> From Whence We Fell
>  by iAmSiNnEr
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Darkened Land
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Fallen’s Stars



By iAmSiNnEr



Prologue - A Darkened Land






	Blades clashed.

	Sparks flew in the air as alicorns fought, their magic grappling for a hold in their enemy.

	The sun and moon hung in the sky, each at one end of the sky. 

	Monsters on the ground roared challenges at each other, guttural screams piercing the air once in a while. 

	Ponies hid away, cowering in fear as the gods did battle.

	Equestria was no more. The alicorns had fallen, and nothing good remained. 

	There was no ruler of the land. There was no Harmony.

	All there was left were gods, eternally fighting each other.

	Gods, and monsters.




> The Midnight and the Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



The Midnight and the Nightmare






	“Is that all you’ve got?!” Midnight Sparkle taunted as she teleported away from Nightmare Moon’s blast. She reappeared behind the black-colored alicorn, before firing off her own magic blast.

Nightmare responded with a shield, before sending a fireball straight at Midnight. Midnight’s lips curled into a grin as she slashed through the fireball with her scythe, rendering the spell useless. Twirling her scythe, Nova, her wings beat at the air, keeping her afloat.

Nightmare growled. “The usual cowardice, Sparkle.” her voice was lustrous silk combined with a delicious coat of something Midnight couldn’t place, but relished. “Too afraid to come at me head-on, you use your tricks to fight me.”

Midnight laughed to the skies. “Moony, our magic power is almost equal! What, are we supposed to clash for all eternity as one tries to get the other over? No, I’d rather be labeled a coward and win than lose.”

Nightmare Moon didn’t reply, simply charging through the air, her wings propelling her forward. Her horn lit up in a show of power, the alicorn screamed as mana gathered on her horn, and the spell rele-

The world twisted. 

Colors. 

Warmth. 

Love. 

Midnight screamed as her mind was torn apart, assaulted by images she never saw before. Her past self, laughing with five ponies she had never seen before in her life. A baby dragon, cuddling against her in a bed. 

She couldn’t move as her mind collapsed on itself, receiving more and more memories and images she was sure weren’t hers. Her wings failed to function as she fell through the sky, before crashing into the ground. She was faintly aware of Nightmare Moon experiencing the same phenomena. 

Her parents, smiling at her warmly. A wedding, where she saw a much kinder version of one of her enemies smiling at some white stallion. Her parents weren’t covered in scars and injuries in these memories, unlike how she remembered them before.

How she remembered them before she killed them herself to put them out of their misery. The area filled with stars where she had ascended, but this time there was yet another kinder version of another of her enemies. 

The memories lost their luster as Midnight struggled against them, pushing them away from her. These weren’t her memories!

As soon as her mind made that connection, the false memories began slipping away as Midnight’s own memories forced their way back into her mind. 

The day she ascended, after beating a god’s challenge. The day she first wandered outside her cave of safety, seeking her own death, her throat parched and stomach empty.

The frozen wastelands that made the world, barely liveable in. 

The day she stabbed herself for her blood to perform a spell. The day she returned home from foraging to see her parents curled up on the ground, close to death from a monster attack. Her tears, as she killed them to take them out of their misery.

And then she gasped as her eyes opened again. 

“What did you do?!” She found her voice, roaring at Nightmare Moon. “What magic have you done?”

Her voice failed again as she saw Nightmare Moon curled up on the ground, her body twitching with spasms. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t the dark alicorn’s doing. 

“Moony?” Midnight hesitated. “Moony-”

Nightmare Moon pushed herself upwards suddenly, causing Midnight to back up hurriedly, but the dark alicorn’s magic had already grabbed Midnight, slamming her into a tree. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Nightmare screamed, her eyes deranged. “I AM NIGHTMARE MOON! LUNA IS DEAD!”


“Who’s Luna?” Midnight struggled against Nightmare’s hold, before quickly teleporting away. “I don’t know any Luna!”

Nightmare Moon sliced down with a blade dotted with stars, her eyes filled with rage and madness. “Stop what you’re doing!” Midnight dodged aside, using her magic to pull out Nova and parry Nightmare’s attack. “STOP YOUR SORCERY!” Nightmare Moon bellowed. “I am Nightmare Moon! I am not Luna!”

“It’s not me!” Midnight growled, knocking Nightmare Moon’s hooves out from under her with a sweep using the handle of Nova. Nightmare Moon collapsed onto the ground where she stopped moving, her entire body convulsing with…sobs?

“What?” Midnight hesitated. Nightmare Moon, the alicorn who she had been fighting for the greater part of the last decade, was…crying?

“Make it stop,” Nightmare pleaded. “Please. Make it stop. I can’t. I can’t. I’m not Luna. Please. Luna is dead. DON’T MAKE ME THINK OF THIS!”

“It’s not me!” Midnight grumbled, her eyes locking onto Nightmare. Nightmare Moon was down. She had to take this opportunity to kill-

Nightmare Moon threw her head back to the sky, her eyes glowing a dark blue as she screamed to the skies. Her scream was one of primal fear and it just sounded broken. 

Something cracked inside of Midnight. Her viewpoint changed.

No longer was her greatest enemy in front of her.

It was now somepony who needed help. 

Midnight hesitated, before shaking her head. 

“Please,” Nightmare Moon begged her. “Make it stop. Please. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Push them out,” Midnight whispered. “Push the memories out. Think of your own, ignore the ones that aren’t yours. Recognize them as false, and push them all out. The pain will stop.”

Nightmare Moon seemed to struggle for a moment before her chest stopped heaving from her heavy breathing. 

In. 

Out.

In.

Out. 

Nightmare Moon finally looked up after a few long breaths. “It truly was not you?”

“I don’t know,” Midnight admitted as her scythe hung limply in her magic aura. “I-I felt it too. The world, the very air—it just twisted. I…never felt anything like that before.”

“I don’t trust you,” Nightmare Moon spat. “You could be tricking me. Earlier, you admitted outright you wanted to win at all cost. How do I know you haven’t cast an illusion around me and make me jump off a cliff or drown myself?”

“I saw Daybreaker but less…Daybreaker,” Midnight replied. “That enough?”

At that, Nightmare Moon sagged, the fight gone out of her. “I see,” she whispered. “There was no way you could have known what she looked like before. I have no choice but to believe you.”

“Who was that?” Midnight asked slowly. “Who did I see in the Plane?”

“You most likely saw Celestia,” Nightmare Moon replied hoarsely. “Daybreaker’s other-self. Just like how you weren’t always Midnight Sparkle.”

“How did you—”

“I was not always Nightmare Moon,” Nightmare said shortly. “Never ask of her. She is dead.” Midnight shuddered on the inside at the amount of venom Nightmare Moon put into the last word. 

“What was that, anyway?” Midnight rubbed at her temples. “I…I saw memories that didn’t belong to me. A world I never lived in. Times where I felt…loved.”

“A trick of some kind,” Nightmare Moon spat. “By some god or goddess that roams free on our world, released from Tartarus. Or even Discord. I don’t believe he would just leave us alone for this long.”

“I don’t recognize that name,” Midnight slowly said. “Who is Discord?”

“Better you don’t know,” Nightmare Moon muttered. “He was a pain.”

“I want to know.”

“What?” Nightmare Moon’s head swiveled to Midnight. “Just because we’re on a temporary standstill, for now, doesn’t mean you can question me impetuously—”

“Not Discord,” Midnight corrected. “I want to know what that was. The shift in our world caused those memories to flood into our minds. I want to know what was so powerful enough we felt our own universe shake.”  

“I said,” Nightmare growled. “Someone is tricking us—”

“It didn’t feel like a trick,” Midnight refuted. “I felt it vibrate through my entire being.”

Nightmare Moon visibly snarled. “You want to—”

“Investigate?” Midnight finished. “Yes, yes I do. This was not some ordinary event where a god or goddess messed with us. This shook the very limits of time and space. I do not want our universe to collapse.”

“You are foolish,” Nightmare Moon’s lips twisted in a sneer as she pushed herself up. “You are an utter imbecile. You would be investigating a farce, something that didn’t exist.”

“The pain was real, Moony.”

“Don’t call me Moony,” Nightmare Moon snapped. “I am the Nightmare. Never call me Moony. She was called Moony.”

“As you say, Moony,” Midnight reacted and teleported as Nightmare Moon launched a spell at her. As she reappeared a meter to the left, the spell turned a half-dead tree behind her to dust. “Missed me.”

“Call me Moony again,” Nightmare snarled. “And I will not miss.”

“I will continue to call you Moony, Moony,” Midnight quipped as she teleported again, the spell missing her by inches. “It’s your name!”

Nightmare Moon’s lips pulled back as she began to retort, but she restrained herself. “I do not feel like continuing our altercation. If you wish to investigate, you may go do so. I will remain in my territory, alone.”

“I need your help, Nightmare.” Midnight simply said.

“You need nothing of the kind,” Nightmare Moon started stretching her wings, readying herself to fly away. “You’re powerful enough to do whatever you want.”

“Daybreaker, or Celestia, was your sister, wasn’t she?” Midnight asked.

Nightmare Moon’s wings stopped moving. “How do you know that?”

“In one of the memories that flooded my mind,” Midnight answered. “I saw you two hugging. Your other self and hers. Hugging, and calling each other sisters.”

“...” Nightmare Moon was silent. 

“What happened to our world?” Midnight whispered. “I saw another world. Full of life, full of ponies. Why is our world almost dead? Why do monsters roam free, killing whoever they wish?”

“Because ponies failed this world,” Nightmare snapped. “Ponies let them run rampant. The world froze over, and only a few survived. Us, and the monsters. Ponies are dying out. I rather not go the same way.”

“Then help me,” Midnight urged. “Help me find out what could have been, and what has happened. We need to know if someone out there is trying to destroy our world.”

“...on one condition.”

“Name it, Nightmare,” Midnight replied. 

“You don’t attack or try to kill me,” Nightmare’s hooves stomped on the ground. “I mean it. If you dare attack or attempt to kill me, I will make you regret ever trying to trick me into a false sense of security. I will cut you apart, and then feed you to the manticores. Are we understood?”

“Perfectly clear, Moony,” Midnight quipped. This time, Nightmare Moon did not retaliate to the nickname.

“If we are to find out what happened, we need to travel to the Engine,” Nightmare decided, ignoring the nickname. “The Engine will show us what is happening. It was created by the creator of Equus.”

“The Engine?” Midnight raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand.”

“The Engine lies at the edge of Equestria, both on the surface and down,” Nightmare explained. “It lies neither on the mortal plane nor the Plane of Ascendance, but on its own. It is impossible to access by any but alicorns, and it requires four.”

“Four?” Midnight blinked hard as it dawned on her. “You mean—”

“Yes,” Nightmare nodded. “If we are to accomplish what you want, we will need to locate Daybreaker and Heartbreaker. Without them, we will fail.”

“This is insane,” Midnight noted. “They hate us both even more than we hate each other.”

“It was your suggestion,” Nightmare growled. “Do not back out like a coward.”

“Fine,” Midnight grumbled. “Where do we begin?”

“Where my sister always is,” Nightmare Moon cast her gaze into the distance, where a cloud of smoke could be seen drifting into the air from a volcano. “Where she slew the entire population of dragons and fed on their flesh.”

Midnight heaved.
> The Queen of the Ruined Lands
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



The Queen of the Ruined Lands







“Your left,” Nightmare Moon sliced down at the manticore’s stinger, which twisted to stab at Midnight’s left side as she did so. 

Midnight’s horn lit up, severing the manticore’s tail cleanly through, causing the creature to roar in pain and bound away as fast as it could, heading for the nearby swamps. Midnight and Nightmare Moon watched as it limped into the swamps.

And then a hydra’s jaws closed around it.

The manticore thrashed and shook, making a pitiful whining noise as the hydra lifted it up into the air before it tilted its head back and opened its jaws wide, letting the manticore fall further into its mouth before it bit down. As the jaws crunched away at the manticore, the other six heads of the hydra considered them curiously.

Midnight brandished her scythe, the edges of the blade glowing an eerie red. “Don’t you dare,” she muttered under her breath. “Scoot away, live to see another day.”

The hydra then decided that they were no threat and began trudging away into the depths of the swamps, heading for the sea that it linked up to. The giant monster roared into the sky as vultures dove down, pecking at its eyes. The heads spat acid at the offending birds, scoring a few hits. 

Nightmare Moon turned away. “Let it be. It is no longer our concern.”

Midnight nodded. “How long to the Dragonlands?”

“The Ruined Lands, you mean,” Nightmare corrected. “Only one dragon remains, and he is a slave to my sister. The last time I was there, she had declared herself Queen of the ‘Ruined Lands’. I had to fight her to escape. Do not underestimate her, Daybreaker is much more powerful than you would think.”

Midnight looked up into the sky, where the sun and moon hung in a perpetual array, never moving. The stars could be seen on the moon’s side, whereas the sun glared down on them from the east.

“Don’t bother,” Nightmare Moon said, seemingly reading her thoughts. “The sun and moon will never move again. I tried shifting them. They resisted my efforts to do so.”

“They why are you called Nightmare Moon, then?” Midnight questioned as they took to the skies, flying for the volcanoes in the distance. “Seems kind of ironic to me.”

“I could shift the moon once,” Nightmare Moon replied. “Then they ceased listening ever since Discord broke the system. We vanquished him eventually, he had not enough power to draw from as they weren’t any ponies he could draw chaos out of.”

“Discord,” Midnight mused. “He seems formidable.”

“Indeed,” Nightmare Moon cast her gaze towards the ground. “It took three centuries and four decades to banish him to Tartarus, even when he was weakened. He messed with our minds, did things no creature should ever do, and summoned creatures of likes you would never see in your life.”

Thunder boomed in the distance.

“We should settle down soon,” Midnight suggested. “I really don’t want to encounter whatever is stirring up the storm over there.”

“I agree,” Nightmare Moon agreed. “I have had enough of fighting for the day. We shall take a rest once we leave the swamplands, and arrive in the forest. There, we shall have shelter for a little time.”

Midnight nodded in agreement. They flew on in silence, before landing down at the edge of the forest. Half the trees were wilting or dead, the rest seemed…twisted with a magic Midnight could not place.

“We should not stay long,” Midnight scowled. “This place may be cursed.”


“Very well,” Nightmare Moon allowed. “We will rest at the edge only, and travel to the Ruined Lands when the storm in our path lets up.”

Midnight yawned as she stretched her wings.

“You should sleep,” Nightmare Moon said as she heard the yawn. “I will take the first watch. You may take the second. Each of us should only sleep for three hours.”

“I don’t trust you, Nightmare,” Midnight muttered. “What if you kill me in my sleep?”

“It is in my best interest not to, for now,” Nightmare Moon answered. “I have come around to your foolish quest. We need to find out the cause of the shift in our world, and the Engine is the only way to do so. Without a fourth alicorn, our cause is sunk.”

“Hmph,” Midnight grumbled. “Fine.” She cast a spell on the ground and around her, before lying down against a tree that didn’t seem malevolent. “Wake me up in three hours.”

Nightmare Moon didn’t answer, choosing to use her blade to cut a tree down, before sitting down on its stump after burning the trunk to produce fire. 

“Whatever,” Midnight closed her eyes, trusting her spells to protect her. She certainly didn’t trust Nightmare. She assumed she would wake up after a dreamless sleep.

Her sleep was anything but dreamless.





She was in the air, bolts of magic flying at her. She pulled up a shield, before retaliating with spells against the flying lilac unicorn.

“You took everything from me!” the unicorn screamed in rage. “Now, I will take everything from you!” The unicorn lit her horn up, and a portal surrounded by symbols opened and swallowed the both of them.

The scene changed. 

She was facing off against Nightmare Moon, but her stature seemed lower than usual. She couldn’t feel her wings. 

She pawed at the ground, preparing to charge at the alicorn. 


“You’re kidding, right?” Nightmare Moon scoffed. 

She charged at Nightmare Moon, teleporting past her.

She reappeared next to a few orbs made of stone, and her magic gathered around them.

Midnight was bewildered. She was not in control of her actions. What was happening?

Her horn winked out, and Nightmare Moon’s magic slammed into her. 

Nightmare Moon leaned over her broken body, and the world turned into darkness.





Her eyes opened. Nightmare Moon was leaning over her, her horn glowing a dark blue color. Midnight’s eyes widened as she tried to scramble away, but her body failed her as the mana gathered on Nightmare Moon’s horn. 

She closed her eyes, preparing for the end. How foolish she had been! She had trusted her greatest enemy, and now she was going to die.

She heard the spell release, but it did not hit her. A roar as something burst out of the ground behind her, and a thump as the spell slammed into whatever it was.

She opened her eyes and looked at the scene.

A mutated sandworm lay dead behind them, the insides burning with flames from a fireball that Nightmare Moon had thrown into its mouth. 

“How—” Midnight could not find her words, her mouth opening and closing as she looked upon the dead sandworm. “How is it here?”

“The desert must be closer than we thought,” Nightmare Moon concluded without discernable emotion in her voice. “We should leave. There may be more.”

“Right,” Midnight hesitated as she finally found the strength to get up.“You saved my life.”

“Think nothing of it,” Nightmare Moon dismissed her. “It was in our mutual interest to keep you alive. When I sleep next, I shall trust you to do the same for me. Shall we leave?”

“Yes,” Midnight stood up, her throat dry. “Can we just try to teleport the rest of the way?”

“And leave ourselves open to attack when we arrive?” Nightmare Moon scoffed. “I’d rather not waste my mana on something like that.”

“But what if we combine our efforts?” Midnight pressed, her mind still in a whirl. She still didn’t understand what had just happened. This was her coping. “We would use half the mana we normally would consume.”

“Your idea has merit,” Nightmare Moon admitted. “And even as I am loathe to admit, I would rather not travel further. The sandworm proved that we are not safe anywhere.”

“Then let’s do it.”

Nightmare Moon shrugged. “If we both are vanquished, I will hunt you down in Tartarus.”

“Do what you will, Moony.” Midnight smirked. “Love you too.”

Nightmare Moon scowled at the last sentence, but did not reply. Her horn lit up as she gathered the teleport matrix, only summoning one orb and letting Midnight summon the other. As the two alicorns linked the two matrixes together, they vanished with a flash of light.

When they reappeared, Midnight reacted immediately as a stream of flames blasted directly at them. Her horn flashed, and a lavender dome was erected around them. The dome held against the stream of flames before it stopped, the creature producing it realizing that it could not kill them.

“We have arrived at the Ruined Lands,” Nightmare Moon observed morosely, looking up above them. Midnight followed her gaze, before backing up involuntarily as she saw what had been breathing fire on them. 

A gigantic purple dragon stared at them, green spikes protruding from its back. Its wings were gigantic, covering the sky as it extended them. Opening its mouth, the dragon roared at them, the sound deafening even through the dome Midnight had cast.

“My, my!” Nightmare Moon’s ears flattened at the voice, her eyes showing the first hint of fear she had ever shown in front of Midnight. “Dear sister, what is this? A visit to my humble abode?”

A pure white alicorn with flames dancing along her body in place of her mane and tail appeared in their line of sight, dropping down from the dragon’s back as it folded its wings in. 

Daybreaker grinned, showing her fangs off to Midnight. “And who is this? Have you gotten yourself a pet? Or is she your marefriend?”

Nightmare Moon visibly snarled. “You dare—”

Daybreaker cackled. “I’m joking, sister! I know who this is, we’ve fought before. Midnight Sparkle, was it? Or would you rather Twilight Sparkle?”

“Twilight Sparkle is gone,” Midnight replied coldly. “She took her own life after killing her parents.”

“Oh, dear me, I forget my manners,” Daybreaker’s horn tip touched against Midnight’s dome, shattering it instantly. Midnight’s eyes widened at the show of power, scrambling backward to get away from the white alicorn. “This is Spike. Spike, this is Midnight. The other one is Nightmare Moon, my treacherous sister.”

The dragon roared in response, breathing fire towards the skies. It was only now that Midnight noticed his flames were emerald green, instead of the usual red hot flames. It triggered her memories. It seemed familiar. Where had she seen that particular type of fire before?

“The only one here that is treacherous is you,” Nightmare Moon growled. “You killed every single dragon except for a baby, using him as your slave. Did you not even teach him a language to speak?”

“Oh, I did,” Daybreaker smiled, the edges of her lips curling upwards. “I just cut out his tongue for being rude to me. He’s learned his lesson after that. Haven’t you, Spike?”

The dragon made an awkward noise that seemed to be assent. Spike sat down on his rump, shifting his weight down. 

“How does he even taste his food?” Midnight protested, appalled.

“His tongue is regrowing already,” Daybreaker dismissed Midnight. “For now, he’ll have to do with gems. No meat for him! Speaking of meat,” she leered at Midnight. “Would you like to be dinner for him?”

“We are here requesting a parley,” Nightmare Moon cut across Midnight, who had started to speak. Midnight glared at Nightmare Moon, but did not continue speaking. “We require your help to access the Engine.”

“You felt it too.” It was not a question, but a statement. Daybreaker tilted her head, the flames in her eyes dying down as she considered them. “The false memories and the shift in our world.”

“Yes,” Midnight agreed. “So Nightmare suggested we use the Engine, whatever that is, to see whatever is happening.”

“I will not help you.” Daybreaker grinned at their shocked faces. “Why should I? You two are my enemies. I stand nothing to gain from helping any of you accessing the Engine.”

“Do you not care about our world?” Midnight asked.

“I do,” Daybreaker shrugged. “But nothing has happened since. Spike, what do you think?”

Spike roared faintly, looking down upon them. He made a guttural noise in his throat, before lapsing back into silence.

“He said,” Daybreaker translated. “He doesn’t care, either.”

“What do you want, sister?” Nightmare Moon snapped. “I know what you are doing.”

Daybreaker grinned. “Indeed! If I am to help you two, I want something in exchange.”

“Name it,” Midnight immediately replied.

“Tsk, tsk, Sparkle,” Daybreaker shook her head in disappointment. “You need to learn that you shouldn’t leave it so open-ended like that. Who knows, one of the gods who roam our world could twist your words and make you suffer!”

“You’re going to twist everything I say, anyways.” Midnight shrugged.

“Hah!” Daybreaker laughed. “I like you! What a pity we have never talked like this before. I could have made you my slave like Spike, and we would have had so much fun.”

Midnight did not respond to the jab, choosing instead to stare silently at Daybreaker.

The alicorn pouted before she relented. “You’re no fun. Very well. My only condition for my help is that the both of you defeat me in a fight. The only rule is that we cannot kill each other.”

“Beat you in a fight?” Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. “It’s two against one. What’s the catch?”

“The catch is that you miscounted,” Daybreaker smirked. “Spike will be on my side. Remember how magic-proof dragon scales are?”

Midnight grimaced. “Is this the only way? Perhaps I could—”

“We accept,” Nightmare interrupted her. “Bring it on, sister.”

Daybreaker laughed. “Very well!” She launched into the air, ascending to Spike’s head. “It starts now!”

“What—?” Midnight’s eyes widened as Spike opened his mouth, and a stream of emerald green flame was breathed on them.
> And Time Stopped
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



And Time Stopped






	Midnight suspected that Daybreaker was toying with them. Daybreaker had only used one powerful spell to rain fireballs from the sky before she went on the defensive against Nightmare Moon.

As fireballs rained from the sky, Midnight dodged in between them as they whistled past her. Angling down, she spotted Nightmare Moon engaging Daybreaker in the corner of her eye as she dived down for Spike.

The dragon roared as his tail shot upwards, the spikes on it sharpened to a razor edge. Midnight concentrated as she teleported past the tail before flapping her wings hard to gain some altitude.

Then a fireball slammed into her defenses, sending her into a spiral. As she fell, another slammed into her shield, cracking it slightly as the flames burst over its surface.

“Sparkle!” Nightmare Moon shouted, diving after her. This caused Daybreaker to laugh at the sight, throwing her head up to cackle. Nightmare Moon ignored her as fireballs bounced off her own shields, pulling in her wings to dive after Midnight.

It was too late.

Midnight slammed into the ground, and she cried out as she felt her bones break from the impact. Immediately, her alicorn magic went to work mending the bones, but she still screamed in pain as the sharp ends of her broken bones cut into her. 

Nightmare Moon landed down on the ground, her eyes dark and furious as she cast a dome over them to protect them from the fireballs. “You foolish, foolish mare,” Nightmare Moon muttered as her horn lit up. Midnight felt her bones start mending faster with the assistance of Nightmare Moon, and she gasped as the final one merged.

“When I said keep the dragon busy,” Nightmare Moon snapped. “I didn’t mean get yourself hit by a fireball!” Without looking, she slashed at the face of Spike with a kinetic blade as the dragon lifted a claw over them to stomp them flat. The dragon roared in pain as he stumbled backward, before tripping and collapsing into a volcano. Lava streamed down from where he slammed into it, dripping all over the dazed drake.

“He will recover,” Nightmare declared. “Get up.” With some difficulty, Midnight pushed herself up. Her eyes widened as she dived and wrapped her hooves around Nightmare Moon, before teleporting the both of them to the side.

And not a moment too soon. An enlarged flaming ax slammed into where they had been, Daybreaker holding the end of it. With a shout of effort, Daybreaker lifted it up again, before swinging it towards the pair. 

Midnight’s horn flared up as she summoned Nova. Casting a spell to enlarge it, she swung the scythe to meet Daybreaker’s ax in midair, the edges glowing red as she forced magic into it to be able to match Daybreaker.

The world went white as the two weapons met.





Midnight saw a war being waged. 

Two armies clashed, bolts of magic flying everywhere. 

On one side, a mass of shadow laughed as his horn glowed a deep, dark red.

On the other side, she saw Daybreaker’s other self, Celestia ordering her soldiers into battle as soldiers outfitted with silver helmets, their eyes glowing green engaged the soldiers in golden armor.

And in the sky, she saw the same portal she saw a few hours ago in her dreams. A circular portal, the edges ringed with symbols. 

The world shifted, and she saw the lilac unicorn again. This time, she was slow clapping with an absurd-looking smile on her face, floating beside a frozen cyan pegasus filly. 

The lilac unicorn laughed. 

Then the world shattered as Nightmare Moon shouted her name.





“Midnight!” Nightmare Moon bellowed. “Snap out of it!”

Midnight shook her head hurriedly, trying to clear the black spots in her eyes. She looked up to see Nightmare Moon barely holding her ground against a barrage of spells from Daybreaker. The fireballs had stopped raining from the sky, but it only seemed to have empowered Daybreaker more.

Cracks spread in the shield Nightmare Moon was casting as beads of sweat trickled down the dark alicorn’s head. “Do…something!” she grunted.

Midnight got to her hooves, her head clearing. “Move aside!” She shouted at Nightmare Moon, her own horn enveloped in a teal aura. Nightmare Moon did not hesitate, releasing her shield and diving aside as an explosion of force blasted straight at Midnight.

Midnight concentrated.

And she burst into a giant wall of shadow and darkness, the blast Daybreaker had fired going through her harmlessly. She reformed back into herself, breathing heavily. She had attempted to copy what she had seen in the vision, but it had taken more out of her than she had expected.

“Dark magic?” Daybreaker mused, suddenly beside Midnight. “Interesting.” Midnight snarled and sliced Nova to where Daybreaker was, but the white alicorn was already gone.

Daybreaker was once more in the air, lowering her ax to point straight at Midnight. “Swallow them, Spike.” The dragon had recovered and was in the process of extricating himself from the volcano. He roared in challenge and barrelled towards Midnight and Nightmare Moon, smoke trailing from his nostrils as he breathed. 

And then they were falling from the sky. Midnight’s eyes widened as she realized that she had somehow been transported somewhere else, before she looked down into the wide gaping maw of Spike. 

And then they were swallowed. Midnight cast a shield around her and Nightmare Moon to prevent them from travelling deeper into the drake’s throat, but she could already see the acid glands dripping the digestive acid to attack her shield.

The shield was melting, and they were going to be eaten.

But she could hold it for now, and this could be a temporary reprieve for them.

“How did he do that?” Midnight shouted at Nightmare Moon over the loud dripping noises and the growling noises coming from Spike’s throat as he attempted to force them down his throat. Unfortunately, the circular shield that Midnight had cast was too big to fit down his gullet.

“Purple dragons have a unique ability!” Nightmare Moon replied back, scowling. “Their flames can either burn or transport items, including us! He must have sent us right above his mouth so he could swallow us easily!”

“I haven’t gotten the chance to thank you yet!” Midnight yelled. “You saved my life again!”

“THEN SAVE MINE!” Nightmare Moon shouted as Spike’s teeth closed on the shield, trying to break it with pure force. “Get us out of here!”

Midnight nodded, and they teleported out, reappearing in the air above Spike.

“Dragons are resistant to magic, but if we work together we can take him down!” Midnight hollered over the gathering storm that Daybreaker was cooking above them. 

Nightmare Moon nodded, and they touched the tips of their horns together as Spike looked up at them, his wide maw opening as flames gathered in his throat. 

“NOW!” Midnight bellowed, and the two of them discharged two different spells that merged together, firing straight at Spike. Even as the drake realized his mistake and closed his mouth to prevent them from going straight inside of him, the spells slammed into his face and he howled in pain, the spells going to work on him. Blisters from Midnight’s spell began appearing everywhere as his skin bubbled from the acid spell Nightmare Moon had cast.

And the world was rent apart as a lightning bolt struck down from the heavens onto Nightmare Moon, making her thrash and scream as the lightning electrified her. 

Then she fell, her body smoking and burnt. 

Midnight dived down, and time slowed.

Her hoof seemed to be moving in slow motion as she reached out for Nightmare Moon. 

And then her world vanished entirely.





She was hanging from a cliff, barely holding on to a hoof that belonged to an orange earth pony who was straining to pull her up. 

She spoke. “Applejack, what do I do?!”

The orange earth pony considered her. “Let go.”

“Are you crazy?” Midnight screamed. 

“No, I ain't,” The earth pony replied. “I promise you’ll be safe.”

“That’s not true!” Midnight retorted.

“Now listen here,” The earth pony looked at her dead in the eyes. Eyes filled with honesty. “What I’m saying to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you’ll be safe.” 

And at that moment, Midnight trusted her. She closed her eyes and let go.

And then she fell.





Midnight dove straight down for Nightmare Moon, her hoof extending for the dark alicorn as they spiraled down to the ground. As soon as her hoof made contact with Nightmare Moon, she wrapped her hoof around the other mare’s, before pulling up with a grunt of effort as her wings strained to pull them both up from the momentum.

Their momentum slowed as Midnight pulled with all her might, her wings flapping uselessly against the whirl of wind that surrounded them. As Midnight strained herself, she looked into Nightmare Moon’s eyes. 

Two irises filled with hurt and rage, along with deep darkness that Midnight empathized with. Those two eyes sparkled with miniature stars, and for a moment, Midnight was enraptured.  As she stared into Nightmare Moon’s eyes, Daybreaker’s cackle filled the air, echoing throughout the storm that was forming around them.

And it was the laugh that gave Midnight strength as she pulled. With an almighty heave, they stopped falling, her wings beating at the air to keep them afloat. Midnight screamed, and her horn discharged a blast of raw power straight up to where Daybreaker was laughing. It connected, and for a second Midnight saw an expression of pure surprise and terror.

And then the white alicorn fell past them before slamming into the ground. The storm died down slowly, its mistress unconscious on the ground. Spike bellowed behind them weakly, but from the emotions in the bellow, he knew the fight was over.

Midnight and Nightmare Moon had won.

But why was Midnight’s heart still pumping with fear and adrenaline?





Nightmare Moon was silent as she tended to her own wounds, wincing ever so often as she cast spells on her burns and cuts from where Daybreaker had sliced at her with her ax. 

Midnight refused to look at either Daybreaker or Nightmare Moon as she glared at her own injuries. None of them had come out of the duel unharmed. Her horn sparked again, and she swore silently as she knocked a hoof against it. She had discharged too much magic through it. Her horn would take time to return to full power.

“You discharged pure emotion,” Daybreaker said, her voice hoarse and tired. The alicorn’s flames had died down, and she was lying against a rock. “An emotion I had only seen once used in this manner before. And even then it was twisted beyond belief by the one it came from.”

Midnight ignored her as she concentrated on her mana well, trying to repair whatever damage the discharge of raw power had done to her leylines. They would repair, she knew, but she could not afford to let them stay that way. They still had to meet Heartbreaker, and she was already weakened. This wouldn’t do.

“Listen to me,” Daybreaker whispered. “It’s dangerous, what you’re feeling. That emotion has no place in this world. It may be just the start, or something with a dead end. Do not try and explore what you just produced. It will lead to a place filled with hate and pain.” Spike rumbled assent behind Daybreaker.

“What do you know about emotions?” Midnight snapped as she forced herself not to remember what she had seen as they fell. The way she saw Nightmare Moon’s eyes sparkling even as she fell. Those eyes. Those damned eyes.

“Quite a lot more than you would think,” Daybreaker replied. “I am thousands of years older than you, Sparkle. I have lived eons.”

“Whatever,” Midnight looked down at her hooves. They were burnt and black, courtesy of the heat of Spike’s flames. “You will help us now?”

Daybreaker seemed to acknowledge her unwillingness to approach the topic. “I will,” she confirmed. “I may be many things, but I am not one who breaks her word. I shall help you access the Engine.”

“And does that help come with helping to convince Heartbreaker no matter what?” It was the first time Nightmare Moon had spoken since the duel. “I seem to recall you bitching about details a few centuries back. Do we have to niggle over every small letter and word of our agreement?”

“No,” Daybreaker sighed as she leaned back onto the rock. “I will not bother. If it comes to it, I will fight with you against Heartbreaker. But I believe she would not be as foolish to fight all three of us. She will listen.”

“Heartbreaker has never been a logical alicorn,” Midnight said suddenly. “Her attacks have no pattern, and she’s more insane than any of us. I’ve seen inside of her eyes before. There’s barely anything left.”

Nightmare Moon laughed morosely. “Who can blame her? She found love, and then it was ripped away from her by time and our ruined world. Of course, she would go mad.”

Love. 

“In any case, we need her,” Daybreaker summoned her ax and ran a hoof across the blade. It had already been magically cleaned, no traces of any blood was left. “I do not wish to try and bargain with any of the gods. She was a mortal once. Like all of us were.”

Like all of us were.

Nightmare Moon sighed. “I suppose. However, I’m not sure of her whereabouts. She never had a fixed territory. She was more of a…wanderer.”

“Don’t worry,” Daybreaker looked up at the sky. “The day draws close. Can you feel it? Grief and anger fill the air. It is almost that time of the year.”

“Where he died.” Nightmare Moon stated.

“Indeed,” Daybreaker agreed. “For now, we rest. We can head over once we are sufficiently rested.”

Midnight shrugged. “Fine.”

Daybreaker looked up at Spike. “Guard us, Spike.” With that, Daybreaker cast a dome around her before summoning a black cloud from somewhere. She settled onto the cloud as her eyes closed. Within a few seconds, they could see her snoring even as the dome prevented noise from escaping.

“She was always a fast sleeper,” Nightmare Moon murmured. “You saved my life, Sparkle.”

Midnight avoided her gaze. “I was only repaying the favor.”

“So you say,” Nightmare Moon stared at her. “I shall not pry for now. We get to the Engine first, then we shall talk.”

Midnight made a mental note to avoid that talk.

“Shut your mental barriers, keep your secrets away,” Nightmare Moon murmured as she gazed up to the moon. “That was how she fell. How I fell.” Midnight twisted her head to look at Nightmare Moon, but it was too late. She had already copied Daybreaker, except for the fact her cloud was blue.

“Figures,” Midnight muttered as she cast the same spells as the two sisters. Curling up on the cloud, she found it more comfortable than all of the spells she had cast before to make herself comfortable. Perhaps there was something to learn from Daybreaker. She closed her eyes.

Her sleep was anything but uneventful.
> Lament of a Broken Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



Lament of a Broken Heart






	“It’s cold,” Midnight complained as her magic sustained a floating fire in front of them. “How is the fire not doing anything?”

Daybreaker barely glanced back. “What do you think? It’s the Frozen North, Sparkle.”

“When you said she goes somewhere once a year,” Midnight muttered. “You never told it was the freaking Frozen North. There’s a reason why windigos made it their territory.”

“Speak of the devils,” Nightmare Moon said emotionlessly as a screeching noise came through the flurry of snow falling on them. “They seem to have noticed us.”

“They won’t bother us!” Daybreaker shouted as she trudged on. “Especially since we’re alicorns!”

“Why did you even leave Spike back at the Ruined Lands?” Nightmare Moon asked exasperatedly. “We could really use a fire-breathing dragon here.”

“Spike doesn’t do well in the cold,” Daybreaker replied. “Last time he was here, he breathed fire once before his flames just went poof! He hates the North, now.”

The windigos howled in the distance. 

“Where is she?” Midnight grumbled. “You said she’d come here every year.”

“Almost there!” Daybreaker shouted back. “We just have to keep going until she starts flinging spells at us to go away!”

“YOU DIDN’T MENTION THAT WOULD HAPPEN!”

“Oh, look,” Nightmare Moon muttered. “You just realized Daybreaker really doesn’t give a damn about what she tells you and what she doesn’t.”

Midnight sighed as she recast her spell to keep her warm. “Whatever. What about you?”

“What do you mean?” Nightmare Moon scrutinized the expanse of snow before them. 

“What do you think will happen?” Midnight corrected as she wrapped her wings around herself. 

“We’ll find her at the grave,” Nightmare Moon grunted as she recast her own warmth spell. “She’ll be there. When she sees Daybreaker, she’ll start flinging spells. She still blames my sister for his death.”

“What’d she do?” Midnight asked, her interest piqued. 

“Daybreaker killed him by accelerating his age,” Nightmare Moon said simply. “She believed Armor was holding her back, so she killed Armor. And thus, the mare once known as Mi Amore Cadenza became Heartbreaker.”

“Cold,” Midnight muttered. “Totally a surprise as to why Heartbreaker hates Daybreaker.”

Nightmare Moon shrugged. “My sister dislikes the concept of love. She treats it as a crutch, as something to prevent you from reaching the height of your powers.”

“Jeez,” Midnight scowled. “What’s her issue?” An image floated, unbidden, to the forefront of Midnight’s mind. Nightmare Moon’s eyes sparkling as she fell. Midnight shook her head, silently chastising herself. Nightmare Moon had tried to kill her several times before. She was not attracted to her.

“She’s just the way she is-” Nightmare Moon paused and stopped walking. “Where did Daybreaker go?”

Midnight looked around then, her horn awash in light. “That’s not good. She was just in front of us.”

And then Midnight crumpled to her knees as an explosion of hatred attacked her mind and heart. The mist cleared, revealing Daybreaker clutching her head and kneeling on the ground in front of them. Through a haze of pain, she looked up.

Heartbreaker stood there, her black coat contrasting her pink mane. Her horn was glowing, and her face was alit with undisguised malice. 

“Didn’t I tell you to never come here?” Heartbreaker slammed a hoof across Daybreaker’s face, who did not defend herself as the blow knocked her off balance. Daybreaker collapsed, her body twitching as her eyes burned with rage and fear.

Midnight realized what was happening, even as she tried to get up. Heartbreaker had manipulated their emotions to the point where they were immobile, and the only reason why she could even think and watch was that the emotions Heartbreaker was affecting weren’t part of her mind. She had long since isolated her emotions from her thinking.

Heartbreaker was attacking Midnight’s body and heart. She wasn’t attacking Midnight’s mind. She took solace in that fact even as her heart screamed in pain from all the rage and hatred Heartbreaker was flooding into her.

Now she was unable to move as she watched Heartbreaker drag Daybreaker up using her magic. “You killed him,” Heartbreaker hissed. “I told you to never come back or suffer the consequences. I will kill you. Do you understand me? I will kill you slowly. I will make you age beyond belief, then freeze you in lava so cold it burns. You will suffer alone as your screams bounce off the deafening silence I will trap you in.”

Daybreaker’s eyes burned as her mane and tail were set alight with flames again, her magic forcing past Heartbreaker’s. 

“No you don’t,” Heartbreaker snarled as she slammed her hoof into the side of Daybreaker’s head, and the flames went out as her eyes rolled up. Heartbreaker released Daybreaker, and the white alicorn crumpled to the ground, her body unmoving.

“Now what do we have here?” Heartbreaker stepped over to them, her eyes shining with an emptiness that Midnight feared. Heartbreaker could do anything to them while they were immobile, and she couldn’t even fight back.

Heartbreaker suddenly paused as she scrutinized Midnight. A flash of something in Heartbreaker’s eyes, but it disappeared so quickly Midnight wasn’t sure if she imagined it.

Midnight fought against her emotions, trying to overwhelm the hatred and anger that held her body immobile with her own thoughts. But try as she might, her anger could not overpower Heartbreaker’s. She kept pushing, but she always hit the same barrier. The wall of hatred that belonged to Heartbreaker.

“I see,” Heartbreaker spoke. “You have found it, then?”

Midnight could suddenly move as Heartbreaker released her hold. She looked to her side, where Nightmare Moon was still under Heartbreaker’s control. “Found…what?” Midnight snarled as she found her voice.

“Love,” Heartbreaker said simply. “Your heart yearns for someone.”

She was aware of Nightmare Moon’s eyes flicking to her. 

“You’re speaking out of your butt,” Midnight retorted as she gathered her magic. She needed an overwhelming blow to defeat Heartbreaker. With an opponent as powerful as this, there would be no second chances. “I no longer love after Twilight Sparkle killed her parents.”

“You lie,” Heartbreaker stated. “I am the Alicorn of Emotions. I can feel your yearning for someone. Someone who has fought with you. Someone who has protected you, and someone who you have stared into their soul.”

Midnight laughed shakily. “So you’re just making things up now?”

“If you will not admit it, I will force you to do so.” Midnight gasped as her body stiffened and her hold on her own magic was lost. “You will kill Nightmare.”

No! Midnight struggled against Heartbreaker’s magic, but it was futile. Heartbreaker had an iron grip around her movements, forcing her to summon Nova and hold it over the immobile figure of Nightmare Moon. 

“If you accept it,” Heartbreaker tilted her head, seemingly judging her. “You can fight me. There is no greater emotion than love. Fight it, Sparkle.”

Midnight fought against Heartbreaker’s hold, but she could not make a single dent in the wall of hatred that had consumed her heart and taken control of her body. She could only watch and shout in fury in her mind as her body lifted her scythe up above Nightmare Moon.

Heartbreaker sighed. “A pity. I had expected more. Goodbye, Nightmare.”

The scythe came down.





A centaur was burning down the woods, an orb of orange glowing light in between his horns. He roared as he stomped on the trees, his giant physique crushing everything in his path.

“I have won!” He bellowed to the world. “I have all the magic in Equestria!” 

“There is one magic you don’t have,” Midnight heard herself speak as she ascended into the air, a rainbow aura surrounding her. She looked around her and saw the same five ponies she had seen in her first vision. “You don’t have the Magic of Friendship.”

“How?!” The centaur roared at them. “I took your magic!”

“Friendship is something else, Tirek,” Midnight felt a pride brimming inside of her, along with love. “You can’t-”

The world glitched.

Her vision split, her two eyes seeing two different things.

Her left eye saw the centaur utterly destroying the world, unstoppable by anyone.

Her right eye saw a rainbow light blasting the centaur into oblivion, banishing him away.

And then the world where the centaur won dissolved in front of her eyes, the centaur shouting in surprise as his form dissolved into dust. 

Her vision returned to normal.

And the scene shifted.

She saw the same portal in the sky, the symbols on its edges still glowing.

Somehow, she saw where it led.

A world consumed by darkness. A world where the sun would never rise again. And she saw it dissolving like the centaur as the portal weakened.

She saw Twilight Sparkle and the same unicorn speaking to each other. There was a half ripped scroll between them.

Suddenly, Midnight feared for her life. And she didn’t even know why.





Midnight stared at the scythe she had buried in her own chest.

Heartbreaker stood by beside them, her eyes devoid of any emotion as she watched the events unfold. 

Nightmare Moon was leaning over her crumpled body, desperately trying to stem the bleeding with whatever spell she could use. But it was no use. Midnight had designed Nova to prevent all healing when embedded in flesh, making it her most powerful weapon.

But she had not anticipated burying it in herself. Somehow, Midnight had overpowered Heartbreaker’s control for a moment. She had twisted it away from its course to Nightmare Moon’s neck and into her own chest.

Nightmare Moon had been released by Heartbreaker, then, immediately rushing over to Midnight.

“You foolish mare!” Nightmare Moon wrapped a hoof around the handle of Nova. “Don’t die on me. Don’t you dare die on me.”

“Pull it out,” Midnight groaned as she felt her life slipping away. “Pull it out.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Nightmare Moon growled. 

Midnight screamed as Nightmare Moon tugged out the scythe, blood streaming from the wound. Immediately, her alicorn magic went to work, sewing her skin together, helped by Nightmare Moon’s magic. 

“Why did you do that for me?” Nightmare Moon demanded. “You could have died!”

“I couldn’t let you die while I was lying to myself,” Midnight croaked. “I saw your eyes. I saw your hurt.” Nightmare Moon flinched at the statement.

Midnight continued. “I don’t know why,” she whispered. “But I want to help you get rid of that hurt. I want to make the pain in you stop. I want you to be happy.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Nightmare Moon hesitated as she looked directly into Midnight’s eyes. “You’re delirious.”

“Actually,” Midnight murmured. “I see clearly for the first time ever. I lied to myself. I told myself that I was only attracted to you. To your looks. That I didn’t care about what was inside. But I do. Your determination to your goals. The look on your face every time we do battle.”

“I saw a world where we were friends,” Midnight whispered. “And for once, I liked something. When we traveled together, fighting off the monsters we saw, you protected me when I slept. You made sure that we would get to our destination.”

“It was only for both our sakes,” Nightmare Moon retorted, but she sounded less sure of herself.

“And it was for you I defeated Daybreaker for,” Midnight said as she unsteadily got to her hooves. “Daybreaker warned me. That I discharged pure love. I know it is dangerous. I know that this may be a trick of Heartbreaker. But I don’t care. I want to explore this with you, I want to know the Nightmare.”

Nightmare Moon stared at her. “You’re not joking.”

“I’m not,” Midnight agreed. “I’ve spent years fighting you. I’ve seen you hurt many times, I felt the brunt of your anger countless times. You’re angry at yourself. You’re angry at the world. You fight me because you need someone to throw your anger at. I never realized that before today.”

“I see,” Nightmare Moon seemed to be struggling with something before her shoulders tensed and relaxed. All within a few seconds. “I don’t know what to say, Sparkle.”

Heartbreaker shrugged. “How about you say what’s in your heart?” Midnight jumped, she had almost forgotten Heartbreaker was there.

Nightmare Moon glared at Heartbreaker. “I can say what I want myself, thank you very much.” She looked at Midnight, steeling herself. “I… I’ve enjoyed your company. Whenever we fought, you would snark at me. You would joke. You would call me Moony.

I like being called Moony by you,” Nightmare Moon forced out. “Because I know you are genuine. I know that you’ve experienced the same hurt that I have. I don’t know why I feel this way. When I slept, I trusted you to not kill me. I didn’t trust my sister, but for some reason, I trusted you. You didn’t lie. You didn’t scheme. All you’ve done all these years was trying to kill me, because I tried to kill you first.”

“Moony, I…” Midnight’s throat was dry. “I didn’t know you felt that way.” She edged closer to Nightmare Moon, hesitant.

“Neither did I,” Nightmare Moon held her head high. “Midnight Sparkle.” She stepped forwards.

Midnight held her gaze. “Nightmare Moon.”

They locked eyes. 

And then, under the emotionless gaze of Heartbreaker’s empty eyes, the two kissed.
> To the Heart of the World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



To the Heart of the World






	“You what?!” Daybreaker demanded.

“We kissed,” Nightmare Moon replied shortly. “If you have a problem with that, we can always let Heartbreaker do what she intended to do to you at first.”

“Please,” Heartbreaker agreed. “I do wish to kill you.”

Daybreaker looked at Heartbreaker before looking back at Nightmare Moon.

She made her decision.

“We’re headed to the Engine, now, then!” Daybreaker said abruptly.

“How do we even get there?” Midnight asked curiously. 

“Neither here, nor there,” Heartbreaker tapped a hoof on the ground. “The Engine exists on a different plane from ours. Similar to the Plane of Ascendance.”

Nightmare Moon nodded. “In order to access the Engine, we’ll need to open a gate. And then, it’s simply a journey to the heart of the world.”

“To open said gate,” Midnight summarised. “You need the power of four alicorns.”

“Not exactly, dear Sparkle,” Daybreaker’s eyes shone with anticipation. “We need the essence of four alicorns. A very different matter.”

“What do you mean?” Midnight tilted her head. “How do you even use essence—”

“Less asking and more listening,” Daybreaker’s horn was glowing. “When I cast the spell, you join it. That’s all you need to do.”

Her horn fired a ray into the sky, but it abruptly stopped a few meters above her head, forming an orb. “Feed it with your magic,” Daybreaker said. 

Midnight hesitated, but followed suit as Heartbreaker and Nightmare Moon fired their own rays at the orb. As soon as her magic joined the orb, it shook and trembled, before their horns lit up involuntarily, their magic being drawn inside.

“Don’t worry!” Daybreaker shouted. “It’s all part of the process—”

The world went white as Midnight’s magic was consumed.






A clicking noise made Midnight realize she was awake.

“What in the world…?” her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes to come face to face with a giant crab. “CRAB!” she scrambled back, reaching for her magic to blast the crab in the face.

Her magic never came.

The crab clicked its pincers menacingly, but it never advanced upon her. As Midnight looked at the crab, she observed that the clicks were repeating in the same pattern, over and over.

Click. Click-click. Click. Click-click.

It was an illusion or a construct. 

“Welcome to the Chamber of Beginnings,” Nightmare Moon’s voice said from behind her. “Where the ideas for everything that you ever saw on our world was first created by Faust.”

Midnight turned around to look at Nightmare Moon, who was standing on a cliff devoid of color. The only color scheme it had was…gray and white. 

“The Chamber of Beginnings?” Midnight thought out loud. 

“Indeed,” Nightmare Moon scrutinized her. “Magic doesn’t work here. Only your imagination does.”


“Where are Daybreaker and Heartbreaker?” Midnight looked around them, but all she could see were gray plains and a sea frozen mid-tide under the cliff. Looking up, she saw a few birds, but all of them were frozen in the air. Some of them either had no color or were missing beaks and claws.

Nightmare Moon grunted. “Probably in another section of the Chamber. We’ll have to meet them at the Engine. If the Chamber separated us four, it has to be for a reason. It wants us to stay separated.”

“The Chamber is sentient.” Midnight deadpanned.

“Very much so,” Nightmare Moon nodded gravely. “Everything here has a life of its own. The very ground we travel on, the sky, the air. They just have much slower thoughts than us. A second for them is a century for us.”

Midnight groaned. “So how do we get to the Engine?”

“We jump,” Nightmare Moon said simply. “Into the sea.”

“Are you mad?” Midnight demanded. “We don’t have our magic! We can’t fly or cast any spells to keep ourselves alive!”

“We don’t need magic,” Nightmare Moon said dismissively. “Did you not hear what I said? Our imagination is the strongest weapon we’ll have. If we jump, and think of a particular location, we’ll be transported there. But do specify how you want to be transported. The first time I did this, I turned into a stream of bubbles. A very unpleasant experience.”

“What location?” Midnight snapped. “I haven’t been here before, if you don’t—”

Nightmare Moon simply closed her eyes, and suddenly Midnight could clearly in her mind a room filled with whirring cogs, with a sleeping golem in the middle of it.

“How did you—”

“You can do anything with imagination here,” Nightmare Moon replied. 

“Oh. So what was that?”

“The Room of Systems,” Nightmare Moon explained. “The room before the Tunnel of Trials. We cannot go further than that. Normally, if an uneducated creature were to come in here, they’d have to go through the Sea of Survival, before the Mirror of Madness. Then only would we arrive at the Room of Systems. But since I’ve been here before, we can skip it all.”

“How did you even come here without a fourth alicorn? Or a third, for that matter? I know Heartbreaker is much younger than you both.” Midnight scowled.

“Discord and Tartarus came with us the first time,” Nightmare Moon peered at the sea. “Discord tricked us. He only wanted to break the Engine. Tartarus wished to try and claim Gaia’s essence. Both of them are now gone. One is scattered to the winds, and the other barely surviving as a primordial god, slumbering away.”

“Ah,” Midnight trotted over to the cliff. “Is that the Sea of Survival you talked about?”

“Indeed,” Nightmare Moon answered. “There’s a sea serpent once we go far enough. Impervious to every weapon, you can only beat him by singing a song. Discord did that the first time. I have no desire to try.”

“I see,” Midnight looked down. “So we just jump and think about the room and how we’re getting there?”

“That’s it in a nutshell.” Nightmare Moon nodded. “Together?”

“Together.”


And the two jumped, vanishing in a cloud of mist just before they hit the sea.





“Welcome to the Room of Systems,” the golem spoke as the two alicorns materialized in front of it. “Please state your name and purpose of visit.”

“My name is Nightmare Moon. Her name is Midnight Sparkle. We’d like to go on to the Engine, golem,” Nightmare Moon said, almost respectfully. Midnight gawped at the level of courtesy Nightmare Moon was giving the golem. The dark alicorn had almost never used that tone before. 

“To access the Engine, you must first defeat the Tunnel of Trials. If you fail, you will be erased from existence,” the golem spoke as if it was reading from a script. “Will you accept the risks?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Midnight interrupted. “Erased from existence?”

“Query not recognized,” the golem said. “Do you mean ‘I want to get erased from existence? That may be arranged.”

“No!” Midnight yelped. “I most certainly do not! Why do we even get erased from existence if we fail the Tunnel of Trials?”

“It is designed that way.” the golem spoke in the same monotone manner. “I cannot give any other answer than that. The Creator has locked that information away.”

Midnight huffed. “What can you do?”

“I have access to every system that was ever created. The ecosystem, the system of time, the system of space. If you wish to view their workings, I can show you.”

“Don’t,” Nightmare Moon advised. “It will literally overload your mind. Too much information.”

“Alright. So what is the Tunnel of Trials?” Midnight asked.

“The Tunnel of Trials is designed to push you to your limits,” the golem droned. “It will feed on your fears and doubts, then make you face them to determine if you are worthy of visiting the Engine.”

“O-oh,” Midnight glared at Nightmare Moon. “You said nothing about facing my fears and doubts!”

“Oh, please,” Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. “You’ll be fine. Just remember that it’s not real and keep pushing. And think of me. When we’ll meet again.”

Midnight nodded slowly. “Very well. I accept the risks.”

“I accept the risks too.” Nightmare Moon put a hoof on Midnight’s shoulder.

“And thus shall the trials begin,” the golem’s eyes began to glow. “Good luck.” 

The light in the golem’s eyes grew and grew, until it swallowed the room whole.





Midnight could hear dripping noises as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Something was falling onto the ground in front of her. Her nose wrinkled as a smell wafted into her nostrils. A pungent, familiar smell. The smell of decay and rot.

“You killed us,” a voice rasped. “You took our lives.”

“Mom?” Midnight gasped. “No! You’re supposed to be—”

“Dead? Yes, thanks to you…” another voice came slithering from behind her. “But the dead can’t be kept down forever.”

“No!” Midnight scrambled away from the voices. “I did it to put you out of your misery! To save you from pain!”

“We didn’t ask for it nor did we agree,” her mother’s voice hissed. “You are a disgrace. A shame on our family. Killing your own parents.”

“You’re not real,” Midnight’s voice trembled. “You died.”

“Oh, but we are real, my little star.”

Midnight almost broke, then. She almost begged. For only two ponies had known that nickname.

But she was not Twilight Sparkle. She was Midnight Sparkle. And she did not fear what Twilight did.

“You are not my parents,” her voice was surprisingly firm. “You are Twilight’s.”

“But you are Twilight.” the voice sounded confused now, no longer threatening.

“I am Midnight Sparkle,” Midnight snarled. “And I am not afraid of paltry party tricks! If you are truly the Tunnel of Trials, then give me something I actually fear!”

Silence. 

Then the voice spoke again. “Very well.”

The world warped and when Midnight could finally see again, she saw Nightmare Moon’s dead body, the golem standing over her.

Blood rushed in her ears as she rushed the golem, summoning her scythe as she did so. Roaring, she swung the scythe.
> Time and Time Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



Time and Time Again






	The golem simply tilted its head, before sidestepping the blade.

Midnight’s eyes widened. Impossible! How was it that fast?


Or was she just slow?

“I am the caretaker of the Room of Systems,” the golem whirred. “I control every System. Time. Space. The food chain. The Solar System. The stars. The atmosphere. Everything falls under my purview.”

Gears clanked around them, and Midnight froze.

And then the body of Nightmare Moon disappeared.

“You have failed the Trials, Midnight Sparkle,” the golem intoned. “You failed to face your fears. Instead of accepting, you fought against the truth. You are unworthy of the Engine, and you shall now be erased from existence—”

A rip in the air, and Nightmare Moon sliced down with her blade at the golem’s head as she dropped out from a tear in the very air above the golem.

The golem backhanded Nightmare Moon, sending her flying into a wall of gears. Nightmare Moon’s sword clattered onto the ground, the runes inscribed along the blade dimming.

“Why have you returned?” the golem tilted its head. “You passed the Trials. You were given passage to the Engine. You should have gone on.”

Nightmare Moon grunted with effort as she pushed herself up, looking straight at the frozen body of Midnight Sparkle. “What have you done to her?!” she snarled.

“Time has been frozen for her,” the golem made his way over to Nightmare Moon, the gears inside his chest whirring as he looked at her. “She failed the Trials. She will now be erased.”

“No.”

“What did you say?” the golem asked. “Did you just command me not to erase her?”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes burned. “I did.” She held out her hoof, and her blade returned to her grasp. “What about it?”

“I do not understand.” the golem whirred. “You were given passage to the Engine. You were deemed worthy. You could have had what you wanted. Why did you return?”

“Because the Engine showed me what you were going to do to her, damn it!” Nightmare Moon cried out. “You think I would just let her be erased?”

“Why not?” the golem asked. “You can have what you want.”


“Because I want her to stay,” Nightmare Moon snarled. “Because as much as I hate her, I have grown to love her. And like her for who she is. You will not erase her, because she is mine alone.”

At that, the golem paused. He tilted his head. “System error. This was not documented. This was not in the logs of Time. The logs of Time dictated that you would have left her behind. That you would have let her be erased.”

“Then those logs are wrong,” Nightmare Moon growled. “She’s coming with me.”

“Request denied,” the golem whirred. “She must be erased. She failed the Trials.”

“She must be erased—” the golem suddenly froze. “Error. Logs of Time are being rewritten. Error. Space is being opened from another world. Error. Error. This construct will now shut down. Error. Error. Time is being—"






The golem simply tilted its head, before sidestepping the blade.

Wait, what?

	Midnight slashed at the golem once again, but the golem simply held up a hand and she couldn’t move. She couldn't talk. Only think.

“I am the caretaker of the Room of Systems,” the golem whirred. “I control every System. Time. Space. The food chain. The Solar System. The stars. The atmosphere. Everything falls under my purview.”

He stomped a foot on the ground, and even Midnight’s thoughts ceased.

“You have failed the Trials, Midnight Sparkle,” he intoned. “You failed to face your fears. Instead of accepting, you fought against the truth. You are unworthy of the Engine, and you shall now be erased from existence—”

Nightmare Moon blasted the golem in the face with a ray of magic, forcing it backward.

“What have you done?” she snarled. “Why are we back here again?”

“Time will be rewritten until the Logs of Time is fulfilled,” the golem whirred. “Error. The subject has retained memories from the last entry in the Logs of Time. Logs of Time are being rewritten. Error. Space is being opened from another world. Error. Error. This construct will now shut down. Error. Error. Time is being—"






The golem simply tilted its head, before sidestepping the blade.

This time, Midnight stayed her hoof, and waited for the golem to speak.

“I am the caretaker of the Room of Systems,” the golem whirred. “I control every System. Time. Space. The food chain. The Solar System. The stars. The atmosphere. Everything falls under my purview.”

“I know. You’ve said it twice already.” Midnight could barely hold in her anger. How was the golem manipulating time to that degree?

The golem’s gears stopped.

“How?” It asked plaintively. “How do your memories stay after I have rewritten time and forced us back?”

“I don’t know, golem. I don’t know.” Midnight’s horn lit up. “But don’t try again. Time shouldn’t be changed like that.”

“The Logs of Time must be fulfilled,” the golem said. “Until its destiny is completed, I will keep rewriting Time. I will make sure the world is not destroyed. I will keep our Systems intact.”

Nightmare Moon stepped out from the gash, and it closed up again.

“We don’t have much time, golem. What did you mean by Space is being opened from another world?” she demanded.

“Visitors from another world will arrive in a minute and sixteen seconds,” the golem said. “Unless I erase Midnight Sparkle. Then our world will be safe. She is the catalyst. The root to the poisoned tree of Time.”

“We can fix it.”

The words slipped out of Midnight’s mouth before she realized it. She blinked in surprise at her own decision but shook her head. “We can fix it. Let us go to the Engine. And we can find out who these visitors are.”

“I cannot—” the golem’s gears came to a stop. “They have arrived. Error. Error—"

Nightmare Moon blasted it in the face with a ray. “Don’t! You’re just delaying the inevitable.”

“I must stop this. They will destroy our world.” The golem said. “Fine. Go. But I will reverse time just as our world dissolves. This is your chance. Your eternal chance, if you fail. I will keep repeating. And repeating. I cannot leave this plane of existence. But you can. And I will make sure you keep trying until you go insane if you fail.”

Before they could speak, the world dissolved.

And it reformed into a room filled with grand marble pillars.

In the middle of the room, Daybreaker and Heartbreaker stood at a crystalline table that had gears set in it. 

“The Engine,” Nightmare Moon announced. “Behold, the system that controls our world.”

“About time, sister,” Daybreaker turned to them. “But I’m afraid we’re too late. The two ponies and their baby dragon have left. And our world is dissolving with them—”

ERROR.






The golem simply tilted its head, before sidestepping the blade.

“Go.”

And the world dissolved again.

Midnight arrived back in the room where the Engine was to a sight that surprised her.

“I have to go back for her!” Nightmare Moon was yelling at her sister. “She’s—”

“She’s right there,” Daybreaker said dryly. “Do you have to say the same thing every time? It’s getting rather exhausting.”


“So what’s going on?” Midnight demanded.

“Here.” Heartbreaker said, her voice devoid of emotion as she tapped on the table that was the Engine.

A scene was created in mid-air, where Midnight saw herself, no, Twilight, gesturing at a wasteland to a lilac unicorn. She seemed to be trying to reason with the unicorn.

“We can’t let them leave,” Daybreaker said. “If they do, our world dies. We’re a split-off timeline from theirs, it seems.”

“What is their fixed point?” Nightmare Moon gazed at the scene. “Where did they change it all?”

“That’s the thing. I can’t find it,” Daybreaker muttered. “It doesn’t make sense. Their fixed point can’t be found in our world. And our world keeps fading once they leave. This doesn’t make sense at all.”

“We have to kill them.” the words came from Heartbreaker. “It is the only way.”

“But if we can’t find the fixed point in our world—” Midnight froze as the two ponies hugged, before sharing a look and disappearing through the portal in the sky.

ERROR.





The golem simply tilted its head, before sidestepping the blade.

No. Not again.
> Who Would You Be?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



Who Would You Be?






	Attempt One Hundred and Sixty-Seven.

	By now, they had discovered the location of where the two mares were when they entered their world. They had also ascertained the correct words to say to prevent said mares from blasting them in the face from the start or leaving their world.

Only thing to do now was to try again.

Midnight didn’t even bother looking at the golem as time reset yet again, immediately teleporting away to meet the rest of the alicorns twenty metres away from the two mares. Ten metres, they’d panic and leave. Five, they’d blast them in the face with magic. Twenty was enough for them to stop and think as they raised their hooves in surrender.

Why didn’t they just kill the two mares? Well, they did attempt that.


Once.

They had seen the spell warp and die, beginning to destroy their world.

They didn’t try that again.

The dark alicorns didn’t address each other. They didn’t need to. They already knew what would happen, and what they would need to do. They only hoped they would get it right this time. Get the alicorn and the unicorn’s guard down, knock them out, disable the spell then kill the two. Simple enough, right?

Except the last thirty-seven times they reached this point they had said something wrong or the other, screwing their universe over. They had tried a straight concussion spell. But the two of them had their guards up, immediately responding with shields and disabling their spells, disappearing into the portal.

And then their world had crumbled then.

Midnight didn’t understand how the golem kept repeating the same time loop again and again, but she was grateful the golem had the power to. For if it hadn’t, they’d have been in oblivion by now.

You look-

	“You look like me,” The alicorn, whose name they had learned to actually be Twilight Sparkle, spoke as she stared at Midnight. Twilight’s horn lit. “I thought nothing lived here.”

“You thought wrong,” Daybreaker said flatly. “We live here. And we would appreciate it if you didn’t destroy our universe.”

So far, so good. Daybreaker’s words caused Twilight and the unicorn, Starlight Glimmer, to hesitate.

“Destroy your universe?” Starlight spoke. “B-but isn’t this-”

“If you return to your time, you doom ours,” Nightmare Moon cut across her at the correct section. “We could not find the fixed point. Whatever you changed did not change our world directly - it simply sent ripples across space and time and affected our timeline. So now your timeline and our timeline are linked. You leave, you kill us all.”

“That wouldn’t be much of a loss-” Starlight began.

“Starlight,” Twilight always said the same thing. “We should try to help them. This is their timeline, after all. As the Princess of Friendship, I can’t stand by while I watch an entire world die.”

“What if they’re lying?” Starlight questioned her.

“We could be,” Midnight agreed. “But if we were, why wouldn’t we just knock you out? Destroy you utterly? It’s because it didn’t work. And we have to resort to bargaining with you to let our world live. It’s the only world we know.”

This was where they had lost the last time. 

Midnight was hoping she said the correct words.

The last time, Twilight and Starlight had panicked, before leaving their world to crumble into dust.

She heaved a sigh as ten seconds passed and the two didn’t leave.

“You’re Nightmare Moon,” Twilight said, looking at Nightmare. “And I’m guessing that’s Princess Celestia’s fallen form.”

Midnight tensed. This was the furthest they had gone. She hoped they didn’t mess it up.

“Correct. I am Daybreaker, Bringer of the Scorching Flames, Queen of the Ruined Lands.”


“And you…are Cadance’s,” Twilight said as she looked at Heartbreaker. “Your coat’s different, but your mane’s the exact same.”

“Mhm. Heartbreaker, love.”

Twilight frowned as she finally turned to Midnight. “And you…”

“Midnight Sparkle,” Midnight said after a pause. “Alicorn of Magic, Bearer of the Stars.”

“W-what happened to us?” Twilight asked hesitantly. “W-what made us fall?”

Midnight considered her question.

“The way this world is, I suppose. And maybe when our parents died,” she answered, leaving out that she had killed them herself. “I don’t suppose your world is like this.”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s vibrant. Full of life. Not…whatever this wasteland is. I don’t even understand myself how me not making friends and meeting my friends led to this.”

“I don’t think that caused this,” Starlight said, examining the half-ripped scroll. “I saw the other worlds. Equestria was mostly intact. No, us ripping the scroll most likely sent ripples across space and time, like they said. It reached into another world, and then altered their time into this.”

Midnight’s head throbbed.

Flashes of visions.

They were running out of time.

Twilight’s head whipped to look at Starlight. “The alternate universe theory is real?”

“I believe so,” Starlight said slowly. “No villain that you defeated before could have done this. This is something entirely different—”

Different.

	Midnight cried out, and her world dissolved once more.





She felt her wings beside her as she lay in a fluffy bed.

“Love?” a voice called out. 

Midnight frowned. Was it just her, or did it sound like a…kinder Nightmare?

“It’s time to wake,” the voice chided as she felt the covers across her body pull away, magic levitating them up. “We have to meet the Solar Empire’s delegation. My sister and her daughter will be terribly cross if we’re late again, Twilight.”

“We’re different,” Midnight grumbled, then paused. It was the first time she had spoke in these visions. She rolled her tongue, but let her words flow out naturally. “We’re the rulers of the Lunar Empire! They’re more active in the day, and us, the night!”


A flowing mane ticked her chin as the owner of the voice lowered herself into Midnight’s vision.

“Come on, love,” Midnight frowned. This wasn’t Nightmare. It was some parody of her. The blue alicorn looked at her with an amused smile. “I know you hate bandying words with the Solar Empire’s politicians, but I promise this time it’s entirely just a simple visit from my sister and her daughter.”

Luna.

The name surfaced from somewhere.

Midnight looked longingly at Luna, her body seemingly wishing to embrace her for some reason.

“It’s time to wake-”







“Wake up, Midnight,” Nightmare’s cold voice cut into her ears. “Wake up.”

Midnight stirred.

Her mind felt fuzzy. 

For some reason, the vision she had just seen was different from the earlier ones.

Those had seemed intrusive, false, wrong.

This one seemed like it actually belonged in her memory.

“What can we do to help?” Twilight stepped forward.

Their guard was lowered.

Their plan should have started.

But for some reason, Midnight failed to cast the spell. Or rather, she didn’t want to.

The vision she had just saw…she had been happy to see Nigh- Luna.

And the world had been much nicer than theirs. 

She saw the other three dark alicorns casting her glances. Why hadn’t she cast the knock out spell yet?

“Could you reverse your spell?” Midnight croaked out, and the other three looked at her like she was insane.

“If you won’t do it, Sparkle,” Daybreaker snarled. “I will—”

Midnight’s bolt of magic slammed into her face, causing her to flail backward and sprawl onto the ground. She got to work, leaping onto her hooves, her magic already flowing into the air as tendrils of light wrapped around Daybreaker, restraining her, gagging her, before wrapping around her horn several times to prevent Daybreaker from casting any spells.

Daybreaker crumpled onto the ground, unable to move or speak. The hate in her eyes said it all.

But their world was still intact, along with Twilight and Starlight still there.

So, Midnight reasoned, she had done something right.

“W-what was that?” Twilight shrieked. “What-”

“She attempted to knock you out,” Nightmare Moon said with distaste. “It was our plan to save our universe. But it seems Midnight has changed the plan without telling us. But since our world is still intact…it seems the plan has merit.”

Heartbreaker didn’t do anything, simply observed her.

“I-I saw a vision,” Midnight said slowly. “Of another life. One that felt…right.”


“Your actual world,” Starlight supplied. “The one you actually lived.”

Twilight looked at the scroll. “We have to repair this.”

“But how?” Starlight asked her. “It’s ancient parchment.”

“Like this,” Heartbreaker’s emotionless voice said as her magic flowed into the tear, sealing it up, repairing it. The edges glowed pink, and then it looked good as…well, not new, but how it was supposed to look. “All you had to do was put a little love into it.”

An awkward silence.

“I am still the Alicorn of Love,” Heartbreaker shrugged. “Don’t mind me.”

All of them stared at the repaired parchment.

“Well,” Twilight said softly. “I don’t know if it’ll help. But maybe when we return this time…the repaired parchment will repair your world too.”

Daybreaker was now shouting at them through her magical gag, and they all ignored her muffled shouts.

“We’re trusting you,” The words sounded wrong in Midnight’s mouth, but in her heart…she knew it was the right thing to say. “The fate of our world is on your hooves now.”

A nod from both Twilight and Starlight.

“Good luck.” Nightmare Moon said quietly, then turned to trot away.

Midnight followed her, trotting away, leaving Heartbreaker and Daybreaker behind.

They stopped at the same time to look back.

Twilight and Starlight were hugging, and then they were sucked up by the portal.

Midnight waited for the golem to speak.

She didn’t hear anything in the air.

She released Daybreaker’s bonds, then sat down where she was, along with Nightmare, who let her lean her head on her shoulder.

“You have doomed us all, Sparkle,” Daybreaker growled as she stomped over. “Our world’s dead. You let them leave.”

Midnight didn’t answer.

Why had she let them leave?

Why?

Now that she looked back, what she had done was illogical. 

But as she leaned against Nightmare, it seemed…right.

Daybreaker glared at her for a minute, before relenting. “I’m going to return to Spike. If we’re all dying soon, I’m dying with the lizard. At least he’s better company.”

Her horn lit to teleport, but Nightmare Moon raised a hoof to stop her, if only for a moment.

“I’ll see you again, Sister,” Nightmare sounded resigned. “Whether it’d be our dreams or the eternal night.”

Daybreaker snorted, then teleported away.

Already, as the portal dissolved, they could see their world dusting away.

Was it just her, or was the sky lightening as the sun and moon started flaking?

Midnight looked at her hoof. It was slowly dissolving into dust, as were the rest of her.

She had made the wrong decision. And they were all going to die. The golem wasn’t restarting time this time. She didn’t know why.

She leaned onto Nightmare again.

“What do you think happens?” she asked softly. “After death?”

“I don’t know, Sparkle,” Nightmare Moon said heavily. “We rolled the dice. The dice rolled up into death for us. Our world is gone. And we’re going with it.”

“It was…a good memory for the vision,” Midnight murmured. “Maybe they tricked me. Who knows? But at least…they gave me something nice to go out with. The look of love in your eyes.”

Nightmare looked at her silently.

“It was worth it, then,” she said finally. “Besides, looking at those two…I feel a little better about dying. We’re abominations. Darkened and fallen alicorns. What was the point of us?”

“Maybe we were always destined to meet,” she looked up at Nightmare. “To have our final moments together.”

“Hmph.” Nightmare glared at her, before her eyes softened. “I’m glad we did meet, Sparkle.”

“I wish…I just wish we had more time. To fight. To bicker. To destroy each other utterly,” Midnight smirked. “Maybe…”

“Maybe we could not spend our last moments talking,” Nightmare Moon said. “Shut up.”

Then Nightmare Moon kissed Midnight Sparkle.

Midnight could feel her insides melting.

Literally and figuratively.

Her body was going numb, and her eyes registered her body disappearing. 

Was this…was this what death felt like?

It wasn’t painful.

It wasn’t horrible.

The kiss actually made it—

And all went white.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From Whence We Fell



By iAmSiNnEr



Epilogue






	All went white.

	For a moment, the world didn’t exist. All that matter, all those ponies…

	They had simply ceased to be.

	Then as time fixed itself, shapes took form once more.





	Rays of sunlight were cast through the window, streaming into a bedroom where a lavender alicorn slumbered in a bed, her chest slowly rising and falling. As the sun began its ascent into the sky, the alicorn stirred, her body suddenly realizing that her companion was gone from the bed.

Her eyes shot open. 

“Luna?” she called out. “Luna?”

“Here, my love,” a soft, regal voice spoke from the shadows in the corner of the room. A midnight blue alicorn stepped out of the shadows, her form solidifying as she spoke. “I had just gone to tell the staff that we would need breakfast today.”

Twilight relaxed. “You worried me,” she pulled the covers off herself with her magic. “I was worried the Nightmare had taken you again, spirited you away or something…”

Luna’s body posture stiffened, but Twilight scooched over, pulling Luna to her. She smiled as she pulled the larger alicorn to sit down on the bed, before nuzzling her gently. As she did so, Luna’s body relaxed, and her wings unfurled to wrap around Twilight.

“I promise it won’t happen again,” she whispered to Twilight. “Because I know you’ll be there for me, Twilight.”

“I’ll always be there for you,” Twilight gave her a warm smile. “As you were there for me when the Lunar Empire was still accepting me as their new ruler.”

A rueful chuckle. “Simpler times, were they not? When all we had to worry about was the court and the nobles accepting you as my bride, when all we had to worry about how we were going to have children…”

“Mhm,” Twilight leaned against her. “You know, I had the strangest dream last night.”

“Hm?” Luna cast her gaze upon the smaller lavender alicorn. “Do tell me, love.”

“I saw some sort of golem,” Twilight recalled. “The details are fuzzy, but I remember he pointed at me and I froze or something? Then I saw this crazy unicorn just flying, and some sort of portal in the sky. It had to be a dream, because the portal had time runes on its edges. And both of us know…”

“That Sister banned time magic centuries ago,” Luna finished. “And that if any of our mages were found using time magic, the Solar Empire would wage war on the Lunar Empire. Yes. We know that. I just wonder what prompted such a dream?”

Twilight scrunched her face up, and the resulting image prompted Luna to barely hold in a small laugh at how cute Twilight was looking. But she had centuries of experience of keeping a straight face, and assumed a mild smile on her face. 

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I just…maybe it was because of last week? I do sorta remember Nightmare Moon in my dreams.”

As Twilight said that, she was already prepared with a feather stroking down Luna’s spine, making sure the other alicorn didn’t freak out at the mention of the name. It was still a fresh scar, and the Lunar Empire was still recovering from the damage Nightmare Moon had wrought on their country. 

Not to mention the diplomatic problems it had caused with the Solar Empire, but that could wait. Their ponies came first. 

Luna gave her a brief smile. “Speaking of which, Sister is currently travelling towards us. She wishes to speak about…the Eternal Night incident. If she should demand penance for the damage I caused…I will pay it.”

“No,” Twilight said firmly. “You’re doing nothing of the sorts. If Celestia wants to punish you for something you had no control over, I will fight her. She’ll have to go through me, and our ponies, if she wants to punish you for what Nightmare did.”

A small pause.

“I still don’t know what drove me over,” Luna whispered as she let herself be taken by Twilight’s embrace. “That night…I saw visions. Visions of Sister taunting me, visions of you dying, visions of you dissipating into dust. And then the voice whispered to me. Asked me if I wanted to prevent those visions from becoming reality. And I said yes.”

“And the Nightmare took over,” Twilight murmured, trailing her wing tip over Luna’s back, causing Luna’s body to relax in her embrace. “I don’t blame you. Sometimes, nightmares can seem so real.”

“That’s the thing,” Luna buried her muzzle in Twilight’s shoulder, and her voice was a little muffled now. “It didn’t seem like just a nightmare. It seemed like it could actually happen. And I saw the world as a wasteland. Dozens of monsters just…roaming the land.”

Twilight kissed her on the cheek. “I believe you. And I know you always have the best of intentions for us. It wasn’t your fault that some demon decided to prey on your fears so they could get access to your body.”

Twilight felt a tear fall on her lap. 

And she hugged Luna even the more tighter for it.

“Let’s talk about happier topics, shall we?” she suggested. “Is Cadance and my brother coming?”

Luna’s mood seemed to brighten a little. “Why, yes, my niece is coming! Celestia may be a pain in the arse at times, but her daughter inherited all her good traits. She’s coming along with your brother to play pony in the middle to help out.”

“It’s still so confusing,” Twilight complained. “I married you, then my brother married her. So am I her aunt-in-law, or she my sister-in-law? Everytime she sees me, she never fails to tease me about it. It’s like she wants to find everything she can tease me about, just because she was my foalsitter when she came to the Lunar Empire for her stargazing studies.”

“Ha!” Luna grinned. “At least you didn’t experience what your brother went through. Remember how Sister aged your brother by forty-years, and then threatened him to let go of his idea of dating Cadance unless he wanted to stay old?”

Twilight frowned. “I remember. And it was all a test!”

“Sister has the most elaborate plans to see the worst in others,” Luna chuckled. “And here I thought I was supposed to the alicorn who sought out the conspiracies. Alicorn of the Night and all.”

“I still recall how angry Cadance was when she found out Celestia tested Shiny like that,” Twilight giggled. “Seeing her just absolutely refuse to allow Celestia to officiate her wedding, and then calling you to officiate the wedding. That look on Celestia’s face as she realized she couldn’t officiate her own daughter’s wedding was priceless.”

Luna gave a slow chuckle. “Indeed. I am half-glad Sister and I came to an arrangement all those centuries ago to split Equestria into two. Those who followed the Night formed our Lunar Empire, and those who followed the Day formed the Solar Empire. We’re still smaller than Sister’s, but we have the monopoly on trade relations with the Griffon Empire. Suck on that, Sister!”

Twilight’s ears folded back at the swear, and Luna looked sheepish. “I apologize, love. I did not mean to swear in your presence.”

“It’s fine,” she mumbled. “Rarity always thought it was uncouth to swear. But I did find it funny when she kept finding phrases like ‘needles and threads’ to replace swears.”

Luna smiled. “That friend of yours is an excellent Royal Seamstress. Perhaps I should pay her a visit soon to commission something for the occasion coming up.”

“The occasion coming up?” Twilight tilted her head. “What, the diplomatic visit? You don’t have to dress up for that, we know Celestia and Cadance!”

“No, silly,” Luna bapped her lightly on her head. “Your birthday’s in a week!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh, right! How could I forget?”

“To be fair, you didn’t celebrate your birthdays before you met me,” Luna said softly. “Not since…not since your magic surge.”

It was time for Twilight to stiffen. “They’ll turn back, right?”

“I’m working on the solution every spare moment I get,” Luna confirmed. “I’ll return your parents to normal, okay? You don’t have to worry.”

“How could I not?” she muttered. “They’ve been plants for fifteen years. Fifteen years. What’s that going to do to them?”

“Shush, love,” Luna stroked Twilight’s mane with a hoof. “We just have to have faith. It wasn’t your fault. Like you told me, you had no control over your actions. Every unicorn foal has a magic surge as they grow. It just so happened that yours was stronger than most.”

Twilight’s ears flattened. “So strong that I turned my parents into plants.”

“They’re well cared for,” Luna assured her. “My royal gardeners are ensuring they get the best quality fertilizer and water as we work on a solution.”
Twilight nodded slowly.

“Besides, I’m sure they’re happy that their filly is happy,” Luna tried. “Look, you’re the princess of the Lunar Empire, like me!”

Twilight gave a slight smile. “Yeah. They’d be proud of me. I just know it.”

“Anyways,” Luna folded her wings back in. “We have to start getting ready. Court begins in thirty minutes, and I’ll need you there.” She gave a nervous smile. “It’s the first day court reopens after…you know.”

“You’ll be fine,” Twilight said softly. “Our ponies still love you. I spoke to them on your behalf while you were recovering from all the injuries we gave you while defeating Nightmare Moon. They know that wasn’t you.”

“Maybe not all think that way,” Luna mumbled. “Maybe some—”

“Oh, hush, you,” Twilight pulled her in for a kiss, and their lips met. Luna’s eyes widened, but she melted into the kiss as Twilight funneled all the love she had for Luna into it. Eventually, they pulled back. Twilight gave Luna a smirk. “That always shuts you up. Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll get ready. I just hate wearing that dress. It’s just so…” she shuddered. “Gaudy!”

“Your friend made that dress,” Luna reminded her. “I’ll see you in the throne room, then?”

Twilight nodded, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you.”

Luna beamed at the kiss, before melting into the shadows.

Once Luna was gone, Twilight hopped off the bed and stared out over the Lunar Empire.

Homes were being repaired. The entire East wing of the castle had crumbled. 

Where their original room had been. 

A tinge of regret from Twilight as she saw the ponies pulling the debris apart and working on repairs. She would be there down with them, helping them if she could. But they had insisted she fulfill her duties, that they would be fine. 

She stared out further, and used her magic to enhance her vision to see the wilted crops, and the farmers working tirelessly to regrow their crops. The Royal Treasury had opened the vaults and sent out much needed relief funds to the citizens, but for some farmers, it would be a while before their livelihoods were repaired. Who could blame them, when their crops had been deprived of three days of sunlight?

Twilight’s head throbbed.

Eternal Night.

For some reason, her mind was telling her that she was forgetting something.

As she looked up to the sky, she gave a pause as she saw the sun rising, the moon rising.

A flash in her vision, and she cried out as she fell to her knees.

She shook her head as she forced herself to get up, her body shaking a little.

She had just seen a red sky, with the moon and sun hanging at either ends of the sky for a moment. But that wasn’t her reality. It was just from the nightmare she had last night.

She had left out the worst details of her nightmare, as she didn’t want Luna worrying about her and travelling into her dreams to protect her. Luna had enough to worry about.

She sighed. The three days Nightmare Moon had ruled had affected them all. It would take a while before everything was returned to normal. But for now…she threw opened the walk-in closet’s door, and gazed at the array of choices she had to wear to court.

Twilight Sparkle would think of a way to return everything to how it had been.

Or else, she would not be the same mare Luna had married.

As she browsed the closet, there was a glint in the sky.

And just for a moment, Twilight felt like someone was watching her.

But as she whirled around, there was no one. And her senses were telling her that there was nopony.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. She had probably been imagining things.

She put on a smile as she chose her dress, before closing the closet door to begin changing her clothes. 

Then once she was done, she exited the room she and Luna shared, and began trotting to the throne room, greeting every staff member with a smile on her face.

For it was new day.

And perhaps…a new time.