> To Glory
>  by Quantum Solace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> In My Time of Dieing 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


To Glory


Chapter I


In My Time of Dieing




It was a white room; a plain white room that she had been in for months. Humming to herself, she rocked back and forth, the straitjacket holding her front two hooves back.

"It's all right..." she says aloud, "It's all right--the monsters can't hurt us." She began repeating this to herself as she takes a look around her room. Now there were monsters. Lots of them. All shapes and sizes, feasting on the long dead bodies of ponies from the past. Bile began to rise in her mouth as she watches the monsters growl at each other, occasionally exposing small bits and pieces of blood and organs between their teeth. One of them tosses an arm toward her; she nudged it with a hoof before jumping back and screeching in alarm as the appendage jumped  toward her.

She began to cry. Why was she locked up in this horrible place?

"Why, sister!" she sobbed, tears streaming down her blood-soaked face. The monsters were urging closer to her now, abandoning their meal, deciding that eating her head was a good idea. "Why force us into these nightmares?!" she screeched at a reflective glass window opposite to her. A monster tried to grab her, and she kicked at it. More monsters joined in, trying to rip off tasty morsels of her blue fur, also ripping the feathers from her wings. Fighting, she began to laugh hysterically. "The monsters can't hurt us! The monsters can't hurt uuuuuuus!" she rolled on the floor, kicking the monsters, "The monsters can't hurt uuuuuuuus-" then something long and thin poked her in the side. Her eyes suddenly became clouded, "M-monsters..." she mumbled, before she lapsed into unconsciousness.



Princess Celestia watched from behind a reflective glass window, as a doctor took the syringe  from her sister's now limp body. "You're right doctor." she said, “She has lapsed into insanity. These ‘monsters,’ truly are figments of her imagination.” The princess watched as the ‘monsters’ her little sister had been crying about, trotted out the door, with their white lab coat’s waving in their wake.

Next to her stood a regal brown earth stallion with a  white lab coat and thick glasses. "Indeed." He agreed, "I doubt she will recover. It's been almost a year since she has 'admitted', though 'forced' may be a better word, into this facility,for over three months of it, and she's been under a medicated induced coma.  " He looked up at Celestia, "Without a miracle, I don't think Princess Luna is going to be around for much longer."

A twisted grin crept up Celestia's face. "Excellent." she said.

The stallion nodded. "Although your basic morals for doing this are a little dubious, I can't say I'm going to miss Luna. Tomorrow, we will surgically remove Luna's horn, her wings, and as you requested, we will not reseal the wounds, so Luna will bleed to death; a ‘tragic accident.’"

Celestia felt a twinge of sadness and guilt pierce her heart. She remembered when she and Luna were little ponies, prancing about the royal guardians; how Luna has always insisted in making her own cake at every single one of Celestia's birthdays. But now, frolicking was not possible. With Luna due to take the throne in five months, according to her mother’s will, Luna will have to be disposed of. She observed the rise and fall of her little sister's body, as she kicked out with her hind leg--like she always did when she was scared. It used to be that Celestia would always come by her side to comfort her, but now she watched as Luna twisted and turned, trapped in the eternal haunted mansion of her mind.  

"Oh, by the way," he said, moving the table inside the small room occupied by the alicorn and the scientist, "A cake was delivered here for Luna's birthday tomorrow. I saved it, and I thought you might like it." He pushed a box towards Celestia. The alicron raised an eyebrow.

“A cake was delivered for my sister, and you keep it?” she asked, “And there’s something wrong with my morals?"

The scientist blushed slightly.
“Oh, you know... I just thought maybe we could share a piece, and maybe catch a movie or something later?” Celestia stared at the scientist, who looked away awkwardly.

Using her magic, Celestia levitated the top of the box, revealing a well made circular cake, featuring an old picture of Luna's first birthday, where Celestia had been trying to put a party hat on Luna's head, but the baby Alicorn had adamantly refused, demanding cake.

Celestia resealed the box.

"Unfortunately, I have some important work to attend to." she said briskly, "However, I would thank you very much if you could give this to my sister." the scientist stared at her for a moment, before nodding.

"Yes Celestia," he said, "Of course." he gave a low bow as Celestia left the room. For a second, he thought he caught a glimmer of a tear on Celestia’s cheek...but that couldn't have been possible.  He turned his gaze back to Luna, who was stirring in her sleep. She had the uncanny ability to sleep for random amounts of time; sometimes months, sometimes seconds.

Balancing the cake on his back, he slowly made his way out of the dimly lit room, and into the stark, bland halls of the Equestrian Mental Asylum's maximum security wing. Trotting around the corner, he slowly entered Luna's room.

"Hello!" he said brightly. Luna jumped back, and screeched,

"MONSTER!" at the top of her lungs, then curled up in fear. The twisted scientist chuckled to himself.

"Don't worry, I'm just here to give you cake." he said, humming, A sudden phrase sprung in his mind: The cake is a lie....what?Instantly, Luna sat up, surprising the scientist.

"Are you life's manager?" she asked. The scientist stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I-I suppose?" he said hesitantly.

"Good." she said, "Because last time, someone gave me lemons, and you know what I said? I said ‘When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back. GET MAD! I DON'T WANT YOUR DAMN LEMONS! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THESE?! DEMAND TO SEE LIFE'S MANAGER! Make life RUE the day it thought it could give PRINCESS LUNA LEMONS! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'M THE PONY WHO'S GONNA BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN! WITH THE LEMONS! I'm gonna-’”

The door slammed shut quickly, leaving cake sitting before Luna. Curious, the alicorn scooted closer to the cake, featuring her younger self and her sister. Honestly, at this point, Luna couldn't even recognize that what she was looking at was a cake. She poked at the odd sugary substance sprinkled on top. Miraculously, some odd creamy stuff came off when she poked it. Sticking out her tongue, Luna took a hesitant lick at the stuff. Explosions of flavor streamed through Luna's mouth. Soft, and sugary; Luna felt as if she had tasted nothing so fine in eons. She licked her lips, and moved closer to the cake. Opening her mouth, she took an enormous bite. It was delicious and soft and... hard? Luna's face twisted as she swallowed some odd, solid thing, that felt a bit like a pebble.

The effects were instantaneous; Luna trembled, as a hot, uncomfortable feeling welled up in her chest. She looked at her back hooves and gasped. Her previously mistreated and marred back legs, were strong and healthy. A warm feeling now spreads throughout her body, and for the first time in a year, Luna horn sparked. It was a tiny spark, but it was still magic, slowly leaking from her horn.

Pushing herself onto her back legs, she waddled towards heavy door. "Helloooooo!" she called, "We feel sooooo much better now! Can we play with thee?" She asked. There was a shuffling outside the door. Leaning on it, Luna peeked through the sliver of a window to see a black pegasus looking at the door, eyes filled with terror. "Aw, tis okay!" she said, "We shall not hurt thee!" she looked down at herself. Maybe it's the white things, she thought, referring to her straitjacket. The monsters wear white things like this too.

Acting with all her might, she pushed against the jacket; however, it did not budge. After about three minutes of flexing, running, and crashing into things, Luna decided that the jacket wasn't coming off that way. Peeking back out the window, she saw that the black Pegasus hadn't moved a muscle, but there was a small puddle of odd yellow liquid below him. Luna frowned.

"Don't cry!" she said, trying to think of some way to remove the jacket. Leaning back on the door, her ears perked to a "clacking" sound. She was suddenly reminded of her horn."Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. "I can do magic!"

Concentrating, she imagined the jacket falling off of her shoulders. Her eyes shot open to a "clunk,” and she looked down. Her straitjacket had been burned to crisp, edges smouldering.. unfurling her fore-hooves, Luna fell down upon four strong legs. Whatever she had eaten, it was healing her. Age-long wounds were beginning to fade through her body, and her scarred and seared mind was beginning to heal.

Turning towards the door, she nudged it. "We will be out in juuuuuust a minute!" she said happily. Pointing her horn at the door, she focused again. There was a loud bang, and the door was blasted off it's hinges. She walked out into the hall, smiling. "We can play now!" she announced, then frowned. Where was the Pegasus? He wasn't there any more.  All that appeared was a bright splatter of red, wet paint all over the wall behind the door. He must be playing hide and seek. She giggled.

"Thou didst not even give us time to count!!" She called, before charging down the hall.

All around her, she noticed little doors like her own, shut and padlocked. Inside, she could hear wails, and sudden slamming noise, as whatever was inside them struggled to escape. Her slowly healing mind was finally beginning to process that this wasn’t a playroom. Creeping down a stark hall, and taking another turn, she was suddenly faced with five “monsters,” with white lab coats. Among them was the monster who had given her the cake. Stumbling back, both Luna, and the doctors, cried out in fear.

“Luna’s free!”

“How did she escape?”

“MONSTERS!!!”

Luna stumbled back as one of scientist pulled a syringe from his coat.

“We’ll have to sedate her again!” said one of the “monsters” to the rest of the “pack.” Luna lowered her horn.

“NO!” She said, and her horn glowed a brilliant blue. The scientists dodged as a bolt of powerful energy that reduced the wall behind them to small pieces of rubble. “We do not like this game anymore!” She cried, as another bolt fired straight through the wall. Alarms where now bathing the stark halls in an eerie red light, and the deafening wail made the Alicorn’s ears become numb. Disorientated, she moved towards the soft moonlight, filtered through the hole she had blown in the wall. Instead of the sudden calmness she had expected, the night princess was meet with more chaos and strife than what was already happening inside the building.  

Outside, the entire west wing of the hospital was set ablaze in a brilliant white fire. Ponies were running and screaming as a large figure swooped down from the sky, like a huge bat snatching its prey from the ground. There was a loud whooping sound, as a metal whale-like shape rose into the sky. It had large propellers on its top, and another smaller one near its end, but Luna could not put a name on the odd contraption. It heaved towards the large flying beast, letting loose a flurry of sparks from a large nozzle.

Loud bangs filled the air, as the spark shooting nozzle tried to point itself at the great creature, who was expertly dodging its line of fire. Swooping under the odd contraption, the creature was suddenly illuminated by a bright searchlight.

It was revealed to be a great white dragon. Instead of scales, white fur covered body. The twin horns atop its head gave it an air of majestic nobility and power. In sudden aggression, the dragon swung its head upwards, and opened its gaping mouth of razor sharp teeth. A raging inferno of blinding white fire erupted from the creature's mouth, engulfing the flying machine completely. The contraption spiralled through the air as ponies fell off of it.  Ablaze by the dragon's fire, it crashed into the earth, sending a billowing plume of fire high into the night sky. The dragon landed, and roared loudly into the starry night sky, with its enormous wings extended.

Luna watched in amazement, not noticing that she was slowly taking steps forward. Until suddenly, her hooves were hanging over thin air.  Crying out, she began to plummet towards the ground. Wind rushed through her face, and over her slim body, tugging at her flight appendages. Hesitantly, she extended her large, majestic blue feathered wings. Wind thrusted into them, and a stab of pain coursed through Luna’s back. Instead of falling, she was gliding through the air, soaring through the dark night sky. It felt amazing, despite the pain at her shoulders. It had been years since the lunar princess had felt the pleasures of flight and there was nothing better--

Luna suddenly toppled from the sky, mind pulsing from a quick pain in her head. Her wings flopped uselessly at her sides, as the healing magic she had ingested previously began to dissipate. The quick use of the magical drug, as well as her use of magic and flight had tired out her body which was not used to such strenuous actions after a year of mental and physiological abuse.

Luna spiraled down, the earth rushing up to meet her in its endless embrace. Half asleep, Luna tried to comprehend what was happening. I’m falling. No, wait, I'm flying? I'm in the sky. But the ground is moving up? She attempted to move her limbs as the world rushed up to meet her, but they refused to obey. She became lost in an eternal blissful fall, just a second from becoming a patch of on the pavement below.

Then, she slammed into something soft, yet firm. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Princess?” she heard a deep, yet gentle voice. She opened one  hesitant eye, and peered into the face of the large white dragon, who held her in its claws. The dragon had caught her, seconds before she had become a large, blue,  grease spot on the ground. “Are you okay?” he asked, “We’ve come to rescue you.”

Luna looked into the eyes of the dragon, her dazed mind trying to understand what she was seeing. The long snout of the the dragon was close to hers, his concerned eyes... tantalizingly familiar. Luna stared back, mind reeling; images flickered through her mind. Lost images; just out of reach images; memories. So lost was her mind, it attempted to try the most rational thing it could think of.

Luna lurched upwards as her lips connected with the mouth of one extremely confused looking dragon. It lasted for only a few seconds, as Luna drew away from the beast.

“I-I beg your pardon Princess?” he asked. Luna’s mind was once again being swamped by churning and inviting darkness. she gave a loud yawn as a black haze began to fill her vision.

“If...” she spoke as she yawned. “If thou were to take advantage of us in our sleep...” Her eyes began to droop, “We will kill thee... till thou art dead.” her eyes closed, and she slipped into unconsciousness.



The great white dragon looked down upon the limp princess in his arms in awe. She obviously didn't remember anything; her mind was too scared. He had been of the opinion that Princess Luna had been under some brutal mistreatment, but not so terrible that she would forget even the most obvious of things. He gingerly held the royal alicorn in his large claws. Turning her over to check her injuries. Thankfully, the tablet had healed the worst of it. He didn't dare try to give her another tablet, as the side effects of the drugs were...disastrous. Death, or severe mutations, or addictions were the most common... but there had been worse.

He spread his wings and took to the sky, gazing below him at the chaos he had reigned. There were large white vehicles with flashing lights beginning to arrive at the scene, while pegasi began heaving rainclouds over the building to put out the fires. As it began to drizzle, something caught the dragon’s eye. A bright golden chariot raced across the sky, sped forwards by white pegasi in golden armor.

Atop the chariot rode Princess Celestia, her magenta eyes looking scathingly over the destroyed asylum. Suddenly, she turned her head, only to find herself staring at the dragon. Panic surged through the dragon’s chest as Celestia called to her guards. The chariot wheeled around, and streaked towards the white dragon, the solar princess’ horn aglow with furious magic. The dragon dove away just in time to avoid a cracking arch of magical lightning setting the sky aglow. The rumble of thunder announced the continual downpour of rain as the dragon swooped away from the Asylum, dodging more powerful arcane blasts..

The solar princess’ chariot was on his tail now. He could hear the grunting of the pegasi guards behind him, straining to close the distance between them and the fleeing dragon. He knew he would not be able to dodge the next burst of magic that Celestia was preparing.

Thinking quickly, he banked to the left. The twin horn’s atop his head began to glow like those of a unicorns.  A large circle of runic, draconic, magic began to loop its way around its caster and his precious cargo. Pain lanced up his shoulder as Celestia’s magical blast tore into his left wing. He plummeted towards the ground, still concentrating on his magic as Celestia let out a triumphant cry, and the chariot dove after him.

Then, the spell detonated. Seconds before colliding with the ground, and enormous explosion of fire blossomed around the dragon, scorching the surrounding land,  and sending up a large plume of fire and heat towards the chariot and its passengers. They only just managed to dodge the deadly onslaught by spiralling out of the way.

Managing to regain control of the chariot, Celestia ordered her guards to swoop over the scorched land. It was a perfect circle of burned forest, embedded with dark glowing runes along its circumference.

But there was no dragon

Or Princess Luna.

Or burned-to-a-crisp mix of the two.

The daring duo had escaped.


> Real World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


To Glory


Chapter II


Real World



“Please Celestia!” Luna begged, legs in manacles, seal on her horn. “This is wrong you know it is!” Celestia looked down on her sister with mocking, yet sad eyes.

“I’m sorry my sister.” she said. “But it is for your own good.” Luna was shoved into a white van, with armoured plating, and barred windows. “Some time in there will be good for you. Everything will turn out fine, you’ll see!”

Luna fought, eyes teaming with tears. “No, Tia! Please! Noooooooooooo!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pain flooded into our head as it launched up, gasping. Memories of the nightmare still rang strong. We scrunched our eyes shut, reliving the nightmare, no, memory. We still remembered the day that Celestia had forced us into the Asylum. Ironically, it had been a rather bright day, unfitting of the horrors which had occurred. Our head fell back upon the cloud-soft pillow and we- hold on. Those were not the pillows that were in our cell in the Asylum. We didn't even have pillows. But then- Memories of the previous night flooded our mind: The cake, the dragon, the burning scientists, the dragon. Our eyes snapped open. We were lying in a bed, with soft pillows, and a tray next to us. The ceiling several feet above us, and was carved with intricate, yet seemingly meaningless lines: circles, slashes, and other odd shapes.

How did we get here? We wondered, trying to sit up again. Pain rushed to our head, and our vision blurred. We gasped again, and fell back painfully onto the soft pillows. Our wings ached, and we seemed completely devoid of energy. There has a slight buzzing to our left, followed by a swift poke in the side. Wincing, we glanced to our left... and caught ourselves staring directly into the slitted eyes of Changeling. It excreted a high pitched buzzing sound from its mouth, seemingly trying to create some kind of vocalization. A spell of some sort? We were not going to allow ourselves to find out. Ignoring the pain in our forelegs, we delivered a swift kick to its mouth, sending it flying. It crashed into a cabinet a few feet away, which sat next to a large, bronze doorway, so large it almost touched the ceiling.

Desperate to escape before it recovered, we forced ourselves from the eternally comfortable bed, trying to make it to the door. We took a few unsteady steps, and did a quick survey of the landscape around us. Our eyes widened as we attempted to stem what we were seeing. We seemed to be in a Changeling infirmary ward. There were dozens of the Lunar damned things, flitting around, and laying in the stark sheeted beds. We stumbled backwards as a few of the jet black and green creatures noted us. It also emitted a high pitched buzzing, then began moving upon us, three of his kind behind him. We took another step back, only to fall, our legs too weak to support our weight. We attempted to bring up a shield to protect us, no avail. We were too drained, and were only able to produce a small flutter of sparks. Still, the changelings halted, spooked slightly. We decided to bluff as we struggled to our hooves.
“We warn thou!” we said threateningly, “We will decimate thy if you take another step towards us!” The changeling put on a mask of confusion. It made more buzzing sounds in an attempt to communicate. We growled in response, and backed up to the large doors behind us. The changeling, obviously ignoring our bluff, advanced closer, the lead changeling still emitting buzzing sounds. Our flank pressed against the cold metal doors, and oddly comforting, yet distracting feeling, odd to feel in the current situation. We lowered our horn, entire body aching in pain. “S-stay back!” I said, as they moved closer. “Stay back! Stay ba-” 

Suddenly, we were volleyed forwards as the doors were flung open. The Changelings scattered as we were thrown into their midsts, pain racking our body as our jaw collided into the marble floor. Scrambling around, we attempted to get a good view of our attacker. “Who dares assault our Royal flank!?” we roared, then broke off as we stared, once again, into slitted eyes. But these ones were not of a changeling. They were a mesmerizing golden color. They froze us where we lay, as they regarded us with mild curiosity and... amusement.
We shook our mind free, as to fully take into view the creature. It was the dragon from the previous night. But now that we were able to take into view it’s size and shape, we noticed it was considerably smaller than any regular sized dragon. Puny in comparison; it was only bigger than Celestia by a few feet, maybe less. Twin horns sat atop a furry white head, and excessively large wings, folded flat at it’s side. It regarded us with half a smile upon a toothed mouth, and a large snout.

We attempted to stand again, but we fell back upon our haunches. The dragon, of all things snickered at us. Rage burned in our chest. “Silence!” We hissed furiously, “Inform us of where we are dragon, lest you feel our wrath!” the threat was hollow, and carried no weight behind it, but were able to get into a defensive crouch, horn raised and pointed towards the dragon’s neck. The dragon didn't seem frightened in the least, however, it’s eyes still flecked with amusement.



“And what, pray tell, are we doing in a hostile medical facility?’ we asked angrily, well aware of the Changelings beginning to stand behind us. The dragon tilted his head, regarding us once again, with those mesmerizing, familiar, eyes.

“You are having your wounds attended to.” he said slowly, as if speaking to a child. He may as well have. We were utterly perplexed. Changelings did not heal wounds. Especially not ours. Why were they healing us, one of their enemies. We asked the dragon, slightly more politely, the question as such.

“Because,” the dragon responded, “They were ordered too.” Well that tells us nothing. This dragon was being as vague as possible. He chuckled again. “Don’t worry, you are in no danger. These Changelings are just here to tend to your wounds. You’ve been out cold for about a week.”

Now that, we found interesting. Out for seven days. We felt like it had been longer. Almost as if for years. We had relived our imprisonment in our mind, the torching pain, unquenchable. We shivered lightly, once again reminiscing our escape. One horrible detail stuck out from the rest. “We kissed thou!” We said in a horrified voice. How on earth could we have allowed do such an insane act of... insanity!? Between our mind reeling with horror, and the obvious explosions of what could only be Changeling laughter, we missed the dragons response.

By the time our mind had gotten a hold of reality once more, the dragon was looking at us expectantly. “What?” We asked, our voice still dripping with annoyance.

“Would you like a tour, Princess Luna?” He repeated politely. We narrowed our eyes, taking in his offer. But really, what was there to take in? Well, we suppose it seems odd this dragon seems so at ease around us, like he is familiar with us, and it is indeed rather odd he is not deterred by the Changelings... we spun around, to find the Changelings regarding us with mild curiosity. It was odd, creepy, and completely silent. Staying here with these... things? Or taking a tour with a dragon? We turned back to the white creature before us.

“We accept.” We said guardedly. “However, we wish to know our location, and what thou name is.”

“My name,” the large dragon said, turning towards the door, “Is Judgment.” placing his large paws on the large bronze door, she shoved them open. “And this,” he said, stepping aside, “Is the Hive.”

At first we saw nothing. It was just a large expanse of white, fluffy, fog. But as if on command, the fog surged towards us, whipping around the infirmary ward, and out back windows that we had not noticed before. Our jaw dropped at what we saw.

There were two large masts, like a ship. Changelings milled about the deck, cleaning pitch black marble planks, and ordering others around. There was a bow, and another large mast protruded from the front of the vessel. We were, in fact, on a enormous ship. Enourmous was an understatement. The bow of the ship was at least a mile and a half before us. The ship was immense. We glanced at where the water should have been, and we felt ourselves growing faint. There was no water. Instead, hundreds of feet below us spanned mountains, deserts, and lakes. We were flying. If our jaw could have opened any further, it would be on the floor of the deck. Clouds buffed the front the behemoth airship, causing it to rock as if it truly was surging over the tide.

We turned to the dragon once more. “This... this is the Changeling Hive?” our voice was a meer squeak.

The dragon nodded. “This is an old Solar Empire Airship that was captured about six months ago at the battle of Blackrock,” We stared at him with a blank face. We had never heard of any “Blackrock,” nor of any “Solar Empire.”

“What is the, ‘Solar Empire,’ and what is, ‘Blackrock?” we asked curiously. The Judgment dragon seemed to enjoy blinking, as he did it again. the realization dawned on his face.
        
“Ah yes. You were in the Asylum for pretty much the entire war!” Our eyes widened. There was a war? While we were imprisoned there was an entire war?

“Explain what has happened during our imprisonment!” we demanded, stopping our hoof down from dramatic effect. The dragon chuckled again, making the angry fire in our chest grow larger.

“Very well,” said Judgment, “follow me.” He led us down a small flight of stairs, and began explaining what had happened in our absence.

“After you were locked in the Asylum, Celestia began to create things.” he said, taking us below deck. “The first thing she did was make guns, and weapons, available to the general public, with age restrictions of course.” We passed a changeling fiddling with a long, rifle like weapon, that had been taken apart. It appeared to cleaning it. The Changeling looked up and watched us as we trotted by with the large white dragon.

“The next thing Celestia did,” he said, “Was create the first airship. The Solar Wind. It was quite a bit smaller then this ship, which just so happened to be the second ship ever made, the Sun’s Wrath. The first was for commercial use, but this ship... this was a warship.” He took us to another room, or rather, a hall. It stretched the entire length of the ship, and was full of enormous cannons. They were silver things, and looked very.... Advanced. They all looked the same: an enormous barrel, with an odd light pulsing down it. They hummed with power as we neared one, and read the side. Super Dreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max. We noted a large, orange, tip on the end, and sectionals, like it was supposed to extend out when needed.

“Ah yes.” Judgment said, admiring the cannons. “The most powerful cannons available right now. They can punch a hole in just about everything,” his expression grew dark. “About a month after your imprisonment, Celestia made treaties with just about every surrounding nation: The Gryphons, the Dragons, the Thestrals, even the Zebras. Together,The allied nations became the Solar Empire. However, When she extended a hand of friendship to the Changeling race, Queen Chrysalis politely declined, asking to be left alone.”

We looked up startled. “We were of the opinion that the Changeling Queen had been killed during her failed invasion of Canterlot!” We exclaimed. “Thou now tells us that she had lived?”

Judgment nodded. “Chrysalis had been injured, but it is very hard to kill an Alicorn, and almost impossible to kill on who’s also a Changeling.” Our mind reeled at this. Up till now, we had always viewed Chrysalis as a rather powerful Changeling, but this dragon was referring to her as an Alicorn? It made little sense to us, but we motioned for the Dragon to carry on.

“Anyways,” Judgment continued, “After Being denied a treaty with the Changelings, Celestia mounted her two Airships with cannons and Soldiers, and sent off to destroy the Changeling home at Blackrock, just on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. The battle raged for over three months, and the casualties were heavy on both sides. Eventually, Chrysalis decided it was time to abandon their home. She took the survivors of the Hive, and infiltrated this ship, the Sun’s Wrath. It didn't take long for her to have complete control over the ship. Then she shielded it and fled. The Solar Empire considered this a victory. Blackrock is now one of the most secure prisons in all of Equestria.”
        
We frowned at this, searching our brain for memories of our studies. “Wait a moment.” We said, grabbing ahold of the memory triumphantly. “Blackrock is on the opposite side of the Everfree forest? We that is the territory of the Wildcats! It’s not Equestria!” We smiled triumphantly, but our small victory was short lived.

“Not anymore. After defeating the Changelings, and Taking Blackrock, the Solar Empire set out to conquer more territory. They erased the Wildcats from the face of the earth. The Wildcat race is no more. Not a single one remains living.” Our jaw collided with the floor again.

“Under Celestia’s rule, Equestria’s territory grew ten times its size, becoming the Solar Empire. Princess Celestia assigned her student, Princess Twilight Sparkle, as the head of Arcane Science, creating some of the most powerful weapons, and inventions Equestria has ever seen.”

We now entered a room full of different weapons. Odd glowing sabers lay on odd shelves. Shotguns, rifles, swords, weapons looking they came from some videos games, even one we recognized as a Binary Rifle from a game called, “Halo,” that we used to play before our imprisonment was there. “This is the Changeling’s arsenal of weaponry.” The dragon informed us as we began to mill around, admiring the weapons. “These weapons are very good, but to the Solar Empire, these are old fashioned weapons. The technology They used is way more advanced.

We turned back to him. “So basically, while we were imprisoned in our unholy prison, Equestria was... evolving?”

Judgment thought for a minute before answering. “I suppose thats actually a rather kind way of putting it.” he admitted. “Planes, Helicopters, and other things have come into existence.”

Judgment led us from the hall of amazing weapons to a jet black door, with an odd emblem on it. 


Judgment turned to us. “Through this door, is the one who organized, and worked very hard to orchestrate your escape, Princess Luna.” he said. “And she is usually short on temper. Don't make her mad.” He knocked on the door.

“Yes, come in Judgment, I know it’s you.” came an annoyed voice. The voice sounded odd, and layered, like two different voices were speaking slightly off pitch to each other. Our ears twitched, as we recognized the voice. However, once again, we could not place it.
We stood aside as Judgment pulled the door open. Inside was a dim room, illumination coming only from the dozens of computer screens that were plastered about the opposite wall. In the middle of the room was a tall chair on wheels. It spun around to face us. Our eyes widened in surprise. In the chair was a creature that looked like a pony with a twisted unicorn horn, a pair of tattered insectoid wings, and probably stood as tall as our sister. Unlike a pony however, it had a sharp pair of fangs and dark green eyes with elongated oval pupils. it’s mane was a teal color, and was peppered with holes. The odd creature wore a small, black crown tipped with blue orbs. The legs,and tail were full of holes and her limbs and torso were very slender.

The creature smiled slyly at our horrified expression. “Hello Princess Luna,” Queen Chrysalis said in her echoing voice, “Long time, no see.”


> Memoirs of a Fleeting Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


To Glory


Chapter III


Memoirs of a Fleeting Heart





We stood, frozen in horror, as the Queen of Changelings descended from her perch on a large chair and trotted towards us at a luxurious pace. She radiated such power, as her eyes literally glowed. This was not the feeble Queen who had attacked our home so long ago; this was the queen in her prime. We lowered ourselves into a defensive stance, readying ourselves for an attack. We heard the crackle of Chrysalis’ odd laughter, and our coat bristled in anger.

“Come now princess,” she said, “I wouldn't have ordered Judgment to free you, if I had intentions to kill you myself, now would I?” Unfortunately,  the horror did indeed have a point. However, we were speaking to the Queen of deception and trickery! We did not intend to be fooled as we were when she invaded.

“We dost not know how thee twisted mind works,” we spat in response, “But we are not  to be fooled by thee again.” We turned our attention to our horn, focusing on it as hard as possible. There was a flicker, and suddenly, electricity surged through it, arcing over our body. Our powers had returned to us! It filled our body with warm magic, closing the old scars and small cuts that we had received our previous engagement. The Changeling Queen looked thoroughly perplexed, as if she did not expect for us to return at full power. Her loss, our gain.

We raised ourselves on our back hooves, and worked out a simple spell. Our horn glowed, and the room filled with the smell of ozone, as we fired a burst of lightning at the Queen. Unfortunately, It did not make contact. Moving with an incredibly speed for his size, the white furred dragon moved in a blur before the Changeling Queen. The twin horns atop his head began to glow bright and a large burning white shield was conjured. Our mouth almost crashed to the floor again as the shield distributed our magic around it, rendering that blast absolutely useless. This was... new. Standing challengingly before us was a dragon working magic, previously capable only for a unicorn or an alicorn! It was unheard of! This was not how things worked!

But you have been gone for several months, came a voice in her mind. Things have changed.

For the time being, we ignored the familiar pony speaking in our mind, and narrowed our eyes at the dragon. “Begone!” we growled, “It is not thy place to meddle.”

The Dragon returned our offensive growl with an a lot more menacing growl of it’s own. “Your majesty, Princess Luna, Queen Chrysalis has worked very hard to save your life. We are all among friends here, however,” his shield dropped and he took a threatening forwards, “That may change quickly.”

Our heart skipped a beat. Although our power had returned, getting in a fight was probably not the smartest move we could make. “Art thou threatening us?” We asked boldly. We were aware of a slight quiver in it, and by the dragon’s expression, it was aware of it was well.

“You were taken in, half dead, by her orders,” he moved aside so he could point a claw at the impassive Chrysalis standing behind him, “You were fed, and taken care of, and healed, and one of the first things you decided to do was attack the one who made it all possible, in her own home.” He seemed to stress the last part a bit more than needed. We were suddenly consumed with shame. Although our desire for revenge was great, this dragon made us feel... ashamed we suppose. His voice softened, as if he could read our mind. “I understand that you are confused right now princess, but striking out blindly isn’t the smart play here.”

“My apologies,” we muttered. “We were... mistaken.” We looked up to find that dragon smiling at us broadly. That irked us enough to send a glare his way.

He snorted as he walked in our direction. We flinched back as he walked closer, but he merely whispered, “My goodness, if looks could kill,” in our ear, before lying down close to us. We flinched away again, but lowered our flank to the ground, mimicking Chrysalis before us, who was also sitting.

“Now then,” Chrysalis drawled, “Now that we are all warm and cozy, you are obviously wondering why I decided to save you.” We nodded earnestly. “Well I don't care.” She snorted. “You will find out soon enough, but first, I am going to ask you some simple questions, and I want you to answer them.”

Our ears flicked. To what purpose did this serve? Answering questions? The rational side of our mind was teeming with ideas. Maybe we were just a source from information to her? Did she think we knew of secrets that our sister had? However, another side of our mind... was silent. Silent in the way that it knew what she was going to ask. It was not comforting. “Which do you favor most, pie, or cake?” We stared at her. We almost assumed it was a joke. However, her piercing green eyes were scathing our own with it’s gaze. She was completely serious.

‘Well... cake we suppose?” I said in confusion. Chrysalis shared an odd glance with Judgment.

“Very well.” Chrysalis said slowly. “What is your favorite game?”

These questions are ridiculous. “I do not care for games.” we responded hotly, “What purpose do these increasingly ludicrous questions serve?”

We glanced at the dragon to our left, then to the Changeling Queen, to find that they were both staring at us with equally surprised expressions.

“One final question.” Chrysalis supplied, ignoring our outburst,  “What did you do in the week before you were banished to the moon for a thousand years.”

“We-” we paused, “We believe our-” we thought hard; we could not remember what we did preceeding our banishment. Come to think of it, we could not seem to remember any specific events in general that preceded our lunar banishment. Our childhood with Celestia, any of our court orders, our education; none of it came to mind, as if it had been stripped from our mind. We began to hyperventilate.

“Our memories!” we exclaimed, “What has happened to them!?” we rounded on Chrysalis, “Remove thy curse from our mind! This is your villainous  handiwork at play!”

The Changeling Queen sat, saying nothing, but gave us a look that made us shrink back. There was an ominous silence for a moment, before Chrysalis spoke again. “No, I have nothing to do with your memories. That reeks or Celestia.”

                Our heart gave a little twinge at our sisters name. “What dost... that pony... have to do with our sudden memory loss?”

“One of the many inventions that Princess Twilight Sparkle created,” Judgment explained, “Was a type of machine that allowed a pony to manipulate others memories. Really, right now it can only allow others to view them, or make a pony forget them. But in theory, it should allow one to completely control another pony through their minds. The Solar Empire has been using it to look at others memories and extract information from them.”

                “Which means,” Chrysalis summarized, “The Solar Empire knows what we’re up to. Well, may the goddesses rape me with their forehooves!... Not literally.” she added quickly before we could voice our opinions on the matter. “We need to begin moving now. Are you ready for the mission Judgment?”

           “Of course Chrysalis, but is she ready?”

           “We don’t have time for Luna to make a full recovery. We must have her move before the Solar Empire puts two and two together.”

                We were utterly confused. “Wait!” we said to the bickering duo, “What do you mean the Empire knows of your plans? What plans? What is so important about my memories? And what makes thou think I will do anything for thee?” Our bombardment of questions was returned with shared glances, and a sly smile from Chrysalis.

                “Your memories,” she said slowly, “Are vitally important. Also it just so happens that I know some of the important parts that the Solar Empire is after.”

                “How dost thou know?!” we demanded hotly, “What are they?!”

                Chrysalis’ grin grew wider. “Oh, of course I’ll tell you.. but first, I’d like you to... do me a little favor.”

                Beside us, Judgment gave a sigh. “Chrysalis, I’m still not sure shes ready for this type of-”

                “Fine.” we said abruptly, interrupting the white behemoth, who whipped around to glare at us. This dragon was not allowed to dictate if we were ready to do anything or not. We strode up to Chrysalis, who got to her hooves, probably in case we attempted to shoot her again. “What is the nature of this mission?"

                Chrysalis grinned gleefully, her wings buzzing as she took to the air. We watched as she hit a few buttons on a dashboard. The multiple screens flickered out, then relit themselves, collectively featuring a sense that appeared to us like if should be from some sci-fi horror movie mix. An ominous obsidian black castle with sleek black walls, was perched on a rocky cliff, and was completely surrounded by a blue field of flickering blue energy. We could just make the small meandering shapes of our sisters guards. “This,” Chrysalis explained, ‘Is our old home at Blackrock, now named the Lunar Asylum, a joke insulting your banishment perhaps. It is the most secure prison in all of Equestria, and holds only a single prisoner. I want you to go in, wreck havoc, and release that single prisoner. Then bring him back here.”

                We considered this. We needed our memories back. The changeling seemed legitimate; and the dragon... we paused and glanced at him, finding that he was also glancing at us. As we looked at each other, I could see a turmoil emotions  in his eyes; hope, pain, and longing for forgiveness; And fear. A fear of us-- no, for us. This was confusing. We once again found ourselves reflecting back on our escape. Judgment the Dragon had saved our life from a mental institute, where we had been a prisoner of our own mind for almost a year. He had risked his life for us. We believe it’s safe to assume that he is a moderate ally in the least.

We turned our stare to the Changeling Queen. We opened our mouth to give her an answer, but she answered before we could make the words escape from our mouth. “Good,” she said, her wings taking her into the air again,  “Of course, I will hand over some fine resources, and Judgment will be accompanying you.” Somehow, the thought of the dragon by our side made us feel warm and protected inside. We could not explain it, and yet we felt our heart flutter a bit. We scowled at ourselves inwardly.  Romance wasn’t something we enjoyed. Being able to dream-walk had made us quite keen to what happens in the night, and we were not just about ready to experience it. Either way, we’d just met the furry mass. No such things as feelings that face. perhaps we had a heart condition? We made a mental note to inquire later.

                We were shaken from our thoughts when Chrysalis dropped three items before us: the first was a saddle pack bulging with... whatever was in it. The next vaguely resembled a  long, flat, rectangular watch, or a hoof band to be worn on our hooves. The third item definitely caused our feathers to quiver. It was a rather long, large, magical rifle looking weapon. It glowed an ominous orange color as we inspected it. We could tell which side was the barrel, but we could see hole to allow a bullet to pass through. When we levitated it, the orange veins of power began to change color to match the shade of our coat.

"What is it?” we asked in awe, rotating it around to that we could get a better look.

“It’s a  Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle, known more commonly as the Binary Rifle. It includes two core-mounted particle accelerators with unparallel stopping power to bring down distant foes with one shot. The shot, when inflicted on an enemy, causes them to disintegrate. It also has two zoom modes to fulfill its purpose as a long range precision rifle. You can mess with these zoom settings with the-” She stopped at our blank expressions. “It’s basically a long range magical sniper rifle,” She sighed. “And it has a chance to disintegrate targets on hit.” Our gleeful grin must have scared her, for we noticed she gave a slight shiver.

Our eyes were drawn to a small engraving on the rear of the weapon: an upside-down crescent moon with wings sprouting from its sides. A memory sparked into our mind, but it faded as we attempted to grasp it. We turned to butt of the gun to face chrysalis. “What is this?’ we inquired.

Chrysalis gave it a side long glance. “Oh, it’s just a-” She froze, staring at the symbole. A tornado of afflictions tore through her eyes as they glued themselves to the mark. Slowly, her eyes turned to Judgment, who was nonchalantly glaring back at her. We looked between the two’s staring battle before Chrysalis broke off, and turned back to us. “It’s... nothing important. Just a little indent of it’s previous owner.” So, even the Changeling Queen couldn't lie out of everything. We added another mental note to press her for information later.

“The saddle pack is filled with food, and ammunition. “Chrysalis said moving on. “There are a few healing potions, and thats just about it.”

“Then what is this?” we asked, nudging the final contraption at our feet.

Chrysalis opened her mouth to respond, then shut it, grinning at us. “Put it on. You’ll find out eventually.”

We obeyed, slipping on the band. It was made of a cool metal, and it slipped cleanly onto our hooves. There was a sharp click, and it tightened. Our cutie mark then appeared on it’s screen, before it winked back into blackness. We stared at it for a second, before levitating the saddle bags onto our back, and pushing the rifle in between the straps. "What happens now?” We asked.

“Now,” the dragon said, finally standing, “I get my gear. Meanwhile, I think it’s time you caught up with an old friend.” Chrysalis nodded in agreement.

An old friend? As far as we were concerned, we had no friends. A few Allies, but no pony to really call a “friend,” even in the loosest sense of the words. However, Chrysalis indeed pressed a button on her obscenely large dashboard, and the door behind us creaked open. We turned, slightly afraid at what we might see. Our jaw was once again scraping the floor as we looked into the familiar purple eyes of a pink alicorn, with a crystal heart cutie mark. A long thin sword hung soundly beneath her wing, and she had old battle scars marring her face, but somehow not marring her beauty.

“P-Princess Cadence!?”



> Reunion 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


To Glory


Chapter IV


Reunion


Our mouth was still agape as the princess of love, now battle scarred but still as lovely as ever, trotted into the room, also her presence warming us to the brim. Our niece gave a quick nod to Chrysalis and Judgment, before she turned to us. A smile spreaded on her face. “Hello aunty Luna.” She said. We could hear her voice quivering, and tears in her eyes. We hoped they were tears of happiness. We leapt forewords; Cadence backtracked back, but we were embracing her before she get out of our hoof range. Our eyes similarly filled with tears at the sight of a face so familiar.

                “Cadence!” Our voice was mucked with happiness at seeing a (friendly) familiar face. Cadence seemed startled at first, but we felt her slowly relax. Her hooves wrapped around our neck and they hugged us tight. Then they let got and we gave her some space “It brings us great pleasure to see thee again!” We said happily. Our eyes caught those of Judgment, who seemed relieved to see that we were happy. We shot him our best “shooty” look, and turned our attention back to a smiling Cadence. “But... why art thou here... with them?” we pointed a hoof at an indignant Chrysalis. A horrible thought struck us. “Didst they... kidnap you!?” If they did, we were going to release our own unbridled and unwavering rage on those sons of--

                We were interrupted by Cadence bursting onto a laughing fit, and Judgment giving a low chuckle. Chrysalis however seemed quite offended. “No, I did not ‘kidnap’ her!” She said indignantly, “She came to us quite willingly!” Chrysalis gave a huff, “Judgment and I must speak. Cadence, will you please show Princess Luna the dining hall? She has a mission after this.”

We noticed Cadence give the great dragon a look of intense dislike, so quick we almost missed it, before turning back to Chrysalis. “Yes, Queen Chrysalis.” she said crisply. The Queen gave our niece a soft look.

“And... please explain to Luna about what else has transpired over the last few months. I don’t want to be answering any awkward questions.” The Queen finally said before motioning for us to leave.

As we left following the flank of the alicorn of love, we were drawn to several deep scars along it. We had never noticed them before, but the looked old. And the could have only some from one thing: the act of forced procreation.

We kept this thought in mind as Cadence showed us to a grand staircase in the immense ship. It was bustling with changelings going every which way; up, down, sideways. Many stopped as we walked by and bowed... not to us, but to our companion. It was almost unnerving, watching those creatures with soulless eyes bow down to her like she was some sort of queen. Cadence stopped as  one changeling came before her. Unlike the majority of those gathered around us, we could see emotion in it’s eyes. Deep, cutting guilt and grief. Well, our memory served us correctly from the changeling invasion, which it could quite possibly not be, these creatures had imprisoned her below canterlot. Who knows what else had transpired there? We were surprised  to find such an emotion such as remorse in it’s eyes. Weren't these creatures supposed to be soulless and heartless?

Nevertheless, we watched as this changeling stepped forwards and bowed to Cadence, stretching out a forehoof and offering her a vial of purple glowing liquid. Our pink companion took it, and placed it in a pack next to her sword. Then she leaned forwards, and kissed the changeling on the horn. The poor little thing looked like it was going to faint right then and there. It swayed on it’s hooves until another trotted up to support it. The changeling who had just received his first kiss buzzed something at Cadence, before it trotted off, supported by a bunch of his companions. We gaped at Cadence questionably as she glanced at us.

“What in the name of the moon was that!?” We demanded, “Thou hast just shown a changeling unbridled affection, in exchange for a small vial of liquid! What resides in thy bottle!?!”

The pink alicorn giggled a bit before answering back, “Luna,” She responded in a soothing voice, “You don’t need to speak in such a weird way. I can hardly understand you!”

We sniffed. That was hardly anyway of getting us to speak better! Nevertheless, it was indeed not how many spoke this day. We.... I attempted to speak regularly. “We are... I apologize cadence,” I said, “But.. what in the world was that? You basically committed an act of foreplay with a creature of a different species, in exchange for a small bottle of purple liquid. What is in the little vial you placed in your pack?”

Cadence stared at us... ME (I decided to mentally smack myself every time I made such mistakes), in a way that made me think that perhaps ‘foreplay’ was not the correct word to use. “It’s... complicated.” She responded, “But this stuff,” She levitated out the vial, ”Is a special healing potion made from love. It can heal anything, even regenerate a lost foreleg, or even a head if you're quick enough! The only thing it doesn't work on is the dead. No necromantic power unfortunately.”

We, (mental slap) I, nodded in interest, “Quite the powerful magic.” We commented. The love goddess had a faraway look in her eyes,  “I have another inquiry.” I said, “Why did the changeling give you such a powerful potion, and why did you kiss it?”

Cadence paused before answering. “Well, when I first arrived here, I was... hurt. The changeling’s tended to me. At first, I hated them; I kicked them; I pushed them away.” I remembered my first encounter with the bug like creatures on this vessel. Kicking.... indeed. “But they always came back, trying to help me. One was quite ambitious. He came back no matter what. Always helping. Always...” She scrunched her eyes, and we were surprised to see a tear roll from it. “Always trying to... do Better.” Obviously this was something incredibly emotional to her. I wished she’d let me in. But she drew a shaky breath and continued. “Anyways, that changeling taught me to keep on trying to live and forgive. So that’s what I’m doing. Every changeling here is trying to gain my forgiveness. In my opinion, they already have... but some don’t accept that.” She gave a hint of a smile, “They come bearing gifts. Honestly, it’s themselves they’re looking to forgive, not me.”

We nodded. It made sense. the changelings locked Cadence beneath Canterlot, guarded her, where over all not nice to her. Like anypony, they were now looking for forgiveness. We-- (mental slap) I was beginning to realize that changelings were not much different than ponies. Indeed, they looked different, and spoke different languages, but  they had the same kind of fundamental nature all ponies shared.

We--(SMACK!) I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of clicking hooves. I turned to find myself face to face with another changeling. This one was about the same height as me, and it’s bright red eyes seemed to drive into my skull. I mentally gulped. Slowly, it took it’s eyes off of me, and turned to Cadence, who gave a bow to it.

“Cloud Strife.” She said,“Pleasure to meet you again.” The way she spoke seemed to imply to me that ‘pleasure,’ was not the word she would have chosen, given the chance. The Changeling dipped his head in return.

“Ex Princess Cadence.” He said icily, “Such a... heart warming thing to see you well.” I snorted at his obvious contempt, and he returned his unnerving eyes to us. “And Princess Luna!” There was a slight hint of genuine warmth in his voice. Slight, but warm. “It is an honor to meet you! Queen Chrysalis requests your presence on the upper deck.”

I blinked. That was quick. I shared a surprised glance at Cadence, who quickly smiled in response. “I guess it’s time to go.” She said, trotting back up the stairs. I followed wearily, Cloud taking up the rear.

When we were back on deck, Chrysalis and Judgement were already there, sharing hostile glances at each other. I once again glanced at Cadence, raising an eyebrow in question, but the love goddess merely smiled, and shook her head. Later, she seemed to say something inaudible. Shrugging, I approached the duo. “It is time for us to embarch?” I asked, “You did not give us much time to address our problems.”

Judgement gave a little growl. “You would, if a certain queen wasn’t in such a hurry.” He loomed over the changeling.

Chrysalis, for her credit, didn’t flinch. “I know you want to give her more time,” She snapped, “But if she’s not on the move, She’ll get caught.” She turned her attention to me, “There are several Solar Empire warships heading towards Blackrock. Using the memories they took from you-”

“The ones you won’t tell me.” I interjected.

           “They know where we’re heading next.” She continued, heedless of my interruption. A light flickered at the edge of my vision. Turning, I noticed a pulsing orb of bright light floating above Cadence’s head. “They’ll be there in a few hours. We need to move now!” She was back to yelling at Judgment again. I ignored the confrontation, enthralled by the pulsing light above the Alicorn's head.

Cadence gave me a weird look as I raised a hoof to touch the light. “Princess?” She asked, “What are you doing?” The light pulsed warmly around my hoof, inviting me into it’s care.
“What is she doing?” Chrysalis questioned as my horn began to glow. Maybe if I touched the light with my magic...

                “No Luna, don’t!” Came Judgements call, causing Cadence to jump. My magic connected with the orb...  darkness consumed my vision.


> Blackrock
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


To Glory


Chapter V


Blackrock 





        Pain. That’s what flooded into my mind as I gasped, lying on my back, agony searing through my chest... and my nethers. I attempted to stand... and found that I couldn't! My body wasn’t responding! I couldn't even move my eyes to look around! I was stuck staring at the ceiling of a... surprisingly familiar pink bed. 

        A hoof pressed on my throat, and I began to choke. My hooves flailed around, like they were under another's command, and didn't seem to respond at my attempts to grasp at the hoof choking the life out of me. My pink flurry of hooves pitifully batter against the strong white stallion’s foreleg seemed to do nothing to-

        Wait, pink forehooves?

        True enough, My forehooves where pink. I noticed now, no thanks to the pain I was enduring, that I had also gained a smaller build. I was lighter. I still had my horn and wings. And now the big stallion was looming over me, grinning sadistically. I attempted to focus my magic, but I had just about as much luck with that as moving my limbs. I looked into the stallion’s eyes and tried to focus beyond the pain as his lips moved to form words. “-what you get Cadence. You shouldn't have tried that stunt back there. Not smart. Not smart at all.”

        With a jolt, I realized as was being addressed by Shining Armor. But... this was wrong! He had me pinned to the bed, looming over me, grinning. I felt something touch my mare-hood. I nearly fainted right then and there. I tried to turn and twist away, but my body wouldn't respond. I scratched at the walls of my mind as Shining Armor began to penetrate me. My scream echoed the ponies I was in, and my entire world turned black




My eyes snapped open when I finally exited the nightmare. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I had been raped; or rather, the mare I had inhabited for that time had been raped by Shining Armor. However, I did have a sneaking suspicion that the pony I had been inside had been Cadence. But Princess Cadence and Shining Armor where married! To what purpose did one forcing the other to submit to sex serve? I had heard of some ponies enjoying that type of thing, but I did not share this fetish.

It took me a few seconds to grow aware of my surroundings. The first thing that struck me was that it was now very late in the night, or very early in the morning.. I lay in a clearing, amid a large dense woodland. I could feel something warm a soft pressing against my side, and sunk into it, not caring what it was. I shook uncontrollably. It was as if I could still feel Shining Armor’s breath on my face, and his body violating my own. I squeezed my eyes shut, and slowly entered a dreamless sleep. 




        When I awoke a second time, it was daylight. I yawned, and found myself staring in golden eyes. I jumped back in surprise, and smashed into the furry mass behind me. 

        “Princess Luna?” Judgement asked in concern. “Are you alright?” he moved what I now realized was his tail, closer around me. I shoved it away, and ignored the confused expression on his face.

        “I am fine.” I informed him tartly. “Where are we? What happened to the Changeling Queen’s ship?”

Judgment stood and shook himself, scattering morning dew all over me. I flinched at the cold water, and the dragon gave me an apologetic smile, which I returned with a hard look of my own. “We’re in Everfree.” he explained. “About thirty miles from Blackrock. After you fell unconscious, some Solar Empire warships popped up out of nowhere. Chrysalis held them off while I took you and escaped. She wants us to complete the mission.” His horns glowed as he levitated up my saddle bags and Spec. Rifle, before passing them to me. I took them hesitantly, still uncomfortable at the magic wielded by the dragon.

I took them and eyed him warily. “What... what happened to me?” I questioned.

Judgment looked sympathetic. “You entered her memory.” he said. “One of Cadence’s memories.” 

I frowned. “How?” I questioned. “How did I enter the memory of one who is not myself?”

Judgment considered the question a bit before answering. “We’re not sure.” He said. “But it has something to do with you missing your memories. Your magic is constantly searching for them, reaching out to others in an attempt to take theirs as your own. Luckily, your mind can tell the difference between your’s and someone else’s, but you might find yourself dragged into one of the memories of you concentrate on it.”

“Concentrate?” 

“Focus your magic on it.” He elaborated. “From what I've heard, it’s a bright orb, or floating star, or something like that, that will appear near the pony whose memory it belongs to.” I shivered a bit. So, I could see Cadence’s memory again? Be forced into such a position, and subjected to such horrors if I did so much as looked at that floating magic above her head

Judgment noticed my obvious distress. “What happened in the memory?” he asked softly.

I trembled a bit as I recounted what I had experienced inside the memory orb; the humiliation, the pain... the humiliation. Even if it wasn’t me, I have never included myself in such... activities. As much as the rumors circulated around Canterlot of my sister’s workings, I had never done anything as such.

My draconic companion looked thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. “Are you... going to be okay?”

My response was a snort. “Perfectly.” I said icily. The dragon looked at me disbelievingly, and I rolled my eyes. “I believe you mentioned we’re in Everfree? This is hardly the place to go through sexual therapy.” 

The dragon rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said, turning, “but we’re going to talk about this at some point.”

        I gave my own little sigh and pouted.




        I took us about three hours of flying and walking to finally reach a point where we could view Blackrock. Celestia’s sun was beginning to set as we looked on at the ominous hilltop castle.

        It looked like a dark mansion from a fairy tail. Black towers rose high into the air, as a large wall rose around it. Not to mention it was built on the side of a cliff face.

Indeed, a fairy tale castle.

If it wasn’t for the monstrous flickering blue shield that circumnavigated the structure. Or the hundreds of golden shape flittering about the dark monsterosity. As we watched, a large flying ship, much like the Hive only on a much smaller scale, emerge over the castle. Even though the Hive would dwarf this ship in size, there was no question it was large, spreading it’s shadow far over the entire castle. It floated down towards a small white platform that seemed out of place, and docked there. I strained to make out the figures disembarking, but they were too far away to make out.

Judgment prodded me, making me jump. He put a finger to his lips, and pointed a few yards away from us. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now I could make out a small light- a small fire- burning. Surprisingly stealthy for such a large creature, Judgment began creeping towards the light, motioning with his tail for me to follow. I gave an indignant snort and trotted after him.

As we neared, I could begin to pick out voices. Two stallions were arguing. loudly.

“--And I tell ya, it ain’t the radiator!” one said. “It’s the water pump! Ae need ah new one!”

“And I say, it’s the radiator! All we need’s a bit O’ water!”

Around a large bush, two stallions were yelling at each other beside a large.... thing. A long, black, sleek metal thing, with large wings, and propellers on the ends. At the front was a cockpit, and at the back, a large bay door was open, revealing a steamy cargo area, loaded with crates. From one of the propellers, smoke was rising into the sky. It seemed to be damaged in some way.

Judgment began to slip around towards the back of the machine. Again, I silently trotted after him. As we neared the back, the two stallions were beginning to argue even louder. Judgment began to explain his plan in a hushed growl, “First, we’ll levitate out a few of these crates, and put them out of sight somewhere. Next, You sneak around front, and crawl into the cockpit, while I sneak into the back. I shut the door, you pilot the thing, and we’re off! Foolproof!”

“Great!” I hissed. “Save one flaw. Just a tiny thing: I can’t fly this infernal contraption you great oaf!”

Judgement paused, and stared at me. “What are you talking about?” the white dragon asked. “Of course you do! Don’t your remem-” he stopped himself short as something dawned on him. “Riiiiight. You don’t remember.” I attempted to resist the urge to shoot him.

“What are you talking about?” I questioned.

“Nothing!” Came his too quick response.

“Nothing?” I hissed. “Then you should tell me!”

“It’s not important!”

“What are you saying, it’s obviously important! And that’s why you're not telling me!”

“Look, maybe we can--”

“Put your hooves in the air!”

“Yes Judgment, put you p-- wait, what?” I turned to find a floating weapon pointed at my royal flank. Obviously, our argument had gone a little louder than intended. The two stallions who had been arguing where now wielding weapons. One, a unicorn, was levitating some kind of drum fed weapon, while the other, an earth stallion, had a long sleek weapon in his mouth. 

“Ah said, put ‘em up!” said the unicorn levitating his drum-weapon higher. As I turned, his companion gasped.

“Bob...” Bob? “That’s.... that’s Princess Luna!” 

The Unicron gasped. “Then...then intel was right! She did escape!”

The earth stallion looked completely ecstatic as he dropped his gun to the ground, and spun to face the unicron. “Ya know whut this means Bob?” He was so distracted, he didn’t notice me wrapping my magic around his weapon.

“Whut Harry?” he asked, also dropping his weapon, and noticing when I levitated it into the air. These two weren't the exactly the brightest bulbs in the--

“Twenty thousand tons of pure gold!” Harry blubbered. Now that caused me to pause. 

“Oh yeah!” Bob blubbered. “Bring the Princess back alive, and we’ll be livin in style. Forever!” 

I gave the duo a little cough, but the two stallions were too busy fantasizing.

“We could get the new Xbox!”

“And pre-order Halo 5!”

“And get all the hot mare’s we want!”

“All da mares!”

I gave myself a face hoofed and spoke loudly, “Excuse me, fine gentlemen!” The two turned as I shoved the weapons, which, thanks to the names carved into the side, I recognized as a combat shotgun, and an assault carbine, into their faces. “I do not think I’ll enjoy being captured.” I said sweetly.

The duo paled. “Oooooh snap....”





        And hour, two rolls of duct tape, and a few threats later, Judgment was in the back of the airship with one of the stallions (who was comically duct taped to the roof), while I rode with the other, who was piloting the ”dropship,” as they called it. The large, plane like vehicle sailed through the sky, soaring towards the large castle perched on the mountain side, enveloped by the blue shimmer dome of protective magic. As we flew, I questioned the guards on the status of the castle, and the large ship coming in. 

        “Well,” the buck answered nervously, “So I hear, the prisoner attempted to escape. Nearly did, but he needs someone on the outside to shut down the shield protecting the level he’s stuck on.”

        “Needs?” I asked. “In the present tense?” 

        The buck nodded. “No ones either got the skill or power to lock him back into the prison. So they had to call in a specialist.”

        “A specialist?”

        “The only pony powerful enough to force the escaped prisoner back into his cell,” he said, “Is Princess Celestia herself.”

        My blood turned to ice at the mention of my sisters name. “On-on the boat?” I might’ve said that, or squeak, but the pony nodded in response as he pulled closer to the base of the castle.

        “This is where we usually unload supplies.” he said, pointing a hoof towards the base of the huge structure, where an opening was visible just below the shield. He turned back in his seat to look at me. “If it means anything, I didn’t approve of celestia locking you in an asylum. I always thought you were more down to earth than she was... so to speak.”

        I nodded dully at his praise as we landed at a deserted docking back. Huge platforms speared over empty space, leading to a single large tunnel traveling deep into the mountain. We landed. and the cockpit slid open. As I began to disembark, I glanced back at my pilot. “Need I threaten you about what happens if you go raise the alarm?” he shook his head violently. “Good.”

        I hopped off the Dropship, Just as Judgment came out of the cargo bay. The rear of the ship closed, and it glided back into the air, noticeably flying rather quickly in the opposite direction of the oppressing castle.

        I turned to Judgment. “Celestia is here.” I said immediately. Even saying her name made my mane stand on end. I explained to the dragon what I had heard from the pilot. 

        To my surprise, the great white dragoon did not seem the slightest bit put off. “Figures.” he grunted. “Celestia and the prisoner have a history.”

        ‘What?” I said in surprise. “Is this someone I know?” He gave me a look. I rolled my eyes. “Yes, in my lost memories I cannot have for some reason correct?” He gave a nod.

        Stomping my hooves in frustration, I stormed angrily towards the tunnel opening. “They’re my memories!” I snarled. “What makes it so I’m not allowed to know what's going on in my own head!”

        “Luna,” he whispered urgently, “Don’t you think it’s best we keep our voices down?”

        I snorted. “Sure, like an entire army is magically going to appeared from thin air-” I was cut off as in the tunnel opening, a bust of air clodded out, and dozens of Solar soldiers, armed to the teeth and in golden armor, flickered into existence. 

        They gaped in surprise.

        Judgment gaped in surprise.

        I went, “Oh shi-”





        

> Malicious Benevolence 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I've never killed before
Well--maybe I have--sometime in the past--in my memories that I do not have at this time. As far as I am aware of, I have never killed a soul. I haven't had a need to, really. Everything took care of itself. No crime-deserving-death had ever reached my ears, so I haven't even been vaguely responsible for the end of another's life. I was innocent and pure to those ways.
At least, I thought I was.
My body remembered. My body had killed before. When I turned and faced the Solar Empire soldiers, my body took action.
Before the enemy could react, I enveloped my long rifle in a blue telekinetic sheath of magic, whipping it out, targeting a large stallion in the back of the group, seemingly the leader of the soldiers. My vision swam, filled with flashing lights, then it cleared an instant later. With only the slightest change, small glowing reticles targeting various guards now filled my vision. The large brute that I was aiming at had a retical of glowing red light on his face.
Before I was aware of what was happening, my magic squeezed the trigger.As if in slow motion, a glowing blur of orange light shot from the end of the weapon, lancing through the head of the leader. His brain torn from the rest of his body and painting his fellow soldiers red.
I had just killed a pony. My first kill that was certainly not to be my last. I hadn't even been shot at first. I had just seen him... and fired. I beheaded him in a single shot with a weapon that I had never used before.
What... was I becoming?
My mind reeled at what I had just done, but my body was prepared. Like a blue blaze, I rushed into battle. Firing with expert precision, I decapitated or fatally wounded my targets with every shot. My hooves were quickly becoming soiled with the blood of my enemies as I stomped upon bodies under my hooves. My horn was crackling and filling the air with the smell of ozone as I fired bolts of magic into the bodies of those around me.
My body had a mind of its own.
One soldier rushed at me with a glowing blade. I ducked low, letting the blade swing where me head had been. I angled my weapon up, and fired at his surprised face. I rolled to the side as his body fell to the ground, moving on to the next opponent.
An earth stallion rushed me, a glowing blade similar to the previous guard's blade was clenched in his jaw. Before I had time to move, he was upon me. I barely had time to raise my large rifle to parry the blow, which sent off blue sparks of arcane magic. I hardly noticed as I shoved the blade away, and kicked up with my hooves at his exposed neck. He crumbled to the ground, and I brought my hooves down on his ribs. An audible "crack" reached my ears over the sounds fighting happening in the large tunnel.
I had hardly risen from destroying my foe before a burst of pain sliced through my rear leg. I jumped back as another soldier leaped out of striking range, before rolling and charging at me with expert speed. Once again, I was forced to use my weapon as a sword, parrying the blow. I took a step back, and winced from the lancing pain in my hind leg. The cut, deep; the pain, intense. My brief moment of hesitation opened up another opening for the soldier, and this time I was unprepared. My blood spilled across the floor, and a new accompanying pain in my breasts proved that the blood was my own. I stumbled back as my vision became a red haze. Another slash, and a new pain matched the blood spilling from the side of my face.
I fell to the floor, adrenaline falling away to reveal that these weren't my first wounds. I could feel several cuts all over my body, red coating my fur and the floor. I could feel darkness eating away at the corner of my vision, threatening to engulf me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Judgment, horns aglow, beginning to fill the tunnel with bright streams of fire.
I tried to turn my gaze around me... and I found bodies, dozens of bodies. They were smoking and glowing from magical spells, stomped on by heavy hooves, or with largely sized holes through their chests. It took me a few moments to realize that I had killed these ponies. I had taken their lives; butchered them mercilessly, with utter disregard of they could have been friendly, or if they could have been saved.
How could I have done this!?
What.... was I becoming.
I suppose I would die then. It would probably be for the best. Ponies would stop debating over me. Maybe Chrysalis could get some mind of surrender agreement, or maybe I would by some kind of martyr? Glancing to my left, I saw Judgment beginning to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of guards. I supposed he wasn't escaping either. Oh well. There was something mysterious about him. He knew more about me than I did, and seemed all too comfortable around me. For some reason, I found this rather endearing, as well as disturbing.
As the darkness began to strengthen its grip around me, I found myself wishing I had grown to know the dragon better. He seemed so...something. Familiar. Friendly. Wise. Terrifying. I suppose if by some miracle I survived, I would want to find out more about him.
The last thing I was aware of before I lost consciousness, was the purr of an automatic weapon filling the hall with lead


---

"All the thoughts we have, all the decisions we make, are rooted in layers upon layers of experiences. To understand ourselves, we must look to our own past. To our memories.
I believe that our pasts and our hearts make us who we are. Our memories define us. But what if we should lose them? Would we become untethered? Adrift? Would we even be the same ponies anymore?
If you could block out your most horrible and hurtful memories, would you do so to spare yourself the pain? And if you did, would you lose an important part of yourself in the process?
And what of higher thought? Reasoning and rationality? If I were to forget the discoveries that led to a realization, would I be able to grasp that revelation anymore? Could I piece together the logic of an argument if I could not remember having the argument?
How important are memories to our ability to even think? Or, at least, think clearly?
And what about the reverse? What if you added memories which were not your own? How often could you live parts of other ponies' lives, making their decisions, seeing the events that brought them joy or sorrow, before the boundaries that separated you from them began to blur?"
-Kkat; Excerpted from: Fallout: Equestria


---


When I awoke, I was staring at a slow fan pin-wheeling overhead. I attempted to sit up, only to have strong hooves press me back down.
"Sit."  said a mare's voice, touched with an accent, "You've taken quite a beating Princess Luna. Take it slow."
"Where is Judgment?" I demanded immediately. Even if he was covered in fur (and increasingly annoying), a friendly dragon-tank was something that would make me feel ever so slightly safer.
"Here princess." Came the deep voice of my draconic companion. I breathed a slight sigh of relief, then tensed.
"Where are all the guards?" I questioned.
My answer came from the mysterious mare's voice, "Down in the docking bay. I was able to get you out before reinforcements arrived, so I'm guessing they're still looking for you down there."
I sat up, and this time, no hooves shoved me down. I was covered in white bandages that I had not been aware of beforehand. Moving was painful, but bearable. I glanced around to find the mare who had been answering my questions.
There sat a gray mare, wearing a black suit with a matching black fedora, and a purple band around it, matching her eyes. On her flank was a mark that I was quickly able to place as a bass treble clef. Familiarity struck me hard, and yet... it was just on the outskirts of my plane of memory, one I could not seize.
“Why are you here?” came the cold deep voice of my draconic companion, “And how did you get in? One doesn’t just waltz into a top-secret-high-security prison.” His eyes narrowed into slots. His distrustful gaze was met by the cool purple ones belonging to the gray mare.
“No,” she said, “One does not simply ‘Waltz,’ in, but I’ll think you’ll find that being smuggled in is not at all difficult.” I once again thought back to our voyage to the fortress.
The containers of food and weapons supply.
“You hid in the crates?” I asked.
“How else?” the mare questioned. “It’s not like it’s easy to simply commandeer a ship of highly trained elite Solar Empire guards.” I chuckled until Judgment shot me with a cold gaze.
“Why did you come here?’ Judgment demanded. “One does not simply waltz-” the mare cleared her throat. “Smuggle,” he corrected himself, “Themselves into a high gauge security prison for no reason.”
I must admit, this was also a curiosity shared by myself. For once, the huge fur ball was asking some decent questions.The gray coated pony looked uncomfortable.
“It...is not a question worth answering.” she said, “I was just looking for somepony-- and I was incorrect, she was not here.” Judgment narrowed his eyes distrustfully, still not done with the interrogation. Out of the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw a shimmering shape, but when I turned to look, there was nothing there.
“How long have you been around here?” he asked slowly. The mare visibly paled. For a minute, I thought I heard a slight beeping sound, but I was distracted by the mares response.
“Only...only for a short time." The mare said all too quickly. Judgment looked suspicious, and the mare forced on a brave face. I found it surprising that the mare was attempting to lie as to how long she had remained within the prison. It did not seem as if it was something majorly important lie about. So why do so, and potentially make a very big dragon very very very mad.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of blips and beeps. I whipped around, knowing that this was not in my imagination, I examined the part of the room that was beyond my vision. A single empty chair sat before over a dozen monitors. Suddenly,  they all flickered into life, mostly displaying panicked ponies in golden armor rushing about various halls. However, one stood out. A single monitor displayed several heavily armed guards. They hid behind a barricade, with missiles and guns aimed at what appeared to be an enormous safe. It seemed like a delicious amount of overkill to me.
The mare and Judgment come over and watched the monitors in awe. “This must be the wardens office.” the furred dragon grumbled. The gray mare trotted and pointed at the huge safe. “That’s the entrance to the inner sanctum.” she said in her odd accent.
“And that,” Judgement, used his tail to point to another monitor, “Would be our target.”
At first, I thought it was a faulty monitor; it was nearly completely black. That is, until something equally black moved. It was a tall shape, wrapped in the darkness. I could barely make out an odd twisted horn that looked vaguely familiar somehow. Then the eyes. A pair of bright green slitted eyes turned to peer into the monitor, almost as if they were staring directly through the monitor at me. They were judging, brooding, mesmerizing eyes. I found myself falling into the deep, dark, mysterious gaze and-- the monitor suddenly turned to static. I glanced back at the mare and judgment, curious on what they thought of the... thing...
But they were staring at a different  monitor. Judgment looked very worried, and the gray mare was turning white, a look of horror plastered on her face. I turned my eyes back to the monitor, searching for what had disturbed them so.
I found it.
A large, white, winged unicorn stood tall, speaking to another frantic guard. Her multi-colored mane flowed and waved, regardless of the fact that there was no wind inside the building. On her flank was a large golden sun. My sister was here.
I trembled as I looked on. A flashing button labelled “audio,” called to me. Against my better judgment, pressed touched the button with a hoof. Sound blared from unseen speakers. Guards were yelling, officers giving orders, but one stood out to me. One I could never forget.
“Do not underestimate him.” spoke the Solar Goddess. “He has already undone hundreds of magical enchantments I placed upon him. We take no chances this time: he dies today.”
“But princess!” the guard cried, “What you plan... it’s disastrous! Hundreds will die! Your plan-”
“It is for the good of Equestria!” she thundered, “If Nox is allowed to escape, it would mean the beginning of the end, and The Republic will have regained their Ordinance. We will have no more defences if they launch a full scale invasion. Equestria will be lost if he is to escape! Is that what you wish?! To be the warden who allowed Equestria’s most important prisoner to go free?”
The Guard looked away. “N-no princess. I will do as you have ordered.”
“Good.” she said, “Make sure to escape yourself before the bl-” She suddenly stopped, her ears twitching.
“Princess?” the guard asked nervously, “Is something wrong?” Celestia ignored him. She turned to face the camera. My coat stood on end as she gave one of her creepy smiles.
“Hello little sister.” she said, “Having fun are you?”