyes and found herself yawning. As she opened her eyes, she found them blurry. Everything was surrounded in brownish hue.
She reached over, slowly rubbing her eyes from the sleepiness, making her vision clear. She then paused, mid rubbing when she realized that she just touched herself on her face.
How could that be? She jumped off a cliff and died. How can she even be waking up? How can she even be breathing? Or not feel any pain?
She felt like she just woke up from a night’s sleep. She remembered falling off the cliff; she remembered her friends and family watching as she fell off. She even remembered Rainbow Dash jumping off to save her.
How is it she still alive here and now? She looked around and found herself in a cave of some sort, judging by the rock formations. It was not a huge cave but big enough for a pegasus hover in. From where she was laying, on a bed of some sort, the cave had an outside view of the morning sky.
Well… it looked like morning, since there were many trees surrounding the cave. The sky seemed a bit bright but lacked the brightly colored that usually Princess Celestia would bring. It seemed like she was the Everfree forest.
She then looked around from her laying position to see that there was a pony… or in this case, two ponies living here. There were two beds of the same yet one was a bit bigger than the other. The big one, which Twilight was currently laying on, felt comfortable and had blankets of Zebraian culture.
Now that she saw it, she looked around and saw the rest of the cave. It reminded Twilight of the home of her friend, Zecora had. In fact, it contained many of her Zebra friend’s items. Much of it was on shelves or on wooden counters. Potions, bottles, herbs, exotic flowers, cantinas and even a giant rounded pot, which currently was placed over a fire. A wonderful smell emitted from it.
The rest of the cave carried masks, Zebra paintings and even… spears? Twilight never remembered Zecora having spears in her home.
Then again, she did not even know that she lived here. It probably was not even a Zebra. Probably a collector or a pony with some odd tastes.
Her eyes then followed to the counter top where a mirror lied. She must’ve looked like a mess. She looked down at herself only to find a blanket. However, something from her body felt off. Slowly she pushed the blankets away and revealed her body.
What she saw shocked her beyond anything to say at least. Her body had grown, quite drastically. She felt almost as big as Princess Luna. Her mane was so much longer; it ran all the way down to past her cutie mark. Her tail was even longer than before, almost five feet longer.
She had the body of a full grown mare, if not more. She slowly pushed herself off the bed and with shaky legs, slowly stood up. Yeah… she definitely felt taller. She moved her front right hoof first then the next one then the next.
She quickly adjusted to her height and walked over to the mirror. From where she stood, she could already tell a lot has changed. She reached the mirror with her magic.
It was instantly engulfed with a purple aura but not even a few seconds after holding, did the mirror crack. Twilight flinched but quickly looked over it. The cracked was a huge one but more where beginning to appear the more she held. She quickly set back down. Without her magic, she approached the mirror and what she saw made gasp.
Her horn! It was… bigger than before! It was almost like alicorn-big! It was at least a half a hoof taller than her horn was before. Next thing she expected was wings to be an alicorn. Turning her head, she didn’t see any wings on her back.
Darn! A small smile had crept to her. So… she was alive in some sort of cave, she was taller, her magic was a bit untamed and she could probably pass for an alicorn if given wings.
But that still left the question on where she was. Turning towards the exit of the cave, she walked out to the small lit world.
She had the right to stay by that statement for the instant everything came to view, her eyes went wide.
The first thing that came to her view was…
“The Castle of the Sisters!” she exclaimed. She blinked. Wow, even her voice had changed. But she quickly forgot about that. Her eyes focused on the castle. If was high up on top of the hill not too far away from her current position.
She was at the bottom by where a river ran by not twenty feet away. She was in the Everfree! But how had she end up here. The Canterlot falls didn’t pass by here did they? She couldn’t be sure but maybe they did.
A noise behind her caused her to quickly turn around. What she turned to see was a pony. However, when the pony walked out more into the light from the bushes, it wasn’t just any pony. It was a Zebra and not just any Zebra, it almost looked like Zecora!
She almost passed for Zecora but a few details were a bit off. For one thing, she was a bit shorter, even at this height, Twilight could tell she was a bit smaller than Zecora. Her stripes were almost the same and her earing matched like Zecora’s. Her ‘cutie mark’ if Zebras called them that, was a black swirling flower with six pointed petals.
She could have passed for Zecora. The zebra saw Twilight out and looking straight at her.
“Ah… your awake.” She spoke. She did not carry the rhyming accent but she did sound like young version of her.
Twilight blinked and gave a small smile.
“Uh yes… I am.”
The young filly zebra approached Twilight till she was a few feet away.
Twilight really looked her over and the zebra did the same. The zebra looked remarkably like Zecora. Maybe she was kin.
The filly in the meantime looked over Twilight. She seemed familiar, not the looks but by the features. The purple mane, fur and her Star Cutie Mark. She seemed very familiar.
Twilight was the one to break the silence.
“Um… do you mind telling me where I am?” she asked.
The zebra looked her over once more before responding.
“You are in the Everfree forest by the old castle of the sisters. I found you washed up ashore a few hours ago. I carried you… as best as I could to my home.”
Twilight turned to the cave before looking back at her. She gave a small smile.
“I uh… thank you.” She extended a hoof. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.” The zebra was about to shake it but the name suddenly made her stop. Twilight saw her hoof in the air but no shaking. Awkwardly she slowly lowered it.
The zebra had a look over her face that Twilight couldn’t place. The zebra then lowered her voice.
“Are you jesting with me? Are you messing with my mind?” Her voice then grew a bit agitated. “I don’t like jokes.”
Twilight slightly recoiled from her but spoke.
“I am not messing with you and this is no joke. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She then realized why the filly sounded like this. Maybe she heard of her apparent death.
The zebra remained unsure but nodded.
“I am Layla. Welcome to my home.” She waved her hoof to the cave and the rest of the Everfree.
Twilight looked at her. She was a filly. There was no way she lived her by herself. But she did say she had a mother and there were to beds.
That reminded her.
“I don’t suppose you know of a zebra named ‘Zecora,’ do you?”
The zebra blinked and did that over-looking again. She didn’t know what to make of Twilight but she sure was… unusual.
“How do you know of that name?” she asked.
Twilight gave a small smile.
“Zecora was a friend of mine who lived in the Everfree. She lives in a hut and is the town’s shaman and herbalist. She was also a zebra like you.” Twilight paused. “In fact you sort of… I don’t want to be rude here but you sort of look like her.”
The zebra remained silent before giving a small nod.
“I should look much like her; she is my mother after all.”
Mother…. Mother…. MOTHER!?
“Mother?” she said loudly. The zebra nodded somewhat confused.
How could Zecora have a foal? She had known her for years and not once did she mention a daughter. Over the years she had spent with Zecora, not once did she mention a daughter. She didn’t mention of even any potential males in her life or even a consort.
Twilight did an overtake at the filly and sighed.
“Sorry,” she apologized, rubbing her head. “I never… excuse me, I had no idea that Zecora had a… daughter, nor that she had a…” she was about to say ‘male’. Mares can have foals without males they just needed magic. “I just…” She tried to speak but couldn’t form any words.
Layla saw her struggle but it did implore the question, how could this ‘Twilight Sparkle’ not know that Zecora had a foal. Everypony in Ponyville and if not more, knew of her existence.
“Your not from around here… are you?” questioned Layla with an arched eyebrow that questioned Twilight all over.
Twilight looked at the filly with her own confused eyes.
“Of course I am… I mean not from the Everfree forest but I live in Ponyville.”
Something clicked in Layla.
“I only know of one Twilight Sparkle from Ponyville. She was one of the Barres of the Elements of Harmony.”
Twilight smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I am her!”
The filly gave a short snort.
“I highly doubt that, you are Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight’s expression changed.
“What do mean? How can you doubt I am Twilight Sparkle.”
The filly stared at her with her deep brown eyes, almost staring into her soul and the next few words are what cause fear to suddenly shot into her heart.
“You cannot be Twilight Sparkle. She has been dead for a long time.”
The breath escaped Twilight and she almost light sight of her vision. However, she quickly shook her head. Her fear was undoubtedly still there.
“How…How long? Ho… How long have I been dead? She’s been… dead?” Her body was shaking, her heart was pounding and her head was heavy with sweat.
Layla responded.
“I was born a year after your… ‘her’ death. I am to be twelve years in this upcoming summer.”
Twilight remained speechless. Her voice literally drained from her throat. Layla known of Twilight’s state, spoke her next words carefully.
“If you are truly Twilight Sparkle, then… you have been considered dead for almost thirteen years.”
To the naked eye, everything seems to happen as is… Through a single experience, a single pony can witness the vastness of the universe, experiencing so much in that moment.
Yet, there is always a moment’s return in which they return to reality, to find themselves trapped in the horror. That horror is the reality of time and time can change everything in a single moment....
Twilight, at the sound of those words, did not know whether to faint or just fall down crying. She honestly did not know what was keeping her standing. She just wanted to say no… that the filly was wrong. That she is lying and this is all a dream.
She was wishing that this were a horrible dream that she would soon wake up to. However, she knew that this was not a dream. She jumped off a cliff and died. Then somehow mysteriously been brought back to life.
She did not know how long she had been standing there; it could have been days or months and she would not have known. The reality was here and she was facing it.
Layla, though not fully sure if it was really Twilight Sparkle, she still needed to find a way to comfort the mare. Her mother always told to be kind to other ponies, no matter how odd or different they were. That was how her father had treated her mother when they first met.
“Are you alright?” she asked, somewhat knowing that it was not all right.
Twilight remained silent. Either she did not hear the filly’s words, or she had not caught up to current events. Eventually, a single tear ran down her cheek and dropped to the soil below.
She blinked once before more tears spread and she let out a sigh that carried a choked cry. She rubbed her hoof over her eyes. She then looked up at the filly that actually worried at her.
“I’m sorry… it’s just.” She paused. “I was kind of hoping this is a dream of some sort.”
Layla, gave a sad shake of her head.
“I wish I could tell you it was, but this is no dream. You have been considered dead for thirteen years. They held a service with a memorial after, and they even named a school after you.”
This somewhat lifted Twilight’s spirits and she slowly lifted her head to meet her eyes.
“R…Really?” she asked, her tears slowly disappearing.
Layla gave a small smile.
“They did… It was named, ‘Twilight Sparkle’s School for Gifted Youth.’ It is not only for Unicorns any more, but for Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Zebras, Griffons, Diamond dogs and other intellectual species. All because you inspired peace between so many. This brought Equestria a lot closer to each other after the …” she paused.
Twilight looked at her.
“After what?” she asked, suddenly losing focus.
Layla shook her head.
“I know that you are still a bit new to this and have many questions. Please come with me inside, I start you up some tea.” Twilight without another word followed the young filly.
About twenty minutes later after the tea was set and they were comfortable, Layla spoke.
“I will try my best to answer as many questions as I can though, if you want any real answers to what has happened to you, you shall have to wait till my mother returns.”
Twilight nodded. She first inhaled the smell of the tea, taking in the sweet aroma. She then exhaled. Inhaled, exhaled. Again, then she stopped before fixing her eyes on the filly before her.
“Can we start at the beginning?” spoke Twilight in her calmed, yet sad filled voice. “What happened after I… died?”
The filly gave a nod.
“I do not know much but from what my mother told me it was a dark day.” She took in a sip from her tea. “You were one of the very few that held Equestria together.”
“After they witness your… plunge, there was an immediate search for your body. Your friend, Rainbow Dash, tried to go look for you but the cavern and fall beneath Canterlot was dark. Too dark for her to see; she did all her best but it had been close to costing her own life.”
Twilight gave a small sad smile.
“That sounds like Rainbow. Stubborn but loyal till the end.”
Layla nodded.
“Well, she didn’t stop looking for you. Even with the unicorns and other pegasi helping, she never stopped. The princesses sent out about a hundred if not, thousands of their guards to search for you.”
‘Thousands!’ thought Twilight. Thousands sent to search for me. They really did… care!
“They searched for four days straight. Many guards went through patrols and shifts. Rainbow and your friends were the only ones who stayed to help and search for you. They went non-stop… almost to the point of passing out.”
She stopped. She reached for a cup of her tea. Reaching for her cup with her hoof… hoof not hooves. Twilight watched as the cup, slowly, as by magic, slowly the cup moved to her hoof, then she lifted it up to her lips before she took a sip and exhaled. She then lowered her tea back.
Twilight looked at the filly with confusing eyes.
“How did you…?” she tried to ask.
The filly responded before she could finish.
“My father was a unicorn. Specifically, he was one of Lunar guards.”
Twilight still had a confused look. Layla shook her head.
“Maybe another time but let me continue with your tale.”
Twilight nodded and remained silent; studding the filly before her while, she listened.
“After four days, they decided to stop.” She gave a small sigh, before continuing. “Everypony was… devastated. Your friends, you family, the princesses, even Ponyville was distraught because of you. By the end of the week, they had already planned a memorial service for you.
Nearly everypony who was anypony, from Canterlot and beyond came to your wake. I do not know what it was like since I was not even born yet but my mother told me…. That that day, Equestria lost not only a pony but a hero and a friend.”
A lump formed on Twilight’s throat. She tried her best not to cry, but her eyes were getting moist and she was trying not to sniff so loud.
All of Equestria came to pay their respects when she did not truly do anything. Yeah she saved Equestria about three or four times by now but… did her life really have that much of a meaning to everypony, everyone in Equestria? Or even the rest of the world?
“After the service,” continued Layla, just finished taking another sip from her tea. “Equestria was never the same, for your death not only brought heavy hearts to many, it brought much more.”
She stopped and turned around. She stood up for a moment and walked over to her desk, where underneath, was a small sliding tab. She pulled out a newspaper letter and walked back over. She then hoofed over to Twilight. “With you gone, Equestria began to fall.”
In front of Twilight, the newspaper was dated a week after her memorial. In the front of it, the words spelled out, Equestria on the verge of Collapse!
On the picture, it showed…. No! It could not be!
Discord stood in front, with all of Equestria hanging upside down, literally! She read the first paragraph.
‘With the Element of Magic deceased, Discord’s stone prison broke and the God of Chaos returned to Equestria. Discord immediately appeared in the Canterlot castle, figuring out why his release was now. He later found out about the death of Twilight Sparkle and merely laughed it up.
It went on to say that now that the elements were useless without her, he would take back Equestria. That is when Layla came in.
“It was horrible,” began the filly as she looked at the paper from the back. “Discord already turned Equestria upside down but he began doing far worse. When the princesses tried to stop him, they were easily defeated. Discord sent them on the other side of Equestria, trapping them in magic tomes.”
When your friends came to try to stop him, they only ended up becoming shades of their formers selves. The elements didn’t work either, so they… lost.”
Twilight couldn’t bring herself to look up from the paper as she kept listening and reading to the horrible event.
“Discord’s reign, was… the worst time for ponies. It last for almost two years!”
“Two years!” cried Twilight, dropping the paper. Her eyes became rivers of tears.
The filly flinched, at her outburst but she could see why. The news was very horrible. She was born at the time and she was glad she was too young to remember what really happened.
“Yes,” she said calmly. “Two years. Discord’s Chaos magic had misshapen Equestria. Cities were destroyed, lives were… lost and there was… no pony, no one that was able to withstand Discord.”
I was lucky to be born. Since the Everfree was already chaotic, most of the animals and creatures here went elsewhere, leaving my mother and father here. Throughout the two years, there were others who tried to fight against Discord. Many Unicorns, warriors, and even from the other intellectual races fought alongside Equestria to defeat Discord.
It cost us thousands of lives. From all species. Discord was a god; he could create anything and remove anything in his way. He showed no remorse, no fear and only laughed when many fell. It was truly a living Tartarus.”
They both remained silent and Twilight honestly felt like there was no hope. She had forgotten that she was save in a cave and that nothing was harming her. Yet she felt as though everything was happening now. Not only that… but it was her fault that all this happened.
It was her fault that she had created this… dark, sad world. Thousands were lost, cities had fallen, and even the princesses were defeated. It was all her fault… She didn’t try to stop her tears, she didn’t try to hold it back. She let herself fall, fall harder than she ever known.
Yet, everything stopped for her. Yes, tears fell from eyes like rivers, but she didn’t cry out loud. She didn’t fall onto the floor in a shameful way. She didn’t cry. Her tears stopped their flow and she looked up to Layla.
The little filly was in her own state of sadness, looking away from Twilight. She was not crying but she was not exactly trying to hold back. She endured what had transpired when she was born. She lived through all that up till now and that brought a serious question to Twilight. That questioned that nerved her, haunted her ever since Sweetie Belle came from the future.
Was this future better than the one she had created? Was this… fluke of nature, where she had died and caused only a meek lifetime of chaos, better where she kills ponies just because?
Discord may have killed thousands, but otherwise, they became intimidated. In her future, ponies that crossed her would have been killed. Here, the princesses were alive and well… trapped but in her future,… they were dead.
Which future hadn’t been the most decent one to live in?
All thoughts were stopped, for in that moment a pony had entered the cave. Both Layla and Twilight turned their heads as another Zebra appeared. Not just any Zebra, but Zecora.
“Layla, my dear, your mother is now here. Has the soup been ready yet or…” The much, older Zebra paused as she saw her daughter next to another pony. A pony quite familiar.
Layla quickly approached her mother.
“Mother, you have returned!” The filly quickly hugged her mother but Zecora was not paying attention. Instead, her eyes looked at the mare before her.
Twilight also turned to look at the zebra. So much has the zebra she had once called friend(and hopefully still now), had changed. The once styled Mohawk Mane, had changed to a free flowing mane that stretched almost to the floor. The hair reminded her much of Zecora during Nightmare Night. Her ear rings, hoof rings, were pretty much the same, if not new ones added. Overall, she was still the same Zecora she know.
The same could have been said for Zecora but she was in a state of confusion. Her eyes were judging, hard even, looking over the purple mare before her.
Layla broke the ice of the sudden silence.
“Mother, this is… Twilight Sparkle. I found her washed up on the river bed.”
Zecora was speechless at this point. She didn’t know whether this was some trick by magic, changeling magic or some hallucinations but something about the mare made Zecora think twice.
Twilight knew it was going to be difficult for her to explain herself so she cleared her throat.
“H-Hello, Zecora. I know… that this is difficult to believe but… I am Twilight Sparkle. I can prove it to you if you wish.” Twilight stopped and began thinking. Suddenly an idea popped to her head.
“Oh um… when you first came to town, everypony was afraid of you because they all thought you were an Evil Enchantress. When me my friends tried to talk to you about it, we accidently walked into a bed of Poison Joke, even though you told us to beware. We didn’t listen to you so we went on with what we were doing but woke up the next morning to find out that we had been… cursed.
Then we went to go confront you about it at your home. However, it was Apple Bloom who told us that you weren’t an evil enchantress, but that we made a mistake of no listening to you about the Poison Joke.” She finally exhaled, knowing that she had said that almost non-stop.
She then looked up at Zecora. The mare only blinked once before she fell to the floor and passed out.
I'm sorry this takes so long, but finals are here for my college and its difficult towrite my stories when I have to do five at once. Ill try to get another one done before October is done. If I cant than sorry. Happy Nightmare Night to you all! Also, i would like to thank Jade Wulf for checking my work, though lazy ass took for ever. Sorry brother but its true!
So many ponies face the fear of change that they will do anything that is within their power to stop it. They will remain stuck in the past, either physically or mentally, never knowing what their future holds.
It was not the part of Zecora passing out that scarred Layla and Twilight; it was rather she was able to pass out from all that had transpired that scared them both. Zecora was never a pony/zebra to be caught off by surprised and pass out.
However, the strange revelation that the zebra passing out had Twilight to wonder if it was truly believable.
Layla was busy right now making some hot tea over the large pot while Twilight used a wet towel and draped it over the zebra’s forehead. The zebra was well out, but hopefully, whatever Layla was cooking, it would help her mother out.
During this time, Twilight was thinking bout her Zebra friend. As she looked down upon her, she could not help but wonder… what she must have been through since her premature death. The horrors she faced with Discord, the fears of endless chaos and the scariness of having a foal on the way. Not something that anypony could really understand, especially Twilight.
Her mind ceased as the zebra below her shifted in her sleep. Standing back, Twilight watched as Zecora slowly began gaining conscious and opened her blue eyes.
She blinked once before she turned her head towards Twilight. It was an awkward kind of stare, like if someone was not only looking at you but at your soul. It did not look anything harsh or dirty but it did let Twilight know that Zecora was checking to see if it was really her.
They remained quiet for a bit. It was momentarily interrupted by Layla’s serving on a teacup. The filly had poured a hot cup of tea from the pot and had brought over (magically).Twilight, though not looking at Layla directly could tell that she was using magic.
Another thing that had Twilight worked her brain was that she knew that Layla was using magic. It’s like she could sense it. Now, it was of course that any unicorn can aww other unicorn’s magic. But unicorns can’t pick up on other types of magic. Yeah, they could see and feel them but they could not sense what is behind it or who is behind it.
Discord was an example. Discord magic was difficult to replicate and very hard to destroy or be ridden of it. The Princesses had their own magic, which was almost like unicorn magic but ten times the power. However, this is something that somewhat unraveled her. A zebra, with a magical sense of moving objects. Then again, her mother is an enchantress and her father is a unicorn.
Layla brought over the tea and set it down by a table next to the bed. How the table was there, Twilight never knew.
“How are you feeling mother?” asked the filly zebra.
Slowly, Zecora sat up on the bed and took tea with her hooves. Taking a small sip, she sighed pleasantly and set it back on the table.
“I feel better now my dear, with help of the tea, my head is now clear.”
Ah, this is one of the things that she loved about her dear zebra friend. The wonderful but somewhat pleasantly rhyme of the zebra. It still somewhat confused her why her daughter didn’t rhyme.
“Now as for you,” said the rhyming Zebra, slowly sitting up on her rump. “It doesn’t seem true. Twilight Sparkle you say, I would dare say nay…” She slowly stood up and leaned in, absorbing the new yet same old look of Twilight.
Twilight in turn let her, for she knew the mare was trying to check for sure it was her. For all she knew, she could probably Twilight was a Changeling. But then again, a changeling wouldn’t know the history of the zebra’s arrival. 13 years can really change a pony, especially if your dead.
Zecora looked over Twilight, studying every little feature, from the end of her tail length to the large tip of the horn. Her sparkling violent eyes still matched perfectly with her coat. Her otherwise long mane and tail were the only true things that set her apart then her younger appearance.
Then her eyes went back to hers. She looked deep within, seeking her soul almost. Zecora almost expected to see anger, or fear of being discovered, but no. The only thing she saw in Twilight was the innocence of lost pony. A pony lost in time without a home to return to or a friend in this world.
Zecora sighed and gave her the warmest smile.
“Well… without a doubt, my old friend, you’re not a changeling about. You truly are… my older dear Twilight, and my, my what a sight!” She almost jumped at her, wrapping her arms around the mare and giving her the biggest hug Twilight had felt for… 13 years she assumed.
Twilight didn’t resist the hug nor did she try to hold back her own hug. She hugged in the same type of grip she is receiving herself. Twilight actually felt her own tears come into place.
After they all had, truly settled down, they began their mutual pleasantries with the recent events of Twilight’s arrival. Truth was, not even Twilight knew how she survived and came to be here.
Zecora was baffled herself. It was not known through any history of Equestria for a unicorn or any other pony to hurl themselves from a cliff and survive, and not know how they lived through it for 13 years. It truly was a stump.
The morning was quickly turning to late afternoon. The amount of hours spent to tending to Zecora and settling down, little Layla began taking a brief nap on her bed while the two mares discussed the situation at the table.
Zecora had pulled out a book on unicorn biology as well as “History of Great Achievements by Magic” by Starswirl the Bearded. Both mares began reading over the books, from front to back, trying to find some way of explaining Twilight’s…. situation. Surviving falls, no memory of death and current situation.
It took almost an hour of reading from both ponies before Zecora had finally found a solution with an explanatory ‘Ah! At last! A look into the past!’
Twilight dropped her book and leaned in close to the zebra. Zecora somewhat continued to scan the page before laying the book down and twisted it around to face Twilight. Twilight quickly levitated the book, however, as soon as she did, the book began to slowly crush in on itself.
Twilight quickly gasped and tried to lower her hold on the book but that did not seem to work. Zecora watched as it happened, somewhat surprised that she was doing that to a book. But then again, she knew why.
Twilight dropped the book entirely and somewhat stared down at it. She sighed.
“Fear not my dear friend,” spoke the zebra. “For this is not a dark trend.” Twilight nodded and looked down at the book before her. She read the passage, letting her mind scan every word there on that page.
As she read, her eyes began to grow wide. The very words wrote by Starswirl had always been enjoyable and joyous for Twilight. Finding a new ‘old’ book to read was the greatest of pleasures for her but but this book… was making her sweat.
Powerful ponies, almost as powerful as the princesses, will have the ability to avoid death if their magic is strong enough to save them. The pony with the magic ability to do it will first die, letting the magic reside within their ‘souls’. Once the pony has passed, the magic will slowly come out and repair the body.
This study is currently known as the ‘Phoenix Theory.’ Much like the phoenix, the pony will be somewhat be reborn. Depending on much magic is stored, the pony can either be ‘reborn’ as a new pony or be alive as the same pony they were before. However, no current ponies have been seen from with that ability except the Princesses, who do not deny this theory.
On rather extremely rare occasions, a pony with enough power ca not only be repaired but the pony will grow more powerful as their magic flows through them for long periods. This can happen within a month or years. The longer the pony stays under the power, the longer the power will grow.
Since the magic will have nowhere to go or has little to no way of releasing, the magic will most likely be stored in the pony’s soul. Unicorns often use their magic or leak magic everyone in a while so their bodies do not become so full of magic. This case however, is different. Once that pony awakes, they will be five to almost ten times as powerful as they were before.
Though cautious must be taken, that pony will have so much uncontrolled magic, much like a newborn unicorn, that the simplest of their spells can be resulted with devastating consequences.
Many magic abilities will also be changed from the volume of mass one can levitate to teleporting miles and miles away. Ponies that have been known to do this are the ones that have been asleep for more than a year or so. Actual tests have not been made.
It goes on to say that Starswirl was one of the few ponies to have accomplished this in a late part of his period of life. He fell ill, only to be saved by his magic. But it didn’t fully restore him, just allowed him to live a full… long life. Apparently, he lived thirty years more than an average unicorn, which is 90 to almost 110 years.
Twilight knew that it was possible to live past normal lives. Her great, great, grandfather, Dusk Sparkle lived to be 112. He was not a powerful unicorn but he was great with magic.
Pushing the book away, Twilight sighed.
“Well,” she began. “At least I know how I got here, but that doesn’t answer why I am here.” She stood up (like from chair to floor) and walked past the table to outside. Zecora looked over the table to see her daughter still asleep; she then followed Twilight outside.
Outside, Twilight looked at the forest before her. It looked pretty much the same in the Everfree though that was probably the biggest understatement.
“Why?” she said aloud. She knew Zecora was right behind her. “Why am I here?”
Zecora appeared behind her.
“I am but a zebra my friend, through little knowledge I have, i can lend. Time has passed and it has been down, with Equestria growing harrshly, there are little ponies without a frown. Your journey should begin here, where you may find out without fear, that your death may have been for good or bad, that your arrival does makes me glad.”
Twilight heard every word and sighed. It felt like if she landed in a sort of Tartarus-ish future. Looking up at the sky, she saw how gloomy it was. It first confused her but then she remembered that she was in the Everfree Forest. The forest was its own chaos, its own private Tartarus. Something that has been like that for centuries.
“You should not cause frets for they may lead to many great regrets.” The zebra laid a hoof over her. “Now, if you truly are powerful, then nothing should seem so dull. You magic grows, your powers awaken, and it should be slowly taken.”
Twilight nodded. Right, so her magic had increased exponentially by that to almost the Princesses. Her death may or may not have been a good or bad thing but she knew that it was the past. She could not do anything to fix it and… She paused.
She could do something about it! She could travel back in time and stop herself from jumping off. She could just find another way of dealing with the situation. Her face lit up with excitement and her body jumped with glee.
She turned around to face Zecora with the happiness news but… it immediately dropped. The zebra was shaking her head, almost like if she knew Twilight’s intentions.
Twilight, though a little confused, tried to speak.
“I can try, I can…”
Zecora paused her by placing her hoof on her mouth, silencing her.
With deep, regretful eyes, Zecora gazed onto Twilight’s own eyes.
“I am sorry… my friend, but your journey to the past, will be your end. If you go and try to correct this mistake, your own doom will you partake. Let your past go, and hope for the best in this new flow.”
“But how can I?” she asked loudly. She turned to her, tears beginning to reapear. “How can I let it all go? I left behind my friends, family and I lost so much more. Are any of the ponies I loved before even still alive?” The question hung in the air.
Zecora remained quiet and Twilight knew that silence all too well. Something did happen to her family and friends and to be quite honest, she wasn’t really surprised.
With a voice that was almost a whisper but dripped with anxiety and fear, Twilight spoke.
“Zecora… who’s gone?”
Zecora sighed.
“Many of your friends have… not met their ends. Many have just gone through changes, many through dark and scary ranges. I have seen the five of them gone divided, many into a places not… lighted.”
At this Twilight had calmed down, but was saddened to hear it all. Her friends haven’t been well, nopony has been.
“If you wish to know of your family’s fate, I cannot provide those answers up to date. To that, the princess we must go, for it is the answers she may now.”
Twilight nodded her head in defeat, leaving it facing down.
“At least there alive…” she looked up to her zebra friend. “Right?”
Zecora nodded and spoke no more. Layla, over-hearing the commotion, had awoken to see Twilight and her mother outside. With a small yawn, she spoke to her mother.
“What is happening mother?”
Zecora brushed her head alongside hers.
“Nothing you need to worry about my dear, nothing at all for you to fear. Twilight and I have been speaking, and I was helping provide some of the answers she was seeking.”
Twilight in her turn, nodded and approached the both of them.
“Yes we have and now that I know what I must do, I have to go to Canterlot. Let us hope the princess can help me out and tell me what has been happening since my… absence.”
Zecora nodded and quickly walked inside with Layla. They both quickly got a few things before walking out.
Both of them were caring pouches on their sides. Zecora stopped before approaching Twilight. She brought out a greenish powder and turned to her home. With a simple blow, the mist engulfed the cave in a greenish mist before it cleared and the cave almost disappeared, leaving behind a simple looking mountain side.
Twilight was impressed, like finding a new discovery impressed, which, this was not much of a new discovery but it was pretty awesome. Oh, how Rainbow Dash would flip if she saw this, but then again, Zecora was friends with her or she hoped she still was even after thirteen years.
Zecora smiled with a content smile then turned to Twilight.
“At last, we are ready, to head to Canterlot, nice and steady.”
As the two Zebras began walking towards the Everfree, Twilight spoke.
“Zecora, wait...”
“Hmm?” The zebras turned to Twilight.
Twilight knew that it took almost an hour to get from the Everfree to Ponyville, and from Ponyville to Canterlot was a good three-hour train ride. Therefore, by the time they get there, it would be nightfall and she wished to speak to the princess as soon as possible.
“Maybe, we shouldn’t go walking. I think… that I can teleport us there.”
Both zebras’ blinked. They slowly walked back towards Twilight, who suddenly seemed nervous of the thought.
“Are you sure you can make that?” asked Layla. She was not much of a magic user but she also was not naïve of how incredibly far that is. It takes massive amount of magic to teleport that far and too much or to little, you either end up in millions of pieces or just dead. None were the best options.
Twilight only nodded.
“If I am as powerful as I am claimed to be, then this should help us. Besides… I think that after thirteen years, my magic is aching for release.”
The two of them nodded before coming closer. Twilight, content with it, slowly concentrated and closed her eyes. If she was right, they’ll will be right outside of Canterlot, if she was wrong then… this time wouldn’t have to worry about dying again. A magical, purple sphere enveloped around the three and with a powerful purple flash, they were gone.
Twilight only blinked, her surroundings slowly coming back to her. She looked at her companions, who seemed woozy by the whole experience. Twilight blinked again, slowly examining her surroundings. Her back was to the sunset where not almost fifty, sixty miles away was the Everfree. In front of her, she stood in front of the Canterlot castle gates.
She brought her hoof up to her eyes, examining that she was not dead or a ghost. She was standing on grass, the zebras were still trying to get used to their environment and that a few guards, surprised by their sudden arrival, quickly made ways to them.
Oh, yeah, she just pulled off the biggest feat known to pony kind without any accidents, no deaths and she wasn’t even slightly affect by that amount of magic used.
With the approaching guards and suddenly a few Canterlot ponies passing by, there seemed to be a massive amount of shock and awe. Twilight at first thought it was Zecora and them but when she realized who she was.
A group quickly formed around them, only to have the guards make way. One of the guards, a Night Guard who was a unicorn, quickly cleared way. When he saw the zebras, he quickly embraced the two.
“Father!” cheered little Layla. The unicorn smiled and he hugged his daughter and his mate. Zecora, who Twilight has never seen happier before hugged and kissed the unicorn. Everypony else did not seem to care for them but they did care for Twilight, who was becoming nervous.
When the hugs ended, the Unicorn guard looked from them to Twilight.
“Who is that?” he asked loudly.
Zecora turned from her mate and approached Twilight. To everypony, she turned.
“This here, everypony, is the truth and not a phony. This is Twilight Sparkle.”
The words sooner left her and everypony began speaking amongst themselves or out loud. Some were claiming she was a ‘fake’ a ‘changeling’ or even saying that she was just another unicorn. Soon, more ponies that were either passing by came to join them.
It got to the point where the Night guard quickly pulled his family out and ordered the other guards to push through the ponies to get Twilight out of there. She was frightened as more ponies kept pushing closer, asking questions and so on.
Twilight realized that it this point, she was trapped. She could teleport but then were would she go? And she didn’t want to end up anywhere else without any knowledge of it was still there or something was in the way.
It all stopped when a single, loud hoof step echoed beyond any of the ponies’ voices. Everypony turned and almost dropped themselves to the floor when they saw who it was.
Twilight looked down at everypony but slowly her eyes met with the pony they were bowing to. She knew that no matter what, she’ll never ever be used to how beautiful this pony was. In her own regal way, she was just as beautiful as her own night sky. She bowed in respect, even when the crowd around her slowly dispersed when the Princess approached.
Slowly, lifting her head, Twilight looked at Princess Luna. The night goddess herself looked directly at Twilight, as now they were now the same height.
Without even a flinch or even a stare, Luna spoke to Twilight like if they were live time friends.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I am glad that you have arrived.”
Twilight stared at her in her own awe. She even tried to speak but Luna raised a hoof and gave her a small, smile.
“It’s alright, Twilight, I know who you are and I know it is really you. I will answer your questions later, but for now, let us bring you inside. I wish to… welcome you back home.”
Doing the best not to shed tears, she wrapped her arms around the princess, many to the disbelieve of the surrounding ponies, and hugged her.Though the bond had been shared many years prior, it was still as strong as the day they first met.
A changeling came flying through dark tunnels, almost pitch black. It’s eyes were able to see in the dark but that didn’t still make it any better. It flew down in the corridors and in till it entered the deepest part of the chamber.
There, the Changeling approached the throne. Dropping to the floor, it almost crawled to the throne, where a single entity had been silently sitting.
With a weak and terrified voice, it spoke.
“Um… excuse me, master?”
Bright green eyes with fire red pupils flashed open and looked down at the terrified changeling. The eyes grew dark and with a dark, almost booming voice, it spoke.
“What do you want peasant?” it asked, as smoke emitted from his voice.
With a terrified gulp and slow, crawl it approached the high throne.
“I discovered…a… a situation t-that might be troubling…”
The entity remained quiet and this, the changeling gulped once more, taking it to continue.
“One of the scouts have reported that a powerful unicorn has…a-a-appeared at Canterlot. And they claim to be it’s…” He paused, almost swollen with fear. If he could sweat, he would be creating a puddle under him.
The entity suddenly growled. With a magical grip from it’s horn, he lifted the changeling and brought him to his eyes. The changeling yelped in fear and was brought before him. It shook violently and curled itself tighter to itself, fear that it was going to perish.
“WHAT IS IT?!” he boomed. “WHO IS THIS POWERFUL UNICORN!?”
The changeling, still shaking spoke, “T-Twli-light S-S-Sparkle!”
The entity growled deeper and dropped the changeling onto the floor. The eyes grew wide with anger.
“The Element of Magic lives!” The entity then looked down at the changeling. “Are you sure of this or have your sources been misinformed?” His voice dripped with venom and his eyes burned with anger.
The changeling quickly shook it’s head.
“N-N-NO! O-One of the scouts-c-confirmed it!”
The entity snorted before slowly rising.
“If this is true… then it seems that I am forced… to bring up my plans. I have waited to long for the Princesses to lose much of their magic after their war with that foal of a monster, Discord and… each other. It is time I have brought myself out of the dark once more to attack Equestria.”
The entity smiled. “Yes, it is time for my return.”
The changeling slowly rose from it’s position.
“W-What do you w-wish for me to do?”
A sudden lash from the entity’s magic smacked the changeling across the throne room and had it land harshly at the entrance.
“MY NAME IS KING!” Boomed the Entity. “KING! And as a king, I am going rise back and take Equestria as my place of kingdom! This time, not even the Elements will stop me again!”
------------------------------------ Thanks to Jade Wulf for editing. Thank you all for your support. See you all in Season 3!
What does it take, for many of us to prepare for a fight? A fight where you lose the ones you love, relive pain of wounds and the whole fate of Equestria and beyond on their hooves?
It takes the courage of a Goddess, the might of an Alicorn and the heart of a true pony to endure it all…
Twilight’s heart was hammering heavily with joy as she walked through the same castle as she did when she was a little pony. The old, but recently repainted, walls still looked the same. The arts of famous ponies kept clean, the statues properly cared for, and the place still smelled like new fresh rugs.
Not much… had seemed to change however. The only thing was… that Princess Luna was more public now and Princess Celestia was nowhere to be in sight. Of course, Luna told her to hold her questions in until they arrived at the throne room. An answer that could only mean that something was wrong… very wrong
Luna did not carry herself with much high regard back then. Nevertheless, here, almost everypony looked at her much as they did with Princess Celestia. But then again, she did have thirteen years, so maybe in that expanse, she allowed herself to be more public. Thirteen years prior, she and Luna were great with each other and her friends. They often spoke to one another, and the following six months prior to the Chrystal Empire, and the many incidents after, she around more often.
They both arrived at the throne room, where Twilight was hoping to meet her long time mentor, friend, and beloved teacher, Princess Celestia, but much to her dismay, the chair sat empty.
Luna approached the chair… as if it was her own. Twilight’s heart seemed to sink as Luna turned around to face her and sit on the chair. Her face before carried a smile much like Princess Celestia but now… now it was a face of great sadness. Other features crossed her that showed, hidden anger, fear and much worse, she held a sad smile.
“I know that you have many questions…Twilight.” She spoke in a very sad but straightforward manner. “I know what your heart aches to hear and I know that everything I am about to tell you is the truth. I want you to return to Equestria with knowledge of truth, not false information. However, the price is that you will know the truth… that whatever you may ask and whatever information I give you… it may very well harm you.” Now fear crept along the spine of her neck. Luna spoke on.
“I want you to only ask questions that you feel comfortable asking or what you are comfortable hearing. If you believe that you can handle everything that has been transpired in the events of the last decade or so, please beware of how much you can take.” She let that sentence hang in the air for a bit.
Twilight really was not much of a pony to hear bad news especially if it can mess with her. Others could take it but she was still a filly at heart. She tried to stay innocent throughout her whole life. Always learning things every day, spending time with her friends, avoiding crushes and even sexual activity with anypony, including herself.
Yes, she did mature past the ages of many foals, but she still was a filly at heart. Now… now she was well into being a full-grown mare. She was the Leader of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated many villains in her life, and she stopped the fate of Equestria from falling and saved Empires from crumbling.
Was she ready to face all this now? No, she was not… but she felt like she would have to deal with this sooner than later. Better, now, so she can face the troubles in a better situation.
With a hearty, clear throat, and a bitter taste that slowly crawling into her mouth she nodded.
“Tell me everything.”
Luna nodded. “Where do you wish to begin?”
Twilight sighed.
“Um… well from what Zecora told me, after my… death, Discord broke out and ruled Equestria for two years… is that right?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, it is correct. When you Element of Magic detected your life’s existence, all magical wards keeping Discord’s prison up, had disappeared. In his vengeance, he easily defeated Celestia and me. However, he didn’t kill us… merely kept us imprisoned like we did to him for the past few millenniums…” She paused as she recalled the events. “To say the imprisonment was horrible is not close enough.” Another paused followed before she continued.
“Discord ruled all of Equestria for two years. Many died through the rule and many suffered.” A lump once again formed in Twilight’s throat. “However, it didn’t last longer than we feared. Though the Elements of Harmony were not fully joined or ‘connected’ because of you, they however somewhat remained… active.”
Twilight’s ear somewhat twitched at this.
“What do you mean, Princess?”
“Because of your death,” began Luna. “The Elements were… how I should say… replaced. The ones that were currently existed ceased to be and took on new forms.”
Twilight was now intrigued and somewhat confused by this. However, she remained quiet and let Luna continue.
“These new Bearers of Harmony acquired the Elements and fought against Discord. They fought and defeated him through the Magic of Friendship… but not without a cost.” Suddenly Luna’s attitude changed, as did Twilight’s as well.
“Though the Elements were meant to be a peaceful way to restore balance to the world, they… were changed. Discord tried to fight back but lost. However, because the new wielders were angered at Discord for the harm he has done, they instead used the Elements to harm back. Though their hearts were pure in the beginning when they received the Elements, when they confronted Discord, it soon turned to revenge.
In an act of anger and haste, the used the Elements on Discord and… ended him.”
It really didn’t affect Twilight as much as she thought it would. Taking a life was one thing but taking the life of a god of Chaos, was basically beyond any measure.
“Since the Elements were corrupted by the Bear’s sudden anger towards Discord, it also back fired on them. The Elements took the anger within them, as well as the Bearer’s life force and were gone. The Bearers were deceased and Discord was dead.”
A long, uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Twilight never… really understood how the Elements of Harmony worked. They were to be used to restore peace and order to the world. To make sure that evil or corruption would cease and were to never use as a weapon.
It turns out… that did not seem to be the case. However, this also might explain one thing. Is that what would have happened had she used the elements? If something, had caused her to become angry or fearful, is that, what the future Sweetie Belle had warned them about?
It almost seemed like hours had past but only mere minutes had skipped them.
“Twilight?” spoke the Princess of the Night.
Twilight slowly met Luna’s eyes. Luna met hers.
“Do you wish for me to continue?”
Twilight nodded.
“Yes, please.” She paused and then spoke. “What happened to you and Celestia?”
Luna cleared her throat and continued her tale.
“Not long after Discord was… defeated, the magic that held me and Celestia broke and we returned to Equestria. We were… shocked at the damage that was done, the amount of lived lost and ruined. Discord had not only affected ponies with his rule but everyone else as well.
The gryphons had all but lost their entire Empire and their number loses were the same as ponies but they lost most of their Emperors and leaders. They have lost all trust in Equestria, especially us, and no longer see us as allies.
The minotaur clan have… suffered less than most of the other races. Because of our close connections with them and their skills as workers, they stayed with us and helped rebuild a lot of Equestria.
The dragons… are somewhat the same. Discord had no real colorations with them since most of the dragon species care little for ponies afar or were resistant to much of Discord’s magic. However, the ones we do have contact with and are small allies of us, did suffer for their approaches against Discord.
Other species have either went to hiding or are going extinct. The only good thing about this is that Queen Chrysalis had somewhat lost control of her hive. Most of the Changelings went defective and tried to join us. Hundreds are now considered as Equestrian citizens and more. This somewhat strengthened our bond with foreign species but that is about it.
And so, for the next five years, Equestria began rebuilding itself. Memorials were held all over the world, lives were trying to recoup and… me and Celestia tried to restore hope.”
Twilight blinked.
“Tried?” asked Twilight, somewhat confusingly.
Luna sighed and shook her head.
“So many ponies had lost faith in us because of how long we let Discord roam. Many, especially the nobles wanted to remove us from ruling.” This caused Twilight to frown. Of course, there were many extremist in Equestria, many think that is wrong for only two rulers to control an entire country, especially one as big as Equestria.
Many wanted ponies controlling the government, not goddesses. Others think that only Celestia should be ruling only, having her control both night and day and not her sister. Few thought the same of Luna.
“Their faith in us,” continued Luna. “Has been shaken Twilight. So many ponies, hated us. So many wanted us gone.” A sudden flash of anger passed over her. A few steps back from Twilight however, caused it to quickly drop. With a soft voice, she continued. “Many tried to rid of us, even making threats. One went as far as trying to hurl a spear at Tia.”
This caused Twilight to gasp in surprise. Never, not in any books or any news or history, has she ever heard that Somepony… tried to kill a princess. It was almost enough to bring Twilight to tears.
The princes continued to speak, even if her words trembled.
“I know we are immortal and that would mean nothing to me and Tia if we got struck, but just the act… the action… I—I couldn’t deal with it. The spear had missed Tia by a flock of her mane. It angered me to no end. I immediately struck the pony down almost instantly. He was gone before he hit the floor. No pony moved nor did anypony breathe.
‘I was also shocked by this but… in my anger, I really didn’t care. Almost instantly, everypony dropped to the floor in fear. They all were scarred... Scarred that I would strike them all next.”
“Did you?” asked Twilight.
Luna shook her head.
“Nay, I merely… spoke to them. I only told them that we are just like them; ponies. We are gifted, we are powerful, we are gods, but we are still ponies. We make mistakes, we can get hurt, and yes, we can even be killed but that would destroy the sun and the moon in the process. Normally anypony would take that as an invitation to come and kill us but… after the death of the pony who threw the spear, that would cease.
From there on out, everypony seemed to… accept us; either fear or respect. I told them we tried and that not even alicorn goddesses could prevent everything horrible from going wrong. I spent the next couple of months trying to get everypony and Equestria back on it’s hooves.
‘Celestia however…” She paused, no not paused… hesitated. She tried to speak but seemed to not be able to. Twilight didn’t want to expose or relive bad memories but now that she saw it… Celestia was nowhere to be found. She has been here for almost… a couple of hours and her longtime mentor and friend was nowhere to be found. Not to mention, most of the guards were now wearing Lunar armor rather than the traditional Solar armor.
Luna caught her words but not before noticing Twilight’s face. She was scanning, almost checking every detail around her. Yes, she was starting to see the differences. Without a second thought or warning, Twilight spoke.
“Where… where is Princess Celestia?”
Luna undoubtedly knew that Twilight would see her sister’s absence.
“Celestia… is no longer here. She has left us.”
The statement hung in the air for a moment. Not a sound heard except the ever-growing beating of Twilight’s heart. A slow dread started to fill her.
“Is she…” she could not bring herself to say it, as a lump on her throat formed.
Luna quickly caught this and shook her head.
“Nay, Twilight! My sister is alive!”
A calm feeling passed over Twilight but that did not really explain where she was.
Luna saw relieve but only saw more conflict.
“Twilight, what I meant was that… my sister is no longer here… in Equestria. She has… left somewhere to regain something she has lost.”
“Lost?”
Luna nodded.
“Though I am not sure what it really is. After the incident with the ponies, she became withdrawn from everything. As the years passed, I more alone handled everything in Equestria. I handled the courts, the shifts and everything else but raising and lowering the sun. My sister still does that.” She paused and her eyes went to the window. The sun was slowly setting. “Even now… she is lowering the sun.”
Twilight’s eyes looked out as well. They both watched, slowly as the sun was hitting the edge of the horizon, casting a beautiful rainbow of colors over the valley and Ponyville. Twilight forgot hot beautiful that scenery was.
Luna turned to her.
“I know that we have much to discuss Twilight, but for now, I must return to my duties. I will ask one of the house cleaners to bring you to a guest room and bring you a meal. You must be tired.”
Twilight did not look at her but nodded. She slowly turned around and followed the Princess. Tomorrow though, she would have many questions. Nevertheless, for now, she must rest.
The trip back down the hallways, it did begin to bring a lot of memories. A lot of them… made her just want to cry.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Several hours later…
A lone mare walked down the hallway where the Princess room was located. Two of the Lunar guards were placed there. Both of them saw who she was and with a nod, let her pass through. The doors opened and then closed just as she slipped in.
Inside, a flash of green fire washed over the mare and appeared into a Changeling. Unlike normal changelings, this was one was a bit taller, bulkier and her wings and horns were more edged.
She approached Princess Luna who was watching a few monitors on her bedroom wall. Thanks to today’s advancing technology, stuff or projection TVs and radios were a thing of the past.
Luna heard the changeling and sighed.
“What do you have for me now, Mirage?”
The changeling shook her head.
“No much my queen. Twilight Sparkle seems to be resting peacefully and there are no ponies are wanting or seeking her for now.”
Luna nodded.
“That’s good.” Her eyes continued to focus the many of the screen before her. Each one held a different video for at least twelve different characters.
With a curious glance, Mirage looked up at them. She saw at least a few she recognized but the rest were a mystery. One was a video of Mirage in combat.
With a small glance to her, she spoke to Luna.
“What is this, Princess?”
Luna remained quiet, slowly observing the videos. She saw each of them with a steady gaze. Without taking her eyes, she spoke to her.
“Each of these… videos represent a few characters that I am interested in. Including you, I wish to recruit them and bring them all together, now that Twilight is here. Her arrival may speed up the process.”
“What process is that, my Princess?”
Luna gave a small smile.
“Something to help us defeat evil and stop King from coming back.” Her gaze then turned to Mirage. “You once served us for a time in combat fighting the Changeling second invasion and Tartarus creatures awhile back.”
Mirage nodded. She was the first changeling to defect from Chrysalis and came to join the ponies. Right after, she joined the military and helped fight back either rogue Changelings or those who wanted to fight back. Not soon after joining the guards, Tartarus literally broke lose. Hellish creatures escaped. After that, she became Luna’s servant and bodyguard.
“Well, now that we now that King Sombra is alive and well, not to mention has gained more powerful. I need to assemble a team to stop him and the rest of Tartarus from taking over Equestria.”
Mirage looked at the first screen. There was one of a dragon, almost as tall as a building covered in purple and green scales. Another screen showed another dragon, this time a female with black and red scales. Next to her, was a unicorn that was sky blue with a wand and dust for a cutie mark. She also seemed to be a very… boastful kind of mare.
A gryphon and a rainbow mane pegasus were in the same screen, instantly recognizing them as Luna’s Shadowbolts. Another screen shows an orange Earth pony with a cowpony hat and apples for cutie marks. However, the video was showing her causing tremors with just the stomp of her hoof.
The screen below was a picture of a diamond dog. He seemed like any other normal diamond dog but… he held a gem in his paw. Instantly, he threw it and the gem exploded upon contact. The screen next to that was of a… yellow pegasus. However, she seemed a bit… aggressive and strange. Her body was covered in green vines and she was standing right next to a pack of Timberwolves. Horrible creatures if caught by one.
The last two screens showed of a white coated unicorn mare, who was controlling machinery and other forms of technology with her magic. She had a music sort of cutie mark and was dancing to that weird D and Jaying music or whatever its called. Last screen showed the Zebra-shaman, Zecora, using magic and potions in some form of exercise.
The other two were of earlier videos of Twilight Sparkle fighting at the Canterlot wedding and of Mirage.
Mirage could not comprehend what this would mean but Luna answered for her.
“We need a team, Mirage. I know its on short notice but with Twilight Sparkle here now, I know that we have a chance to end all this… madness.”
Mirage blinked.
“And you believe that…. All of them would be able to help us?” Luna nodded. Mirage looked back at the screen. “I hope you realize that some of them are enemies to each other… right?”
Luna nodded.
“Yes but we are going to need them to at least help us.” She sighed. “The fate of the world hangs in the balance on them.” The screens then flickered off.
It has always been there, the ties that bind us. That little string or that huge heavy chain that rests on our shoulders. It keeps us altogether, sentient and intelligent then most other species. A pony is not much of a pony if they are by themselves. That is why they have binds, to protect them from the world.
The sound of rain had awoken Twilight from her deep sleep. The unicorn expected to be greeted by Celestia’s warm sun and all, but as she opened her eyes, to find the dark grey skies had filled the window's view.
Slowly arising, Twilight lifted her head to see that it was in fact raining. Thankfully, the glass windows were there to provide shelter from the cold elements. Still, just the idea of going outside, sent a small chill to Twilight’s spine. Why would the pegasi order a rainstorm to come in? It was summer and they were off schedule by….
It took her less than a moment to remember what has happened, and where she was. Looking around, she saw herself in one of the guest rooms of the castle. It was almost exactly as she remembered when she was just a Filly living in the castle. The furniture remained pretty much the same, however a few new differences were added.
There was a flat… TV screen? -- On top of a stand. The TV rather reminded her of the projections the movie theaters have but… smaller and there was no projection. Another thing that was different was the amount of electricity seeming to flow through the complex. There were electric outlets, lights for the bathrooms, the ceiling lights and even for the bed.
Twilight sat up. Everything may have been changed by technology wise but everything else seemed to be the same. It must have been a great time to see this happening. Imagine all the new technology her friends and family saw…
She paused… Family. What has become of them? Her mother and father? Shinning Armor or Princess Cadence? Her brother should be here as the leader of the Royal Guards yet not once did she see him nor was there any mention of him.
And maybe it was no mystery for Cadence; she is the ruler and princess of the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor is probably with her. Despite all that, she still was worried. She thought about how her parents are right now. Thirteen years with a dead daughter probably drove them nearly to their graves.
Graves….
Quickly arising from her bed, Twilight quickly made her way to the bathroom. Inside, she looked upon the mirror. The unicorn that stared back her was alien. At Zecora’s home, she didn’t really get a chance to look upon herself, but here in a clear room with light… she was an oddity to herself.
Yes, she did look much older and much more of a full grown pony. She was in her prime as a mare and as a mare… she had to face the truth and horrors that would be her old parents.
‘Let’s see,” she thought to herself. ‘Thirteen years… Mom and Dad would be around their late fifties and Shining Armor would be 37. Hopefully… mom and dad haven’t moved their home.’
Well that wouldn’t stop her. The Canterlot Archives has records of all families here in Canterlot, even if they move. All she has to do is search for them. With that, she took off.
Knowing the place like the back of her hoof, Twilight easily found the library, which is one of the few places in all of Canterlot she could find with a blindfold on, she rushed there as fast as she could.
At first, she would have just checked if her parents were still living there, but if they weren’t it would be an awkward situation to see Somepony else there. But then again… why would her family move? Maybe because of all the memories? Maybe they retired already and moved somewhere for more of old ponies?
It didn’t matter now. She would find out one way or another.
No sooner had she arrived at the library, did Twilight immediately reach the desk. The librarian mare, that Twilight didn’t recognized, was a earth pony. Ms. Dusty, who was the librarian that Twilight knew of since foal hood, had probably already retired.
The mare had a golden brownish made with a light cream coat, looked up from her computer and smiled to Twilight.
“Hello,” she greeted with a smile. “How may I help you?”
With a smile, Twilight answered.
“Hello, I’m looking to see if my… family is still around in the same address. I kind of want to visit them.”
The mare nodded and began typing on her computer. That little machine had Twilight pondering.
“And… who is it that you are looking for?”
“Oh… uh Mr. Night Light and Ms. Twilight Velvet.”
A few more clicks at the computer and they stopped. The mare looked up to Twilight.
“And… may I ask… what relationships do you have with them?”
Twilight gave a small smile.
“I am their daughter… Twilight Sparkle.”
The mare overlooked Twilight. Seeing her and studying her as well. Her gaze was not judgmental but neither was it soft. It was almost like if her curiosity was lifted.
Twilight gave a nervous smile.
“Is something the matter?” she asked the mare.
The mare, who was somewhat in a trans, quickly shook her head and gave a smile.
“Sorry about that, it’s just that… my records here… indicate that your uh… dead?”
It wasn’t a question but the mare wasn’t so sure of herself.
Twilight gave a nervous laugh, and rubbed the back of her head.
“Yeah… well I am not dead… as you can see and I uh prefer not to talk about it. Long story short, I came back and now I need to know where my family is.”
The mare looked her over once more before returning back to her computer. The clicking of hoofs where the only sound to the entire hallway. Though the library entrance was just by the side of the counter, Twilight can never stand any sound near or in a library.
After a few short minutes later, the mare sighed.
“Well… Ms… Twilight Sparkle, it seems as though your family has been moved.” She blinked once and leaned in the screen before looking up at her. “You are aware of their current whereabouts?”
It was Twilight’s turn to blink.
“What do you mean?”
The mare looked back at the screen.
“Well it says that you are dead... yet here you are before me. Though I hope, somepony will clear this up for me. Your parents have moved from Canterlot to… the Celestial Gardens.”
Twilight’s brow dropped.
“I’m sorry but the… Celestia Gardens? Isn’t that the area right next to the Cemetery?”
The mare typed on her computer once more. An eerie silence fell upon them and Twilight’s heart was slowly begging to rise.
The mare stopped. Her gaze then turned to Twilight.
“I’m sorry but… it is really hard for me to do this.”
Twilight blinked.
“Do what? All I want to know where my parents are at? I’ve been gone for thirt… for a long time and I just wish to know where they are at.” Her voice slowly grew as she spoke.
The librarian before her somewhat grew a bit unsteady.
“I know that dearie, but the trouble here is… is that you were marked as deceased. You were set up in the Celestial Gardens.”
Twilight knew about the Celestial Gardens. A Cemetery that only buried or carried the ashes of the most famous and special of all ponies in history. Very few get to get buried and even fewer get to visit them. It was a large garden area within the inside of one of the Canterlot Mountains. Guarded by strict and tough guards, the garden had monuments, statues, and even flames for the great ponies.
They each held a special large area for everypony buried there. Clover the Clever, Starswirl the Bearded and more. That was reserved for the special ponies. If you were either a descendant, an Archmage, a rich pony or the Princesses themselves, you can visit them.
The gardens were mysteriously enchanted so that the flowers never faded through time. That any fire burning, it would burn until the last sun in the universe and the tomes or statues would remain until the earth beneath them vanished. The top part of the mountain had a giant hole so the sun and moon can shine upon their beauty forever.
Twilight gave a brief nod.
“Yes so? I don’t believe my parents could live by the area, nor could they afford it. I mean… my father has a decent job and my mother is Author.”
The mare looked at her, both of shock and sadness. Almost like if she knew something of them. However, something inside Twilight mentally clicked.
Her parents being by the Celestial Gardens, her death, the way the librarian was looking at her….
“You truly have been gone a long time…” came the only response from the librarian. Before another word was said, Twilight disappeared in a flash of purple. It temporary blinded the librarian. When she looked back to where Twilight stood, she was gone. It didn’t take a genius to realize where she was going nor that if it was that bright, something that strong, it was bad.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Twilight appeared right in front of the Celestial Gardens gate. The massive fifty foot tall, metal gates stood before a giant cavern that lead into the mountain. The mountain was a mile or so away from the main Canterlot road and few had access to them.
That is why there is no map or main road to get to it. You either paid a large fine, close to 5000 bits per pony, to enter, or you get access by the Princesses themselves or a part of their bloodline.
Almost immediately, the guards here spotted and surrounded Twilight.
“Halt!” yelled one of them, pointing a black sword at her. “Who are you? And how did you get here?”
Twilight was really not all there. Just the idea of her parents dead, was more of an emotional tug that having the privilege of being buried there. The rain, that had been raging since this morning, did not really help either. As soon as she had teleported there, water drenched every part of her body. Even now, the heavy drops of moisture ran through her mane and down her body, leaving her cold and numb
However, despite all that, she had enough sense to speak.
“I wish to see… my parents.” She said, not with a demanding voice or question. She couldn’t do any of those. The guards looked at her in question, slowly lowering their weapons pointed at her. The main guard speaks out. “And… who might you be?” he asked. A small sigh escaped her lips. “Twilight Sparkle.”
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
“…and that Princess Luna concludes our meetings for the morning.” Luna sighed. Finally, she mentally thought. Usually meetings like this in the early mornings often lead to a longer, orientation and speech between her and her fellow ponies. Most of them were just asking requests and profits. Today seemed to be taken at ease. The cases were always the same though, with ponies asking if they could get Luna’s blessing or her permission to this or that. What really annoyed her most of the time, was that the rich ponies, only want to get richer. She didn’t know how Celestia dealt with it, with their constant conquest to be higher than every pony else. Out of all the rich ponies that annoyed her, there were very, very few that didn’t think of themselves.
Thankfully… Prince Blueblood was not among the ones here. Oh how she despised him…. No, she cannot despise him… not even that much, but she certainly didn’t like him, even if he was related to her by a long generations of her sister’s medaling. His current whereabouts in Manehattan left some relive in her.
With the morning rituals done, Luna has decided to go and visit Twilight Sparkle. She remembered a lot of her, knowing that she may not be in her room but at the library.
Upon approach, the librarian instantly reacted and stood up straight.
“Hello Princess Luna,” she greeted with a warm smile. “How may I serve you?”
“I am looking for a mare here, Twilight Sparkle. Have you seen her?”
The librarian reacted almost instantly.
“Uh… yes my princess. She was here not to long ago. She came her in search of her… family.” The last word somewhat extended. Instantly, Luna knew what had happened. Twilight came in search of her family. She knew that despite be gone thirteen years, it felt like her parents have just died. Poor Twilight must already be at the Celestial Gardens now, crying her heart out. Nevertheless, that could proof fatal for she has yet to have any full control on her high power.
And just like Twilight, Princess Luna disappeared in a flash.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Luna arrived in front of the Celestial Gardens. There, the guards almost immediately confronted and bowed before her. The chief of them spoke.
“What brings you out here, Princess Luna? Do you wish to see a past one?”
Luna shook her head.
“Nay, I am here to see someone. I believe she came here. Have you seen her? Twilight Sparkle?”
The guard gave a seldom look.
“Yes, a mare by that name came here earlier. She wished to see if her family was buried her. We told that they were. She ran in almost instantly, opening the gates. Er… she almost ripped them from the hinges.” He turned to point the gates, Luna followed his gaze. “We tried to follow her in, thinking she might rob or destroy something but when we approached her, she created a force-field around herself and the graves. She hasn’t moved since.”
The gates, though not fully off their hinges, are bent from where they were held onto. The main part of the gate, which opened to the middle, has been almost twisted from its original formation. All of this was highly impossible.
The gates were could only be opened by all the guards at once, which required heavy amounts of magic. Twilight did this all by herself, a mare.
Luna sighed. Her powers were growing, each time she uses them, they get stronger and stronger. Emotions are the strongest of ways of accessing any kind of magic, especially unicorns. Twilight was as strong as herself, but with emotions on the line, they increased twice their rates. Right now, she must be in a deep emotional state. The power might already be exceeding her own levels. At this rate, she could level the mountain and a half mile radius.
Without another word, she walked. The guards were about to follow.
“NO, stay here. It could be dangerous in there. Her powers are uncontrolled and if she feels any threats, she would easily destroy you. I will do this alone.”
She continued to walk, slowly opening the torn gates. With a large screech, the gates opened enough for Luna to get by. Once through, she closed the gates behind her, as best as she could.
The tunnel that lead to the mountain was not a longs way. It was ten hoof tall by ten hoof wide. Plenty of space for her and two others. As she approached the main part of the mountain, she could already feel thee heavy amounts of energy that was eradiating from the center. With nervous ease, she made her way to the mountain.
There, sitting in the middle of the mountain, underneath the open top with the rain pouring in. The opening was for the sun to shine throughout the garden but as well as to let some rain in. There was no sunshine right now and the rain that was passing over didn’t help.
Luna saw the magical shield that has surrounded Twilight within a ten-hoof radius. The magic was powerful, but if she keeps releasing her emotions and this rate, she would destroy everything.
With a cautious approach, Luna walks towards Twilight. Despite the shield kept ponies away, it did not stop the rain from landing on her. The hole from the top made it possible for that to give the sunshine to the graves, and yet… the mood was not of sunshine. Nor is it of gloom nor mild.
Twilight sat in front of three graves that stood before her. One of them said “Night Light” and the other was “Twilight Velvet”. Next to it was Twilight’s ‘grave’. At the shield, Luna spoke.
“Twilight?” Twilight didn’t look up but Luna could tell that tears were streaming down her face. Her mane may have covered her face but Luna could still see the pain in her face.
“Twilight…. I know that it is difficult to understand. I know the pain you are feeling right now but you must understand, that they didn’t die without letting you know that they loved you, Twilight.”
Though the shield was still up, it slowly began weakening. Luna continued.
“Right now, I know you must be thinking that this is a Nightmare, or a dream of some sorts but it’s not. I know it is not comforting to say but they are gone. The world has changed and there is little you can do to go back to the way things were before. However, at the same time you still have other family alive Twilight. You still have your friends, you still have your brother, and you still have…. Me.”
The shield slowly died down up to where Luna approached and her hoof managed to touch Twilight’s shoulder. The unicorn mare looked up with her pained.
Luna slowly leaned in and embraced her. With a final cry, Twilight embraced Luna and began crying her heart out. “I failed them Luna!” She cried. “I failed them! I told them I would make them proud! I would show them I was strong, that I-I wouldn’t let them down! They’re dead! They’re dead and it’s because of me! I killed them and it’s all my fault!” Another angry burst and she wailed loudly.
Luna tried to say something, anything at all to comfort her. It would sound wrong to say it was not her fault. Velvet had died because she stopped carrying for herself and died from sickness. Night Light was too distraught by his daughter’s untimely death, he never paid attention to his surroundings and had an accident. Both had passed on the same day.
Shinning Armor was still alive but… his condition was no better. Hearing both of his parents’ death, he blames himself for not taking care them and Twilight. He left his wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, their daughter, and went missing.
How can you tell a child that everything will be all right, when their whole world is gone?
With nothing more, Luna teleported to her room.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Despite being teleported, Twilight had continued to cry for the rest of the time. Luna had laid her on her bed, but remained by her side. Her crying had somewhat caused a scare with the staff. Once Luna dismissed it, everypony went back to their jobs.
It took almost an hour for Twilight to cry herself to sleep. Luna, though felt horrible for leave her, had to continue her duties for the day. Normally, she would have done the night shift but after her sister’s…. Leave of absence, Luna now had to do both the Afternoon Courts and the Evening Courts. Nothing a goddess couldn’t handle but it is somewhat taxing.
Some new events had arrived with a lot of creatures escaping tartars, including Cerberus who is currently lost somewhere in Zebrica. He was supposed to be guarding Tartars but left his post when the barriers fell. Luckily, nothing major has left and her royal guards are handling the containment.
Other than that, the normal has stayed for the time being. Though it be that the only trouble is that Sombra was still lose, the remaining Rogue changelings are still trying to enter Equestrian grounds without authorization and that Twilight… has lost part of her soul. It doesn’t take a goddess to figure out when your soul has suffered a wound.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
The meeting quickly came to an end. With the end of the court, Luna choose now to have dinner. Hopefully her chiefs had prepared her something delicious. Another thought came and she realized that Twilight was still alone in her room. Maybe Luna should ask them to bring an extra serving.
Halfway to her room, Mirage quickly caught up to Luna.
“How goes your search, Mirage?”
The changeling sighed.
“I finally managed to locate the diamond dog.” She shuddered. “Thankfully… he is smarter than the rest off his kind. The other’s kept drooling on me.” Luna gave a snort of amusement. “Please don’t make me go back there.” The changeling whined. “It reeks like feces in those caves and even their love for diamonds stink.”
Luna laughed at the changeling’s misfortune.
“Alright, no more visiting. But I must ask, did he wish to join?”
The changeling sighed.
“I tried to tell him that he would be doing it for a god cause but he thinks that once were done, you might end up sending him back underground with the rest of the pack.” The changeling gave a snort. “He sounds like he dreads living with them.”
Luna continued her laugh.
“I would too if I lived in a place that reeks of filth. But that means I will have to talk to him personally. I'll send a message in the morning. For now, a job well ddone.”
It grew quiet as they approached Luna’s room. She sighed once.
Mirage, knowing what feeling that was, asked.
“I take it… she knows?”
Luna nodded; she stared at her door with a heavy look.
“I am afraid she isn’t fully aware of how much we need her. She has taken this much to her heart and you and I know that it would be to soon to unveil our plans to her; much less, her right of passage.”
Mirage’s wings twitched.
“Your talking about how she was supposed to be a Princess a few years back?”
Luna nodded and looked down the hall where her sister’s room was.
“Celestia had planned to have Twilight ascend into Alicorn-hood, and become the Alicorn of Magic but…. Faust has seemed to change destiny.”
Mirage was about to question but remained quiet. And so the silence between the two sat. Luna started thinking about Twilight and her needs and it didn’t help that she needed her to help them with the world, just like before. However, the Elements of Harmony were long gone and even if they had them, her friends were… somewhat displaced in Equestria.
The only three that were available were Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Though Fluttershy was the emblem of the forest now, Pinkie Pie went somewhat insane and returned back home. Rarity was living it up in Manehattan with Blueblood. Rainbow Dash was her Shadowbolt but she remained occupied most of the time. Applejack was the only one who stayed where she is at in Ponyville. And a good thing to, with her new found... abilities.
Yes, it was true, Twilight’s friends are still alive but they are shattered in their own way. It did not take long for Mirage to catch up on her feelings especially on Twilight.
“You love her… don’t you?” she asked quietly.
It took a moment for Luna to respond but when she did, a small smile made it to her lips.
“With all my heart… and all thought my time with her will be shortened, I will do my best to show her how much she means to me.” With a smile, she opened the door. Much to her happiness, Twilight hadn’t moved an inch. A cool exhaled left. She then turned to Mirage.
“Thank you with the diamond dogs, however, I need you to locate another member for me.”
“Who?”
“She is a unicorn I assure you. She once went by a different name but changed the title a few years back. She has a pet dragon so be careful. She now goes by The Dark and Mysterious Lulamoon.”
When one fails to learn the past, they are doomed to repeat it. When one gazes on the future, they forget what lies in the present. When one focuses on the present, they are destined to forget the past and continue on the future.
Luna did not bring Twilight pleasant dreams. For a second, she thought she was back to being in the comatose state for the past thirteen years. In that time, she was not aware of her death, but she did felt dreams. However, those were dreams of happiness, of joy, of knowing that one did not cause the demise of millions as well as the world. No, the dreams she had were not pleasant, nor were they nightmarish. They were filled the memories of her family, her friends, and the princesses. They were all sad that she had passed and moved on. They were broken versions of themselves, all of them. Her friends, were no longer friends amongst each other. Her family, were separated and can no longer go on. Spike… the one who she treated like a baby brother, was miserable without her. The princesses, Celestia and Luna were shadows and lost versions of themselves.
All of them like that because of her. She never knew that so many depended on her. So many would fall because without her, she could lift their spirits, or give them hope and so on.
She sniffed in the bed, having already cried all night. Slowly awakening from her dreams, a grey dawn had greeted her from the windows. The window showed greyish skies with the exceptional few blotches of blue. At least it was not raining, she thought to herself. Slowly looking around, she found herself in a guest bedroom. Rising from her bed, she landed her hooves onto the floor and walked into the guest restroom. The light automatically turned on, which really did not surprise her for she was in no mood and looked at the mirror. The mare stared at something alien and yet so familiar. The color would never change from her mane, fur and cutie mark, but it was because of that she was able to tell that she was still herself. Her horn was longer than normal, she was the height of Luna, if not a little bit bigger. Her mane and tail extended longer than before, not knowing how she has not tripped on them now. They were a bit fuzzy, if not disorganized with puffs of mane hair sticking out. If Rarity saw her like this, she would pass out. Her body was toned if not showing any sign of fat, but neither giving her a complete skinny figure. In fact, she looked well fit with thick and curvy hind legs that were meant for running or bucking. Her eyes that once carried beautiful intelligence, despite her them having sadness and regret in them, carried a bit of a more sheen to them. With a heavy sigh, she decided to wash her face and go see Princess Luna, if she was available.
Five minutes later, her face washed and her mane combed, Twilight walked out of the room and into the hallway. She saw a few palace staff walking about, doing their primary jobs. Once passed by, immediately seeing Twilight awake. She was a cream colored unicorn mare with sky bluish mane and tail with a broom for a Cutie Mark. “Greetings Twilight,” she spoke in a sweet voice. “Princess Luna had sent me to retrieve you so you may join her breakfast.” With a small smile, Twilight nodded. “Thank you…” “Sweepy” she bowed. “Thank you, Sweepy.” She paused and looked around. “I hoped that in the time I have been de… gone, nothing has changed in the castle in where the dinning rooms and all that has changed. Right?” Sweepy gave a small smile. “A lot know of your… return, Miss Twilight, and though I have worked here for a number of years, I can say that very few things have changed.”
They strolled down the halls, Twilight watching as some of the several of paintings stayed the same. Clover the Clever, Starswirl, Marevelous and so on; they remained on the wall.
The statues and so on, however changed. Reaching the lower part of the castle, Twilight saw that many of them carried Celestia. Some with a few poses while others were gray head but details surpassed many well-known sculptures.
Twilight stopped in front of a particular painting. One she was all too familiar with and one that instantly broke her heart.
In it, was a picture of Twilight and Celestia. Rather, a younger Twilight was seen with her mentor, trying to teach her how to levitate stones. It was the first few months after her "incident" and she was accepted into the academy.
Sweepy came back after missing a few steps.
“When you had... died, Princess Celestia had decided to hang any pictures of you and her that she had. She was... happy that she got to know you.”
Twilight's throat felt tight and she felt the urge to cry but held back.
“Wha... what did she do after I... died?”
Sweepy sighed.
“She became withdrawn from everypony. She blamed herself for your death, for not being able to stop or help you. She stayed in her room for weeks on end.
When Discord returned, she had lost hope and hardly fought against him, already thinking that maybe he could end her, but like the monster he was, he enriched himself in her sorrow and grief. When he removed them from Equestria, he put them into a prison of their own, much like he was.
After that, the two years of torment was unbearable. Many lives were lost and it was a long time before any hope showed up. When the new ‘Elements of Harmony came’, their hearts were in the right places but their minds were warped and filled with anger because either Discord had killed their families or he did something personal.”
She paused, slowly letting it sink in before she side and she began again, this time with a much different tone. It wasn’t anger or sadness but rather… pity.
“Those poor souls… too young to be filled with that much emotion. The Elements, once thought to bring peace and harmony, somehow they… corrupted the Elements and when they used them on Discord well…”
She stopped. Twilight couldn’t help but answer. “They killed him.”
Sweepy nodded. Twilight couldn’t help but feel fear, knowing that the Elements could be corrupted by the user’s emotions. Is that what happened to Twilight in the future? Did something happen so that she became corrupted and killed the pony race? Did she loose someone so close or maybe she was corrupted?
Sweetie Belle or future Sweetie Belle’s letter said that she had studied the Elements and became corrupted. Corrupted how?
“I know you have a lot of questions,” Sweepy interrupting her thoughts. “But Princess Luna is expecting us.”
Twilight nodded. She gave one last look of Celestia and her younger self before continuing to walk the hall.
If she was to know what had happened during her time… dead, she had to get all the information as possible. Though one thing that made her think were the Elements and the second was how Sweepy knew so much about them.
“Sweepy,” she asked the mare. “How is it you know so much of what happened to the bearers of Harmony?”
The mare stopped and although Twilight couldn’t see her face, she could see pain and sadness. Immediately she realized that maybe she was actually there or knew somepony that was one of them.
Speaking with a shaky voice, she spoke. “My brother… he was one of the Bearers.” She gave a small chuckle. “He wasn’t the smartest of us… heck he was barely above grade point average in Ponyville Elementary but his heart was always where it should be, with his friends. He was the Element of Loyalty.”
Twilight let out a shaky sigh. “I’m so sorry Sweepy, I didn’t know.”
Sweepy turned to her and gave her a teary smile.
“It’s fine.” She rubbed her eye with her hoof. “When he received the Element of Harmony, we all had found hope with him, as well as the others.
But Discord got wind of it and tried to corrupt my brother and the others. Hoping to turn them gray like you guys, when you and your friends encountered him, he ended up killing mom.
Despite not having the… smarts to know about a lot of things, he knew what Discord did to mom. His heart was so lost… I was also shocked, too scared to do anything.
When my brother did turn gray, he and the others banned together, still holding onto their Elements. They remained loyal, kind, happy, truthful, and generous. They all felt that, even though they were facing Discord himself. They knew that if they could defeat him, peace would come back.”
She paused, more tears coming through. Twilight wanted her to stop if it was too much, but she shook her head and continued.
“When magic came into play, she was the most distraught out of all of them. Discord had not only killed her own mother and sister, but he tortured her with the body of her mother.”
Twilight gasped, feeling tears came into her own eyes.
“He tormented her, playing with her body like a toy puppet on strings… I have never seen a child so… hurt. So… much in pain and suffering. She begged… literally crying out to let her mother go, but he laughed it off, only to finally throw her torn body in front of her. Her heart, despite being innocent from the start, had endured so much hate, anger, pain and everything else worse you could imagine.”
She stopped, catching her breath before continuing.
“When she came as well as my brothers and the others, Discord didn’t feel threaten because he knew he corrupted them. However, he didn’t know that by corrupting them, he also corrupted the Elements as well.
When they used them, he tried to defend himself but… he couldn’t. At first, he as well us all thought he would be turned back to stone. But… no it didn’t. I don’t know how to describe it but when the Elements fired, they didn’t just covered him in Rainbows, they literally tore his body.”
She shook her head, trying to forget the memories but she knew they were still there.
“I never heard of a cry of a creature like that. His pain… the pain that he had been feeling was probably more pain than anything else anypony or anything could deal with.
His body… slowly disintegrated… almost like every little skin particle was slowly being… erased. He screamed and screamed, begging for mercy and all that but… I don’t think my brother or the Bearers heard him, or didn’t want to.
It was a slow process, though it was over in a matter of minutes. Still though… many ponies were around when he died and I am pretty sure that everypony will remember his pain, either joy for it or the fear it drove.”
She sighed and lowered her head, shaking it to the side.
“When Discord died, the Elements had used so much energy that they absorbed the Bearers’ life forces. I don’t know what happened after that, for everything had changed back to normal. Except that from the Elements, none of the Bearers were there, just scorched marks.
I am guessing my brother and the others died, seeing the Elements took away their life force. At least…. That is what the Princesses told us.”
“Celestia and Luna?” she asked. “They got out of their prison?”
She nodded. “Right after that, they came to town and saw that the Elements were in the same spot they were used to kill Discord. They told us that they used so much power, just to get rid of Discord, which is why they took their bodies to replenish their magic.
We were saddened to hear that but they told us that my brother and the Bearers had died saving the world, despite a heavy cost. Than they told us they went to go return the Elements to their original place… which I don’t know where.”
It was silent when she stopped, Twilight feeling quieter than ever and emotionally distraught. The Elements becoming corrupt, Discord being killed… was this really a better future?
Sweepy than looked panicked and quickly grabbed Twilight’s hoof, almost completely forgetting about the story.
“I’m so sorry but we are going to be late. I promised Princess Luna that I would have you in for breakfast.” She pulled Twilight down the hall, almost half running. Twilight quickly regained her hoof and paced with her.
They were at the entrance, with two guards waiting for them. Sweepy nodded to them and they both nodded back, before opening the door for them. Inside, a large table awaited where Princess Luna sat. Sweepy gave a bow to her before turning to Twilight and giving her a bow.
“Thank you for listening. I haven’t been able to tell for 11 years.”
Twilight nodded. “Thank you for sharing it though. I am truly sorry for your brother. I wish there is something I could do for you.”
She gave a warm smile. “You being here is all that matters. If you can help us all in our time of need, than it would be the best gift of all.”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “I know that you don’t want to say more but may I ask this quickly? Who was your brother? And did you happen to know of the other Elements?”
She gave a sad smile and a nod.
“My brother was Snails. I don’t know if you knew him or not but he was in Ponyville like you were. As for the others, I didn’t know them much but I knew that the Element of Honesty was a young colt named Pipsqueak, The Element of kindness was to a young mare named Peppermint Twist and the Element of Magic was Dinky Doo. The daughter of Ditzy Doo, the town’s local mail mare.” She sighed. “All of them… so young and innocent lives. Taken away so harshly.”
With that she turned away, heading out the door; the doors closing right behind her.
Would one so selfishly try to change their past to be happier,
If it meant that many others would suffer for it?
Twilight didn’t how to feel, unable to comprehend what she had heard. Innocent foals, a few having just barely received their Cutie Marks, were corrupted and killed off, in order to save Equestria from a monster.
Those poor souls, enduring pain, torturous, agonizing pain. Never knowing that their pain would be used on the Elements to kill Discord. Discord no doubt deserved it. But the Bearers didn’t. Not in that way. Not so soon.
Her dark thoughts were immediately chased away when she saw Princess Luna speak.
“Twilight…good morning. Please, come join me for breakfast.”
Twilight gave a small smile and approached Luna, who sat at a long table. She was by herself, but other meals were being brought out, so Twilight assumed others were coming.
As she approached the princess, she gave a small bow.
“Good morning, Princess Luna," she said.
“Oh Twilight,” said Luna with a smile. “You know you do not have to prostrate yourself before me. You are my friend; and now almost my equal, so please, no formalities.”
Twilight rose and nodded. She took a seat by the princess and sighed heavily.
Luna noted her mood and offered a comforting hoof.
“I know that…” Giving a pause, she rubbed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “That yesterday was difficult to bear, but I hope that you can understand what happened, and why. You may not like what has happened, but you must learn to move on. I will not ask you to like it, but to accept what has happened nonetheless.”
Twilight felt empty inside. She knew that she couldn’t cry anymore. She knew that her parents were dead and that the world around her had changed. For better or for worse; of that she was uncertain. She looked down as she spoke.
“I know, Luna. I accepted that my parents are dead,” she said. “I accept that Discord ruled the lands for two years, and in that time he killed millions. I accept that the new Bearers were corrupted, and that they killed Discord and in the process themselves.” She looked up at Luna. “I accept it all but…I know that things will never go back to the way they were. I know I can't take what I did back.” She sighed again. “I just wish there was a way for me to stave off the loneliness."
“You won’t be alone," said Luna.
She brought Twilight over to her chest and stroked her mane gently. Twilight relished in the comfortable feeling of being held again. This was the first time Luna had held her like this.
At one point before, Luna and Twilight had a relationship with one another. They had a few dates and had even lay in bed with one another. Even though they never went any further than that, they still carried a passion for one another.
However that left them with a big problem. Luna had her responsibilities as a princess, and Twilight had her studies. Not to mention that a Princess with one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony would cause a huge scandal, especially among the nobles.
So they decided to remain quiet about their relationship. It came to a point where they just decided to stay as just friends, because of the problems and long distance. Still, while Luna openly admitted her care and fondness for Twilight, she could never bring herself to admit her love for her as well.
Their hug was interrupted when the server came to bring them their food. Twilight felt better, and Luna had missed the comforting touch of another, knowing that Twilight was the only pony besides her sister that she could hug like that.
Once they finished their meals, Luna took Twilight to her chambers. All the meetings Luna had had been cancelled, and that left the two of them to themselves.
Luna had ordered tea to help pass the time. Twilight had the uncomfortable feeling that she was about to hear something bad. Luna and Celestia had always been masters of concealing their emotions. Their many years of facing hardships had toned their faces into near-expressionless masks.
Twilight had been around both of them for long enough to know when they were worried.
“So,” began Luna. “I am sure that you know what happened to the previous Bearers.”
Twilight blinked and nodded slowly.
“How…"
“The walls of Canterlot speak to me, my friend. They can tell me everything in a matter of seconds.”
From behind her, a changeling appeared. Twilight reacted quickly, igniting her horn menacingly.
“Princess! Changeling!”
Before Luna could react, a blast of purple energy sent the changeling towards the wall, instantly crippling it.
Twilight stepped forward and prepared to finish the job, before a blast of magic stopped her in her tracks. The blast hit her square in the chest, and thoughts of betrayal ran through her mind, before she realized that her whole body felt numb, but not painful. She couldn’t move. A paralysis spell.
Luna let out a shaky breath.
“Twilight… it's okay. She is an ally. I am sorry I had to do that to you, but I couldn’t let you kill her.” She trotted up to the changeling, inspecting her body.
Twilight felt the spell waver and fade. She tested her limbs, and upon satisfaction with their control, she cautiously walked up to Luna and the downed changeling. Luna was worried, if not horrified by how badly the changeling was injured.
Twilight still wary of the changeling, decided to quickly cast a healing spell over it. A small magical wave cascaded from her horn to cover the changeling's chitinous form.
Luna was about to question what she was doing, but the changeling reacted quickly. It shot up and gasped, giving a shrill cry before falling back down on its back, gasping for air.
“You're alive!” exclaimed Luna gleefully. The changeling took in another gasp of air before she managed to regain a normal breathing pattern. She clutched her chest and coughed, a sound which puzzled Twilight. Hearing a changeling cough was like hearing a cat choking on a hairball.
“Hmm,” groaned the changeling. “That hurt…a lot.” She turned her attention to Twilight. “What the hell did you do that for?”
Twilight tried to speak but she was left somewhat speechless.
Luna shook her head.
“It was my fault, Mirage. I didn’t warn Twilight of your species' presence here…or yours.” She brushed her hoof over the changeling’s head. “I am sorry.”
The changeling purred. Yeah… it happened. A changeling, something Twilight had nightmares of every night after the invasion and maybe even within the last 13 years in her comatose/dead state, purred.
The changeling's eyes closed. Her fangs were revealed by her smile as she leaned into Luna, the same way Twilight used to. Twilight could be horrified, mortified or disgusted, but she really didn’t know what to do or think.
Once the changeling felt better, Luna brought Twilight up to speed. With Discord dead and all of Equestria slowly recovering, the changeling race was practically extinct. Despite their presence in Equestria being outlawed after the ‘Canterlot Invasion’, changelings from all over began showing up inside towns and cities.
Many had offered themselves to the citizens, if only for the bit of love that they had left. The fear caused by their return their return nearly started a nationwide purge of them. However, during that time, Luna and Celestia had come back and aided them, allowing them to integrate themselves into pony society.
Chrysalis was dethroned and all changelings gained their own freedom. However, some did try to attack and steal the ‘love’ from the ponies while others fought against those changelings, trying to gain the respect of the Princesses. Hence, Mirage was one of the few who fought back and gained the trust of Luna.
After the attack, many were dying and the few left were instantly granted equality and security. Some even tried to replace or at least try to take the place of those lost in the ‘Discord Reign’.
“I stayed with Luna,” began Mirage. “When she gave us rights after we defended her and the ponies. Others went to go join families and replace those lost to them. I was a born soldier, so I continued to fight and defend.”
Twilight remained quiet the whole time. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of Mirage for a second. It wasn’t that Twilight didn’t trust the changeling, even with Luna backing her up. It was that, for her, it only felt like a short while ago that they had invaded and tried to take over Canterlot.
It didn't feel too long for her, but for everyone else, 13 years can change one's opinion.
“So…” said Twilight cautiously. “What ever happened to Chrysalis after she was dethroned?”
Mirage grimaced a bit. “I…truly don’t wish to repeat it, but… when Discord caused chaos over Equestria, the madness of her failed attempt at the siege of Canterlot, plus the crazy love that Discord was creating made her go insane. She tried to take out the entire hive to go and fight Discord and steal all the love but, noling could do it. We were starving and we were low on reserves. Any place that wasn’t infected or touched by Discord, were either busy keeping extra security at home or didn’t have any love to go around.
"We scraped by with the occasional Dragon, Gryphon and even a few animals that were intellectual enough to love. Most of it went to the wounded or the younglings.
"Chrysalis tried to steal it all for herself but with the council and a few hundred of us, we dethroned her and put her in a cell.” She paused as her eyes focused on Luna. “That was 12 years ago, and she is still there.”
Twilight shuddered, and tried not to imagine what state the queen was in.
A silence passed between them. Luna allowed the information to sink in for Twilight. Mirage clearly felt uncomfortable when she was talking about the past.
The silence was disrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come in!”
The door opened to reveal a night guard.
“Princess Luna,” he said, giving a stiff salute.
“Yes, corporal?” replied Luna.
The guard walked in and bowed. A typical male night guard; bat wings, cat eyes, and a webbed crest.
“We have received word from the Diamond Dog that you have previously asked to join us.”
Luna gave a nod and a small smile.
“That is good. Is he going to join us or is he just coming to speak?”
The guard shrugged.
“He didn’t really specify, he just said that he wanted to meet with you tomorrow and see what would be in it for him.”
Luna scoffed and shook her head.
“I swear, those greedy mutts always want something, be it for the greater good or to save their tails.” She sighed. “Fine. Have him come by noon tomorrow and we can discuss what he wants.”
The guard nodded and turned to leave. Luna stopped him before he closed the door.
“By the way, have we any responses from the Dragons or Lulamoon?”
The corporal shook his head.
“Sorry, Princess, but our scouts aren’t getting proper responses back. The dragons don’t seem interested in our problems. Not even Dracus. As for Lulamoon, she is at least a weeks’ worth out, even with her dragon pet, or friend or whatever.”
Luna gave a heavy sigh. She looked down at her hooves, crestfallen. However, in the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight and her hope instantly rose higher than ever.
“Corporal, I will write a letter and mark it with my seal. I want you to try to personally deliver it to Dracus. He is the only one of the dragons that will listen. And tell him before handing him the letter that an old friend has returned.”
The corporal nodded.
“At once your majesty.” He bowed and backed out of the door, closing it behind him.
Twilight turned to Luna and asked, “Who are Dracus and Lulamoon?”
Luna smiled, a smile Twilight hadn't seen since she first arrived here.
“Twilight, I think that in Dracus' case, the surprise might be worth the anticipation. For now, he is one of the few dragons in their Empire that we speak to, not to mention he is of the bloodline of the Dragon Queen.
"As for Lulamoon, well I am surprised you don’t remember her. She is the one that boasted in your town about defeating a Ursa Major only to have one come into your town. Not to mention that she has claimed to be the greatest and most powerful unicorn in Equestria.”
The words rang in her head. In an instant, she put two and two together. Only a name crossed her mind.
“Trixie?”
Luna nodded.
“Trixie Lulamoon. She is one of the few ponies that we have as a field agent, trying to get everything back in line. She makes sure that there are no influences of evil, or any sign of Disharmony in Equestria. She is in disguise, using her prior life as a ‘Performer.’
Twilight blinked and stared.
“Others?” she asked. “What others? Luna, what is going on?”
Luna gave a sad smile.
“While I trust you, Twilight with nearly everything, I don’t think that I can trust myself to tell you what I have planned for you. When you came back to us, you were the final piece of the puzzle to help us bring peace and harmony back to Equestria.” She laid a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “For now, I just ask that you trust me and wait until I can explain everything.” Twilight looked into Luna’s eyes and saw that Luna was telling her the truth. She knew Luna long enough and trusted her enough to tell her what she needed to know. She nodded. “Okay Luna, I’ll trust you but please, I want to know what has happened with everything the last thirteen years and what I have to do with it.” “I will Twilight, but for now, I don’t want you to be in any situations right now. For now, I just want you to rest, try to adjust with the new things around you and find yourself.”
“I’ll try.” “That is all I ask.” Luna said with a smile. “Now, I won’t answer any questions right about what I have planned for you, but I will answer questions about anything else I can.” Twilight nodded. “Fair enough.” A million questions swarmed in Twilight’s head. Where are her friends? Where is Shinning Armor or Cadance? Where was Celestia? Where was Spike? How could she adjust her life back? How did Trixie…
A single event can change the foundries of the world. A single fight can turn enemies into allies. A single accident can bring lovers together. A single fall, can unleash the sound of dismay. A single word can bring the world to a war. A single mistake can tear apart friends and family
.
Over the next few hours, Twilight, Luna and her Changeling body guard, Mirage, spoke about Trixie and some other things. Though Twilight was never one to be caught off guard by normal unicorns, it seemed that Trixie acquired her dragon through non-magical means.
At first, Twilight thought that Trixie hatched her dragon like the way she did with the same test the school had for her. But it was not it. Trixie apparently acquired by saving it from its fate. It seems that the dragon’s parents were one of the few dragons nearby Discord’s chaos magic.
Dragons were impervious to magic of almost any kind, once they reached adulthood. However, due to the imbalance of nature, the Stellar creatures as well as Tartarus got crazy and started rampaging. The dragon’s parents had been sleeping along with their hatchlings when an Ursa Major trashed the cave, collapsing over the dragons.
The dragons used their bodies to cover their hatchlings from arm. It was only because of that, that one of the hatchlings managed to survive. It was the only survivor from its siblings as well as its parents.
Trixie was checking on the disturbance the Ursa caused when she encountered the little drake. Trixie was reluctant to care for a baby dragon, but when she saw that it had lost its parents and was hurt, she decided to care for the little drake.
With the next few years, the dragon was cared for under Trixie’s hoof. Almost a decade later, they became like family. At the same time, Luna took Trixie to be her student.
“Whoa, whoa, wait!” Half-yelled Twilight. “She was your student?”
Luna looked at her blankly.
“Well of course,” she answered stoically. “Beatrix has shown great potential and just like my sister, I too wanted to take in a student.”
“Wait, her first name is Beatrix?” Luna nodded. It took all self-control to stop Twilight from bursting in laughter, though Mirage didn’t have half the control, only managed to snort.
“I crack up every time I hear that name,” she said in a fit of giggles. “Though she absolutely hates the name.”
‘Oh, if she ever starts something, I am going to so use this against her.’
Continuing on, Trixie or Beatrix Illusiona Lulamoon… (Oh the teasing will never stop!) Was her student for an entire decade. More so, she learned powerful magic from Luna and managed to near Twilight’s level. Since Twilight’s natural talent was magic, it was of course easier for her to advance much more then Trixie.
After her training was complete, Trixie was sent to around Equestria to help those still affected by Discord’s magic or continue keeping the peace. It amazed Twilight how far she had gone in all this time. Though something came up that Twilight had just thought off.
“Speaking of dragons, where is Spike?”
The room instantly turned quite. Even Mirage remained silent.
“What?” she asked, now suddenly afraid of their silence.
Luna was the first to break the silence though she sounded less than enthusiastic about answering.
“Twilight… you must know that with your death… there were many changes to your friends. I believe that none of them were hit hardest than Spike himself.”
Twilight had that feeling in her gut again. The one where she knew something bad had happened to her friends and knowing that Spike was involved made it that much worse.
“Is he alright?”
Luna nodded but stopped right after and gave a displeased look.
“Spike had more trouble than others because how close he was with you. After you died, he returned to Ponyville and secluded himself in the library. Others tried to get him to get out but they were unsuccessful.
When he did managed to get out, all of your friends either had their own problems or left Ponyville. With no pony left to take car e of him he tried to come here, but at the time, Discord had already come to be.
We sent him off to the dragon lands to be safe, seeing as how Discord had no quarrels with the dragons. Though not the dragons you are aware of Twilight.” She reassured. “There are some civilized ones out there. Along with him, me and Celestia sent your friends into hiding, hoping that Discord wouldn’t target them in act of revenge.
He knew that you were either dead or no longer wielded magic, so he no longer cared for them, rather targeted everypony else. After he was… defeated, me and Celestia tried to gain control of Equestria. We sent for Spike, hoping that he would come back and he did… for a short while. With all your friends either gone or not caring anymore, he felt lonely and wanted to come back to live here in the Castle where he grew up with you and Celestia.
My sister… was not in the right mind at the time. She felt so lost… we felt lost knowing that Equestria had fallen on hard times. She took it the worst knowing how many lives where lost, how she couldn’t have prevented them by saving you.”
Twilight felt a lump in her throat, that feeling of sadness coming back.
“There was nothing she could have said to save me, Luna.” Answered Twilight. “I knew that… after that message from the future Sweetie Belle came from… I knew that there was know way to stop it.”
Luna gave a shook of her head, denying it.
“Don’t say no Luna.” Spoke Twilight before Luna could respond. “You saw the look of Sweetie Belle. The anger, the hate, the sadness and pain; you saw what I would have become if I lived. I didn’t watch the recording she brought back with her to know that it was true.”
“But we could have done something about it, Twilight!” Luna answered desperately. At this point Mirage saw a personal struggle with the two and quietly and quickly left them, though neither saw this. “I could have done something to save you!”
Even after their break up, Twilight had still strong feelings for Luna and her back. Twilight really wanted to say that she could have, but there was proof.
“Did Sweetie Belle’s body disappear after I died?” Luna tried to say something but hesitated. It was true, and she knew it. As soon as Twilight and jumped off the cliff, the guards reported the body and the recording from the future disappear. The future in which Twilight was an evil Tyrant, no longer came to be, therefore Sweetie Belle was never sent back in time to tell of her; Twilight would not live to become the Tyrant.
Luna tried to deny it but Twilight pressed on.
“I never saw the recording but you did.” With stern look she approached closer to Luna. “Show me.”
Luna shook her head, her face already stained with tears.
“Please Twilight, don’t make me show you the horror.” Before Twilight had run away to deal with the horror she saw by committing suicide, Luna and Celestia did manage to see the recording.
“If you don’t believe that you could have stopped me from that future Luna, than you will show me what you saw.”
Luna tried to say no but the look on Twilight’s face said it all. Could Luna or anypony else had saved her from the fate of becoming a Tyrant? From using the Elements of Harmony, could they really have stopped any other evil without them?
Luna sighed heavily. “Fine… but please… please don’t take it to heart. What you did in the future no longer exists and will no longer exist.”
Twilight gave and nod. Luna nodded back.
“For this, I need you to sleep so I can show it to you. It will be like a dream but you will be watching it from my point of view.” Twilight nodded and laid to her all fours, lowering her head between her forelegs and closed her eyes. Luna then lowered her horn. “Are you sure you want to see this?” Twilight opened one eye then closed it. “Very well then.”
Luna touched her horns with Twilight and a flashed of blue blinded the room.
Twilight gasped and stood up as she found herself in darkness. She looked around and saw nothing. However, slowly the void around began swirling with colors and soon, the hall became visible.
Twilight’s eyes then focused and now she saw herself as Luna. Celestia was right next to her as well as Shinning Armor and Cadance. At this point, she ran out of the room with her friends chasing after.
Twilight then found her eyes as well as Celestia’s on the body of Sweetie Belle. They all seemed horrified if not, terrified by the sudden realization. The body was beyond near recognition, save for parts of white fur that were matted with blood or bruises. The pink and purple hair stayed the same if not a bit dull.
Both sisters cautiously approached Twilight feeling sick at coming close to the body. Next to her, was a orb of some kind. It was blue and no bigger than an actual sugar cube. As they approached, the orb lit up and a flash of light shot up.
Both sisters jumped back in surprise, waiting for an unexpected attack, but none came. Instead, a picture of… Trixie was seen, along with the older version of Sweetie Belle. An older, rugged and harsher Trixie was there along with a piece of her horn chipped off.
“To my fellow princesses of Equestria past, my name is Trixie Lulamoon.” Her voice was no longer the snooty, uptight mare that Twilight knew but a dark rugged voice along with fear and anger. “In the coming years to come, Arch Mage and future co-ruler, Princess Twilight Dawn Sparkle, becomes corrupted and manipulated by dark forces. We have come to believe that when she uses the Elements of Harmony the next time, she became infused with their power.
Through that power though, she becomes power hungry and absorbs the Elements… as well as the bearers with them.”
The image then moves to the future Sweetie Belle.
“You the princesses, try to stop her but only end up killed. Cadance survived but her powers where stripped from her. Not only does she kill you both, but she goes after the other alicorns as well, including Princess Aurora. Along with them, she goes after Chrysalis, Discord, Tirek, and Scorpan.
With her rule absolute, she wipes out anypony else in her way. A few tried to fight her, including formations and alliances with the zebras, elk, dragons, gryphons, changelings and so on but she slaughters them all and there are so few of each races now.
“This is why we are sending Sweetie Belle back in time,” warned Trixie. “We do not fully know if the Elements of Harmony really had corrupted Twilight or not, but nonetheless, she is still the most power unicorns in history. She must either be exiled or killed in order to save our future. I beg of you… you may not like the outcome but the future of Equestria, if not the fate of the world as well as many others is on your hooves. Twilight must not be allowed to live!”
The recording stopped there, for all that was next was a black screen. The four of them remained silent, mostly out of fear and shock. Cadance was held by Shinning as she sobbed while Celestia showed she was in sorrow and pain. It may have been a dream but Twilight could feel Luna’s pain as well.
It was silent for a few seconds more before the recording flickered, this time, it showed Trixie but… in much worse for wear. She was now in an underground location and there were… sounds of alarms and the ground shaking violently.
“This is an emergency alert,” She half shouted to a microphone that echoed the halls. “Twilight Sparkle has found our base! I repeat! We are found! Evacuate the base and make a run for it! All personal evacuate!”
Another earth shaking boom rocked the ceiling above them with a few places around the area falling, followed by lights flickering and the distant sound of pony screams. From the door, a beaten and shaken Sweetie Belle arrived.
“Trixie!” she yelled, in tears. “She’s here! She got to Cadance and Shinning!” She began sobbing. “She killed her own family and now she is coming!”
Trixie growled but shed her own tears. Quickly giving her a hug, she held her and spoke to her.
“Don’t worry, if you do this, then they will be saved and we can avenge them!” She then gave her a quick kiss on the lips before turning around and began writing a note. “Get the recording ready.”
As Sweetie Belle reached for the orb, a large roar was heard before finally the entire collapse of the ceiling fell through as well as a giant body in the other room. The fallout filled the room with smoke and dirt cloud. However from the cloud, both Trixie and Sweetie Belle saw the giant, unmoving form of a green and purple dragon. It was Spike and he had giant part of his chest ripped off as well as his wings and his muzzle twisted.
“Spike!” they both yelled, only for another explosion to rock the walls again. Trixie turned to Sweetie. “You have to go! Now!”
Sweetie Belle now beyond tears, couldn’t move, only kept her eyes on her fallen friend. “Sweetie!”
Shaking her head, Sweetie blinked the tears away and nodded.
“Okay, I am ready.” Fear and sadness were instantly replaced by anger and hate. With all of her might, she began charging her horn for mass time travel magic.
Trixie nodded and reached over for the letter. As she was about to finish she set the quill to her initial but stopped. A splatter of blood escaped her and streaked across the letter. Her neck then sliced open with a spray of blood to follow next and her head soon fell off with her body falling after.
“TRIXIE!!!!!” Sweetie Belle cried out in hysteria, only to be stopped from approaching her as a chuckled echoed. Sweetie then turned back to horror as a dark, form came from the room. The room got cold, freezing cold and the laughter grew, as heavy hoof steps followed.
The dark form appeared and in came Twilight, or as she goes by now, Queen Darklight Shadow.
She gave grin with teeth sharper than dragons and her body taller than Celestia filled the room.
“Hello Sweetie Belle,” she spoke, her voice so dark and cold it felt like jamming ice into a frostbite wound. “It has been awhile since I last seen you.” She approached closer and Sweetie Belle’s face matted with tears. “I hope that you and I are still good friends, right?” A smug grin filled her face.
Sweetie Belle couldn’t say or do anything but shake in dread as Twilight was just a hoof away before suddenly, she was yanked back and thrown against the wall.
Sweetie then saw a slowly rising Spike get up, still hurt but rising.
“Oh Spike!” The dragon gave a nod but turned his head, hearing a ‘tsking’ sound come from the large crater.
“Oh Spike,” she asked oh so innocently. “Why would you hurt your dear old master? Is that anyway my ‘number one assistant’ should act?”
Spike growled and quickly turned to Sweetie.
“Sweetie! Go! Now!” With another grunt he was back on his two feet and standing, even with a bleeding stomach, he growled. Inhaling deeply, he then released a might fire that instantly turned the room into a furnace, right into the crater.
Sweetie Belle quickly grabbed the note and the hollow orb, the orb shook in her grasp. She then gave a last look at Trixie, who’s eyes were still open in shock. Turning away in disgust, she saw as Spike was taking his final stance.
Twilight blasted out of the hole and tackled Spike with her horn. The horn went directly into his heart and popped out the other side. Spike let loose a mighty wail before slowly falling. Twilight smirked but then found her body being held by his large arms, using the last reaming strength to hold. He then turned to Sweetie Belle.
“Go!” was the final command. Sweetie Belle then began charging her horn with more magic, nearly completing the final stages of the spell.
Spike’s body then slumped completely and with a growl to match his roar, Twilight released her magic and blasted the upper half of Spike’s body, leaving the rest of it the floor.
Rising, Twilight then quickly turned to Sweetie and shot a bolt of magical energy to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie gasped and soon disappeared in a flash. Though the flash was instantly, the bolt still managed to hit Sweetie Belle. The recording device continued to record until the final moments of Sweetie Belle’s arrival into the past.
The orb continued to record up to the point when Sweetie saw Twilight and yelled those horrid words at her. “What have you done, Twilight?! What have you done?! You killed us all! You killed us all! You should be dead!”
The blast had struck Sweetie and killed her. The blast that came from Twilight.
The dream quickly ended and Twilight gasped as she shot up, nearly hitting Luna with her horn. Luna jerked back, away from Twilight. Twilight was gasping heavily, tears running down the side of her face. She then saw Luna, who only had the look of sorrow and pain.
Twilight then quickly got up and ran to the bathroom. Luna saw her run, and didn’t stop her. The next thing heard was the sound of violent vomiting. Luna quickly went after, and felt pain for Twilight as she cried and continued to vomit. The poor mare’s sound of agony and pain and frustration along with disgust and fear had won the toll on her body and mind.
This continued for a few minutes… Luna feeling the need to comfort her. However, Twilight kept her back until she stopped vomiting. When she did stop, she looked at Luna from the corner of her eye, still seeing the sadness and pain, then threw up once more before passing out onto the floor.
Despite what you think you know, You will always be blind. You may learn about the vastness of the universe, And still be blind. There are things we were never meant to beware of, Things that keep us from really knowing everything, Things that keep us from losing the last bits of Sanity. We will never really learn the whole truth.
For the second time since arriving here and now, Twilight felt lost and broken. First she knew that her family was dead and the second was knowing what kind of horrible future she would have created.
Waking up a few hours later, she found Luna right next to her, brushing her mane as she lay in her bed. The sun had started setting again. Seeing her awake, she spoke lightly and almost hushed tone.
“After the Elements were recovered, Celestia and I had returned the Elements to the Tree of Harmony. It was there that we first discovered the Tree deep in the Everfree forest. We saw how much potential it had to bring peace to the lands and stop Discord’s reign. We used them, knowing, hoping that we could stop him and any other who tried to cause chaos and disharmony to our fellow ponies and the lands.
Me and Tia never knew where the Tree came from or who even created them. We thought our mother Faust had created them as well as other relics like the Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire… but a lot of it seems to pre-date her.
When… I saw the video and heard what had happened to you and the Elements… I couldn’t believe what the Elements have done. I couldn’t believe that they would have corrupted you.” She paused, letting it sink in. Twilight gave a blink but never responded. Rather she moved her head closer and let Luna continue.
“I believe that you were not corrupted by the Elements themselves, rather you were corrupted and used the Elements themselves. When the foals that defeated Discord used the Elements, me and Tia found that they were only corrupted because of the users. They normally wouldn’t work if the user themselves had been corrupted.”
“How do you figure?” spoke Twilight.
“I… when I was Nightmare Moon, I tried to use them on Celestia. However, Celestia and I had used them at the same time. Since Celestia was still pure, half of them wouldn’t have worked but since the Elements of themselves were tended for uses of good, they wouldn’t work on me, even if I had tried to corrupt them. That is why I fought Celestia head on rather than use my resources, thinking I could beat her before she used the Elements. So, that comes up to my point. You weren’t corrupted by the Elements, you corrupted the Elements and something corrupted you.”
Twilight remained silent though her eyes moved back and forth, her mind trying to process all this information. So, she was corrupted and in turn, she corrupted the Elements, absorbed there magic as well as other beings and killed off everyone she has ever loved. If that was true, then why did Future Trixie say that she absorbed the Elements and became corrupt?
“I have thought of that too.” Spoke Luna. It was almost as if she had read her mind, but really, she was reading Twilight. She knew that Twilight was also thinking about what the future had told them.
“I believe that… you were either experimenting with dark magic and became corrupted or… you somehow made contact with an evil artifact and that turned you.”
“What out there could corrupt me?” she asked, slowly beginning to rise.
“There are so many factors in which can corrupt you, Twilight.” She held Twilight, not wanting her to leave yet. “I am pretty sure that Tia told you about Dark magic, right?”
Twilight nodded.
“That could be a factor.” She said.
Luna nodded. “You may have tapped too much of it and you let it consume you. Either that or some evil force changed you…” She paused, thinking of a few. “The Alicorn Amulet, Tirek, Discord, Sombra, or maybe that you have become so obsessed with learning that the very magic that you used, corrupts you and makes you seek more.”
Twilight gave a small smile to that.
“Well… I do like to learn a lot.”
Luna gave a light chuckle in return.
“Yes of course, but know your limits, love. Know that when you learn something that it can consume you, either in power or by its knowledge.”
Love… she hadn’t been called that in so long and just knowing that in this unsure future, Luna still loved her, it made it that much more bearable. Reaching up, she placed her lips on Luna’s and Luna returned the kiss. A kiss which she had not had in so long.
The touch of one’s lips on their own was unlike any other, especially after years and years without its touch. Oh, the kiss was passionate and so heart filled, Twilight could feel Luna’s heart beat through it and it was rising. Twilight’s heart rose to and she felt the wonderful feeling of love and lust return.
Oh, they never had sex before, true, but that hadn’t built lustful tensions throughout their time together. There were times when Twilight had masturbated right after their dates and so on, but never had they endured the pure passion of love.
Right now, despite all that has happened, Twilight would like do nothing better than to drop on to the bed and fu—
“Princess Luna?” came Mirage’s voice through the door. Their kissing stopped which they both sighed. Luna gave a small smile at Twilight’s groan.
“After 13 years, I finally get a kiss from you and all I want to do now is stay in bed with you. Now that is interrupted.” She said all that and her cheeks burned red, not fully knowing if Luna wanted her back.
Luna gave her another kiss before replying.
“You have me at ‘bed with you’, love.”
Twilight looked up. “Does that mean..?”
Another knock. “Princess?”
Luna smiled. “I miss you Twilight and I would have you back any day. When this is all over and harmony is fully restored, I promise that we will be together again.”
Twilight’s heart fluttered and she gave a smile that Luna missed dearly.
“I would love that.” She gave a quick kiss at her before she got up and headed to the bathroom. “I am going to wash up. You do what you need to do.” With that, she turned towards the bathroom and Luna went to her business.
Ten minutes and after a calm relaxing shower, Twilight emerged a fresh mare. Despite not doing any physical activities within the last two days, she felt exhausted and dirty with all the recent events.
She headed towards the throne room where Luna sat in a long table held by the council. There Luna and Mirage were speaking and nearby ponies were preparing for lunch. Twilight must have slept longer than she thought if lunch was being served.
Approaching, Luna already had two plates of food set up, one which Luna had by her and the other for Twilight. Despite 13 years passing, Luna still remembered her favorite food. A daisy hay sandwich and a tossed salad of diced tomatoes and carrots.
The food called to Twilight and her stomach growled in acknowledgement. Luna giggled as Twilight sheepishly sat by her.
“It seems that the beast within demands substances.” Mocked Luna.
“Yes, well,” countered Twilight. “It has been a… a long day and I think that maybe my beast could use food, though it seems you remembered what I crave.”
Luna gave a smile.
“My dear Twilight, I still remember a lot about you. The time we have spent together, I did all my best to remember everything about you. Despite us splitting up prior to the events before this, I still tried to keep everything about you safe in my heart.”
Twilight felt her heart rise and her cheeks grew read.
“Everything?”
Luna leaned in and gave her a seductive smile.
“Everything.” She nearly whispered. Just before she could lean in to kiss Twilight, somepony cleared their throat, causing both mares to sigh.
“Again,” almost growled Twilight. Luna gave a chuckle and she turned to a brown pony.
“Yes?”
“Sorry to disturb you, Princess Luna. There is a… ‘guest’ here to see you.” The word ‘guest’ made it sound like he wasn’t sure.
“Who is this ‘guest’ that has come?” she inquired.
“It’s a… Diamond Dog though he gave no name and wishes only to speak to you.”
“Oh good.” Quipped Luna, a bit upset that he decided to come a bit earlier than expected. She sighed. “Go ahead and bring him in.”
The pony nodded and left.
As soon as he left, Twilight questioned.
“A diamond dog? I know we have some relations with them but they never come to us.”
Luna gave a nod and slowly began to eat.
“Times have changed, dear Twilight.” She took a small bite out of her Breakfast Hayburger. She chewed a bit, thinking about something before she swallowed and continued. “After the defeat of Discord, not everything returned to normal. Despite several species staying away from his rule, many of them did get affected not by his own chaos but rather the effects of it.” She took another bite.
“When ponies were in hiding, many of them hid in caves and many of them happened to be where the Diamond Dogs lived. During Discord’s reign, ponies had to work for the Diamond Dogs to stay alive or hidden from his magic. The Diamond Dogs did keep them hidden but they made them work for it by digging gems.
‘At first, it seemed cruel but they kept them save and fed. They were mostly fed mushrooms, desert plants and some other food, it wasn’t a five star meal but it kept them alive. Unicorns helped marked the spots where they could find the diamonds or what caves looked ready to collapse. The earth ponies pulled the carts or helped grow what food they could. The pegasi weren’t much help since they were in the caves. What little ‘normal’ clouds they could find, they brought them down for water. After Discord fell, the ponies quickly left the cave to get back to their lives. The Diamond Dogs saw that they were losing their most valuable asset and workers. Despite the Diamond Dogs treating them a little bit cold, they still thanked the Diamond Dogs for taking care of them.
Me and Tia personally thanked them for helping out with saving the ponies, so we created alliances with the Diamond Dog leaders. We even helped create jobs for both sides and provided Equestrian goods for some gems.”
“What did they get that they could possibly want from Equestria?” asked Twilight. “I mean, you’d figure if they wanted to have what we have they would have asked for a long time ago.”
“True, but don’t forget dear. They live under rocks for their whole lives… literally. What goes around Equestria doesn’t really concern them. When we did show them what we had to offer, they found that some things were worth having.”
“Like what?” she took her bite of her sandwich.
“Oh plenty of things!” said Luna, a bit excitedly. “When we first showed them the castle, they thought it was the most boring and ugliest place in the world.”
Twilight paused mid-bite. “Really?”
Luna nodded.
“Oh yes. ‘Why is it to colorful here?’” she spoke, trying her best to imitate a rough voice. “‘To much color!’ or ‘I can breathe! Awful smell comes from ponies!’ Of course at the time, they were talking about all the perfumes and chemicals we have on us. Just like dogs, they have sensitive noses, so they were a bit overwhelmed. When we showed them to the caverns beneath castle, it was like they were all going to die heart attack.
They literally begged for us to harvest and collect the gems here. We assumed at first that they dig for gems because they liked shinny things. That was a half truth… just like we use it as some currency or jewelry, they do the same. Show them to a loved one as engagements or for love, they have concepts much like us. Despite popular belief though, Diamond Dogs do have their own branch of magic.”
“Like digging and smelling the diamonds and gems out?”
A small nod from Luna.
“Some diamond dogs have harnessed the rocks into either energy and magic; much like the one that is coming now. I called him in because his unique… uses for diamonds and gems.”
“Like what?”
Luna would have commented but the doors opened to the end. At first, Twilight thought that a wolf had managed to get in, but then as the figure came closer, she saw that the wolf was said, a Diamond Dog. The only reason she could tell was that he stood on two legs and had a collar with a variety of colored Diamonds.
He was dark grey with pointed ears and a canine muzzle. His arms weren’t overly huge like some Diamond Dogs, but he did have muscles on them. His lack of lower pants made it all the more obvious but he did have a black jacket with whatever Twilight could sense, was magical.
“Anything, Princess.” He commented. He drew out two gems, both red. One he crushed in his paw the other, he threw on the other side of where they were sitting. The gem exploded in a red puff, startling Twilight as the Diamond Dog suddenly appeared from it. She quickly shot her head to where he was, not seeing him there quickly shot back to him.
His canines showed and Luna too was grinning.
“Your entrances never cease to amaze me Professor Lupus Captiosus.”
The diamond dog gave a bow.
“If it still impresses you, then I know I am doing something right.”
Last encounter with Diamond Dogs, Twilight knew that they had low intelligence and their words were rough… no pun intended. Yet, here she saw this Diamond Dog speak fluently in Equestria. Yeah, she could still tell that he had an accent, but he spoke almost as if he had years of practice.
Clearing her throat, she spoke.
“What did you mean by Princess?” She paused and looked to Luna, who gave her a quick look before facing him.
He paused. He looked towards them before his ears perked up.
“Ah… so she is… not your beloved that you spoke of before?” Luna raised an eyebrow. He then gave a nod. “You haven’t told her then?”
“Not something that NEEDS… to be discussed at the moment, but I will.”
Twilight heard the emphasize on ‘needs’ though that did begged the question why he still thought that she was a princess? Sure, she and Luna are back again as a couple but they weren’t betrothed nor was she a dame or consort.
“What do you mean though? Why would me and Luna being together make me a princess? We aren’t… fully together… especially after 13 years of being dead.”
Luna gave a glare to the dog but he gave an innocent grin.
“My apologies princess… but I believed that… you were already with the Princess and automatically became a princess in your own right.”
Twilight was no Applejack but even she could tell that was a bold face lie. She turned to Luna.
“Luna?”
Luna lost her sight towards Lupus before turning to her.
“I am sorry Twilight but fact is…” she wanted to try and say it but something held her back. “I can’t… I don’t believe you are ready for it.”
“Ready? Ready for what? Luna I thought you said I could trust you!”
The words burned in her heart and she quickly tried to counter.
“You can Twilight!” she begged. “But I believe that this situation is a bit… more difficult.”
“Difficult?” she half-yelled. “How could it be any more difficult then what it is now?! I killed myself thinking that I was the cause of a horrible future which I am a tyrant! I wake up… 13 years later! My family is gone, you still haven’t told me of Shinning Armor or Cadance, my friends, Spike or where even Celestia is at!”
At this point, Luna was trying hold herself together and Lupus was somewhat sitting nervously in the cross-fire between them.
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
Suddenly, a laughter echoed the room.
Luna’s teary eyes went wide and her heart beat stopped.
No…
The laughter rang out through the room, this time more of a laugh of a good joke, though it did sound familiar.
Please no…
Lupus knew of the laugh too and shrank down as he quickly hid from under the table, holding crystals close to him.
Please Mother Faust no! Please don’t let it be him!
Twilight to had a sudden dread into her heart, what made it worse, that laughter is what brought her shivering and had brought her Nightmares before.
Luna was shaking and despite being a near goddess herself, she was in dread.
Please for the love of all! Gods! Please!!!
A puff of pink smoke filled the room and the smell of cotton candy instantly caught their noses.
“Why isn’t it obvious?” spoke the devious voice. “You were supposed to be a Princess… and here I thought you were the smartest one!” The devious and cunning voice could only come from one creature… a creature even Luna feared.
“My, my, isn’t so good to be back?!” he laughed. “Don’t you all miss your old pal, Discord?”
I was your friend today. I was your enemy in a life time before. I was your mate in a dream. I was your nightmare when I slew. I was family when you lived. I… am your greatest reality.
Discord… the word that had killed so many and tortured millions. It felt like poison to the mouth, something worst than dirt, an entity of pure evil, a symbol of Chaos.
Discord stood… hovered just in front of Luna and Twilight while Lupus was somewhat hiding underneath the table. Luna was panting heavily but her mind was scattered. Her eyes looked at him both in fear and anger, something worst then when she was Nightmare Moon.
Twilight however… she was eased, her breath heavy but not so much. Her eyes remained unmoving towards the deity, her horn on the brink of unleashing any spell she could at him. Yet she didn’t… Why didn’t she do it?
“Ah… I see the hesitation in your eyes, Twilight.” He spoke. His voice was full of charm, full of himself but there was nothing of evil or ill within it. He spoke to her… as if he knew her.
“DON”T YOU TALK TO HER, VILE FIEND!!” Luna shouted with her royal Canterlot voice. The table items blew towards him, nearly taking the table with it. Discord nonchalantly moved away from the flying items, catching two plates before magically making them into earplugs.
“Jeez, indoor voice much?”
Luna, with a growl to match an Ursa Minor, shot herself towards him with her horn fully charged and her anger unleashed.
“Luna!” cried Twilight, trying to stop her.
Discord, smiled but didn’t give a smile menacingly. He transformed into a bull rider with a red cape and taunted Luna. Luna not easily swayed aimed straight for him.
“Ole!”
Instead of her horn piercing him, she flew past in red, right into a cloud of cotton candy. She yelped as she flew straight into it, only to get struck with her head popping out of the other side. She started wailing around, trying to fight her way out of it but was super sticky and couldn’t move. She tried to use her horn but it was covered in cotton candy and wasn’t allowing her.
“DISCORD!! YOU FIEND!!! LET ME OUT OF HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU—MPHFMPFH!!” He stuffed cotton candy into her mouth, preventing her from speaking.
“You really got to learn to chew with your mouth closed, dear Luna. It’s rude you know?”
Luna glared angrily at him, trying to do everything in her power to escape.
Discord then focused his attention to Twilight.
“Now that that is over with, can we get back to you?”
Twilight wasn’t sure how to deal with this situation. Here she was before the God of Chaos, again. The first time, it was odds stacked against her and she didn’t know what she was dealing with before. Even know, she didn’t know how powerful she was to deal with him alone, even with her powers increased to Celestia knows how much.
She studied him, almost more than before. He was Discord, yes, but there was something else about him. First off… he could have killed Luna and her. Even if he wanted to play with them first, he could have conjured up a spike wall right after the red flag and Luna might have died… or would be in a lot of pain. He could have destroyed half of Canterlot before they were even aware of his presence but he didn’t. Next, he could have taunted her with any little thing as she stared at him, but he was staring back at her with an amused grin but nothing so mad.
Finally… his magic was… off. Yes, he was the living Embodiment of Chaos and nothing made sense but… it was almost… his magic, was not part of this world’s magic. She couldn’t explain it but… it was like if he didn’t belong here… if that made any sense or not.
“So you feel it then, don’t you?” he asked in a giddy yet decent tone.
Twilight gave him a once over before lowering back and sitting on her haunches, surprising both Luna and Lupus.
“Talk.” Was the simple statement.
“Oh Twilight,” he teased, “No matter where I go, you are always going to be the killjoy and serious one. That is something you got from Celestia no less.”
She growled and her horn lit up.
“Okay, Okay! I’ll talk… yeesh!” His voice carried a small amount of fear… he let it off as a joke but… was he generally afraid of her?
“Now Discord.” She paused. “And let Luna go.”
“I’ll only let her go if she promises not to be an annoying little Chihuahua and park her little head of before I get a chance to speak.”
Luna began muffling… loudly as she struggled in her bonds and… maybe cursing at him.
“Wow… do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Discord!” Twilight warned.
“As I said, as long as she doesn’t bite me or anything, I will let her go.”
Twilight looked to Luna, who stared back at her, shaking her head and almost begging her to run. But Twilight gave her a look of ease towards her… as if everything would be alright. Luna saw it and relented, letting her body rest.
Discord gave a smile.
“Was that so hard?” he snapped his claws and the cotton candy disappeared, with all traces. Luna was about to open her mouth before Discord spoke.
“What did I just say?”
Luna’s mouth opened, her nose wrinkled and she sneezed loudly, with cotton candy escaping her nose. “Gesundheit.” Gestured Discord. Luna wrinkled her nose again, before glaring back at Discord. She slowly, cautiously made her way back to Twilight. Twilight looked at her, feeling content knowing she was back at her side before focusing on Discord. “Good, now we can get this show back on the road.” “How are you still alive?” asked Twilight. Discord paused, as if he was about to do some act. “What no… ‘What the Bleep Discord?! How the Bleep are you doing?” He bleeped himself. Not said the word bleep, his voice literally being scrambled when he was saying a cuss word. Luna and Twilight both growled. “Fine! Fine! Just… trying to lighten the mood here.” He sighed… a real sigh. He cracked his neck back and forth, while muttering, “Where to begin?” over and over to himself before snapping his fingers and a small vision of a galaxy was shown. “Are you aware of different dimensions, Twilight?” He paused. “Wait… am I talking to a ‘super smart Twilight’ or the average ‘intelligence Twilight’?”
Twilight gave a snort. “I am smart Discord. But… yes… I am aware of alternate dimensions, timelines and realities. All based on theroies!”
“I’m not.” Commented Lupus who still remained underneath the table.
Discord gave a smack on his forehead.
“Oh that is right… you are not… ‘Fluttery yet”, he spoke flapping his wings for emphasis. “And you haven’t visited the human world yet and haven’t been in that awful movie yet.”
“Stop speaking nonsense Discord.” Luna spoke loudly. “Just tell us why you are here.”
“But I am not speaking nonsense… at least, I don’t think I am.” He ignored the growl from Luna. “Either way… to put it shortly, I am a Discord from an alternate universe!” A magical burst over his head showed a flashy signed that said ‘DISCORD OF ANOTHER WORLD!’ with an eerie sound playing.
Luna, Twilight and Lupus looked unconvinced.
Discord floated there in a heroic pose but nothing happened. He looked down at the unamused crowd. Somewhere in the background, there was a cricket chirping.
“Oh hush you.” The chirping stopped.
Twilight is the first to respond.
“I believe you.” She said confidently.
“You do?” Lupus, Luna and Discord asked at the same time.
Twilight gave a small nod.
“If I am standing here alive while I tried to kill myself 13 years ago, where in a different future I kill the world, doesn’t that mean it’s a different reality? A different timeline?”
“You know, I still haven’t figured out what caused you to spas out, Twi.” Commented Discord. “I mean, you killing everypony and being corrupted by me knows what I…” He paused and looked down at them, each giving a quizzical expression. “What?”
Twilight shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter… that future is gone and now this one exists. Now, you still haven’t answered our question; why are you here?”
Discord put a claw to his mouth.
“Aw yes… the most important question in the universe… This universe at least. Anyways… so let’s start from the beginning. In my universe, you and your friends all reform me to be of good use… whatever that meant. With Fluttershy my… loving caretaker, she helped reformed me so I can be a good guy and aid you in the fight against evil.” A halo appeared over his head.
“You and I become… I guess the best words would be… great friends. It took you decades to stop hating me and a century for you to start enjoying my company when our friends… kicked the bucket… so to speak.”
“You make it sound like I will live forever Discord?” commented Twilight. “I will probably live long because I am a unicorn but I too will die.”
Discord didn’t answer and that sent a chill down her spine. Discord’s eyes went to Luna. Twilight turned to Luna who gazed away from them.
“Would you want me to tell her or should you?” asked Discord.
Twilight really began to worry now and Luna almost looked restrained. Her gaze continued to face away from her. With a low voice she answered.
“You have had so much promise Twilight. You were to become something far grander than merely a mage or a great unicorn.” Her focus turned to her. Her eyes looked heavy and she carried a sadness over her. “Should everything gone according to plan, you would have been one of the most amazing… ponies out there.”
Twilight remained silent and her mind ran a million miles a minute as to what Luna was saying. Discord sat on a floating chair with popcorn in his claw, chewing loudly.
“What are you saying Luna? That I become… an archmage or something higher?”
Luna nodded.
“When I was young, mother taught us of the Alicorns. Those who were born and those who ascended. Me and Celestia were born, while Cadance and Aurora ascended to becoming an alicorn. It matters not what pony they were, pegasi, earth pony or unicorn, if one where to find their promise, their true potential and spread it across Equus, then they would be destined to rise.” Her eyes focused on her. “You were supposed to become an Alicorn Twilight. The Alicorn of Magic and Friendship.”
“AND THERE WE HAVE IT!!” cheered Discord loudly. “We have this chapter’s greatest reveal! Twilight… you are the Alicorn of magic and…” He was cut off as Twilight’s magic formed around his head, creating a bubble of noiseless magic.
Discord stopped speaking, despite not hearing anything. Twilight kept her focus on Luna. Luna tried to read Twilight, but she saw a range of emotions that would either end really badly for Luna or Discord.
Luna quickly spoke to stop her from speaking.
“I promise you, we will speak of this later, but for right now, we still have to deal with him.”
Twilight didn’t say anything but lastly, her face fell on a bit of disappointment and resentment. She then turned to Discord, who was trying to pop her bubble but nothing happened.
She then released his head but kept the magic over his mouth.
“No more fooling around, no more jokes…” she said in a serious tone. Her eyes locked dead with him. “I didn’t honestly expect my magic to hold you, but now I realize I can hurt you and if you don’t say something I like to hear, I am pretty sure I can find a way to turn you to stone without the Elements of Harmony.” She then forcibly pulled him in with her magic till they were nearly touching. “Got it?”
Discord looked afraid now… and that was saying something. This also passed to Luna, who was now looking at shock at Twilight’s changed attitude. She felt a bit… apprehensive at her anger and even felt smaller knowing that she just talked back to one of the most powerful beings known in ponykind.
Twilight let his mouth go and he cautiously floated a bit away from her. He cleared his throat and sighed.
“A century to start speaking me like a friend.” He spoke softly. A big of seriousness followed. “A century until the last of your friends had passed and you took comfort, knowing that I was the few that will live by your side.” He paused. “When you lived over 500 years, you have so many wonderful times with you. You… I shouldn’t spoil it for you but I will say this. Twilight…” He spoke now with sincerity and a calmness that Twilight thought was beyond possible. “You have no idea how much you change the world. How much you do for pony kind. How much… you changed me.”
Twilight dropped her anger and seemed generally surprised at his words. If possible, which seemed almost highly unlikely, Discord was speaking as if he had a heart. A heart that she didn’t know what exist.
“It was because of you and… Fluttershy, that I became a better… me. I betrayed you a few times, yet you still came to aid me. You came to my rescue and changed me for the better. I would not have been with the love of my life, I would have never lived with society evenly… I would have never had friends like you. True friends… friends that… when they passed, I also felt lost.” He paused, almost as if holding back a sob. Almost. “I lived with you, moon butt here,” a snort from Luna. “Her fatty cake sister,” Lupus snorted with laughter, trying his best to stop from laughing out loud. “And other’s where we actually care for one another because we would all be there in the end…”
“I stayed with you all till the end…and in the end I was left alone.” Sadness gripped him. “When Equus ends, beings like you, Luna and others ascend to God Hoods where you live in Elysium till time ends and begins again.”
“I unfortunately didn’t ascend to the Elysium because of my crimes and was left by myself. I could have gone searching for another planet with life to live… but I would be an alien in an unknown world with no future to join that society or culture. Sure, I could have made myself a god there or try to make friends and hope for ascension, but, I would not be with the same friends I made here.”
So, with all the magic left from the ‘chaotic’ end of Equus, I searched for an alternate reality where a Discord might have left, died or not existed at all. Any Discord or other versions of me could come to any reality and become a permanent part, so long as that there aren’t two of the same gods in a single reality. Millions of worlds came to me but few were without Discords and those that were, didn’t have your heart or friendship in it. This is the closest one I could find, though it was very different. I saw that the Discord here was wiped from existence… when a god dies, he has nowhere to go Twilight.” His voice grew a bit of an edge. “The Discord here, he is now just a memory… a bad memory. His soul, mind and all are gone. Darkness…” His palm slowly conjured a small black sphere. He gazed at it with distance, yet with fear and dread. “I would honestly be turned to stone, live with Equus until it ends and burn or even be Cerberus’s chew toy for all of eternity then be lost in that void.” He then closed his claws tightly over the black sphere and dissipated.
Then it was silent. Lupus was quiet as ever, managing to come out from hiding while Luna looked transfixed at Discord. All of his words were true and pure… which was really creepy and emotional. No being of god like powers would speak like that unless they had really be close to those kind of experiences. Luna was no stranger to all of that. Mortals and Immortals like her could die and ascend to Elysium for good intentions. Tirek, Sombra or other dark beings could die and descend to Tartarus, and be with each other for eternity. But none of them should ever experience the void… the void was literally the end. Nothingness… black… no light, no one else with you, no other thing… just darkness. You wouldn’t even know if you were alive, dead, conscious or anything. A fate worse than death is nothingness. She hadn’t even considered that the Discord here was wiped from existence… let alone, she would have figured he was burning in Tartarus.
Twilight had been silent the whole time. She still comprehended things that few mortals could. Alicorns, gods, ascensions and beyond? Twilight figured she would have a decent live when she moved to Ponyville. A simple live where she would spend her days with her friends, books and live happily. Sure the occasional adventure and chaotic monster would be fun, but in the end, it would be simple. Now… now she would have been an Alicorn and become a princess had fate decided to change that with the horrible ‘future’?
Discord was before her, taking straight from experience, of a experience where they are friends and left his reality because he was alone. He wanted to be with her and them because he felt alone. He may have spoken with heart but she still felt that there was more to that. If he was really her friend in an alternate reality, they may have shared more in common.
Speaking in a neutral tone, she moved closer to Discord.
“You say that in an alternate reality we are friends. Are we… roughly the same in personalities or we far?”
Discord seemed relaxed and his mood seemed to change. He gave Twilight a once over before giving a small nod.
“Well other than the whole fact that in this reality you changed from the innocence due to an unforeseen circumstance… I believe that if you are the same Twilight 13 years prior with my Twilight… you would have matching personalities.”
“And would we have told you the same secrets or share to you something personal that only a friend would do?”
Discord gave a grin.
“Ask me.”
Twilight thought for a moment before coming up with simple ones.
“What’s my favorite book?”
“You’re going to have to be more specific. You love all kinds of books, though if I remember, you always liked any of them with Starswirl the Bearded, the private book that Celestia gave you when you were her student and the foal lit book that your mother gave you.”
Twilight’s mouth turned a bit up.
“Fine, what is my biggest fear?”
“You mean besides the one where you caused the world’s destruction?”
Twilight frowned.
“… Your biggest fear is going back to Magic Kindergarten if you failed any test or assignment by Celestia.”
“What’s my favorite thing to do on Sunday’s… when the library is closed?”
“You either hang out with your friends, go out to the park and read, or try to save Ponyville from some random attack.”
“What’s my whole name?”
“That’s a trick question… You only use your whole name on signed papers. Your mother called you your whole name, ‘Twilight Dawn Sparkle’, when she gets mad at you. Had you been born a colt, she would have called you ‘Dusk Aegis Shine’. She would have called your brother, ‘Glimmer Sparkling Shield’ had he been born a filly.”
Okay… he got them all so far and yeah, some of those were good secrets but here was one he wasn’t bound to get. Unless her alternate reality had the same love interest and same fantasy, her question was…
“What is my biggest… love fantasy?”
At this, both Luna and Lupus looked at her with strange looks. Did she really ask that?
Discord gave a grin. “Do you really want me to reveal that? Despite your alternate reality’s love interest, you still keep this one in mind no matter who you love.”
“Tell me.” She gave a small grin. “A true friend would hold onto the secret and only tell them of it. They would trust that friend with it.”
Discord leaned down and lowered his mouth to her ear. Twilight shivered at the closeness but let him. He softly whispered into her ear, inaudible to Luna and Lupus.
Twilight turned a bit red and her eyes went a bit wide. Discord leaned out and gave a grin.
“So… do you trust me?”
Twilight was still red. She cleared her throat and avoided looking at Luna.
“Yes well… I think that… Discord is telling the truth. I honestly wouldn’t have told him that if I didn’t trust him with that… I hope it stays that way.”
Discord gave a genuine smile.
“I cross my heart and hope to die, see Valhalla in my Eye.”
He gave a bow.
“It’s good to be back with you.”
Twilight gave a nod, though curious to his promise. Her eyes remained on him while Luna stared at her, wondering what was her fantasy.
All Twilight was really trying to do was avoid her and not imagine it right now.
