Halloween Special - Lost Light

by Arceaion

First published

A lost expedition into the Badlands of Equus leads to the disappearance of Princess Twilight Sparkle, now twelve years later she has been found but she is in grave danger... from herself.

1/6
Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Princess and Element of Harmony disappears while leading an expedition force in the Badlands. Now twelve years later she has been found however despite what those who came to rescue her think this will not be a simple retrieve mission.

Notes:

Broken Mind and Shattered Soul

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A stallion groaned as he walked through the Badlands, the high noon sun beat down on the dessert without mercy and cast beams of light upon the yellow crystals that jutted from the ground around him; the crystals stretched on as far as the eye could see in what looked to be a forest and glowed with golden light from the sun. As the Stallion walked through the crystals his eyes barely focused from dehydration he saw what appeared to be another pony heading toward him. As the pony drew closer the stallion collapsed to the ground, a small smile playing on his face as the pony approach.

They wore a heavy cloak, possibly to keep the sun off themselves and on their back was what looked like a club however the stallion could make out the horn on the ponies head. "Th-ank Celestia, salvation!" He cried out as the pony walked toward him. "Frie-Friend, my Airship- it crashed, can you help?" He asked in a wheezing tone as he looked up at the pony.

The Pony looked down at the stallion before raising a hoof and reaching for the club, pulling it off their back with a grunt. As they did the stallion realized it wasn't a club but the ripped off and decomposed forearm of a pony that was held straight with some boards and wire. The Stallions ears lowered as the pony raised the club and from under their cloak wings unfurled before with a roar more suited to a savage animal swung, cleaving the tired and dehydrated stallions head clean off and sending it flying into the desert to land somewhere unseen among the crystals. As the pony did this the hood of the cloak fell away to reveal what looked to have once been lavender fur and a purple mane with pink strips however it had now faded and been bleached by the sand and sun. The pony looked as if they had spent years out in the dessert from all the dust covering her coat however the most distinct and terrifying this how it looked like her eyes had become crystals and how the inside of her mouth glowed with the same golden light emanating from the crystals surrounding them. Twilight sparkle stared at the stallions’ headless body as it fell over before returning the club to her back and covering her head with the hood as she walked away.


'Last thing I need is another pair of eyes staring into my soul.' Twilight thought as she walked on past the corpse. 'Another day in this place, another day in the sand and sun... another day among the crystals.' Twilight sighed a she closed her eyes, a smile playing across her face as she listened. 'Yes, my crystals, sweetly singing their tune to me. Can you hear it?' Twilight simply stood their listening before frowning. 'Maybe you can't, maybe the music's private; meant for me and me only. Yeah...I'd like to think that.'

Twilight opened her eyes and walked on heading where, only she knew. 'How long have I been here?' She wondered for a moment, the thought was sobering but she knew the response. 'I can't answer that; I mean... I'd like to, really would, I've tried to figure it out before but my brain just wants me to listen to the crystals... and I think I'm happy with just that.’

Twilight frowned as she looked up at the sun. 'Besides, any sense of time I had died when our hope of rescue did.' Twilight sighed and looked down. 'I feel old... real old. Use to be age was against me but not since I got here; not since our ship crashed and smashed into the same crystal patch I tossed that intruders head in to.'

Twilight stopped and sat down with a groan as she looked out over the crystals. 'Who was he? What was he?' She wondered. 'One of them... maybe they changed appearance? Or maybe it's some new fiend sent to test me? ...nah, gotta be one of them... has to be.’ She thought a she stood up and continued walking. 'They never use to come out in the day though... when the suns out and the crystals are singing their loudest. Never use to show when I was awake before, only when I drifted...only at night.'

Twilight looked up at the sun and frowned. 'It's not night time now so just enjoy the light.' She thought as she stopped and sat before a massive crystal like how a child would sit and be mesmerized by a television. 'Enjoy the way the sun’s rays play on the skin of these living gemstones, the fear and paranoia is just lifting off me.' She thought as she closed her eyes and smiled. 'It's this place, these Crystals; I know life is worth living because they sing me so. And one day soon they're gonna sing me a solution to all my problems...’

Twilight smiled as she sat and listened to the song only she could hear till the sun began to set. She stood with a sad sigh and began to walk back the way she had come. As she walked she began to think once more and chuckled. 'Home... if I'm going to ever live anywhere else then here it would have to be where the song is the loudest and the place I got now... well the music fills that spot. We built our shelter in this thick old crop of crystals, the densest we could find.' As Twilight walked her eyes once more unfocused and she smiled at the thoughts of the area she called home 'All day long sunlight glances and dances through these wonders resonating and pulsing like a strong vital heart; it's almost enough to make me forget I need to sleep... almost.’

Twilight stopped as she reached the wrecked remains of a massive airship and turned to look out over the crystal forest and at the sun that was now setting on the horizon. 'I always try to will the sun to say in the sky just as long as it can, because as the day slips away so do I. Yeah... my weariness is creeping up on me, reminding me that I haven't slept a day since I got here but how can I? No sooner do I go to sleep then my atonement for whatever sins I committed in the past begin, it's a miracle I've stayed alive this long. No sleep, food or water; in the day I never notice, as if the worlds song itself keeps me alive... maybe it does... or maybe it's just too beautiful to miss. So I stupidly push myself further and harder, staying alive just to hear it...' Twilight sighed and turned back to the ship as she pulled a hidden door open with her hoof and slipped in before shutting it. 'Learned the hard way to respect these views though... yeah back when we first crashed here, back when finding our way home seemed like an option, we decided to build ourselves a beacon. Dragged a whole lot of junk up from out crash site, got set up on this spot and started to cobble together something to alert someone or at least send a signal. Thing is our Magic caused a reaction to the crystals and well... that how we nearly lost Tempest.'

Twilight smiled at that thought as she turned and looked at the mangled skeletal corpse of a pony in dark armor, half their face was exposed and rotted away showing their skeleton but parts of the deep purple fur were still clinging to the corpse. "That's right Captain, suns are dropping fast now." Twilight said with a smile as she nodded to the skeleton. 'That showed me to respect the crystals power I can tell you. Taught me that magic and technology just can't be used in this place; no matter what this place throws at me come night time." Twilight laughed a she looked at the corpse and nodded as if it had spoken. "Good one Tempest, I'll have to remember it." She said as she passed it by and pulled the arm-club off her back. 'She's a good friend that Tempest, always willing to give a hoof when it's needed... good ol'Tempest.'

Twilight sighed as she sat down against a wall and watched the sun fade away and the sound of the Crystals song faded. 'Night fall, no stimulation for me to focus on, no music... no place left to run; I need rest... I guess I'll let it happen.' Twilight sighed as she leaned more heavily against the wall as her body gave out from under her letting it slid to the floor only for a light to shine from where tempest lay. 'I close my eyes but like every night, just as I'm about to go under, that's when it starts.'

"Twilight, TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT!"

'There's a ghost in my room.' Twilight opened her eyes and raised her head to look up as the glowing being before her. 'One of us must be dead but I ain't sure who...'

"We're coming to get you Twilight, do you hear me?" A ghost like being with a horn and wings asked as they towered over her.

"You're not real. You’re not real, you're not real..." Twilight whimpered as she curled in a ball.

"Don’t worry Twilight, we're on our way so just stay right there and hang on!" The Alicorn ghost replied.

"You're not real, YOU'RE NOT REAL, YOU'RE NOT REAL!" Twilight screamed as loud as she could in fear as she raised her hooves to cover her face only for the ghost to vanish. Twilight lowered her hooves after a moment and looked at the spot where the ghost had stood before sighing only for its calls of her name to be replaced with wails from outside.

"Twilight!" "Twilight!" "Twilight!" Each voice was different but all of them becoming more desperate with each cry. Twilight rose quickly, her fatigued and tired body protesting as she grit her teeth and crawled toward the windows of the cobbled together shelter.

'I don't believe in ghosts, but these…these are too real.' Twilight thought as she reached the window and looked out to see them, the undead ponies standing at the front her house crying her name, their red eyes seeming to bore into her soul. "Twilight!?" One cried as it looked around trying to find either a glimpse of her or a way in to get her.

'It's never a surprise anymore but it's always a shock.' Twilight sighed a she looked at the undead. 'I'm numb; too tired to focus... won’t they leave me alone? Can't they just leave me alone?' Twilight rubbed her eyes as she looked away from the sight. 'I need to get sharp quick but it's just so damn hard to focus.' Twilight turned to the skeleton on the floor. "Tem-Tempest, do something!" Twilight yelled at the corpse only for it to stare at her with its empty eye sockets. "Why won't you do something!?" She cried in fear as the skeleton kept staring back. Twilight growled and turned back to watch the undead. 'Some friend, she's totally worthless; a total liability. Damn you Tempest.' She thought as she watched them.

"TWILIGHT!" "TWILIGHT!" "TWILIGHT!" The Ghouls screamed her name as she sat in silence and watched. 'They never come in, never even try. They just stay out there... screaming my name, violating it with their mere utterance of it, they never come in but they might tonight.'

Twilight turned from the window and grabbed the severed arm she used as a club. 'Basic instincts say to use magic. Charge horn with magic, fire magic at opponents but I know the damages that a stray shot might cause to my crystals... can't risk never hearing their music again.' As Twilight neared the window once more she peaked out it. "Please go away!" She yelled in a tired voice.

The Ghouls turned to where she had yelled and they began to cry more insistently almost in concern or fear. "Twilight!" "Twilight!" "TWILIGHT!" "TWILIGHT!" One of the ghouls reached the window and looked in.

'Hunger, fear, fatigue, their claws are sharper than those of my tormentors.' "Go away!" Twilight yelled once more as a Ghoul reached in to feel around. 'I'm so tired...' Twilight grit her teeth as she raised the club above her head. "GO AWAY!" She screamed as she brought the club down and severed the forearm from his body electing a scream of pain from the being as the remains of its stump quickly vanished.

'I hate them but I can't rest knowing they're out there.' Twilight thought as she clutched the club to her chest and leaned against the wall, her eyes screwed shut and her teeth grit in fear till. 'But then it stops... it’s all quiet and then I realize why.' A beam of light bounces off the crystals outside and shines into Twilight house. 'The sun's up... it's morning and I can hear music.' Twilight grinned as she slumped to the floor and began to laugh.

'Made it through another night.' Twilight rose with a smile on her face and headed for the door her eyes fogging over as she stepped out. 'But the relief I feel is quickly replaced with a sense of urgency. I want to be among them, I have to be among them... I need to be among them.' She thought as she began to leave the house completely forgetting to close the door to the house as she began her march across the sea of crystals once more.

Twilight walked deep into the crystal forest till she collapsed and lay on the ground not moving here eyes, glazed over and half closing as she smiled into the desert sand below here. 'I let the song of the crystals wash the of last night s horrors from me, I stay perfectly still trying to take all of it in, all of it. The way my heart responds to it just brings it home how different I feel now than when I first got here.' Twilight sighed in contentment not even trying to move her body. 'Back then I was weak, new born filly weak; I was pretty injured in the crash. My friend, Tempest, nursing me back to health but time passed and now... now I'm aware of every pulse of my heart, of every breath I take. Each breath takes me somewhere between being sharp and vital and being washed over with pure bliss, I'd do anything to feel like this all the time... anything.' Twilight rolled onto her back and splayed her wings out, her body relaxing further as she looked up at the sky. 'Sun's in the sky, song thought my soul but what can a pony do to keep the sun from setting? Tell me, please just tell me! I won't let them take this away from me!'


'Day then night, easy to remember even for me.' Twilight thought as she cowered before the specter that always came.

"Soon Twilight, soon..." The Specter said as Twilight cowered in the corner.

"Go away, go away!" Twilight pleaded a she trembled. 'So it begins again.'

"We'll be there soon, I promise you that." The Specter said before it vanished leaving Twilight to uncurl herself from the ball she was in only to immediately hear the desperate cries of the undead at her door.

"Twilight!" The voices cried causing the weary Alicorn to frown. 'Even as a ghost she's true to her word.' She thought before she heard the sound of something breaking. Twilights head shot up to see the windows still open and one of the undead halfway through the wall. ‘Damn fool, you forgot to secure all the shutters!’ She thought in a panic as she ran for the window.

"Don't you even want to help!?" Twilight yelled at the corpse of Tempest as she passed it. "Don’t you even care?" She pleaded as she turned back to the window a look of determination crossing her face as she looked at the monster that had gotten stuck in the window it tried to crawl in from. "Don't you love the music enough to fight for it?" She asked quietly as she grabbed the arm of the undead. "No? Well I do..." She said as she grit her teeth and with a single heave ripped the monster out of the window taking a massive chunk of the wall with it. As the creature fell to the floor unbalanced Twilight pulled her arm club off her back as her wings flared out and she brought the club down on the being over and over.

The creature wasn't even able to scream as Twilight repeatedly smashed the club like limb over his head again and again till it was nothing but a twitching corpse. "What are you looking at?!" Twilight roared at the corpse of Tempest a she slumped to the ground gasping for air however the damage was done and it was too late, a hole now decorated the wall in front of her. A hole that was wide open to the outside where more of the creatures were.

"Inside, we need to get inside!" The voices said as the creatures approached the hole, their lanky and broken forms glowing in the moon light.

Twilight rose slowly, her form hunched over as she gasped for breath. "You think you can be here?" Twilight asked in a menacing tone. "You think I'll allow this to happen in my house?!" She roared as she took a step forward. "...IN MY HOUSE!" She roared as she swung the club taking the head off of the nearest undead seeming to shock the others before she fell to the ground coughing up blood.

'I don't know where the strength comes from...' Twilight thought as she swung her club once more slamming it down onto the spine of a undead cleaving it in two. ‘...I'm just glad it comes.' She grit her teeth and swing again knocking a undead back however the cracks heard from it are the unmistakable sounds if it dying. 'My heart lurches and my body is wracked with pain as I fight... this can't go on.' She thought as she swings taking the forearm from an undead however the upper arm is still left behind and the creature manages to swing it's other hoof out, it's hoof managing to land a solid hit on Twilights horn shattering it and sending Twilight to the ground screaming in agony as arcane energy rips from the shattered horn sending the creature back. As Twilight screamed the creature turned and ran, Twilight limply rose and gripped the wall before yelling at it.


The Creature turned as the magical energy arced from Twilight Sparkles horn. As she ran she heard Twilight screaming before yelling after her. "Now...You know...what it's like...TO STARE INTO ANOTHER PONIES SOUL!" Quickly she pulled the device at her hip off and activating it teleporting away. As the figure reappeared she found herself standing in the middle of a shield that was in the center of a circular room.

"Decontamination field is activated and working." A voice said calmly as ponies moved around the room in hazmat suits. "Well how did it go?" The voice asked the figure who collapsed.

"Dead, all dead!" The figure said as she ripped of the helmet to the armor she wore revealing a purple mane and eyes with orange fur. "I'm all there is, what there is of me!" Scootaloo yelled as she looked at her missing left forearm. "Is this what it's come to Moon Dancer? Ponies being used as cannon fodder to facilitate some foolhardy crusade?! When Princess Luna gets her I'm gonna ki-"

"Princess Luna just got here!" A vice said as the Alicorn of the Night ran into the room, an angry look on her face. "And I'm eager to know just what sort of mess you and the rest of the crew of the Silver Hope are making of this exercise Moon Dancer! When S.M.I.L.E. Agents sent word that Twilight had been found after all this time I thought I could trust you and your team with the task of retrieving her!" She ordered angrily.

Moon Dancer sighed. "Well if you will come with me I can brief you on what's been going on."

"Brief you?!" Scootaloo asked with an indigent snort. "OH, allow me!" She yelled angrily as she rose and approached the edge of the decontamination field. "The whole area is a time bomb! The Crystalline make up of area is jammed with magic energy that’s giving off the same radiation that's fried Twilights brain and it’s more volatile than pure Aether! We can’t use any of our magic because of we do we might just blow up the entire southern half of the continent and we can’t risk Twilights already unstable magic going off for the same reason!" Scootaloo roared in anger before taking a deep breath. “We try waiting till she falls asleep to go get her but she feels our presence and her radiation damaged mind tells her we're a threat so she reaches into her mana reserves and it all kicks off. There shouldn't be any fight left in her; she hasn't eaten or slept in Faust knows how long but just now I watched Sweetie and Applebloom as well as the whole team die as she tore in to us like an Earth pony on steroids!"

Luna frowned as she approached Scootaloo. "Is stealth armor not an option?" She asked in concern as she looked at the sobbing mare before her.

"Oh, that's a great idea except that the intense magic radiation in the area interferes with the cloaking enchantments making us look like monsters! All we got is this antique anti-rad armor that we need to stop ourselves from going as crazy as she did! And just where have you been this entire time ma'am? You promised us back up, a specialist you said, and where the hell is Rainbow and the other Elements during all this!?" She yelled in anger.

"They're on the other side of Equestria protecting ponies like you from the real big baddies; as for me, I've been trying to contact Twilight via a hacked signal enchantment on Tempests armor but I got no idea whether that's worked or not! As for the Specialist... she's on her way.

“This better be worth it to someone somewhere because facing death at the hooves of a fellow pony- at her hooves of all ponies? Nopony deserves that Princess, no pony." Scootaloo said as he slumped to the floor, the tears freely flowing down her face. Luna simply watched the broken mare before her sadly.

Several Hours later in the communications room onboard the Silver Hope Luna stood before the hologram of stallion dressed in full armor aside from a helmet. "I know how much Twilight means to you Luna" the stallion said calmly as Luna grit her teeth.

"Spare me your lies Shinning Armor, if you did you would support this mission." She growled at the holographic image of the stallion.

"Equestrian Military Command is not in the business of supporting suicide missions." Shinning Armor countered.

"Oh, I forgot you are Equestrias Military Command!" Luna bit back. "Equestrian Military Command my flank, you owe your sister a hell of a lot too Shinning Armor or have you forgotten all the times she's saved this nation and your life?" She spit.

"I’m not the one in denial about my past Luna or should I call you Nightmare Moon." Shining countered with hate causing Luna to flinch back and look away.

"That-That's not the issue here." Luna said calmly.

“That’s correct, the issue is this ceaseless folly you call a Rescue!" Shinning yelled as he pressed the point onward. "Why are you so Tartarus bent on retrieving a Pony who’s cerebral cortex rotted away from magic radiation poisoning and whose body is a shambling corpse? She has lived her life Luna, let her go." Shinning said causing Luna to grit her teeth and turn back to the hologram.

"I will not, she means far too much!" Luna yelled as she slammed her hoof on the console causing it to spark.

Shinning scoffed and looked Luna dead in her eyes. "She only means something to you." He said in a cold and dismissive tone.

"YOU HEARTLESS SON OF A WHORSE SHE IS YOUR SISTER!" Luna roared in anger. "And it's not just to me but to every pony in Equestria!

"You mean the same ponies who have dies needlessly at her hooves?" Shinning countered back. "Come on Luna, I've turned a blind eye long enough. It's all I can do to prevent Celestia from learning about this, she'd never approve of such a mission."

Luna moved to the hologram her face coming as close to it as she could get. "If you believe that for a second Shinning Armor you'd have squealed already but we both know that of you did then my sister would be down there in that hell scape right new without a plate of Anti-Rad armor on her doing everything in her power to get Twilight home right, right!?" Luna questioned as she pointed a hoof at the image.

Shinning Armor was silent for a moment before responding. "Very well Luna, I shall leave matters in your ‘capable’ hooves. If you can justify and accept the vast loss of resources this has wasted then on your own head be it but I think you know this can't continue." He said before his frown deepened. "Furthermore I think the skills of the head Equestrian mage should be put to more useful matters not saving one useless and pointless pony that is past her time of expiration." With that final jab the hologram disappeared and the communication was cut.

As the communication ended Moon Dancer hesitantly spoke up. "Princess Luna, as much I despise agreeing with him, Captain Armor’s assessment of the situation is somewhat correct."

Luna grit her teeth. "Look, I know alright!" She said as she turned to the unicorn. "But it's not just me she's helped, there are the other Elements, You and your friends, Celestia, the entire changeling race, Discord, and even more. Even if it wasn't direct she has influenced and helped more beings than can be named both indirect and directly!" By the time Luna finished she was yelling her eyes watering with unshed tears. "This...this is for them too." She finished. “All of Eques owe it to her that we do at least this much."

"I Understand Princess but perhaps what you owe to Twilight is to stay true to the ideas and values that she imparted to us all." Moon dancer said a she placed a hoof on Luna's shoulder. "A dogged belief in never giving up on friends may be a virtue she imparted but at the cost of so many lives? What would she think about all this?"

Luna looked away sadly. "I do-"

"Princess!" A voice called out causing Luna to turn and see Gallus running down the halls of the ship. "She's here Princess, the transport bringing her docked not even a second ago!" He yelled.

"Yes, YES!" Luna exclaimed happily as a confused Moon Dancer looked on.

"What's going on?" She asked as Luna turned to her with a smile.

"Backup." Was her only response.


'Tonight something's different... I think it's me.' Twilight thought as she lay against the wall of her damaged shack. Before her clearer than ever was the Alicorn Spector. "Twilight just hang on a little longer, it's nearly over!" the Spector said sounding oddly desperate. "We're bringing you home!"

Even before the Spector vanished the voices started to speak. However this time some of them actually spoke rather than just speak her name. “We've come to help you Twilight!”
"We're not leaving here without you."

As they spoke Twilight groaned and rose her hooves grabbing onto the club. "Well then, come and get me!" she roared as she ran forward, her wings stretching out as she leapt forward cleaved one of the creatures in two. 'The beat of my heart tells me this is it.' Twilight thought as she dodged a swipe form an undead however the attack hit the corpse of Tempest. "Tempest, NO!" Twilight yelled in horror before she turned to the monsters her teeth grit and her eyes narrowed as she charged forward grabbing the one who hit Tempests corpse and threw them backward impaling them on a crystal while at the same time she held her club in her other hoof and took the head off an opponent behind her however as Twilight turned to keep fighting the stress got to her and she fell to her knees, her magic flaring in her broken horn causing her to scream in pain and forcing the creatures back in fear.

Twilight took the opportunity to flee backwards. 'My magic is pure and these monsters hate me for it. I desire to feel the sun’s rays but it’s no use, I'll hear their song no more.' Twilight fell to the ground her magic still flaring as she kept crawling away. ‘I...I can't even remember what it sounded like.’ She thought as she kept on crawling to the front door of her shack. 'The light of my magic scares them; that is good, while they are distracted I'll make my escape.'

Twilight used the club as a cane to raise herself and with a grunt and made it to the door. "If I'm to be driven out then it'll be through my own front door." She said as she coughed up blood and unlatched the door throwing it open to see a mare with a lilac coat, purple and teal mane and tail with a cutie mark of a purple and white star with two blue glimmering streams standing in front of it surrounded by a light blue shield. As Twilight stared the mare smiled. "Hey, you think I can borrow a cup of sugar?" She asked with a smile.

Twilight looked in shock at the pony before her. "What the- Starlight Glim-AAAAAHHHH!" Twilight screamed as her shattered horn began to glow as she passed out and the magic in the horn began to go out of control causing Starlight to panic.

"Oh crap it’s all going to go off!" Starlight screamed in panic as she ran forward the bubbler bending around her body as she placed her hoof on the damaged horn and grit her teeth. "Hang on, not after I wrap this little spell around it.” She said a she grit her teeth as her horn glowed and a shield wrapped around the damaged horn. "Hah, I got it!" She said in a relieved tone before realizing that Twilight was still unconscious and not waking up. "Twilight... TWILIGHT, oh crap, Luna we got a situation." She said in a somber tone right before they were teleported away.


Twilight groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, before her she saw the Spector. "Twilight, we got you old friend, we got you." The Spector said as she closed her eyes and was lost to the blackness. In front of her Luna sighed and turned away, exiting the room she was in.

As Luna exited the room she saw Starlight standing quietly off to the side waiting. Luna walked down the hall and Starlight calmly joined her walking at her side. "I apologize for the dangers of this mission." Luna said however Starlight simply snorted and waved a hoof.

"It was actually rather straight forward." Starlight said with a smile. "Extend a localized magic filed around her damaged horn to contain her magic, end result was no dead Twilight and no continent wide chain reaction." She said before sighing. "I guess it sounds easy when you put it that way though."

Luna nodded and turned to look at Starlight. "Well I owe you for this Starlight; you're perhaps the only one who could have done it. I know both I and my sister certainly would have been unable." She said before she looked back down the hall sadly. "I just wish I had waited for you from your duties before I pushed for this mission."

"Princess..." Starlight said hesitantly.

"I was foolish, letting my feelings get in the way." Luna said berating herself as she hung her head. "She is the only Pony I can think of that I would do this for and lay it all on the line just ot go some way to repay her for what she has done for us."

Starlight frowned as the two entered an observation room that was off of twilights. "And what's her current condition?" She asked as they entered.

Luna frowned as she reached for the blinds that covered the window. "She's been fitted with a specialized null magic horn ring designed to block her magic from even entering it. But with the mutations she has suffered due to the exposure from the crystals and the condition of her body most of our medical equipment is no longer compatible with her body."

Starlight frowned. "And her mind or overall mental state?" She asked receiving a saddened look from Luna as the blinds rose showing Twilight hooked up to dozens of machines designed to keep her alive.

"That may never recover." Luna said sadly as she sat down and looked at the mutated and comatose Alicorn.

Starlight frowned but placed a hoof on the princess’s shoulder. "Look, princess, I'm not judging you for your actions. We all know how important Twilight was to Princess Celestia and to you."

"You may not but others will, and history I suppose." Luna said sadly. "And what would she think if she knew what I sanctioned just to get her back in this state?" Luna waved a hoof at the Alicorn. "Look at her; she's trapped, mind body and soul... was it truly worth it?"