Chapter 1

Day one
Full Moon

The air was cold. That was the first thing Luna noticed, blinking at the unfamiliar darkness. She saw an overcast sky above her, and felt the soft patter of rain on her fur.

It wasn’t your fault, you know.
Luna winced as she heard the voice in her head, bringing the pain of the past few days back into her heart. She was lying on her side, the right half of her vision obscured by dirt.

There wasn’t anything you could do for him, and it’s no small wonder you’re here now after what you did.
Luna blinked again, and saw her sister, standing over her off to her right, slowly walking towards her. The rain was coming down harder now, and was turning the dusty, rocky quagmire into mud, mixing with the pool of blood she found herself in.

It’s not her fault, either. Despite what you know she’s going to do, you really can’t blame her.
Celestia’s face came into view, a mix of haggard sorrow and disgust. “Sister, I-” “No, Luna. Just…no.” Celestia was looking off to the side, where Luna could not move her head to look at. Off in the distance, muffled by the rain, she heard the sobbing of a filly, and winced inside as she began to understand the depth of her sister’s disappointment.

It will all be over soon, don’t be afraid.

CRASH!!!

Luna woke up, startled by the sudden noise. A mortified servant lay across her floor, with broken pieces of china and glass strewn across the floor. Luna shook off the sense of foreboding the old memory that had pervaded her dreams brought her, and looked at the poor unicorn that was now staring up at her. The look of sheer terror across the mare’s face was familiar at best, but her heightened senses detected that she was actually having a heart attack, which more than likely had caused the fall.

Luna didn’t know what to do. She had never been in this situation before, and watched helplessly with a confused expression as the poor pony before her gasped audibly and clutched her chest. Another servant coming across the hall saw the commotion, and came racing to his fallen co-worker’s aid. “DO SOMETHING!” he yelled, as he began to look frantically between the lunar princess and the servant.

Snapping out of her stupor, Luna focused her magic on the mare’s heart, and gently coaxed it back into a normal rhythm. As she walked over to inquire if the poor mare was alright, her male friend hoisted her up, and giving her a look of shocking hatred, turned around and helped her out the door, shutting it with a resounding slam.

She stood there for what seemed like hours, trying to process what had just happened. What did I do wrong? I saved her life, didn’t I? She asked herself. Why did he look at me like that? She felt a stinging in her eyes as tears began to blur her vision, and crumpled onto her bed.

What do I have to do to earn their love and adoration? What could I possibly give to sate such vehement hatred? Why do they keep hurting me like this?

Celestia was enjoying her afternoon tea with Dragolis, the most senior member of her court. Dragolis had, through whatever grasp of alchemy and unicorn magic he possessed, managed to halt his own aging to the point of immortality, and had been one of her few constant companions throughout the centuries following her sister’s banishment. He was very tall, and despite being one of the few ponies in her living memory that could ever look her in the eye, he rarely did so, and still remained somewhat of a delightful mystery to her after all these long years.

She was about to call for more tea, when she noticed a commotion in the far hall adjoining her personal quarters. “I don’t care that she’s that she’s the princess! She’s a damn monster, and she was almost responsible for killing her! That blasted lunar mare can go back to the moon for all I care, and-” “Dad PLEASE! It wasn’t her fault,” The shocking tirade was interrupted by a younger mare that the larger male servant was carrying. “I told you that I had that attack BEFORE waking her up, and it was making that mess that woke her. She saved my life; why can’t you understand that?”

Curious, Celestia walked up to her doorway, and peeked outside for a better look than her window was providing her. “She’s caused nothing but trouble since she’s returned! Several dozen guards in the hospital that first night she came back, that…idiotic griffin barging into her quarters and getting blown to smithereens, and now this! You nearly died! Do you understand how worried I was?”

Celestia blinked in astonishment. Clearly, they were talking about Luna, and although she had been more than aware of the air of unfriendliness that pervaded the castle towards her sister, she was shocked to hear what they thought of her first-hoof.

“I do; of course I do. But she really isn’t that terrible! The moment she understood what was going on, I saw the compassion in her eyes! She wasn’t standing there, just watching me die. She was shocked and didn’t know how to react. She’d just been woken up. Why don’t you go-” She stopped short as she noticed the Princess of the Sun poking half her face out of her room like a school filly, looking for gossip.

The servant mare looked at her agape, and Celestia, not finding any words to explain away her embarrassment, felt her face flush red and slammed the door a little too loudly behind her. Shivering with rage, she barely noticed the quiet shuffling of the two servants as they vacated. “Dear, you’re burning again.” Dragolis’ observation snapped her out of her mounting rage as she noticed her fur was catching fire, along with her mane. Quickly, she suppressed her rage, and felt the fire go out.

“The…the NERVE of that one, speaking about her like that! Did you hear what he said? If this were my father’s castle, it would have been off with his head in an instant! I’m…astounded how little respect they have for her! Can you believe it?” Dragolis, keeping her gaze in a rare display of eye contact, sipped his tea. His bright green eyes had become glazed over the years, but somehow still held the cold, calculating intellect she had come to value in him.

“It should come as no surprise,” He said simply “that a father overreacts in a situation where his daughter’s safety is threatened. He is probably working up an apology now after seeing your reaction, as he adores you like so many of your subjects do.” Celestia collapsed onto her pillow, looking out the window in the direction of Ponyville.

“You must remember; myself and only a handful of others remain from the old days. Luna was little more than a mythic figure before her reappearance naught but a few years ago. They fear her because they do not understand her, and it is only your word, your blood, and your authority that they deem it necessary to show her respect. Love from her subjects is something that she must accomplish on own, and cannot be commanded.” Celestia looked off into the sky in the direction of Cloudsdale, feeling the burning in her stomach pass.

So many generations have passed, and still the years have not dulled your mind, or dimmed the fire in your heart, Celestia thought to herself as she looked at her ancient companion sitting across from her. What is it about the passage of time that’s given that odd mage such detachment to the troubles of others? Celestia sighed, and closed her eyes.
Silence greeted her ears, and she began to feel calm again. The soft sounds of Luna’s crying reached her, and she felt her stomach do a backflip. Every time, it seems. Just when it seems she’s ready to come out of her shell, something happens. Something awful always happens to her again and again, and she never goes back to her old self that I remember. She seems cursed to be miserable; to endlessly atone for what happened all those years ago.
She looked up at her guest. He had his eyes closed, and was swirling his hoof over her tea glass, and had begun turning it into wine. She smiled lightly, and after taking a stout drink, she gave him a curt nod, and left her quarters.

Luna was miserable. She had attempted to take her life many different times during her imprisonment, all without any kind of success. A familiar apathy had begun to set in, and she felt herself slipping back into black recesses the long-sleep that she had spend the majority of her imprisonment. She heard a light knock on the door. “Go away, Celly. I’m not in the mood.” A long pause ensued. “…Mother?” Luna choked as she heard Cadance’s voice. “Mother, it’s me. I heard you crying. Is there anything I can do?” Luna felt the darkness inside her ebb away at her daughter’s voice. “Please…please come in,” She stammered out softly “I need you here.” The doors opened.

Celestia watched from behind her secret spy-hole into her sister’s room with caution. She knew she wouldn’t be able to help Luna with the way she was now. She had gone through being denied, screamed at, even, for trying to comfort her little sister. Nothing, it seemed, was able to brighten her morose spirits after her return as Luna’s joy at her sister’s forgiveness and acceptance faded in the face of her unfamiliarity with the customs of the new world around her. The only times she had been feeling well enough to leave the castle was during Nightmare Night, in an effort by Celestia to help acclimate her sister to the modern world. And Cadance’s wedding.
When Cadance learned of her mother’s return and subsequent exorcism, she was cautious, to say the least. She feared to tread near her mother’s quarters like any of the other common servants or court officials, and it was only through Celestia telling Cadance, who had never known her own mother, about Luna as she was known before her banishment.
Gradually, after talking with the both of them, they became curious enough of each other that after the wedding and prior to the reception, Luna confronted Cadence. Though Celestia was at such a distance as that she could not hear anything of the conversation, she did sense the overwhelming love for her daughter she had been holding back, and was more than a little surprised to see Cadence return her affections. Luna, despite being tighter than a clam about her feelings at the best of times, embraced her daughter, and Celestia had closed her eyes as she felt the love her sister felt wash over her. She hadn’t felt anything so strong from her sister since offering her forgiveness that she had waited so long to convey after her return. Celestia snapped out of her reverie as she saw Cadence enter the room, after Luna invited her in.

“Mother, what happened?” Cadence walked up to Luna’s bed, and embraced the dark blue alicorn. “It was the servants again. One of them had quite a terrible accident that woke me, and almost died from a heart attack that had caused her fall. It was only after her father came in that I realized the severity of the situation, and started her heart again.” Cadence looked at her mother quizzically. “After doing this, instead of the thanks or relief one would expect, he…he gave me the most terrible, hateful look I have ever seen on another colt. He glared at me with…such unveiled malice. It was…awful.” Cadence’s eyes widened.
“Why in Equestria would he do that after you saved his daughter?” Luna choked and began crying again, and buried herself in her daughter’s loving embrace. “I’m so tired, Cadence. The world has changed so much it scares me. My mother…your grandmother, always knew what to say during the hard times, and could always cheer me up.” Luna looked up at her daughter. “I see her in you. The same lovely coat and wings, with such kindness as to bring a dragon to its knees; you are so much like her, it hurts to look at you.”
Celestia felt a tear roll down the side of her face. Mother. She’d always been there for them, even after Father had passed away. Her sudden passing was almost unbearably difficult on her, but she could scarcely imagine how deeply it still affected Luna.
“What happened to her, Mother? Celestia always rudely changed the subject when I asked her about it.” Luna tensed up, and appeared to become almost deathly still. “…I…it wasn’t…” Cadence stood up in obvious distress. Celestia leaned forward in horror as she saw Luna seize up into a ball, hugging herself. Her pupils had dilated to small points, and she was starting to shake violently. That’s enough. I can’t let her lose herself again. Celestia closed her eyes, and teleported herself inside the room.

Cadence was horrified. All she had done was ask about her Grandmother she had always been curious about, and Luna had reacted violently to the question. She seemed to be falling apart on the inside with whatever horrible memory that was tormenting her, and it was without any surprise at all as she heard the loud Snap! Of her aunt teleporting in, looking down at her shaking sister.

“It’s alright, Cadence; you couldn’t have known. I’m just going to…” Celestia trailed off as she looked at her sister in shock. Her right eye had become a green slit, and a blackness had covered the right half of her face. It was not spreading, but had simply appeared in the course of a few seconds. “Luna…it’s alright. It’s not your fault what happened to them. Please compose yourself.”

Luna stopped shaking, and slowly looked up at her sister. “But it is my fault, don’t you understand?” Cadence took a step back. Luna spoke with two separate, distinct voices. One she recognized as her mother, and had a pleading, distressed tone. The other seemed to be mocking her mother, and had an undeniable note of malice in it.

“Even if you forgive me, I’ll never forgive myself. I want it to be dark again. I want oblivion. Why can’t you realize that?”

Celestia was as inscrutable as a marble statue. She stood impassively at Luna’s personal demons rearing their collective heads, and the light level in the room began to drop.

“They’re all dead…they’re all DEAD, and nopony can change that. What did you think I was doing for so long from up there, in the moon? Twiddling my hooves, playing in a crater?”

An edge had taken on to her voice, and the blackness had begun to creep across her head even further. “I really do hate you for leaving me there for so long. Why didn’t you let me out earlier, sister?” The last word was punctuated with venom, and made Cadence want to throw up. Her mother was slowly becoming that…thing again. She looked over at her aunt.

Celestia stood stock still, more that aware of the precariousness of the situation. Cadence felt something stir inside her. “Mother, please; you don’t have feel this way anymore. We love you no matter what happened, and we only want the best for you. Please.” Luna shuddered, and turned to look at her daughter.

A look of horror passed over good eye facing her daughter, and she shut her eyes. The darkness came off her coat as a puff of black smoke, and disappeared into the air. An excruciatingly long pause ensued, until Luna punctuated it with her wavering voice. “I am sorry about that. It was…very painful what happened in the past. But it is gone now. I will tell you about your grandmother…when I am ready. Sister, why are you here? I don’t recall inviting you in.”

Celestia had the good grace to look ashamed, and looked off to the side where her peephole was. “I overheard what had happened earlier this morning, and thought it best to have Cadence help you with it. You…haven’t seemed too particularly interested in talking to me lately, and I assumed after the wedding…” Luna shot a poisonous look at her sister, which morphed into a look of embarrassment. “I’m very sorry I wasn’t present to help, dear sister. As much as I would have wanted to attend, I could not…face all those people…our subjects…”
Cadence gave her mother a look of compassion, without a shred of pity that often characterized her niece’s demeanor. Luna needs that compassion, she thought to herself. I can’t rely on myself any more to console her, despite Cadence being married now. And when the time comes for Shining Armor… Celestia shut her eyes violently, purging that line of thought immediately from her mind. “Well, let’s see what the kitchen has for brunch. Luna, do you feel like eating?” Luna blinked, and smiled. “Always. Food is the only thing I missed more than you up there, Celly.” Cadence laughed, and they all went over to the kitchen.

It’s a terrible thing, Celestia heard herself say in the back of her mind. Look at her. Celestia took a sidelong look at her niece in front of her, chatting happily with her sister as they made their way slowly down towards the kitchen. She’s so happy right now; she’ll have to bear a greater burden than Luna ever did. Cadence smiled happily at her mother’s words, and Celestia felt a nostalgic pain in her heart. To be young and in love…and to be cursed by being branded by that love…is such cruelty.

Cadence smiled. This had been one of the few times that she had been able to do something normal and happy with her mother; simply going out to eat in the kitchen and talking over a meal. The wedding had been…indescribable. While her terror of imprisonment by the evil queen Chrysalis had faded with her subsequent rescue, and blossomed into pure bliss with the culmination of her power with her and her husband’s banishing the foul changelings, she had felt a joy she could not have thought possible.
Though they had been in love since Shining armor was a scrawny foal just joining into the ranks of the royal guard, it was not until he had become of age, and she recognized how innately powerful he (and his sister, by the gods what a mare that one) were, that she truly fell head over hooves in love with him, much to her aunt’s reticence.
And now I have my mother. She thought to herself with a smile. My mother will always be there for me, just as she’s always been, looking down at me from the moon. Even after time passes and all the others fade away, she will remain.

The kitchen was surprisingly busy. An accident had occurred where one of the chefs had carelessly knocked over a pot of boiling oil, leaving one of his coworkers horribly burned. Since the commotion was going on when they arrived, Luna immediately went over to the injured servant, who was screaming wildly in pain as his entire right leg was covered in hot oil, burning the flesh almost to his bones.
Luna had always been more skilled in subtle magicks than her sister, and particularly healing. The servants watched in stunned silence as their fellow cook stopped shrieking in agony as the pain ebbed away, and his flesh and fur grew back before their very eyes, including his cutie mark of a large wooden spoon. “There, all better. Can you move it okay?” The shaken cook stood up, flexed his leg, and smiled at Luna. The rest of the cooks around them clopped their hooves on the ground in appreciation.
Luna, still blushing, walked behind her sister, who smiled at the display. “Pardon for interrupting your accident, but…do you have any stuffed bagels for us this fine morning?” A look of shock passed over one of the baker’s faces as he remembered something important, turning around behind him, and bending down to open the oven.
Out came a tray of cheese, jelly, and custard-filled bagels, covered in roasted herbs and vegetables. They all sat down, and heard one of the servants trot over to their table, and place the tray on the end nearest to Celestia. “Madams.” He said simply, as he bowed and walked back to the kitchen.

Luna smiled. Despite how the day had begun, she was immensely happy right now. She had a rare opportunity to get out of her shell and actually enjoy spending some time with her daughter and sister. Her daughter. Cadance. She paused from stuffing the rest of the jelly-filled bagel in her mouth to contemplate that. In her long years in exile up in the moon, one of the only things that her original self had been able to cling on to keep from being swept away by the rage of Nightmare Moon was her daughter.

In the initial years of her banishment, she had given into her despair and rage, and felt her heart harden with bitterness as she saw her sister being hailed like a hero by the survivors of the catastrophe. Then, a few years later, to her utter astonishment, she saw…Cadence. The little pink alicorn was little more than a baby, and her blood boiled as she saw Celestia taking time to raise and play with her as if she was her own.
Her sister had always been barren as the moon Luna had been banished to, and so had never been able to raise a family of her own. Her wrath towards her sister receded over the years as Cadence grew, and she saw how Celestia acted after her daughter grew out of the crib into an adolescent. Cadence carried much of her mother’s talent for magic, and was fiercely independent and inquisitive. To Luna/Nightmare Moon’s utter surprise, she saw Celestia one night, crying on her balcony and talking to the moon.
“This never should have happened, Luna. She’s yours, I know; I could never be a mother myself. As much as I wanted to raise her as my own, tell her that her mommy loves her always, I couldn’t. I couldn’t keep her in the dark about you any longer. I’m so sorry for keeping you away like this, I’m so sorry for what happened, for not talking to you enough and telling you how much I love you.”
Nightmare Moon growled and shifted in her prison, trying to avoid Celestia’s words. “I told her about you; everything that happened, including her father. She screamed at me for what seemed like hours, and left me alone. She’s gone away and I couldn’t stop her…I don’t know if she’ll come back.”
Nightmare Moon and Luna screamed out into oblivion as one; blinding rage clouding their mind as they cursed Celestia for letting Cadence out from under her protection. Celestia winced as she felt the psychic rage of her sister blast across thousands of miles into her mind. “I will find her, sister. I will make her understand, or abdicate trying to do so.” Immediately, the rage turned into disbelief, and she followed Celestia’s pale form as it flew off the balcony in the direction of the Everfree forest.

Luna shook herself out of her reverie and continued the delightful conversation with her sister and daughter, and finishing off the jelly-filled bagels.

The brunch had been perfect, Celestia thought. It is truly wonderful to have Luna out of her shell again; perhaps next time I can invite Dragolis or possibly Twilight for lunch with us at some point. Shining Armor is too busy most of the time for something like this, and I’m certain he understands the position Cadence is in with Luna.
Luna had gone to sleep after the brunch, and had bidden Cadence and Celestia good day before retiring for her sleep before the sun setting. Since she normally went to bed right before dawn, today had been rare in that they had an entire morning to spend time together, instead of a few hours after sunset, when Celestia was normally much too tired to stay up and play with Luna.

Celestia paused to listen to one of the farmers that had come to her day court to settle a minor dispute that had blown up into a full-on feud. Apparently, the Apples and Carrots’ farms had bordered an untapped oil reserve for some time without either of them knowing of its existence, until the day that Applebloom and her friends had been digging to discover their cutie marks in one of their “crusades” involving mining or geologic surveying of some sort.

After breaking through a hard layer of rock, a cracking and rumbling was all the warning they had to evacuate their tunnel before the ground erupted violently in a plume of oil. Applejack and Carrot Top were now arguing vehemently in front of Celestia over rights to the oil well, as the oil field was apparently larger than both of their land plots combined.

“Well that’s just the biggest load of shod I’ve ever heard! Sweet Apple Acres has always held that land longer than the Carrots, and I’ll bet you bits to berries that we-” “Outrageous! My granpappy’s pappy and ganmama’s mama’ve been farmin’ that land for centuries! You damn Apples have been squattin’ on our land for centuries, even if Our Highness here gave you permission to settle near us. She never gave you permission to-”
“ENOUGH!” Both parties silenced immediately in a rare display of Celestia’s Royal Canterlot Voice, which she used only when truly aggravated or displeased. Applejack gulped audibly.
“I will send down a detachment from the Royal Institute of Geology to set up mining operations immediately. While an EQUAL profit will go to each of you, half of the supply will be used by the government and sold by us. You may do with your own shares as you see fit, and there is enough oil to last several dozen generations. We will all share this wealth, and how you manage your own profits and allocate resources is your own decision.” Both farmers nodded cautiously, and were about to open their mouths before being silenced. “But…if I catch either of you taking more than I have owed you, I will immediately cut you out from this plentiful resource, and requisition it for the purposes of this government along with the rest. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
Carrot Top and Applejack nodded vigorously, and Celestia leaned in, narrowing her eyes menacingly. “And if I catch…ANY foul play…anyone trying to frame each other in some way…I will personally burn both your farms to the ground. Am I understood on that particular point?” Applejack was visibly shaken, and Carrot Top was dumbstruck at her Princess’ words. “Although I love all my little ponies, I have no tolerance for such…ugliness and underhanded crime. The peace will be upheld as it always has, and I will not permit a feud between two successful families of farmers I have had for many generations. I hope you both can appreciate the blessing this is, and not give into the avarice that sows the seeds of evil. Share what you have, help your neighbor, and be glad that you both have more than you actually need right now, and that I don’t take the entire oil field as a lesson for your…spat.”
Carrot Top was now looking at her princess with visible fear, while Applejack was eying Celestia with a look of confusion and curiosity. “Thank you both. You may leave now if you have no further questions.” Carrot Top nodded, and hurriedly walked outside. Applejack stayed. “What was that about? Haven’t heard you like that in a coon’s age.” Blunt and straight to the point, as always.

“Applejack.” Celestia said as she sighed and smiled, looking at the window depicting her and her friends victorious over her sister. “There is a very good reason there has been virtually no crime or war in the past thousand years. I have very strict rules about these things, as I do not want any kind of…disharmony…to fester in the hearts of my little ponies.” Applejack blinked, and sat down. “Although you personally haven’t lived long enough or close enough with me to see it, occasionally I do have to enforce the law. It is certainly a bit more common here in canterlot than out in the country; mainly due to the bloated egos of many of the ponies here who think they’re allowed to get away with anything,” Applejack muffled a snort of laughter. “I am particularly strict with matters where the root of the problem is hatred. It is a terrible thing that must be stamped out immediately and completely lest it spread.” Applejack looked at her, understanding.

“Petty squabbles by petty nobles seem ridiculous to you, don’t they?” Applejack smiled and nodded, urging her to continue. “You see, as long as they’re kept shallow and spoiled, their minds and hearts are too light to comprehend actually hurting or murdering someone over something. Canterlot keeps itself peaceful through important nobility always fussing over trivial matters, rather than important, dangerous ones. Out in the country, you must work for your livelihood and survival, and the threats you face, especially as close as your family is to the Everfree forest, are very real. This is why what I have said may come across as harsh. Do you understand?”

“Yes’m.” Applejack said. “Ah never stopped to consider why you let those prissy colts and mares run around embarrasin’ themselves all over the place. Makes sense that folks like that don’t worry their fancy little heads ‘bout nothin’ further’n their next pedichair or somethin’.” Celestia smiled. “It’s called a pedicure; I don’t suppose your friend Rarity has tried one on you?” Applejack rolled their eyes and they both laughed. “Well,” Celestia began. “I do hope the arrangement for your farm is satisfactory?” the orange earth pony nodded enthusiastically. “Ab-so-lutely! Jus a quarter of that there oil will help pay for half the expenses on the farm! Best thing that’s happened to us in a long while.”
Celestia smirked. “I take it you won’t be too hard on your younger sister and her friends, then?” “Ahll be throwin’ her a big party later! Pinkie’s idea, o’course. She deserves havin’ a celebration for helpin’ the farm with discoverin’ that oil. Too bad she didn’t get her cutie mark for that, poor thing. You know much how that’ll work?”
Celestia blinked. The orange mare wasn’t being rude, certainly. It was a common belief among country folk that their princess of the sun had the gift of foresight, and could bring life to dead or barren fields. While this certainly wasn’t true of herself, her aunt Chrysalis and late mother did certainly hold this ability, although Chrysalis was driven utterly mad from trying to see the whole of the future; all that could be. Celestia felt a shudder go down her spine thinking about the twisted, dark queen who was once the most beautiful member of the royal court ever to walk its halls. But her thoughts were drifting, and she focused her attention back to the Element of Honesty that stood before her.
“As long as those three keep searching for the same thing together, it’s more than likely that they’ll never find what they’re looking for. Apart, on their own time, they will find their calling in life, but it’s certainly no harm letting them continue in their…crusade.” Applejack laughed, took her hat off and bowed before her princess, and walked out of the castle with a smile on her face.

Cadence looked out the open window at her husband. Down below, Shining Armor was directing the guards to their posts, and making his usual rounds. He always looked so handsome in uniform, and her eyes glossed over a bit as she remembered her honeymoon. Such a wonderful place, the Emerald Isles. While far from Equestrian borders, they were under the governance of the vast Seahorse Kingdom, who had always been Equestria’s closest allies. The islands themselves were not made out of emeralds, obviously, but covered in vibrant green plants whose many seeds shone like jewels themselves in the light. During the summer time of which they stayed, the beaches and grounds were completely carpeted with them, and sparkled in ways that defied explanation, and mesmerized her with their beauty.
Shining Armor had, obviously, been interested in only one thing during the trip. She smiled, blushing at the memories. The act in itself had been wonderful, if a bit short. They lay there for what seemed like days afterwards, and fell asleep in each other’s hooves, listening to the waves crash against the shore, and the strangely beautiful chorus of the seahorse mares calling out across the sea. She would remember that evening for the rest of her long, long life. She smiled wider as he noticed her through up in the tower, and gave her a wave and a hilariously lewd whistle, which the guards cheered along with. She laughed heartily, and closed the window after sticking her tongue out at them. Life was good.

Chapter 2

View Online

Day Two
waning

The rain was falling harder now. The blood had mixed thoroughly with the water that had begun to pool in the broken crater and rubble beneath her, and she shuddered as she saw a small doll floating down towards her. The smell of broken bones and marrow greeted her nose, and she would have retched if her chest and limbs were not pinned down with the spears her sister had planted to immobilize her. It hurt immensely, but it was nothing compared to her heart.
He’s dead. You saw him die. Mother is dead. Our little Cadance…she is probably dead too after what happened. They’re all dead and broken.
The stench of gore was overpowering. Her sister was staring at her with a mix of dispair, rage, pity…the list could go on. “End it now sister. It’s the only way after what happened. Please, put us out of our misery.” Celestia stood tall, and look around to survey the destruction. Steaming tears rolled down from her eyes. “They’re really gone. Mother…” she went silent as she choked up and began sobbing. “I…can’t lose you after this. Even after what you did…I just can’t be that cruel to you and myself. Please understand.” Luna was about to speak when the vile thing inside her reared its ugly head and pushed her aside. “You’re pathetic.”
Celestia looked up from her hooves, and stopped sobbing. “I killed them all, you stupid, STUPID filly! THEY’RE DEAD! Take your wretched revenge on your WRETCHED, MAD SISTER! Avenge your mother, your ni-” Luna gained a small foothold of temporary control. She/it/they looked at the water and saw their reflection. The right half of her face was dark red, covered in blood. The slitted eye of the Nightmare peered from that side, while Luna’s eye stared back from the left, eyes puffy from crying and exhaustion. A familiar blackness was stretching towards her. Celestia sighed.

Luna jolted awake, her heart beating madly from the vivid memory. She groaned, and groggily rolled over in her bed. It was around dinnertime, and she cautiously eyed the strange time-telling machine Twilight Sparkle had given her for Hearth’s Warming Eve over a year ago. The strange device displayed numbers that actually changed before her eyes as the time passed, and its glowing in the dark without the benefit of fire or magic disturbed her greatly. Magic, she could understand, but technology that emulated magic? That was truly distressing. She cautiously poked at the clock that indicated that the time was but a single minute before her usual time of rising for dinner to greet her sister.
Upon poking the device, it elicited a vile shrieking sound that caused the midnight blue alicorn to yell and fall off her bed. Growling, she crushed the foul machine with her mind into a small metal ball no bigger than the head of a pin, and threw it out the window. She heard a yell as the small yet extraordinarily dense ball impacted something loudly.

She sighed. This was exactly what her sister had been lecturing her about. Part of the problem she had in assimilating herself into life with her subjects and family stemmed simply from the sleep schedule she was bound to. Very few ponies, with the exception of the Night Guard, ever really spent much of the time she was awake with her. She smiled as she walked over to the window and watched the setting sun.
While Celestia had that odd wizard Dragolis to rely on for company throughout the years, she had relied on the captain of her night guard, Sagittarius, who had been one of the few ponies prior to her banishment that she still knew.
A son of her estranged aunt Chrysalis, who had very nearly staged a successful coupe during her daughter’s wedding, had always been overlooked by many of her sister’s subjects for so long simply for lack of his horn.
When their mother died and Chrysalis went into exile, Sagittarius had dueled Celestia for right of succession, and lost.
Back in the old days before her sister banished her, Celestia had been known far and wide as a fierce warrior-princess, and had been victorious in many wars against Equestria’s enemies with Luna; the last being with Discord, who sowed the seeds of her...unhinging…and subsequent banishment that was escalated by the battle against Sombra.
Sagittarius had fought for almost a full day in an effort to wear Celestia out, as he was renowned for his almost limitless stamina and patience. Celestia, having neither of these, scorched the forest that had covered what is now ponyville into a barren, ashen quagmire. He had then been forced to engage her sister in open combat, which resulted in her ripping his horn right out of his skull.

Though he had thankfully survived the ordeal, Luna had never forgiven her sister for that act, despite Sagittarius doing so in the intermittent years of her imprisonment. While he would never be able to perform magic again, he had raised taking advantage of her sister’s guilt towards him to an art form, and had been able to live quite comfortably during her banishment; keeping the Night Guard alive and under his command during the hours of Celestia’s sleep while many generations of mortal unicorns commanded the Day Guard.
She noticed him readying the Night Guard out of their barracks, and folded her front legs on the balcony, watching him. Despite the fact that he was her cousin, she did feel an uncomfortable attraction towards him, which troubled her less than it should have. Such familial barriers as incest had never existed in the royal court, as the alicorn bloodline was not only held utterly pure through magic, but through the ability to breed with anypony they really desired, as evidenced by her daughter’s choice.
Despite this, Luna had always deeply respected what her cousin did for her, especially now with her return from banishment. More so than would have allowed her to…ask him about such things. Sagittarius was exceptionally tall like his mother, and would have been taller still if he still had his magnificent horn. He had his mother’s mesmerizing eyes, and her methodical thinking (thankfully without the megalomania). His armor was forged from what looked like the same ebony as her crown, darker than midnight and not reflecting a single ray of light.

Celestia, it seemed, had kept the peace in Luna’s ensuing absence not through her own reputation, but through his. Apparently the removal of his horn had forced the vast amounts of magic normally on tap for an alicorn or unicorn to exert its influence through his body. The armor, if anything, was more than likely just an extension of his will, a physical use for his excess of power. Though he had lost the ability to pick up the simplest of objects with his mind, he had gained an unnatural strength and stamina compounded upon his already remarkable fortitude, as well as being seemingly impervious to harm, especially with his armor on.

Luna leaned closer to look at him. In the past four centuries, she had read, Sagittarius had single-handedly reformed physical combat and self-defense through his own prowess and ingenuity. Pegasus royal guards who had once relied on dropping bombs or even stones now could wield swords with deadly efficiency, and even use their wings themselves as a weapon, utilizing the natural magicks that allowed them to fly and control the weather to be wielded in the form of sharp wind that could crack even the hardest of stone, or rend the toughest of hides.
For all the time that she had known him, though, he had never taken on a mate, or even seen out in public with a mare. While he was obviously hardworking, she had often suspected him of-
“Well, there you are, mother. Don’t you need to get ready for the raising of the moon?” Cadence’s voice jolted Luna out of her reverie, and back into reality. “Yes, certainly. I was just looking at…your dyn-uncle down there. Did you know-” Luna stopped as she noticed Cadence’s face. She was utterly confused.
“My…what-uncle?”
“Your dyn-uncle. He is my aunt’s son; didn’t you ever learn geneology? It certainly figures into your occupation, you know.”
She looked mortified “Oh. By aunt, do you mean?..”
“Yes, although he’s nothing at all like her. Didn’t Tia ever tell you about him? Bring him to dinner with you ever?”
“…No. This is the first time…I’ve heard of him. Where is he?”
Luna shifted uncomfortably, realizing her mistake.

“That tall one down there.”

“…You’re kidding. He doesn’t even have a horn. How-”
Cadence stopped in mid-sentence as realization dawned over her. “He’s…disabled?”
Luna laughed loudly at the unbecoming description. “Oh, certainly not. Neither was he born that way. Come, we’ll talk about it on the way; it’s the story about how Tia got her crown, although probably not the one she told you…”

The Last Prince of the Earth looked up at the balcony. His cousin and sa-niece had been looking down at him from on high, contemplating the Azj’li; the sordid past, as her forlorn and sad soul tended to do. He had been worried for her return for so long, it seemed difficult to reconcile that she was actually back, presiding over the night once again. The breaking of her prison and her forceful exorcism were something he had not witnessed, as he had shepherded Celestia to Ashaa’de, the realm of eternal fires.

The realm trekked across the sky itself, as another world bound to the influence of the Sun. Closer than this temperate world to the raging inferno She commanded, She was the only one aside from himself able to breathe the poison air, and feel the scorched winds without burning alive. She chose to leave through Faith, not Fear as many have suspected Her of.

He continued his walk away from the barracks, towards the well. Staring down upon the water, he saw reflected from the veil the beginnings of a star-strewn sky, and his thoughts turned back to his pariah Princess of the Moon. She had not faced his mother in open combat, as she had slept through the ordeal. It was not her failing. His mother had grown powerful in her sickness, and had gathered a vast multitude of followers with flesh twisted by malign earth magicks such as she had done to herself. They would have overrun the whole of the kingdom if it had not been for the irony of his sa-niece’s power, and the failing of the elements.

He pitied his wayward mother. He hated the madness that had taken root in her mind over the countless millennia. He was much older than his cousins, and his mother was ancient and mighty through her uncounted years. The younger cousin still held true to the old traditions, though yearned for acceptance to the point of abandoning them in favor for the affections of her subjects.

The water darkened as more stars came to light across the sky. Daj-iir Valsis; what beauty is made for all. He looked to the sky and marveled at the infinity that his niece held within her grasp. Her power was beyond understanding, and if the abilities of her daughter were any indication, the dark princess had barely tapped a drop from the ocean of her magic. The Demon within her could not wield it, though it poured forth from her more powerful than his mother could ever hope to achieve. Croisis, their father was a loss to them all! Ascension beyond the physical realm was infinite selfishness, as he had left without preparing for his absence. The all suffered from his vacancy of the throne even to this day.

Aven-Sol was magic incarnate; he created the very practice of spells and brought it to the unicorns, poor in their wisdom of the world. He cared nothing for anypony but his aunt, Vivale, and shunned his sister; his mother, when her greed turned to madness. Her exile had occurred after her murdering his father for attempting to force her mind to change. In her megalomania she could not accept betrayal, so she sapped his magic and ate his soul, turning his body to ash.

She had convinced herself that her husband did not die, but lived in her soul. Her madness and guilt clear, the king had ordered him to exile his own mother, which he did willingly after witnessing the madness that had enveloped her. Though he was still young at the time, he still had far more power than his mother or father ever had at their command, even with her adding his power to her own.

What hurt him though, was not banishing his mother.

It was her praise.

After failing miserably against the power of his binding spell, she lavished love and praise as she always had for his abilities. It was only at that point in time that he realized that she never loved him; she loved his power. She praised him for defeating her, and weaved terrible visions of a world she had made in her twisted mind.

Eternal eclipse. All flesh of the world buried in the ground, and the souls of the dead bound to her will. An endless fungal forest, turning the rot of the world into life eternal. All magic of the earth funneled into her, making her almighty form infinite and a fact of reality itself.

After leaving her in the forest he had almost been rendered deaf at her screams of rage, and naught but a week after her exile, over half of Equestria was struck with a terrifying plague, which caused the body to hemorrhage massively. His mind had been scarred by the sight of the streets running red with blood of the dead and dying. The disease was so prevalent that it had killed off much of the royal court, including Celestia’s children, who had been the last parting gift of her father’s will; a miracle that had defeated her infertility.

Celestia scorched the forest to the ground, and killed tens of thousands of creatures and millions of plants in the effort of annihilating his mother. It did not work, and in under a year the mad forest had grown back exactly as it had before. Celestia, for the first time in history, gave up against one of Equestria’s enemies.

Recently, a renegade Zebra high priestess had taken refuge in the forest. While much of her power lay in the study of alchemy, she was possessed of mighty and alien magicks that his mother could not combat, as well as her own physical prowess. He did not know why such a high-profile foreigner had taken refuge in their borders, but since she tended to help more than harm, he turned a blind eye to the Zjaver’hin; the Striped One. The sun had begun to set, and he decided to begin his rounds.

Celestia was uncomfortable. While nothing was out of place now, her sister’s traumatic morning had been a surprise to everyone, especially her. She had made it clear time and time again that Luna was her co-ruler and beloved sister, despite her past sins. The staff still viewed her with suspicion. At first, she believed that they had only her own well-being in mind, but after the incident this morning, she had taken a slightly more…pessimistic view. They just didn’t like her.

Her smile brightened as her acute hearing noticed her niece walking down the halls with Luna, laughing about something. Things would be well again, certainly. Give it time, she told herself. All problems fade with enough time.

Cadence wasn’t sure whether to be fascinated at this new information or afraid. While Chrysalis was certainly the most terrifying individual she had ever encountered, the older history of her aunt, and of the family in general was…disturbing, to say the least. Madness, ascension beyond understanding, death and desertion…it was depressing. Her mother prattled on about something regarding ancient talismans as they rounded the corner towards the dining hall. I had no idea this was so complicated, she thought to herself. As glad as I am to have Mother back…she brings the strange and…unnatural truths of our collective past to bear more readily than many of us are comfortable with. Luna was smiling at her, after asking about Shining Armor.

“His sister is certainly amazing, as you probably know. Did you know that she is the only mortal in history to be the bearer of the Element of Magic? Such potential she wields for-” Luna stopped short. They were just about to turn into the main hallway in the kitchen, and Cadence had stopped; her legs were shaking. “What troubles you, daughter?” She said lightly. Cadence had a withdrawn look, and Luna could see that it was with great effort that she was maintaining her composure.

“Mortality.” She spat vehemently. “Love and happiness, children, raising a family, grandfoals. Then death. But not for me. Why did you have me, knowing that you’d lose him?” Luna was taken aback at the question. Cadence was staring at her with a face halfway between a glare and a pleading for answers and comfort. Luna cleared her throat as she spoke. “He…didn’t exactly have a choice, your father,” Cadence looked off to the side, embarrassed. “I…he passed away very shortly before my banishment. It…was my request to be sealed away because of what happened to him and all the others…” Luna choked as she felt her daughter nuzzle up against her.

“I forgive you.”

The words sent a shock through her body. A thousand years of loneliness and despair rushed through her, and in a single instant of clarity, she realized at last that she truly was home. After everything that had happened, after all the sins she could never atone for…her daughter had forgiven her, barely knowing the whole of the story. Luna buried her face deep in her daughter’s hair, sobbing gently. She had been forgiven out of the pure, unconditional love her Cadance held for her, and in an instant the demon that had shifted in the depths of her mind and heart screamed for its life, and its voice was extinguished. A small ribbon of darkness wound its way out of her ear, and fluttered into the dark of the night. It would return when the time was right.

Celestia looked up from her book. Luna came walking in with Cadence, and both were smiling warmly, and laughing over some anecdote. The princess of the Sun raised her eyebrow as she saw her sister take a seat with sublime grin of contentment on her face, and saw her take a long look at her daughter, Cadence. Cadence was talking with the chef over orders, and was busy explaining something in particular detail. Luna closed her eyes, blissfully, and hummed an old song to herself. “Sister…you’re in a good mood.” Celestia’s voice opened Luna’s eyes. Luna paused. “It’s strange. I haven’t felt this good since I got back. I was always worried about what you’d say to me, what Cadance would do, how I would explain things. I’m not worried about that any more. I’m just happy the way things are and will be with us three.”

Cadance had finished the order, and had her eyes closed as she slowly ate a stuffed pretzel appetizer, in silent delight. “Luna…I’m not quite sure what to say. I can certainly sense something…lighter around you, certainly. Cadance, what-” Celestia was stopped short by the sight of her niece blissfully unaware of the world around her, savoring the taste of the rather large stuffed pretzel she was consuming. Needless to say, she was busy.

Celestia smiled, and looked at Luna, who stifled her laughter at the sight.

The dinner was delicious. Alicorns, particularly princess Celestia, actually enjoyed meat quite a bit, and it was only on rare occasions that they knew their dinner would not be interrupted that they could enjoy roast duck, pork pot stickers, and all manner of meaty delicacies that would be abhorrent to their subjects should they witness it. Celestia herself always had a severe appetite for dark meat and bacon, the latter of which caused more of a problem in maintaining her figure, as she tended to gorge herself on it during bouts of depression.

Cadance, however, had always remained a vegetarian. Surprisingly, this was not done out of health concerns or noble ideals, but the mere fact that because of her abilities, every time she took a bite of meat, she was assaulted with the collective memories of the animal from which the meat, eggs or dairy came from, going back many generations until she passed out from being overwhelmed.
The royal doctor had told her that this was due to unlocking something called “mitochondrial DNA”, and her magic inadvertently peering into the past by consuming the billions of cells in the food product. The ordeal was so traumatic for her that the first time it happened, she was in a coma for a week. Celestia was utterly bewildered by the concept as it was explained to her, as such an aberration had never occurred in her living memory. Clearly, this was the trade-off she had to face for the mantle of her power.

Luna’s ear twitched. She dropped the chicken drumstick she had been eating, and felt a prickling on the back of her neck. She looked behind her, towards the window. A small sliver of midnight blackness was coiled behind a window, waiting. Shuddering, she turned back to her meal, and immediately forgot what she had just seen. Better to enjoy the now.

Cadance was very happy. She had helped her mother put aside some of her personal demons, and had the first dinner with her immediate family for the first time…ever. Her mother shone with joy as she almost skipped down the hallway before her, the moonlight catching her mane. “Cadance?” Luna was staring back at her from the end of the hallway, smiling at her. “Yes, mother?” Luna turned around all the way to face her. “Would you like to see something wonderful?”
Her mother smiled at her, with a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Of course,” Cadance answered. “What is it?” Luna smiled and hopped up on the edge of the balcony. “Follow me, daughter.”
Luna led her daughter up into the night sky, through the cloud layer. Cadance had always wondered why her mother worked to design the night sky even during overcast nights such as this. What she saw took her breath away.

The moon shone down upon the mountains of clouds as clearly as the daylight sun, and mighty precipices and rolling ridges of clouds stood massive around the two, dwarfing them.

Above, Luna saw her daughter gasp at the night sky.

The aurora flowed across the backdrop of night, ribbons of greens and reds and all manner of wonderful colors stretched into the heavens, colors reflected onto the glorious valley of clouds they had emerged in.
“Mother, this is…” Cadance stood upon the cloud with her mouth open in awe, struggling for words. There was nothing the little alicorn could say to describe the majesty she was witness to. “I had been working on this idea for several weeks since the wedding. I thought it would be a good present, what do you think?” Cadance’s eyes welled up in tears. Her mother had organized all of this…for her? “I can’t…this…this is AMAZING!” Luna smiled as she felt her daughter’s embrace, and looked to the magnificent scene around them. She whispered lightly into her Cadance’s ear.

“Nothing, my daughter, is as amazing as you.”

They held each other and watched the sky until the dawn came.

Chapter 3

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Day 3
Waning

Celestia yawned, and walked outside to her balcony as she had done countless times, feeling the familiar urgency of the sun needing itself to be raised. She blinked groggily, and quietly nudged it up over the horizon. She was haggard from the many dreams that plagued her nights since Luna’s return, all regarding her banishment. Smiling weakly as the sun cast its light over the small town of Ponyville, she wondered what her beloved protégé was up to. Her ears perked up as she heard one of her servants enter her chambers, bringing the smell of waffles and coffee with him.

It was Hard Line, the father of Crisis, the mare who had collapsed and woken Luna to the bedlam that had caused such…unnecessary drama…the previous day.

“Your coffee and waffles, your highness. We have the butter and eggs you requested along with them as well. Is there anything else?” Celestia regarded him, a relaxed expression on her face.

“Please, sit. I would like to speak with you.”

Hard Line gulped, and sat on the chair adjacent to her.“W-what would you like to speak about, my lady?” Celestia took a long pause, waiting for the light of the sun to peek over the tree line and reach them.

“I heard everything you said about my sister the other day. I also heard what happened to your daughter; is she alright?”

Hard line gulped again, and nodded nervously. Celestia smiled. “You need not be afraid, my little pony. I am no longer cross with you, for in your worry for your daughter you had perhaps spoken more out of frustration and fear than the hatred of which I heard uttered. Tell me…is there something you would like to know about my sister and I? Perhaps something to alleviate your curiousity?”

The deep ebony colt’s ears perked up, as he looked at her, then out across the dawn unfolding before them.

“I have often wondered…since the world upon which we live is a sphere, and the sun and the moon orbit it, why do either of you need to raise or lower the sun and moon? Isn’t it day time and night time elsewhere? Aren’t there dawns and sunsets happening all the time?” Celestia grinned, and took a long sip from her coffee. It was truly delicious.

“Yes, that is certainly true. But what most fail to realize is that my purpose with the sun is to give it the life and magic it needs to complete its orbit. The same goes for Luna, certainly, but…her task is significantly easier as the moon is not so volatile as the sun. We each share the traits from our respective celestial bodies, although you probably already know this. I have…a bit of a temper, but the light of my love outshines all, bringing life and warmth to dark places, and from that light I draw strength.”

He smiled, and urged her to continue. “Luna, though, draws her strength from the many stars far beyond my own reach. She sends the moon on its way, and though she may be dark in many ways, her moon reflects her own solitude, and careful thoughtfulness. What she’s really about, though, is what the backdrop for that is; her sky. Her sky is a lovely thing of untold beauty that we can only see a small part of. She has endless depths of beauty and intellect, and boundless capacity for creativity. She may be difficult to comprehend most of the time, but as her sister, I can tell you that she can never fully be understood. But she can be trusted, and it is my light that must guide her through this world, as it is her sky that shows me the wonders of eternity that an old, stubborn mare such as myself would let pass her by.”

Hard line looked up at her, as Celestia worked on her waffles. “I…I had very little idea of how much you two depended upon each other. Though I…we all noticed how happy you had become with her return, you must understand how much of a shock it was to us. Almost all of us had no idea you even had a sister, let alone a family. We had always held you in such high regard because…well, you’re our princess. Nothing could hope to approach your majesty, and then…then came along your sister.” Celestia almost choked on a waffle from suppressing a giggle.

“Your sister…is haphazard, moody, out of touch, and most importantly, unaccustomed to even the most basic of emotional and social interactions with anyone outside of you and Cadance. She is distant to us, and due to the manner of her return…suspicious. But she is also all those things you told me and more…I am very, very sorry for judging her the way I did. I hope…I hope she makes more friends, and comes out of her shell. She makes you complete, and we can all see that; whether or not we would admit her to be your equal or other half is a matter of theological debate which I do not care to indulge your time with.”

The sun had raised itself fully above the many buildings of canterlot, and while her balcony did provide a wonderful view of the kingdom, there was not much that it offered that simply lying back on a roof or flying provided her. Except breakfast.

“My little pony, I am very glad we had this discussion, and I am even more happy to meet your acquaintance, Hard Line. If you do have any…concerns, problems, or if you simply need someone to talk with…I am here. I know how difficult it is to lose a spouse….trust me, I have had several…but children are beyond precious, and their mortality is as much a blessing as it is a curse.”

Hard line looked on in cautious wonder at Celestia’s face, which was now filled with the endless memories of a creature who had lived far longer than anything he had ever known. “You speak like you know…oh. I-you…you had children?” Celestia didn’t answer, as a single tear rolled off her cheek and fell into her coffee mug. It warmed the drink to as hot as it had been when he served it to her. “There are some things best left to history. Now, what is my schedule for today, my little pony?”

The Lunar court was in session, and Celestia and Cadance had retired for the night. Sagittarius stood guard next to her, looking intimidating as always. Generally, there were very few ponies that came to the court, and the ones who did had been barred from the day court for one reason or another. An idiotic nobleman here, a madman and heckler there, Luna sighed to herself. Very little real or important business ever was accomplished during the Lunar court, and Luna was bored as was usually the case.

Looking out across the throne room, Luna shifted uncomfortably in her sister’s throne. She let out a long sigh, as nopony had come to seek her audience for the previous several hours. “Boring, isn’t it?” Luna blinked. Sagittarius had actually spoken to her. “I…yes. Was it always this way for you while I was gone?” The ebony faux-pegasus visibly relaxed, and smiled. “Yes, although it was mostly due to Celestia running things so smoothly during the day that most of the important business never came to my doorstep. It was not, thankfully, any fault of my own that I did not receive many guests.”

Luna let that fact digest for a moment. It was implied, obviously, that he was attributing the lack of subjects who came to the lunar court not from their fear or distrust of her, but from the simply fact that her sister had always been particularly good at addressing all the concerns of the kingdom without her. Some of the insecurity she had always felt with waiting for her subjects melted away a bit, and she smiled widely, closing her eyes. “Thank you for telling me that.” She heard his breath pause. “You are welcome, my lady. It is important to all of us that you know how glad we are of your return and…liberation. I regret that I was not present to greet you formally when you made amends with your sister. I did not think it an appropriate time.”

Luna blinked again. He HAD been absent, come to think of it. While her memory of the ordeal had been fuzzy at best, she did not remember seeing him present when her sister finally arrived. Where had they gone? “It was curious,” she began “that I did not see either of you when my imprisonment was broken. I assume it was part of the plan with the Elements?” Sagittarius had walked forward, his back turned to her. “We left this world for the safety of another. We knew that…even if you didn’t realize it yourself…Celestia and I would never have attempted to harm you after what happened. You were far to powerful to restrain again, and I had concluded that the only possible outcome to your sister remaining would have been her death at your hands.”

Luna choked. “She had enough faith and foresight to allow the Elements to fall into the hands of a particular group of ponies. Her mage…Dragolis I think his name is…foresaw their role in what was to play out, although he knew not who would be victorious over the other. Such is the course the prophecy had to run.” Luna felt a familiar tingling on the back of her neck, and a sense of dread mounting.

“…Sagittarius…” Luna’s voiced dripped with fear. He turned around towards her, his familiar slitted eyes looking towards her in confusion than shock. “…It left you?” She nodded. “Where is it now?” Her eyes darted uncomfortably off to the left, and she began to shake in fear. Behind the stained glass detailing her exorcism by the Elements, what looked like a black snake floated behind the glass, silhouetted by the moonlight. It uncoiled itself and passed the barrier of the glass effortlessly, through Luna’s eye on the picture. The captain of the nightguard firmly planted himself between Luna and the aberration, but Luna gently put her hoof on his shoulder. “Please…this is a personal battle I must resolve myself. I may need your assistance if it succeeds in possessing me again.” The captain’s eye twitched, and he slowly moved aside. The black thing had grown, and was the size of a large python. Its blackness seemed to eat away at the light around it.

“You caused us all so much pain that day…do you remember?” The black serpent shifted, and coiled its lower body on the floor. “You didn’t want to get banished any more than I did…please…end this. Please leave me be, there is nothing more that-” The moon princess was cut short as the black thing violently shot towards her, and slammed right into her mouth, trying to enter her through there. She screamed as loud as she could, bringing all her formidable magic to bear towards exorcising the shadow from her. A violent eruption of sound ripped though the night, and the windows around her shattered into dust as the full fury of her voice reverberated throughout the halls and beyond. The monstrosity was thrown clear into the wall. With a shudder she recognized that it had taken on a physical form to breach her barriers, and it glared at her with piercing blue slitted eyes.

A gigantic snake lay before her, and it hissed in displeasure. A shadow bolted in from the left of her field of vision, and promptly slammed into the beast, taking it through the wall. She stood there, stunned as she heard the sounds of battle going on. Had she not told him to stay back? How could- BOOOOOMMM!!!!! A huge explosion rocked the castle, as she felt herself being thrown back by the blast. Her vision blurred, as she realized she was on her side, looking up from the ground. The sight that greeted her was anything but what she had expected.

The snake had returned to its ethereal form and was resigned to a crater that now covered what had been the gardener’s shack. It was shrieking violently as it was being beaten into the ground by the swirling maelstrom that was the night guard captain, who spun about the snake on all sides, leaving it no room to flee. Luna could barely track his movements as his hooves, crackling with arcane green magic, pummeled the Nightmare into the ground, who could not seem to find any respite from the terrible onslaught.

He stopped suddenly, standing on a single fore-hoof in an odd position, the other three legs posed menacingly. The Nightmare had snapped out of existence, retreating. “My apologies for the mess, my lady. I had hoped to destroy it once and for all.” Luna was awestruck.

The ferocity she had witnessed had taken her completely surprise, as she had not seen violence since her exile. The green magic faded from her protector’s hooves, and he fell on all fours again. He grinned sheepishly. “Perhaps I could assist in cleaning up before sunrise? I do not wish to see her Majesty’s face when she awakes to see the throne room demolished.” Luna smiled, and closed her eyes in light concentration. Rubble and glass reformed themselves, and the hole in the wall had been plugged, the glass remade. Only the crater remained. “I believe we can safely say that the commotion everyone heard last night was caused by a meteorite impact. It will make for a good story, I think.” Sagittarius smiled, and they made their way back to the throne room. When they returned, they stopped still as they noticed Celestia was standing in front of them.

The sun princess had numerous rollers in her hair, and had her earplugs and sleeping mask still partially on. Luna gulped nervously, then felt herself smile.
She was still asleep.
Celestia was mumbling unintelligibly, and her eyes were completely unfocused. She walked very slowly back the way she came. “…I was honestly more frightened now than just a few moments ago when that thing came in. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is?” Luna burst out laughing, and one particular unicorn mare, who had just entered the court, witnessed the strange sight of the Lunar princess and the captain of the night guard laughing riotously on the ground.

The court continued to be slow, although Twilight Sparkle’s late arrival had certainly helped move things along for Luna. Although she had originally come for information regarding the recent change in the constellation of Chiron, they had ended up talking over tea about current events. “If you don’t mind my asking, princess, what in Equestria had you laughing so hard? I haven’t seen you that happy since the Nightmare Night festival.” Luna paused, and looked behind Twilight towards the door.
She could hear her sister snoring loudly, as per usual. “Oh, it was just a little joke I had on the captain. He’s a dear, you know. Did you know that he’s actually my cousin, and technically a relative of yours now?” Luna smiled inside as she imagined the normally fit hamster that spun the wheel of Twilight’s thoughts trip and fall over himself, breaking several bones in the process. “I…what?” Luna tried mightily to suppress bursting out in hysterical laughter. “Well…think about it, Twilight. Cadence is your sister in law, which makes me your mother-in law. Celestia is your aunt in-law, Chrysalis, although she wasn’t technically part of the family, is my aunt, and thus your Sa-Kir Aunt. Sagittarius is her son, and is thus your Da-uncle.” Twilight slowly nodded, remembering her genealogy.
“It’s…weird…to think that my brother…my family…married into royalty. So let me get this right…I’m your…niece? Kind of?” Luna smiled widely. “I’d love to think of you as such.” Twilight blushed, and they both heard Sagittarius yelling at some poor idiot nobleman for wasting his time. Luna remembered why she never enjoyed hosting the lunar court, and Twilight looked back, alarmed. “Is everything okay in there? Should we-” Luna put up her hoof. “He has everything handled quite well. I’m certain if you got involved, you’d be even more frustrated than he is right now. Twilight continued to look back, and winced as she heard a roar and the crashing of a vase, and high-pitched cries of terror from whatever pansy nobleman was getting an earful. “…Well, perhaps not quite as angry.”

Celestia shook in her sleep. She was having the same nightmare as the past few days. It was of the aftermath of Luna’s betrayal, and finding her in the middle of the crater, mired in blood and filth.

She’s your sister. How could she possibly do something as horrifying as this?

It wasn’t her fault. That thing had a hold of her.
What are you going to do? The law is as clear as it has always been.
She trudged down the side of the massive crater, tears streaming from her eyes as she surveyed the carnage and devastation.

She is my SISTER. Damn the law; too many have died already to pass such severe judgment. But still…what will be done?

Celestia’s eyes now focused on the broken form of her sister, who had been subdued using…those accursed spears. Part of her, her sister, stared up at her as she approached. “Sister, I-” Celestia’s frustration boiled over. “No Luna. Just…no.” Luna’s face fell, as she accepted the rejection. Celestia finally broke inside, and collapsed sobbing. She spoke in a haggard voice she barely recognized. “They’re really gone. Mother…” Her heart felt as if a hot spike went through it with the pain of the memory. “I…can’t lose you after this. Even after what you did…I just can’t be that cruel to you and myself. Please understand.”

“You’re pathetic.” Celestia stopped crying. She knew that voice, and it was not her sister’s. It snarled at her. “I killed them all, you stupid, naive filly! THEY’RE DEAD! Strike me down, take your wretched revenge on your WRETCHED, MAD SISTER! Avenge your mother, your ni-” Celestia opened her eyes again. Her sister had regained a moment of control, as the horror of the thing possessing her took hold of her as she saw her terrifying reflection in the blood surrounding her. Celestia sighed.

“Sister…Sister please. I can’t…it hurts so much…please help me…” Celestia’s heart broke anew, and she walked over to her fallen, tormented sibling. “I can’t undo the past…but I can help the future. I can make time to rebuild and prepare…and when the time has come…I will save you. I love you so much, Lulu.” The teary, green eyes of the princess of the night stared up at her with despair…but with a glimmer of hope. “Make it quick…I don’t want it to come back again while I’m with you this last time.” Celestia nodded, and closed her eyes.

Deep inside, she felt the powerful thrumming of the magic of the sun flowing through her, and reached out to the moon that had just peaked over the horizon. The sun’s rays reached the surface of the moon, and touched a particular spot at a particular moment in time. In an instant, a hole was ripped into the fabric of space and time, and it appeared on the moon at the same time as it did above her poor sister, sucking the air into the void of space. The last she saw of her sister was her face…full of sorrow yet relieved. A single tear fell from the hole as it closed up, and Celestia reached forward, catching it with her surprisingly untouched hoof. “Oh Luna…”
The tear hardened into a perfectly formed amethyst, and Celestia brought it close to her. In the silence of the massive, bloodied graveyard, not a single living thing heard Celestia wail in despair at the loss of her sister, her mother…everyone. She was utterly alone.

Chapter 4

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Day 4
Waning

Luna lay awake, staring around at her bedchambers. The room was remarkably different than prior to her long imprisonment, and while she could accept the new décor, the technology was an alien concept to her. While she understood the machine that made her coffee for her, she was mystified at the workings of this new “microwave oven”. She had witnessed Celly reheating some of the leftover steak from their dinner last night, and she had been amazed at how the food had been cooked without the aid of a fire.

Granted, she was very familiar with light and electromagnetic radiation as it fell within her sphere of magic, but she was entirely unfamiliar with the technology behind its use. She marveled at the radio, a device that broadcasted speech across vast distances instantaneously, and the Inner Lens, a device that peered through flesh and bone using higher-end EM radiation for use in medicine. So much technology now was allowing pegasi and earth ponies access to such arts as writing, fine craftsmanship, and combat.

The social upheavals alone were very difficult for her to come to grips with, and something as radical as an earth pony or pegasus being able to write novels…or worse…technical manuals…was something that disturbed her sensibilities greatly. She had never been racist towards any particular faction, least of all the pegasi, who were some of the few to truly enjoy her night, as they not only developed methods of navigation from her stars, they incorporated her into their art and literature far more than the earth ponies, or even the Unicorns, despite their respect for her magical abilities.

It was just…implacably disturbing to witness so many boundaries that had always seemed impossible to conceive of moving changed drastically, and her view of the world was literally being flipped on its head on a daily basis. She found some comfort in her cousin, who while having lived through these changes, never partook of them, as he viewed any kind of prosthetic to his abilities or person as a sign of weakness. Despite this, he had helped her along with her sister to provide valuable historical insight into the changes that had taken place during her absence, so she would not be too terribly overwhelmed by the culture shock.

A new alarm clock lay on the end table, next to her bed. This one she was very familiar with. It had been her mother’s father’s clock, as he had governance over the operation of time. A mixture of fantastically complicated clockwork and beautifully constructed spells, it had kept time down to the very second for almost five millennia, making it just a bit older than Luna or her sister, as it had been given as a baby shower present while Celly was still in the womb. She leaned over and smiled, peering at the wondrous device.

Hour, minute, and second arms moved accordingly; the hour hand was solid gold, the minute hand jade, and the second hand was pure silver. A large ruby adorned the first, a sapphire the second, and an emerald the third. To the top-right and bottom left, smaller time-keeping wheels kept track of the day, months, years, and centuries. Fantastic swirls of gold and lapis lazuli made up the background, with tiny diamonds emulating the stars of the night. It was her mother’s gift to her upon ascending the throne, and one of the many gifts she had received upon her first birthday after returning from exile.

Celestia had wrapped it rather inconspicuously, and it had been one of the last that Luna opened with great zeal, atomizing the wrapping paper after zealously tearing it off to reveal what treasures lay hidden. Though it had taken her a minute to recognize the artifact, it was the only one that brought tears to her eyes, as she thought that it was one of the many lost treasures destroyed with the old city. She loved it dearly back then, and it was one of the few material items she truly treasured, the other being her art materials and jewelry.

She felt a shiver go down her spine. Something was amiss. Closing her eyes, she cast her sight from the moon, as she had learned to do during her imprisonment.

The whole of the world lay beneath her gaze, and a familiar feeling of isolation set it. This is different, she told herself. I am free. See? Her gaze narrowed down to the castle, and saw herself through the window, closing her eyes. This brought her an immense feeling of calm, as she watched herself wiggle her wings and tail. Now, back to business. She widened her gaze to the whole of Equestria and beyond, and for the familiar magical signal of the Nightmare. Nothing was wrong. Ponies and beasts alike slept under her moon, and after several hours of careful searching, she saw that nothing was amiss, excluding the strange lights and spell fields that had always obscured her vision far to the north in what encompassed the dragon lands, and where once existed the Crystal Empire.

Sighing in frustration, she plopped down on her bed, and turned her gaze within. A small sliver of fear, part of her heart that felt the future, knew something terrifying was coming. She never questioned her intuition, nor did she forsake her clairvoyance, despite her pride in it leading to her possession. Regardless, she doubted she could choose to snuff it out like the flame of a candle, or turn it off than on again as a machine. It was part of who she was. Whatever she was dreading, she reasoned, she would find out sooner or later. No point worrying about it now, best go to sleep before the sun rises. Luna snuggled up her Avkir, her treasured totem; or as it was more commonly know, a sleeping companion. It was a toy Ursa Minor, enchanted to have the same star-filled coat as its giant, living cousin. Luna loved it dearly, as it, like the clock, was one of the few items she possessed prior to everything in her world going so terribly wrong. Weariness overtook her, and she fell fast asleep.

Celestia yawned. The flashbacks that had been plaguing her nights had mercifully abated, and she had a rare dreamless sleep, leaving her well rested. The moon had set, and she felt the familiar pressure of the sun urging her to raise it. Groggy, and faintly smiling, she opened the doors of her porch. She closed her eyes, and reaching out as she had done millions of times before, touched the sun with her magic. It had always felt as if…she was cradling a child in her arms, and bringing it up to her face to kiss lovingly. She rarely thought of this, as it was a painful reminder to her own loss. To her surprise, the sunrise was vibrant crimson. She watched as the red rays of the sun poured out across the land, leaving long shadows in its wake.

A red sun. That was meant as a dark omen, and it occurred only when something truly terrible had occurred or was happening. Horrible battles, where the dead and dying mingled together on the field of war, barriers to the void breached, or worst of all, massacre of the innocent. Terrible, disgusting things were heralded by this sun. She peered at it, almost furious at its defiance of her peaceful waking and optimism, and watched it as it climbed into the sky out of the horizon. Turning around, she went off to breakfast with Cadance, as Luna said she would be going to sleep early after her long night.

“Oh dear, that sounds awful. What do you think it means?” Cadance looked at Celestia, her face full of concern. They had finished their breakfast, and were talking over morning tea before the Day Court opened. “I’m not sure. As far as I know, we aren’t in a war last I checked, and I haven’t received a briefing of any disasters during the night, which are delivered very promptly to me. Has everything with yourself and your husband been alright?” Cadance smiled, and nodded calmly. “He’s been his happy self as always. Nopony has been giving him trouble, or myself, for that matter. Perhaps we should wait and see how the rest of the day plays out instead of searching for a crisis, which more than likely will come to us?” Celestia nodded, thoughtfully. “There is no wisdom in causing any kind of panic for something that may or may not affect us. For all we know, it could be a crisis outside of our borders, and outside our realm of control. I will speak to the diplomatic advisor today about the state of our neighbors. By the way, how have your studies been progressing?”

Cadance frowned. “The magic is…very difficult to understand, and more so to wield. Although I know I am capable of such feats as raising the sun or moon, It is incredibly strenuous for me to even access the power within myself. Though we’ve tried it several times, Shining and I…we can’t seem to access our power as we did during the banishing of the changeling army. It’s not a voluntary spell, I believe.” Celestia smiled. She had been right to give Cadance to Dragolis for apprenticeship, despite them being roughly around the same age.

Her smile fell. “Niece…there is something I wish to discuss with you. It’s not bad, just…well, a little depressing, and I think it wise to have a talk with you about it before it begins to weigh on your heart over the years.” Cadance gulped audibly, and looked across the table at her aunt, shyly. “Y-yes, auntie?” Celestia paused for several minutes. The silence was deafening.

“Cadance…how do you see yourself in a century? Several? What about a millennium? This may seem an odd question, but it has… a particular importance to your place in this world.” Cadance looked downcast. “I…I understand full well your concern. I understand that he…he won’t be with me very long, comparatively. I see myself…tending to my children, and then their descendents. Aren’t the nobility of royal blood, albeit diluted through many generations?” Celestia smiled at Cadance’s attempt to deflect the conversation to something less…depressing.

“They certainly are, but not of my blood. Other than yourself, Luna bore many children, but all of them were unicorns. In all the time she has lived you are her only immortal child. This is why she loves you as much as she does; she has had to watch dozens of her children march relentlessly forward in time, and to their deaths, fading into dust. Her depression, her vulnerability, has always been that she felt love for them, even after dozens of generations have passed. She mourns as deeply as for the passing of one now as she did so long ago when her first passed on. This is why the Nightmare took her, not myself, despite her being more magically powerful. Her heart is vulnerable because she loves so deeply, and is hurt so terribly so often in her long, long life. You are, and will always be, the best thing that has ever happened to her.”

Cadance took this in, tears welling up at trying to imagine how her mother could possibly have endured for so long without resigning herself to her grief. Her…love. But a burning question remained in her heart. “…Tia. If you pardon my asking…” Her aunt nodded, urging her to continue. “You say the nobles are not of your blood. What about you? Have you had children of your own?” Celestia’s gaze withdrew, and her eyes became distant lights; lost in the vast sea of her memory. “I…had had twins once. They perished around the same time you were born. One was a mare, the other a colt. Their names were Ahn’e’va and Ahv’e’na. I…had always been unable to bear foals of my own due to my…internal biology, and it was your grandfather who granted me them as his last gift to me before parting. They were immaculately conceived.”

Cadance blinked. She never knew this about Celestia. Losing children so special, so…utterly unique as to be named after the archaic twin spirits of creation, must have been crushing. “How-” She immediately shut her mouth as the shock of the realization took hold.
They had died…around when she was born.
A thousand years ago. Her mother’s banishment. They were killed along with the rest of the family during that horrifying ordeal. A small inkling of the strength her aunt possessed shone through to Cadance, as she slowly grasped how much restraint it must have taken to not only spare her sister’s life, but…to have faith in her, that one day she would return and that she could be exorcised, redeemed, and forgiven.

“Tia…I never knew-”

“It was terrible. For a long time-”

“I never knew you had such incredible grace. It’s beautiful beyond anything I could have ever imagined. You love Mother so much…even after what happened. It is beautiful in every sense of the word. I am proud that you are her sister.”

Celestia stood agape. Her little niece…understood. She understood better than herself at even her best, and felt admiration for her. She was astounded that something as complicated as this was understood so elegantly by Cadance, whose understanding of love, it seemed, was as profound and beautiful as her practice of it. Such unconditional love, such compassion was something she had not experienced for so long, as the sycophantic hoof-licking of her subjects had tired her out over the many long years of her rule.

“I…thank you, my niece. I’m not sure quite how to display how deeply gracious and glad I am to hear you say that, but it is by far the least insignificant thing I have heard…I have felt…in a very, very long time.” Thank you, she said silently in her mind. I needed that more than I thought I did.

Much of the day had passed without incident. Nothing amiss outside or inside the borders was reported, and the petty squabbling nobles that came to try her patience were remarkably far and few in between.

It was shaping up to be a good day in her opinion, before she heard the horrible screaming coming from her sister’s room.

Her eyes widening at recognition of what the sound truly was, she teleported directly from the throne room to the front of her sister’s door. This was not simply Luna being startled. Celestia heard true, pure, utter primal terror in her sister’s voice, something very rare as nothing could truly threaten their lives except each other.

Marching past the confused guardsponies, she moved the throng of concerned servants and guards, and opened her sister’s room. Luna was still asleep. Her eyes were open in abject terror like…some kind of dying animal…and her mouth was contorted as she was wailing at the top of her voice in terror. Celestia immediately rushed over to her sister’s side, and tried to shake her awake. “LUNA! IT’S JUST A DREAM!” She yelled over the terrible sound, and pushed her magic into her sister’s mind, trying to bring her awake. Some terrible phantasm, a night terror beyond describing had locked her conscious mind completely in utter hysteria, and Celestia gasped with the effort it took to reach her sister. A short second or two later, the horrible screaming stopped, and Luna lay shaking in her sweat-soaked bed. Most of it was sweat, anyway.

“…Luna? It’s your sister; you’re safe now. Nothing is going to hurt you. Can you talk? Do you know where you are?” Luna was still shaking, and staring blankly ahead. “Luna? Lulu, say-” She was interrupted as she felt the mighty arms of her sister nearly crush her ribs in a tight embrace. She said nothing, and wailed loudly into her sister’s shoulder, still shaking violently. Celestia noticed the throng of concerned bystanders peering through the partially opened door, and glared at them furiously. Their privacy was being violated. The door promptly slammed, and she heard shuffling and muttering as the crowd dispersed. She sighed.

“Luna…Luna it’s alright, you can let go. I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.” Her sister didn’t let go, and continued sobbing. “Please, you can tell-” “NO!!” Celestia was struck at the primal intensity of what was considered loud even by her sister’s standards. “…No. I can’t tell you.” Celestia saw her sister’s eyes. She was frightened so badly, she could see the edges of madness in her gaze at whatever she had witnessed. “…okay. I’ll just stay here with you, and you can loosen your grip a little bit so I can breathe. Is that alright?” Luna’s eyes brightened a little, and she relaxed her iron grip.

“Thank you. Now, I’m going to get up to get some tea for us. I’ll be righ-” Luna tightened her grip, and stared up at her, desperately. “DON’T GO!! I-” She choked slightly, and lowered her volume again. “Don’t go, sister. Please. Stay with me here.” Celestia opened her mouth to say something, and closed it after realizing anything she could say to her sister wouldn’t allow her to leave the room, even if she her sister would let her out of her embrace. “Ok then, I won’t leave the room. Are you certain that you don’t want to talk about it?” Luna shook her head violently in the negative. Celestia suddenly realized her sister was still hyperventilating. Whatever she had witnessed, it was more terrible than anything Luna had ever seen, heard, or dealt with in their long lives together. Celestia immediately felt guilty for even considering leaving her in this state.

“Ssshhhhh everything’s all right. Your big sister is here. Would you like Cadance here too?” Celestia felt Luna’s grip slacken ever so slightly. “I would like that.” Celestia smiled, and motioned to Cadance, who had been standing outside the door, listening. “Here she is. Come over here, everything’s all right.” Cadance walked over to her distraught mother, with nothing but compassion written all over her face. “Mother, it’s me. It’s ok, we’re both here.” Luna slowly let go of her sister, and moved over to Cadance, burying her face in her mane. She didn’t say anything for a long time, during which she saw Luna still shaking. Celestia got up off the bed, slowly. “Would you like some tea now, Luna?” Luna nodded slowly, still shaking slightly and half her face buried in Cadance’s mane. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Celestia quietly closed the door behind her, and turning around, she was confronted with the startling spectacle of several hundred ponies all crammed into the hallway staring at her, expectantly. The entire palace staff was here, out of concern for Luna. “I…as surprised as I am seeing you all here…I am immensely grateful for your concern of my sister. This has not happened to her before, and as much as I would like to assure everypony that she will be alright, I cannot honestly say that, as I have no idea what she has seen in her sleep. She is truly distressed right now, and I will not permit anypony but Cadance and myself in the room until I have determined that she is able to leave. She is not physically injured in any way, but she has witnessed something…of such terror…that she had been rendered to a very vulnerable state. As much as I would like to rely on your support with this ordeal, it is strictly a family matter. Do not interfere. Anypony that tries to do so, even with the best of intentions, will be dealt with severely. I will make no compromises when it comes to the safety of my sister. Am I understood?” Frightened nods in the affirmative rippled across the crowd. “Good. I am going to fetch some tea.”

She paused briefly, and narrowed her gaze menacingly towards those of the palace staff who looked at her dubiously. One even had the…audacity…to be snickering and motioning something obscene to his friend. She growled.

“Do not make so much as a mouse fart in front of this door, or I will burn the flesh off of your still-living bones.”

She walked away towards the kitchen, almost hearing the shocked expressions of hundreds of her subjects realizing their sovereign not only spoke to them in somewhat vulgar tones, but made a very real, and very explicit, threat against them should they go against her wishes. She barely heard the mortified crowd disperse.

Inside the room, Cadance was rocking her mother, feeling the terror slowly leave her, and replaced by the loving comfort of her daughter. “Mother, what is it that could have frightened you so?” Luna was quiet for several minutes. When she spoke, it was barely a whisper. “…It was a vision of a possible future, my daughter. While I have borne witness to many prophecies, none have been as terrifying as what I have seen. I will spare your untarnished soul the details, or even a hint of what it I have seen, for it is abominable beyond any words can describe. My sister…I saw…I…” Luna collapsed in her daughter’s arms, sobbing violently. It was going to be awhile before she could be better again, Cadance decided.

Celestia’s tea “drawer” was more like a hall of assorted teas, golden shelves sparkling in light of the waning sun. Over many centuries, she had accumulated an immense variety of tea, and had elevated the simple but pleasant drink to an art form, and her own personal religion in a way. Though she by no means enjoyed tea for its taste over, say, pastries or wine, she was able to recognize and appreciate the enormous variety of flavors and effects each tea had. She had tea for every possible situation, as over the course of the thousand years of her sister’s banishment, she had engrossed herself in pointless hobbies such as this to take her mind off of her loneliness.

Tea, although not the most tasty of drinks, provided her peace of mind, as it allowed her to set moods, access memories, meditate, and relax in ways her normally fiery soul could not and would not allow itself to relax and become calm on its own. Her sister was supposed to be the calm one from birth, ironically.

After agonizing over what could possibly alleviate such frayed nerves as her sister’s, Celestia, to her delight, found exactly what she was looking for. She levitated a small silver jar, painted with the night sky and a crescent moon with a bearded pony sleeping on it. Moonbeams and Miracles had always been her favorite tea, even if she didn’t drink it regularly. The oddly named tea was, to her immense surprise, one of the creations of Starswirl the Bearded, who had created an incredibly powerful alchemical brew in the form of a tea that was designed to provide relief to victims of shock, trauma, and such violence as to render them catatonic or hysterical. It was used almost exclusively in hospitals, but Celestia kept some on-hand because of how remarkably it performed in its intended purpose.

Moonbeams and Miracles was not a drug. It did not alter the chemical balance of the mind in any way. What it did do was draw upon the pony’s own wellspring of good memories and feelings, and bring clarity and a deep feeling of peace to the mind and heart. And if the pony knew the feeling, it brought a deep feeling of being loved, of being treasured and valued. Of being needed. Starswirl’s wife, even though no mention of her survived in the history books, was a remarkable woman who married a remarkable man. She had come up with the idea of the tea, as something designed directly to help ponies. Starswirl, who acted like a mad hermit at the best of times, had acquiesced to his wife’s desires, and created and distributed the tea for hospital charities.

She had never given it to her sister, to her shame, because she had always hoarded it for herself. She had developed a slight addiction to it after her father left them, and quit entirely after her sister’s exile, for fear of a relapse. Bagging the tea, she reemerged into the kitchen, pleasantly surprised that one of her cooks had quietly heated the water for her. Thanking him, she poured three glasses of hot water, and put three bags of the marvelous tea into each of the cups. She double-bagged Luna’s, just to be safe.

Cadance looked up as the door opened, and Celestia walked in, carrying a tray with three cups of steaming tea. “I brought something that should help. Please, sister; come over to your table here to join me.” Luna wearily got up off the bed. Celestia blinked in astonishment. She wore the same haggard face of their mother before her death, and she felt the weight of the thousand years of her prison following her as she sat at the table with her sister and daughter, looking downcast. “Here, drink; it will make you feel better.” Luna blinked slowly. Celestia set her teacup in front of her. Cadance took a sip, and melted with joy into her chair. Celestia was not surprised, although she smiled at guessing what couldn’t be happy right now in Cadance’s life. “Mmm…mother, you must try this tea. It is…absolutely lovely.” Luna smiled weakly, and shakily brought the tea to her lips, drinking deeply. She set it back down and closed her eyes. Celestia watched, expectantly.

Luna’s head clonked loudly on the table, and began snoring loudly. The double dose had knocked her clean out, to Celestia’s surprise and disappointment. “Tia, look at her face.” Luna was smiling warmly, and cuddling up into a ball. She was having a good dream. “…I’m not quite sure I understand what’s going on. The tea is supposed to calm her nerves, not put her to sleep like anesthesia, even if I did double-bag it. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Cadance smiled. “She opened up a little while you were gone. She didn’t give me any specifics as to what she had seen, but she did say it was a prophecy to a possible future. What I believe is happening right now-” SNNOOORRRRKK!!!! “...Is that her mind is repairing the damage done to itself. Her sphere of power is that of dreams, not just the night and the moon.” Celestia nodded, and began to understand where Cadance was going with her postulation.

“My sister’s conscious mind has always been somewhat young and fragile. But her subconscious…is something entirely different. Her…id…I think is the name for it…was taken advantage of and manifested by the Nightmare. Her power…was less than mine or anypony else’s in the family during the crisis, did you know that?” Cadance’s eyes went wide. “But then, how did she?..”

“Nightmare Moon possessed somewhat limited precognition. It was no doubt a crude attempt by the demon to tap into her prophetic abilities, but it unleashed something else. Her intellect.” Cadance’s already wide eyes became just a bit larger.

“Luna is…a genius. More than that, she is a goddess. But unlike myself, she is not bound to the present, nor does she think or operate like you or I do, or anypony else in our long past. She is…truly omniscient. She shares the power of our late grandfather; she has within herself the ability to see all of time; past, present, and all possible futures. This is likely a holdover from our maternal grandfather, but…I have no way of knowing certain. But because of this, the dreams of all ponies are hers to witness, and though her waking self may not choose to see inside the minds of others…she does regardless, without her knowing. Her realm is that of dreams, yes, but it is one of wisdom, and healing. I may give life to barren lands, I may raise the sun that, without its light, would doom everything in this world to a cold and empty death, but Luna…she is haunted by the memories of the future as much as the past, and it is through her sight that we can survive. That we can keep our minds and hearts intact.”

Cadance was silent. Her mother, without even realizing it, was the wisest living thing on this world, and possibly in all of existence. She was precious to this world. No wonder why her aunt so fiercely protected her.

“She’ll be better by tomorrow. I think we should help her back to sleep, hm?” Cadance nodded, smiling. They gently laid her back on her bed. “Auntie…if you don’t mind, I think I’ll stay here with her. Is that alright?” Celestia nodded, and headed out the door, blissfully sipping her tea. “Thank you. I think she’ll be better.” Luna smiled in her sleep. Celestia felt the tea working on her, and she felt truly at ease for the first time all day. Cadance would take care of her sister, there was nothing to worry about.

Chapter 5

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Day 5
Waning

There was silence in the halls of the Royal Palace.
Every one of the royal staff had tread lightly, careful not to wake her sister, and even more careful not to anger Celestia. It was a most comforting situation to have, as she had frequent migraines from the enormous hubbub of the daily operations of the castle. She did, though, feel a bit guilty for snapping at them out of her out over-protectiveness of her sister.

Cadance was staying with Luna still, and as the sun began to sink below the horizon, she gently let it go, and raised the moon as she had done so many times before. She yawned briefly, and looked to Sagittarius, who was looking at her with an expression of unfamiliar concern. “What troubles you, old friend?” He actually looked embarrassed. “…There is something I do need to tell you. The security threat it poses isn’t simply something I can keep a secret, despite promising your sister I wouldn’t tell you.”

Celestia immediately narrowed her expression, and assumed the role she had grown so accustomed to over the years. “Report.” Sagittarius looked off to the side, uncomfortable. “The night before last, during the lunar court, the…nightmare appeared, and attempted to force its way back into Luna.” Celestia’s white face seemed to drop several shades paler. “While I was successful in banishing the demon, the damage that was equated the unscheduled meteor impacting in the gardens…was not…a meteor. I doubt you’ll banish me to the sun for this, but-” THWACK!!!

A loud smack reverberated throughout the halls of the palace, as the captain of the night guard was thrown clear out the door, and sailed over the head of a mortified blue-haird disc jocky.

Vinyl, the pony in question, shrank into a corner and wished the walls would swallow her up, as she saw a flaming Princess Celestia storm out of her throne room, with a look of absolute fury etched on her face. “…dayum. I guess I won’t be asking about that gig for the winter solstice tonight.”

“HOW. DARE. YOU!!!” Ponies looked nervously as they saw their monarch, flames erupting from her head and all along her back, walk up to the dazed night guard captain. “ SHE IS MY SISTER AND YOU DIDN’T THINK IT WISE TO TELL ME THIS THE VERY MOMENT THIS HAPPENED??!!” Sagittarius gulped, and looked up at his younger cousin, surprised. If he had been any normal pony, his head would have flown clean off of his shoulders like a football, spinning off into the sky and into orbit. The pain he was feeling was likely from his jaw actually being broken, which was saying something considering she had shattered part of his armor with that…incredible left hook.

“Well, I-”
“HOW COULD YOU NOT THINK THIS WAS RELEVANT TO SHARE WITH ME? SHE COULD HAVE BEEN POSSESSED AGAIN, SHE COULD-”

“She CAN hear you yelling at me, as well as everypony here and halfway to Trottingham, you mad, mad mare! Now take your hoof off my throat and maybe we can go back inside and talk about this civilly!” The fire of Celestia’s mane snuffed out immediately as she saw her sister and her niece, looking down out of Luna’s bedchambers with looks of utter mortification. As she craned her view around, she saw many ponies had ducked for cover behind bushes and other objects, and she even noticed the curious red-eyed disc jockey that had performed at Cadance’s reception cowering in a corner near the doors.

She could have been killed simply from the doors flying open, she thought to herself.

She lifted her hoof off of her cousin’s throat, and turned to the terrified unicorn that was backing up against the wall. “I’m very sorry about that; I didn’t-” she didn’t get to finish her sentence as her little pony bolted and ran for her life, doing a rather impressive dive off of the bridge, and leaping off the waterfall to the lake below Canterlot.

She blinked in astonishment. Her ponies were scared of her. She looked up to Luna for support. They were gone from the balcony. Blushing heavily, she retreated back into the throne room with a very peeved captain of the night guard.

“So let me get this straight…it turned into a…a big snake before attacking? What did it do after that?” Celestia hadn’t had to set her cousin’s jaw, as it had already healed from his remarkable fortitude. He tested his jaw again, and smiled as he felt it had healed properly. “She had the mad idea that the thing was her responsibility, and told me to step aside so she could ‘deal with it, one way or another’. I’ve never heard anything so… incredibly stupid and selfish in my life. Does she have any idea how many ways it could have gone wrong? Anyway, ignoring her, I knocked the thing clear through the wall, forming that crater I was telling you about. Normally, hitting something as squarely as that I would have gone clear through it leaving a big, messy hole…but for a thing made of smoke and darkness…I’ve never hit or been hit by something so hard in my life. Except for your left hoof.”

Celestia smiled weakly, and blushed slightly. “I truly am sorry about overreacting so…violently. It’s been difficult for me to reign in my temper in regards to…personal matters. Are you certain you’re alright? An injury like that would take several days, if not a week to heal properly for me.” Or any normal Pegasus, she added to herself silently. Part of the reason why the royal guard was composed almost entirely of pegasi was because of their remarkable healing capabilities, due in no small part to the magic that their wings employed in command over the weather.

“I really am, thanks for asking. Although…well, I shouldn’t bring that up again.” She winced as she looked at where his horn should have been. As much as he never failed to bring it up, she never had gotten over feeling remorse for…hurting him so badly. It was the main reason she had become such a pacifist over the years, much the annoyance of her sister and, more notably, their enemies.

“Anyway, after beating it into the ground, it simply snapped out of existence. I think it was some kind of teleportation spell, although it certainly didn’t feel like one. After coming inside, we both saw…you standing there. You were sleepwalking and…to be perfectly honest…looked absolutely ridiculous. We had a good laugh at that, and that’s mainly why we didn’t bring it up. I swear the morning after when she looked at you from your room after you got up she fell over laughing. It would have been improper, despite how important the matter was, to laugh at your face.”

Celestia stared at her cousin for a full minute before bursting out laughing at the whole idiocy of the thing. They hadn’t told her…because they were afraid of bursting out laughing over her sleepwalking? Granted she didn’t look…especially regal with all the rollers and things on…but this was the first she’d ever heard of her sleepwalking. The smiles from the servants during the morning had always seemed a little too cheerful…

“Well, I am glad at least that nopony was hurt. Would you mind terribly taking the rest of the night court for me? I know you do have your duties as a guard, but with Luna…” She let her concern hang, and after doing a short bow, he had taken her place on the throne, and Celestia’s hoofsteps were trailing off into the hallway.

Well, that could have gone better. I wonder if- His musing was cut short as the doors to the throne room opened up, and a rather posh looking brown earth pony with purple eyes walked in, dragging the soaked disc jockey he had witnessed taking a rather spectacular dive off the castle’s waterfall. “As appreciative as I may be for knocking my…partner’s…ego down to an acceptable level,” she began, taking a breath as she dragged the waterlogged unicorn inside of the throne room, closing the door behind her. “I am quite upset that she was, in fact, frightened enough to jump off a waterfall and forced me to witness what I thought would be her leaping to her death. Would you care to explain this to me?” She winced in annoyance as the odd disc jockey shook the water off of her mane like a dog.

A light snoring sound from down the hall confirmed his fears that he was indeed alone in addressing this rather put-off musician. “…Ain’t nothin’ but a thing?” He smiled weakly as the second bone-shattering punch of the night sailed towards his still-tender jaw.

Celestia blinked as she awoke. Something was…off. The soft sound of the breeze coming in through her window was gone, and the night was utterly silent. She shuddered as her naked hooves touched the cold marble floor. Outside was pitch-black. Something is definitely wrong, she told herself in a worried tone. I need to find Luna and Cadence. I hope- “Oh, what’s this now?” She stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh don’t worry, you’re still asleep, thankfully. If you were awake…we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Celestia turned slowly around, and with utter horror she saw the Nightmare, brazenly lying across the bed she had just arisen from. It was wearing her own golden battle-armor, and sneered at her with fiery red eyes. “I hope you’re happy she’s doing so well after that ordeal, as it won’t last long.” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “You were defeated, demon. Moreover, whatever was left of you exited my sister the previous night. Do you honestly think you can possess any of us again?” The vile thing threw back its head and laughed a little too theatrically, and suddenly brought its gaze right up to her face.

“I don’t need to force my way into bodies to sow the seeds of your downfall, Celestia. I don’t need your sister’s power, or anything so raucously puny. I know somepony…who will love to have me. Who will invite me in with open hooves. Do you know of whom I speak?” Celestia took a step back. “No…you can’t mean…” The dark thing laughed. “Chrysalis? Ohh your aunt has SO much potential. I had to fight to tap into Luna’s power; your sister fought me every damnable step of the way to keep herself from me. But your dear aunt is already SO deliciously corrupt. All that POWER she has will pull seamlessly together with mine, and that son of hers won’t dare put up a fight against us after you so conveniently robbed him of his horn.” Celestia winced at the memory, but the pain was immediately overtaken by a burning rage.

“Do you honestly think I’ll let you get that far? After telling me all of that?” The Nightmare grinned ferociously. “Idiot Celestia. I’ve already bonded with her. Why do you think I can hold sway in your dreams like this?” Celestia felt a sharp, cold pain and saw a black spear poking out her from the front. She coughed up blood, and fell to the floor. “You’ll never die by something like this, certainly…but I know what death feels like. I can make you feel it. Slowly. Painfully.” Celestia felt panic as her limbs became cold and unresponsive, and the edges of her vision began to fade. The last thing she heard was the cackling evil of the Nightmare in her ears, and the last thing she felt was the warm sensation of her blood pooling out from under her.

“aaaAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!!!!!!!” Luna heard the scream clear across the other side of the castle, and recognized it instantly as her sister’s. Fearing the worst, she teleported herself directly to Celestia’s bedchambers, and was greeted with a horrifying sight. Celestia had broken an end table and several vases in her room after violently flying out of her bed. She was on the ground, her pupils dilated to points. Then Luna noticed the blood. “SISTER!” Luna exclaimed, seeing the hole that had pierced and bloodied Celestia’s normally immaculate white coat. Guards rushed in and gasped as they saw their princess injured badly and on the floor. Luna rushed to her side, helping her up. “Luna…I’ll be fine. I’ve been hurt worse.” Luna stood, gawking at the wound.

“Celly…how did this happen? Did somepony-” “Luna.” Luna stood at attention. “I need you to round up Sagittarius, Shining armor, and the Elements. I will-” Celestia stopped short and coughed up a gout of blood. “Sister, we are doing NOTHING until I heal you and assess the damage. Come here.” Celestia sat down on the bed, and nodded to the guards who had come to her room, who had looked confused and terrified that they had somehow failed in protecting their princess. They nodded, gratefully, and walked back outside the room to their posts, giving the sisters privacy. Celestia felt the pain ebb away as her sister worked her magic.

“It looks like…a spear wound. But there are no cuts, just the hole. How could this have happened?” Celestia looked her straight in the eye. “Your nightmare,” she paused as Luna’s expression of worry morphed into one of terror. “Is loose. It invaded my mind and…did something very unpleasant to me. It also told me of a plan to unite with our Aunt. Do you think this is true?” Luna’s faced looked shocked, but then hardened immediately. “Absolutely. I will round up the night guard; contact Twilight to rally the Elements. We have to act swiftly in eradicating it. There’s no telling how powerful it’s become in joining with somepony with the power and depravity of Chrysalis. Sister, if I had only been there for-” “ENOUGH! I will not hear about what might have been.” Luna bit down her tongue as her sister forcibly cut her off.

“What is important now is that we stop a crisis from happening. While the vile thing wanted eternal night through you…it will stop at nothing short of genocide with that madmare. We cannot allow them to reach a populated area. And this time…we cannot simply banish her to the forests from where she makes her home.” Luna’s eyes widened. “If…when we do train the elements on her…do you think she’ll regain her senses?” Celestia paused. She hadn’t considered this. Chrysalis had changed so much, she barely remembered her as she was. Ethereal, sky-blue hair; straight as a veil. A platinum coat that glittered brilliantly in the sunlight, looking like the sun itself in the day, a glittering star in the night. Nopony, not even her late mother, had been anything close to that beautiful. She paused, holding the memory. “We might save her yet.”

Deep in the everfree forest, at the base of the mountain that housed her hive, Chrysalis sat in the lake she used for meditation and calmness. Nothing lived in the waters, as herself and her minions had poisoned the lake long ago. Not a single living thing could be heard from the small cove to the island in the center, and Chrysalis cherished the silence. Nothing ever bothered her, and her minions and the animal denizens of the forest knew far better than to interrupt her. She sighed.

The invasion had gone smoothly, up until when the real Cadance broke out of her prison with the help of that…insufferable sister of her would-be husband dupe. Celestia had been blind to her machinations, as her mind had been focused on overseeing the logistics of the wedding. Her “mother” thankfully, had been absent. She had no idea Cadance possessed such…power. The irony of the situation never ceased to amaze her, as well. Her Changelings and herself fed on the subtle magic of affection as the source of their magic, and were carnivorous for their actual food. That they had been defeated by the very thing that gave them strength was…humiliating, to say the least. No blame went around, as they had all been blasted back to their home in the same unceremonial manner. They still love you. She smiled, and sank further into the sand. That’s all that really matters at the moment.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” She bolted upright out of her reverie; a menacing voice pierced the air around her. Sacrilege! OUTRAGE! Nothing interrupted her sanctuary! “Who are you that DARES interrupt my meditation?! Show yourself that you may face the judgment of the Queen of Changelings!” A laughter not unlike her own wafted through the low walls surrounding the cove, and died down to a menacing chuckle. “Very well.” Chrysalis peered into the gloom. Coming towards her was a large snake, so dark the light from the moon and stars were eaten up by its skin. Its eyes gleamed with malice and cruelty she had not seen the like of outside of her own reflection. “I am the Nightmare. You know me as the one that possessed your niece, and ended the Old Court through blood and guile.”

Chrysalis’ face changed from a snarl of rage to wide-eyed joy. This…thing…had ended the life of her wretched sister. It had murdered almost the entire royal court, and leveled the capital city with utter impunity wielding the power of Celestia’s sister, and had been trapped for a millennium after the incident by the…weakness…of the Princess of the Sun. If Celestia had actually ended up killing her sister, she herself would have been possessed. Such a devious creature appearing before her could only mean one thing. “I recognize you, and applaud your works, creature. Tell me, do you come to strike a bargain with me? I know of only one thing you need to attain power, and that is a physical form.” A disgusting sound that could only be construed as laughter came from the snake. “You are close, but not quite.”

“Explain.” Chrysalis stated firmly. The snake coiled around a rock, and spoke to her, “You see…although it is true I possess the bodies of the confused or corrupt, and wield their power for the purpose of satiating my appetite for death…the union that I establish ends up being parasitic, and not symbiotic, as I was intended to be. I am rebuked and their power is withheld, and I must fight for every scrap of magic that can be wielded against my foes. But you…you and I share the same burning, incontrovertible need for pure, bloody, wrath. We want the same ponies dead. We want the same walls torn down. And we wish to taste the same victory. Am I incorrect on that analysis?”

Chrysalis shook her head in the negative, frowned after feeling a tweak of pain in her head; feeling a familiar voice in the back of her mind, one she thought was long since banished.

It’s not right. It wants to use you for its own ends, nothing more. Think of your people! They love you just the way you are, you don’t need to consort with this demon.

Her eye twitched slightly, and a far more pervasive and comfortable voice took hold of her mind, fighting with the uncomfortable voice that seemed so familiar.

It holds power for us, the demon does; our niece was powerful enough to slaughter our pathetic sister and her grandchildren, and nothing will stand in our way after-

Please, don’t! There’s been enough death, can’t you see? You’ve already killed enough of our family! Don’t change any more, I can’t-

CAN’T WHAT??? CAN’T BEAR TO HAVE THE WEAK AND PATHETIC GET SWEPT ASIDE FOR OUR GLORY?? CAN’T BEAR TO SEE US MOLD THE WORLD FOR OUR HIVE? YOU WERE ALWAYS USELESS! JUST FADE AWAY AND DIE LIKE THE REST OF THEM!!!

She winced and staggered a bit under the force of the psychic voice reverberating in her head like a thunderclap. She drooled a bit as she felt the welcome malice intoxicate her mind.

Please, Chrys; our son-

DON’T CALL ME THAT NAME! DON’T YOU DARE THINK YOU’RE ANYTHING MORE THAN ANOTHER SOUL UNDER MY-

I AM YOUR HUSBAND!

Chrysalis sat down, and fell over on her side. Something was wrong. The voice was being confusing, and she felt burning warmth inside her stomach.

Did you forget everything? Or was the strain too much to bear? There is so much…evil that has invaded you, and you think you have room for more? Do you think I-

BY HADES, SHUT UP!!! I WILL HEAR NO MORE OF YOU!!!

Her eyes opened, and the feeling passed, as she felt the warmness fade from her stomach and body. The delightful malice flowed through her, squelching the annoying voice wherever it tried to speak, and once again she felt herself again. All was well.

“Are you…all right?” The nightmare inquired uneasily. Chrysalis smiled, and shook her head in an affirmative. “Good. I propose to you, then, an alliance of the closest and most…intimate kind; that we figuratively and literally join our souls, minds, and magic into one. Unlike a simple possession, you must open yourself completely to me that we become one. Is this acceptable?” Chrysalis’ smile turned into a cynical frown. “How do I know you won’t sweep my mind aside for whatever schemes you have cooked up, snake?”

The dark serpent slithered to her side, coiling itself and looking at her in the eye. “Because you know me well enough to understand how the process works. Do you remember us as Nightmare Moon?” Chrysalis did remember. The entity referred to Celestia as her sister, and possessed all the basic subconscious traits, habits, and underpinnings that Luna always had. As a changeling, she recognized the difference between acting as someone and still being that someone. Admirable it was to her, then, that for all the time that she had spent changing and twisting her form and magic for her own survival, that a creature of magic such as the Nightmare could completely possess and control the identity of the individual it invaded.

“I accept your bargain, although it is out of respect for your…abilities. I have long sought the ability of total assimilation of an identity, and if…your nature…can provide the secrets behind truly becoming somepony…than I will gladly take whatever risk is involved.” The snake uncoiled, and made its way towards her. “At long last…I have found a true symbiote. A being of whom I can truly share power with, and become greater than the both of us alone. The merging will be…unpleasant, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. Are you prepared?” Chrysalis paused a moment, and let the memories of her long, tired, ancient life flood through her mind one last time, as herself. “I am ready.”

Across the lake, on a nearby cliff, Changling Drasil had been listening in on Her Majesty’s conversation with her…strange guest. They had struck an accord of some kind, and though he had been tempted to rush to her aid against the vile Nightmare, it seemed that there was no apparent threat. His sharp eyes peered into the cove where his Queen stood, and watched with anticipation at what would happen next. The black snake came up to her majesty, winding between the holes in her legs, and slithering up the back of her neck to the top of her horn. It then bit down forcibly on the horn, and a titanic emerald flash blazed across his field of vision, nearly blinding him. A shockwave followed, and it was only narrowly that he avoided the small landslide of rocks that fell from above the cliff he had been perched on.

As his vision and hearing cleared, he could scarcely believe what he now saw before him. The entire surface of the lake was burning with a soft green flame, and the Queen…had changed. She now stood almost twice as tall as before. The holes in her legs had been filled, and she now was something…truly dark. Vast, sharp black wings now protruded from her back in place of her former, beautiful gossamer insect wings, and blazed with a bright green flame. Her mane and tail burned with the same fire, albeit lazily. Her eyes…they looked the same. Peering closer, he saw that though they looked paler, they still held the fury and determination that had characterized Her Majesty. He took flight again, and buzzed off to tell his brethren of the transfiguration of their queen, as that they would not be alarmed.

Chrysalis felt disoriented; a huge rush of magic and adrenaline flowed through her, and she felt her body…twist and change into something larger. Her wings had changed from simple instruments of flight to huge extensions of her magic like her horn; they felt almost like a physical extension of her mind. She blinked as she realized that while the familiar voice was gone, the spot it occupied in her stomach had been pushed aside by the nightmare, and she no longer felt any discomfort. The nightmare was, surprisingly, almost indistinguishable from the dripping, poison malice that flowed through her veins. She looked down to the water’s reflection, and saw herself anew. The holes in her legs had closed, and she was covered by a beautiful and thick exoskeleton that was blacker than deepest midnight, and likely harder than moonsteel or elusive titanium. Her eyes were the same, surprisingly. No reason to change perfection, don’t you agree? She felt, rather than heard the new voice inside her, and smiled. This would certainly be invigorating.

Luna stopped dead in her tracks. A savage green glow had erupted from the direction of the forest, and she felt something…familiar come from it. “…oh no.” She galloped to the balcony, and heard the maniacal laughter of her aunt carrying over the wind, and to her ears. “No, no nonononoNONONO! WHY HER?? WHY???” She collapsed, and held herself, shaking. “We’re all dead.” She lay sobbing for what seemed like hours, when she felt the gentle muzzle of her daughter, nuzzling her. “Mother, get up.” Luna sniffed, and looked up at her daughter with haggard eyes. “You are so young. I’m so sorry about all of this, Cadance. Please-” She felt a shock go through her a she felt her face hit the ground after being struck on the side of the face.

“Mother.” Cadance’s voice was stern. “NEVER give up hope. Never. Now get up, we have to get ready for this. And sorry for hitting you so hard; I needed to knock some sense into that senile old head of yours.” Luna looked up cautiously. Her daughter was looking down at her with an expression of pure love, despite having just struck her with her hoof; with shoes on, no less. “…You are right, daughter. It was silly of me to despair as I did. Thank you for illuminating the truth for me yet again.”

Cadence smiled, and was about to say something comforting, when Luna grabbed her in a headlock, and gave her a crushing noogie. “But if you EVER hit your mother like that again, you’ll be grounded for a year and locked in your room the whole time! DO YOU UNDERSTAND??” Cadance was laughing and yelling in protest. “Ow! Yes, please stop! PLEASE! MOTHER!!” Luna abated, and laughed with her daughter. Celestia was staring at them from the doorway, obviously having witnessed the entire ordeal. “…I saw nothing. Ah…please follow me. There are many arrangements that must be made.” Luna gave her daughter an odd look, and they both followed Celestia out, snickering.

Chapter 6

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Day 5
Waning

Celestia was alone. The years rolled on, and in the blink of an eye an entire generation was born, grew to adulthood, and withered and died without the Princess of the Sun so much as paying a minute’s attention to them at all.

She was heartbroken.

Her kingdom knew of the tragedy that the royal family had undergone, and had done everything they could over the course of almost two centuries to cure Celestia’s intense depression. The sun was cold and stark, and every day was a barren winter that reflected her heart. Nothing really mattered to her any more.

Only Sagittarius remained, and he had been silent to her since his…injury. She winced as she remembered the euphoria she felt after disabling her older cousin, and the horror and regret she felt later after realizing what an irreversible and debilitating injury she had inflicted upon him. He could never forgive me after that, she thought to herself morosely. After all, I can’t even forgive myself. And why should I? I banished my own sister after losing the rest of my family. Family…

Celestia sobbed into her pillow. Her father’s parting gift had been her bearing twins; even if they had been opposite colors, they looked exactly alike. It was an immaculate conception, her mother had told her, and her children had been born to full consciousness, forgoing their infancy entirely. The pain from the birth had been lessened significantly by her mother, whom without her spell in question, Celestia would have succumbed to the pain and died in childbirth.

Though not true offspring in the normal sense, they were by no means clones, or anything as simple as mating with another colt. They were her perfect, beautiful babies. She had named them Ahn’e’va and Ahv’e’na after the dual spirits of creation. The colt was black as the void, and never cried once even after his birth, whereas the mare had laughed coming into the world, and held her mother closely, warming them both with the embrace.

They had been not even a century old when their lives were cut short. Though they were already powerful enough in their own right, they had been no match against…that thing that had taken ahold of her sister. Nopony was. She rolled into a fetal position, shivering at the memory. While her sister had always been more gifted in magic than herself, the possession had made Luna vastly more powerful than anypony short of her father, who had not seen it fit to save his own family. She glowered. Why could he not return? Was he unable, or was what he had found so important as to render anything else but his own revelation insignificant? She felt her hatred ebb. Her father could never be so callous. He loved them all, and his ascension was as much a surprise to himself as it was to all of them. He could be forgiven.

Luna, though…

How could she possibly bring her sister back after what she had done? Could she even begin to forgive the murder of her children, and could her subjects do the same? They will forget with time, as they pass on. It will be as a legend, and I will scour clean all mention of her. I will give her a new life to return to.

“Mummy?” Celestia froze stiff. “Mummy I’m scared; the timba wooves are howing again. Can I sleep with you tonight?” Celestia fought back tears, and regained her composure with only the fiercest of efforts. “Y-yes, Cadance. You can sleep with me. Come here.” She smiled a little, and felt what little joy she had been feeling die inside as her sister’s daughter, Cadance, blissfully unaware of anything but her mother’s warm embrace, snuggled up to the Princess of the Sun. I am so sorry, Luna. She cried silently, as she felt her niece fall asleep in her embrace. I don’t deserve her, for least of all do I deserve a child’s unconditional love. But there is nothing else for me to hold on to. Forgive my weakness for your daughter’s affections, my sister…

Celestia woke up. They had spent the previous days organizing the troops in preparation for a major assault, and she had collapsed on her bed in exhaustion after canceling her appointments in preparation for the attack. She had not led her forces into battle in an age, and the effort involved with weaving the ward spells around the entire kingdom, and the tripwire around the Everfree forest had taken a serious toll on her. The dream had rolled on, dredging up vivid memories of the past. She could not shake the flashbacks she had been forced to endure since her sister’s return, and each night was a harrowing experience for her.

She shook the unsettling feeling the memory had given her, and focused on the task at hand. Chrysalis had already frightened her long before her invasion of Canterlot, and although Celestia had tried many times to root the rogue Queen out of the forest, she and her minions had always eluded her. And she would never do anything as drastic as burning the entire forest to the ground, which had provided a template for much of her Aunt’s magic to sink its teeth into the re-growth of the forest, and its twisted and toxic nature.

But it was different, now. As surprised as she was at being defeated by her, Chrysalis’s invasion had allowed her perspective. Her aunt had not mounted an offensive in over a thousand years, and yet it was only after her Sister’s return that she had decided to attack. This screamed a need for absolution, and at least part of her aunt wanted to be rid of her madness, even if she herself could never admit to it. She rose from her bed, and walked over to the balcony.

Celestia had been awake for the good part of half a week prior to her nap, and Luna had deigned to raise the sun in her sister’s temporary absence. Celestia closed her eyes and felt the dusk wind roll in off the mountains from the north, and the familiar smells of the start of the evening reach her nostrils. As she opened them, she took in the glory of her sun setting, which she usually was not awake for, as Dragolis had taken the burden of raising the moon off of her for the past seven centuries. She simply could not muster the energy at the end of the day to plan out such a complicated operation as designing the night sky and the raising and lowering of the moon, which appeared during the day as well as it ran its mad orbit around their world.

The guiding of the day-moon had always been Celestia’s lifeline to her sister, as it meant that Luna had to trust her enough to let her sister take care of her charge. The sun had always remained Celestia’s responsibility, except on very rare occasions like this one.

She smiled as she watched the sun slowly sink down, and her eyes saw the shimmer of the heat from the far desert distort the horizon almost imperceptibly. Luna always paid immense attention to detail, and she had notice the painstaking detail she put into the myriad colors of this sunset. Celestia took a moment, and sat down on her outdoor lounge chair, and for the first time in a very long while, focused her uncanny hearing on the night. Crickets and a thousand different insects raised their song in a cacophony of blissful noise, and she heard the faint fluttering of bats emerging from their caves.

As she sunk further into the simple joy of hearing her realm prepare itself for the night, the range of her hearing extended beyond the castle grounds. The closing of shops and the opening of the clubs and various night restaurants that catered the ponies of the night creaked their doors open, flicked their signs on, and screeched and clattered with the arranging of chairs and tables, dishes and food. Snippets of conversation from darker streets and parks made her blush at the rare opportunity to eavesdrop, and the sounds of passion from places more isolated still raised the feathers on the back of her wings in excitement of the voyeurism of it all.

At the edge of her range, she heard the denizens of Ponyville prepare for the night, blissfully unaware of their princess’s coming battle in the forests that lay beyond. She grinned inside as she heard her most faithful student, and family member now, recite her bedtime checklist, as well as Spike’s grumbling. She frowned slightly in discomfort as she felt a slight headache coming on from all the information assaulting her.

“HELLO SISTER!” Celestia shrieked and fell off her chair, clutching her ears in agony. Luna had whispered to her, recognizing what she was doing. But being so close, and despite being intentionally quiet, it still felt like a thunderclap but a hair’s breadth from her head. Her sister chuckled. “Oh dear, did I interrupt your eavesdropping on our subjects? You know mother always frowned upon using that ability.” Celestia glared at her. “Certainly she did, but I…well…simply fell into it during a relaxed state. It’s not often I get to enjoy your night, you know.”

Luna snickered. “At least you don’t get to see their dreams. Dare I speak of what torrid wonders my new niece has dreamt? Oh, what-” Celestia stuffed her hoof into her sister’s mouth, silencing her. “Mfggfsmmnghh?” Luna glared at her. “What was that, you say, dear sister? You’ve had a change of heart about the winter solstice celebration? You want ME to design your dress?” Luna’s eyes widened in horror. “MMFFFF! MFGLB- JOKE ABOUT THAT AGAIN! THAT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY, CELLY!”

Celestia fell laughing, and looked up at her sister from her back, who half-glared at her. “In all seriousness, you should have just given me a poke to get me out of that. If you had used your full voice…I doubt I’d be able to have this conversation with you right now.” Luna put her hoof to her mouth, suppressing a giggle. “Anyway, sister,” she began, “I am here to inform you that the Sagittarius has the night guard prepared for the assault. He is seeing to it personally, and we are ready to lead the charge. Has Shining Armor prepared for an incursion by the enemy?”

Celestia nodded. “He said he wouldn’t dare be caught unprepared after what the witch did to his wife and himself. It’s as personal for him just as it is for you. Are you certain you’re up to this, Luna?” Luna’s face hardened from the normally serene face she held into one she was uncomfortably familiar with. “I will not let that vile demon garner any more power or ruin any more lives that it has. The time has come, sister, to end this decisively.” Luna looked to the moon, her expression softening. “For the time it stole from me…from you…cannot be taken back. There must be a new moon for me.” Celestia smiled, and got up, walking towards her sister. Nuzzling her, she took in her rich scent, and felt the peace her sister had given her that she so sorely missed in her absence. “It shall be ended, and we shall be happy at last. An eternity is a long time to spend alone, sister.” Luna smiled, and spoke back to her in a whisper. “And I’m glad I have it to spend with you.”

He had felt pain. He had his soul rent from his flesh, and eaten by the only creature in this world he truly loved in his long, long life. But he never once felt betrayal. Never once did he see her as anything other than his wife, his troubled soulmate, the mare whom he had pledged his love to so many aeons ago. His realm now consisted of a forest so dark and silent not a single ray of light entered, not a single sound uttered. It was peaceful. He had found a single, thorny rose growing on a hill on the only clearing in the forest. It was blue, like the eyes of his love. It shone softly, and spoke to him all the kind words he had heard from her throughout his life. He had held it close, and clutched it with the care and reverence one would expect of a monk handling a reliquary. A widower carrying his wedding bracelet. A thing more precious than all worldly goods.

He knew she was not evil, for he saw in her eyes on her wedding day whom she was, what she was. She was a butterfly. Chrysalis, she had been named, and her mark was that of the caterpillar. She basked in the love and affections of others, and ate and drank the wisdom of the ages. As time passed, she grew into the wise matriarch of the court, a being of eternal and countless beauty, both of mind and body. She was loved by all. More time passed, as did the lives of many under the relentless march of eternity. Her wisdom and love eased tensions and cultivated the future as she always had, but something had changed. Her mark changed, as did her mind. The caterpillar had grown fat, and one day, before his astonished eyes, it changed. A cocoon weaved around the insect on his love’s flank, and became the chrysalis of her namesake.

She changed in but a single day. The family knew it; they could see the change as clearly as if it were etched onto her. But not a word was spoken. No prophecies had been writ of this, no warnings, no precedent of any kind prior to this. It was an unknown, and they all feared it. Within the course of a decade, she changed from loving her family to avoiding them. Her kindness changed to paranoia and malice, and her wisdom changed to madness. Her body changed. What was once a sapphire blue mane, shimmering with magic, fell down around her face and shoulders as a wet, unnatural thing of turquoise and green. Her magic turned to some fel thing, twisting her. Her fur hardened into the black exoskeleton of an insect. She grew fangs to feed upon the magicks of others. But she was still his wife.

Upon confronting her, she told him of the world reborn, twisted and terrible to his ears. He said to her that he could help, as could his brother, and care for her in this difficult time. He spoke out of ignorance, perhaps, but it was a single phrase that set her upon him. “You need help, love.” He knew he could not fix his beloved’s metamorphosis, for he did not understand its purpose, or its workings. What he had not prepared for was her eating him. He felt the fangs pierce his neck, and in an instant he felt his body die, and his soul pass into her. He had been trapped.

Now, a foul smell and a vast field of stars had opened up in the sky above him. While the sight was glorious, he could not stand the smell of rotting flesh that so strongly permeated the once serene forest. The light of the rose dimmed, and he held it closer to him, nuzzling its petals with his pale muzzle. “It’s alright. We can get through this together as we always have. There is always room for hope.” The flower brightened at his words, and felt tears in his eyes at the words his wife had said to him. She had wanted to forget him, but some part of her still knew. Still remembered.

Still understood who he was and what he represented.

“I will love you always, my dear. In sickness and in health.” The rose warmed him with its light. He was content.

Chapter 7

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Day 6
New Moon

The forest was quiet. Deep in the Everfree’s endless expanse, upon the very top of an extinct volcano the changlings made their nest, a queen rose above her subjects on mighty wings of bone and green flame, covered now in armor of the same bones that gave her flight. Now easily thrice her previous height, her minions stared in awe at their transfigured queen, basking in the immense power flowing from her like jade sun. Green flames covered the queen, and licked at the ground. Her eyes glowed white with the magic pouring out of her, and still changing her from within. She alighted upon the high peak overlooking the caldera that she had used in the past to address her subjects as a whole. The moon was absent, and the stars were her backdrop.

“MY CHILDREN!” her voice said, as it boomed out across the mountain slope and beyond. “YOUR QUEEN HAS BEEN GIVEN A NEW GIFT, A NEW LIFE FROM THE LUNAR DEMON! BY OUR POWERS COMBINED, WE NEED NO LONGER HIDE IN THE SHADOWS, NOR FEAR THE DECAYING POWERS OF A RAGGED, DYING HOUSE OF USURPERS!” A cheer erupted briefly, and she continued. “ON THIS NIGHT, WE MARCH ON CANTERLOT, NOT AS PARASITES, NOT AS HUNTERS, BUT AS FREE PEOPLE! AT LONG LAST HAS YOUR QUEEN’S HUNGER BEEN SATED, AND FROM HER WILL SHALL COME THE MEANS OF OUR SALVATION! AND OUR DELIVERENCE FROM THIS EXILE!!!” Another massive roar of the crowd erupted, as before her tens of thousands stood zealously before their queen, as opposed to the handful that had comprised the failed covert invasion force.

“OUR TIME HAS COME AT LONG LAST, AFTER THESE HUNDREDS OF GENERATIONS SPURNED BY THOSE WHO WOULD CALL US OUR BETTERS! AT THIS TIME, AT THIS PLACE, I CALL UPON US TO RISE UP FOR GLORIOUS WAR! FOR UPON THIS NIGHT THE MOON AND SUN WILL FALL, AND THE RIVERS SHALL RUN RED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE ENEMY! WE NEED HIDE NO LONGER, FOR WE. ARE. FREEEE!!!”

A sound not unlike the fiercest of storms blasted forth into the night as the whole of her kingdom roared with elation and fury, and with her signal, they flew up and off into the night. It was at this point that Eagle Eye, Royal Scout of the Equestrian Paramilitary devision, had the spell of the Queen’s galvanizing speech broken, as he saw all the changelings…all of them…covered in full battle armor, magic enhancing runes, and wielding very sharp looking weapons. Feeling a pressure release in his hindquarters as he just realized he had voided his bowels, he set off on very shaky legs to write his report and send it directly through the princesses. He did not expect they would be pleased with the new intelligence he had gleaned.

Celestia heard a familiar pop above her head, and it was with some dread that she recognized the seal as that of the Royal Scouts, not that of her beloved student. Unfurling the scroll, she her eyes widened, and she fell over promptly on her behind. After dropping the scroll, she took a moment to process the enormity of the problem. Equestria didn’t have anywhere near the number of active military personnel combat such an…overwhelming invading force. They had all assumed that Chrysalis’s army had consisted entirely of the contingent that had been more than sufficient to subdue the castle after a short battle. Had it not been for Cadence’s timely intervention, all would have been lost. But this…

She raced downstairs, sensing her sister nearby several floors down. She was looking at the window in the throne room that had been dedicated to Cadance and Shining Armor’s defeat of Chrysalis. “Sister.” Luna turned towards her, snapping out of whatever reverie she had been in. “This situation is more dire than we could have imagined. Come to the vaults downstairs with me, there is something that must be uncovered. Luna gulped nervously, and nodded. “Lead the way, Tia.”

The vaults were where numerous magical artifacts, the national treasury, and ancient tomes and totems of such age and unknown power that they were sealed away for safe-keeping, and were only able to be opened at the direct behest of the princesses, with one of them present at all times. It was also where creatures too powerful to be put down or banished were held prisoner, including the final resting place of Discord’s statue. Luna’s wing held onto her sister, as she was terrified of this place. Massive vaulted ceilings of metals whose creation were now lost to ponykind held up the entire weight of the castle almost effortlessly, without the aid of magic. Massive doors covered the walls to their left and right, and Celestia passed them all, each more menacing than the last.

Then, on the ninth door to the end, she turned, and inserted her horn to open the lock. Luna could not read the strange lettering above any of the doors, and she believed that the same was true for her sister, although she knew what lay behind each of the doors.

A deep groan echoed through the vast underbelly of the castle as the huge door’s locks turned, fell open, and the double doors opened before them. A long hallway lay out before them, and purple magical flames lit upon the torches that lined the path before them. “Follow me, Luna. The lock at the end was made to be opened only by our father; I know the spell key, as it was given to me by Mother prior to her departure. But the power it requires is far more than what I alone can being to bear, and I will need you for this.” Luna nodded, and followed her down the passageway.

Sagittarius narrowed his eyes. He had received the scout’s report and a forward by Celestia, detailing the severity of how badly outnumbered they were, and the necessity of what ultimately had to follow. If he still had his magic, it would have been himself tasked with the responsibility of leading the nation into war, something he himself would have approached very differently than what Celestia had planned. Tinkering with super-weapons like the Mask of Velae or the Singularity were foalhardy, and it was terrifying to even consider what would happen if things got out of their control. He had been responsible with locking away many totems of dark arcana, and had not understood what their grandfather, Emperor Orion, who had united the country under a single banner, decided not to destroy ever last one of the vile things.

Celestia had chosen to utilize the Adderhenge, one of the few remaining things left from the world before this one. As best he understood it, it was an altar of sorts his grandfather had actually built the vaults around, and laid the foundations of what would become Canterlot upon. The Adderhenge was a stone circle of megaliths stacked around a strange altar, which held a bottomless well into which offerings were dropped. The stones were carved intricately with a huge variety of magical inscriptions and arrays. But the alter itself was covered transmudae so miniscule, they could only barely be seen with the naked eye. It was impossible that such detail could be carved so delicately into metal by magic or technology of any known means, so it had remained a mystery for quite some time until the day Orion and his son, Taranis, laid the blood offering of the remains of Taranis’s stillborn daughter into the well.

Nopony knew what would happen, but in an instant, every rune on the entire structure had activated, glowing fiercely with an orange glow. The court wizards had come to watch what would transpire, and they were astonished at what they now saw. Instead of either of them, one who called himself Aven-Sol now stood in their place. The two had seamlessly merged into a single creature of almost infinite power, and was far more than the sum of his parts. Orion controlled the heavens, the power of gravity and realm of dreams and chaos. Taranis controlled the skies and the weather, lightning and magic, which had been the sole domain of the alicorns. Unicorns had telekinetic control over their environment, and it was Aven-Sol who recognized that the entire race was capable of the same magic he and his alicorn kind commanded. While he no longer bore physical traits of either one, he had the memories of both, and seemed to have been crafted from the better aspects of both of them. He bore his children, Celestia and Luna without any problem from his wife, and they had been powerful enough to take full control of the sun and the moon at a very early age.

The Adderhenge also had borne over the years such strange things as the Cord of the Elements, the Malediction of Croisis, and…the Nightmare. While a few artifacts or nothing at all were given back from the well, more often than not when the runes activated whatever foolish pony or warlord that had tossed in tribute without any kind of blood had simply been obliterated by the magic of the place. The Nightmare…had emerged from the well when his crazed mother tossed in the murdered bodies of a half-dozen court mages and nobles, all alicorns, and leaving none but theirs and Aven-Sol’s bloodline as part of their race.

What could Celestia and Luna possibly offer as sacrifice to that wretched place?

Luna gasped and fell over. She and her sister had been trying to undo the lock that had been placed on the door at the end of the hallway they had entered to no avail. The lock was exceptionally complex, and was covered in innumerable gems and intricate spell webs and formations connecting them. In the center, three round holes surrounded a fourth, large one in the center, forming an upside-down “Y” shape. Luna and Celestia had placed their horns in the lower two slots.

“It’s no use, sister; we’re simply not strong enough to open this lock. Is there not anything else in these vast dungeons that can yield us our victory?” Celestia caught her breath, and shook her head in a negative. “Alas Luna, there is not something that I can…reliably predict the outcome of using. We must try harder.” Again the two sisters poured all their formidable magic into the two slots, lighting up the gems and arcane circles on the door, and falling down again under the effort, watching hopelessly as the lights dimmed again. “It is no use. We simply are nowhere near as powerful as Father, nor can we-” “Nor can we afford to fail!” Her sister piped up angrily. “Luna, if we do not breach this last barrier, everything we have ever known and ever love will fall and burn to that…maniac! I could not stop her the last time; do you have any idea how terrified I am now that she’s possessed by that…thing?”

Luna shuddered. “Celly…I think it’s time I…I told you something.” Celestia looked up at her sister, confused. “That…horrid prophecy that I had. The night-terror. I think…I think you should hear it...see it...as it bears direct connection to the…dire straits we find outselves in.” Celestia looked uneasy. “Are you certain of this? It was…quite distressing just to watch you wake up from it.” Luna closed her eyes momentarily, and opened them at her sister with fierce determination. “As much as I loathe sharing such a vile memory with you…it’s important you understand my reticence with addressing the future in regards to our aunt.” Celestia sighed, and nodded. “I can’t fault you for being afraid of sharing something like…that. But it’s absolutely necessary now. Show me.”

Luna looked up at her with the same pleading face she held so long ago, and so fresh in Celestia’s mind from her dream. “It’s…really bad. But…you do need to understand it. I’ll start the memory spell.” Luna began, and Celestia right away decided that she probably would have been better off not hearing it…

The Nightmare

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NOTE: I am trying to figure out how to add a mature filter to this particular chapter. I had something similar set up on DA, but I'm far too unfamiliar with this site to organize it. If you are at all uncomfortable with blood or gore, apocalyptic visions, etc., TURN BACK NOW. THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.

Luna coughed. This wasn’t one of her normal dreams. She blinked, and with a start she realized she was standing on a hilltop, overlooking…what was left of Canterlot. Everything was on fire.

Smoke covered the sky as she walked down from the hill, and she kept reminding herself that this was not a preordained prophecy, but a possible future. Her mind stopped entirely as she reached the gates. The pungent stench of death and gore hit her like a train, and she fell over as she felt the memories of that one, terrible day come rushing back to her. As she stood, unmoving in the panic that had gripped her, she saw a pair of changelings exit the destroyed gates of the castle. With utter horror she saw that it was the head of her son-in-law, Shining Armor, being kicked around like a football. The vile creatures laughed as the one closest to her punted it through the barren wooden beams of what had once been part of a ballista’s hardpoint, now broken off. Shuddering and their cheers, and realizing they couldn’t see her, she cautiously walked into the courtyard, awaiting whatever horrid sights awaited her.

The Canterlot gardens, once consisting of a beautiful maze and sculpture garden among many other marvels, was little more than a burnt out husk covered in rubble. Many of the parapets and roofs to the castle had been obliterated or broken off, and the broken stone lay about feet of the castle. She shivered as she walked over the crushed corpse of a guardspony, and felt herself being compelled to go to the theater room. Grudgingly, she walked up the steps, and watched, impassively, as a guard that had somehow managed to flee the chaos was ripped apart in mid-air by changelings in a shower of blood. Her eyes immediately set forward as she passed into the theater.

Before her were…hundreds, if not thousands of changelings, all packed tightly into the theater room where the Hearth’s Warming Eve play had taken place. Curious, she walked forward through the throng of spectators, and…realized she had just walked into an execution. Before her lay five of the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The one called Rainbow Dash was not present. “Oh dear, Celestia, it looks like your favorite student has failed you once again. What do you think her punishment should be?” Chrysalis sat lazily in a makeshift throne of dozens of bodies, and for a moment, Luna could not process what she was seeing. Chrysalis was looking at…a head that was placed on her hoof. The hair…NO IT CAN’T BE!!!

Celestia’s eyes had rolled back into her head, and her mouth was open with her tongue hanging out. Her head had been messily decapitated from its body, and was being used as some kind of…grotesque puppet. “Well, it’s off with her head! She failed to save me, she failed to save her country, and she failed to save her friends! But just to make sure the little egghead gets it, she’ll be first before everypony else, being held as an example. Doesn’t that sound fair, auntie?” The evil queen cackled maniacally, sanity completely gone as foam dribbled out of her mouth, and her fangs covered in gore from gorging herself.

Celestia’s mouth flapped as her aunt bobbed the head up and down, and mocked her sister’s voice at the little unicorn. Luna could only stare at her sister, with sick horror at what this monster had done. A strange, eerie laughter from behind her broke her trance. The pink earth pony, Pinkie, was laughing on the ground, and was holding her hooves together, rolling from side to side. “Hey Twilight, you always wanted to be a-HEAD of everpony else! Now you really can be! Of course the princess-” “PINKIE! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU???” Luna looked over to the dirty, beaten mare that had once been the beautiful Rarity. Her head had been shaved, and her horn was broken in half down the middle, but it was still Rarity. “Silly Rarity! Nothing matters except laughter any more! Chryssy’s laughing, why aren’t you?” If Luna had a physical form, she would have thrown up her insides at the intense wave of nausea that blasted through her at hearing the pink pony and Chrysalis laughing together.

“Ah Pinkie Pie; element of Laughter until the end. I’m still not sure if I should have your head mounted with the rest of them, or keep you as a court jester. I think we should ask somepony who shares your pink character. What do you think, Cadance?” Luna collapsed as she saw what followed next. Her daughter…had not been killed. This was far worse.

Cadance had her wings and horn brutally ripped off, and the once beautiful alicorn was barely able to stand. She was staring at the ground, completely gone. A piece of blue flesh and blood hung from her mouth.

“Nothing then? You’ve been pretty quiet after your mother decided to go down in an idiot blaze of glory. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth, doesn’t it?” Her eye twitched, and she spat out…Luna’s Cutie mark. “Ohh defiant little girlie. It’s not nice to leave your mother on the dirt is it?” Luna backed up. She didn’t want any more of this. She had had enough. “GET ME OUT OF HERE!! CELESTIA, CADANCE, ANYPONY HELP!!! PLEASE OH GODS PLEASE SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!!” Not a single creature in the macabre display paid attention to her, and she could not find away around the crowd.

Sobbing, she fell to the floor, and watched the disgusting scene play out at an all-too familiar angle.
“Silly-filly! Cadance can’t talk any more, she’s just a dumb donkey like twilight over here, and Applejack! How ya doin’, Applejack.?” The orange farmpony still had her hat, but her back hooves and one of her eyes were missing. She was staring ahead, slack-jawed and comatose. She fell over like a sack of…apples…after Pinkie gave her a hearty slap on the back. “See? They’ve already checked out. Lights are on, nopony’s home. Howabout you there, Rarity?” Strangely, the once-white unicorn was staring at her friend with hatred and confusion she had only once seen reflected in a mirror. “Pinkie…why are you doing this? Why aren’t you-” “Why aren’t I what, silly-filly? Crying my eyes out like you? Being a dummy with nopony clopping around upstairs? It’s not a party if you can’t be there to begin with! And this is a big party! Look at everyone here!” The changelings cheered and whistled, some more lewdly than would have been appropriate in any situation, let alone this quagmire.

“See? It’s still a party!” Luna was hyperventilating. The pink pony was laughing again. Chrysalis smiled. “Alright, Pinkie. I’ll let you live for…a bit longer. At least as long as you can keep everyone in as good spirits as yourself.” The pink pony smiled and nodded vigorously, hopping up and down. “Ohh and I think I have just the right idea for this. Hold on.” Chrysalis grimaced slightly, and two bolts of green light connected from her gnarled horn to Cadance and Twilights’ horns. “There, that’s better. Now they can say their goodbyes to each other.” Cadance was slowly backing away from the bit of skin that was on the ground before her, bearing her mother’s emblem. “No…” Luna could do nothing as she watched her daughter lose her mind again. “It’s a lie…it’s a nightmare…it can’t be…NO THIS ISN’T RIGHT! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! SHE-I just got her back. Oh mother-”

“Oh mommy dearest got all gobbled up. Mommy dearest died well and stupid, and she didn’t think to see if her poor, idiot daughter was watching her die after trying to avenge her sister.” Cadance slowly turned her gaze upwards, and screamed what was left of her sanity away as she saw her aunt’s head being used as a puppet, mocking her voice.

She then looked down from her throne of the dead, a massive face sneering at a whimpering pound of feathery pink flesh. “You got down on your whore knees to spare your stupid husband’s life. You did dirty, dirty things for us, and when your whore body was used up like the trash it is, what did your idiot husband do? He runs at us like a foal, tears and snot streaming like a river from his face, saying that he’d make us pay for hurting you. No appreciation for the work you had to go through, the stupid colt. So I cut off his head, and you blanked out like a stupid mule as it rolled into your lap. You didn’t so much as twitch after I ate his flesh and broke the marrow open from his bones; so I decided that wasn’t enough entertainment for us all here.” A loud chorus of laughter and jeers erupted, and many of the changelings had assumed the guise of Shining Armor, mocking her.

“You made us bored, so we made you…full.” Cadance’s eyes widened in awful clarity, and Luna stared helplessly, tears streaming down her face as she saw the last vestige of sanity her daughter was holding onto snap like a piano wire.

“I stuffed her lunar flank, cutlets, and heart into your whore mouth, child. I made you chew and swallow like an invalid and laughed as you gulped down your mother’s flesh and bones, blood and bile. I stuffed her heart down your throat and made you swallow. It was so much fun to watch, I almost pissed myself from sheer joy.”

Luna could not move. She was fixed on the image of some shredded piece of meat hanging from Chrysalis’ teeth as she threw back her head and laughed. Cadance had gone back to being catatonic after violently vomiting whatever was left inside of her stomach. She was twitching softly on the floor.

“Ahh, now let’s check in on our favorite Element of Magic. I think-oh my…”

Twilight was staring up, slack-jawed as before at Celestia’s head, balanced on Chrysalis’s hoof. “Hmm…that hasn’t happened before. I guess there’s just no hope for that one; she’s completely broken. Idiot girl actually thought she could save everypony. Too much stress is bad for the brain, egghead.” She snickered. “Oh, I almost forgot! My most lovely archer, my noble son. Where art thou?” Luna got up as one of the changelings pushed into her. “Here, mother.” After everything she had witnessed…here was Sagittarius, calmly walking down the aisle, unharmed. She saw an all-too familiar greenish glow of Chrysalis’ mind-altering spell in his eyes. She also noticed…he had a horn. “Dear, would you mind continuing the execution for your mother and our new friends?” Chrysalis waved to the crowd, who cheered happily. More than a few female changelings tried to grab his feet in whatever celebrity infatuation had possessed them.

“Certainly. Anything for you, mother. Would you like the purple one, the white one, or the orange one?” Chrysalis rested her (own) head on her left hoof, contemplating. “Oh, I know! Why not do two at a time! The unicorns first; I can’t wait to get rid of that insufferable fashion bitch. Who needs clothes any more, anyway?” She cackled as Rarity was brought, wailing her head off to the chopping block that had been set up in front of the throne. “TWILIGHT! DO SOMETHING! PLEASE OH CELESTIA PLEASE SOMEPONY SAVE ME! TWILIGHT! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! TWILIIGHT!!!” Rarity was pleading, tears streaming out of her sapphire blue eyes.

Chrysalis snickered, and bounced Celestia's head on her hoof, mocking her voice. “Of all the people to pray to or ask for help, you ask for me? I couldn’t save your sister or any of her stupid little friends. Your rainbow friend was quite tasty, though, even though she kept calling out the name of your orange friend over mine. Silly Pegasus thought she could-”
“Rarity.” The entire hall went silent as the little pony spoke. Luna stopped sobbing, and stared at Twilight, who was now facing Rarity with an expression of utter serenity and clarity. “Thank you for everything. I’m sorry for everything you had to go through, but I know what I have to do now.” She smiled weakly, and closed her eyes. A cone of purple magic spread down from her horn, and the wind picked up, blowing towards her. “Goodbye. And BUCK you, Pinkie.” Pinkie looked on, and a moment’s understanding sparked off a lightbulb in the pink pony’s head. “SHE’S GONNA TIME JUMP!!!” Chrysalis reared up out of her throne, her frame filling the entire front of the theater. “YOU WILL NOT DENY ME MY VICTORY, WORM!! NOOOO!!!!!” Twilight closed her eyes, and in a flash she was gone, and the nightmare, thankfully, blissfully, ended.

Chapter 8

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Celestia sat before her sister, as still as Discord’s statue as she ended the story. Her eyes had glazed over. “Sister…are you alright? That bit with you in there…can you understand why-” Luna shut her mouth as her sister turned around and emptied the contents of her stomach. They had shared their dreams and nightmares with each other whenever they were young, to share the burden and understand each other better. Luna had, mistakenly neglected to realize how much stronger the bond between them was now, and that her sister now had the nightmare seared into her eternal memory as clearly as Luna had when she had first awoken. Quickly, she came over and helped her sister regain her footing.

“At least…at least it ended well with Twilight. That…that was not pleasant. Don’t do anything like that to me ever again.”

Luna gulped, and bowed her head in shame and disgust with herself. “…Sorry, sister.” Celestia wiped the vomit off her mouth. “But,” she began. “I can see now why you waited so long to show that…vile prophecy to me. Its ending is uncertain, and…” She paused again, and Luna yelled as her sister vomited on her. “I…well, I guess we’re even. Let me get that out of your coat, here…” Celestia’s horn glowed, and covered Luna’s now dripping wet mane with a glowing golden cloud of magic. It passed trough it and over her coat, clearing the offending partially digested chunks of carrots and potatoes she had eaten for lunch.

“I…think apologies are in order for both of us. Luna…I understand how terrible it must have been to have such a nightmare weighing on you, and…the horror that possible future represents. And the horror of throwing up on you; gods, I haven’t done that since I was two hundred and seventeen…” Luna suppressed her laughter. “Sister…I am sorry for hiding this from you and…just don’t puke on me again, alright? Least of all on my mane. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less after that…” Celestia gulped, and felt a shudder go down her spine as she remembered seeing her insane aunt…with her head as a puppet talking like a children’s show in front of her subjects. It was…disgusting in every sense of the word.

“So, are we going to do this together now?” Luna’s face smiled gratefully at her sister’s words. “Yes. I believe I am relieved enough now after…letting go of that burden… to give it my all. Shall we?” Celestia nodded, and the both inserted their horns into the large keyhole. “Go.” Luna felt deep inside herself, and let the floodgates of her magic she had so cautiously kept closed burst open. A gasp exited her sister as she felt the sudden release of power, and the door thrummed deeply as it greedily ate up the boundless power of Luna and Celestia, goddesses of all the Cosmos, being poured into its frame. At the point where Celestia felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, the door abruptly clicked, and the locks released. Luna and Celestia collapsed onto each other. The sight that greeted them was more than what they could have expected, as neither of them had either entered the room.

“Sister…look.” Instead of the dank cave they had been expecting, a cool grassy knoll greeted them, leading up to the strange megalithic structure they had been searching for. Instead of walls or a ceiling, a backdrop of stars Luna didn’t recognize for the life of her covered their field of view above them. “All that energy…it was to establish a link. Luna…this is a bubble universe.” Luna was agape. Their father had protected this place so well after their aunt’s desecration; he had kept it hidden away in a place none but himself or his daughters could eventually reach it. They picked each other up, and barely being able to stand, they made their way up the cool grass, hearing crickets chirping, and all the sounds of night one would expect on a cool spring evening.

“This is…amazing. It is a wonder father could have designed such a small pocket world. Was this place really so valuable as to go to such lengths to protect?” Celestia was about to answer her sister, when she noticed…somepony on the grass. He was reading a book. She grabbed her sister, and pulled her down into the grass.
“Celly, what-” Celestia shoved her hoof in her sister’s mouth, and pointed to the figure across the other side of the small hill. Luna’s eyes went wide. “…It can’t be. That looks like…” A cough permeated the night atmosphere. “Dears, I can hear you quite fine. This certainly wasn’t the welcome I was expecting from my daughters, though. Come give daddy a hug?”

Shining Armor stood tall, looking out from the castle. Word had been sent to Ponyville and the outlying areas between the Everfree and Canterlot for immediate evacuation in preparation of an invasion, and both the night and day guard had been equally efficient in rallying everypony to safety. He had erected a massive defensive barrier around the entire castle, and although he knew it more than likely wouldn’t hold off the entire onslaught, it would give them more than enough time to prepare defensive emplacements, and provide them with the ability to fight from inside the protection of the force field, thinning the no doubt massive horde that would eventually breach the barrier. The enigmatic and intimidating Night Guard Captain, Sagittarius, stood several heads higher next to him, towering above even the most robust of his soldiers. “Goodness, lad, I can see why Tia chose you at such a young age. Such a fine defensive spell as this will keep the buggers out for days if you can keep it up as well as your reputation dictates it will.”

The white unicorn looked up at the strange colt. He knew Sagittarius held the Night court in Luna’s absence, and even with her return he was still a common sight, with or without her. He had trained in non-magical combat with the gigantic pseudo-pegasus, and he had been amazed when the beautiful barrier he erected around the old warhorse that could (in his humble estimation) plug a volcanic eruption around the entire volcano, calmly shattered it into a thousand piece by a swift tap with his hoof, which had been crackling with that weird magic he had. Slack-jawed, he was literally punted clear across the entire labyrinth for disobeying the “no spells” part of the training. He had easily stopped himself before becoming a grease stain against the cliff, but the message and been painfully clear: Don’t disobey the Night Captain when he was giving you a direct order.

“So…you think it’ll work?” He looked up cautiously at the older colt.

“Oh certainly. It’ll keep the crazies out as long as their mummy lets them. Speaking of which, you know I’m her only son right? Be gracious you were never an only child, lad.” Shining gulped audibly. This he had not known, although long suspected it. He saw the broken nub where a horn had once been on his face, and noticed the unsettling physical similarities between him and that…evil, evil queen. But that’s where it ended. He didn’t presume to know the whole story, nor did he want to. But he was glad he was on Equestria’s side.

“Ahh…but if Mum’s in with that Nightmare as much as I think she is…don’t thing this here bubble’ll do much more than pop. Knowing her, though…she’ll probably put the pawns out first.” Now he was very scared. He looked up to the tower where Cadance was staying, and forced himself to be brave. He had a good, bright future to protect. He had ponies he could not let down. “Mmmhm. Too bad she can’t help out here; little buggers couldn’t stand her last time, but it looks like the little beasties have had a change of heart. She’s not big on combat magic, is she?” He shook his head severely in the negative. “I thought so. Well, you and me here, and the whole equestrian army between that conniving bitch of a mother of mine, I think we’ve got a pretty good chance, eh?” He swallowed, and began to take on a shade paler than his normal coat. “I…uh…sure. I really hope.” He winced at the laughter ringing in his ears. “We’ll do just fine, laddy. Keep a stiff upper lip, a solid stance, and remember your training. You’ll do fine. She’ll be more than interested in stalling if I talk to her. Mayhap single combat, knowing even the nightmare will allow it. Just you wait.”
“…You have a seriously messed up family, if you don’t mind my saying that.”
“Ahh, don’t I know it. Just ask yer mum in law about it before you get sent to the moon, will you? Hahahhahaha…”

Luna stood stock still, completely overwhelmed. “…Daddy?” Celestia broke her sister’s spell, and they both came bolting towards the unusually large colt who, upon running up to him, still dwarfed his daughters despite the passing of the aeons. “I am so glad to see you, and so very, very sorry for leaving you and your mother. I assume since she is not here with you, and judging by the expressions on your faces at her mention that she did not survive. Please, daughters; sit with me.” The massive stallion walked over to the Adderhenge, and Luna took in the full scope of her father, whom she had been too young to clearly remember.

He stood half again as tall as them, and she remembered reading somewhere in the old archives that much of the large, open architecture of the palace was meant more to accommodate their king’s immense size, rather than to look as grand as it did. His coat was ebon black, and twinkled with stars. Luna saw some similarity with herself from his body, but it ended at his shoulders, where his mane came out. Bright white hair flowed out from his head, piling on his right side. It did not flow as Celestia’s mane did, but its smoothness and purity reminded her of a magnificently cloudy day, with the sun reflecting off massive clouds that covered the sky like many mountains.

They sat down, and she watched with amusement as her sister snuggled up to her father in his embrace. She had always missed him the most, if only because she actually remembered him. “Though I am glad you have finally decided to visit me, I am puzzled, daughters. It has been much longer than the time I had assumed it would take for you to develop your powers to open the gate, and I am curious as to the strange traces of magic I smell on you, Luna.”

Luna gulped, and was about to stammer out a reply, when Celestia spoke up, saving her the embarrassment of stumbling over her words for her first time speaking to her father. “Father…do you remember the…Demon that Chrysalis let loose prior to her banishment?” His gaze hardened. “I do.” Celestia paused to collect herself. “It…possessed Luna. Over a millennia ago, it fought her for control over her body, and she lost. What happened after…let us say that Mother was but one of the many casualties which came from the chaos.” He closed his eyes in sorrow.

“…How many of us remain, my daughters?” There was an agonizingly long pause. Luna spoke. “…There are four of us. Six, if you count Chrysalis and yourself. None more that we know of remain.” Aven-Sol’s massive form shuddered. “So few are left from the ancient times. Fewer still remain within the kingdom. If I had only sent word to the White Citadel before this escalated…” Luna looked at her sister in confusion. Neither of them understood what he spoke of. “Father, we came here not to find you, but for answers. A grave situation has arisen; our aunt now brings the full force of her followers against us, some tens of thousands if not more move across the Everfree to march on Canterlot, and with the Demon aiding them, we cannot hope to beat them back. Will you lend us your aid?”

The massive alicorn stallion looked lovingly into his daughter’s eyes. He had the most wonderful indigo eyes, and they managed to mix such sorrow with such joy at simply seeing his daughters again. He looked back towards the altar. “I am bound to this place. The Adderhenge is unpredictable at the best of times, and when I left you, though I had gained power beyond the physical realm, I left because it called me back for its payment. I cannot leave this place, for the magic would fail and I would literally be torn apart. My twin souls have been together for so long, I cannot reverse the procedure. Such is the price of this strange wishing well.”

Celestia’s hair drooped down, and covered her face in utter dispair. She had hoped to find some kind of answer from this place without resorting to a blood sacrifice or leaving empty-handed. “Is there anything, father, anything that you know of that could save our kingdom? I do not wish to throw myself or my sister in the well, and you are far to large to fit in there.” Aven-Sol smiled slightly at his daughter’s joke.

“There are several things, child, which can be used to defeat an army of the size you speak of. Most of them possess too great a risk to field, or would demand to high a price in the future such as the Adderhenge does. But…I believe I may be able to give you more than simple options. A payment can be made that does not require murder, only blood and honor. Here, follow me.” They walked up towards the altar. Luna was fascinated with the Adderhenge itself; thousands of carved runes alien to her understanding covered every inch of the place, and way-lines and other spell circles and strange designs spread across in fantastically complex patterns, radiating out from the altar at the center.

As they came up on it, Luna took in the sight of the altar. It was a raised up above the floor in three separate platforms, each buttressing the well at the center. Incredibly fine runes covered everything but the tops of the altars, which all three were constructed from some strange orange metal. Luna peeked into the well. There was no water, only a murky blackness with all-too familiar voices of the beyond whispering far below, reminiscent of the voices of madness that plagued her imprisonment.

“As far as I understand it, if we each let some of our blood into the well, it will help us if we each speak of the same desire, and affirming it truthfully by giving our own reasons for wanting the same thing. I will begin.” Luna watched cautiously as her father put out his long foreleg over the well, and sliced a rather deep cut below the knee with a sharp spark of his magic. He didn’t bat an eye.

“I, Aven-Sol, formally Orion and Taranis, doth speak in favor of the will of my daughters whose grievances or desires shall precede my own. By my blood and spirit, by the magic that is my birthright and responsibility, I do affirm the validity of their word, and my desire for the success of their wish. Hear my words.” He nodded to Celestia to continue.

Celestia put out her forehoof, and grimaced noticeably in pain as she cut in roughly the same area as her father, dripping her blood into the well. “I, Celestia, co-sovereign of Equestria and all its holdings, do affirm my father’s blessing, and now speak my wish. Changeling invaders who number far greater than those who would protect my people and myself threaten my dominion. They are led by my aunt, Chrysalis, who will bring nothing but death and madness of the worst imaginings to my land. I plead with the powers that hear my plight to grant me a means upon which to save my kingdom, and vanquish the enemy that we face. I am prepared to put forward my own soul and body as payment to see my country survive unscathed, and nopony within it harmed should the price for such a thing be asked. Hear my words.”

Luna gulped. She hadn’t prepared a speech, and it took her a few minutes to bring up the nerve to speak with such solemnity as her sister, and a way to word what she had desired for so long to rectify. “I, Luna, co-sovereign of Equestria and all its holdings, do affirm the will of my sister, and her aforementioned grievance. I do affirm her authority and authenticity to make the request, but ask instead that my soul and body be taken in place of hers in atonement for my past offenses against our family and our kingdom. I do place in her most capable hooves my right to rule over the night and all that resides within my sphere of power, and all the possessions I own present and past. I ask that should both our lives become forfeit in payment to the wish, that my daughter be spared under all circumstance regarding torment, possession, or murder by the Nightmare which had possessed me, and been the architect of that which I desire atonement for. Hear my words.”

Luna winced as she felt the self-inflicted wound pour out significantly more blood than her sister or father, and felt a small measure of relief as the wound closed on its own before spilling more blood than would be safe. A short silence followed before the well erupted with a hurricane of magic.

Fluttershy stood behind the bolted protection of her door. She had been terrified of things like dragons before. She had even fainted on many different occasions for far less. But seeing thousands of changeling soldiers erupt from the forest like a colony of bats had been far and away the most frightening thing she had ever experienced. She had been on her way back from her mailbox when she heard what sounded like the rumbling of a storm in the distance, when she saw the forest come alive with animals of all kinds fleeing the changeling army. Overhead, thousands upon thousands of the creatures flew, each brandishing some terrible weapon and even more terrible armor. The buzzing of tens of thousands of wings assaulted her and her tiny cottage, giving her a violent flashback to the Parasprite infestation. Angel bunny held on to her for dear life, and they both tried to ride this out without passing out from sheer terror.

The forest trembled. hundreds of thousands of her Queen’s soldiers flew to war, eclipsing the moon. Changling Vyrl, one of the many generals chosen by his Queen stood proud at the front of the line, leading his brothers in sisters in the magnificent charge. Well, that was with the exception of their Queen. Chrysalis flew several hundred yards in front of them, vanguard to the massive army that was descending upon Equestria. He motioned down to the ground, and they all immediately landed onto the soft grass fields underneath them on the plains between their forest and Ponyville. Executing the signal spark, he cloaked his form using his magic, turning himself invisible.

Changelings, while lacking in individual ingenuity or really any kind of individuality at all, do possess both some inherent magical ability and the gift of flight, although not coming close to either the unicorns or pegusi in abilities. Their innate ability to change their form also comes with the useful ability to hide themselves, allowing for their numbers to grow as great as they have over the centuries while avoiding the patrols of the ever-vigilant Royal Guards and ponies who occasionally came trudging through their forest.

Making not even the slightest of sound, and only the winds to give them away, they silently split up into three separate regiments. One would assault the town below, drawing the Elements towards them as a diversion. The other would strike canterlot directly, plundering the city of its goods and many ponies. The last, and largest regiment led by their Queen would assault the castle proper, and keep the two princesses at bay until the full force of the army converged upon the mighty citadel upon the cliff once the shield spell was broken. With their queen as powerful as she was now, the two princesses did not stand a chance as long as everyone did their job, and the Elements were disabled properly beforehand.

The captains of the Night and Day guard would be the first obstacles, and beyond them, the royal sisters, and the foul pink alicorn who thwarted their first assault so grievously, after victory had been attained. Now, every single changeling would begin flying out to the proper places, and- “Did you miss me, mother?” A spark of recognition snapped through the mad queen’s mind, and she had but a moment to react before the ground before her buckled and gave way to the massive impact of her son slamming down into the ground, breaking the illusions her soldiers had held, scattering them.

“I come now before you as the vanguard; I come as the first so that should not be a last, and that I may find victory against you, by myself.” Chrysalis sneered. “You think you can challenge my entire army?” He smiled serenely, looking up at here. “No, mother. I think to challenge you. And I will win.”

Chrysalis was about to make a witty rebuttal, when she felt a massive bloom of pain on her chest, and felt herself being thrown back violently into the mountainside that only moments before, had been several miles to their right flanking them. The black forms of hundreds of thousands of changelings stood around him, struggling to process the sight of their queen being so forcefully rejected. A sudden roar, and the mountain erupted in a green inferno. A thick gout of green flame burst of from the ground in front of him, and his mother, now very mad, panted heavily as her glowing green blood dripped from her cracked exoskeleton. His eyes widened as the grievous wound closed itself perfectly, as if he had never landed a blow.

“You are no son of mine.” He backed up in surprise as she opened her mouth, releasing a massive gout of emerald fire, searing his flesh more painfully than Celestia ever could. A silence pervaded the battlefield, as the smoking form of her son stood unmoved. His eyes opened, revealing a gaze of such unfathomable disdain, several changelings close to him who had avoided the blast, took a step back. “How right you are.”

The Last Prince of the Earth opened his massive wings, and shot up into the sky, knocking down his mother and many of the surrounding changelings. He whispered quietly to himself in the air, “But I do have a father.”

Far off towards the castle, sitting in her tower, Cadance watched with tears in her eyes as a dark form plummeted to the ground, snapping the air like thunder, and impacting the ground like the roar of an angry god. Please, she prayed silently, Please let all of us come out the other end of this alive.

Chapter 9

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Upon the emerald plains of Valore, in the land of Equestria, near the town of Ponyville, a battle raged.

Further in, towards the castle, a captain and his princess watched in fear and awe as the violence unfolded, and wondered if they would last the night.

Deep in the bowels of the castle, in a place no mortal should ever dare set hoof in, a father and his daughters dare to hope for the object of their salvation, a light in the darkness.

Celestia coughed. Her vision was blurred, and she could just make out Luna laying next to her, in a similar predicament. After coughing again and helping her younger sister up, they looked back to the well. Their father was standing in the same place he had been, but was staring up at the sky. They looked up, and gasped in unison at what met their eyes.

Shining Armor winced as another loud explosion blasted through the air, shaking the stone beneath his feet and the trees behind him. Sagittarius had bolted off to stall the Changeling armor so further defensive emplacements could be erected, as well as wearing their massive numbers down enough. It seemed, though, from what he could see, that he was fighting just with Chrysalis.

He helped a startled Nightguardspony up to her feet as another massive explosion rocked the castle, this time from a boulder smashing against his shield. I really, REALLY hope he doesn’t die before we can get everything set up. He was about to scold himself when he saw his wife up in her tower, looking out towards the battle. She was visibly terrified. Nothing will happen to her. I swear it on all that is sacred, I will fight until my last breath protecting her from…that evil, evil monster that dares call itself queen. She looked down at him for a few fleeting seconds, and closed her windows. She will be safe.

Sagittarius was covered in blood, dirt, and several other fluids he couldn’t identify. Although none of them were his, he was actually beginning to feel somewhat tired. Though he certainly had a bone to pick with Chrysalis, she was proving far more resilient than he ever could have anticipated, and attacking her entire army instead of herself would be certain death.

What could I possibly do to disable her? She’s as tough as…well, me. That exoskeleton heals just too quickly, and I can’t seem to land blows that would breach it in quick enough succession to truly injure or kill her.

A smirk of pure arrogance was displayed across the changeling queen’s face, but underneath it was barely contained rage. He had interrupted her surprise attack, and moreover any momentum they would have possessed.

Chrysalis spat out some of her eerie glowing green blood, and wiped her mouth.
Perhaps she was more injured than he first suspected. She spoke with venom. “What do you expect will be the outcome of this? I will wear you down, and my children and I will overwhelm you eventually. Do you not value your own life, my son? Is your duty to this ragged and idiotic monarchy so important to you?”

Snickers and small laughs came from the surrounding changelings, comfortably supporting their queen’s taunting. It stopped very suddenly when he spoke.

“No, it’s not. It never was about any kind of loyalty to them, younger cousins of mine.”

Chrysalis took a step back, her face twisted with genuine confusion.

“…Then what? What could possibly drive you to throw your lot in with them? That bitch even took your magnificent horn! How could you possibly forgive her? How could you stand the company of an abuser and an madmare??” A long pause ensued; anypony could have heard a pin drop.

“I stand guard, vigilant because of you. You are my responsibility, and always have been. I know what happened to father, but I also know what you are, mother. You are trapped in your cocoon. I have stayed with them because I knew that your hatred would drive you back home, and it is only there that you can finally reach the apotheosis of your metamorphosis.”

Chrysalis threw back her head and wailed with laughter.

“You IDIOT! You stupid, STUPID FOAL! CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT IS WHERE I AM NOW???”

Sagittarius looked down and shook his head. “I see power, yes. Resilience and prowess are things learned and built up over time, but you do not have grace, or the foresight to use your abilities in a sustainable manner. You lack anything resembling completion. You are nothing more than an accumulation of aeons of madness and rage. You cannot possibly become complete from the destruction of others. Even if you defeat me, you will not win. You cannot win, because you cannot become any more than you are. You have reached the confines of your chrysalis, and you must break free or die inside.”

A silence came from the ancient Queen. Sagittarius was about to break it when his mother spoke in a surprisingly subdued tone. “You know nothing, child. Your father…I could not see him change any more than he had, so I took him into myself. They vilified me for it. They cast me out, and used you to do it. Everypony turned on me…except my true children. They gave me hope and life, and purpose. You cannot hope to understand what my hive means to me.”

“They are nothing.” Shocked gasps came from around him, and his mothers eyes widened as he spoke the words. “They are an army of sycophantic aberrations, and they are all the same, every last single one of them. They may be able to change into another so perfectly as to have the original question themselves, but they are nothing by themselves. They are empty, soulless creatures you made for nothing more to stroke your own, over-inflated ego. You will find no love from them, and you will find no companionship from them. They are without imagination, without a future, and without souls apart from you. They are nothing.”

An angry snarl etched its way across the Changeling Queen’s face as growls of discontent came from the army around him, which now began to draw closer.

“It is unwise…to insult an entire army that has you surrounded. They will show you how they are NOT nothing, and what depths their loyalty and love for me reach.” He gulped audibly. He may have made more of mistake than he originally calculated.

In the small bubble universe they had found themselves in, glowing like a pure white sun atop the Adderhenge and placed above them in the backdrop of the glorious evening sky, was a six-pointed star. It looked as if it was made from liquid crystal, glowing brightly with a light Celestia had never seen, nor would she soon forget. Within it, something protean and beautiful in its formlessness shifted, perfect in every way.

“What…what is it, father?” Luna asked. Celestia barely heard her sister, as she had moved behind a pillar to shield herself from the talisman’s light.

“The At’Sarii; the Eye of Truth, the Atavism of Eternity, the Light of Ages, etcetera. It is one of the talismans forged along with the Elements of Harmony in the ancient times before our kingdom was formed. It brings forth the light of truth, stark and unyielding, to the eyes of the blind; the song of reckoning to the ears of the deaf. Unlike the Elements, it is not a thing that can be used for the sole purpose of Harmony or good. Its purpose is to reveal pure, complete and utter truth, no matter how painful it may be. It shows what was, what is, and what will be for that which its magic is cast upon.”

Celestia walked very slowly towards it, as began to lower itself, then rested on top of the well. “How…how does it work?” Her father put his hoof in front of her to stop her from going further. “It bonds to a host, much like the elements. What it requires from that host is honesty and openness to reality, regardless of how harsh that may be. Any and all of the convictions you hold are laid bare for what they are, and judged in the light of the past, present, and future. If they are found wanting, you will either be forced to change them or have your mind ripped to shreds accepting it.”

Celestia paused, wary now of the pulsating star before her. “This power it holds…it can be cast upon more than a single target?” He smiled. “It can be cast upon the whole of the world, and it exerts itself no less than it would against a single being. You must be wary of its power, my daughter.”

Celestia circled it, and she grew slightly concerned at Luna’s somewhat visible pain from its light. She had moved behind one of the megaliths to avoid its light. “It is also exceptionally bright. I cannot look at it directly as you do, my daughter, and your sister is pained even from touching its light. This is no fault of her own.” Celestia blushed slightly and gave Luna a nuzzle, who smiled but stayed in the safety of her shadow. “Go, sister. I cannot bear this talisman, and father cannot leave the room. It is yours.”

Gulping, Celestia nervously walked back up the steps around the altar, and peered into the bright light of the strange talisman. It IS brighter than my sun, come to think of it. Goodness, no wonder Luna couldn’t even come out into its light, it must be excru- her line of thought ended abruptly as she touched the star.

Her mind reeled in agony as a powerful, unforgiving light ripped every memory from her vast life into the fore, displayed all at once in its naked brilliance. She screamed in pain beyond anything she had ever come close to experiencing as every failure, every living thing she hurt, every possible thing she had done wrong, or being she had wronged, burst from her memory past the feeble floodgates her consciousness had erected. Her eyes and ears poured blood, and was not even aware of where she was, or even her own body. She felt the pain of death of those whose lives she had ended, the despair of ponies she had not helped when she could have…and suddenly, blessedly, it was over.

A warm feeling worked its way up through her, and with a gasp she felt the love of the millions and millions of her subjects over her long rule. Every thing she did right, every single good act she had worked so hard to keep up with came back to her, bringing her an empathic bliss her body could barely even contain. She was loved.

She was LOVED.

So many loved her completely for who she was, and she had accepted such universal adulation with an almost eternal humility, as she had never taken for granted anypony she met, was close to…or loved intimately. She accepted her own shortcomings, and bore the weight of the entire kingdom as penance for neglecting her sister, and for losing her family. She still blamed herself, and she knew it.

She gasped as she felt shackles she never knew existed falling off, lifting her to new heights of self-awareness. She had passed through, and she was worthy of bearing the truth.

Luna looked at her sister in awe. Scant moments before she had been ready to rush to her side as she had been convinced the strange artifact was killing her before her eyes. Now, the star was gone, its light had merged with Celestia, and she glowed like the sun itself. Her mane was now a bright golden color, glowing like an ethereal corona around her head. Her eyes opened, and they were the pure white of magic. Then she spoke.

“I am ready.”

Luna took a step back and gawked. She could have sworn she heard her mother speak.

Sagittarius coughed up what could only be his own blood, despite his stubborn denial that this could not be so. He had long ago raised his formidable magical defenses, and no mere changeling could hope to breach them. He had been swarmed by thousands of screaming, writhing soldiers who had all furiously attempted to hack away at him, only glancing off or breaking their weapons, claws and teeth on his armor.

But he could not shake them off; they kept coming. For every dozen he splattered on the ground like so many flies, a hundred or more piled on top of him. He could not find any purchase. He watched in alarm as a changeling suck off a small portion of his magic, and realized that they were feeding on him, wearing him down to the point where they could actually do physical harm to him.

“Tell me, my son, how your prowess in battle has any place against a hungry legion such as mine.”

He gasped as he felt a sword pierce his armor; his flesh.

“Tell me again how useless and empty my children are.”

“TELL ME HOW YOU COULD EVEN THINK OF CHALLENGING ALL OF US ON YOUR OWN!!!”

Luna strode out into the courtyard. Nopony saw her. Celestia walked slowly, not even touching the ground beneath her hooves. Ponies groveled, covered their eyes, and spoke in whispers amongst each other. Celestia was too much for them, and even gazing upon her was difficult for Luna herself, as she felt uncomfortable memories and feelings stir inside her heart.

She reached the battlements, where Shining Armor had only just finished adding the final adjustments to his…quite impressive shielding spell, which covered the entire castle in several layers of magenta bubbles..

“My faithful captain, and beloved nephew-in-law; thank you for raising such a wonderful shield spell, and let us hope that it does not need to be used. I will leave the defense of this castle in yours and my sister’s capable hooves now.”

Shining looked up at Celestia in awe, as she spread out her wings. Something not unlike a kaleidoscope greeted them, and was gone as she lifted off into the air. Everyone watched as their Princess lit up the sky like a giant flare as she arced towards the far-off battlefield. I wonder if I’ll ever look that good, Luna mused to herself as she watched her sister fly off into the fray, and the many ponies who had come out to see the new Celestia.

Sagittarius gasped as he felt the weight of several hundred Changelings release off of him, and he watched, stuck in the mud, as his cousin Celestia, who looked quite different glowing as she did, land gracefully in the middle of the quagmire. Blood and mud washed away underneath her as an invisible barrier around her seemed to repel anything unclean.

“What…what is this, Celestia?” He smiled weakly as he heard the note of fear in his mother’s voice. So she could feel it too. “Where…WHERE DID YOU GET THIS POWER??!!”

Celestia simply smiled, and opened her eyes. They were pure, blazing white. “All I have is the truth. And you will hear it.” Sagittarius blacked out as the massive wave of light reached his battered body, and he slipped into unconsciousness as the pain caught up to him.

Celestia smiled. She could hear the squealing and popping sounds of changelings exploding around her under the unrelenting power of her magic, and the endless, earth-shattering roar of Chrysalis in agony.

It has been said the truth will set you free; I did not think it could be applied so literally and in such an awful situation as this one, Celestia thought to herself. She turned to her older cousin, wincing as she noticed the severity of his injuries. I do hope he is alright…he was quite brave, albeit more than a bit stupid for putting himself out here like he did. If I had not come sooner...

She perished the thought. The popping sound was beginning to abate, but the incredibly loud roaring from Chrysalis was hurting her ears. I wonder what’s going through her mind right now. Celestia had no idea, nor did she particularly care right now. The star was pumping so much magic into her system, that she was being flooded with so many endorphins that she doubted she would have felt the loss a limb. It was incredibly euphoric.

The forest around him was lit ablaze. The awful smell had been wiped away immediately, but the forest itself was being burned to the ground. He clutched the small blue rose to him tightly, and gasped as he felt himself being lifted up. A bright star hung overhead, and though fire burned around him, he felt no heat. The light intensified, and he watched the blue rose set itself upon the hill he had found it.

It opened.
A sapphire light came from the rose, and blazed into existence, its force shattering the crystal overhead. Where the shards fell erupted flora of every conceivable form, and fantastic garden now stood where the dead, stoic forest once stood tall around him. The knoll where the rose was had become covered in flowers of every conceivable hue and form, and a rose bush of blue roses and golden leaves covered the base of a white spire, reaching up into the sky. A staircase wrapped around it, and he saw the end of it piercing the now bright blue sky. He flew up to the top and did not look back.

Chapter 10

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The battlefield was ash. Celestia walked towards Sagittarius, who had been lying in the dirt. He was very badly injured, and she bit her lip in concern as she realized just how broken he was. A cough resounded in the silence, and she whipped around.

A strange stallion sat near her, roughly the size of Cadance, with wings and horn both. His coat was a deep red color, and his mane the purest white. His eyes were orange and lacked pupils. He was smiling up at her.

“Thank you, my niece. You have set us both free, and saved her soul. I had hoped for so long…ah. She is stirring at last.” Celestia watched in amazement as she saw…Chrysalis. Her exoskeleton was at last fracturing; hundreds of fissures ran through it, with a curious blue light peeking out between them until- FLASH!!

Celestia stood as still as a statue, her mouth agape at the sight which now greeted her.

A being of unearthly and unfathomable beauty emerged from the broken shell that was Chrysalis, and opened its huge wings to the air. Her aunt…had at last emerged from her cocoon. Celestia stopped breathing, and barely noticed herself sit down as Chrysalis’ true face came into view.

Sagittarius watched with a mixture of pride and awe as his mother at long last broke out of her shell. Threads of indigo magic swirled around her, and her massive wings sparkled like sapphires.

She was beautiful beyond anything he could even conceive of.

Her left wing finally opened enough for Celestia to see Chrysalis as she truly was for the first time.

Chrysalis had her eyes closed. Her fur was a deep, rippling sapphire color like her wings, and seemed to echo its hue like an ocean; so deep was its blue. Her mane did not flow in the wind, but flowed from her head straight, and across her back and piling at her feet.

It was pure platinum.

She slowly opened her eyes, her long white lashes sparkling from light of the dawn that was now creeping up over the horizon. Celestia had raised the sun without even realizing it.

Her eyes shone a hard amethyst; a violet more deep and pure as any gemstone could ever hope to compare, and the sun twinkled its depths like a lost coin in a sea of purple.

Then she spoke.

It was as if eternity opened its doors, and she heard a chorus of angels spin their voice into silk, nestling her in pure, utter bliss.

“The light of truth is borne upon the wings of dawn, savior niece of mine. It brought to my sheltered heart of hearts, hidden by jealous and fearful demons, a familiar song I thought forgotten; a thing to shepherd my soul. Words, no matter their number or quality, could ever express my joy, or my gratitude, for granting my freedom…and that of my beloved.”

Sagittarius saw that Celestia had returned to her former look, and was at an utter loss for words. She had heard her aunt was beautiful, but this…this was nothing like she could ever have imagined in her wildest dreams. Even Cadance would look plain by comparison. The being that was once Chrysalis turned to her husband.

“My husband; your faith brings my shameful heart up from its misery, and to the joy we once shared. You have waited long for me, and I you.”

She turned to Sagittarius, who could barely stand to look at his mother, so much had he been overwhelmed by the moment.

“To you, my son, I shall express nothing short of astonishment for your perseverance. I love you, child of mine. I love you enough that I can remember my real name, as it was given to me from before the day I was born, as it is one among many gifts of my birthright I can now appreciate.”

She stood up, her ethereal silken hair falling from her head like a silver waterfall. She looked into the rising sun and spoke.

"I am called Ahvari of Light; such is my power that my love and wisdom may bring barren grounds to life, and heal that which was broken. Watch my work, all of thee, that you may know me at last.”

She closed her eyes, and Sagittarius felt a slight rumbling beneath his hooves. Beneath them erupted a field of wildflowers, covering the plains of Valore into the horizon where the sun rose. Butterflies emerged as drops of dew came off of the flowers, transforming from water into a flock that undulated and shimmered with such varied wonder and color, it overwhelmed the senses and stymied the mind, which could not hope to place labels upon such beautiful transmogrification of color and form.

The flock swirled around Ahvari, once known as Chrysalis, and she brought her husband into her embrace. She turned back to them, a smile on her face.

“Remember us, my niece; in the cloister of your mind, in the catacombs of your memory. Forgive me, if you have the grace within you, for indeed I have much to atone for.”

She turned to him, in all her glory and he found himself stricken with fear, and turned away from his mother’s perfect visage.

“My son, for your bravery and faith, I offer a place at our side, that we may at last be a family, if you so desire it. Come forward that I may mend you, first.”

He gulped and stepped forward, looking off to the side. He could not stand to look at her; it was overwhelming. He turned to Celestia, who had recovered from her initial shock at his mother’s work. She walked up to her, whispered something in her ear, and embraced her. His mother’s wings visibly relaxed, as at last he could train his eyes upon at least part of her form.

He gasped as he felt her cool touch, and his wounds closed. He felt her lightly kiss his forehead, on the nub where his horn was…and felt a new weight upon it. It was only when he saw Celestia’s slack-jawed expression that he knew his horn had returned to him. Looking down in a puddle, he saw the impressive fluted spike of his horn rise above his head, making him tower over Celestia. He felt an unfamiliar tingle along his spine, and felt a numbness and slight throbbing across his body as his many wounds closed.

He at last looked upon his mother fully in the face.

“I have waited…so long to see you like this…”

His mother took him into his embrace, and he felt the soft touch of her feathers cover him. By the gods, her wings are massive, he thought to himself. I should not have expected anything less, I suppose.

“I must admit, unfortunately, that I have lied to you.” Ahvari looked upon him, a playful confusion in her face.

“I do in fact feel quite a bit of loyalty to this realm, and my cousins within. I…I think that even though I would desire nothing more than to leave to far away lands with you and father…” he motioned to the bemused looking red alicorn, who was marveling at the scenery around him, “I cannot rightly abandon it, especially with Luna back after so long.”

A long silence ensued that ended as he felt the soft touch of Celestia on his shoulder.

“You have done so much for us already, my most faithful of friends. But as you said, Luna has come back to us. She is my responsibility, but more importantly, she is my sister. The rightful state of Equestria has at long last been restored with her return, and we will rule together, as was always intended. Go with your family; explore new and old lands, write to us stories of your travels. If you grow weary or homesick, we always will leave you a place to return home to.”

He stared at his mother with tired eyes. She responded in her uncanny voice:

“I cannot force you one way or the other my son, but it seems you have been given your answer. Your cousin’s blessing is simply that; a blessing. She has released you from your service to her. Come with us; there is so much of this world I wish to see, and my heart aches at the memories this land brings to me. I cannot bear to see the castle after all the pain and suffering I have caused, so it is beyond this blasted horizon I long to journey.”

Sagittarius sighed. It was an easier decision that he was letting himself think.
“I shall go, but I will need time to prepare, as well as organize the guard to stand down after this. I cannot leave without saying my farewells to my youngest cousin, and replacing the nightguard with somepony…suitable. I do have my responsibilities.”

He turned to Celestia, and she nodded to him before he took off. He was quite eager to show off his new horn to Luna, and relearn much of the magic he had so long been without.

Celestia turned to the two of them. “As much as it may pain you to return to the castle, even if for the briefest of visits, I cannot see you sleeping out here overnight, or going into town during the day. The former would be unacceptable, especially after what we have all been through, and the latter even more undesirable, as your…presence would cause more than a little confusion and chaos. Please, at the very least, you both can stay my mother’s old room. It’s not home, but many of the older furnishings that survived the cataclysm were carted over to it, and after her passing, it was converted into a guest bedroom.”

Ahvari, once a being so malicious and powerful she had very nearly overthrown Celestia after besting her in combat, turned lovingly to her husband, who nodded in acceptance of the proposal.

“We cannot refuse such a generous offer, and I doubt having everpony hounding us everywhere we went would be conducive to the, ah, atmosphere of privacy we wish to enjoy prior to departing.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m so glad to have you both back; I remember you particularly well, Tahvorin, when I was younger. Can you still do that…wonderful thing with your horn?”

The sights that followed were to be left with the minds of those far less constrained by reality, as Tahvorin, husband to Ahvari, was one in particular whose mark was that of a door surrounded by stars.

Luna could not decide between being overjoyed or bewildered. It had happened so quickly, she had very little time to process the events that had transpired, or the rushing and shouting that had turned into an overwhelming cheer as her sister’s overwhelming light had laid waste to the changeling army. Sagittarius returning with his horn only furthered her bewilderment and wonder.

As she neared him, he was talking with Shining Armor and some of the higher-ranking members of his nightguard. Apparently, her aunt had at last emerged from her metamorphosis, and the talisman which her sister had so…flamboyantly wielded…had been successful. Chrysalis’s actual name was Ahvari; a fact that Luna had been deprived of as she had been born after her aunt shed her birth name in favor of Chrysalis. It was a windfall, in every sense of the word.

“And lastly, do not forget about the evening rituals and rounds, Darkstar. While Shining has his own duties to attend to, You’ll be expected to hold the Night Court whenever Luna is away, or unable to perform her tasks. Ah, speaking of which…”

Shining Armor gulped audibly as his mother-in-law approached. Though he had long since shed any doubt of her since her return to palace life after her exorcism, he had been confronted by her prior to the wedding, and given an earful beyond anything he was comfortable with, volume and diction-wise.

“Sister has sent word to me that you are leaving; is this to be true?” Luna’s voice was thankfully subdued, and he watched his now much-taller counterpart turn to address her.

“It is, although fortunately I shall be visiting when time permits me to. I was hoping to spend some time with you again before my departure, as I will undoubtedly miss your company.” He motioned to him and the others to be on there way, but shining lingered behind a hallway, listening in on their conversation.

Luna sighed. “It will be most difficult to be without you; your insight and company have been a great comfort to me. I cannot begin to imagine how life will be like for you, after leaving the castle. That and your horn; my goodness…”

He heard a light chuckle. “I admit that I cannot remember even half of the spells I used to know, but what I remember should be enough for the journey. It will be as much a campaign of discovery and wonder for myself as well as my parents.”

A short but awkward silence ensued. He heard Luna’s voice, more tentative than he’d ever heard it. “Perhaps…perhaps I could come with you? Perhaps I should not have to watch you leave?” Another silence ensued, this one longer than the last.

“Luna…Luna it is important that you stay here. Your sister needs you more than you know, and even though I do so very much feel as you do…I cannot. We cannot. I love you deeply, and although my heart tells me that I should take you up on your request, my mind tells me that what I go to is for the best. My father…my father can takes us anywhere. ANYwhere. His realm is that of the corridor; he bears the power of sight and travel to any place at any time. I cannot hope to even imagine the places we will travel to.”

Shining Armor felt he could cut the tension in the short silence with a sword.

“I will write to you. I will stay in touch, but more than that, I will look to the skies for your handiwork. You are talented and wonderful beyond anything any of us could ever hope for, or choose to adore. Your people need you, and you should not fear their attention or adulation. You are amazing, Luna, and this kingdom deserves your wisdom and the wonders your magic can bring to it. They need to recognize you as the equal to your sister, and love you just as much as they do her. They will see the beauty of your night.”

He could her soft sniffling of Luna crying. “I…I cannot think you could have spoken saying kinder words to anypony. Will you spend the night with me, before you leave in the morning? There is so much I have wanted to share with you, and so little time since coming back home. Please, will you at least grant me that as a parting gift?”

“I will, if only for you.”
Shining heard a squeal of joy, a short silence, and a surprised chuckle.
“Well…shall we go to the observatory or bedroom? I’m admittedly confused at the moment.”

“Oh goodness…well, uh…”

Shining was galloping off down the hallway before he knew it. Eavesdropping was never a good idea, and he had just been reminded why.

“And that’s the whole of it. Are you comfortable with the resolution, my niece?” Cadance looked up at her aunt with wonder and mild distress. She opened her mouth and closed it, ensuing a long pause. Celestia took the opportunity to sip some of her favorite tea, which she saved for the very rare occasions where she truly felt great relief towards favorable outcomes.

“I…I do not quite know how to come to terms with this, let alone…her. Mother told me my Sa-aunt’s past, and I pitied her. But I did not think…I did not think for a moment that she would return, or at the very least find the redemption she needed. It…it is very strange, her transformation, by any standard. You said…you said her actual cutie mark changed? Twice? How is that even possible?”

Celestia took a long draw from the teacup. “My aunt…Ahvari, we should now call her, is unique in every respect of the word. But so is her husband. Do you know what Tahvarin showed me, after Sagittarius left?” Cadance shook her head slightly in confusion.

“He showed me the door to infinity. He has the ability, as mad as it sounds, to open a literal door into other worlds. Not just of this particular plane of existence, either. All different times, different branches of the same world, with different outcomes; through a single door, anywhere you could possibly imagine and more.” Celestia smiled at the slack-jawed wonder on her niece’s face.

“But…the truly amazing thing, what caught my wonder and appreciation for him the first time…was what he chose to do with that power. He chose not to run, not to fall into vanity or vices, and leap across time and space on a whim. He fell in love. He fell in love so deeply with her that he did not open a single door without her. He kept the doors locked from her when she turned into…into what she was, and carried the burden of her madness until the very day she ate him in an attempt to gain his power. She thought he was changing, leaving her, but he was doing just the opposite; he was giving up more and more of what he was to light her way down her own particular journey and version of reality.”

Celestia paused to let the gravity of what she had said sink into Cadance’s remarkably astute mind. “He had all that power…all that freedom…and he gave it up for her. He…he must have seen-” “He did not see. That is what he showed me. He closed off his own and her own future to himself, that he may not know the outcomes. He did not see what she could become, to let himself hope. All those long years ago, before Luna, before all that I had known withered and burned, he showed me for the first time what power love has. What it means to wield the power of our blood, of royalty. It means service to our love.”

Cadance was brimming with tears. It was a beautiful story, certainly. But what made it truly special in her mind was how much her aunt had apparently taken that lesson to heart, for everything she was, and everything she did. Celestia loved her kingdom, her subjects, and her family without a single care to her own well-being before others.

She had the power to subjugate every single one of them under her hoof once her sister was gone, and there would have been nopony for a thousand years who could even come close to challenging her rule. But she was not that pony. She loved, and was loved for her role as the matriarch of Equestria.

She knew, deep down, that to be certain of a future was to be damned by it, for better or for worse. Cadance knew the moment she agreed to be more than simply attracted to Shining Armor that she would be there the day he died, and she would have looked as she did on her wedding day to him. But she knew at the same time that she would care for her descendents, and cherish them as her mother had the nobility.

But that love that Celestia had talked about…that love that denied one’s self, that accepted death and forsook the wonders eternity and all of creation held…it was something she couldn’t begin to understand. She was too curious to let something like that go. This must have been what mother’s problem was with the nightmare; it fed on her curiosity. She banished the thought.

She remembered something important. “Celestia…where is my mother right now?” Celestia’s eyes widened slightly, and she paused with the tea in front of her mouth. The cup dropped and shattered as she heard some giggling down the corridor.
“…Cadance…please tell me that is not what I think I am hearing from my sister’s bedchambers.”

Cadance gulped and bit her lip as she was trying very hard not to burst out in riotous laughter. Another round of laughter came from her mother’s bedchambers, and watched with fear as Celestia got up from her table, the tea that stained her white coat sizzling into steam. “I must have words with my sister. Wait here.”

“Ohhh and then…and THEN he actually thought it was a good idea to teleport behind me and shoot off one of his fancy starburst spells. I swear I had never seen anypony more surprised when I swatted it back at him with my wing. It took him about a month for his coat to grow back right, but oh goodness…” Luna was laughing with Sagittarius over a bottle of very fine wine from the royal cellars that had been magically aged and kept during her exile. It was one of the few that Celestia hadn’t downed.

“Ooo did I tell you about the time Celly razed my coral summerhome? See, the seapon-” A very loud slam came from the direction of her door, and after turning around a little too quickly, Luna’s blurry vision cleared up enough for her to make out her sister, standing very confused in her doorway.

“Luna…what…I thought-” “You thought more of it than you should have, sister. What did you think we were doing? In here? In my bedroom?” Luna’s drunken gaze was not blurred enough to miss her sister’s furious blush, and Cadance’s curious face poking up behind her, snickering. “I…never-mind, I wasn’t here. Cadance, will you stop laughing?” Luna smiled and gave her daughter a shaky high-hoof, falling over each other.

“Got you good, Celly.”

The Moon and the Caterpiller

by Dreyaz Laartii

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

The Nightmare

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10