Longma

by JeckParadox

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, King Sombra, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Nightmare Moon, Original Character
Length: 63901

The Longma, the 'dragonponies' or 'batponies' have started returning to Equestria. Now a Princess herself, Twilight goes to Princess Luna to ask about the Longma's origins, but ends up responsible for an empire of monsters.

One thousand years ago there were six pony races: The Earth, the Pegasi, the Unicorns, the Crystal, the Shadhavar... and the Dragonponies, the Longma. With bat wings, draconic eyes, and reptillain frills these creatures were told about in myth and legend as tricksters and monsters. The demonic minions of the bogeymare Nightmare Moon. But this lost race has returned, a menacing force appearing far to the north. Twilight Sparkle decides to investigate and ask the Princesses about the details, but she soon finds herself responsible for an empire of monsters, worshipping Twilight as the successor to the Mare in the Moon. How will she handle the pressure?

Published 2013-06-17 03:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-10 19:35:01 UTC

1. The Streets

They came without warning one night under a full moon. They didn't do much, but the mere sight of them were enough to put most ponies off.

It was already past midnight near the beginning of summer. They trotted down the street in small groups, periodically stopping to whisper to each other or look up at the full moon, and more often at the crowning city of Canterlot. The few ponies who were awake at that time weren't usually outside, but at the sight of demonic ponies from childhood ghost stories trotting up the street was enough to send them back inside as quickly as possible.

Somehow, in the more crowded neighborhoods there seemed to be a silent communication as neighbors managed to wake neighbors and point out the mysterious creatures on the street. There was a silent consensus in the town of Ponyville to remain indoors and trust that three things would happen;

That the mysterious ponies would keep moving on.

That the Cakes would keep Pinkie asleep, (they didn't want to send the demonic ponies into a panic, now did they?)

That they wouldn't stop at the Castle/Library of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

While the Cakes did manage to keep Pinkie asleep, the town wasn't as lucky regarding the other two.

One of them stopped in front of the tree like library and walked up to the door, sniffing at it suspiciously. The ponies in the building across the street who were watching silently from their window prayed for the safety of their resident Alicorn bookkeeper and watched patiently.

The bat-winged pony knocked on the door four times, getting the attention of two other ponies, as well as making the lights come on in one of the windows suddenly in the tree. Spooking the ponies across the street.

The three demons waited patiently on the other side of the door as the shuffling inside the tree became slightly audible in the deathly quiet neighborhood.

The ponies across the street held their breath as the door opened, revealing a night-gown clad lavender unicorn with a messy mane.

~~~~

"Huh?" The sleepy unicorn asked, her eyes squinted almost shut.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help smelling..." the demonic pony began. His voice was gruffer and deeper than any pony in Ponyville, and Twilight began wiping her eyes and returning to full awareness.

"Wh- uhh..." She began, dumbstruck by the monster before her.

"Could you spare some gems?" It asked.

"Uhh... sure... I think so." She began dumbly. She shook her head, looking at it's fangs. "I mean of course, just give me one teensy minute." She slammed the door magically in the creatures face, teleporting upstairs. "SPIKE!" She hissed in a harsh whisper at the sleeping baby dragon. "SPIKE!" She hissed again, nudging him with her hoof. "SPPIIIKE!" She yelled before catching herself and quickly covering her mouth with her hoof. "Spike, get up, right now, tell me where you keep your gems!"

"Huh... wha- Twilight?"

"Gems. Now. Monster. Outside."

"Huh?"

"Tell me where the gems are, there is something outside that wants them!"

"Really? Okay, uh, give me a minute, how much does it want?"

"Let's start with all of them and work up from there." She whispered.

Spike and Twilight then went around the house for a few minutes and gathered two large buckets of gems that Spike, being the dragon that he is, had stashed around the whole house.

"R-ready?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Twi, what was at the door? I mean.. you're an alicorn now, so if something could scare you that badly..."

"Oh... oh! That's right! I'm an Alicorn! I'm a Princess, something as simple as a monster pony can't-" She opened the door to the pony, and locked with his reptillian golden eyes, and saw his black sharp-edged wings, and noticed the savage pointed frill that was on top of his head. Add that to his whole dark color scheme, mysterious air, and that it was past midnight and the full moon was directly behind him gave Twilight the sudden effect of a chill running up her spine, standing the hairs on the back of her neck, and finally making her begin to turn white. "-scare... me..."

"If you're busy, we can move on." It said gruffly.

"No! no, no please, take them, please don't eat us." She said, nudging one of the buckets forward as Spike cowered behind her.

The monster pony gestured for the one on his left to pick up one of the buckets, and then he bent forward, flashing his razor-sharp teeth, as he picked up the other. "Thank you. Sorry to wake you up so late Miss Unicorn."

"No, it was no trouble at all, well, Spike needs to get his rest, goodnight!" She let out in one breath, before slamming the door again.

It wasn't until both of them were finished hyperventilating that Spike got up the nerve to say; "What happened to the brave Alicorn Princess?"

"She went out. That was all traumatized school-filly just now."

~~~~

The rest of the night went by without much concern. The bat-winged dark ponies moved through the streets without much sound or hostility, occasionally stopping at houses to ask for gems, and then carrying them off without a word. Most of the town didn't get much sleep that night, and likely would stay up the next, watching to make sure the creatures wouldn't come back.

By the first light of dawn the last of them had left the town, heading toward the mountains and Canterlot.

Not knowing what to do in this situation the townsfolk immediately went to the greatest source of common sense in the village. Zecora.

After being turned away en masse for waking the zebra too early in the morning, they headed to the next greatest authority, their resident immortal Princess.

~~~~

"Princess Twilight, are you absolutely sure you don't know what those things were?"

"Yes, Mayor Mare, I'm sure. I was just as freaked out by them as you were... it's like an army of mini Nightmare Moons..."

Twilight saw the fear-filled expression on the mayor and quickly assured that she didn't mean anything by it. Promising to ask Celestia about the strange monsters as soon as possible she got back into her tree/library/house/castle.

"Spike! Take a letter!"

"Already did, you think I was going to let monsters trot around Ponyville and not tell Celestia?"

"Well... thank you Spike, but I'd like to send a letter myself as well, has she written anything back?"

"Yeah, she just says 'come to canterlot immediately.'"

Twilight blinked. "Well, then I'd better go..." She began levitating some things into her bags. "Should I bring the girls? Rarity told me she'd never miss an opportunity to go to Canterlot."

In reply Spike burped out another message. "'immediately' is all is says... it's also underlined."

Twilight raised her eyebrows and held back a nervous look. "Well, guess I'll have to fly... if anypony asks just tell them I'm speaking to Celestia about it."

"Alright, oh and Twilight?"

"...yes?"

"Wait until you get outside before you start flapping, Rainbow Dash making holes in the cieling is bad enough without having to patch up your holes too."

Twilight looked up with a frown. "Good thinking."

2. Festivals and histories

Twilight had been flying for about three minutes, and, with the help of her Alicorn stamina, was keeping a pace at a speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud. She slowed temporarily at the sight of the monsters below, still trotting down the roads, but she decided that she would speak with Celestia before anything else.

The trip to Canterlot was relatively short compared to the train rides that she had to ride before she got her wings and new powers.

She was beginning to get more and more nervous as she realized that the bat-ponies were still covering the streets, all the way up to Canterlot, along the thin mountain roads and next to the train tracks were the blue to black monsters. She began pushing herself as she shot straight up the mountain, bypassing the walls of the city and gliding into Canterlot gardens, from there it was short chain teleport to Celestia's throne room.

"Here I am Prin- er, Celestia."

"Thank you for coming so quickly Twilight... we have an emergency on our hooves."

"I know, Princess, what are those things?"

"Those 'things' are ponies. One of the lost tribes, like the Crystal ponies. Unfortunately... the Longma are less likely to accept the thousand-year gap as well as the Crystal Ponies did..." She shook her head to clear out the doubt and began walking past Twilight. "Come on, we have to speak to my sister, she knows more about the Dragon-ponies than I do."

"Wait, wait, I mean, I never heard of Crystal Ponies before, but after a while I was able to find evidence of them, but I've never heard of anything like a Longma."

"Really? You've seen them before. Luna managed to find two of them, Night Owl and Stay I think their names were... anyway, they're acting as Luna's Chariot pullers now. I think you saw them at the last Nightmare Night."

Twilight searched her memory and stopped in her tracks. "You mean.. those two weren't in costume?"

"Well, they usually wear armor, but the eyes and the wings and the... hair?" Celestia asked almost to herself. "Well, that was all real."

They were steadily moving up the staircase to Luna's watchtower, and Twilight began to shiver as it got colder and darker inside the room. "Princess... why is it so cold?"

"Longma prefer the cold. As does Princess Luna in fact." She lit a small light on her horn and lowered it down to Twilight, and the glow covered her for a split second. "Better?"

Twilight realized that it had suddenly become much warmer, or at least it seemed that way. She could still tell it was colder inside the tower than in the throne room, but she no longer found it uncomfortable.

Finally they came to the large blue door emblazoned with a full moon. Celestia knocked on it three times. "Luna? Twilight's here, we need to speak to you about the Longma!"

"Busy!" Came the voice on the other side of the door. "Ten minutes, no twenty, promise!"

"Luna, this is very urgent. If we don't act together on this who knows what will happen! The guards are asking permission to create a barrier before any of them can get in. And Twilight needs to know about them, and I want her to hear your version first."

"Alright, alright... just, five minutes!"

"Luna!" Celestia said harshly. "We don't have five minutes to waste doing nothing, we need to get Twilight up to speed and we need to deal with the thousand upon thousand of Dragon-Ponies marching up the mountain from every direction!" When Luna didn't answer Celestia sighed and started charging a spell. As her horn began to glow Twilight frowned and began backing up. But she wouldn't do that inside... would she? "Luna! Open this door. Right. Now." The glow got brighter. "On the count of three Luna."

No response. Twilight was beginning to back up again.

"Two."

No response, Twilight covered her eyes as the glow got brighter and brighter.

"One." Twilight screamed as a thunderclap was heard as a strike of pure light collided with the door, knocking it inward.

"Why the heck would you do that?!" Twilight snapped, before realizing she was speaking to her teacher. "Sorry but... you didn't even use a beam that powerful on Chrysalis!"

"Simple, Luna's tougher than Chrysalis, and Canterlot is in more danger now than it was then."

"Changelings were invading." Twilight stated. "They were falling from the skies and capturing everypony."

"Exactly." Celestia said grimly before walking over the wreckage and summoning a small wind to blow away the dust.

"SISTER!" Luna screamed. "You couldn't give Us two minutes?!"

Celestia gaped. "Luna... what are you doing?!" Before her stood Nightmare Moon in full armor and decoration.

"We were about to handle the situation, taking control of the Longma and ensuring they would not make any aggressive move on Canterlot."

Twilight was holding her breath as Nightmare Moon and Celestia growled at each other, and she backed slowly out of the room, wondering if she could teleport her friends and the Elements over such a long distance. She attempted to calculate the variables in her head, but it was impossible if she had no idea where her friends were. "Twilight!" Celestia called.

She threw aside her fears and galloped back into the room. "Nightmare! If you harm Celestia I'll-" She saw that Luna and Celestia were standing in the room, unscathed, but still seemingly mad at each other.

"you'll what, friend Twilight?" Luna asked, slightly annoyed.

"I... I don't think I understand what's happening right now...."

Celestia sighed and brought Twilight closer with her wing. She levitated some rubble and tossed a rug across the room onto Luna's bed. "Hey!"

"It's your own fault, if you had come when I asked you could have rolled it up, and I wouldn't have had to blow up your door."

"No, you blew up my door, you have no excuse!"

"Princesses!" Twilight shouted, before regaining her composure and clearing her throat. "Celestia, you said we didn't have any time to waste, so why don't we just get to the business at hand?"

Celestia and Luna blushed and shared a look before simultaneously shaking their heads free of any competitive thoughts and regaining their air of authority. "Our story begins one thousand years ago." Celestia began, conjuring an image of Nightmare on the empty floor. "During Nightmare Moon's first appearance."

Luna took over, adding her magic to Celestia's and creating a hologram of a gigantic castle of strangely blue ice and black crystals. "This was the Castle of Darkness, the final stronghold of the Longma... and Nightmare Moon's former base of operations for conquering Equestria." Luna said shyly.

Twilight gaped at the spiralling towers rising out of the mountain, which actually seemed... small, with the castle growing from it. "It was the largest structure ever created by Pony hooves." Celestia added sagely.

"During my... er, Nightmare's rise to power we managed to combat Celestia's forces with Longma and Shadhavar, but despite my- er, Nightmare's forces obvious superiority in combat to Celestia's she managed to combat Us with sheer numbers and with more abundant resources. The war lasted almost a year, and ended with Nightmare and Celestia in single combat. During which Nightmare had managed to push Celestia all the way back to Canterlot, and was about to beat her in honorable battle, when Celestia pulled a jerk move and pulled the Elements out of nowhere and somehow managed to use them by herself when they were always half-and-half!" Luna finished,almost yelling. "I.. apologize.. anyway... the Longma had promised Nightmare Moon that they'd serve her loyally for an eternity. And when she was sealed away, they sealed themselves away as well, with the help of the decidedly less loyal Shadhavar. And... now that I've returned... I suppose they freed themselves, and are coming to pledge their loyalty yet again."

Twilight was watching the magical hologram, which had shifted from a battle between Celestia and Nightmare to an image of the castle appearing over the mountain from thin air with a burst of black smoke. "... Amazing... but why haven't I ever heard of them?"

Celestia stepped forward and changed the hologram to a stylistic drawing of a Nightmare Night. She pointed to the familiar effigy of Nightmare Moon, which was in almost every town, "I'm sure you've researched the forming of Nightmare Night, right Twilight?"

"Of course." The young Alicorn said proudly. "A few centuries ago you said that just as the Summer Sun celebration celebrated your reign on the longest day of the year, on the longest night of the year we celebrate Luna's... who the common pony interpreted as Nightmare Moon at the time."

"But have you researched the traditions?" Celestia asked. She pointed at the effigy of Nightmare. "Children were to put on costumes so that Nightmare wouldn't recognize them, and they carried candy to the effigy to make sure that Nightmare would fill up on candy and decide not to eat them."

"Completely made up foolishness of course." Luna justified. "I have never once eaten a pony."

"You did still take all the candy from whatever village you ransacked." Celestia said, amused.

"Better their sweeties than their lives."

"Agreed, but, originally, the festivals included 'Nightmare's evil goblin-steeds'. Where a group of adults put on costumes themselves and went around the town pulling pranks on ponies and scaring children into giving their candy to Nightmare instead of hiding it away. Pegasi put on armor and dragon wings, and Unicorns had face paint and curved horn coverings. It was much more fun, but over time it became unpopular because it made the children too scared. Eventually they just stopped putting Longma and Shadhavar in the celebrations, and the celebrations were the only place that evidence of Nightmare Moon is really discussed."

"And by 'discussed' she means over-exaggerated and demonized." Luna added dryly. "Child-friendly demonization."

Twilight sighed. "Well, all this is very interesting Princesses, but what does it help us regarding the Longma marching through every town in Equestria!?"

Luna shrugged. "The bit about the holiday won't really help, but... the Longma have sworn an eternal oath to serve the Princess of the Night..."

Twilight nodded, motioning with her hoof for Luna to continue.

"Or Princesses, as it may be."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Twilight, you are currently a Princess of Equestria... but you don't have any real power, beside the physical power an Alicorn body provides, you have no soldiers, no workers, no bureaucracy beside Spike." Celestia began. "You are not Princess of anything, but Luna was planning on setting you up as Regent of the night."

"Wait... I'm a Princess of the Night?" Twilight let out in a squeak, her eyes shrinking.

"Technically..." Celestia said hesitantly. "but you're more like Luna's understudy for now."

"Well.. that's good I suppose, gives me some time to train and learn about my responsibilities..."

"I don't think you're seeing Our point friend Twilight. The Longma have sworn an eternal blood oath to serve me, and to a lesser extent... you."

"Oh..." she began. "Oh! uh oh..."

Author's Note

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadhavar - a species of 'evil' unicorns that are carnivorous, depicted with curved horns, and have a pattern on their faces that resembles tears. Carnivorous= sharp teeth, curved horn= curved horn, evil=evil, tear pattern=ghostly smoke emanating from eyes constantly? Anyway, I have decided to complete my OC-ish race list with the Shadhavar representing Sombra's race.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longma -a species of winged horses with dragon characteristics. I always thought the bat-ponies reflected the dragons of the mlp world more than the actual bats do, (just look at the show's bats, they have almost nothing in common with the bat-ponies we've seen. Different ears, different pattern on the wings, different eyes etc. While dragons have similar eyes and wings more slightly more similar to the bat-ponies, and the fringed ears of the bat-ponies look more like the fringed ears of the dragon from 'dragonshy' than the ears of bats in the show, which have no fringes.) that's my reasoning as to why the bat-ponies from now on should be referred to as 'Dragon-ponies'.
Also. Spike *is* the Bureaucracy.

3. A toast to Princess Twilight, may the night last forever!

"Princesses, we have less than two minutes before they get to the point of no return, may we please raise the barrier?!"

"Captain, these ponies are citizens of our country, even if they haven't done much in the last millenia."

"But... consider the populace, they're surely panicking by now!"

Celestia looked on him. "I'm sorry Shield, but I refuse to keep out my own returning citizens. As for the populace, we'll handle it."

Celestia nodded to Luna and the two flew high into the air, Twilight hastily attempting to follow. "Princess! Wait... hoo! Up! I'm not used to flying yet..."

"Ponies of Canterlot!" Celestia began in the Royal Canterlot voice. "Do not worry about the draconic ponies coming up the mountainside! They are our long-lost citizens, sealed away a thousand years ago."

"But they are Equestrians none the less! And they will have your welcome and respect!" Luna shouted.

The two Princesses then flew down, leaving Twilight to begin her trek back down after them.

~~~~

"Announcing Princesses Celestia, Regent of the Day, Luna regent of the Night-"

"HAIL NIGHTMARE MOON, QUEEN OF THE EVERLASTING NIGHT!" A hundred voices interrupted.

"a-and... Princess Twilight Sparkle..." The announcer finished.

"Longma!" Luna shouted, met with cheers. "Shadhavar!" She shouted again, met with fewer cheers. "My Empire of Darkness!" The crowd roared. The 'normal' ponies that had braved going to the square and standing with the Longma began to look even more nervous. "I would like to welcome you to bright and glorious Canterlot! And let me be the first to embrace the new era of harmony between the six races yet again!" She stopped for the crowd again. "However... I must make two points clear." She hushed the audience. "one, is that Nightmare Moon is gone forever, as well as her aspirations to eternal night." The crowd began protesting, but the blue alicorn stomped her hoof and they were silenced again. "ALLOW US TO FINISH." She roared. "As We were saying, We are not Nightmare Moon! However, We are the Princess of the Night, and as such, you, your parents, your grandparents, and their ancestors have all sworn a blood oath to follow the Princess of the Night! We will not be referred to as the monster Nightmare, but rather as the Regent of the Night, Luna!"

She waited for a response from the crowd, but surprisingly it was only the locals to Canterlot that cheered for her. "And as such... that brings Us to our second main point. That I transfer your blood oath to our... heir, Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight winced. They were actually going through with it.

"I no longer hold your loyalty, but as your former retainer, I request that you transfer it to your new Princess, Twilight Sparkle. She has fulfilled many of my old posts, watcher of the night sky, bearer of the Element of Magic, and closest Friend to my sister in my absence. She is your new Princess Longma! Hail her as you once hailed Nightmare Moon!"

Twilight began turning white, her legs shaking. "Uh, Princesses, tell them it's a joke, tell me it's a joke... I'm not ready! I haven't received any training I-"

Celestia set her wing on Twilight. "Don't worry Twilight. Don't worry. You've been training your whole life for this."

Twilight blinked. "Huh?"

"I knew that at the end of the thousand years that Nightmare would escape, and then I knew that you, my most Faithful student, would be the Element of Magic. I've been training you since you've become my student. I've taught you about the workings of the government, had you grow up around Court, had you learn the ways of magic, and let you appreciate the night. And then I let you learn your most important lesson, the Magic of Friendship. Twilight.. I didn't think it would happen this soon, but I always knew you were destined for this."

Twilight shook her head. "Then why is this the first I've ever heard of it?!"

"We couldn't know how long it would be before the two Empires awoke. The Crystal was first, but Cadence was heir to the Crystal throne. Technically you were already royalty with Cadence and Shining's union, now we can make it official. Don't worry Twilight, I know you can handle it."

Twilight slid slightly more into her mentor, letting the large white alicorn comfort her. It was at that moment that somepony coughed, and Twilight blushed, realizing the majority of the square was probably listening to what she was saying.

"Anyway." Luna began, moving her gaze from Twilight and her sister and back to the hundreds of ponies in the square. "We will begin the processes of restoring the Night Empire immediately, but tonight, we will have a bright and glorious feast!"

~~~~

Twilight was hiding in a closet from the hundreds of searching eyes. The feast had kicked off rather quickly, thousands of gems were brought out, as well as copious amounts of a strange beverage Celestia and Luna had been 'saving for the right era', but after the Longma had eaten and drunk their fill they began to search out their new Princess to make their blood oaths early. Twilight had decided to try and accept the position that had been forced on her, but that was until she found that blood oaths quite literally involved actual blood. She sweared if she saw another pony bite their own leg she was going to faint.

However, she couldn't hide for long as two tipsy Princesses had decided to ready a toast, and apparently needed the person they were toasting first. "Twilight, come out, it won't be so bad-" Celestia began, knocking on the door three times. "You'll get to be a real Princess! Just like when you were little!"

Twilight whipped the door open. "We said we would never speak of it again."

Luna grabbed Twilight and began carrying her back to the main party. "Come Twilight Sparkle! We must celebrate your rise in position!" Luna roared in the Royal Canterlot voice.

"No, I don't need to, I don't want to be a Princess anymore! Please Luna, can you take their Blood oath back?"

"No!" Luna said too quickly. "We, We art a changed Pony Princess Twilight, the Longma only see Us as the fearsome Nightmare Moon, We have worked hard to change Our image, and this would be best. You need something to rule over Twilight, and this is the best for Everypony involved!"

"No, no it isn't!" Twilight said. "It's not the best for me, I want to stay with my friends, I want to live in Ponyville! I don't want this responsibility! And for the Longma, they need an experienced leader who knows them! Not a rookie who hasn't been an Alicorn for a month, for crying out loud!"

Luna set Twilight down on a podium, and she looked over the hundreds of dancing, singing and drinking dragon ponies. Celestia and Luna sat down next to the podium, several feet below.

"Princess Twilight would like a word!" Screamed Princess Luna.

"No, no I really don't." Twilight whispered, trying to back up like Fluttershy.

"Yes she does." Celestia assured.

"Speech!" Luna shouted, the chant was quickly picked up by the ponies in the square, and soon half a thousand ponies were calling out for a speech from Twilight Sparkle.

"I.. I..." Twilight gulped and put a hoof to her throat. "It's an honor.. to be a Princess of Equestria.. and to be able to serve you all. I will try to do my new duties dutifully and the best I can... and.."

"Good enough!" Luna shouted, downing another drink. "A toast to Princess Twilight! Twilight Sparkle, Princess of the Night Empire!" The Princes of the Night was now officially drunk.

"A TOAST TO PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE, MAY THE NIGHT LAST FOREVER!" six hundred voices continued, and the entire square resounded with the sounds of crystal cups and bottle clanging together.

A Longma darted into the sky. "I, Dark Dash, make an eternal blood oath to serve Princess of the Night Empire; Twilight Sparkle!" He then raised a gray leg to his mouth and sunk his jaws in, letting blood drops fall to the ground. Twilight winced and felt herself paling again.

"Well, at least that was over with quickly..." Twilight mumbled to herself.

Every single Longma took to the air and began shouting their own oaths, and moments later, the entirety of Canterlot square was dribbled with blood. Twilight turned completely white from head to tail. "That's a lot of blood." Luna commented. Twilight fell over, fainted, and toppled off the podium. Celestia gave a tiny giggle and levitated her student after her as she walked back to Twilight's old room.

She tucked Twilight in like she had done years ago. Soaking in the nostalgia Celestia gave a smile and gave tiny peck on Twilight's forehead. "Sweet dreams, Princess Twilight."

Author's Note

Don't worry, we'll get to the Empire soon enough.

4. The Bodyguards

"It's dawn Princess."

"Uh?" She slid out of the bed and shook her mane. With still half-asleep eyes she sighed and looked up at the mess that hid her eyes. "Where's my brush?" She mumbled to spike.

"Here, Princess."

"Thanks." She took it in her magic and trotted over to the vanity, spending a few minutes putting it in place. She coughed slightly. "Wish I had some water."

"Here you are, Princess."

"Thanks." She took the glass in her magic, and the water finally woke her up all the way. She looked at the mirror and saw the eight draconic eyes watching her from behind. She spun around, her heart beating hard and spit out the water. "What are you all doing in my room?!"

"We are your loyal servants!" One of them said with a bow. "It is our duty to prepare you for your daily royal duties."

Twilight looked around at the familiar room. It was even more familiar than the library in Ponyville. It was the room she had spent her childhood in. The room she went to after her lessons all these years. "How did I get here? I... I was at the podium in the square and then..." Her face turned white again. "All that blood."

"Ah yes... you... er... collapsed. The Sun-Princess carried you here."

"Celestia did?" Twilight blushed slightly. "I feel like a filly again."

"We bravely shot forward to protect you, but Princess Nightmare assured us that you were safe with the Sun-Princess."

"Nightm- oh, Luna."

"Ah yes, we need to call her Luna again..."

"Huh... so why are you all in my room?!"

"So that we could watch you while you slept." One of them stated. The two next to him smacked him on both sides of his head.

"He means so that we could protect you while you slept."

Twilight winced. "What would you need to protect me from?! How long were you there?! How did you even get in?!"

"Canterlot is a den of sun-lovers." One of them said gruffly. "We tried to post guards with Princess Night- er...Luna as well, but she insisted she was safe. You might not be aware of this, but for us, up to three weeks ago we were in a brutal war with every unicorn, pegasus, and sun-loving Earth pony. Who knows how many of them might keep their grudges. I wouldn't put assassinating the newly-crowned ruler of the Night Empire above them."

Twilight gaped at him. "I've lived in Canterlot my whole life! There's nowhere safer! There are literally two all-powerful alicorn sisters upstairs!"

"We've been here four hours." The one from earlier said. "And we broke in." The two ponies on his sides hit him again. "What?"

"You broke into my room?!"

"See, now you've upset her." The mare next to him chided. "Really, Princess, we apologize, but we can't allow you to be unprotected at any time, this deep in Equestrian territory."

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead and moved back to the bed, noticing with embarrassment that she had slept with her Princess dress on. "We aren't at war with- wait... I thought you were citizens of Equestria."

"W-we were, for a time... but that changed in the Civil War. The Solar, the Night, and the Crystal Empires separated... and well, you know how it turned out. Our and the Crystal Empires were sealed away for a millenia, and Equestria was completely taken over by Solar Ponies."

"Wait. The Crystal Ponies were part of Equestria?"

"Yes. They just never went to war. The traitors. We needed those gems..." The gruff longma said, stomping his hoof.

"But that is in the past. Once again, we apologize, Princess," The mare bowed. "for breaking into your room."

Twilight looked at the one rubbing his head suspiciously. "Not for watching me sleep all night?"

"No, that's part of our job." He gave a wild smile. "We are your personal bodyguards, appointed by Queen Nightmare Moon for the task!"

"Bodyguards? I don't need bodyguards. Canterlot is the safest place in the world, and Ponyville is even safer."

"Ponyville?" One of them asked another.

"Oh, it's just the village where I'm living."

"Ah, your personal village?"

"No, not my village... well, I just live there, and all my friends live there. I'm the town librarian!" She said proudly.

The Longma began laughing hysterically, and the two longma on both sides shoved his face into the ground. "She's serious." The mare said.

"Oh my gosh she's serious." he whispered. "The Princess of the Night Empire is living in a tiny village as the town librarian."

The gruff longma gave a grunt. "She used to. She's going to come with us to the Night Empire in a few months."

"Wait, I have a few months?"

"It was the Sun-Princess's idea. Queen Nightmare Moon is going first to try and bring the people to terms with our thousand-year gap."

"So... I don't have to leave right away? I can go back and say goodbye to my friends and spend more time with them?"

"Until the next Nightmare Night. You'll have a great celebration and then you'll come with us to the Night Empire to begin your official rule."

"Next Nightmare night..." She did the calculation in her mind. "I have seven months to live with my friends in Ponyville?"

"Yep!"

She sank into the bed. "Oh thank goodness.... I was so scared I wouldn't have the chance to explain anything to them..."

The Longma in the room looked at each other and back to their Princess. Then a figure stepped out of the darkness of the corner and moved over to the door, Twilight to busy being relieved to notice his silent hoofsteps. The Shadhavar nodded to the other Longma and lit his horn, turning to darkness and spiriting under the door.

~~~~

"Ah, Princess Twilight, it is good We had the chance to speak to you before We left!"

"Luna! You're leaving already? But the Longma just got here!"

"I know, friend Twilight. But the Night Empire will be in chaos. It is merely tribute to my former subject's discipline that they have not continued their aggression against Equestria and the Crystal Empire. I must guide my people to the new age."

"I.. understand Princess. Thank you for letting me stay here a while longer."

"Why the sad face, Friend Twilight? It's not like moving to the Night Empire will mean that you can never come to Equestria. Think of your brother and Cadence. You still speak often and keep up a good relationship, despite the fact you are now living in separate countries."

"Yeah but... I know I'll still be friends with all the girls in Ponyville, but it won't be the same. I won't get to see them as often, I won't be part of their day-to-day lives..."

Luna nodded. "I know the feeling, Twilight." Twilight raised an eyebrow, but Luna quickly shook her head and was back to her normal enthusiastic and loud self. "Well, wish me luck Twilight!" Luna levitated a large amount of luggage after her and boarded the gothic airship, filled to the brim with Longma and Shadhavar making the trip back home.

"Luna, wait!"

Luna stopped suddenly and smiled as a tiny colt ran up to her bravely and gave her a quick hug before collapsing into a tiny exhausted pile. "Thank you for seeing me off Pip. Well, goodbye everypony!" Luna shouted to the cheering crowd before closing the airship's doors and flying off.

Twilight got Pipsqueak back to his feet and walked with him back to the castle grounds. "Pipsqueak? What are you doing here?"

"Well, we got the news yesterday about what was happnin' in Canterlot and I heard that Princess Luna was leaving, so I asked my parents if I could go on the train with some trustworthy ponies to say goodbye."

"Trustworthy?"

"Who else, sugarcube?" Applejack said happily, leading the other four mares up to Twilight. Pinkie Pie hopped up to Twilight, quickly overtaking the other mares.

"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled happily, getting onto her forehooves in preparation for a flying jump-hug. A specialty of hers.

"Pinkie wait!-" Twilight started too late, six Longma shot from various hiding spots and charged at the Pink party mare. The three Longma mares and one of the colts tried to grapple her legs, but Pinkie merely pulled them in like a turtle and rolled around Twilight. The gruff Longma stallion attempted to buck Pinkie away, but her legs popped out, sending her bounding high above the Longma warrior. She looked down at the last Longma soldier, one with two notable bruises on his head and a wild smile. He spun in a circle upward like a whirlwind, a flurry of wings and hooves that Twilight couldn't even follow.

He kicked upward with a backleg and Pinkie Pie stepped off of it. She did a cartwheel as he tried to knock her with his wing. They both twirled away, landing on their back hooves and glaring/smiling at each other from ten feet apart. Then they both charged, doing an intricate dance of dodges, feints, and swings. It culminated in a tackle, which became a forward stomp with both hooves. Pinkie's and the Longma's hooves met in mid-air and they stepped off each other's hooves like it was a wall. They continued this, walking off each other's hooves in perfect sync, high into the air. The ponies below merely gaped at the display of physics-defying skill.

Finally Pinkie kicked off the Longma's hooves, landing delicately on one hoof on a lamp-post. The longma soldier merely fluttered in the air, an insane look in his eyes.

The other five Longma bodyguards recovered first and formed a protective wall around Twilight.

"What the hay just happened?" Applejack whispered, eyes shifting from the wall of monsters around Twilight to the two ponies high above, looking at each other.

"That..." Rainbow Dash began. "Was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. Top ten. Easy."

Spike hurried through the crowd and came up to them, panting. "Twilight! I just heard that all our friends hopped on the train to Canterlot and-" He looked over the four mares standing a few feet away from Twilight. "Oh."

Twilight sighed and pushed her guards out of the way. "These girls are my closest friends in the whole world, they'd never hurt me. And yes, Jaeger, I would stake my life on that."

She stepped past them and hugged her friends one by one.

"Sorry gals, Pinkie you can come down! I'd like you to meet my... bodyguards."

"Darling, why would you ever need bodyguards?"

"That's what I keep asking them." Twilight said with a smile.

"And uh, I don't mean anythin' by it... but what are they?"

Twilight smiled at Applejack and brought her closer with a wing. "Come on, I need to talk to you all in private. I... I have a long story to tell."

~~~~

"Well that wasn't long at all." Pinkie said.

"So let me get this straight..." Applejack began. "You're the new Princess of the Night?"

"And you have your own empire?" Rarity asked with stars in her eyes.

"And you're the heir of Nightmare Moon?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

"And all your subjects are types of ponies we've never seen before?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"...yep." Twilight said simply. "And as their new Princess they're forcing me to have a team of bodyguards who serve out my every whim."

"That sounds wonderful!" Rarity said excitedly. "Why, I'd give anything to be in your position!" Six longma narrowed their eyes suspiciously at her. "I mean, who wouldn't want to be a Princess? Who wouldn't want a bunch of handsome stallions and elegant mares carrying out their commands?" She finished nervously.

"Stop intimidating my friends." Twilight sighed. "Well, if these guys have their way I suppose you'll all be seeing a lot of each other... so we better start with introductions." She turned to the burly and battle-scarred Longma. "This is Jaeger." The gruff Longma stallion nodded respectively. "He's the boss of the six of them, and apparently a veteran of the civil war... actually they all are, but he's the most like a soldier. No offense to you all, you're all great soldiers I'm sure, but-"

"We get it, Twilight, charmed."

Twilight nodded to her guards for introductions.

"I'm Kalt." The mare that kept hitting the noisy one. She had a slightly lighter coat than the others, and her eyes were a pale blue.

"I'm Den." The stallion that also kept hitting the noisy one. His frills were bent slightly, coming the closest a creature with no mane could get to a bad hair day. His eyes were the traditional gold.

"I'm Sanguine." One of the other mares. Her eyes were slightly more orange, and her coat was a gray-red.

"Crow Moon." The wild-smiled noisy one. He had jade eyes and a black coat, reminiscent of Nightmare Moon.

"I'm Crescent." She had blue eyes and a slicked-back frill.

Each of Twilight's friends gave a similar introduction, but Twilight encouraged them to tell a little more about themselves.

After the introductions and explanations the six friends spent the next few hours talking about how things would be like when they got back.

"We'll have to build an extension to the library for their bedrooms..."

"I'll be happy to help with that." Applejack offered.

"Me too! Me too!" Pinkie Pie said, pronking up and down in place.

"And I'll have to make a more night-princess suitable dress for your grand debut!" Rarity said excitedly. "Saphires and garnets... or perhaps corundum..Lapis Lazuli would be a little too bright..."

"Stop that. It's making me hungry." Crescent said. She frowned as Twilight and each of her friends winced at the sudden order. "I... sorry, continue. I didn't mean to be rude..."

Rarity nodded slightly.

Fluttershy, surprisingly, restarted the conversation. "So, what do we do for your bodyguard's food? If they eat gems I mean..."

Twilight frowned. "That's a good question. Can you guys eat stuff besides gemstones?"

"Sure!" Crow said happily. "But gemstones are best, we can't really fill up on plants."

"What about cupcakes?" Pinkie asked.

"Don't worry dears, I can get you a contact with one of my best gem-procurers." Rarity assured.

"Spike?" Applejack asked, pointing at the dragon.

"No, no... he's just for emergencies, it's terribly inefficient, seeing as I'll never know which gems he'll be digging up. I normally just get regular shipments."

"I'm still here you know." Spike said, somewhat annoyed.

"I know, sorry darling, I meant that the spell was inefficient, not you. You dig faster than anypony I've ever seen."

"So we'll have food covered at least.." Twilight said, thinking.

Jaeger sighed and moved forward slightly. "This library.. it's a private collection, for a college or archive perhaps?"

"Nope, a public library."

Jaeger frowned. "Princess, you let random ponies from the streets into your home? I'm sorry, but that is a horrible system of security."

"I'm the town librarian. All ponies are welcome to come in and learn from the knowledge stored on the shelves."

"I'm afraid that won't do."

"Jaeger, I only have seven more months in my normal lifestyle. If I want to be a librarian in a public library, then that's my decision. Understood? I'm the Princess, your job is to keep me safe as I do my daily business, not keep me safe locked up in a tower somewhere. Okay?"

Jaeger frowned. But he nodded his consent. "Understood." He turned to Crow Moon. "Crow, go alert Oscuridad to not change anything."

Crow nodded and flew out the nearest window, everypony's mane being pulled in that direction by the sudden burst of air.

Rainbow Dash galloped to the window and watched his trail into the sky impossibly fast. Her grin grew into a wide, competitive smile. "Girls, I'm going to go test something, no need to wait up." And with that Rainbow Dash flew off after him.

Jaeger gave a small smile. "She'll never catch him. Crow was called the 'Wind Demon' during the war." Jaeger closed his eyes as he reminisced. "He was actually recruited by Queen Nightmare Moon after he destroyed an entire squad of Wonderbolts himself."

The five mares blinked. Twilight gulped. "There were Wonderbolts back then?"

"Yep, it was still a purely military team back then though, twenty Pegasi specializing in high-speed attacks. They were absolutely terrifying for a while, but then Crow joined the front lines and wiped out every single one of them himself. I'd bet a hundred bits that he's still the fastest flyer in Equestria."

Applejack smirked. "I think that's what Rainbow's trying to test."

Twilight sighed. "Please tell me he doesn't have a habit of crashing into buildings."

Jaeger thought about it a moment. "At least not while he's flying."

Fluttershy whispered something, beginning to shiver.

"What was that dear?" Rarity asked.

"...um... you said he... 'destroyed'... an entire squad..." Jaeger waited patiently for her to finish. She gulped. "W-what do you mean by... destroy..."

Jaeger leveled his eyes with Fluttershy's. "Simple. He killed them all. Just like any one of the six of us would have given the chance. After all, they'd do the same at the time."

Fluttershy shivered and backed away slightly. And each of the 'solar' mares began inching away from the guards, who were beginning to look monstrous again.

Twilight gulped and gave a forced smile. "But it's peacetime right now, and you're citizens of Equestria again. Right?"

"Of course." Jaeger said simply. "I wouldn't dream of harming any of you in the slightest." Applejack visibly let out a breath.

"As long as you never harm Princess Twilight."

5. Racers & Killers

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pumping her wings. "Crow!!"

The Longma spread his wings for an instant and was pulled back, closing the gap between him and Rainbow. "Hey! Did something happen? Do I need to head back?"

"What, no! I just thought we should try racing to Ponyville."

Crow gave one of his wild smiles. "Ohh?"

"Yep, why not? I'd like to see how fast you can go without feathers."

"Really? And here I was wondering how you managed to even catch up to me with those fragile things."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, her smirk becoming wider. "Did you just call my wings 'fragile'?"

"Yep! Now then, I'm on actual business, so we can't do a long race... just to Ponyville and back?"

"I thought you didn't know where Ponyville was?"

Crow gave a sly smirk. "I have a basic idea. Well, I'm going, you can try to beat me... but you won't." And with that, he shot forward again, going impossibly fast.

"Care to bet on that?!" Rainbow shouted, chasing after him.

"Why not!" He shouted behind him.

"This is why!!" Rainbow shouted, taking a steep dive.

Crow watched her, ready to save her should she not pull up in time, but still continuing his path. She was moving fast enough now that she left a rainbow trail behind her.

His eyes widened as a shell of air started forming around her. She was going too fast for a Pegasus. He sighed to himself, "The Princess would get mad if I let you kill yourself like this." He then began spinning as he dived, a tornado forming around him.

Rainbow's eyes were almost shut at this point... but she was sure she was going fast enough now. She arced her body and pumped her wings one last time, and the world exploded into color and sound. She was fired straight up, arcing toward Ponyville at impossible speeds, a rainbow shockwave spreading in her path. "Try to catch up with me now!!" She taunted behind her.

But then she got a chill as a black drill.. no, a tornado, fired past her, a long dark tunnel following in it's path and cutting straight through the wave of color. It was humongous one moment, and the next, it was half a mile in front of her, a speck. "No freaking way." Rainbow whispered as the tornado was dispelled, Crow braking in the air to come down safely in Ponyville. "No way!" She yelled, pumping her wings into overdrive, she felt the cushion of air forming past her as she approached the Rainboom speed again.

He was fifty feet from the ground. She was over eight hundred. She groaned as she broke t...hrough the barrier again, making an even larger shockwave and sending her crashing past him and into the dirt.

The Longma merely gaped at the crater, flapping silently for a minute, before touching down and helping Rainbow up.

"I... feel sick." Rainbow began.

"You... you did that thing twice..."

"I never did it before... did I win?"

"...uh... yeah, surprisingly. Though would you consider it cheating if you made the ground several more feet away
in an instant?"

"Whudduya mean?" Rainbow Dash said woozily, stumbling.

"You created a crater bigger than my apartment."

Rainbow Dash turned her head and looked at the crater with pride. "So that's what happens after two Sonic Rainbooms..." She managed to let out before almost collapsing.

~~~~

Rainbow led him to the library, where Crow set her down on a nearby chair. "Oscuridad! It's me!"

Rainbow looked up, still woozy from breaking the sound and light barrier twice, and her eyes widened in terror. "Sombra!!" She screamed, looking at the unicorn with a curved horn, sharp teeth, and eyes and a mane that emanated dark magic.

The Shadhavar merely frowned. "Crow Moon, who's the mare?"

"A close friend of the Princess's!" Crow said, saluting.

"Are you absolutely sure? I refuse to allow anypony uninvited to enter Her Highness's abode."

"Her Highness has explained at length that this is a public library, and that she'll let whoever wants a book in."

The Shadhavar's expression didn't change. "I'll have to speak to the Princess at length about this. This place is horrifying. The basement is unprotected and unshielded, making it worthless as a bunker, her home is extremely flammable. And any assassin could simply claim to be a student a waltz in!"

"Well, Jaeger sent me here to tell you not to change anything yet!" Crow reported cheerfully.

"Oh... did he now?" Oscuridad took a few steps toward Crow. "I am the Captain of the Guard. He cannot give me an order unless it is by direct command of my Princess."

"Uh... it was! She insisted we don't change anything, she still wants it to be public... and she still wants to live her life like she was before, she wants us to interfere as little as possible!"

Oscuridad raised an eyebrow. "Well then, that's different." He made a formal bow toward the shocked pegasus. "Greetings, I am Captain Oscuridad, of the Night Empire. Personal servant of the former Queen Nightmare Moon and Princess Twilight Sparkle. It is a pleasure to meet the friend of my liege." He bent down and kissed Rainbow's outstretched hoof, causing her to blush. At least it got her out of shock.

"You're not fooling anypony Sombra!" Rainbow Dash said with a growl, stomping a hoof. "I thought we destroyed you in the Crystal Empire!"

Oscuridad raised an eyebrow. "How would you even know that name?" He asked slowly.

"Simple, you tore apart the Crystal Empire less than a year ago! I know you, there's no other pony with eyes and a horn like yours, no matter what color you change to... or how much taller... or... now that I think about it, you almost look like a completely different pony."

Rainbow Dash looked at him with a look of pure confusion. "Shadhavar." The pony said after a time. "One of the Lunar races, we are also part of the Night Empire." He explained further. "We all have the eyes, the fangs, the horn." Rainbow Dash looked at him more closely and she hit herself in the head. Obviously this wasn't Sombra. The most glaring difference being that the Shadhavar in front of her had a much lighter coat, almost white. He had a black mane as well, and had similar red eyes, and she noticed the magically-charged red tip of his curved horn, but he was taller, thinner, the bone structure and shape of his face different. They could have been related, but this was clearly a different pony.

"Uh... sorry.. I mistook you for somepony else."

"Hm. I'll forgive it, you are one of the Princess's treasured friends after all. How did you get those injuries, if I may ask?"

"Oh, I er.. well, me and Crow were racing here from Canterlot, and I had to do a few tricks to get the lead.. you probably saw the explosions a few minutes ago..."

"That was you two?! I thought we were under attack!" Oscuridad growled. "Crow Moon, you allowed yourself to race dangerously against a friend of the Princess?! You got her injured you foal, the Princess will have your head and I'll gladly fetch the axe myself!"

Crow merely became more wild-eyed. "If it comes to that, might I duel you, Oscur?"

"Whoa, whoa, nopony's dueling anypony, or getting executed! It was my fault, I was the one who asked for the race, and then I over-did it."

"He should have just given you the victory." Oscuridad said. "He is a knight of the Night, he should have understood the situation and declined to your race in the first place, he is at fault here."

"Now listen here oscar-dude or whatever your name is, nopony's getting executed. It was my own darn fault!"

"We'll take this up with the Princess when the time calls for it. For now, Crow, you have your warning, no more dangerous races with the Princess's friends."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and got to her hooves. "I'm heading back, are you Crow?"

"Yep! I told the Captain everything he needs to know."

"Then let's fly slowly and safely back to Canterlot." She shuddered. She had hoped to never say something like that in her life.

"Understood. And please, do fly safe. I'm sure the Princess would be devastated if you were hurt." He watched as the two left, before frowning to himself. "...how exactly did that blank-flank survive a thousand years?" He almost whispered, looking at the books of the library.

~~~~

"What's with that guy?!" Rainbow said angrily. "How is it that you're getting blamed for my crash?!"

"I'm a soldier, it's my responsibility to protect the Princess, and in this case, I was supposed to be protecting you, or at least, I've done wrong by not protecting you. It shouldn't bother you too much."

"I mean, that was one of the closest races in my life! Even if broke both wings I wouldn't regret it...You're really fast! What was that drill-thing you were doing?"

"Tornado Devil." He said smiling. "It's a great technique, saved my life a few times in the war."

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "Crow! You should try and join my team! You're an amazing flyer!"

"Oh? Maybe in a few years, when I'm done with my bodyguard work and leave the military... what's it called?"

"The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash said proudly. "Only the best flyers in Equestria are allowed in, I actually only got into the academy a few months ago, but it's going great! I'm working with the best, I think you'd fit in great!"

She turned to see Crow's reaction, but he was a distance behind her, fluttering in place. "...hehe... the Wonderbolts?" He looked her in the eyes and she shivered, his jade eyes were wide and wild, even more beast-like than normal. And they seemed incredibly hungry and dangerous. She had looked dragons, bears, and hydras in the eyes and not felt a twinge of fear... but for that moment her instincts told her that Crow Moon was the most dangerous thing in the sky. "You mean they're still around?!" He gave a loud "Bwa", like he was going to start maniacally laughing, but he caught himself.

"Y-yeah, interested?"

"Oh definitely... his smile was gigantic, as big and bright and white as Pinkie's, but made of savage carnivorous teeth. "I can't tell you how pleased I am that they managed to recover, who do you think trained the second squad? The Princess herself?" Rainbow was slowly and stealthily moving farther and farther away from the slowly growing madness in his eyes.

"I.. I don't know, why would she? I think it was a pony named-" Rainbow was gaining a little confidence, she was in a subject she knew like the back of her hoof. "-Cumulus, a retired Wonderbolt. The current first generation died valiantly in the... civil war..." Her shiver was returning, for a different reason.

"Oh, yes. I can personally guarantee that all twenty of them died, though it wasn't 'valliantly'. I wonder how much detail they give in your academy? Did they mention how the Wonderbolts bombed the entire left tower? Or how they killed over three hundred Longma in that attack, all civilians?!" He beat his wings and suddenly he was much too close. "Or how the entire squad of twenty,twelve mares eight stallions, died by the hooves of one furious high-speed scout over the course of ten minutes?"

Rainbow couldn't handle it. She flew back as fast as she could to Canterlot. "Those freaks are insane!!" She hissed to herself. "And Twilight's alone with five of them!" She hit her head once, not slowing. 'Calm down Dash, your making a foal of yourself. Everypony's there. Crow's the most dangerous, Pinkie could handle the other five herself probably, Fluttershy could too, if she stopped holding back, and it's not like Applejack, Rarity and Twilight are bad in a fight.. they'll be fine, just fine.'

Crow was suddenly in front of her. She panicked and shot under him, but he was catching up easily. "I admit, Wonderbolt, that your Rainboom trick's pretty powerful, I can't keep up with it... but just flying? Those sun-baked fragile feathers won't get you too far very fast Wonderbolt."

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" She dived around him and tried to catch him in a whirlwind of color before making her escape, but he just spun himself and seemed to sift through her winds. Passing between each stream like he was hopping from one stone of a pond to another.

"I'd never hurt you... you're my Princess's precious friend. But know this... any time any single one of you Wonderbolts feel like dueling me... I'll accept, and I'll trounce them, and I'll beat them to an inch of their lives... I won't kill of course... the war is over... after all..." the wildness in his eyes was slowly fading, and he began breathing heavily. "Darn it..." he hissed. "I did it again!" He turned away from her and hit himself on the head repeatedly.

Rainbow took the chance to fly to Canterlot as fast as her 'fragile' wings could take her.

~~~~

"Rainbow you poor dear, what happened?!" Rarity asked, bringing a blanket over the nervous Rainbow Dash's shoulders.

"He... Crow... he... he killed the very first Wonderbolts!"

Twilight winced. She let out a sigh. "Yeah... they're soldiers, Rainbow... and they were at war with us... but that was all in the past... right?" She said hopefully, walking up to her friend.

"But.... they actually killed ponies?" Rainbow shook her head. "How can you hang around with them, knowing that?!"

Twilight looked at the five Longma on the other side of the room. Sanguine wasn't showing any emotion, as opposed to her usual smirk. Den looked somewhat ashamed. Crescent had a sort of proud frown. Kalt and Jaeger however, didn't show any shame at all, accepting the ponies' fearful and awkward looks in stride. Crow still hasn't returned.

"I... I guess it just hasn't sunk in yet." Twilight offered. "Sorry you got so..." She didn't want to say 'scared' considering she was speaking to Rainbow Dash, "..ruffled..." was what Twilight finally decided on.

"Ruffled?! Ruffled?!" Rainbow asked, almost angry. "I was terrified for a minute there! I've never been scared of anypony or anything in my whole life!!"

Pinkie frowned. "What about when you were at the young flyers competition and you were crumpled in a quivering heap?"

"Th-that was just nerves... no-not actual fear... I mean like... I thought for a second that he was going to try and kill me guys!"

Twilight frowned. Enough was enough. "Guys... could you all leave for a second, maybe try and find something for Dash to drink? I need to have a... talk... with my guards."

All five bodyguards winced, but stood at attention.

"Wait! i mean er- you're the Princess, so you don't have to, sorry, but er... Rainbow?" Crow asked, fluttering into the window. Fluttershy flinched as she saw him land in the room, but to Rainbow's credit, she stopped shivering at once and met his eyes.

"What?" Twilight asked. "Haven't you scared her enough? There was no reason to tell her about that Crow!"

"No, no.. I want to listen to what he has to say." Dash said quietly.

Crow sighed and bowed his head. "I... I was out of line, and out of control. I... when I'm about to get into a fight I go a little... battle crazy... I let it get the better of me, I was out of line bragging about killing the Wonderbolts... and I totally understand if you want to kill me now. But..." He shook off a boot from his back leg, Rainbow winced as she looked at the burn marks. "... we were at war, and that doesn't excuse much...but the Wonderbolts... well... they killed countless Longma... and I needed revenge... and I got it. But you're not part of it! The current 'bolts aren't part of it!" He put his forehead to the ground, kneeling in front of Rainbow. "I was completely out of line, and I'm in the wrong. I defer to your judgement, and am at your mercy."

Rainbow frowned. She didn't know what to think at this point. "What does that even mean?!"

Jaeger stepped forward and pulled a blade from a small sheathe attached to his side. He set the blade on the ground and slid it toward Rainbow. "He's offering his formal apologies, and you a chance to get revenge."

"...what?"

"If you want to, you can kill him. He insulted you, and admitted he was in the wrong. It conflicts with his royal duties. If you see fit, you or the Princess may now execute him."

The mane six merely gaped at Jaeger. "...what?" They all said at once.

Rainbow shook her head furiously. "I'm not going to kill somepony!!"

"Of course not!" Twilight growled, putting a hoof down on the blade, crushing it with her rarely-found Alicorn strength. "Ponies don't do things like that anymore!"

Crow didn't lift his head. Rainbow looked down at him and let out a long sigh. "...I... I forgive you... but don't you dare insult the Wonderbolts' good name ever again. Alright? They're the best ponies in Equestria."

"I... alright. I won't insult the current Wonderbolts." Crow resigned. "Though my offer for duels still stands." he said, looking up to her hopefully.

Rainbow let him get up and took a step back, putting on a brave face. "I think I might take you up on that sometime."

Twilight smiled, glad that things had been resolved so quickly. "So, why did you guys have to go to Ponyville? Something about a... I forget his name.. is he another member of your team?"

"Captain Oscuridad." Jaeger said with reverence. "Captain of the Night Guard. At the moment he's at the Ponyville Library, defending it alone."

"He's in the library?!" Twilight asked.

"And he looks like Sombra." Rainbow said, frowning.

"What?!"

Kalt sighed. "She means he's a Shadhavar. Do you guys remember Sombra?"

"He was a member of the royal guard, but he resigned and ran off to the Crystal Empire. A coward." Jaeger said with distaste.

"You're just mad because he got all the free gems he wanted to himself." Den and Kalt hit him on the head. "What?"

Author's Note

Fun fact; I have a very clear visual image of what's happening in my story as I write it, very, very clear. So when I was writing the scene where Crow relives the fight I got chills at his face. I might draw it some time and put it below.... ugh... shivers.

*Edited slightly to resolve a few continuity errors, pointed out rather... 'colorfully' by Vates Despero

6. The Tower

Twilight frowned, packing her bags. "I don't like the idea that this Oscuridad is alone in the library. I know you all just got here but..."

"It's fine Twilight." Applejack assured, picking up a bag that was already full. "Personally, ah've had enough of Canterlot for a lifetime, the last few times ah've been here the world almost ended or we ended up disappointed."

Twilight smirked. "I suppose I do see a repeating trend..."

Spike walked up with two suitcases. "We have everything Twilight, are you sure you need all this stuff?"

Twilight looked at the now mostly bare walls of her Canterlot room. "...yeah, I forgot about how much some of these things mean to me. I didn't take much to Ponyville you know."

"What do you mean it's fine?" Rarity asked Applejack. "We're at the high point of Equestrian Culture! It's not every day we get to be here..."

Twilight rolled her eyes and finished her packing. "Rarity, you know I could call the Princess whenever I want and ask her to get you tickets, or even to get you a permanent royal pass for the train, it's not that hard, you're friends with most of the Equestrian Royalty after all."

Rarity's eyes sparkled. "Y-you could!?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "I'll ask Princess Celestia after-" her smile became a little more sly. "Actually... let me try something, it'll just be a minute." Twilight then teleported. Six Longma shot into the room and quickly scanned the entire area.

"Where'd she go?!" Kalt hissed. "Princess!!!"

Jaeger turned to Applejack. "Where'd she go?!"

"Ah-ah don't know! She just said something about trains and the Princess, and then she off and teleported, she said she'd be back in a minute!"

"CROW! Get out there, comb the streets from above, head toward the train station!"

"Yessir!" Crow yelled, smashing through the window to get into the air.

"Sanguine, I need you to contact the Equestrian guard, we may need their assistance." Jaeger shouted to the reddish Longma mare.

"Yes sir!" She half galloped half glided down the hall.

Applejack frowned and stood in front of Jaeger, "now hold on, she said she'd be back in a minute, so-"

"Don't talk to me unless you have information about her whereabouts! We need to be able to protect her at all times! We need to do a flyover of the rest of the town! Den, you do the South streets, Crescent, you do the West, Crow's handling the East, I'll fly north, Kalt stay in case she comes back,go go go!!" The four Longma nodded at once and the three flew out the window, leaving Kalt, AJ and Rarity standing in Twilight's room looking nervous.

"Sugarcube, Twi teleports all the time, she'll be back in a few minutes, ah'm sure of it."

"We are her guards, we must accompany her at all times!!" Kalt responded, not looking at Applejack. She merely watched the window, and glanced repeatedly at the door.

Applejack sighed and turned to Rarity. "Stay here, I'm going to go get the others."

"Why? I thought you said she was going to be back in a few minutes.."

"Ah know, it's just that these fellows are making me nervous, and I'd rather have all of us together."

Applejack galloped down the hall, leaving Rarity to look at the panicking soldier going over every inch of Twilight's room.

"Darling, she'll be perfectly alright. I don't know why you're panicking."

Spike shook his head, "You guys are going to have a lot of trouble if you freak out every time she goes poof."

"We've only been her guards for a few hours, and we already lost her!!" Kalt shouted, bearing her fangs. "If something happens to the Princess... we..." she put her hoof down and steeled her face, all emotion disappearing. "...no. We're going to find her. Her head turned to the door sharply, and a minute later Applejack came back, four mares and a colt in tow.

"What happened?"

"Twilight teleported, her bodyguards panicked" Spike simplified. "She'll be back in a minute."

Kalt watched the window carefully, waiting for some sign from the other Longma. True to her word, Twilight appeared two minutes later, finding her five friends, as well as Pip and Kalt, looking relieved at her appearance.

"What happened?" Twilight asked anxiously, looking at all their faces.

"Princess!" Kalt cried out, jumping toward her. Twilight shifted backward, but there turned out to be no reason for it. Kalt was on her front knees before Twilight, bowing her head. "Thank Nightmare you're back..." she let out a sigh. "I apologize for losing you Princess, it won't happen again!"

"What do you mean losing me-"

Crow burst through the window again, which alerted Twilight to the shattered glass covering her bed. "I saw the Princess by the station, but before I could reach her she teleported again we need to regroup wit-" he noticed Twilight. "-oh, hi Princess! We were worried!"

"I just teleported away for a minute, I wanted to see if I had the right authority yet. Turns out, being a Princess has some perks!" She opened her purse and pulled five golden tickets out. "Permanent train passes to Canterlot!"

"This... is the best possible thing." Rarity said, taking her ticket, her eyes sparkling.

Twilight handed out the rest, before turning back to Crow and Kalt, who were both extremely relieved."So, what happened? Where did the rest of you go?" Twilight asked.

"We lost you! So we alerted the Equestrian guard and were combing the city... but now we just need to wait up for Jaeger and the others to come back after not finding you. And we should probably tell Sanguine you're back before-"

Celestia burst through the wall, "What happened to Twilight?!" She yelled, on fire. Kalt and Crow immediately threw themselves in front of Twilight, glaring at the Princess of the Sun.

"Nothing!" Twilight let out. "I'm perfectly fine, they were just overreacting... I teleported to the train station for a few minutes... apparently they thought I was foal-napped or something..."

"Oh thank goodness..." Celestia said, lying down on the bed. Crow winced as the glass shards made cracking sounds. Celestia didn't seem to notice. "Twilight, you'll have to put down some ground rules with your guard, or things like this will keep happening. I've had to deal with bodyguards for centuries, so I know a few things..."

"oh?"

"First of all, they need to respect you."

"We respect Princess Twilight completely and utterly!" Kalt said, putting a hoof down at the insult.

"No, you don't. You're supposed to protect her, but that doesn't mean you need to oversee everything she does. You're simply added security, not Twilight's dutiful saviours."

Crow winced and laughed. "Ouch..."

"Just remember, you're in charge, and you need to protect your own privacy and lifestyle. If it makes their jobs harder, so be it." Celestia said with finalty. "Now then... I'm sorry for bursting in here. Just remember what I said." Celestia fluttered out of the hole in the wall and repaired it with her magic, flying back to wherever she was. "And don't worry, I'll call off the Equestrian Guard."

~~~~

"Our apologies Princess!" Jaeger said, bowing. "We reacted poorly, we weren't aware of your teleportation abilities and we didn't know where you were heading. It is our duty as your bodyguards to be with you at all times, and protect you from all dangers you may become subject to. We have failed, we lost you, and we panicked. I take responsibility, and will take any punishment you deem fit."

Twilight sighed and thought about what the Princess said. "I... won't punish you, after all, it's pretty much my fault for just going without you and not saying anything... but... the Princess was right. We need to lay down some ground rules."

Jaeger nodded. "Anything you decree, Princess."

"Well... first of all, I don't want to wake up to find out you've been staring at me all night. So from now on, when I'm asleep, you're outside."

Jaeger nodded, blushing slightly.

"Second, don't panic whenever I go off on my own, okay? Teleporting is my go-to form of transport. For my part I'll try to tell you where I'm going and how long I'm going to be gone, and then I expect you to wait until that time or meet up with me. Alright?"

The Longma nodded again.

"Third, stop with that bowing thing. If you're going to be my bodyguards I'd prefer a kind of professional familiarity. And when you're apologizing, just say 'sorry' instead of offering ponies knives!!"

"U-understood."

"So you're all okay with this?"

Six confirmations and then an awkward silence followed. "Alright then... I guess we should go home."

~~~~

The train ride went by rather quickly, they said goodbye to Celestia at the station and got a souvenir for Pip in the form of a pirate's hat, apparently a gift from Luna. The Longma quickly intimidated all the other ponies in the car into the others and at least one Longma was stationed by every door on the car. Rarity whined about how they didn't spend enough time in Canterlot, and Pip chattered excitedly about how he was no longer missing out on the field trip a few months ago (which Celestia assured the populace, did not release Discord).

Twilight wondered about how much damage this Captain did to the library.

They got off the station about an hour later and waited for Rainbow Dash to fly Pip home before making their trek to the Library.

The beginning of Twilight's fear began with the crowd that was growing steadily denser, and it culminated when she saw the huge dark purple crystal tower that was standing where her tree library used to be it reached it's high point. She turned to Crow. "I thought you said he wasn't going to change anything!"

Crow narrowed his eyes. "I'm pretty sure there was a tree here a few hours ago..."

Rainbow nodded. "I was here too, and the library definitely was here... what happened?"

"Ah! Princess!" Came a voice from the top of the tower. "Welcome home your excellency!!" There was a flash of electricity down the side of the tower, and a stairway formed. Captain Oscuridad trotted down, smiling down at the twelve ponies. "I trust you find my work to your liking?"

"To my liking?! To my liking?!!" Twilight began. Rarity stepped in front of her, putting a hoof over Twilight's face.

"It's perfect! A beautiful attraction to the town. Think of how much business will be brought in by having the Castle of a Princess in the town!"

"Wh- he destroyed my tree and put a mound of rock on it!"

"Rock?! That's a beautifully carved giant Amethyst! It's wonderful!" Rarity assured. "Twilight, I don't know why I never thought of it before... Ponyville is going to become famous! We have a Princess living here..." She frowned. "We already had the Elements of Harmony and were right by the Everfree, so we should've be famous..." she grumbled a little about how tourists were idiots "but now... it's guaranteed! Celebrities from all over Equestria are going to come here..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Does nopony care that there is a castle on my house?!"

"Whoah!" Pinkie commented. "We're going to need a new housewarming party!"

"No, no housewarming parties, we are going to get this Captain of the whatever to tear this thing down! It's the Ponyville public library! Beside being my house, it's essential to the town."

"No one really used it as a library but you and occasionally Cheerilee." Fluttershy offered. "Though I am worried about your home and that poor tree..."

By that time Oscuridad had finished the staircase and was standing before the twelve. Jaeger gave a short bow. "Captain Oscuridad."

"Elite Jaeger." Oscuridad said, also giving a bow. He turned to Twilight and gave a long bow, putting one forehoof to the side and kneeling on the other one. "Your loyal servant is at your call, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I must tell you Princess, it is an absolute honor to be in your presence. Your beauty outshines even the previous Nightmare Moon."

Twilight blinked, then blushed. "Uh... thank you?" she shook her head. "I thought Crow told you that I didn't want you to change anything!"

Oscuridad raised an eyebrow and came out of his bow, standing a good half a foot over her. "I haven't, Princess, merely preserved it. Excuse your servant for taking your security into his own hooves. I hope that I can show you my work, before you cast judgement."

Twilight frowned. "Alright, but if I even find a book out of place..."

"Everything I have done can be reversed easily with a little effort, do not fear, my liege." He turned around, offering a bow to each of Twilight's friends, before trotting over to the massive gate. His horn lit up and struck a crystal near the top with a bolt of dark magic. It slid open without a sound, but the gasps of their audience was enough. Oscuridad gestured for them to walk in, and as if to assure the Princess that he could be trusted, Jaeger marched in fearlessly.

They looked at the massive room that made up the majority of the tower, it was the library tree, and the yard that surrounded it, perfectly untouched. The gem wall in the room was apparently one-way. How this was possible Twilight wasn't sure, but it probably involved magic. The effect of this however, was that it still felt like they were outside, the sun was clearly visible on the other side of the wall, as well as the entire town. Twilight took a deep breath and marched into the tree home, carefully inspecting the library with a quick spell before moving onto her living space, the private library, her bedroom, the kitchen and the bathroom. Nothing was out of place.

She let out a sigh of relief and walked back out with a smile. This thing hadn't destroyed her home... her yard however, was a different situation. The crystal wall dug into the ground and had stairways and doors marking the walls up and down, higher up it was less visible, the town and the sky making the stairs and doors appear almost invisible, but the ones near the ground were eyesores.

Oscuridad trotted over to one and gestured for Twilight to enter, but once again, one of her guards noticed her uneasy expression and took her place in the front.

"This is the bunker." Oscuridad said as they descended underground on the crystal staircase.

"What would we need a bunker for?" Twilight asked.

"Bombings, thunderstorms, invasions, you could use it as an extra storeroom, protected archives, etc. It's simply a very large, very safe, very protected shelter under the ground. You can ask your Sun-Princess about it, they're absolutely invaluable against an airborne invasion."

Sanguine gave a sort of sad smirk. "Those caves under Canterlot were hell for us, we almost captured Canterlot three times over the course of a two months, but the Sun-Princess always kept herself and tons of reserve guards in the tunnels. We'd be celebrating in the streets and suddenly the sewer covers would burst open and unicorns would be incinerating us."

Twilight flinched at the visual. "Alright... what about the rest of it? Why a tower?"

"To be regal of course!" Oscuridad said with a flick of his mane. "Towers symbolize power, why do you think all Kings and Queens build structures to the sky? To tower above your subjects and your enemies, to be able to observe your country on all sides, and to show your power to other ponies." Oscuridad looked up into the crystal spire proudly.

"But... the entire thing is transparent?" Twilight looked up, seeing the afternoon sky. "Wouldn't that make things hard to see?"

Oscuridad smiled. "Here's the genius of it, follow me, if you would, your Majesty." He trotted up a different stairwell, coming to a door about twenty feet above the tree. He opened it with his magic and walked into a crystal room, differing shades of purple made up the ceiling, walls, and floors. And beside a pentagon on the wall nearby, none of it was transparent.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "What kind of spell is this? This isn't normal crystal... and how does the transparency work? When did you have the chance to build this?!"

"A perception spell mixed in with a light-bending spell explains the light and the transparency." Oscuridad said with a proud smile. "As for the actual crystal and how I built it. It's all crystal magic. I'm aware of your... inexperience with the lunar races, but for us Shadhavar, making crystal and controlling it's properties are as simple for us as telekinesis is for you." He gave a smirk toward Twilight's friends. "Not all of us can do anything close to this, but this sort of work is my specialty."

Twilight looked down nervously. She was almost sixty feet in the air. "This is all.. just magic...?"

Oscuridad nodded. "Don't worry, it's all very permanent, that is, once I get your permission."

"So... it's not permanent right now?"

"Yes. It'd be a simple matter to get you all on the ground, and then I'd dispel the tower, and un-displace all the dirt."

"Twilight, now, you should think hard about this..." Rarity began. "Imagine how good it would be for Ponyville to have a castle here! And besides, you're a princess now! As much as we love the library, it's hardly regal, is it?"

Twilight frowned. "Rarity... I just wanted to live here like I used to for a few more months... I just wanted to have my own little library. I... I'm not ready to live in a castle yet."

"Didn't you grow up in a castle?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's different... it was never my castle." And she gave a deep smile. "And I only really felt completely at home here."

The friends shared looks and came closer to hug Twilight. The guards tensed, but they allowed it. Oscuridad frowned at them. "Princess, it is not my place to tell you what to do... but why not live in it for a little while?" He slowly guided her along the pathways. The curved tunnels, the light crystals arranged in stars and pentagons, the dark and light crystal placed in alternating patterns. "This is what it will be like to live in the Castle in the Night Empire... but here you have your earth pony village right outside, and your friends a short trot away." His eyes met her for a second. "It would be a good chance to get used to it, bit by bit. So that you aren't overloaded when you get to the 'real' Castle. Your tree is still below, in fact, if you so wished, the door could be left open, and I could make the lower wall transparent on both sides, and it could still function as a public library... as long as we lock the doors to the bunker and the higher levels."

Twilight frowned and thought about it. "Rarity is right, it would be good publicity for the town... and it would be useful for me to become accustomed to the Castle... but..."

She watched her friends look around in awe at the designs. Rainbow Dash and Spike raced in and out of rooms, Fluttershy was mildly curious. Applejack was tapping on the 'window' trying to find the border between it and the rest of the non-transparent wall. Rarity was admiring the crystal itself and was mumbling to herself about business. Pinkie Pie was defying physics by entering one room and leaving from the one across the hall from it. Or perhaps there were passages that went up and around. Who knew? Her friends were all accepting of it, and as long as the library wasn't hurt, and her place in the town hadn't changed...

"...Alright. But the minute I say I don't like this thing I want you to get ready taking it down, understood?"

"It'll be more difficult later on, but it can and will be done, my Liege, thank you for accepting my art."

Twilight nodded. "Well. Give us the grand tour."

7. In which Oscuridad is dastardly

"Well then..." The Shadhavar said, turning on his hooves to stand before Twilight. "Princess Twilight Sparkle...I, Oscuridad, Shadhavar Lord and Captain of the Royal Night Guard, make an eternal blood oath to serve Princess of the Night Empire; Twilight Sparkle."

Rarity's eyes sparkled at the romance of the oath and watched as Oscuridad raised his foreleg to his mouth.

"Oh not this again." Twilight whispered.

"Why what happens next?" Rarity asked excitedly. "This is just like in one of those old novels you keep sending me!" she whispered.

Oscuridad opened his mouth wide, showing his fangs, and bit down hard on his leg. He released his hold on his leg and let the blood flow to the ground. Rarity stood gaping at him. Fluttershy nearly fainted again, Applejack merely took a step back in surprise. Rainbow Dash gagged, Pinkie froze in place, having turned completely white. Twilight winced but frowned at the fact that she was beginning to get accustomed to it.

He then got back to his full stature, saluting her with his bleeding hoof. "Princess, I offer my services as a soldier and a guards pony, and promise to never betray you, to fight for your sake to my death, and pray that I never fail you!"

"uh... thank you, Captain Oscuridad."

Oscuridad bowed deeply once again and turned around. "Now then Princess, if I could give you the rest of the tour?"

Twilight nodded, waiting for her friends to recover before following the Shadhavar down the dark tunnels. They came to a great spiralling room, with a single column in the center that met up with the top of the spiral, she imagined this must be what it was like to be inside the shell of a giant snail. "Here is your throne, Princess."

Twilight raised an eyebrow and trotted up to the column, realizing that there was a deep groove inside it, big enough for several ponies to sit inside it. The crystal's transparency was messing with her. She couldn't see small details unless she was at the right angle, and even the groove was invisible until she got within a few feet of it.

"This place is amazing Oscuridad..." Twilight commented. "But why's the throne room so hard to get to? Aren't I suppose to be able to meet with hundreds of ponies a day?"

Oscuridad frowned. "I had to protect the library tree, and I assumed you wouldn't want to assume your duties until it's time for you to head to the Castle."

"Well... that's right... but... ah, never mind. It doesn't need to make sense, I'll get used to it. So, beside the throne room at the top and the library at the bottom, what were in the tunnels we passed by?"

"Our rooms, that is, your bodyguards and mine. I assume you'll want to sleep in your tree, but just in case I've prepared a queen suite for you. As well as several guest rooms, just in case and so as not to waste space."

"Just imagine the slumber parties Twilight!" Pinkie said happily.

Twilight shivered. "I don't think I want to do any slumber parties for a while..."

Just then a chiming of a bell sounded throughout the tower. "What was that?!" Shrieked Rainbow.

Crescent frowned and flew to the nearest wall, putting her hoof on it and causing pentagons of transparencies to appear around her. "Captain." She said in a whispery voice. "We have visitors, one of them seems to have noticed your doorbell."

Oscuridad made his way to the newly created window as well and looked down. "Princess, do you recognize any of them?"

Twilight peered down. "I recognize most of them, they're just ponies from around town... oh! The one by the door is the mayor."

Oscuridad gave a sly smile to Twilight. "You know how you were saying that the Throne Room should be easily accessible to visitors? Well..." He bowed slightly to his Princess. "forgive my constant bragging, your Majesty, but I am quite proud of this tower, and of all the spells I've built in." His horn glowed and she noticed the archway on the side of the door they just entered from. It glowed for several seconds with dark magic, before a wall appeared under the arch, making the formerly curving slope of the wall into a completely straight one. Then a crack appeared down the middle. "Open the doors for our guests, if you so please, your Majesty."

Twilight looked at the door hesitantly before making her horn glow and pushing it open. A confused and nervous Mayor Mare was standing outside, as well as the majority of the town.

"Uh..." Mayor Mare began.

Crow snickered and grabbed Pinkie Pie, standing next to the archway. "Princess, if you'd please go to your throne with the rest of your friends?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow but she moved over to the Crystal Throne and laid down inside it, her friends standing on her left, with the Captain, the rest of her guards on her right.

"Announcing... Pinkie, if you'd please?"

"Mayor Mare!" Pinkie said enthusiastically, unsure of what was happening.

Crow gave a short bow. "You may now enter."

"Uh.. thank you..." Her eyes widened as she got a better look at the Longma, she paled and could hear her heart beating. She walked stiffly before the throne and gave a short bow. "um... Princess Twilight Sparkle, your majesty... uh, your highness..."

"Just Twilight will be fine, Mayor."

Oscuridad frowned.

"...um... thank you. Well anyway, I was wondering, just wondering! Not complaining, but uh... where did this tower come from?"

Twilight gestured to the Shadhavar on her left. "Captain Oscuridad made it for me... we're still testing it out right now, but if you think that it's bad for the town we can get rid of it without a trace, right Captain?"

Oscuridad bristled. "Excuse my rude breach on your conversation, your majesty, but you're leaving such a big decision to a random townspony?"

"She's not a random townspony, she's the mayor! And this town is under her authority, as well as the public library. Of course we'll go along with her decision."

Oscuridad frowned. "Then I believe the first step should be to secure the rights to this land and the library..."

Twilight turned toward him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You should be able to say you own your own house, Princess."

"...I..."

"Um.. I'll have a word with the town council, I'm sure we can arrange to have the property transferred to Princess Sparkle officially soon... but uh...." She gulped. "I actually came to ask about the official status of Ponyville..."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... Ponyville and the surrounding area was deeded to the Apple Family originally, which have since given more and more of it away to the town as it expanded... but Celestia always had the ability to take it away.. so really what I'm wondering is... are we under your command right now, I mean, is the town yours?"

Twilight blinked. "Um... as far as I'm aware the town hasn't changed ownership or anything similar... as a Princess of Equestria I'm kind of in control, but really, things will be the same as ever." I hope. She added silently.

"Ah! Well, that's good! Not that it would be bad having you in charge, what I mean is... er... thank you for your time, Princess?" Mayor Mare bowed and hurried back outside, but found Crow blocking her way.

"The Princess hasn't dismissed you."

"Uh, dismissed?"

Crow nodded and moved out of the way. Mayor Mare took in a breath of relief and trotted back outside, jumping when the doors closed automatically behind her. Twilight hurried to the window and watched as the Mayor broke into a gallop, running off toward the town hall. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "How could something like that be so stressful?!I just had to answer her questions...."

"Wow Twi, it was like you were a real Princess there!" Rainbow Dash said happily. She winced as Sanguine and Den glared at her. "What?"

"Princess Twilight is a real Princess. She does not need to prove herself, and that title can never be taken away." Den said gruffly.

"Alright, alright... sorry." Rainbow sighed. "Man, you guys are stuffy. I was just joking around."

"Joke in a way that doesn't insult the Princess." Jaeger said simply.

Oscuridad stood in front of Twilight and made the window disappear again. "Princess, far be it from me to deride or instruct you," Twilight rolled her eyes, knowing that meant he was going to deride and instruct her, "but I was informed that you spent your entire life near court? That you accompanied and learned from Princess Celestia herself as she ruled Equestria? That was truly a poor display of court prowess. This was your first official act as Princess, and you were... how should I say... hesitant and passive.. you put yourself below a simple Earth Pony. You allowed her to stutter and asked her to disregard your authority, when in fact, your authority was the reason she was here."

Twilight winced.

"Perhaps in Solar court anypony can stroll in and waste the Princess's time, behaving however they wish, and then leave whenever they want... but the Lunar Court is a place of formality and seriousness. The Mayor's questions, if she had been instructed to speak clearly to begin with, could have been answered accurately in seconds! When your subject is acting incompetently, you must remind them to be respectful and serious!" Oscuridad growled.

Twilight frowned. "The Solar court wasn't like that. I... I did spend a few days at court, quite often actually... but I was usually studying other things at the time. And from what I saw Celestia wouldn't ever have to deal with simple questions like these, she'd just redirect it to a Pony's who's specialized in that!" She marched over to Oscuridad and stood as tall as she could, stretching her wings. "I don't have anything like that yet! I was just inexperienced and unsure for a few minutes!" She blushed, realizing she had gone on a tangent, before standing down and pulling her wings back in. "I.... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blown up like that..."

"No Princess! I was being disrespectful, I am merely your servant, it is not my place to even critique you. I apologize, mistress!"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Mistress? That's a new one."

"Mistress, your Majesty, Queen, my liege, Princess, Empress, Night-bearer, Lunar Queen, Mare of the Moon, possibly Nightmare, the Dark Lord, the Shadow Lady, Honorable one, etc.. you have plenty of titles." Den supplied.

"Huh..." Twilight blinked. "Wait... I'm the Mare in the Moon?"

"No, Mare of the Moon." Den corrected. "It's basically the same as saying that you represent the night, the same as the Moon."

Twilight frowned. "Those are all things they called Nightmare Moon..."

Den nodded. "Of course, you're her successor after all."

Twilight was beginning to feel sick. "I... think I'm tired... I didn't get much sleep last night-"

"You got a good four and half hours in." Crow said cheerfully. Sanguine and Den hit him on the head.

"I thought we were going to stop mentioning that." Sanguine sighed.

"-and the train ride and all... of, well this" she gestured randomly to the tower walls, "is tiring me out... I think I'm going to go take a nap. Oscuridad, try and find something for you and the other guards to eat."

"Yes, Princess."

"Sorry to push you guys out like this.." Twilight apologized to her friends.

"Nah, we understand. Mus' be tough, first day being the Princess of a whole Empire." Applejack said happily, reaching in for a hug. Six Longma and a Shadhavar jerked forward to intercept them, but Twilight stepped back first.

"All five of them can hug me, alright?! You guys aren't taking that from me!"

"Y-Yes Princess." Jaeger said, motioning for the guards to step back.

The six mares shared a group hug. They said their goodbyes and Oscuridad opened the direct-to ground level portal arch again. Oscuridad watched as the five of them left. As the guards began leading Twilight back down to the library Oscuridad stopped Jaeger. "Follow them for as long as they stick together.. then keep following the largest group... report back to me with what they're talking about. Afterwards, you'll guard the Throne Room."

"....yes sir." Jaeger pressed his hoof to the wall, and instead of a transparent window, the wall actually opened for him. He flew out and watched as the wall closed. He flew after the five friends.

~~~~

Twilight watched as Oscuridad trotted quickly to keep up with them, apparently staying behind with Jaeger for another minute after they left. He was busy flattening out his mane of darkness after jostling it trotting after them.

"Where's Jaeger?" Twilight asked.

"He's guarding the throne room." Oscuridad said nonchalantly. "It's an important job... but not one for a bodyguard. We'll have to bring in more Longma as staff and guards..."

"Why not just ponies from here? I mean, why have soldiers stand outside every door when we can just hire some security guards?" Twilight offered. She frowned as Oscuridad continued trying to fix his mane during the conversation. He must have galloped after them. Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced at his leg. "Hey... about your leg... how did you make it stop bleeding so fast?"

"Hm? Oh, we just heal a little faster, that and a few regeneration spells done on most of the soldiers a few weeks ago..." He gave a dark chuckle, "Well, I suppose it was a thousand years ago, the longest lasting regeneration spell in history I suppose."

Twilight nodded. They went down the stairway and came out to the library, and then they went up a much shorter staircase to her bedroom, she smiled at Spike, already tucked in, and climbed into the bed. Making sure that all the guards were outside she sighed out one last command. "You're probably all going to stand at my door til I wake up, but some of you should try getting some sleep too... you've probably stayed awake a lot longer than I have... and you're probably a lot more.. tired and confused too... ~yawn~... well, g'night."

"Good Night, Princess of the Night." one of them said from the other side of the door.

Her eyes drifted slowly shut. "I'm a Princess..." she smiled to herself.

~~~~

"This is amazing!" Rarity said cheerfully. "She's an official Princess now! She has the tower, the guards, the authority, the jewels, everything! I'm so happy for her. Did I ever tell you all about how I wanted to become part of the Royal family?"

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Yeah, you talked about it all the time back in the day, I guess the Gala really got to you, eh?"

"Oh you wouldn't believe the disappointment."

"Ah think we all can, Rare."

Rarity chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

"So, what do we call her now?" Fluttershy asked.

"What do you mean Shy?" Rainbow asked.

"Well... it's just... she's a Princess now..."

"She was a Princess before too."

"...well... yes... but, it's different now."

"Why?"

"Well..." Fluttershy began. "she has real responsibilities now... before the biggest change was that she could fly... now... well, we can't even hug her without being glared at by those scary dragon ponies..."

"Don' worry, we'll figure a way around it." Applejack assured.

"Of course we will, Dear." Rarity said as well, "but we should probably be more formal around the guards... what should we call her? She has all those titles... oh... just imagine, signing all your letters with a string of formal titles!"

"It sounds like a hassle." Rainbow said simply.

"Well, yes, but it's also very regal and impressive." Rarity said with a smile. "Perhaps we should call her Princess Twilight in public..."

"no, no! We should call her Nightmare Sparkle!" Pinkie said, giggling.

"Pinkie, that's nothing to joke about!"

"Why not? Twilight's her replacement, after all. Why not call her Nightmare Sparkle?" Rainbow Dash countered. "But I for one am still calling her Twi, public or not."

"Hm. That seems like the best course of action." Rarity agreed. "She might get insulted if we start using all those titles, despite how regal they are."

The friends then went their separate ways, back to their own homes, and Jaeger, came out of hiding and flew back to the Tower.

~~~~

Oscuridad smiled. "And they really said all those things?"

"Yes sir."

"If twisted just right..." he began.

"Sir, they were clearly joking."

"They were debating about their level of familiarity with the Princess and mocked her and her titles.. these ponies are obviously not suitable to be my Princess's companions..." He gave a toothy grin to Jaeger, who shivered. "..I'll... make sure Twilight learns of this at the appropriate time and place... this is in her best interest after all.. those sun-loving peasants are clearly a bad influence on her."

Jaeger frowned. "Far be it for I to question you, Captain..."

"Good, then don't."

"But... aren't you overstepping your bounds? The Princess is free to choose her own friends."

"What? I'll merely advise her, and I won't say anything but the truth..." he walked away from the bodyguard before he could retort. "Just not the whole truth."

8. Tower-warming party

Twilight woke with a start. There were explosions outside. She jumped out of her bed and grabbed spike from his basket, putting him on her back and raising her wings slightly. She whipped the door open and jumped again at the Longma standing right outside it. She shook her head slightly, remembering the events of the last three days in a rush and stumbled forward.

"Princess, please stay inside, there's an assassin outside."

"What?!"

"The pink one, from yesterday..." Crescent said in her whispery voice.

"Pinkie? She's harmless!" The tree shook with another explosion. "...mostly harmless."

Oscuridad's shadow entered the room and he rose from it with a black smoke. "Princess... your friend has broken into the castle, carrying a huge amount of explosives and strange objects... at the moment Jaeger and Crow are attempting to deal with her-"

Twilight glowered. "If any of you has hurt her I'll-"

"No! No of course not, they're making every effort to capture her unharmed." Oscuridad said with a frown. "Considering your trust for her... but under any other situation, if she was any other pony, we would kill on sight, I hope you understand. The only reason she's alive is because she's your friend, and I want to hear of the reason for this betrayal."

"But... Pinkie would never... maybe a changeling..."

"Well, that's what we're trying to figure out here."

Twilight winced as another explosion happened outside. Oscuridad frowned. "Den, Crescent, Sanguine, stay here, Kalt and I need to go help Jaeger..."

Twilight ran to the window the moment Oscuridad disappeared and Kalt galloped off. She watched as Crow and Pinkie once again became a blur of dodges and swings, the two moving impossibly fast, seeing blows coming at them they couldn't possibly see. Jaeger was flying around the edges of the fight, trying to get a hit or two in, but the earth pony and the longma were moving too fast for the leader of the bodyguards to be sure who he would hit.

Oscuridad and Kalt quickly changed the fight though, Crow noticed them and backed out of the close combat. And the three Longma flew circles in large arcs around Pinkie Pie, with Oscuridad summoning crystal all around her. Pinkie dodged the pillars shooting from the ground and walls, pronking cheerfully from one to the next, following some pattern no one would ever be able to understand.

Oscuridad finally roared, a huge burst of white smoke bursting from him and shooting forward at Pinkie. She gave a yelp and dodged it, but couldn't outrun it. Oscuridad's head formed out of the cloud and lifted Pinkie into the air, he flowed up the staircase with her in tow. "Tell the Princess that I'll keep her prisoner until she's finished talking to her, then the Princess will have to decide her fate."

Jaeger nodded and flew back to the tree library, only to watch Twilight push Sanguine to get outside. "I heard what he said, I'm coming up."

The guards were on high-alert. One night in ponyville, and, first thing in the morning, there was an attempted assassination. They ran ahead of Twilight, peering into every room they passed, double checking every hallway they went through. Not that Twilight cared. She was becoming more irritated with every step. She'd never think that Pinkie would ever try to kill her, or even harm or insult her more that a few bad pranks, but she was confused at what was going on. She woke up to explosions, and waking up in general often irritated her. That combined with the long walk and her guards flitting about finally coming to her attention had put her in a bit of a grump.

She entered the throne room to see Pinkie in a cage of amethyst. Upside down. In chains. Surrounded by three force fields. With an angry Shadhavar glaring at her.

"Okay Pinkie, I'd like you to explain to me what's going on."

"I was throwing you a super special surprise housewarming party!" She gave a wide grin that managed to pass through the five force fields and still make Twilight smile despite being irritated. Yep, this was Pinkie alright. No changeling could give a grin like that.

"Let her go Captain, she'd never hurt me."

"But Princess!"

"Upupup! I'm the Princess here, besides, I trust Pinkie completely."

"....Of course... Your Majesty...."

Twilight smiled as the crystals and force fields disappeared, and Pinkie was levitated down to the ground. "Sorry about that Pinkie, the bodyguards aren't really used to you yet..."

"Don't worry about it! It's fine!" Pinkie said happily.

"Princess... bringing explosives, strange objects, and a honest to goodness portable cannon..." Oscuridad began. "Not to mention trespassing and resisting the Night Guard... Well, let's just say in the Empire, friend or not, she wouldn't be breathing right now."

Twilight visibly paled. But a few seconds and she put on a determined expression. "Then I have a lot of things to change."

Oscuridad frowned and took a step back. "I am merely trying to emphasize the severity of her actions.. I wouldn't dream of sentencing one of my Princess's close... friends.. as harshly as a criminal... but her actions should speak for themselves."

"No, Pinkie will be speaking for herself, now then... Oscuridad, what are the items exactly?"

Oscuridad nodded and summoned two boxes that were piled on a little red wagon, as well as a blue and yellow cannon.

"As for 'explosives'," Oscuridad began opening the second box and levitating some of it's contents out. "we have gunpowder-"

"For loading the cannon!" Pinkie cheered.

"-...small rockets-"

"Fireworks for after the party! One of them has your cutie mark and another explodes into the words 'congratulations'!"

"Could I please continue uninterrupted?!" Oscuridad asked, his mane bristling.

"Yep!"

"...and other various explosives, including what appear to be sticks of dynamite, grenades, and flash bombs."

Pinkie looked at him expectantly. He simply glared back. Twilight sighed and levitated the 'bombs' for her to see. "These are all fireworks Oscuridad. They're no danger to me, and Pinkie's usually really safe with them."

"What?! These look nothing like fireworks! Where are the phoenixes on sticks?" Den complained.

"I guess they must just be new ones..." Crescent whispered.

Oscuridad frowned. "And in this box we have the strange objects... I think these are either specialized weapons or used in the construction of some kind of device..."

Twilight sighed, looking into the box. "They're party supplies."

"What are you talking about?! I mean... please.. explain, Princess."

Twilight smirked and levitated one of the objects out. Oscuridad frowned. "I don't understand what purpose this could have at a party! Is it a kind of disposable cup? For unicorns only? There's no purpose in this cone shape..."

"It's a party hat." Twilight said, placing it on her head.

"There's a large amount of reflective scroll, possibly a magic trap-"

"Streamers." Pinkie clarified.

"...would you kindly stop?"

"I'm just telling you what they are!"

"Fine! What the heck is this? What purpose could it ever serve?" He said, almost growling, pulling out an uninflated balloon.

"It's a balloon!"

"It's made of rubber." Oscuridad said.

"So?"

Oscuridad frowned. "It's tiny! It has no basket."

"And?" Twilight asked. Oscuridad looked from the two 'modern' ponies to the tiny rubber sack.

"You know what... Princess, I trust your judgement... there are no weapons in here?" Twilight quickly levitated all the contents of both boxes into the air and looked over them.

"Nope, just party supplies... you Longma aren't very big on parties, are you?"

"Well... we have several celebrations and festivals... but..." Den gestured to the stuff in the box. "Nothing that would require... paper cone hats..."

Pinkie slid up to him, making him jump. "I have much too teach you all then! And what better way to learn... than experience!" She then slid away and was now behind the party cannon.

Oscuridad growled and sent a crystal spike toward the cannon, blocking the shot. "Princess!! All of this still doesn't explain why she has a cannon!"

"It's a party cannon!" Pinkie clarified.

Oscuridad turned to Twilight. "Please, please tell me that cannons aren't just typical 'party supplies'..."

"Well... no, but with Pinkie Pie it is."

The cannon fired several times and the Longma quickly surrounded Twilight, watching the ceiling where the shots landed. They watched, unbelieving, as streamers hung themselves, balloons tied themselves to weights all over the throne room, and confetti fell from the ceiling, sprinkling everything.

Oscuridad incinerated the confetti that landed on him before turning to glare at Pinkie Pie. Twilight smiled at the decorations and at the Longma's reactions to everything becoming more colorful. "Well, it looks great Pinkie, once again, sorry for all the trouble. It won't happen again." She turned to the Longma. "Right? My friends are allowed in, no matter what, okay?" Seven hesitant nods followed.

"It's alright! It was fun!" Pinkie assured.

~~~~

"Princess, a gala takes months to prepare, we need invitations, we need to take stock, we need to hire entertainment, we need to set aside public and private areas and-"

"Captain. It's alright. Pinkie's already done all that."

"It's been two hours!"

"Beside, it's not a gala, just a housewarming party."

"She invited half the town!!"

Twilight sighed and turned to Rainbow Dash. "Did I really used to be so stuffy?" Rainbow had decided to come over after Pinkie Pie did, and got a more... welcome, response from her guards, seeing as she wasn't dragging a cannon.

"Hehe... sometimes you were worse." Twilight pushed her playfully as they went around the tower, watching Pinkie Pie dash about and put finishing touches on everything. Twilight had no idea where she got the chairs, tables, and silverware, or even how she carried it all in herself. Her bodyguards of course were following close behind. Crow was irritated, after he beat Rainbow Dash in the race, despite the fact he apologized, he had began acting somewhat cocky. Then Pinkie matched him move for move, and when he was both and exhilarated afterward, she hadn't broken a sweat, or even gotten out of breath. The fact that Pinkie didn't study martial arts or even train, yet still managed to match him, was a crushing blow to the soldier.

"How does that even work?!" He grumbled to himself. Twilight chuckled.

"I don't know, it's called 'Pinkie sense'. She can basically tell the future." She frowned. "Among other things... it's not magic, but I've seen that pony do incredible things... if you make a Pinkie promise, beware, she'll know when you break it, or even almost break, and will be there, waiting... somehow..." Crow's eyes had shrunk to the point they were pinpricks.

"...is she a ghost?"

Twilight stopped walking and turned slightly towards him. "What?"

"...she can teleport, see the future, be there anytime someone's about to break an oath on her name... she... sounds like a Spirit..."

"What, like Discord?"

"Kinda..."

Twilight thought it over a few seconds. "That... that would explain way too much..."

"Hey Twi!" Twilight jumped in the air about a foot, Rainbow Dash laughing. "What were you talking about? I heard my name!"

"Well, Crow's confused on how you were keeping up with him..."

"Oh that's easy! I just did it!"

Crow sighed. "You just... did it?"

"Yep!"

Rainbow frowned and fluttered over to Pinkie, taking her to the side. "Um, well, Crow brought up an interesting point. Uh... Pinkie, don't take this the wrong way... but are you a spirit?"

"If you mean I'm dead; nope! If you mean I'm a free-spirit; yup!"

"Oh... alright then."

Twilight shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie, and some things don't have to be explained."

"Well!" Pinkie Pie began, gesturing to the throne room. "I'm all done! What do you think?"

"It looks beautiful Pinkie!" Twilight assured. "Thanks again for arranging this... maybe after a few of your parties I'll start to get used to all this stuff..."

"Hehehe, glad to know I'm helping!" Pinkie said enthusiastically.

~~~~

\

Jaeger watched as the Princess danced strangely along with her friends. At first he had assumed it was some silly solar-pony dance, but after watching the other's reactions to it, and how most of the other ponies danced, he concluded that his Princess merely had no sense of rhythm or dance in the slightest.

Den marched up to him, a glass of punch balanced on his hoof. "Thirsty sir?"

"No." He looked at the pink liquid and frowned. "Is it really any good?"

"Hmm... kinda... it's kind of weird... I don't think it's juice, and it's not alcohol. It's sweet at least."

"Hm."

They watched as Twilight tripped over her own dress and somehow made it into a dance move. "So... what are your feelings about the Princess?" Jaeger asked.

Den nearly spit out his punch. "Huh?...well..."

"I won't question your loyalty... I just want your opinion."

Den nodded, but the hesitation was still on his face. "She... well, for a solar pony she seems to have accepted this pretty easily."

"From what Queen Nightmare told me, her life hasn't exactly been boring up to now. She's probably seen more monsters over the last two years than the average solar pony would see in a lifetime."

"What does that have to with it?"

Jaeger raised an eyebrow. "Simple, we're monsters to her."

Den frowned. "No... I don't think so."

"hm. Well, she has a... I don't think he's a pet exactly, but she has a dragon living with her."

Den froze and immediately looked for Spike. "He's a dragon?!" he hissed.

"You didn't know?"

"Of course not! He doesn't have the smell yet! He's tiny... he has no wings!"

Jaeger smirked. "Think about the respect that'll get her back at Castle."

"We're all going to starve to death.. aren't we?"

"The dragon's this small, so it probably doesn't have that much greed. I think the hoard will be alright when we head back."

"Darn it sir, why'd you have to tell me that? Now I'll never relax when he's nearby."

"Then I've done you a favor, soldier. Now then, your opinion of her Highness?"

"Honestly sir, I don't know. She's a... well... solar pony, through and through. She's a typical unicorn. Even if she does have wings... she's not like Nightmare in the least."

"Nightmare trusts her."

"...I know. Times have changed. But Nightmare's part unicorn after all." Den said. He looked back at the dance floor, most of the ponies were getting tired by now and the music slowed. He noticed two earth pony stallions looking in the Longma's direction and gave a friendly fang-filled smile and made his eyes vibrate. He held back a laugh as the two turned and half-galloped as casually as they could to the other side of the throne room. "Well... she's intelligent. She stood up to the Captain, she's willing to accept us being her guards without too much push... she's probably in shock, honestly. In a few weeks she'll be terrified and paranoid and will try to avoid us all the time I'm sure..."

"..." Jaeger looked at his subordinate. "Maybe, but we'll be there all the same."

"...I don't know what to think of her yet I suppose. She's just.. different than Nightmare. She's not regal, she's not imposing, and she's more cute than beautiful."

Jaeger nodded. "A completely different Queen than we had before."

Den frowned. "Now, when we get back to Castle... I'm worried."

Jaeger gave a grim smile. "That's when our real work will start."

"It'll feel like we lost. And then we get-" his face contorted slightly, and he spoke the next words with a little disgust. "-the protege of the Sun Princess to replace Nightmare Moon... It won't go over well..."

"Is that what you think of her as?"

Den frowned. "No. She acts nothing like the Sun Princess. Though I suppose there hasn't been time for Luna to choose a protege."

"And then the Elements of Harmony would have to decide to make that student an alicorn too." Jaeger gave a quick laugh. A single 'Bwah'.

Den shook his head and looked down on his cup. "I guess I just haven't seen enough of her yet to get a good idea of what kind of pony she is... or really have an opinion of her."

"Would you die for her?"

"Of course, in an instant." He said casually.

"Hm. Good, get me a glass of punch.... but is there any alcohol here?"

"Not that I've seen."

"Good. We don't need Sanguine making a scene during the first official event in the tower."

"You think too little of us sir, you really think she would drink on the job?"

"Of course." Jaeger said with a smile. "We're on call 24/7. She has to drink sometime."

Den gave a salute and walked back to the punch bowl, Jaeger smiled as several solar stallions and mares decided they no longer needed any punch.

Jaeger looked back over the room and did another quick check. Nopony was hurt, the Princess was still dancing terribly, the Princess's friends were at various points in the room, safe. Sanguine was on the other side of the room, opposite to him, Crescent was hiding in a dark spot in the ceiling, not wanting to be seen by anypony below. Den was coming back from the punch bowl. Crow Moon was sitting at a table, eating from a bowl of crystals, but still watching the entirety of the room between bites, Jaeger made eye contact and gave a smile before moving on. Kalt was listening to the music, tapping her hooves a distance from the dance floor. And finally, their Captain, Oscuridad, was sitting nearby the archway, greeting and saying farewell to every guest. He had taken the most effort for the least reason, Jaeger supposed. Oscuridad had made an elaborate disguise, taking the form of a unicorn with a straight spiralled horn and regular eyes. All so he could just say hello and goodbye to every guest. Famous Shadhavar courtesy he supposed.

~~~~

The party winded down around midnight, and the ponies of ponyville, as well as a few celebrities that had come to the party for the sole purpose of being at the first party in Princess Twilight's new 'castle'. It was a very profitable night for Rarity, who managed to get several new clients in less than an hour. Twilight and Oscuridad said farewell to the last few guests before she collapsed in a content pile.

"Well.. that was exhausting." Twilight said with a smile. "Thanks again Pinkie Pie."

Jaeger picked up a chair and walked over to the Princess, the two Captains helping her up. "You really er... 'danced' yourself out your Highness."

"Hehehe... yeah."

Crescent fluttered down from her crevice and gathered with the other ponies near Twilight. Pinkie pronked over to them and gave a wide smile. "No problem Twilight, you only get to throw a housewarming party once til you move!"

Applejack nodded and finished off a mug of cider. "Well, this was a lot of fun sugarcubes, but ah think it's about time ah headed home."

The other ponies in the group all gave their assent and slowly filtered out the door. "Thanks for coming!" Twilight called out the window at her friends who were suddenly several stories below her. She stepped away and watched as the window reformed. She turned to her guards and yawned. "Well, this was an eventful day. I'm going to get ready for bed, I advise you to do the same, you guys must be exhausted."

Crow gave a short 'bwa' laugh. Twilight raised an eyebrow and Sanguine raised a hoof to smack him just in case. "Sorry, it's just that at Castle, this is around when most parties would start."

Twilight gave a grin and another yawn. As the six began to turn to follow her she gave another comment back. "And at the next party, you should all join in on the fun. Every single one of you was a wallflower like I used to be."

Jaeger raised an eyebrow as Twilight turned back around and continued down the stairs to the tree library. "Well Den, there's your answer."

Den stopped and turned to his commander. "What do you mean?"

"She sees a little bit of herself in us. I don't think it's just shock talking." Jaeger said simply. "....I don't think she'll make a poor Queen."

9. Night duty

Oscuridad went to his own room, having chosen one of them during the first night. The six bodyguards followed Twilight back down to the tree library and sat in the small hall outside her and Spike's room. The six waited in the darkness, their eyes glowing with reflected moonlight. After the two settled in the six turned to each other. Crescent was the first to speak, her normal whispery volume lowered almost down to nothing. "So, who takes first shift? I took the last last night. So I should start."

Jaeger nodded. "Everypony get some shuteye, a tired soldier isn't as useful as a rested one." The five fanned out, finding nooks, rafters, and chairs to sleep in. Crescent turned one ear to Twilight's room and sat on the ground, looking down the entryway and glancing out a nearby window. Golden Oak Library would be officially be given to Twilight in a few days.

Crescent decided she would have a look around the library. It was somewhat small for a library, or a house, really. She peeked around the corner and saw the Princess and Spike breathing slowly, deep in sleep, completely exhausted from the party. Deciding she didn't need to guard her room the entire shift, she decided that it would be okay to do a few rounds.

Golden Oak library had a simple design. There was a large basement underground, which rose up through the small kitchen/dining room. The kitchen's only other door opened up to the main library room, which was filled with quite a few nooks where Crescent's comrades had found quarters. There were countless books on the shelves, and she entertained picking up one or two for the way back. Connecting to the main library room was the front door and a stairway that led up to Twilight's room. Twilight's room consisted of two floors as well, with another smaller library on the bottom and a short staircase that led up to her bed nook. On the other side of the stairway to her bed was the doorway to the balcony.

Crescent had gone through every room in the Library in a matter of three minutes. She stopped suddenly at the sound of a claw landing on a perch. She landed silently on the floor of the main room and turned to face the creature. The owl's shiny black eyes reflected back at her in the moonlight from the windows.

She trotted up to it, giving a small frown. It tilted it's head slightly and she winced, not sure what to do. "I'm no good with animals... do you live here, or are you a pest I need to silently throw from the premises?"

The owl moved it's foot, as if to point to it's perch. Crescent smiled and nodded. "Owl's are supposed to represent knowledge in solar pony culture, don't they? I suppose it's not that big of a deal to find one in a library..." Crescent frowned and walked over to the open window. "The real question is, if you weren't in here the whole time.. how did you get into the tower?"

The owl looked at her for a little while before flapping it's wings a few times. Crescent smiled as her ears strained to hear the microscopic noise of the owl's wings. One of the few benefits of feathers, she supposed. As the owl took flight back out the window she listened for the sounds of anything else. If a bird could get in and out, so could a Pegasus she assumed. She heard the sounds of each of her comrades. Jaegers slight whistling, Crow's quiet snoring, Sanguine's mumblings, Kalt's sigh, Den's occasional snort. She flew closer to the ceiling and was able to pick up the sound of Spike's snoring, and of Twilight's breathing. Content that they'd be safe long enough for her to locate the breach, she flew through the window after the owl.

She quickly scanned the outside. The shimmering walls of the Tower allowing through images of the town and the sky would make it difficult for her to find the breach. But not so, apparently, for the owl. She flew to where the owl was apparently sitting on the curve of the moon, only until she was above it could she see the edge of the now-transparent amethyst. The owl, seeing she had caught up, walked through the tunnel, disappearing into a confused blur of color, the wall's spells unsure of whether it should or shouldn't be included in the image of the outside world.

Crescent frowned at the tunnel. She stuck her hooves in it and found it incredibly cramped. She thought she could probably get her head in there, but the tunnel only lowered in height as it went, even the small owl needing to stoop by the other end.

"hm. I wonder why Oscuridad would put something like this here..."

The owl was now visible on the other side of the wall through the transparency. It went in and out a few more times before settling back on it's perch inside. Crescent fluttered back into the library after it. She landed without a sound on the wooden floor, somehow keeping her hooves from clacking on the ground. "You know, we have a few things in common." she whispered to it. She adjusted her armor to show the symbol her flank; the image of a black silhouette of an owl, wings extended to it's sides, over the crescent moon. "My special talent is apparently being silent. Or at least stealthy."

She marched over to a wall and looked at the titles for a few seconds, seeing a book on festivals she picked it up gently and fluttered back to Twilight's room, sitting down in the center of the lower level, with a clear view of Twilight and Spike.

She cracked it open and started reading, but she looked up and her ears perked whenever either of them made an unexpected noise or moved. She read the pages using the moonlight and her already superb night vision. The party earlier in the night intrigued her, she supposed it was at it's core the same as in the Night empire. Ponies getting together to celebrate, eat, drink, and dance. But some of the games and other events confused her. The dancing was confused... some were dancing in pairs, some alone, some in bunches. And the music seemed to be somehow pre-recorded. And she didn't have the slightest clue as to how a game like pin the tail on the pony could have ever come to develop.

When the book didn't give her the information she wanted she fluttered over to the window, looking up at the sky through the tower wall and seeing about an hour passed. Her eyes darted to Twilight one last time before she fluttered down the stairway she placed the book back before jumping at a sudden "Hoo!".

She turned on the owl, glaring. "You know, back at Castle, owls represent silence." she hissed. "So if you're going to be quiet you should have the common sense to not reveal yourself. Alright, bird?" The owl gave a quieter hoot, as if in apology, and Crescent rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I suppose." Crescent fluttered up to a crevice where Kalt was lying on her side, having fallen asleep in a strange pose, trying not to move the books already there too much.

Kalt's ears twitched and she got up silently. "Hm? My turn already?" Crescent nodded silently. She pointed at the owl without saying a word. "Huh? What is it doing in here?"

"...I think it lives here..." she whispered almost indecipherably.

"hm, alright. Get some rest."

Crescent nodded and took Kalt's place in the nook, letting the body heat already there bring her asleep in seconds. Kalt smiled at the younger mare. Everything about Crescent was quiet. Even the breathing of the Longma was imperceptible to her trained ears.

Kalt's smile turned grim as she remembered one of the few stories Crescent ever shared with the rest of the team. Crescent had once saved her unit during an ambush by having her team hide in a closet, and then she lied down over the door, spilling a little of her own blood over her and going silent and still. When the Equestrian soldiers spilled through into the building they thought they merely found a corpse lying against a door, and had passed by. She had to sit without making a sound for over three hours in her own blood. She complained that she had the easy job, and felt worse for her unit who had to stand on top of each other in the closet without talking all that time.

Kalt then took off up the staircase, into Twilight's room, and watched the Princess from the stairwell for a few seconds before moving across the room. Sitting across from Twilight's bed so she could watch the moon through her window.

"Kalt, quickly!!"

"Yes sir!" She shouted back dragging the cannon behind her. Jaeger jumped behind her and began loading even as Kalt pulled it into position. The target was clear, was always clear. She gave it one final tug, and lined it up with her target. She saw the arc that she was flying, and knew exactly where she'd be. She instinctively knew that jaeger was ready to press the button at any time. "....Fire!!" The Cannon shook and the explosive was launched high into the air, Kalt watched as it arced, and then as the target arced as well. Her mouth curved into a smile as it collided with the white alicorn and burst in a flash of light and the thunderous sound of the crystal magic activating. But the smile fell as a white arc shot straight up from the cloud, a glittering purple trail of shattered crystal following her. She turned to Jaeger.

"...I know, but we had to try. Ready?"

"Of course sir. It was a pleasure to serve you. May you find peace."

"You as well." Jaeger said proudly. Celestia was incoming now, incredibly quickly. The other four were inside with the Queen, and they knew what the cannon being fired meant. They would hide the Queen in time. She was sure of it.

Celestia crashed into the courtyard, landing purposefully on top of the cannon, sending it deep into the floor. Jaeger roared and tackled the sun-princess, but she didn't give from the blow, she merely swished her wing and a thundercloud formed around Jaeger. It lit up before dissipating, leaving a scorched jaeger standing, rearing his legs as if about to stampede.

Kalt growled and pulled out a throwing knife from the belt over her chest, taking to the air with a few wing beats. Celestia glanced in her direction and caught the blade with her magic as it descended. Letting it drop to the ground she grabbed Kalt herself and threw her to the ground, dazing her. Celestia marched forward into the throne room. Kalt was too dizzy from the blow to make much sense of it. She thought she saw Crow tossed out a window, and there were explosions inside. A few seconds later the two alicorns took off, racing each other, attacking each other, locked in a duel nopony else could possibly enter and survive.

She got up and went to Jaeger's side, picking him up and balancing him on her two wings. She blocked out the smell. She entered the throne room and had to force herself not to collapse for the sole sake of Jaeger on her back. It was utterly in shambles. The other three guards were dead. The throne was shattered, partially melting, partially mangled. The banners on the walls were on fire, there were fires starting on the carpet and craters in the walls and floor.

She, Crow, and Jaeger were the only ones left. And they were failures. She trotted down the stairs and placed Jaeger in a cot, hurrying back up for Crow. She flew straight up to the throne room, not looking at the damage or the bodies, and went back to the balcony and put Crow on her back as well. "Wake up Moon, you're tougher than that. She could have thrown you through the wall and you could just brush it off... right? Moon? Crow Moon?" She was panicking now. She might be the only survivor. She prayed that wasn't so. She wouldn't be able to handle the shame.

"The... moon..."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Yep... it's a full moon Crow, we'll be seeing plenty, now that it'll always be night!"

"...look at it.."

"Later, we need to get you to the doctors, you're bleeding all over my armor." She joked nervously. Her knees shook as she made for the stairway again.

"Look at it!" He grunted, spitting a little blood. She stopped and turned her head, gasping at the moon. One black spot appeared after another on what was once the pristine and unblemished surface of the disk.

When it was finished there was the head of a unicorn mare. The emblem of their queen. But she could tell. She could just tell. They had really failed. Their queen had lost. Their queen was on the moon.

"Thank goodness it's really full this time..." She murmured. "No black spots any more.." She sat watching it for the next hour, and by the time her shift ended it was almost out of view of the window. She watched Twilight breathe for a few seconds. They were being given a second chance with a new sovereign. She would not fail again. This time she would die before Twilight fell. She shook her head and went to wake up Sanguine for the next shift.

~~~~

Sanguine had a book she had picked up from the library in her right hoof, her wing pushing cards around on her left. She had been entertaining herself with playing solitaire the last night, and she had found that maybe it was time to try something new. The book had a collection of different card games, and she was delighted to find that the way decks were set up over the millenium hadn't changed, though the images were a little different.

There was one called beehive that she was trying out. She arranged the six cards next to her as the 'garden' and set down the 'hive' of ten more cards. She then began the process of matching them up. Prince with prince, Princess with Princess, Ace with ace, 2s with 2s, clubs with clubs. Once she had four of a kind she moved the pile to the side and started a new one with the remaining beehive cards. It went by fairly quickly, but it was fun to learn a new game. She spent the rest of her shift reading the book and rearranging the cards in new ways. She ended up staying longer than the normal hour, and with another quick check on Twilight, fluttered downstairs to wake up Den and put the book back. Saying hello to the owl as she passed.

~~~~

Den yawned as Sanguine nudged his stomach with her hoof, and he climbed out of the nook he was staying in. Sanguine wasted no time in taking his place, whispering the continued warning about the owl that passed from shift to shift. Den noticed it, and gave a nod before flying up the staircase to Twilight's room. He sat near the top, and leaned against the wall. Looking attentive. But that slowly eased into him sitting in the middle of the staircase, looking bored. His ears were always peaked to listen to the goings-on in the room, but he had nothing to do. Being a bodyguard was not what it was cracked up to be.

He had been a regular soldier before. All of them, except Jaeger and Kalt, actually, were once just soldiers who were picked to be part of her guard. However, Crow was the only one of the four 'rookies' who had actually served as a bodyguard for Nightmare Moon... short as that time was..

This was his first time being a bodyguard for a Princess, and though the first two nights had him extremely nervous and excited, the adventure of it all seemed to wear off. One false alarm was the most action he had seen since taking the job, and even then he had to stay inside with the Princess... and her dragon...

The word sent shivers down his back. Longma had always had a instinctual fear of dragons, but Den's was especially bad. Longma were supposedly part dragon, and several characteristics bled through. Pegasus's wings can't actually support a pony. It was the alicorn (substance, not species) in their bones that made magic go through them and let them carry themselves through the air. But Longma didn't have alicorn in their wings like a Pegasus, their alicorn was inside their body, like a Dragon's, and made it so their body was magically 'lighter' for their wings. It was that same substance that allowed dragons to grow and grow and still not collapse from their own weight.

Beside the magic, they had draconic eyes and wings, a hunger for gems, and the instinctual need to hoard. This of course meant that in the past they had to compete with dragons for food and treasure. Den understood that he didn't have a hoard, and that Spike was kind, and understanding for a dragon, and wasn't likely to kill him for just being there. But still. Now that the knowledge that Spike was a dragon was out there he couldn't get it out of his head. What would happen when Spike got even the slightest bit greedy? Would he destroy the town? Even hurt Twilight? Den shivered. It had occurred to him that he might have to fight a dragon when he was in the military, and when he first agreed to join the Princess's bodyguards, he had included the fact that he was unlikely to meet dragons in the positives section.

Spike grumbled something and Den's normally messy and lop-sided frills jerked back up in a solid mohawk at the prospect of danger. He forced himself to peek into the room, but Twilight was still in her place on the bed, and Spike was still in the basket, both of their breathing was regular and relaxed. He sighed and crawled back to the stairwell. No, this wasn't what he was planning at all. He had joined the military when he was a colt just like everypony else. But he always was planning on serving his eight years and then moving on to other things, maybe an archivist.

Somewhere along the way somepony had figured out he was a decent strategist, able to survive the most terrible battles with most of his team intact. He rose in rank further and further, for a brief time he was an 'ordinary' strategist. Faraway from the battle, planning things out, when the command found out that he was best at coming up with strategies on the go, while on the front lines.

He had to go through battle after unwanted battle, before Nightmare Moon discovered him and declared him a substitute bodyguard. It was faraway from the front lines, but his skill at figuring out situations would come in handy if he ever had to escape somewhere with the Queen.

Then of course She was banished for a thousand years. He just really didn't have much luck. He didn't want a military career. But he had pledged himself to help the Night Empire in the best way he could, and as much as he was afraid of combat and dragons, he was helping the best on the battlefield. Being a bodyguard would have been the perfect job. It was necessary, but there was much less action. He could even become an archivist on the side once he got back to Castle. His thoughts turned to books and owning a small shop, and he even managed to ignore the fact that sleeping beside his Princess was a legitimate fire-breathing monster.

~~~~

Crow was next, having been introduced to the owl he prompted it to a race around the library, he justified it with that while he was moving his senses were at their best, and he would be able to get to Twilight faster should the need arise. The owl however, did not see his logic and was content sitting by himself on his perch, watching amusedly as Crow quietly pleaded for it to race against him.

So, he ended up training, like all of his time spent to himself. Training his wings, his reflexes, whatever he thought needed work. Reflexes, speed. He thought sourly back on the morning when he was nearly outmaneuvered in midair by a pony without wings. Even if the pink one could see the future, if he could move faster than her muscles can dodge he would win their fight. If he can react to her changes as fast as she reacted to them ahead of time, or rather, faster, her foresight wouldn't be that much of an advantage. And so he spent his hour watch on the balcony, whenever he got the angle right he could spy Twilight asleep in her bed, and out here he wouldn't disturb anypony.

He tried to make it a rule that he would touch the ground as little as possible. He would keep his wings flapping as long as possible, while moving about as much as possible. He tried to kick and swipe faster and faster, dashing from one end of the balcony to the next as fast as possible. He would change his workout every night, but he kept one thing the same. By the end of it, he was exhausted enough that he could go to sleep instantly, but strong enough and hot-blooded enough that if he had to take on a hydra as soon as he was done, he'd at least be able to carve it into a stump before he collapsed.

By the end of the shift he noted happily that there was no hydra. He worked his way down to the main library and fluttered up to Jaeger.

"Hey there Sir, it's your turn."

"Good." Jaeger said, getting up soundlessly from the chair and cracking his neck from side to side.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot, Twilight has a pet owl, it's over there on the perch."

Jaeger noted the bird and nodded. "Get a good rest Crow, I'll handle the rest of the night."

"Really? The Princess'll probably sleep for a long time..."

"I'll be fine. Go to sleep."

Crow nodded and reclined into the chair, softly snoring almost immediately.

Jaeger gave a warm smile down at the Longma before marching quietly up the stairway. He sat under the stairwell and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the house, his wings outstretched and twitching, ready to send him wherever he wanted should the need arise.

The sounds of breathing in the house came to his ears, comforting him. He worried a little about Crescent, as she could stop breathing and he wouldn't be able to hear a difference. But he accepted that it was unlikely to happen. The moon finally went under the horizon, dawn coming, the sun climbing slowly up. Jaeger frowned slightly at the orb. A year, no... a thousand years ago, he had seen a similar sunrise and decided he would be perfectly okay if that was the last one he ever saw. He peeked into the room and looked up at second floor of the room where Twilight's bed was. The lavender alicorn's face scrunched slightly as the sunlight from the open window flowed over her, but it slowly melted into a content smile.

He supposed he could stand a few more sunrises.

Author's Note

Want to know something funny I just realized? The name Longma comes from chinese mythology (dragon horse (which is the same thing Draconequus means too)) but two of them have german words as names. While all the Shadhavar have spanish words as names while their race is from Persian folklore. It's ironic, you'd think that Jaeger's name would be Lieren or something. (Google tells me they mean the same thing, and I trust it.)
Here's the address of where I found the game 'beehives': http://cardgameheaven.com/single-player-games/beehive.html

10. Awkward breakfast

Oscuridad rose from the block of amethyst with a disgruntled groan. He would have to request a mattress from the Princess. Sooner rather than later, he preferred. His eyes squinted as he walked into the hall, the sunlight passing over him. The sudden light made him feel sleepy again. But he was in solar country, and his Princess was accustomed to sleeping at night, waking in the day.

He went back inside and picked up his armor, a metal face cover that slid over his horn and slid through his mane, his neck guard, his boots, his purple cape.

"Alright... I think I'm ready." He said to the mirror. As he looked away it changed back into featureless Amethyst.

~~~~

Twilight woke up slowly, her wings unfolding instinctually and lifting her somewhat out of bed. She stretched but found that that was exactly the wrong thing to do, her wings pushing her off the side and into the floor next to her bed with a crash. Six rumblings and soon there were six Longma standing near her, helping her back into bed. "I'm fine! I'm fine, I just fell... sheesh..." then her thoughts turned to the obvious question. "Wait... were you all up here, watching me sleep again?!"

"No. Just me." Jaeger said. "And since we're not in Canterlot anymore, and you don't have a door for me to stay behind, I figured that I would just stay in the stairwell or sit down here." He gestured to the floor below Twilight's bed/cliff.

"Well..." Twilight wondered at where a good distance would be. She felt kind of creepy, knowing they could see her when she slept. "Maybe the stairwell is a good border... now that I have guests here everyday... I should probably put a door in..." it occurred to her. The idea that she should start making changes to her house to accommodate the Longma haunted her the entire morning. When Spike made her breakfast, as per usual, she noticed that the Longma all said they weren't hungry. She realized the only time she actually saw them eat was at the party. Spike of course had his own collection of gems, and generously offered peppering their meals with them, a sentiment Twilight rewarded with a hug, but even then the Longma respectfully declined. When were they eating? Were they eating? Where were they sleeping? She had noticed a few of them fluttering around the room, subtly fixing books back in the nooks higher up on the walls. Were they sleeping on the library books? Were they even sleeping?

She could barely eat her breakfast. She realized none of them had beds. None of them had changes of clothing, none of them have asked to take a shower. She realized it had only been a few days, but still. Even just a few days without any kind of physical care would have a big effect on them.

"Are all of you really not hungry?"

"We would never impose on your hospitality, Princess."

"Then if you like the food, I order you to eat it. Spike, please fix them all breakfast, and prepare something for Captain Oscuridad in case he comes as well..."

The Longma looked at each other nervously before sitting down at the table, each quietly thanking Spike when he brought them their pancakes covered with tiny crystal shards mixed in with the syrup. They ate quietly and quickly, Twilight had barely finished a fourth of hers before they were all finished. Spike ate along with them, forking his food awkwardly in the silence.

"Well..." Twilight began. "I was thinking maybe we could try to get to know each other... I'll start." She put a hoof to her chest and smiled. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, my special talent is magic, and.. well, I was formerly a librarian, and now I'm a Princess. I like reading, keeping organized, and most importantly spending time with my friends, I dislike... unexpected things, and when there's disorder." She motioned for Spike to continue.

"What? Me too?" the dragon shrugged. "Alright, I'm Spike, I'm a dragon. I don't really have a special talent like a pony, but I'm Twilight's number one assistant! I like gems and Rari-....and I dislike bullies.."

The six Longma looked at each other nervously. Finally Jaeger began to speak. "Princess, as your guards you don't have to be familiar with us. You don't have to let us eat at your table or even sleep in your house."

Twilight smiled and shook her head. "How am I supposed to trust you with my life if I don't know anything about you?"

Jaeger blinked a few times before clearing his throat. "Alright, if you wish to know. My name is Jaeger, it means hunter in Dülmen. I've been a regal bodyguard since I was sixteen. I've been doing my job for twenty four years. My special talent is protecting ponies. I'd show my mark, but it... well, it's not visible any more. It was a black shield with a crescent moon over it... I like doing my job and drinking, I dislike sunrises."

Twilight blinked. That was something odd. Kalt smiled at their leader and decided to go next. "My name is Kalt, it's Dülmen as well, meaning 'cold'. I'm thirty-six, I've been a regal guard for sixteen years. Before then I was an escort. My special talent is sniping. I like sleeping and looking at the moon, I dislike heavy weather."

"Sniping?" Twilight asked.

Kalt smiled. "Shooting accurately over a long distance, with cannons, crossbows, throwing spears, and even slingshots. I managed to sink a moving pegasus from two miles away with a crossbow once." she showed her mark, a crosshair and a target, halfway over each other.

Jaeger rolled his eyes "You're awfully proud of that shot. I'd think you'd be more proud of when you hit Princess Celestia with a cannon from three miles."

Kalt's smile disappeared. "She didn't sink."

Twilight looked back and forth nervously between the two. Sanguine was next. "My name is Sanguine, it means red, because of my reddish coat. I was an escort before I joined the military two years ago. This is my first time being a regal guard. My special talent is..." She sighed. "...playing games." She showed her cutie mark, Twilight wasn't really sure what it was. It was a grid, two tall eight wide, and surrounding it were either black or white bars. "I like gambling and drinking, I dislike idiots."

Crow gave a short laugh and ducked as Sanguine glared at him. "My name's Crow Moon. Originally just Crow. My special talent is fighting." His mark was two swords crossing over a full moon on a purple splotch. "I like fighting and racing, I dislike showponies and Wonderbolts. I was a Regal Guard for two months before now, and only a soldier two years before that. I'm Eighteen years old." He said in a quick breath.

Twilight frowned. What do you and Jaeger mean when you started when you were sixteen?"

"That's when everypony can first join the military." Den said. "Could I go next?"

"Sure..."

"I'm Den. I'm twenty-three years old. I've been a soldier for four years. This is my first time being a Regal Guard. My special talent is learning. And I know how silly that sounds, I just have a way of understanding situations from little clues. I was actually switched from being a strategist to a Regal Guard because I'm only good at realizing what the other guy's strategy is while he's doing it. I like reading, I dislike dra....umming. I can't stand the sound of drumming." He glanced at Spike, the dragon didn't look any different, so he must have not guessed. He let out a silent sigh of relief. His mark was simply a scroll with a feather behind it.

"Hm." Twilight nodded. "But this just leads to a few new questions... what's an escort? Why do you start in the military when you're so young?"

Sanguine smirked. "An escort is a popular job for young mares with strange coats."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Sanguine gestured to herself and Kalt. "You may have noticed, but us Longma don't come in all the shades of the rainbow like you solar ponies, er..." She stopped, not meaning the insult, but Twilight didn't seem to notice. "...I guess it's kind of symbolic... light can be a variety of colors, but dark is always just dark. It just depends on the shade. My red coat and Kalt's white made us good candidates because we stand out."

"Candidates for what?"

"For being escorts. An escort's job is pretty simple actually, wealthy single stallions pay us to come to parties and other gatherings with them." Twilight gaped. Sanguine frowned, but continued anyway. "It's kind of an honorary job, it's considered embarrassing when a stallion goes to a party by himself, so they'll hire an escort to stand with them during the party. It's a sought after job. It pays well, it's honorable, and it's easy. It helps that I had a red coat."

"Uh... well... that's an.. interesting job." Twilight began. "What about joining the military at sixteen thing?"

Den decided to elaborate this one. "Most Longma are required to spend eight years in the military, sixteen is the earliest age we're able to be accepted in, but we can join whenever we want." Den sighed inwardly. Leaving was the difficult part.

Twilight frowned. "Why would they have to? What Longma don't have to?"

"Mostly farmers. That and joining certain guilds can get you out of having to do military time." Den gave grim smile. "The solar ponies had a similar system back then, but they changed it when we declared war. Suddenly every healthy solar stallion in mainland Equestria was marching North."

Twilight frowned. Most of their lives revolved around military. She didn't have much in common with any of them, she didn't know anything about their culture... and somehow, it made her more curious than put off.

There was a knocking at the door and Den quickly got up. "I'll get it Princess." He cast a split-second glance back at Spike before moving even faster back to the front door. He opened it and found Oscuridad. "Hello Captain." He saluted. "The Princess was serving us breakfast. It would be impolite to refuse, correct?"

Oscuridad nodded. "It would not befit a Shadhavar to insult somepony's hospitality."

Oscuridad and Den sat at the table and Oscuridad gave a long declaration of thanks before digging in. The others had finished a few minutes ago, and waited patiently for the Shadhavar to finish. "So, Captain. Princess Twilight was asking a little about our personal lives..."

Oscuridad frowned. "Oh?"

Twilight nodded. "I was hoping you could tell me a little about yourself as well.. like your special talent, what your likes and dislikes are... that sort of stuff."

Oscuridad nodded. "If m'lady wishes to know." He shifted slightly. "I was born in the heart of the Castle, like most Shadhavar, both of my parents were relatively wealthy, so I worked as an apprentice merchant in my father's store when I joined the military. They saw my talent and I rose to the rank of Vice-Captain. I fought my Captain in a duel and became the Captain of the Royal Guard. I like fighting and building, I dislike annoying things. My special talent is dark magic." An eight-pointed star, a purple-blue four-pointed star with four more black points coming from behind it.

Twilight smiled. There was a lot to learn about the Night Empire.

Author's Note

The Dülmen is the only living native pony species in Germany, so Equestria's version of Germany is called Dülmen in this story. Also:
I kind of feel that this chapter was awkward, but I think it was necessary. The next will be much better.

Nightmare Night Special

This is an extra chapter, and will be shorter than most (I'll be trying to write this in less than two hours)will be the longest chapter so far and was written over the course of the entire night, it's also not in the right chronological spot, and by the time I get to the real Nightmare Night episode their personalities might be different, so the canonicity of this chapter will be in doubt until such time.
As is, it's Halloween tonight, and I'm not about to pass up the chance to have Empress Twilight celebrate the equivalent holiday on the same night!
So here you guys go!
starting writing in 1...
2...
3...
Go!

"This is going to be spectacular!" Oscuridad shouted proudly, directing the professional decorators. Wrapping around the Tower were blue and silver bands, decorated with symbols, hanging majestically above the main opening was the gigantic stylized symbol of Nightmare Moon and the Night Empire; the Black Queen''s head rising from a black crescent moon, with an all-seeing eye. "Princess, don't you agree? Isn't it amazing?"

"Yeah, sure, a little to the left." Twilight said distractedly, her head whizzing from the dozens of floating cue cards.

"YOU HEARD HER PEONS, TO THE LEFT!" Oscuridad roared.

"Huh, what?!" Twilight asked, forcefully pulled from her mind-dissolving study session.

"Apologies Princess, I was merely carrying out your ord-"

"Oh! It's absolutely beautiful! Really in the Nightmare Night spirit!"

Oscuridad thought the compliment cancelled out whatever disrespect had occurred with the interruption. Not that he minded of course, if his Empress thought best to interrupt him, who was he to argue? "Yes, I think so too." Twilight frowned a little afterward. "What, what is it Princess?"

"I still feel a little awkward going through with all the expenses..."

"Nonsense Twilight." The shadhavar and the alicorn turned to see Princess Celestia walking forward. "It's my pleasure."

Oscuridad stiffened slightly at the sight of the sun princess but remained quiet. As per usual six Longma were suddenly at Twilight's side, and six glares were aimed at Celestia. The white alicorn didn't seem to notice the ill intent in the looks and merely returned a friendly smile to the six. "Thanks again for paying for the decorations... and well, mostly everything else."

"This is an Equestrian national holiday, and the National Celebration is taking place in Ponyville this year, I'm completely justified if I want to offer decorations and free candy to the entire town."

Twilight giggled. "Yes, I think you earned Pinkie's undying loyalty with that one."

Crow suppressed a shiver at the thought of someone as fast as Pinkie as a royal guard. Celestia and Twilight chatted for another few minutes before the sun princess moved on to oversee other projects. Twilight turned back to her notes soon after, and Oscuridad went back to overseeing the decorating of the Tower.

"Sir, if I may, I'd like permission for temporary leave, so that I could go and observe the Solar Nightmare Night." Den asked Jaeger. "I've never really seen much of it, and I want to see what's different."

"Denied." Jaeger replied simply. "This is an official government function, by Night Law no less than six Guards are to remain in view of the Princess."

Twilight glanced up, "Sure, you guys all go and have a blast."

Jaeger frowned even deeper. "Princess, please, this is an important cultural event. You require a guard."

"Alright... which of you cares the least about the holiday?"

Crescent immediately stepped forward. Jaeger narrowed his eyes at her "You don't like our most important festival?"

Crescent seemed as emotionless as always. "Not particularly, I just never really celebrated. I can appreciate the official function of a festival, but as a celebration I just never understood the point. Nightmare raises the Moon every night, why should we celebrate this one night in particular?"

"It's symbolic." Jaeger protested. "It's meant to honor Nightmare Moon for an entire year of service!"

Crescent stiffened slightly. "Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Yes."

"Then for a thousand years Nightmare Night has been honoring Celestia?" Jaeger seemed dumbstruck for a few seconds. "I for one never really celebrated except for taking the free night off. But the rest of you probably want to see what kind of Nightmare Night was made by Solar ponies."

Twilight had put down the cards once again, "The festival still kind of celebrates Nightmare Moon, or at least, the memory of her." The six turned back to their Princess. "I recommend that you all check it out, for the sake of... cultural understandings? A lot of my friends really enjoy the celebration, and even Princess Luna had a lot of fun last year... according to her, 'fun' didn't exist a thousand years ago." Twilight smiled. "I've been wondering about that, what do you all do for fun?"

"Read, write, research geography, etc." Den began.

"When I was younger I'd go out to dance often." Kalt offered.

"Board games." Sanguine said with a grin.

"I always enjoy a good brawl." Crow said innocently.

"Pony watching." Crescent said emotionlessly.

Jaeger rolled his eyes. "Having 'fun' means you're wasting time with something unnecessary for selfish reasons. Fun is for foals who don't have work to do." The other five guards took a step back from their leader hesitantly.

"Well, now you all don't have anything to do, so why not check out the festival? Me and Crescent will be absolutely fine. Ponyville is the safest place in the world."

"Except for the horde of monsters only a few kilometers away." Crow threw in happily. "Not that I'm disagreeing with you Princess, with your skill and us at your side, you're always in the safest place in the world!" Crow said, catching himself before he openly opposed the Princess.

"Horde of Monsters?!" Twilight hissed, looking around wildly.

"The Everfree Forest." Sanguine clarified.

"Oh!" Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, you had me scared for a second that the Festival might get it's schedule changed."

The six looked at her for a few seconds.

"-And that the town would be in danger of course... heh... heh."

"Well, thank you for the leave, Princess." Den said before fluttering away.

Crow nodded his agreement, a mischievous look on his face. "I think I remember Rainbow Dash saying something about a Nightmare Night Pranking Crusade..."

"Did somepony say Crusaders?!" Three cries came from a nearby bush.

"Oh dear Moon not again." Crow said below his breath before taking off as fast as he could, three fillies in costume chasing after him.

"Well, I'm off to try out the party games." Sanguine said happily. "Kalt, Jaeger, you want to come with me?"

"I'm staying by the Princess's side." Jaeger said stubbornly.

"Sure." Kalt replied, the two mares walking off toward the party games, for once their colors and monstrous appearance perfectly fitting to walking the Ponyville streets.

Twilight looked at Jaeger and sighed. "Jaeger..." she began.

Jaeger waited for Twilight to continue, but she just looked at him for a little while, thinking. "You know... Spike might need a bodyguard while he goes candy-gathering."

Jaeger almost sighed at the indignity of being downgraded from imperial bodyguard to his Empress to babysitting a baby dragon, but he was too professional for that. "...understood, Princess."

"I'm serious you know, what would your comrades in the Night Empire say when they found out 'Nightmare Twilight Sparkle's' 'fierce Dragon familiar' disappeared during her own festival?"

Jaeger merely nodded and went off to chaperone Spike.

"Well, I hope they all have fun... Crescent, you sure you don't want to go either?" the mare shook her head no.

"Well... alright then." For some reason she seemed incredibly content just standing there watching the ponies pass by. "Well...now to go over my speech..." Crescent watched as Twilight once again buried herself in her note cards. She smiled a little, content with just sitting next to Twilight and watching the smiling faces pass along.

"So! It's real simple." Rainbow began, smiling evilly in her Night guard costume. Crow looked it over when he first met up with Rainbow. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted she had decided to go with a costume meant to look like the outfit he wore every day. "First, we sneak up as quietly as possible by good targets, and then we just give the cloud a short buck, and BOOM, we scare the pants off em'."

"One problem."

"Shoot."

"I can't make thunder."

"....what?"

"I'm not a pegasus, I can't just flutter over to a cloud and give it a kick and expect the laws of nature to follow my whim."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope." Crow smiled. "No pegasus magic here. Just Longma."

"Well... what can Longma do?"

Crow gave a smile, "Thought you'd never ask."

Sanguine and Kalt walked through the main square, looking over the different games. Sanguine's smile grew wider and wider. "So... how much of your paycheck do you have on you?" Kalt asked hesitantly.

"All of it."

Kalt giggled a little. "Well, I suppose we're in for a show, where should we start?"

Sanguine looked over the square for a few seconds. "There seems like a good place to start." The two mares walk over to a spider throwing game and Kalt taps the shoulder of a large stallion.

"Eh, whadduya want-" he stops when he sees the mares. "Oh! Hello there misses... nice costumes, you vampires?"

Kalt gives a flirty smile. "Something like that. Is this a fun game?"

"Eh? This thing? Sure, I'm pretty good at it."

"Could you show me?" Sanguine asks suggestively.

"Sure, it's easy, you just put a spider in your hoof and toss it over to the web, if it sticks, you win points. The closer to the middle the better." He demonstrated, and through an act of pure luck he managed to get the spider in the middle.

"Want to make a bet?" Sanguine asked. "I'll bet fifty bits that I can get it in the center on my first try."

The stallion frowned. "Hey now. I don't have fifty bits on me."

"Alright..." Sanguine said frowning. "Fifteen then?"

The stallion narrowed his eyes. "I dunno... you seem like you could have a good hoof."

Kalt walked a circle around him. "How about if she doesn't get it we'll give you twenty bits and we'll both allow you to accompany us for the rest of the festival?"

The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Alright... I think I can-" Sanguine picked a spider up out of the barrel and tossed it, knocking the stallion's spider out of it's spot and taking it's place.

Sanguine grinned. "Let me guess, beginner's luck?"

The stallion grinned good naturedly. "How'd you know?"

"I'm willing to go for two out of three." Sanguine said happily. "If we're betting another ten bits."

"This is humiliating." Jaeger hissed.

"This house next!" one of the foals in the group shouted, leading the charge. The monstrous warrior following behind grumbling.

Spike was near the front of the crowd, but at the very back, near Jaeger was one foal who seemed depressed for some reason. "Hey... uh... child."

"Hm?"

"What's wrong? Are you not getting the right... candy?"

"Huh, no, the candy's fine... I'm just..."

"..."

"Well... last year princess Luna was here, and she scared us and played games with us and made it my most fun Nightmare Night ever!...but she's not here this year."

"...oh."

"You probably don't believe me, do you. After that none of the other kids at school thought I was friends with Princess Luna either..."

"No. I can believe it... I... I'm friends with Luna too. And I'm sure that she's doing something very important to miss her festival."

"Yeah, I know."

"Good."

"She's my favorite Princess you know... well, I haven't met any other Princesses... actually, no, Twilight's a princess now too! So I've met two princesses!"

"Hm. But you're an earth pony, don't you like the sun?"

"Well sure, what does that have to do with it?"

"Celestia's the Princess of the sun, Luna the moon, her Majesty Twilight the night... etc."

Pipsqueak raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"...I suppose... not much... anymore."

"Hey Mister, are you okay?"

"I'm fine kid." Jaeger said too quickly. He hadn't really talked about this with a solar pony before. Actually, he supposed he never talked to anypony about it before.

"...do you need some candy?"

"..."

"..."

"...yes."

Den walked through the streets, finding himself following the flow to the main square, and from there to a shrine in the woods, where a zebra named Zecora would regale the townsfolk with the tale of Nightmare Moon. He smiled and pulled out his notes as the zebra began.

He could think of several friends who are fascinated in the changes that occurred over the thousand years they were gone. The Nightmare Night Festival story, a long and honored tradition going back before Nightmare Moon called herself Nightmare Moon, was usually a classic story telling of the great deeds of Princess Luna, and her never-failed duty to always raise the Moon every night so that the world would never permanently fall to darkness. Even on the darkest, longest night of the year, or when the Moon is barely visible, Luna would always make sure it would rise again, a little fuller or a little less, but there would always be light during the night.

It was told by parents to children, brothers to brothers, seniors to juniors. It was always a tale that would justify their eternal loyalty, inspire foals to be strong and determined, and leave them in awe of their Princess.

It was not this short nursery rhyme about a demonic figure.

He wrote it down all the same, but he was furious afterwards. This was unprecedented. There was a flimsy magical special effect that made the foals scream, and even some of the adults. Ponies wearing disguises to avoid getting caught, offering candy... he was actually physically sick with anger when they accused their ruler of cannibalism. Cannibalism! It was only the scholar inside him that kept him from screaming at Zecora and the townsfolk. At least until she finished her story. But by the end of it the foals had dumped their candy and started running off, screaming. When the adults had left, it was just Den and Zecora.

"Excuse me, Miss Zecora."

"Yes, my pony friend? You seem troubled, and I have an ear to lend."

"...do you do that rhyming thing all the time?"

"Yes, isn't it the best?"

"..."

Zecora sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll stop. For now. What's wrong? I haven't seen you around town."

"That story of yours..."

"Yes?"

"It disgusts me."

Zecora smiled, "Well, it is the season to scare and disgust."

"No... no it isn't. This is the season to celebrate before the cold comes. This is the season to spend inside with your family and tell each other of the beauty, honor, and great sacrifices of Nightmare Moon."

Zecora raised an eyebrow. "Well... I've never heard that before."

"Do you honestly believe any of that story?"

"Of course not, Princess Luna is a good mare, despite her past wrongdoings."

"Past wrongdoings?!"

Zecora frowned. "Of course, or does throwing the world into eternal darkness one of her great sacrifices?"

"No, it was her just revenge... and it was eternal night, not eternal darkness. Big difference."

"And what difference is that?"

"The Moon. The stars."

Zecora stared at him for a while before smiling. "I think this will be an interesting talk, come, let's go somewhere we can sit and think."

Den raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"You're a type of pony I've never met before. A view far different that mine. Of course it will be interesting." She began walking back toward town. "You can tell me the Legend of Nightmare Moon."

Den felt the anger slowly ebb away. "Alright, will you tell it at the shrine afterwards?"

"Maybe, if I can find the right effects."

Twilight let out a sigh of relief after she sank back into her seat. The speech had gone flawlessly, and Celestia took over with her proper spot as well. She knew that as a Princess she would have to get more used to speaking publicly without all the extra stress, but old habits died hard. But that was over with, everything she needed to do was done, and now she could just go and enjoy Nightmare Night.

She was about to get out of the chair when a sudden explosion knocked her out of it. Crescent was suddenly there, shielding Twilight's body with her wings and scanning the area for the source of the explosion.

"Woo hoo!" Rainbow cried happily, followed by the maniacal laughter of Crow. Crescent let out a small silent sigh before turning back to the Princess.

"What was that?!" Twilight gasped out.

"Pranking masters, that's what!" Rainbow bragged proudly, "You never told me about your Longma's nifty smoke bomb tricks!"

"Smoke bomb?"

"You know, we breath smoke. Dragon magic."

"Dragon magic?"

Crow nodded. "You... didn't know?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Noo..."

"We eat gems, we have bat wings and frills, and when I fly smoke trails behind me, does Pegasus magic do that?"

"Okay, it's no firebreath, but it's still pretty cool! He can make these, like, huge bursts of smoke that spread out really fast!" Rainbow Dash explained too fastly. "I tell you, when lightning comes out of nowhere it scares the hay out of ponies, but when lightning scares the hay out of them, and then they're suddenly in a field of darkness, it's a hundred times scarier!!" She giggled madly.

"'oh, I'm blind, I'm blind, how will I ever see my beloved sun ever again?'" Crow mocked, laughing in his normal maniacal way afterwards.

Twilight frowned. "Guys, that's really, really mean. I hope you two are ashamed of yourselves." She immediately regretted it as Crow sunk to the ground and put his head to the road, not looking up at her. "~sigh~... get up Crow, just... be careful okay? And don't do pranks so severe they knock ponies out of chairs!"

"Yes Ma'am, a thousand apologies Empress!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Thanks Twi, you broke my pranking partner."

"What about Pinkie?"

"Eh, she's always busy around this time of year, what with all the parties going on, and then the free candy being thrown around everywhere."

"Speaking of Pinkie Pie," Twilight began, walking over to where the group of candy-gatherers were returning. "hey Spike, Pinkie, Jaeger, how were your profits tonight?"

"I think I'm going to be sick." Spike reported proudly.

"Successful then," Twilight said. She turned to her chief bodyguard. "Thanks for watching them, I hope it wasn't too humiliating for you."

"NotatallprincessIneverhadsolarcandybeforeit'sreallysweetlikereallyreallysweethowmuchsugarcanyoufitintosuchasmallboxanyway?!"

Twilight blinked twice before Crow let out a simple; "...what?"

"Thesweetsthesweetsthey'rewaysweeterthanhomeI'veneverhadthismuchsugarinonenightthisisrediculousIcan'tstop!" Jaeger blurted out before closing his mouth again.

"Are you... in a sugar rush?" Twilight asked incredulously.

Crow raised an eyebrow and picked a piece of candy out of the bottom of Spike's bucket and tossed it in his mouth. His eyes widened and he spit it out. "That.... that's way too sweet..."

Sanguine and Kalt came up next. "What's too sweet?" Kalt asked.

"All my brand new sweet cash perhaps?" Sanguine said proudly, pulling out the purse that was three times as full as when she started.

"Jaeger's having a sugar rush." Twilight explained.

"...What?" Both mares said at the same time.

"Jaeger, go ahead, tell them."

"OfcoursePrincessTwilightSparkleIwillimmediatlythecandyiswaytoosweetnothinglikeintheNightEmpirethisisinsanehowmanydidIeveneat?!"

Pipsqueak smiled a little. "He ate half my bucket in two minutes after the first piece, but then the others decided to pitch in and help, because he explained that he was a Knight of Nightmare Moon! So he needed candy too! So we just gave him the candy we were going to leave at the shrine anyway."

"...that's more than seven pounds of candy..." Twilight said, already having run through the calculations.

All the ponies present took a few good steps away from Jaeger.

"Whathwhat'swrong?Iorderyoutotellmewhat'sgoingonwhyisn'tanyponydoinganythingohdearmoonmybrain..."

"Come on... I think we need to get you into bed at best and get you to the hospital at worst..."

Den and Zecora spent a pleasant evening together learning about each other's cultures, leaving the coffee shop (which had stayed open late for Nightmare Night), and when he left he had a smile on his face, a jump in his step, and saddlebags filled with notes on Solar Pony and Zebra culture.

He strolled down to the Tower and was about to push the door open when the Song of the Moon began to play in his face. Oscuridad then appeared, dressed in full Vampire costume, holding out a bowl of candy.

"An offering for Nightmare Moon, should you resist your greed foal-" the Captain stopped when he realized who he was talking to. "-oh, hello Den. You're the last to arrive."

Den stared at his Captain for a few seconds. "Sir... permission to speak freely."

"Is it about the cape?"

"Partly..."

"...fine."

"Have you been sitting outside the door all night waiting to blast our culture's holiday song in foal's faces before threatening them into taking your candy?"

"...I'm just getting into the spirit of the event... Princess Luna put her full support in the Solar version of the Holiday, why should I do any less on Solar soil?"

"...Okay." Den walked inside to see a sympathetic looking Kalt sitting next to Jaeger,whose face was green and half in a bucket, Sanguine was playing some sort of chance/tower building game with a large amount of bits, Crow and Rainbow Dash seemed to be having a loud and confused conversation about the difference between clouds and smoke, and neither seemed to be winning, while Twilight and Spike seemed to have passed out in a pile of pillows. And, strangest of all, Crescent was sitting in the center of it all with a smile on her face. "...must have been some night." Den said with finality.

11. In which Oscuridad justifies Dastardliness

Twilight loaded up her bag and watched as the six Longma line up outside the door. "I don't need all of you to go with me..." Twilight said. She didn't feel like she ever needed a bodyguard, especially not in Ponyville, and especially now that she was immortal.

"It is our Honor, Princess, and our Duty, to protect you so that you can go about your business unhaltered." Jaeger announced.

Twilight rolled her eyes and levitated her black raincoat over. Tying it close and checking that her saddlebags were closed shut. "It's not that important."

"It's official business of the Night Empire."

"No... it's my business."

"Not to contradict you Princess, but the library's business is your business, which makes it Empire Business."

Twilight sighed. "Fine, do you all have raincoats ready?" All six of her guards produced black rain coats of their own and nodded to their Princess that they were ready to proceed. Twilight chuckled at their dead-serious expressions. "Well, here we go."

She led the way out of the library, waiting for the rain to start falling, but she noticed once again the strange transparency the Castle had. It was like rain on a window, but the water flowed down the massive tower like millions of veins, giving a solid outline, and letting her see how massive the tower was from the inside for the first time. She stared upward for a few seconds before walking the short distance to the Tower's massive doors, opening them with her magic before ducking as Crescent and Crow flew out into the storm, surveying the area before landing again, their natural instincts telling them not to fly in this kind of weather.

The seven walked down the empty streets, the Longma keeping watch on each window and door they passed, all closed to the weather. "Not very busy today." Jaeger said quietly.

"It's a day off for most ponies, this storm's been planned for a few weeks, and I'm just happy that it wasn't suddenly rescheduled to the day before at the last minute. The weather team's rather notorious for surprise storms here."

Crow sighed. "Don't tell Oscuridad that, he'll try to get his hooves all over the weather too."

Jaeger gave him the required warning glare that came with insulting a superior, but he didn't put much malice into it. It was their second week here in Ponyville, and surprisingly, Oscuridad seemed to be accepting it the most, well, behind Crescent, but nothing seemed to ever surprise her or make her uncomfortable. Their Captain had taken to spending most time at the town hall, taking control immediately and made 'suggestions' on how laws should be made and edited in order to deal with the fact that the Princess of the Night Empire, and her Tower, was now sitting in the middle of Ponyville.

Twilight had already spoken with him about it several times, and Oscuridad continuously replied that he was only trying to make the process of hosting a Princess as smooth as possible for the Ponyville government.

Twilight accepted the excuse, but 'suggested' that Oscuridad find other things to do and be careful not to make any changes too severe. After a pony got temporarily arrested for laughing when Twilight slipped on a rolling pin she had to give Oscuridad a long lecture and started spending her free time going over the law changes Oscuridad had made and deciding which ones she needed to have removed.

She was beginning to suspect that the Shadhavar had only started doing this so that Twilight would study law.

But now was not the time to think about such things, she had her federal duty to do, this dark and stormy day.

The door bell rang once, and then again. "Who'd be at the door today?" Derpy asked herself as she walked up to the door. She opened it, and lightning flashed, revealing the silhouettes of an alicorn in a black hood, flanked on both sides by demonic ponies. Derpy slammed the door shut again before they even herd the thunder. She galloped into the dining room and dragged the table to the door as fast as possible, building a barricade out of her entryway.

"You're not coming for us Grim Reaper!!" Derpy shouted, placing a bucket over her head and readying her rolling pin.

"What?!" Came the sound of the reaper. It sounded suspiciously like Twilight.

"Begone!" Derpy called, tossing the rolling pin at the door.

"Hey- no, don't you dare! Jaeger, you are not- Cro- Everypony stop!"

"But she's obviously attacking-"

"I don't want to hear it! Ugh... It's me Twilight. Dinky has a book overdue at the library, I've come to stamp it!"

Somehow Derpy managed to clear away the barricade in a matter of seconds, smiling warmly at the alicorn holding back four Longma. "Oh! Well in that case, come on in! Dinky, miss Twilight's here from the library!" Derpy called upstairs.

"Shoot! I forgot!" came the unicorn filly's reply.

Twilight frowned as she came back to the door, holding the book. Dinky had simply forgotten to return it.

It was lucky that Dinky had returned the book after all. Twilight sighed as she looked back at the small sign a distance from her house, just barely inside the Tower, that said 'Golden Oak Public Library'. Tomorrow, it would be Twilight's personal library.

As an archivist, a mage, and a dedicated student, Twilight had a deep love for knowledge.

It was true that few ponies actually went to the library since she moved in, beside her and her friends, and occasionally some students when they had to do the rare research assignment. It wouldn't really be that bad of a loss for the town, especially since Celestia already agreed to personally fund the building of a new library across town. But she couldn't help feeling selfish over it anyway. She never had a problem living on government property before, but then again, she had grown up in Celestia's castle.

"Princess, is there something the matter?" Oscuridad asked, stepping down the stairway on the wall.

"...ownership of the library is transferring to me tomorrow."

Oscuridad nodded. "That's good. I'm glad to know that you're following my advice, despite my... rudeness, when I first gave you it."

Twilight sighed again. "Maybe it's just the rain, but I feel really down today."

Oscuridad gave a small smile. "Is that so? Anything I could do to help, Princess?"

"No, I'll be fine... I think I'm just going to read for a little while." She nodded to Crescent, who followed Twilight into the library.

The other six stood outside, in the center of the Tower, as they all listened to the sounds of hoofsteps walking up the tree to Twilight's room. Content that their Princess was occupied, Oscuridad turned to face the five Longma. "Report."

"A minor incident occurred where the townspony Derpy Hooves panicked at the sight of the Princess and closed the door on us. But it was clearly made out to be a misunderstanding, the Pegasus was shocked at the Princess's and our silhouette when it was lit up by a thunder bolt. She apologized afterward, we were returned the book, for a research project involving marine life, and returned without further incident."

Oscuridad nodded. "Well, that's disapointing. We had clear evidence to the-"

"Captain, Sir."

"...what is it, Jaeger?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Yes?"

"This collection of 'insults' you're building. What purpose is it supposed to serve?"

Oscuridad frowned deeply. "Jaeger, you're only her bodyguard, you're also my subordinate. Your first duty is to protect her, your second to follow her, and your third to follow me." He leaned in closer, his mane rising and billowing like smoke, the whites of his eyes turning a shade of green. "My work will benefit the Princess in the long run. And you will not question me, simply follow my orders." his breath became visible as the air slowly got colder and colder around the Shadhavar.

"Sir."

"What is it, Jaeger?!" he hissed. "Are you still wishing to question the Captain of the Royal Guard?".

"I believe we should speak to this about the Princess. You've had us spying on every pony in this town, and the closest thing I've heard to treason or threat is them occasionally talking about how the Princess seemed 'creepy' and used to be rather 'kooky'." Jaeger said emotionlessly. "The only threats or mistrust of the Night Empire or us, is that we're 'mysterious' and 'spooky'. Which is completely justified, given the context..."

The Shadhavar narrowed his eyes.

"...So, considering we've spent over two weeks here, and the most tribulation we've had is some fear and grumbling, I think the spying is no longer necessary. And frankly, us quoting anything resembling an insult to the Princess is beginning to get tiring and eerie. I don't understand what possible reason there could be for this, or why we're hiding it from Princess Twilight. You say it'll benefit her later on... but there's nothing I see to this that would do more than depress her and undermine her."

Oscuridad seemed to calm, his mane solidifying and his eyes slowly dulling their glow. "Jaeger... she loves this town."

"...It's where she's lived for several years."

"She loves the ponies in it."

Jaeger nodded.

"And she still doesn't seem comfortable with being a Princess yet, she's been ignoring the prospect of training and putting off possible social classes for several days. I've contacted the Sun-Princess and asked if she was going to offer some kind of professional Princess training, but the Solar hag blew me off, saying Twilight is 'more than ready' for the responsibility." He shook his head slightly. "We have only six months to prepare the Princess for taking direct control of the Empire, and she spends a day grieving the fact that she now owns the house she's lived in for three years!"

"...Sir, I still don't see the connection."

Oscuridad frowned. "It's simple, somewhere deep inside Princess Sparkle there's a deep desire not to leave Ponyville. That she doesn't want to lead. She basically said as much when she was appointed Heir by Luna. Her friends here seem very supportive of her, no matter her decision, but that's just what they're supposed to say. It's obvious that as the move to the Castle of Darkness looms closer they're going to pressure her to back out, and she can't be an effective leader if she goes in unwilling or tries to get out of the position entirely." He stomped a hoof. "We are gathering insults, because this is what the Princess will need to eventually see, if we need to convince her to leave Ponyville."

"...you want to drive a wedge between the Princess and her friends?"

"..." The shadhavar frowned slightly. "If the Princess heard of this she would put a stop to it immediately, and then promptly have me, and possibly all of you, punished. With a word she could send us all back to the Castle as failures. And then she'd have more doubts about the Night Empire than ever."

"Then it's simple. We stop, destroy it all, don't tell her about it, and forget what happened." Crow threw in.

"Who gave you permission to speak?" Jaeger replied back casually. "Captain, do you really think that it'll be necessary?"

"Will you be the one to apologize to a mourning Empire if it turns out to be?"

Jaeger looked down for a few seconds. "I'm not going to tell the Princess about this. She doesn't need to have what little faith in us she might have shattered right now." Oscuridad winced. "But the Royal Bodyguards are not going to help you with this. It has nothing to do with protecting Princess Twilight, and I don't think it's enough to protect the Empire if she really has those doubts. Do you think Princess Twilight Sparkle will be a more effective leader if she thinks her friends have betrayed her?"

"She will not be an effective leader if she's dependent on them."

"I'm glad we had this talk... sir."

"I hope you know your insolence will be punished once we get back to Castle." Oscuridad said calmly as he walked back up the stairs. Jaeger merely nodded, a sick feeling growing in his stomach. "That is, if she even decides to go." He said before shutting the high-up door behind him.

The five Longma looked from the door to each other in turn.

Den was the first to let out a sigh. "That... that was more than I thought I would have to handle. What nutcase was it who told me that being a bodyguard was stress free?!" Kalt smacked him on the head.

"He wasn't even yelling at you!"

Crow smiled. "That went better than expected, I think. At least we can stop spying now, I was getting tired of hiding during all that freetime."

"He's not going to stop you know, I can tell. It just means that we can't act as censors any more." Sanguine said with a frown.

Jaeger nodded. "I know. We'll just have to hope he doesn't do anything drastic."

Crescent watched Owlicious as he hopped from place to place. Spike following the bird in a quiet game of tag. It didn't seem to be working out well for the Dragon though, the bird was faster and tended to knock objects over for Spike to almost trip over. She had seen them playing this game often enough to know that they would clean everything up by the time they were over. She fluttered silently back up to the top of the stairway and turned her sapphire eyes toward Twilight on her bed, a book levitating in front of her. It was a pose she had seen many times, though never with this sad an expression.

She got a little closer and waited another few minutes.

Twilight turned to the next page, and Crescent got a little closer, nudging Twilight slightly. "Hm?" Twilight asked, turning away from her book.

"Are you alright Princess? You seem sad." Crescent said in her normal quiet tone.

"I'm fine... It's just... well... I guess I just realized how much things have changed." Twilight gave a quiet laugh. "It's strange, but knowing tomorrow I won't be living in a public library is more shocking for me than living with seven Night Ponies in a giant Tower made of magic and an Empire waiting for me..."

"It's always the strangest things." Crescent agreed. "Do you need anything?"

Twilight thought about it for a few seconds. "No, I don't think so, thank you though. I just need some time to think."

Crescent nodded and fluttered back down. Saying it out loud seemed to lessen the pain at least a little bit, so Crescent was satisfied she had done her part. Twilight would sleep it off and probably spend a few hours designing a new schedule without a library to attend to in the morning. That would help Twilight deal with the whole situation.

She stopped by a calendar and noted the word 'picnic' scribbled on the square of the day after the next. Crescent smiled. That would be good for Twilight. Her ears pointed upward suddenly as she heard the door open, and the other five Longma marched in.

"Crescent, could we speak to you outside for a few minutes?"

Crescent nodded and glanced at Kalt taking her place inside the library.

"What is it?" Crescent asked in her normal quiet tone.

"....I got our Captain to explain why we've been doing that spywork... he wants information so he can get PrincessTwilight to feel betrayed by her friends or the town should the need arise."

Crescent's eyes narrowed. "I assume we are no longer spying then?"

"Yes."

"Then we should report it to the Princess."

Jaeger frowned. "Not now, hopefully not ever. I hate hiding this from her as much as you do, but we can't afford to allow Princess Twilight to lose trust in us."

Crescent frowned. "Oscuridad has made a grave overstep in his authority. He must be punished by the only higher power." For some reason, the quietness of her voice only made the threat sound graver. "I'm going to tell the Princess."

Jaeger frowned. "No. You aren't. None of us are."

"We are supposed to be protecting her."

"That is our first duty, and hiding this knowledge doesn't interfere with that. Our other duties include our service to our Captain, and more importantly, our Empire. If Empress Twilight finds out about this spying at the wrong moment, she'll lose trust in us, and that could be detrimental for the Empire." Den said, entering the conversation.

"We are expendable."

"We are the only connection the Princess currently has to the Night Empire." Den said, frowning. "If she decides that she can't trust us, it'll reflect negatively on every single Longma in the world." He sighed. "Because of our and our Honorable Captain's actions, we could end up dissuading the Princess from going to the Night Empire. She's the heir to Nightmare Moon, but she could abdicate, and there would be anarchy, just like that, until either Luna takes us back or Celestia takes over."

"Or whoever ruling the Crystal Empire right now." Crow said happily. "That'll turn out fun."

Crescent glared at each of her fellow bodyguards in turn. "....I don't like this."

"It doesn't matter what you like. This is for the good of the Empire." Jaeger said sadly. "Now forget about it, and just be glad we don't have to waste time spying any more."

Each of them went in in turn, leaving Sanguine and Crescent outside last. Sanguine turned to the younger mare and gave a small smile. "I don't like it either... just give me the word when you think the time is right... I'll back you up." Sanguine whispered. Crescent nodded slightly, and the two mares entered the library as well.

Rain poured down the Tower walls.

Author's Note

~~all together ooky, the Addams family!

12. Crow's day off Part 1

"...Do I really have to do this? Fine. I order all of you to take the day off."

"Princess, there's really no need for this, we can stay out of sight quite easily."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "No, I think you all deserve a day off. You've been with me 24/7 for two weeks straight, I think you all deserve a day to have fun. Besides, I'll have Applejack and Rarity with me, and we're just going to the park. Nothing's going to happen."

"But..."

Twilight frowned.

"....yes... Princess." Jaeger resigned. He turned to his subordinates. "Well, seems like we're all having a day off... don't get into trouble, don't make a disturbance, don't draw attention. You are free to use your pay however you wish. I expect full reports."

Four "Yes sir!"s were said, and the Longma split off.

Jaeger narrowed his eyes at Crescent, who had stayed behind. "Crescent... if this is about our talk two nights ago, this is not the time."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why, what happened?"

"It's a personal matter, Princess. I would prefer if you didn't pry, but if you require to know, we'll say." Jaeger said before Crescent could open her mouth.

Twilight frowned slightly. "I don't want to pry... but if any of you need anything, anything at all, don't be afraid to ask. Have fun!" Twilight called back before fluttering away.

"... I was going to ask if I could go along on the picnic..."

Crow flew over Ponyville, searching for possibly the easiest to identify Pegasus in existence. "Hey, uh, Rainbow Dash!"

The pegasus turned to look up and immediately her ears perked up. "Crow?"

He fluttered in place over the cloud. "Hi... so, er... well." The Longma looked from side to side. "Okay... here goes. I know literally nopony in this entire country who I have anything in common with."

"Huh?"

"Maybe Jaeger, and Sanguine sometimes likes to hang around me, but nopony likes to race, or do anything action-y." He frowned. "Besides you, Wonderbolt."

"...what does this have to do with me?"

"I have a day off today, and nothing to do. And I kind of want to make up for my whole.... 'episode' from when we first met."

Rainbow shivered slightly, remembering the beastial expression on the Longma's face. "Okay... how?"

"I don't know, whatever you want to do... within reason."

"Like?"

"I don't know, going to a restaurant or a carnival or something, and then I'd pay for everything."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "That definitely makes up for going psycho at me."

"Well, what would you suggest?"

"Forget it, besides, I have plans today already."

"It's a matter of honor and courtesy, I'm not about to just forget it! What kind of plans, I'll help you in whatever way I can!"

"...Crow, just mentioning what I'm doing today would make you go ballistic."

"...It's Wonderbolts related....?"

"Yep. Very."

"...then it'll be suitable punishment. I've already gotten my revenge... whatever anger I hold for the current Wonderbolts is mostly just leftover fury. I can handle it, and I really do want to make up for my 'going psycho' at you."

Rainbow Dash stared at him for a few minutes before sighing. "Fine. But you have to do everything I say, alright?"

"Within reason."

"So there's no way I'm getting you to wear a Wonderbolt hat?"

"I'd rather tackle Celestia again."

Rainbow blinked. "What?"

"I was lying in a hospital for three days after that. And I was lucky."

"...okay then. No hats for you. Whatever. Well then, come on. I was already on my way when you caught me."

Scootaloo paced back in forth outside her house. She had been waiting for this day for three weeks. The Wonderbolt show.

And Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony to ever grow wings, was the one taking her there.

She couldn't stop smiling.

She just couldn't stop.

She had taken the occasion to get a Wonderbolt hat, goggles, and shirt, and had a camera strung around her neck and ten bits in her shirt pocket. She was prepared for everything!

So when she saw the rainbow trail speeding toward her house, she jumped for joy, and taking the opportunity, decided to flap her wings as hard as possible, managing to stay in the air an extra five seconds. She cursed silently at the temporary failure, but she forgot the irritation the moment Rainbow Dash landed on her lawn. "Hey Scoots, you ready for the big show?"

"Yep! It's going to be awesome!"

"Definitely!"

Scootaloo's pupils shrunk as she saw the monster diving down to land behind Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash!! Behind you!!" Scootaloo screamed, jumping up to tackle the monster before he could land.

"Whoah there! He's a friendly!" Rainbow shouted, grabbing the filly out of the air before she collided with a descending Crow.

"A friendly?! Look at him!"

"Ease up Scoots, he's......" Rainbow searched for the words as Crow progressively became more irritated. "....okay?"

The Longma sighed before turning to look at Scootaloo and grinned. "Hey there, are you going to the stupid show to-"

"Are you a vampire?"

"Yes." He said completely serious look on his face.

"What? Really?" Rainbow asked, her eyes widening. Crow looked in her direction and winked, before turning back to Scootaloo.

"Yep."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "How are you going around in the sunlight without burning to cinders?"

"That's a myth we made up to fool vampire hunters."

"Really?!"

"Yes."

"...is that why we failed at being Cutie Mark Crusader Vampire hunters?"

"Probably." the Longma said with a shrug and a smile. "So, who are you?"

"I'm Scootaloo! I'm the president of Rainbow Dash's fanclub and I'm a founding member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"I'm Crow Moon. I'm a cold-blooded bloodsucking monster. How do you do?" He said with a wide grin, showing off the shark teeth.

"I'm good. So, are you a wonderbolts fan too?"

"....not exactl-"

"Here! You need to show your team spirit when you're at an official show!" She pulled off the hat and forced it over his spines, bending them to the side.

"Gah!!" He shouted, yanking the hat off and massaging the quills. "owowowow...." he whined, "I wasn't ready for that!"

"Oh! Sorry, did I mess up your mohawk?" Scootaloo asked hesitantly.

"What the heck is a mohawk?" the longma asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's when you put a lot of gel in your mane to get it to stick up like.... well like yours... are... are those frills?"

"...yes."

"....why?"

"What the heck do you mean 'why'? Why do you have feathers if the magic is in your bones? My frill helps me sense wind conditions okay? We don't all have weather magic you know."

"Okay, okay! Sheesh... I was wondering why every single one of you had mohawks... then how does the big one get his to bend like that?"

"Den? Heck if I know, I think he just broke them all and never set them."

"Huh... vampires are weird." Scootaloo said to herself.

"So... this is what the Wonderbolts are." Crow said to himself, a strange expression on his face.

"...what do you mean?"

"Nothing... I mean... I guess the biggest thing is that the outfits are so flashy now. They used to be black with a few small white lightning bolts all over them... the goggles are the same though."

"Huh... that seems closer to the Shadowbolts."

"What do you mean?"

The Wonderbolts two-o-clock show is about to start!! Grab some popcorn, get to your seats and enjoy the show!< a speaker suddenly interrupted.

"I'll tell you about it later! It's showtime now!"

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo dashed off into the grounds, galloping over to the stands and then floating to their seats. The longma sighed, getting some free popcorn from a tourist with a shark smile and fluttered up to join them. "This is going to be so cool!" Rainbow Dash said with a squee, taking the popcorn the Longma offered and began sharing it with Scootaloo.

"The coolest!! Do you think Soarin'll do his firecracker special?"

"Nah, the weather's not good for a firecracker... I'm betting on a lightning split."

The two went back and forth over which tricks would be shown, while Crow began tapping his hoof impatiently, his face emotionless.

About ten minutes later there a fanfare as three roars were heard, and the crowd suddenly jumped up around the Longma, staring up at the three trails of cloud flying high into the sky. >The line up for today's show is Soarin! Surprise! And last but not least, Blaze!< the announcer shouted proudly.

As the show went on Rainbow's attention occasionally shifted from the totally awesome tricks the wonderbolts were doing and began noticing Crow's strange behaviour. She had expected the Longma to either be totally anti-wonderbolt, booing whenever anypony else cheered, or to be totally bored... but he didn't seem either. His face was some strange emotion she couldn't recognize, and it seemed like he was biting his lips a lot. She tried to just focus on the show, and Scootaloo's enjoyment over every loop and swish and flash, but Crow's face seemed to constantly change emotions before shifting back into the weird one without completely shifting emotion. She stealthily nudged herself and Scootaloo slightly farther away from the Longma.

By the end of the show the crowd was in an uproar of applause, and Rainbow had gotten caught up in it as well. As the crowd began to siphon out of the stands Scootaloo was still clapping. "That was amazing Rainbow Dash! Thank's so much!"

"Thank Crow, he's paying." Rainbow said proudly. "But being a Wonderbolt in training gets some perks too.... want to go meet them?"

"Would I?!"

"Would you?" Crow asked.

"Would I?!"

"Would you?" Crow asked, his smile getting bigger.

"Yes!!" Scootaloo shouted, dancing in place. "Come on!" Rainbow chuckled and lifted the filly into the air, speeding up toward a large cloud that had been set up near the edge of the grounds. Rainbow Dash deposited the filly on the cloud and smiled as the disappeared in an orange and purple wave that rushed inside.

"So, how'd you like the show? Was it the most impressive thing you've ever seen?" Rainbow asked the Longma with a smirk.

"...I was impressed actually, that was a decent show of magic power... pfft..."

"What?"

"hehe... I'm sorry, don't mind me... I just thought of a joke I heard... bwaheheh.... earlier..." Crow said, the same non-emotion from earlier covering his face.

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "...so, are you ready to meet the wonderbolts?"

"...I'll just stay out here, thank you."

"Nope! You're going to come in here with me, and then you'll see that the Wonderbolts are some of the best ponies in Equestria."

The longma sighed. "..Fine."

"Rainbow Dash!!" Scootaloo called, running back over to her sister-figure. "This is amazing! Surprise agreed to help me do some flying exercises!"

"Sweet, Scoots. You'll be going almost as fast as me in no time, I bet."

"I know!" The filly jumped up and down in place on the cloud. "This is going to be so awesome!"

"So awesome." Rainbow agreed.

"Hey Dash, how's our newest recruit?"

"I'm good, Soarin."

"So, who are your.... uh... friends?" The pegasus froze at the sight of the Longma, the shifting non-emotion still covering his face.

"This is Scootaloo, she's been one of my long-time supporters, and mr batwings back there is Crow Moon."

"...how did he.... wait... is he one of those dark ponies that marched to Canterlot a few weeks ago?" he whispered to the mare.

"Night pony." Crow corrected, before biting his lips and looking away.

"...how did you hear me?" Soarin asked nervously.

"My ears are bigger than yours."

"...okay?"

It was too much for the Longma, who promptly stopped fluttering in place and dropped straight through the floor, laughing maniacally. Rainbow shivered at the sound before sighing. "Sorry, he's... uh... shy?"

"Sure..." Soarin replied. Rainbow dashed outside the cloud and swerved down to find Crow rolling around on the ground laughing.

"What's the big deal?! I thought you were about to go on a massacre or something!" Rainbow hissed, frowning as the Longma just continued to laugh.

"I-I'm sorry ~bwahahahahehe~ I... I can't... pfft.... it's just..."

"What?!"

"It's just... hehehe... they're showponies!"

"Yeah, and?"

"But they're the wonderbolts!" The longma shouted before going back to laughing evilly.

"And what does that mean?"

The longma calmed down enough to get up and dust himself off. "...the wonderbolts... are a no-nonsense group of elite bombers dressed completely in black despite working for the light. They haunted my dreams, terrorizing me without emotion until the night I killed them. They could give nightmares to Nightmare. They were the ultimate in solar badasses!" a wide, insane smile broke out on his face. "And now they're doing flashy magic tricks for a cheering crowd in bright blue suits!" He fell back into the laughter.

Rainbow began to get more and more irritated. "Stop laughing! The wonderbolts are still the 'ultimate in solar badasses', whatever 'ass' means, and... I'll prove it!"

"bwahehehe... oh yeah?"

"Yeah! How much more time do you have off?"

"A few hours... why?"

"I want to show you what some 'showponies' are capable of."

"A race?" The longma asked, bored. "In a circle? This is what you were thinking of? I thought it was going to be some kind of extreme challenge like... I don't know, Canterlot Castle and back? I'm a high-speed messenger, I'm the top of the elite, and I've already proven I can take on twenty Wonderbolts at their prime. This is going to be a cakewalk." the longma bragged.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. You seem to like making excuses for why you shouldn't participate in a simple race." Rainbow got a sly smile. "You chickening out?"

"...am I whating out?" Crow asked, a look of pure confusion covering him.

Rainbow sighed. "nevermind. I was calling you a coward."

The longma froze in place and turned to her, a wide shark grin on his face. "Fine. I'll do your silly race. So... what are the rules, and why the heck do you think a group of showponies could manage to beat me?"

"The rules are simple, it's a wonderbolt derby, there's a cloud runway you are not allowed to leave or cut across. You aren't allowed to leave your strip or touch another pony and you should fly at level with every other pony racing. It's normally fifteen laps, but in this case we're doing thirty."

"Are you sure? Those wings probably get tired pretty quickly."

"And yours don't look very aerodynamic, so it's even." Rainbow replied, her smirk getting wider. "First pony to cross the finish line wins."

"Sounds like fun." Crow said happily. "So... who else is competing? You?"

"Of course! I'm a wonderbolt in training after all. But I've made a few calls, and we're going to be in for a treat. Fleetfoot and Rapidfire are veterans of the derby, not to mention the 'showponies' from today's show; Soarin, Surprise, and Blaze. And then, of course, we have the captain of the Wonderbolts; Spitfire."

The longma nodded. "Seven versus one then."

"Think you can handle it?"

"Definitely... but why not make it interesting? I'll give you thirty bits if I come in second, forty if I come in third, fifty in fourth, sixty in fifth, seventy in sixth, and eighty in seventh. And if I come in last place, I'll hand out 100 bits."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "What do I do if you win, then?"

The longma thought about it for a few seconds. "You have to get a mohawk."

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Alright then, you're on."

Author's Note

Alright then! Now then, in order to celebrate my story getting 100 likes (thanks to you all!!!), I'm letting you guys take the hold on this! As this doesn't have much effect on the over-arching plot, and I've had comments before about how they think that Crow needs to get taken down by the Wonderbolts, I thought I'd give you, the commenters, to choose who wins! I'm counting the number of comments for each racer to determine who wins in order. You all have one week before I count up everything.
May the most-liked pony win!

13. Crow's Day Off Part 2

"Spitfire, about this race... you sure?" Blaze asked. "...I mean, it's just a bet at it's base, and with only a trainee. It's not something you should take so seriously-"

Spitfire removed her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. "Blaze, this is more than just a bet. The honor of the Wonderbolts is staked on this. Now, you know as well as I do that Rainbow Dash has shown more raw talent and potential than anypony else we've interviewed in the last two decades. Not to mention her connection with the Princesses. I think we should be willing to go along with her for this... heaven knows commander Stratosphere let me get away with a few things I never thought I'd be able to get away with... but beyond that, we're doing this to honor the Wonderbolt name."

Blaze rolled her eyes. "Sis, if we accepted the challenge of every pony with a bone to pick with the Wonderbolts we'd be racing 24/7 with losers who don't know better."

"Exactly. This isn't just someone with a bone to pick with the Wonderbolts, this is a special case... you've heard about all the craziness going up North about a month ago?"

"Yeah... Luna went up North to deal with a Crystal Pony thing... it had something to do with Sombra at least...right?"

"Another 'lost Empire' popped back up. The Night Empire... come on, think back, Stratosphere spent more than one day ranting about them."

Blaze looked down at the shaved cloud floor. "...the original team? The first Wonderbolt squad was created as part of the Civil War against Nightmare Moon... I didn't really believe much of it, after all, after a thousand years most records become unreliable. And even in the oldest and most detailed ones only referenced them."

"Well... the appearance of Nightmare Moon and her Empire should help you with your belief in Stratosphere's stories. The original team all died in the civil war."

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "Yeah?"

"And Rainbow Dash's friend happens to be one of the soldiers who helped make that happen."

Blaze frowned for a few seconds before sighing. "So you want to race this soldier based on what some other pony did a thousand years ago, in revenge for the original Wonderbolts?"

"No, no, of course not." Spitfire waved the thought away. "Though, based on what Rainbow implied, he was directly involved. But revenge isn't the Equestrian way. We are holding up the Wonderbolts' honor based on something else entirely."

"And what is that?"

"He accused us of not being worthy of the title of Wonderbolt. He claimed that we were an insult to the Wonderbolts' honor. And I intend to prove him wrong."

Blaze nodded. "Alright. I'm in.... though I want to make a suggestion."

Crow grinned as the Captain of the Wonderbolts walked in, a determined expression on her face. "Hello, Spitfire right? Rainbow Dash told me the Captain wanted to speak to me." He fluttered over and began bobbing close to her face. "Do you want to back out of the race?"

"No. The exact opposite actually. I've given the order to the Wonderbolts that you are going in last place."

"Oh? Does this mean you're all going to cheat?"

"No, not at all." Spitfire smirked. "It just means that nopony's holding back."

Crow nodded with a wide smile. "That's always good to hear! So... why are you here? I was going to go all out from the beg-... well, at least against Rainbow Dash."

"You were around a thousand years ago... correct?"

"Yes."

"I'd like the chance to talk to you about the first Wonderbolts."

Crow's grin shifted into an emotion that Spitfire didn't recognize. "Sure, I didn't know any of them personally, at least as ponies, but I knew all about them. I even met them a few times."

"Alright... the Wonderbolts are possibly the most well-recorded and longest lasting teams in history, but even our earliest recorded information is 'in the memory' of the first twenty Wonderbolts."

"..."

"I want to know more about the twenty ponies who left a thousand year legacy. The Wonderbolts is the most prestigious Pegasus group in Equestria, accepting only five or so members every ten years. We are part of the military, but there's an insane number of requirements for any of us to actually be sent into battle. The last time any of us saw action it was only for a Dragon attack in Ponyville... We're essentially knights, but we have a long tradition of doing public shows and competitions... I want to know about the creation of the Wonderbolts, I want to know why we've lasted this long and what we stand for."

Crow looked at her for a little while. "How long til the derby?"

"We have about an hour, but we can delay it or talk at a later date."

Crow hesitated for a few more seconds before making a wide smile. "Alright. I'll tell you all about them. But, just to put two things in the open; the Wonderbolts murdered almost everypony I cherished and grew up with, and maimed the last few. And I murdered all twenty of the originals in revenge." He said it good naturedly with a genuine smile on his face. "Still want to take my word for what they were?"

Spitfire's eyes widened and she gulped in a breath of air. She was no coward, but no modern pony was likely to meet a 'murderer' in their lifetime. The thought of ponies killing each other was deeply unsettling to her. "...Alright... just promise to be as honest and tell me as much as you can." But this was something that had been bothering her since childhood, and this might be her only chance.

"Okay." Crow said, looking around before touching a grandfather clock in the corner hesitantly. As it didn't fall through the cloud he sighed and climbed on top of it, watching the cloud floor a little nervously.

"...is there any reason you have to tell me from on top of a clock?"

"Can't touch clouds, well I can, but they're just water."

"But-"

"I'm a Longma, not a Pegasus. Now then... where should I begin?"

"...why were they originally created?"

"Celestia was gathering 'mages' from all the Solar tribes before the Civil War started. She only found one or two Earth Ponies that could qualify, and she found a ton of Unicorns, but the biggest surprise were the twenty-one Pegasi with magic control on the same level as a Unicorn. She personally trained them, qualifying as a Pegasus mage herself, and had them become the greatest Pegasi force to be created since the days of the Ancient Pegasus Empire. They were a simple military force, and once the Civil War started they completed every assignment given to them..." he looked down, smiling sadly. "They even managed to destroy a Tower that had a civilian population nearly that of Cloudsdale." He looked back up at her. "However, because of their success, every noble in Equestria was attempting to order them to their own fronts, to do their own dirtywork. So Celestia began taking direct control of their actions. When this became too much of a hassle, she gave their leader, and their only survivor later on, the authority to order around the Wonderbolts without talking to any nobles. Apparently this system has changed a bit in a millenium." his smile shifted slightly and he let out a breath of air. "The Wonderbolts were an elite fighting force, with their own authority. The group was created to protect Equestria by their own judgement."

Spitfire frowned slightly. "Thank you..."

"What's wrong?"

"I... I suppose I was expecting more."

"I didn't know them personally. I did a bit of research after they blew up my family home, left my sister flightless, and left several of my closest friends dead." He said with a shrug. "The first time I met any of them was when I killed them."

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at this. "That leads to my second point. You look like a tough pony, don't get me wrong, but you don't look like you could take on an entire team of Wonderbolts, heck, most Dragons probably can't take on an entire team of Wonderbolts. It makes your story less reliable."

Crow's eyes narrowed and his smile became more wild. "Alright. You want the detailed version or the summary?"

Spitfire looked at the clock. "The summary. I have a race to win in ten minutes."

"Likewise. Alright... they were making an attack on a gathering of our troops that thought they were concealed. They took advantage of a nearby thunderstorm and guided it above our camp. Curious, I flew above the cloud as stealthily as I could, and found fifteen of them focusing on making a Disaster Bomb." Crow made a motion with his hooves. "It's like trying to compress a hurricane into the size of your head. Anyway, it was high-level magic and was taking up all their concentration. The other five were acting as scouts. I managed to surprise one of them, and killed her. I made my way around the circle of scouts, and took them out without alerting the fifteen in the center." He took in a breath. "Then was a brawl. I attacked the fifteen in the center by surprise, charging through, and breaking one of their necks and letting two more drop with broken wings. At that point the others noticed me, and I probably would have been torn apart if they didn't let of of their Disaster Bomb. It knocked us all away and covered the area with clouds." he smiled cruelly. "Wingponies and Leadponies were separated. They were panicking, and one on one, none of them could stand up to me. I picked them off one at a time until about there were only six left. They gathered together and simply brawled it out with me mid-air. In the end I killed three more and all four of us remaining were too injured to fly. In the end I suppose I only took out seventeen. The rest was me being lucky enough to survive the crash while they didn't."

Spitfire gaped at him for a little while. Eventually she shook herself slightly and looked back at the Longma. "That... okay... I think I believe you..." she glanced down at her knees and was relieved to find they weren't shaking.

"...well, what now, Captain? Where does this leave us? Is this race going to be your revenge? I've learned by now that Solar Ponies frown on Duels."

"No... it was a thousand years ago... I... don't really have anything to say about that. I didn't know any of them personally. You were serving your country, they were serving their's. I can leave it like that."

Crow nodded. "That's awfully big of you Captain. So, shall we meet at the track then?"

"Actually... I have one thing to say. This is Wonderbolts home turf. You insulted us and said we didn't measure up to our ancestors. I'm taking revenge for that."

Crow narrowed his eyes and let his shark grin get impossibly wider. "Alright!"

"So... about that teleporty-thing." Rainbow began.

"What teleporty thing?"

"When we raced before, you were next to me one second, and the next you were a half-mile ahead of me!"

"Oh! That! Hehehe... teleporting eh? I suppose you could call it that." The Longma looked at her. "But really, it's more about taking shortcuts where you don't expect them."

"I don't follow."

The Longma stretched out a hoof. "Did you know Equestria's weather is absolutely insane? The natural paths of air have been turned into a huge insane shifting labrinth. But why would a Pegasus ever know that? You make your own wind whenever you want to fly, which is part of the problem, honestly. It just builds up. Why do you think birds need to be guided via Pegasus outside Equestria's borders every time they want to migrate?"

"What does any of that have to do with you?"

"Longma magic doesn't work anywhere near the same way as Pegasus." The Longma gave look toward the sky. "We just make ourselves light enough to fly, and then let our wings and the wind carry us from there on. Your wings are mostly for show. You don't need to be able to tell how the wind moves. When I do my 'teleporting thingy', I ride the fastest possible air current. I spin to increase my speed and decrease my surface area, I make myself as light as possible, and just let it carry me in the right direction. Then I stop spinning and get heavier to leave. I've trained for years how to do it. Though, in a race like this, it's mostly useless. I'll have to keep fairly heavy in order to not get blown away by all of you guys."

"Well... that's underwhelming... is Equestria's weather really that messed up?"

Crow gestured toward a flag, flapping gently a few hundred feet away. "Do you feel any wind?"

"...huh..."

"Stop chatting and get ready! We race at the sound of the trumpet!" Spitfire shouted.

Their audience of one sat at the edge of her seat, holding a flag that said 'Go Rainbow Dash!'. "You can do it!" Scootaloo shouted.

A referee stepped forward, readying a golden trumpet. "On your marks!!" He shouted.

"Get Set!"

He blew into the trumpet and the eight ponies shot off from their starting positions; beating their wings as hard as they could.

Fleetfoot, as per usual, was in the head. She had a knack for races, her cutie mark was a lightning bolt with a checkered flag tied to it after all. She glanced backward to the left and smiled to see that the next few closest ponies were all wearing light blue suits. She glanced to the right and frowned that a black blur was close to them.

The eight of them were fairly matched. They were Equestria's elites, and none of them would be put in last place for long. Fleetfoot was a veteran of the races, but so was Rapidfire. Blaze, Surprise, and Soarin were all mostly showponies, with Soarin their leader. So they tended to be behind Rapidfire and Fleetfoot the most often. Rainbow Dash was in training to join Soarin's team in order to do Wonderbolt shows, but that training was mostly for experience's sake. Her raw wingpower was enough in a race at the very least.

The biggest variables were Spitfire and Crow Moon. Neither were in their element, but out of all the ponies there, those two had the most wingpower. When there was a straight shot to speed up both would gain a huge amount of ground, but if held up they were passed more easily than the others.

Crow growled whenever a Wonderbolt got close to him, and he shifted lanes quickly and erratically as he tried to gain ground. He had underestimated the current Wonderbolts. He wasn't ready to admit they would be better than the originals. But the originals weren't legends for any skills on a race track. They were legends for their magic. These Wonderbolts wouldn't do anywhere as well in a fight, he could tell. A soldier would never flinch from a mere glare during a friendly competition. But this wasn't a fight. This was a race. Crow was fast, and he knew body language better than written language, but despite all that, the stances taken by Fleetfoot and Rapidfire were styles he didn't know. He couldn't predict where they would be like he could for the others. And without knowing that he might hurt them. If he bursted ahead at full speed, it would require him to be so light that brushing up against them could launch him off his course, possibly even hurting him. If he wanted to protect himself from that he would have to sacrifice speed by being heavy enough to sustain their attacks- er... any impact, he supposed. But at that weight, and at that speed, if he crashed into one of them, it'd hurt them, probably knock them off the track instead.

"Whose bright idea was it to race in a circle?!" he growled to himself as he once again was unable to move forward from Rapidfire blocking his path, and watched with increasing anger as Rainbow passed him.

"Getting tired?" Rainbow taunted as she continued along the path.

"Ready for the mohawk Rainbow?" Crow shouted back, managing to find a path around Rapidfire and getting in front of Rainbow by decreasing his weight. "I was thinking we could make a separate crest for every ridiculous mane color!"

"I'll have you know that my mane is the most awesome mane in existence!"

"Lies! Slander! You have not gazed upon Nightmare Moon after she gets out of bed!" Crow taunted, causing Rainbow's face to contort from the mental image. He smiled as she began laughing so hard she almost forgot to flap for a few seconds. Then he remembered who she was laughing at. He converted the rage into fuel and pumped his wings even harder, wincing slightly as he moved them past his usual limit at this weight.

Spitfire spiralled past Rainbow Dash, winking at Crow as she slipped past him, flying directly in front of him. He dived to the side, and he let out a sigh of irritation as Spitfire made the same move. They passed the starting line for the umpteenth time when he heard the Ref shout "Final Lap!"

"Oh crud." Crow hissed. He decreased his weight and let the pleasant sensation of the sudden decreased strain on his wings wash through him. He then pushed past the new limit, firing him around Spitfire, then Rapidfire, and finally, he found himself behind Fleetfoot. "I shall dedicate this victory to the Night Empire!" He cried out.

Fleetfoot glanced behind her and began shifting lanes to prevent Crow from flying past her. Rainbow and Spitfire shared a look as they saw the Longma and the blue Pegasus match each other. "Throw me."

"What?!" Rainbow hissed.

"Throw me, that's an order!"

"Isn't that against the rules?"

"I've never heard of a no-throwing rule. We're just not supposed to push each other off the track, your giving me a boost."

"Then why can't you throw me?"

"I've got more wingpower! Now then, do you want to see your Captain in first place or a rainbow mohawk?!"

Rainbow sighed and grabbed Spitfire around the waist, "Don't worry, I've seen this done before!" Rainbow said as she flung her Captain ahead.

Crow watched the finish line get closer and closer. He was going to win! He decreased his weight even more, but before he could flap his wings the final time that would launch him past the finish line an orange mare was thrown past him, her wings beating as fast as they could. His eyes widened as he collided with her flank, knocked backwards by the impact, and then thrown every possible direction by her wingbeats. The ref watched as the Longma spiralled away from the track and through the air, getting carried by every stream of clueless Equestrian wind.

The seven Wonderbolts skidded across the finish line, all watching silently as the knocked-out Longma flipped and lazily spun through the air aimlessly like a discarded newspaper.

"So... how you feeling?" Rainbow asked.

"Whuh... where am I?" Crow said, opening his eyes and trying to sit up, only for the ringing sound in his head to get worse and force him back down.

"Ponyville General Hospital." Hissed Jaeger. "You idiot."

"Hey, don't be so harsh on him, he has a concussion." Twilight chided.

"One day off... and not only do you race the Princess's friend, again, because we all know how well it turned out the first time, but you get yourself so injured in your own recklessness that you're not well enough to serve!" Jaeger roared, making Crow wince at the noise.

"Hey!" Twilight growled, glaring at Jaeger. "This is not the time to stress him."

"...Yes Princess."

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead. "Rainbow told me everything. I know all about everything that happened."

Crow winced. Sinking deeper into his bed.

"And I think it was sweet."

"...what?"

Rainbow Dash puts a hoof to her muzzle in a 'shoosh' gesture, unseen by Twilight. "I just told Twilight about how Scootaloo really wanted to see a Wonderbolt Derby, so you volunteered to race, not to mention paying for everything."

The Longma stared at her for a few seconds, turning his head slightly. "It... it was the least I could do... and, I suppose I feel I still owe you."

Rainbow grinned. "I'll be sure to ask Scootaloo if she has anything for a 'vampire' to do."

"So, Princess, how was your picnic?" Crow asked.

"It was a lot of fun... though it turns out I had a bodyguard with me anyway."

"Huh?"

"Crescent decided to join us, It was actually a lot of fun. She and Applejack got along fairly well, and she got into a conversation with Rarity about Longma fashion." Twilight giggled. "Rarity almost cut the picnic short to update my 'grand unveiling' dress plans."

Twilight left a little while later to get permission from the hospital to take Crow home, Jaeger going with her. That left Rainbow Dash and Crow alone in the room. "So... I did this for Scootaloo, eh?"

"Yep. Apparently." Rainbow said grinning. "I figured I could cover you up in front of Twi, after all, you tolerated an entire afternoon of pure Wonderbolts for me, not to mention you are technically responsible for Scootaloo getting her own private Wonderbolt Derby." Rainbow nudged him in the arm. "I consider us even for you spooking me a few weeks ago." Rainbow and Crow sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds. "I'm still collecting on our bet though."

"What bet? I never made any bet. I am heavily concussed, and I apparently did a race for charity for a filly."

"You're not getting out of this that easily." Rainbow said cheerfully. "I took the opportunity to order tickets for the three of us to the next five Wonderbolt shows in the area with the money you promised me."

"The three of us?" Crow asked.

"Me, you, Scoots. She thought it was a lot of fun, I don't see why though, seeing as all you did was pay and give her some ill-gotten popcorn."

"...you know... the show wasn't that bad."

Rainbow grinned. "I'll make you into a bolt fan yet."

Author's Note

This chapter was hell to write. Every major paragraph went through rewrite after rewrite, though I'm confident in this last version. I hope you all can appreciate this.
Also, I apologize for almost making Crow into a Gary Stu. His abilities in his introduction was mostly so that I could have a character who can keep up with Rainbow Dash. I hope this justifies him a bit more, and makes him less overpowered, now that we know his limits and show how he works.
For those who thought he was already a Gary Stu and just wanted to see him brought down a few notches, this is for you guys as well.

Hearth's Warming Special ~ the Nutcracker Part 1

This is another non-canon chapter, meant to celebrate the holidays! So, similar deal. This chapter is out of the normal timeline of the main story, and none of the events that occur will have an effect in later chapters. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hearth's Warming, etc. Let's get on with the show!

"Rarity, I'm not sure about the scale of this thing..."

"Don't worry Darling, it's great, I've always wanted to have a Hearth's Warming Ball in Ponyville, but there's always been nowhere to hold it!"

"You don't think it's too much?"

"Darling, darling, darling. It's going to be wonderful. It's a Hearth's Warming Eve party for goodness sakes."

Twilight nodded, flexing her wings slightly. "...what about the guests?"

Rarity frowned slightly, her holiday spirit temporarily tempered. "Well, that's where most the trouble will come from I suppose. Pinkie and I have offered open invitation to everypony in town, but at the same time many lesser Lords from Canterlot will be making the journey down here because they couldn't get a ticket to Celestia's ball quick enough, and there'll be quite a few Longma and Crystal Pony dignitaries... it's a shame your brother and Cadence couldn't come."

"Well, I suppose it's one of the unspoken duties of an alicorn that you need to hold several stressful balls every year in your house. I'm beginning to envy Luna up there, apparently Longma Hearth's Warming is very quiet, respectful feast day. She won't have to deal with a thousand Lords dropping 'subtle' hints that they wouldn't mind becoming a prince."

Rarity began giggling, and Twilight found herself caught up in it a little while later as well.

Twilight took a deep breath and entered the room, bowing as her guests greeted her with an applause. She was wearing a regal Hearth's Warming themed gown, and a Tiara made to look like ice. She saw each of her bodyguards wearing their own white vests and gowns, clashing harshly with their dark colors. The hall was packed with many more ponies than she could remember.

She went and mingled for a little while, forced herself not to faint as a charming Longma couple vowed their loyalty on their once not red dress and suit, and admired the massive Hearth's Warming Tree in the center of the room, surrounded with presents. It had been a Longma tradition, apparently, that everypony who came to a gathering brought several gifts with them, and left them under the tree anonymously. The traditional number was three gifts; something expensive, something useful, and something old. They would be wrapped similarly as possible, in order to keep other guests from immediately going after the expensive presents. Twilight loved the idea, and made her way over to the tree to lay her three gifts down as subtly as possible, as Oscuridad had told her.

She understood why, she supposed. Most of the ponies there would have liked to be able to brag that they received a Hearth's Warming present from Empress Twilight Sparkle. Her three gifts were the most recent Daring Do novel (rather expensive, having sold out in the first few days of publication), a favorite cookbook of her's (most useful), and a book on obscure unicorn history (which had been given to her, unopened, by her number one assistant, personalized 'Happy Hearth's Warming from your friend Twilight Sparkle, thanks for being such a great assistant for so long' written on the inside cover, which she had to painstakingly remove from the book in order to give it out anonymously, all in all, being regifted three times should qualify something as 'old'). She rejoined the party, had a few drinks, went outside with everypony else to see the Ponyville Elementary's Hearth's Warming Eve play, and came in to mingle a bit before the final toast. After that, the most looked-forward to time of the evening; presents and dinner.

Twilight was spooked suddenly "Hello, Princess."

She turned around and raised an eyebrow as she looked up at the large unicorn. "Oh, hello, Prince Blueblood. This is unexpected, I didn't know you'd be attending my little Ponyville ball. I assumed you would want to go to the big Canterlot one."

"I figured I could do with something a little more.... quaint, this year."

"Hm. Well, I hope you're enjoying the party, if you'd excuse me-"

"I am, in fact. Ah, that reminds me, Princess, I'd like to present you with a gift." He levitated a small, beautifully and professionally wrapped box. Twilight felt a little uneasy by it.

She gave a nervous smile. "Well, I'm sorry to say, but this year I'm trying to follow the Longma tradition of gifting anonymously." She levitated it into the pile of presents.

Blueblood frowned and levitated it back over to her. "I already placed down my three gifts, I want to give this to you. It's a horn ring."

"..."

"I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I've decided, you're the mare for me."

"...and suddenly the others all seem subtle in comparison..."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, just remembered something..."

"Alright, well anyway. I'm the most eligible bachelor in Canterlot, and I can't help but notice you're not with anypony at the moment. Think about it, every mare wants to marry a prince. Why wait for some other commoner to inherit the title by marrying you, when you could marry a genuine prince?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "We two are of the most noble blood in Canterlot, you being an alicorn and protege of Celestia, and now with your own little Empire, and I with my divine blood and fine breeding. What more could you hope for in a stallion? And what time is more romantic than Hearth's Warming Eve?"

Twilight stared at him for several seconds. "...are you proposing to me?"

"Yes, of course. Won't it be a great announcement at the toast?"

"...Prince Blueblood."

"Yes Twilight?"

"I'm... sorry? ...But I understandably want a little while to think about it."

"Well, of course, Princess." He smiled smugly. "Though you may not want to wait too long, you know every mare in Canterlot will jump at the chance should you refuse."

"heh... heh... yeah." She glanced in every direction, hoping for any possible reason to stop talking to Blueblood. "Oh! I'm sorry, but my Captain needs to speak with me!" She dropped the little box in the pile of presents. "I'll put thought into your offer, try the punch." She said nervously, turning and moving quickly toward Oscuridad. "Hello Captain!"

"How may I be of service Princess?"

"Pretend to speak to me about something urgently so that I don't have to talk to Prince Blueblood."

"Prince?! Prince of what?"

"He's a descendent of Celestia, distantly I hope... he just proposed."

Oscuridad's expression became unreadable. "...proposed what...?"

"Marriage."

"...with?"

"Me."

"...should I have Crow sneak him into a closet and slit his throat?"

"What?! No!...wait... actually... no, still no. We don't do that, remember?"

"Of course. Should I have him ejected from the window?"

"What?"

"I mean the premises, for disturbing you."

"...."

"Princess?"

"I'm thinking." She frowned. "...no... it would make to much of a scene. I think it'll be much less awkward for everypony if I simply avoided him the rest of the night, and then forever."

"Likewise." Oscuridad said, bristling.

"Ahem." Twilight said, clinging her glass a few times. "Hello everypony, thank you, thank you. Now then, I'd like to say a few words before we all open our gifts and begin the feast." She glanced down at her notes. She didn't need them of course, having memorized it as she wrote, but all the same they were comforting, as well as an excuse to turn away from the hundred-something pairs of eyes in the room. "I'd like to thank, first of all, my dear friends Rarity and Pinkamena, for organizing the details of this wonderful ball. I'd like everypony to give them a hoof. Then, to Sanguine, my personal bodyguard, for suggesting the wonderful gift-giving process this evening, for those unfamiliar with it." Another glance down. "And finally, to all of you, my guests, who gave me the honor of visiting my ball. Friends and neighbors, my loyal draconic subjects, and visitors from Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, and Manehatten alike. Please, begin opening your presents."

There was another applause for Twilight, but it was cut short by another glass ringing. "Excuse me, pardon my interruption, but just as it is tradition for everypony to leave their three presents anonymously, it is also tradition that the host of the feast should have the first pick." Oscuridad said proudly, gesturing for Twilight to approach the tree.

She thanked him, and was surprised to see the group of ponies clear a path for her. She walked up to the tree and smiled at the many decorations. She looked down and saw a single blue box, night blue, with turquoise ribbon. It was a very humble-looking present, considering who was at the party. But she had a good feeling about this box. As long as it didn't contain a horn ring with a note saying 'from Blueblood with love', she'd be satisfied.

She slowly opened the packaged and carefully undid the ribbon and pulled off the paper. She then emptied the box and gave a soft smile at the beautiful little toy inside.

It was a nutcracker, though the inscription on the bottom read "Nussknacker". It was a wooden figure of a simple Earth or Crystal Pony, sitting on it's haunches with a beautiful red and gold suit. She carefully opened and closed the large jaw, grinning at the black beard and mane, and the large painted-on teeth. It had two blue glass eyes, and charming curved painted-on moustache. On top of his head was a wooden crown painted gold.

"To the pony who gave up this beautiful nutcracker, thank you. I'll treasure it always." She announced to the crowd.

The Nutcracker Part 2

Blueblood marched up to the Princess, frowning. "So... you didn't take the ring?"

"I uh... forgot about it?" Twilight said sheepishly.

"Oh well... I suppose it's unfortunate you had to pick one of the 'old' presents. What is it even?"

"A nutcracker."

Blueblood winced at the thought and stepped back slightly. Across the floor Oscuridad found himself incredibly cheery. "Why would anypony need something like that?"

Twilight levitated a small walnut over from a table. "Like this, it breaks the shell open so you can eat it." She demonstrated, smiling at the cracking sound of the nut being opened. Blueblood looked at it, before getting a certain sparkle in his eye.

He levitated the largest walnut from the pile, making a test crush with his magic. After not even shifting he smiled. "Might I try?"

"Uh, I suppose, it's mostly for decoration but-"

He stuck the too-large walnut into the nutcracker's jaw and shoved the wooden back on the back of the nutcracker closed, Twilight winced as the handle on the back cracked and the jaw came loose, the wooden insides of the toy's mouth bruised and slightly splintered. Twilight gasped and snatched the toy away, frowning at Blueblood. "It's for decoration! This nutcracker is probably almost as old as me! Why would you do that?"

"Sorry... I just figured it would be better built. I guess that must be the cheapest present somepony could buy." He smirked, "So, about our marriage plans-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"Of course I'm not marrying you!"

"Wha- but I'm a Prince! Every mare in Canterlot, no, the world would be happy to-"

Twilight sighed. "You're full of yourself, you treat everypony with no respect, including me, an alicorn, with an army. You were a jerk to my friends and probably everypony else, and treat your title like a toy." She said calmly. "Honestly, I'm out of your league, and you're fooling yourself."

"But-"

"And you broke my Hearth's Warming Eve present. Guards! Oscuridad! Blueblood here has told me he has to leave rather urgently. Please see him out."

"Gladly." Oscuridad said with a smile giving Blueblood his most demonic glare, black smoke from the tear-ducts and everything.

She looked down at her Nutcracker sadly as six terrifying Longma dragged Blueblood out the door. "Twilight!" Rarity called, fuming.

"Rarity? What's wrong?"

"Sweetie Belle got a... gift... from Blueblood... with an attached note that was altogether not appropriate. I now have to have a certain conversation with that filly that I was hoping my parents would have to deal with."

"He... just left it on the pile?"

"It was on the very top with a lavender bow!" She growled. "Where is he? I'm going to punch him in the snout."

"Oh, my guards kicked him out just a few minutes ago, you can probably catch up."

"Thank you." Rarity stomped off, grumbling under her breath.

Twilight walked tiredly into her room in the library tree, setting down the broken Nutcracker on a shelf and teleporting out of her dress, landing in a tired heap on her mattress. "That... was exhausting..." She whispered to no one in particular. She smiled slightly at the plate of gingerbread ponies that had been left by her bed. Spike was such a dear. She frowned slightly as a mouse crawled up the table and sniffed at the cookie. Twilight made a noise at the small creature and it immediately ran off. She would have to call Fluttershy to coax them out of her house soon. She frowned slightly at the implications of the thought, but she assumed Owlicious had always taken care of the majority of them, she was seeing more of them than normal scurrying around the library. If any of them were eating the books so help them... she yawned, glancing one last time at the Nutcracker.

And she fell asleep, thoughts of mice, gingerbread, and Nutcrackers dancing in her head as she drifted into unconsciousness.

It didn't last long.

"What is... huh?" She screamed as she noticed the two massive mice standing above her, brandishing spears and wearing noble suits. "What's going on?!"

The two looked at each other, before turning tail and dashing away, off the side of a cliff- She looked around. Off the side of her bed.

They came back quickly, with reinforcements. She backed away slowly as the line of mice slowly came closer, twirling their spears effortlessly and almost whimsically. She looked from side to side, before unfurling her wings and blasting away from them. She looked in amazement as her little bedroom seemed to be the size of- well, the closest was the regal ballroom in Canterlot, but even that was dwarfed by the massive room she was now in. She landed on the arm of a chair, and she stifled a shriek as three dozen mice appeared from the woodwork to surround it.

Then the mice slowly backed away from the chair. Twilight stared in amazement as another mouse walked slowly out from under the chair. He wore a golden crown and a had a massive flowing red cape. He marched with great dignity and pose, every direction he looked had mice bowing. Then he turned dramatically, his cape making a circle around him as he turned toward her on the chair. He gestured with one claw and the mice formed a living staircase up to the chair arm in almost an instant, and an instant later he was standing above her on the chair leg. His draconic eyes were ruby red, and shone with a dark intelligence she had never expected to see in a mouse.

She stopped herself from smiling as the thought passed her mind that this mouse made a far better Prince than Blueblood. He held out a claw and bowed slightly, as if asking her to dance. She was spooked, as if reading her mind, the sound of light drumming and trumpeting was heard in the distance of the room.

Before she could react, the mouse took her hoof and gently led her down the staircase, to the center of the floor, he then swung her around and around in an intricate waltz without her giving any input. The mouse then jumped at the sound of a drum, and looked up at her bedside table as dozens of gingerbread stallions, suddenly given three-dimensional shape, galloped down the side of the table and began to combat the mice. Twilight was left confused and slightly dazed by what was happening in the center of the floor as open war between cookie and battle-dressed mice began. She looked up nervously as a gingerbread stallion stopped next to her and offered her a hoof and a look of concern. She reached out a hoof to take it, unsure, but drew it back as the cookie was beheaded by a sword swipe from the Mouse King.

She shivered as she saw the same noble and intelligent expression in the Mouse King's ruby eyes as when he was dancing with her, even as he ran his sword through another cookie, who shuddered like a pony, despite not making a sound. The battle continued raging around her as she turned to fly away, try to understand the situation, but before she could take off the Mouse King set a gentle paw on her wing, his sword still brandished and covered with the moisture of recently-baked gingerbread.

She stared at him, slowly backing away from the armed rodent, when his attention shifted up toward the top of her shelf. He jumped back, his cape billowing, as a wooden stallion jumped down, his own sword brandished in one hoof, his jaw nearly falling out of his body, his back broken, he shifted back in forth in what was pain, but showed determination.

She stared, unbelieving at her Nutcracker as he turned his glass eyes toward her, filled with a deep devotion and determination. He turned back to face his opponent, a second later, their swords met. The Mouse King had the advantage, jumping back and forth gracefully on two feet and swinging his light sword with one paw. The Nutcracker moved with a different grace, shifting his larger and heavier sword from one hoof to the other as the two danced around each other, the rest of the battle halting to surround Twilight and the two duelists in a circle of dancing bodies.

It was definitely getting weird for her.

She watched with concern, the Mouse King with his deadly expression, and the Nutcracker with his strange devotion to her. She saw them both meet swords and twirl around to do it again, her eyes widened as she saw the Nutcracker wince as he turned, his injuries making him hesitate. She gasped and blasted the Mouse King with a beam, knocking the King to his stomach, where the Nutcracker pinned him there with the sword. The mice all began shivering and looking around nervously before filtering out the room through their various passageways, the corpses of the Gingerbread stallions taken with them, leaving only about half the cookies left. The Nutcracker himself pulled the sword of the way, knocking the crown off the Mouse King, but letting the creature get itself up. The King pulled off his cape and draped it over the Nutcracker, before bowing graciously to Twilight and walking away with dignity back into the darkness under her chair.

She turned back to the Nutcracker, only to find him staring at her with the same devoted expression.

"Uh... thank you... I guess. I'm not one hundred percent sure what happened here... but I'm pretty sure you were trying to save me." The Nutcracker bowed, before wincing at his injuries. "Um... here, just, lay down and I'll see what I can do." The Nutcracker obeyed and she sat next to him, looking him over and feeling, impossibly, as his wooden chest expanded and contracted slightly as he breathed. She reached out with her magic to repair the wood, but impossibly, the magenta glow of her magic shifted to a warm goldenrod, and the Nutcracker shifted and got up, appearing as a white stallion, a real flowing black mane and real moustache on his muzzle. He looked at her with the same crystal-blue eyes, and she couldn't help but notice he looked familiar. The now living made of flesh stallion looked to her, and spoke with a familiar voice, but with the least amount of malice or force she ever heard it.

"Would you... care to dance, Princess?"

"I..." She looked into his eyes, and they seemed so familiar, but she had never seen them before in her life. "...you know what, why not? I have to warn you though... I'm... fairly terrible at dancing."

The Nutcracker smiled at her for a little while longer, before taking off his crown and revealing a curved white horn. "I know." He said in the too-gentle familiar unplaceable voice.

And they danced.

And she only stepped on his hooves three times.

Twilight cracked open her eyes, and she jumped from her bed, looking around in every direction. "Wha- I... It... it was just a dream..." She put a hoof to her forehead. "Of course it was a dream. I could never dance that well, even while being led around by a mouse..." She chuckled slightly and turned to her table, freezing in place slightly as she noticed a fair percentage of the gingerbread ponies were missing. She turned her head again, and her eyes widened as she saw the Nutcracker missing from it's spot. She calmed her beating heart slightly before walking out of her room to throw some cold water in her face.

"Good morning Jaeger, did you have fun at the party, no sweets this time around?"

"NONE." He said with too much effort. "I am not repeating the Nightmare Night incident ever, ever again."

She chuckled slightly and joined her guards for breakfast. "Excuse me Princess."

She turned around and nearly jumped as she saw the large white stallion, with a black mane and curved horn. "Nutcracker?"

"Uh, yes, I'm sorry for not asking your permission, but you seemed exhausted. I repaired the damage done." He set down the wooden stallion, which seemed fully repaired, even polished up a bit. She smiled at the shine in the crystal blue eyes. "I hope I didn't spook you."

Twilight turned to look at him and smiled. "Thank you, Oscuridad, I can't tell you how glad I am it isn't broken... I had the most interesting dream about it last night."

Oscuridad raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue, but Twilight didn't say anything more. Twilight looked into his eyes and smiled a little strangely. Once he walked away she studied the Nutcracker a little more, turning it this way and that with her magic.

Draconic and cold ruby-red eyes. A snow-white coat. A quiet intelligence. A devoted follower. Sharp fangs, a curved horn... "I wonder... the Mouse King, or the Nutcracker..." Twilight whispered to herself. "...I wonder which he is."

Author's Note

14. Letters back and forth

Dear Shiny,

What can I say... the past week has been hectic. I've been a Princess for a while, but this is the first time I've had to think about the real responsibility of it. Now, with what I'm about to say, I have the absolute highest respect for Cadence, you know that, and it isn't even true any more. I assumed that I was going to be like Cadence was; have my normal life, but with wings and a crown. Go around town smiling and going to shops like everypony else, having a normal job, maybe dealing with guards and going to big events. And actually, thank Celestia, or rather Luna in this case, that's going to be true for the next few months.

I'm sure you've heard about it, being the Prince and all, but another Empire like the Crystal Empire sprung up in the North. They disappeared after Celestia banished Nightmare. They marched down South to Canterlot to proclaim Luna their queen again... and instead Luna proclaimed me their queen. Now I've got bodyguards, a Royal Captain, and a tower that sticks out of Ponyville like a sore thumb.

I'm the successor to Nightmare Moon, and there are seven trained warriors living in and above my house who watch me while I sleep.

Do you have any advice?
Love, Twily.
Brand new Queen of the Night Empire.

Dear Twily,

I've heard about them recently, one of my friends from the guard academy sent me a message about the 'army of monsters' that showed up. I was about to contact Princess Celestia and offer any help the Crystal Empire could offer, but she told me it was all under control. But still, that's quite something, isn't it? I guess the Armor family is officially just as royal as the Alicorn family, we've got two ancient empires now. I bet Mom and Dad are happy about this. Well, I supposed that would have to do with how much acceptance they have for the monster ponies.

As for advice; stay calm, learn as much as you can, and remember the reason you agreed to become Princess of your Empire. I've been doing okay, as far as I know, so I'm sure that you'll do amazingly. These ancient suddenly-appearing Empires really lucked out, huh? The Night getting you and the Crystal getting Cadence. They're almost as lucky as me.

You'll do fine.
Stay in touch, your brother Shiny.
Prince of the Crystal Empire, and married, your move.

Dear Shiny,

What's that about the "Armor" family? I've always thought we were the "Twilight" family, considering that Mom and Great-Grandma had the same name.

I've taken your advice to heart, though it's almost completely useless. I've been trying to learn as much as I can, but my Guards prefer to speak as little as possible around me, and Oscuridad, my Captain, always manages to slip around me or twist the conversation in a different direction unless I get overly assertive. As for my reason for agreeing to being Princess... I'm not sure I've found it.

At first, I assumed Celestia was training me because she just saw a promising Mage. Then, after the Nightmare Moon fiasco and I moved into Ponyville I thought she had trained me all those years because she wanted me to be the best possible bearer of the Elements of Harmony I could be. And after I finished Starswirl's spell and got my wings I found that that she had trained me to be the best Princess I could be. That's the belief I'm currently holding, but that's just because I can't think of where I can go up from here!

I mean, what could I be next? ~~A god?~~NOPE, NOT JINXING IT.

I know almost nothing about the Night Empire, except the little Luna and Celestia told me, and though I like all my guards, I don't consider them really my friends yet.

I don't have any real connection to them. And all they've done for me is make my life more stressful and get in the way of my schedule, and more importantly, get in between me and my friends. I can't even have a hug without being glared at.

I'm sorry for pouring out into this letter. Oscuridad's been driving me crazy by trying to alter all of Ponyville's laws and making me change them back, and now the library is probably going to shut down. And I've been trying to stay calm, but I have three stallions and three mares in my home who think everypony who walks by might try to kill me.

I've been working on being more assertive as a rule, and trying to see their side of things. I mean, if I were used to guarding someone in a big palace surrounded by servants, and then suddenly I were stuck in the country in a little tower with nopony I recognize, I'd be stressed too. But Celestia is right, if these guys had their way, I'd probably be up North locked in a room in their giant ice Castle. I've been less nervous about giving orders lately... though I'd prefer if I didn't have to.
Love, Twily.
Empress of the Night Empire, Mare of the Moon, Mistress, Shadow Lady, etc. your move. Also, living with four stallions.

Dear Twily,

I get where you're coming from. The move her was a big change... and honestly, I'm still not sure whether I'm used to it. I don't have the same problem giving orders as you do, since I spent a while with the Royal Guard, actually being trained on how to give and take orders. It's possible to still be friends with a Pony and still give them orders when it's necessary. It's about finding a good balance and not abusing that power. You just have to try and find that balance. Your bodyguards are going to be a constant in your life from now on.

Me and Cadence both have our own sets of five bodyguards each, and then an extra set of three that guards us when we're together in public. They're almost always nearby, and for the first few weeks they were pretty annoying. It didn't help that for the first week only one of them could remember their name, and that was the one who had worked previously for Sombra, so he was the most nervous around me. Though by now we can joke around like old buddies.

That brings me to another point. You're aware of the amnesia that the Crystal Ponies have, right? The magic-based one that was attached to Sombra's curse? Well, let's say that news about your Night Empire jogged a few memories. They don't seem to like the Night Empire that much.

Apparently Sombra was a member of your Empire, which could explain a good percentage of it. The gem trade has picked up considerably though, so I doubt the ill feelings will continue for long, now that our biggest customer has apparently risen from the dead. Luna's buying gems like there's no tomorrow, and requesting Crystal Ponies to build new buildings. The Crystal Empire is the richest it's been since it magically appeared last year.
Love, Shiny.
Prince of the Crystal Empire, Supreme Leader of the Crystal Guard, ex-captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, co-slayer of the Changeling Queen. And married to Mi Amore Cadenza, thus giving me the official position of luckiest stallion alive.Your move lil' sis.

Dear Shiny,

What's that about being 'co-slayer'? We don't have records of a single Changeling dying during the entire invasion. Face it, for once in my life, I am the one with the most titles!

Anyway, today was interesting. I had a picnic planned with Rarity and Applejack before I became Empress, so I ordered all my guards to have a day off. I chatted with the two of them for about two hours before Crescent, one of said guards, asked as quietly as possible if she could join us. We had an actual conversation between the four of us, and she actually opened up a little to us, which surprised me, because I pegged her as being antisocial and even more shy than Fluttershy before then. She became fast friends with Rarity as they debated about Longma and Shadhavar fashion, and Rarity almost left early to get started on what she calls my 'official unveiling' gown.

When I got home I found that Crow Moon, another one of said guards, had spent his day trying to make up for being rude to Rainbow Dash when they first met. Crow really hates the Wonderbolts, he apparently ~~murdered killed~~fought a group of early Wonderbolts a thousand years ago during the Civil War, and when he found out they were still operating he lost it for a little while and shouted at Rainbow Dash back when the Longma first arrived. So he spent his day off with her and Scootaloo, a filly from the local school, at a Wonderbolt Show to make up for it. In the end, he even agreed to participate in a Wonderbolt Derby with Rainbow Dash just so that they could have an excuse to give Scootaloo a private race. It was so sweet and I didn't know he had it in him.

He came back with a serious concussion and a few other injuries. I'm not too sure about all the details, considering he's confused and Rainbow Dash doesn't understand what happened, but apparently a mishap with some Longma magic led to him weighing almost nothing and crashing into another pony.

Tonight he's confined to his room for bedrest, but Oscuridad mentioned getting a reserve guard until he's well. That would mean sending a message to Luna and waiting for him to arrive, but by then Crow would probably be well and it would all be pointless, so I assured Oscuridad nothing bad would happen.
Love, Twily.
Protege of Princess Celestia, Successor of Nightmare Moon, Dark Queen, Alicorn, Element of Magic, Organizer of Winter Wrap Up, Librarian, and Actress of the Canterlot Hearth's Warming Theater. I have led a very active life and I think Den has a book full of Nightmare Moon's titles, all of which I have inherited. You cannot hope to beat me in a contest of who has the most titles.

Dear Twily,

Shame about your guard, hope he gets better soon. And about your other guard, I'm happy you two are friends. And I am still in possession of the title "Older Brother" which is all that matters. Besides, I have a long list of ranks I held or passed over I could list off. Beside, as Prince I'm sure I have a similar book of titles lying around somewhere.

As much as I love that game, I'm afraid I'll have to put it on hold. Something big happened in the Crystal Empire recently. Sombra came back, again. He gave up without a fight, and currently he's sitting in our dungeon with the best locks we possess and our most secure holding spells. I already sent a message to the other Princesses, Luna suggested that you speak with him for some reason, and Celestia told me that she's begun researching a more permanent method of sealing than the Elements of Harmony, the Crystal Heart, or banishment.
Love, Shiny.

I'll be there first thing in the morning, I'm bringing my bodyguards, and my Captain, who met Sombra before, with me. Hold on big brother.
Love, Twilight.

15. Of Immortals, Kings, and Queens.

The light engulfed him.

It passed through him. It filled the eroded parts of his cursed mind to nearly bursting, and destroyed everything else. He felt a pain so painless it was excruciating as he died.

Most of the fragments were burnt into nothingness, some caught and ignited on their own from the light, some of them buried themselves in the ground, but soon fizzled away into nothing. And one fragment, what used to be a horn, was blown into the sky by the blast, launched high into the air and spiralling back down miles away.

The horn took root in the snow and began to spread it's influence bit by bit, drinking the substance of the ice, of the crystals below the ground, and the dark magic that coursed through the alicorn substance in the bone.

Over months it grew steadily, taking form bit by bit, converting every bit of energy it could grab into the regeneration.

His eyes slowly formed from the black matter, and he stared upward, unable to blink into the sun for weeks. His hooves slowly separated from each other, becoming separate pillars, his mane grew and grew, streaked white from the ice and the energy that burned through it. His mouth formed on the final day and he screamed a blood-curling roar that woke every living creature for miles.

And the only living creature for miles was him.

He collapsed, tearing his body from the roots in the ice, and shivering as the cold and hunger began to seep into him. He took a shaking step, and then another before falling to his knees. He was starving. His horn lit with tremendous effort, having spent it's magic bringing a Shadhavar back to life with nothing but it's latent magic reserves and ice. It's very substance had withered, but it still glowed as the Earth below him burst and several gemstones were brought up with it. He sunk his fangs into them with a satisfied crunch as he consumed them, before turning around to look for shelter. He shivered and narrowed his near-blind eyes, staring into the white expanse and not seeing anything he hadn't seen for the months of being held in place like a tree.

He closed his eyes and accepted the relief of darkness. For months, the only darkness that existed was the far too-brief reprieve of night and the darkness within him. Now he could close his eyes. Finally.

He shot them back open as his mind filled with pictures. Faces of ponies. Lovers, fighters, dreamers, and him. He shivered in the cold and walked in a circle. He stood in the wind for several more seconds before turning sharply and marching forward at a steady pace. He broke the earth and consumed any gems he could find whenever he got hungry, and then just continued on his way.

He was no normal pony anymore, he could tell. He couldn't remember much, but he remembered enough. He was... well, his name wasn't important right now, he decided. It would come to him later. He used to be a Shadhavar, a skilled mage. A soldier. Lost in the war, unable to return to his team. Lost in the cold. By the time he found himself in the Crystal Empire he had known that it had been lost. That the Moon bared the scars of the battle. That there was one less Alicorn on Earth. That his home would be sealed forevermore.

That he was alone.

He began to wail and forced his eyes open, the sudden pain blocking out the memories.

But he was forced out of instinct to close them again. He was furious at the Crystal Ponies. They could have helped, they could have saved the Night Empire with their aid. But they abandoned Luna, they abandoned the Longma, they abandoned the Shadhavar.

And he was all that was left.

Alone.

He frowned as his stomach growled again. He didn't understand why he still needed the gems to survive. He had the sneaking suspicion he didn't, but his body wouldn't listen. So he once again halted his journey and began magically digging for gemstones.

He was furious at the Crystal Ponies, so he showed them his fury, he did terrible things to them. And by the time the fury subsided, he was still doing them. He had them in chains, he had the Empire follow his every command. He readied for war, he was going to take revenge on the... the... he stopped his march to look for the name. He glanced upward at his constant source of pain and remembered. The solar ponies. Celestia. The Sun-Hag. He was going to destroy their nation and murder their Princess, give them a hell so terrible that the Crystal Ponies would realize the mercy he had given their lesser betrayal. They were, after all, a Lunar race. The last members of the Lunar race. Like him.

Not... quite so alone.

But that was not to be. Celestia came, and she destroyed his plans, his ambition. His sanity. Well... maybe he had lost that earlier on. He couldn't remember. He didn't much care. She had taken it all from him. He sealed the Crystal Ponies away with the Longma and the Shadhavar. And he was completely and utterly alone.

Absolutely alone.

And she frowned at him. That was it. Not rage, not sadness. She didn't pity him, she didn't mourn the Crystal Empire that was a casualty of her attack on him. She had no tears left. She had banished her sister, and now, now the half of Ponykind that was not hers was gone from the Earth. Permanently. But she was not alone. She had the Earth, the Pegasi, the Unicorns. She turned him to shadow. She froze him solid, she buried him. She locked him, tying him to the sealing curse he did on the Crystal Empire.

He was awake for a thousand years, turned downward to the abyss of the Earth, made of darkness, facing the darkness, remembering only darkness.

Alone with the darkness.

He was the most potent Shadhavar mage to be born for millenia. He rivalled Starswirl the Bearded, Princess Nightmare Moon had said so herself. He was alone with the darkness, so very single-minded, wrapped in every kind of spell, and filled with dark ambition. If he still wasn't insane, he must have cracked there.

And then the Crystal Empire was alive. Broken free from his weaker curse. And when he tried to enter, he found himself stopped. Celestia had finally, truly taken all that was Lunar for the Solar now. Sitting on his throne; a pink fluffy alicorn Princess, who had grown up in Canterlot, calling the Sun-Hag 'auntie Celly' and her unicorn Prince Consort, who had grown up a Solar patriot and served Celestia loyally for the majority of his days.

They were in command of the last great Lunar city. They commanded the last of the Lunar races.

He had nothing. He attacked and wailed and roared and blasted and surrounded and tricked and corrupted, and he could not get into his city, the city that he was going to rebuild the world with.

He closed his eyes and saw the city, shining in sunlight, covered with that cursed blue field, taunting him from his memory. And he opened his eyes, and saw the exact same thing.

He remembered finally getting in, and then the Crystal Heart, and then the dragon, and then... the light engulfed him.

The memories stopped. All he could gather from them had been revealed to him. He stood next to the shimmering blue wall. It was far less dense than he remembered. Now it simply served to keep out the cold. He put a hoof against it, wincing and pulling it back less than a second later. He stared at it for several more seconds, his near-blind eyes barely comprehending it. He sank to his haunches and sighed. He couldn't even get back in. The Shadhavar sat there, closing his eyes and drifting to sleep by the wall of the Crystal Empire. His march complete. He would wait until the morning before deciding to what to do next.

He sat there through the afternoon and through the night, the snow that reflected off of the shield gathering on top of him. As the sun began to rise over the horizon his eyes cracked slightly open, taking in the watery colors and half-shapes. The shield shimmered and opened as proud, healthy, and strong Crystal Ponies marched outside into the cold cheerfully to plow the gem-fields, carrying behind them all kinds of wagons and tools for their trade. Business was booming for the first time since they've revived. No, since before the Civil War.

The nameless Shadhavar lifted himself from the snow pile, hissing under his breath as his body complained at the sudden motion. He turned his gaze on the vaguely-pony-like shapes, frowning as the sunrise light reflected off of their crystalline bodies. He took a step toward them, tired beyond words. One of the ponies noticed him and broke off from the procession, walking straight up to him. "You okay fella?" He asked, waving a hoof in front of the Shadhavar's pale eyes with no reaction. "Guys! This guy looks half-frozen, and I think he's snowblind!"

A few more Crystal Ponies left the group to look at the snow-encrusted stallion. The Shadhavar turned slightly toward them, unsure what to do next.

One of the ponies began brushing snow off his coat, before moving up to shake some from his mane. Then he noticed the horn. The curved horn.

"Oh Moon... this is Sombra." He hissed. Eyes shrinking and coat suddenly losing its sparkle.

"What?"

"The horn! The fangs!!" He gasped out, turning back toward the main group. "It's SOMBRA!!!" He screamed, the entire procession halting and turning toward the Shadhavar.

"Sombra?"

"Oh Sun and Moon!"

"Everypony panic!!!"

"Back in the shield!"

The nearest Crystal Pony bucked Sombra in the side and galloped as fast as he could back through the Force Field. The entire procession turned on it's hooves and began galloping into the dome, the last of them picking up some shovels and pick axes and crashing their carriages to make a makeshift wall to keep Sombra from entering through the two Crystal Gates.

"Sombra! Don't you dare come in here! Make one wrong move and we'll...." he turned to the other stallions who had decided to join him with making the barricade. "...what'll we do?"

"...Um..."

"We'll call the Princesses on you!"

"Yeah!"

"Weren't the others already doing that?"

"Shut up." hissed the other three.

"...Sombra..." he whispered out, causing the four stallions to become deathly silent. "...I... I think... my name..." He looked up to them... "My name.... is.... Sombra." he breathed out painfully.

The four stared at him, and he stared back at them. They stood in the silence for several minutes before The flapping of wings and the galloping of hooves interrupted the sound.

"You four did a remarkable job protecting the city, where is the monster?" Cadance said, looking at the four Crystal Ponies. They turned back to her and merely gestured at the other side of the barricade. Cadance turned toward her husband and her guards. "Be prepared... I'm going to move the barricade."

Shining Armor lit his horn and the guards gulped and slowly lowered their spears. The four brave Crystal Ponies dashed out of the way of their rulers, leaving them to face the simple barricade of tools that stood between them and Sombra.

The Princess's horn glowed and the wooden barricade was shoved to the side, she flared her wings and got into an offensive stance, but she hesitated when she saw the snow-encrusted Shadhavar. His mane was streaked with many threads of white, slightly ghostly at the ends where his shadow power manifested itself. His coat was covered in waves of ice, but under it it shined like a Crystal Pony's, or rather, more like ice. His body was covered in cracks, like shattered ice more than the soft edges that appeared in a Crystal Pony's coat when they are at their happiest. His eyes were pale white-blue, the draconic shape obscured with the wounds of snow-blindness. His horn was cracked, slightly twisted, and fizzled, as if broken. His stomach was shrunken with hunger and he was almost skeletal. He was barely recognizable.

"...Is... is that even him?" Cadance asked slowly, turning toward her confused guards and husband.

"Are you Sombra?" Shining asked, getting straight to the point.

Without wasting an instant, Sombra nodded yes. They were right there. With witnesses. He could strike down both of Celestia's puppets, and his Crystal Slaves would turn back to him as King, and he would declare war, and then he would unify all of Ponykind under the flag of shadow and-

He shivered in the cold. He didn't have the magic. He didn't have the ambition. He was wounded, weak, the Crystal Ponies were the healthiest they've been in years, if they revolted, he'd die. And when Celestia came back, even with his thousand years of darkness running through his mind, he wouldn't last. He lost thrice to her. Each time he nearly died and experienced despair, each time Celestia took more from him.

He let out a silent groan, and he allowed himself to go limp and collapse. He had nothing left to fight for. Celestia won. At the very least the Crystal Ponies would continue to survive. He punished them for their betrayal. They would remember that betrayal til the end of time. He fought as hard as he could. He swore a blood oath to Nightmare he'd fight for her until his death, and he was killed by the Crystal Heart. Now... he just wanted it to end.

Shining Armor stared at him for a while, before turning back to his wife. "...Guards... chain him, take him to the dungeon... We'll... deal with him once we're sure what's going on."

The guards looked at each other, hesitant to approach the fallen tyrant. "Yes sir." One finally said, bringing out a set of cuffs and chaining all of Sombra's hooves together. Shining levitated a specially-made magic-blocker ring over to the tyrant, pushing it over the curved horn down to the base, his eyes widened in surprise as the ring glowed before snapping the horn, a massive burst of black and red and blue and purple and green energy firing from it in a wave, which seemed to scream as it met with the nearby shield and became nothing. Sombra winced slightly at the pain, but just laid there.

"Cadance what was that?!"

"I... I think he had a much bigger magic reservoir than we thought... It's gone now though..."

"Until he grows his horn back..." Shining said sadly. He levitated several more chains and attached them to the former tyrant. "Take him to the palace dungeon... though try to be discreet about it." Sombra coughed again. Shining turned toward another guard. "Look for a medic too... looks like being blown up wasn't very good for him."

Twilight gathered her bags and checked the clock. The train should finally be there. The Crystal Empire could be in ruins already!

Oscuridad and her guards were in full armor, ready to do battle. And now that she thought about it, so was she.

"Hey Twi! I got here as soon as I saw your lett-" Rainbow shouted, knocking on the crystal door that led into the Tower.

Twilight teleported Rainbow inside, then teleported both of them up to Crow's room.

"-er! Whoah! Where are we-" Rainbow began.

"Justtalktospikeifyouneedanything!Thankssomuch! Bye!!" Twilight teleported back down with her guards. "Let's go."

A few stories up Rainbow blinked twice before turning to the Longma on the bed. "...I have no idea what just happened."

"...I think you're here to take care of me until the headaches go away."

"...okay then... what do I do to get rid of headaches?"

"Heck if I know. Talk to Spike."

Spike looked up from his comic and gave a shrug. "I don't know, put a bag of ice on his forehead?"

"I grew up in a castle made of ice, it's not going to do much." Crow groaned.

"...I think I'm going to call Fluttershy." Rainbow decided.

"I think that'd be for the best." The Longma said, putting a hoof over his eyes and wincing at the pressure on his head.

Twilight paced back and forth on the train, worrying. "Princess."

Sombra was back. She had nearly gotten skewered the last time, not to mention almost traumatized. "Princess."

The Crystal Heart should be stopping him, why wasn't it doing anything? "Princess."

Luna said that Shining should talk to her about it. Why should Shining talk to her about it? What would Twilight know that a who knows how many millenium old Princess wouldn't?! "Princess!"

"What is it?!" Twilight shouted, spooked out of her panicking.

"We're here."

"Oh." Twilight turned to her guards and cleared her throat. "Well... I don't know what we'll find out there, but this is my first time as Princess entering the Crystal Empire, first impressions are incredibly important, so, be on your best behaviour. If there's a demonic Shadhavar flying around as a cloud of smoke and growling 'crystals' we're taking him out. If we get greeted by a royal entourage, we'll all be perfect gentleponies, understood?"

Six resounding "Yes." were heard.

"Alright..." She turned toward the train door and took a first step out. Only to be pulled into a hug by a massive white stallion.

"Twily! It's been to long!"

Twilight managed to free herself and signal to her guards that the assault was, in fact, a hug, (a signal that thanks to living close by to Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, was becoming surprisingly common). "Hey Shiny, I came as soon as I could, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, he's still quiet."

"Twilight!"

"Cadance!" Twilight met another hug.

The two came out of the hug, and then the two god-like alicorn monarchs of ancient empires recited an ancient greeting; "Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake, clap your hooves, and do a little shake~!"

Kalt and Sanguine sighed together, face-hooving. "I feel the sudden urge to hit Crow."

"You know he has nothing to do with this."

"He'd have something stupid to say about it."

"You know Rainbow Dash... for some reason, I'm really glad I'm lying in bed right now with a concussion."

"That's the concussion speaking." Rainbow replied, looking up from her book. "Now then, are you going to stop interrupting every twenty seconds, or are you going to let me read to you?"

"Ugh... fine." He glanced up with a raised eyebrow. "Though this Daring-Do character seems to arrogant for my taste is she the villain?"

"She's the one the book's named after!"

"And what does that prove?"

Rainbow sighed. "Just let me read to you, now then... where was I?"

The royals and their bodyguards marched back to the palace grounds, where ponies were nervously preparing a festival.

"This... doesn't seem like the right time of year for the Crystal Fair." Twilight said nervously.

"...We might need the Crystal Heart, and without a large source of joy..." Cadance answered hesitantly.

Twilight nodded, watching as Crystal Ponies stopped in their tracks and retreated as soon as they caught sight of her bodyguards. No one was screaming "Sombra" like Rainbow did in Ponyville, but the Empire ponies were better suited for it. They knew Sombra, they would be able to spot a fake faster than her with an identification spell. They also knew he was half-dead, and locked in the dungeons. They knew their festival preparations would banish him at the very least another year. But the glares and fearful stares at Oscuridad, and then, once they recognized he was someone else, at Twilight, with more anger and fear, was beginning to unnerve her.

She turned to her brother and frowned. "I can understand the glares at Oscuridad, no offense-"

"None could ever be taken."

"-but why are they looking at me like that? Wasn't I a hero the first time I came here? And at they were very courteous when I came back to help with the Equestrian Games preparations. Why are they all scared of me now?"

"...You're the princess of the Night." Oscuridad answered. "They recognize your rank, and they know that you're responsible for Sombra's actions."

Twilight stopped in her tracks, her brother and childhood friend not far behind. "...What?"

"Sombra was a Night Empire soldier. He was left behind when we were sealed away..." Oscuridad answered. "Honestly, I thought he died. He was a Mage at the Ambush under Phoenix Hill. Over a thousand ponies on both sides lost their lives, thousands of miles from home. I'm surprised any ponies survived it. But if there were any, I suppose Sombra was likely." He eyed the Crystal Ponies, who stared back coldly. "He was a soldier of Nightmare Moon. And if he was still loyal, and really did conquer this city... I suspect he claimed it under her, and now, under your, banner."

"Sombra acted alone. Most of the Crystal Ponies' memories never fully came back, but they only remembered Sombra and his tortures... I'm not standing for anypony blaming my sister, who wasn't even born, when all those tragedies happened." Shining Armor announced loudly, too loudly. And most of the Crystal Ponies' gazes turned away and they turned back to their festivities, trying to take a grim joy in that their partying might finally kill Sombra, and that he might stay dead.

"...Thanks..." Twilight said.

Shining nodded. Cadance wrapped a wing around her. "Don't worry Twilight, they have plenty of reason to be mad... once we take care of this tyrant problem they'll see they shouldn't be mad at you."

Twilight nodded. Her guards noticed their Captain's mane shifting slightly, and they each slowed their pace, letting the Royals to go through the Palace entrance together. The six then turned around unanimously and gave a short apologetic bow, which was even returned by a fairly elderly Crystal Pony, before they entered in after them.

"Here he is." Cadance said sadly. "He's stabilized now, but he was pretty bad when we found him. He still won't talk... we're not even sure if he's still... sane."

"That is, if he ever was." Shining said slightly more harshly.

Twilight followed them in and looked at the stallion sitting in the center of the cell, his horn broken, his skin covered with a web of frozen cracks, pulled too close to his bones from lack of nutrition, his eyes half-lidded, with color slowly returning to them. A ghostly white streaked mane falling down over the side of his head.

"oh Celestia..."

Shining nodded. "He's surprisingly well-off, considering." Twilight turned to him incredulously. "He exploded, and then probably wandered in the snow fields for a year without eating, apparently." Shining said, attempting a smirk, but not really finding it fit the mood.

"So... what should I do?"

"I'm not sure. Luna said to contact you, so we did. I assumed you'd use the Elements of Harmony, or fetch Discord, or-"

The six guards turned toward Shining with a start. Twilight's eyes widened and she gestured that she'd talk about it later.

"-that you had some back-up plan you cooked up with Luna or something... at the very least you coming couldn't hurt."

Twilight shook her head. "No... if the Crystal Heart didn't work against Sombra, there's no way the Elements would. They bring peace, they don't destroy. They're less permanent and less powerful in most situations, besides, I don't want to drag my friends back into this."

Twilight smiled slightly. "Not that they'd object... but I'm immortal, so I'm not at much risk... and this is... well, by now I consider Sombra a family matter."

Shining nodded.

"Excuse, me Prince, Princess... I know Sombra, may I speak to him?"

"I don't see why not." Cadance said. Oscuridad gave a small bow and turned toward the cell.

"SOMBRA YOU USELESS BLANKFLANK PILE OF TRASH, YOUR QUEEN HAS ENTERED THIS FOUL DUNGEON TO GRANT YOUR UNWORTHY SCUM-ADDLED CORPSE CONSIDERATION. YOU ARE BEING A POOR EXCUSE FOR A SOLDIER, AAATTTEEENNNTTTIIIOOONN!"

Sombra jumped a full foot in the air and screamed in surprise at the sudden burst of noise. "Wha... what?" He asked dumbly, turning toward the group and raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Oscuridad lowered his head. "Sombra... I've heard many nasty rumors.... rumors that, if true, reflect terribly on the Nightmare and our entire Empire. You have brought dishonor on us all. And you don't even have the decency to bow to you queen!"

"...Queen?" Sombra whispered. His eyes began to water. It wasn't possible, she was sealed on the Moon for all eternity. He looked at the speaker. He couldn't remember any small details, having your brain explode could do that to you, but the white Shadhavar was familiar. It struck him suddenly, and if he wasn't already sprawled on the ground from his earlier jumpscare, he would have collapsed. He was a Shadhavar. And those were Longma.

Not alone.

His eyes slowly shifted, barely registering his hatred for the pink and the white monarchs, his eyes resting on the blurry outline of the only unfamiliar figure. She had a straight horn. As well as feathered wings. She was of darker, purplish, colors, though Nightmare was always fond of changing colors, going from blue to grey to black to indigo. She was his Queen. His queen had returned.

His brain went back to all those months standing in the ice looking at the sky. The Moon had always been pale. Without mark, without scar.

He just hadn't put it back together until now.

His Queen was free. His people were free. He wasn't alone. "...my... Queen?" He asked, on the verge of tears.

"...No."

His heart stopped.

That wasn't Nightmare Moon's voice.

"I am the new Queen of the Night Empire... but you aren't my subject." She turned to Oscuridad. "He's committed so many terrible crimes... and he never made the oath to me, right?"

"Correct... these can be grounds for violation of his Night Pony rights... if he had done this outside of a time of war... which he did. And without benefit to the Night Empire, or against the wishes of the Nightmare... which he did. He can be expelled from the blood oath. And he has not shifted loyalty to you. He's not part of the Night Empire."

Alone.

"...You... you can't... Celestia... did she place you in charge of the Night... Empire, without any right... like she did... for accursed Mi Amore?!" Sombra roared, his throat in pain with the sudden volume it had to produce. "What right do you have to rule?! Are you not a mere pawn of the Sun-Hag?!"

Oscuridad narrowed his eyes at once was his trainee soldier, Luna had told him once he had potential. He just thought he was a blank-flank no-name Shadhavar with a leaky horn.

Now Sombra was older than him, with more scars than he could ever hope to have.

"She's Luna's heir. Princess Luna herself has transferred the oath to Dark Empress Twilight Sparkle."

Sombra closed his mouth. "...Truly?"

"...Truly."

Sombra turned toward Twilight. "Now then, now that we've gotten that out of the way, Sombra, I want you to give a full testimony of your crimes against the-"

"I, King Sombra, third-born of the Asesino family-"

"Wait, no," Twilight began.

"Hereby make an eternal blood oath-"

"No, no, stop!" Twilight shouted.

"To loyally serve Princess Twilight Sparkle, until I die."

"No! Don't you dare-"

Sombra bared his fangs, and bit deep into his leg. She heard the crystalline skin crack, and watched as the too-clear blood began to pour from the two clean fang-holes, as well as the new web of cracks that spread from them.

"...And I am immortal. My Queen, I humbly apologize for the actions I took while there was no Nightmare upon the Earth. My only regret.." Sombra began, "Is that I couldn't give you the Crystal Empire..." He wheezed as his magic level dropped even lower as his wound forced itself to heal. "...As a coronation gift..."

16. Discussing punishment

"What?!" Twilight hissed. "You still have the gall to say something like that?!" She sighed, putting a hoof to her forehead. "...For now, you'll stay here, you'll be a model prisoner, I don't want to hear a single problem come out of you until I deal with all... this.... I need to talk to Luna about what Night law says about a situation like this..."

"Yes Princess." Sombra said, sitting up straight in his cell and watching her with half-blind eyes.

"Twily..." Shining asked. "I don't think it'll be safe to let him go free, no matter what he says."

"I know... we should get Luna and Celestia here and discuss what needs to be done." Twilight said, pacing in place. The ice-pony in the cell started at the names, but didn't say anything. "What would be his punishment so far under Crystal Pony law? You're the ones he did those things to..."

"...At this point, the court system is still in flux... it's been just over a year since it came to the present, after all. Under the old laws he would have been given several executions and life sentences at once for multiple crimes..."

Sombra grinned slightly. "What would count as a life sentence? Let's say... a century per crime? Go ahead, behead, hang, or as the Crystal Ponies have always be fond of, impale, me as many times as required. I am now immortal. I will take it for the sake of my Queen, if she so desires."

Twilight stared in surprise at him for a few seconds. "No... just... no. Shiny, you wouldn't really go through with that, would you? I'd think you would have abolished the death sentence as soon as you could have..."

"We did... but Sombra's in another class. And, all his crimes took place before that change... I don't think I could ever stand for a pony being executed, but him..." Shining Armor narrowed his eyes. "I think he would have deserved it."

Cadance let out a cough, bringing their attention to her. "I'm sorry, but there are going to be no executions in the Crystal Empire, period."

Twilight smiled slightly. "Good."

Shining Armor nodded as well, agreeing to the statement. "I'll send a message for the Princesses..." he grinned. "I suppose this will be the first time all four Princesses gathered for a political meeting." His smile soured. "Too bad it's over him."

He walked down the hall to go send out the message, Cadance gave a smile at Twilight and followed her husband out of the dungeon. The moment she was out of earshot Sombra asked; "Is she gone?"

"Wha-.... yeah." Twilight answered. "Why?"

"Princess, I would be honored if you told me the current situation revolving around the four princesses. Luna transferred her oath to you, so what does that make her?"

"Luna is the-" Oscuridad began, only to be silenced by the sheer wave of wrath that shook the room.

"I was speaking to the Queen." He stated, turning back toward Twilight.

"...Sombra, say sorry to him."

"I am you captain and I will be treated with respect you upstart-"

"I apologize, by the will of the Princess. However, I was speaking to the Princess, and I AM your better. I have little memory of my days in the military, but the insignificant speck that was Sombra the Shadhavar is gone. There is now only King Sombra, terror of the North, monster, Spirit of Hatred, the windigo. I recognize my Queen, but I am a King, an immortal, a sun-blighted WINDIGO for the Moon's sake, and I am your better. Do NOT interrupt me." Sombra said, his words laced with almost liquid fear that made the darkness in the room seem darker, and the light seem weaker, and the air colder.

"...Princess?" Oscuridad asked, unsure of his position.

"Sombra, be respectful, he's the Captain of the Guard, and one of my friends. And from what I heard, he's your captain as well. If you owe loyalty to me, you owe it to him."

"...By your will. Now then, if you could tell me the situation around the four Princesses?"

"Cadance has been named the Princess of the Crystal Empire, Twilight of the Night Empire, and Luna and Celestia are diarchs of southern Equestria." Oscuridad stated, daring Sombra to interrupt him again.

"...Diarchs?"

"The sisters have made peace." Twilight said happily.

"...Is... Is that so."

"The three monarchies are considered three branches, each in command of their own section of Equestria, however they in tandem are the rulers of Equestria as a whole. A Quadarchy."

"But the majority of the ponies... are solar, yes? Under the dominion of Celestia..."

"And Luna, equally, and also to lesser extent under Cadance and I." Twilight affirmed.

Sombra gave an evil grin, some of his ambition returning, he would prove his usefulness yet! "...if Cadance and the Sun-Hag were to be mysteriously sealed... would you and Luna become the official rulers of the entirety of-"

Twilight slammed a hoof on the ground. "Don't you dare... finish that thought. We aren't doing anything like that ever. Now then, now I have to go and tell Cadance, my childhood friend, and Shiny, my brother, to add another few years to whatever sentence we decide on."

"...I believe I have misread the situation." Sombra said quietly. "...And I think I understand our position now, Princess."

Twilight grumbled as she walked out of the dungeon. "I hope so. You're going to be a handful, aren't you?"

"Aren't we all?" Sanguine said with a little sarcasm.

"Friend Twilight!" Luna greeted, giving a friendly bump on the shoulder that nearly knocked over the smaller lavender Alicorn. "It's been so long!" Twilight glanced backwards and saw that there was none of the tenseness in her guards that there usually was with physical contact. She frowned inwardly as she saw that most of them were only looking at Luna.

"Uh, it's only been a little over two weeks."

"With everything that's happened it feels like it's been over a year!" Luna said triumphantly. "Being in the Empire has been absolutely wonderful, so nostalgic, being with the Longma again." She did a happy dance, "I missed it all so much while I was on the Moon, and for the years before I was so focused on my emotions I never just enjoyed my Empire! You're going to love it, it will be just like it was before the entire Nightmare Moon tragedy." Luna said happily.

"Heheh, I hope so, Luna."

"Sister!" Celestia greeted, running up and hugging Luna, Twilight quickly grabbed Jaeger and pinned him down before he could try anything, Crescent grabbing the tails of the Kalt and Sanguine duo, forcing them back, Den holding onto Crescent and weighing them down to keep them from attacking.

"RELEASE LUNA!" Roared Jaeger, trying to wiggle out of Twilight's grasp, but being unable to resist the Alicorn strength.

"Jaeger!" Hissed Twilight. She watched with irritation as Celestia's pegasus and unicorns, and Luna's own Longma guards, both advanced to protect their respective rulers. The Crystal Bodyguards surrounded Cadance with an audible sigh of irritation from the pink alicorn.

There was soon a standoff as bodyguards eyed each other warily, having dragged their respective alicorns into protective circles.

"Oh for the Moon's sake, stand down!" Luna shouted, and the bodyguards of varying loyalties and race turned to listen, deflating slightly. "We were hugging Our most noble sister!!! Hast any of thou a problem with this?!"

"N-no, Princess Luna... forgive me..." Jaeger whispered, bowing low to the ground, Twilight releasing him. The other guards began to disperse slightly, letting their princesses go back to the center of the room.

Twilight nodded to Den and Crescent. "Good job." She said quietly, getting only nods in response from the two.

"Ask your own Princess." Luna reminded, and Jaeger glanced backward at Twilight, before blushing and letting his ears droop.

"I... my actions just now were... unproffesional and..."

Twilight sighed. "I get it, just don't let it happen again... we don't need another international incident to throw on top of this."

"Y-yes, Princess, my Nightmare." Jaeger said, quietly standing up and trying to regain as much dignity as possible.

Luna frowned. "I should have expected as such, honestly. Tis not their fault, twas not long ago for them that I told them and their children that Celestia was a monster."

Celestia sighed slightly. "Well, hopefully the damage doesn't last. You know how difficult it is when you have an empire that thinks of you as a demon from storybooks." She said this last part with a little smile.

"...Quite."

Cadance stared at the three, before coughing into her hoof to get their attention. "If we could move on to the matter at hoof?"

"Er, yes, of course." Luna said, straightening her posture slightly. "Twilight was unsure of how Night Law would dictate Sombra's execution?"

"We're not executing him!" Twilight said, surprised.

"We're not?" Luna asked, surprised as well.

Celestia frowned slightly. "The opinions on Capital punishment have changed quite a bit in the last thousand years, Luna. We are focussing on rehabilitation for criminals. Crime has gone down significantly in Equestria."

"I know, I know, you explained it all to me in great detail when I first returned. And I see the benefits... but Sombra is no simple murderer. He tortured an entire Empire during my banishment, did he not? He is more malicious and dangerous, though less powerful, than Discord ever was. He has committed crimes in a class of his own, it would not be unjustified to put him to death for his crimes."

"There are three problems with that, Princess..." Twilight stated. "One, I don't kill ponies. Two, even if I did, he's immortal. Three, I wouldn't, even if I did, because he gave a blood oath and promised to reform." Luna looked at her for a second without emotion, before gesturing for her to continue. Twilight let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, she had stood up to the Princess! "So... the purpose of this meeting is how some other punishment will be meted out, according to modern Equestrian law, how to handle this situation so that both Empires involved have their own codes on justice solved." She turned to her childhood friend, smiling. "Cadance, what do the Crystal Ponies want for Sombra?"

"His death." Cadance said, with a frown on her face and audible in her tone. "They want revenge... the sealing spell he did on the Empire muddled their memories, they lost their identities, some even their very personalities. We even had cases of Cutie Marks actually changing... If not for the royal Archives, their culture and their history would be gone just as well..." Cadance frowned. "I told them that we could use the Crystal Heart and some other wide-range spells to return most of their memories..." she turned toward Twilight, a deep look of regret on her face. "But the city practically unanimously agreed to keep the memory loss, because they didn't want to remember Sombra's reign in any greater detail."

"..." Twilight was speechless.

"What he did was so evil, that the Empire chose to forget it... nopony even remembers enough to make any more accusations than the revolution, slavery, and murder he did... because of the memory loss we don't even know how many Crystal Ponies died, or simply forgot enough they couldn't identify themselves, but his reign meant the deaths of at least four hundred ponies. They don't remember or know anything about him other than a deep sense of dread... my goal for the meeting is finding a way to publically depower and punish Sombra, or permanently seal him. My citizens won't accept anything less severe than that."

"...My own dealings with Sombra were short." Princess Celestia began. "After the Night Empire sealed itself I focused the next few years on repairing the damage done to the land and the families... returning soldiers home, recompensing for the families of those who had died or were severely injured. I was rather paranoid and suspicious for a long time... and it took me about two years to notice that the Crystal Empire had been taken over, and that was only when the Crystal Heart started sending out black magic. I only saw a little of the Crystal Ponies states... but it was horrifying. They were hungry, weak, in chains, despair in their eyes, fear in their steps. I challenged Sombra, and he sealed the city with his defeat... My suggested punishment for Sombra would be banishment to the Sun..."

Twilight's eyes widened. "...wouldn't it be... painful?"

"The celestial banishment spells involve an immense amount of magical power, it goes to preserving the victim against the more harmful effects of the terrain... everything on the sun is made of light and fire, or is on fire or flashing bright light. The spell would keep him from burning or suffocating or starving, but it wouldn't stop him from feeling the heat or seeing the light. He would live, but in pain, yes." Luna explained.

"The Moon is better suited for banishment, more equine... but Sombra deserves something worse than eternal night." Celestia said, resolutely. "But I defer to the rest of you in this judgement. Sombra has done the least harm or offense to Equestria, er, southern Equestria, and the least to me personally."

"...Twilight, you are the Queen of the Night Empire, so I will stand with Tia on this one. You and Cadance should decide."

"Well... what would be the Night Empire's punishment for this?"

"Rejection from the blood oath and execution or life imprisonment. Multiple times over." Luna supplied.

"Well... he already was rejected from an oath with you, but he hasn't really done anything during his oath to me... well, he's implied a few dastardly things..."

Luna grinned sadistically, pretending to curl an imaginary evil moustache. "I can work with implications."

"But once again, I refuse to allow execution, and eternal imprisonment in some dungeon..." Twilight weighed it in her mind. "Well... I guess that wouldn't be too bad. It would be Equine, he'd be punished, he wouldn't be a problem."

Cadance frowned. "I don't think my Empire would be happy about a simple imprisonment... my vote is on banishment to the Moon, or turning into stone."

"That's not the limits you know?" Luna said, cracking a slight smile. "We could banish him anywhere, or turn him into almost anything. Celestia, you turned him to shadow and banished him into the heart of a glacier the last time, did you not?"

"Yes, though in the end he was unsealed along with the Empire."

"Which one?"

"Both... I'm not sure whether this is just a really unlucky decade, or a really lucky one. You broke out and nearly cause eternal night, but at the same time, I got you back... then Discord broke free because of unrelated reasons and nearly reset the laws of normality, and then your freedom caused a chain reaction that released Sombra, but at the same time we got the two ancient Empires back one after the other. And then we managed to reform Discord, a huge gain for Equestria... and beyond that," She turned and smiled at Twilight. "we gained a new Alicorn sister and a new set of Elements of Harmony."

"...Twilight, Sombra vowed loyalty to you, do you think he would try to resist if we banished him?"

"No... I don't think so. The Longma and Shadhavar have proven themselves to be immensely loyal... even if Sombra's a monster, I think he would follow my directions. He began plotting to overthrow you as soon as you and my brother left the room, but as soon as I told him you were my friends and family, he gave up on it."

"...unfortunately, that just proves he's still dangerous... he wasn't pacified by the Heart, just weakened."

Cadance nodded. "And he might not be weakened now. He didn't claim to be immortal before, that's a new statement... so it might be that once he recovers, he'll be more dangerous than ever before."

"...I don't really want to banish Sombra. He's not a threat right now, and we have a hold on him." She looked at Celestia. "A hold that's at least more tangible if not stronger than the hold we have on Discord. I think we should try to let him truly reform."

"Twilight, the Crystal Ponies won't like that."

"I know, but he deserves at least that much, I mean, I don't want to compare one tragedy to another, but hasn't Discord done things on a larger scale than this?"

"Driving nations at a time insane and making them like it.." Celestia shuddered.

"I'm just saying we should allow Sombra a chance to make up for it. And besides that, a proper trial, where he can give a testimony of his side."

Cadance raised an eyebrow. "I don't think there's any way for him to make up for what he did, and especially not justify it."

"...Well... we should at least try."

Sombra was led down a hall, heavily chained, magic limiters attached to his nub of a broken horn, not that they would do anything now, he thought to himself, smiling.

He was brought into a bathroom, four Crystal Pony guards watching him. Two with spears at the ready, two holding crossbows with slightly twitchy hooves. Sombra paid them no mind, turning toward the mirror and looking at his reflection. It was still blurry, but he was healing quickly, and his vision was getting clearer by the minute. He could see the spiderweb of cracks that lined him, the dirty ice color of his once ash-gray coat. He was made of crystal now, in a fashion. He grinned at the branch-like growth of ice that came out of his fetlocks and shoulder. He swished his head back and forth to watch the white-silver of his new mane swish. And his eyes, they were still red, but they were paler than before, more liquid than before. He grinned savagely. His horn was practically gone, and his ears had always been a little more pointy than normal.

He looked like a Windigo.

He let out a breath and it fogged on the window, colder and heavier than the rest of the air around him. He turned the faucet and took a long drink of water, the drops that flicked out of his mouth hit the porcelain and froze in it's spot.

"Hurry up." One guard grunted.

He stopped and turned his eyes on the guard, who suppressed of shiver of horror. "What, exactly, gives you the authority to give me an order s..." He resisted saying the word 'slave'. "...Peasant?"

"...The authority of the Crystal Princess."

"Hehehehe.... alright then... in courtesy to the orders of the family of the Nightmare, I won't stop your heart." The Guard's eyes shrunk in fear, and he wasn't sure to fire the crossbow or run. He took another drink of water and wiped his face. He was about to walk away, when his eyes turned back to the drops of ice that had frozen onto the porcelain. He grinned slightly and made a show of collecting some spit in his mouth, before spitting it directly into the drain of the sink and turning back to the guards. "I'm ready for my trial now." He said happily, allowing himself to be guided out of the dungeons and up to the court block.

Inside the crystal pipes, in the sewers of the city, a fragment of ice, carrying the essence of the former Shadhavar, floated down the pipelines until they came into a tunnel. It dropped, sealing itself at the bottom of the murky water, and growing into the crystal ground of the sewers.

Few ponies ever went down there.

And if they did, the darkness and murkiness of the water would keep them from noticing the crystal at the bottom of the tunnels turning black.

17. Testimony, Verdict, Judgement, Sentence.

"I knew it!" Pinkie said happily, bouncing in a circle. "I totally called it! But nopony believed me!"

"I believed you." Fluttershy replied quietly. "...kinda..."

"Fighting Sombra all by yourself?! Why didn't you call us? I'm sure we could have made time for something as big as-"

"It's okay Applejack, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys... I just, well, I thought that Sombra was a family problem."

"That still doesn't mean you couldn't call us!" Rainbow said, crossing her hooves. "We took on Sombra before."

"I know, I know." Twilight smiled. She honestly should have seen this coming. Her friends had a legitimate reason to be upset. "It just felt like something I had to do myself. Don't worry girls, I promise, the next time I plan on confronting a legendary evil I'll let you all know."

"All is forgiven darling, I'm always happy to get a free train ride to the Crystal Empire! I'd come more often, but these long-distance train rides really gnaw at the pocketbook, you know?"

"Didn't I get you girls permanent train passes?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Only to Canterlot." Rarity said. "Which is in and of itself one of the best gifts ever, but still."

"Heh, I'll talk to Cadance and Shiny, we'll see what we can work out." She smiled. She would always appreciate these girls.

It didn't take that long for them all to find out. Twilight's sudden disappearance had been labeled off as a family emergency by Dash, but even the rainbow Pegasus didn't know much about the situation until Spike sent out a letter. Until then all sorts of gossip had been suggested for something that suddenly would call Twilight to the Crystal Empire with so little warning. (And one of Pinkie's theories wasn't that far off.)

The event had garnered some publicity. After all, it would be the first time all four Princesses would act together to enact Equestrian law, not to mention the defendant was a legendary monster from Equestria's history. Twilight arranged for her friends to get a free pass up to the Empire, and a short spat had started over why they had to mail a letter before they found out about the danger Twilight might have been in.

By now, multiple news organizations from all over Equestria had shown up, all wanting to record the "case of the century". Twilight couldn't walk two feet before some news crew or another ambushed her. Already she had to apologize and promise to pay for for eight separately owned cameras that had flashed just a little too closely to Twilight in her guard's opinions.

"Princess Twilight, do you support King Sombra's release? Did you really protest against his banishment in front of Celestia?"

"What? No- I mean, I think he deserves to be punished for what he did to the Crystal Empire but banishment is too-"

"Princess Twilight! The public wants to know, what's your opinion of the Crystal Empire? Is it true that you masterminded the tragedies 1000 thousand years ago?"

"What?! No! How could I even-"

"Princess Twilight, Princess Twilight!!"

"What?"

"About your views on eternal night-"

"How does that have anything to do with the court proceedings?"

"Er-"

"Please keep questions focused on the events at hoof!" Twilight said, exasperated.

"...What are your favorite Canterlot eateries-" She sighed and gestured upward, taking off and dashing as fast as she could back to the palace. She stopped in midair, staring at the festival proceedings and the massive crowd of all races, even including a small group of Longma near the back of the crowds.

She landed on a palace balcony and went inside, quickly shutting the doors after the last of her guards followed her into the opening. "Finally, some quiet..." She frowned. "I suppose the next part will be the hardest..." She levitated a book on ancient and modern law to eye level and quickly went over some last details.

"Princess. You'll do fine." Crescent offered, along with a small smile.

"...I know." She smiled back, turning back to the books and staying absorbed in the pages until a Crystal guard came to the room.

"Ah! There you are Princess Twilight. The trial is going to begin in half an hour. The Crystal Prince suggested that you wanted to speak to the monster before the proceedings..."

"Oh! Thank you! I almost forgot! Please." She gestured for the guard to lead the way.

Sombra was sitting patiently, staring at Twilight expectantly. "Hello Empress,"

"Hello, Sombra... are you ready for your trial?"

"Of course, I have nothing to be worried about. There's nothing the Crystal Ponies can do to me. And anything else that happens will be by thy will." He said, a small smile forming.

"...All the same... I want you to be ready. Also, no scheming, got it? I want you to tell the complete truth, and please be respectful to the other Princesses."

"...Do you acknowledge them as above you, Princess?" Sombra asked, his eyes narrowing.

"...I know I'm supposed to say that we all work as equals, but honestly, Celestia and Luna, even Cadance, are all far more experienced than me. I think they're good rulers, so yes. I respect them, and acknowledge them being better than me in their ability and experience... Not to mention I'm good friends with all of them, was practically raised by one of them, and I'm related to one of them."

Sombra nodded, a smile spreading across his lips. "My memory has mostly left me, only the most important parts were saved by my magic and survived my darkness and my madness... I remember my loyalty for Nightmare Moon. I remember my devotion. You're her heiress, she was your teacher, correct?"

"Actually, Celestia was my teacher..."

"......................Ah." He frowned. "I will tell the whole truth during my testimony, and will give proper respect to the Princesses... anything else... Princess?"

"...Not for now."

"Then, might your loyal servant rest?"

"Oh! Uh, sure...... Sombra?"

"Yes?"

"You said that your memory was mostly gone... can you remember why you did what you did to the Crystal Ponies?"

He smiled, revealing his fangs. "Simple revenge for abandoning the Night, at first. And then, once they properly feared me, I just conditioned them and carried out my fury without any reason that I can remember. I became a slave to my emotions, and enslaved the Crystal Empire in return."

Twilight narrowed her eyes, frowning. "Rest up Sombra... we'll see where you'll serve your sentence soon enough."

He grinned, lying back. They wouldn't be able to do anything to him. The Crystal Heart, more destructive than the Elements of Harmony, and just as potent, just as ancient, wasn't able to kill him. In fact- he flexed his foreleg, before making a quick strike at the ground, leaving a deep imprint -he was even stronger than before. He was truly immortal now, he could feel it. His magic levels, while useless without his horn, were higher than they had ever been. His body stronger, his mind... well, his mind was keen, if broken. You can't exactly have a sharp mind without a few jutting edges, right? He giggled slightly at his own joke before frowning. Maybe he was overestimating his mind. But it didn't matter. He was a Windigo now, a force of nature. He had sealed himself to Twilight, another immortal, another force of nature. And even if he had to spend a million years on the Moon, just waiting, it would be nothing, in the long run.

He couldn't believe his luck. Fate obviously liked him, he supposed. Not only did it allow him to recover from his death, it had given him back his people, his city, a new Empress, young and impressionable, it had removed his loneliness. His transformation had left him better than he was before, and it had even conveniently taken his memories of his old life. Only the names and emotions remained. A few vague images. It had taken away the Crystal ponies' memories as well.

With so little evidence, it was likely he wouldn't even be given that serious a sentence, maybe a few decades in Tartarus? Maybe a century or two on the Moon? He could handle it, no sweat. He had braved years of ice and darkness, and then months of light and the pain of rebirth. He would be fine, no matter what happened.

"This is what you've done to the Crystal Ponies?! You monster!!! Is this Nightmare Moon's legacy?!"

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Roared Sombra. "Princess Celestia, we meet at last, finally, I can have my revenge!! I will begin a new Dark Empire, with me as the King! I've taught my Crystal Slaves what it means to abandon the Night Empire to its doom... what I will teach the rest of Equestria, those who actively poisoned Nightmare Moon's work.... I will do a thousandfold worse. No 'horrific' punishment you could ever devise will compare with the average life of every Unicorn, Earth Pony, and Pegasus after I've conquered them!!!"

"...You're even worse than Nightmare... aren't you? You both fell into darkness... but her eternal night wasn't nearly as horrible as the future you desire." She frowned, turning down her horn. "Banish in the light, shadow."

Sombra didn't have time to open his mouth before the light engulfed him, raging through his being, leaving him a crumbling mass. Celestia watched with some regret as he disintegrated, turning toward the city, about to proclaim their freedom, and she watched in horror as the buildings all turned a sick shade of black, he turned back toward the mass of darkness, what she thought to be smoke and charcoal, but was now clearly just a mass of pure shadow. She stared as the buildings shook, and the Crystal Ponies began screaming.

"Y-you're too powerful for me... Celestia... Sun-Hag!" Sombra gasped, his body trying to rebuild itself from it's shadow form. "...But I will not allow you to have my people. I will never allow the Sun-Hag to rule over any Lunar race!" And with that, the city disappeared. It was simple as that. Sombra began laughing, and Celestia stared into the space where the tower had been, where the Crystal Heart had been.

"...No..."

"I've sealed them all away, with their noble brethren..." A maniacal look passed over his faith. "I am now the sole inheritor of the legacy of the Night. I'm... I'm alone?" He whispered.

Celestia narrowed her eyes, screaming as a rainbow of lights shot forth from her horn, wrapping around Sombra, still in his shadow form, and phasing him deeper and deeper, grabbing the threads of his still-cooling sealing spell and tying it to the chains that were pulling him down, to the center of the earth. She left him there, as a shadow, frozen in the ice, in the deepest, darkest, depth of the world. Chained to his own curse.

Those were his last clear memories.

On second thought, he had underestimated Celestia before. She could have a spell that could remove his immortality... or perhaps find some weakness in his new form. He found himself feeling nervous.

And Luna... he remembered his devotion to her... but no details. He couldn't remember anything about her.

Mi Amore... oh dear Moon, Mi Amore. When she first entered the Empire he had been so furious with her and her husband, he fought as hard as he could against the field for days straight. Every blow he landed was like a blow to her very mind. She knew and felt how much he hated her. She wouldn't have any mercy for him... and in the end, he didn't even know how strong she was. He couldn't underestimate Alicorns... Mi Amore wouldn't be able to kill him, but there were other punishments. Hadn't the power of love wiped out the ancient Windigoes?

And Twilight Sparkle... she feared him. Even after he pledged his loyalty, she had softened up and tried to make it easier for him, he could tell, at least a little. She knew the other three Alicorns well, and trusted their judgement more than her own. She was disgusted with his past actions... even the Shadhavar bodyguard with her, the Captain of something or other, was disgusted by him.

He blinked. He was in far more danger than he thought.

"...I believe... I may have misread the situation..."

"So... you're my client?"

"...Yes..." Sombra said, narrowing his eyes at the pegasus. He had hoped that Twilight or Luna would assign a more sympathetic attorney, a Shadhavar or a Longma, but he supposed that one versed in modern law would be preferable.

"Heh, I must say, I'm honored I was chosen... not every day you're contacted by Celestia to work on a case that will be famous through all history... the first time all four Princesses will act on the law, the first court case between all three 'empires'..."

"You were chosen by Celestia?"

"Yes, actually."

"..I do hope that you aren't going to surrender your case just because the Sun-Hag is paying you." The pegasus stared at him for a few seconds. In mainland Equestria, there are a few things you just don't see ponies doing. At the top of that list is insulting Celestia. It's not that it was against the law or unheard of, it was just something nopony would do.

"Uh... No. I always strive to find the truth of the matter. No matter what. No matter who's paying, who's on the stand, who's supposedly guilty or not, or who's my client. I try to find the truth." He pauses, pulling out several files. "Which begs the question, how much of those terrible legends are true, and how much is fiction?"

"I can't say, honestly." Sombra says, shrugging. "When I was murdered by the Crystal Heart my brain was destroyed, and before then I went through fairly.... traumatic... experiences. I'm pleasantly surprised I can still speak, let alone remember many fragments of my past. I'm not going to be the best source of information for you."

"Hmm... well, anything that could help with your charges or with the case would be good to know."

"...Alright, I do remember declaring war on Equestria, on attacking the field, on destroying buildings more than once, I remember ordering around terrified ponies in chains, and a vague sense of fury that surrounded it all."

The pegasus shuddered slightly. "Is... is there anywhere I could search for more information? Do you have any possible other culprits or ways the situation could possibly be an accident?"

"My dear, feathered lawyer, it was not an accident. I believe myself to be guilty on all accounts. I think your job would be to ascertain exactly to what degree I am guilty, and then try to make sure I get off with the least serious punishment that fits that level of crime."

"...Ah...."

"I have committed crimes against equinity. And I will accept punishment for that. Your job is to only make sure my punishment is not too extreme, I'd suggest you start by searching the library records Mister... Mister... you haven't really told me your name..."

"...Wright, Ace Attorney." He said, offering his hoof.

Sombra waited patiently as the crystal clock ticked away the moments. He wondered if he used to pace when he was waiting. Or if he was once impatient. Is impatience a side effect of ambition? He knew true patience now. He had grown out of the ground, feeding on the light that pained him and the ice he was attached to. He had the patience of a tree. He watched the clock silently, going through his memories. It would be easy enough to merely not mention anything incriminating. If they decided to read his mind- they weren't allowed for ethical reasons a thousand years ago, but who knows how morality has changed over the years -he could suppress the little incriminating evidence his memory held.

"Prisoner, the trial is starting." He grinned.

"Good."

"The case of Sombra v. the Crystal Empire will now begin." Celestia began. The case was a whirlwind of activity. Crystal Ponies flocked the stands, there were news teams taking photographs and recording every word. The two lawyers, Wright, the attorney, and Crystal Clear, the Crystal Pony prosecutor, had begun a verbal battle of "OBJECTION"s, "HOLD IT"s, "WAIT"s, and "TAKE THAT"s. They had managed to find every single bit of information in the Crystal Archives that could have possibly been useful in the situation, and were presently debating the authenticity of a record barely connected, but somehow deeply connected with the case.

Twilight was surprised. She hadn't exactly expected that she would be doing the lawyering, but the position of judge wasn't as... important, as she had originally thought. The judgement would only occur after the verdict was given by the jury. Until then, she and the other princesses were only there to observe and keep order.

The jury itself was another matter. As it had been determined to be a court case involving all the equestrian races, the jury of eleven ponies was made up of two of the Earth, Pegasus, Crystal, Longma, and Unicorn races, with a single Shadhavar acting as the eleventh jury member. Hopefully this would ensure fairness in the final decision.

"The Prosecution would like to call Gold Vein to the stand." Clear said, clearing away the archives section. "Gold Vein has agreed to undergo a treatment that will clear up some of his memories from before the curse took hold on the Crystal Empire. This is unfortunately, a temporary treatment." Clear stated, motioning for Gold to begin speaking.

"My name is Gold Vein... I'm twenty-seven years old and I work in the mines south of here." He began.

"Now then, Mr. Vein, now that you have had the memory reparation spell applied to you, we'd like you to give testimony to the conditions you lived in under the defendant's rule."

"...I'll try, mister prosecutor." The stallion said, straightening himself up slightly. "The memory spell seemed to clear the fog that was in my mind of those times, slightly... How do I begin..."

"Try to think of a few details, ones that specifically pertain to the defendant's crimes, and that could be proven, if possible. Injuries, physical damage to the city, anything that would still have a lasting effect."

"Alright... from what I can remember, I was working in the same mines I do now, though I was worked far harder, and I seemed to be doing different work everyday... I remember spending hours upon hours of constantly picking at the rock looking for gems, without breaks, and being deathly afraid of ever stopping until I heard the bells sound."

"Why were you afraid, mister Vein?"

"...I think if I were to stop, I would have been dragged off somewhere, and not come back out..." He shook his head, his face pale. "I don't remember exactly where, but I remember my friend, I think her name was Sun Dial, collapsed while working and the shadows drug her away..."

"These 'shadows', they were connected to Sombra?"

"Yes... they looked like him... except they were made of smoke. They had the same eyes, the same horns, except they could change and shift their shape..."

"The court is well aware that those things are easily within Sombra's capabilities." Crystal Clear announced. "And that among the many missing ponies that disappeared during the time our memory was blocked out, there was included all three mares named Sun Dial in the Crystal Library's records." He nodded to Gold. "You may continue."

"Thank you... besides the shadows in the mines, I was forced to wear chains at all times outside, and my house was empty... there wasn't much food, and whenever I was hungry I had to contact one of the shadows for food... and the shadows didn't always give the food. I remember that anyone who carried a Sun flag was taken by the shadows..."

The testimony continued on for almost half an hour, and by the end of it the Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus judges had also started to glare at the icy creature sitting in the defendant's seat. Twilight glanced to the side and saw that Cadance and Celestia both had expressions more grim than she had seen on either of them in the past. Wright made a decent effort trying to disprove the shadows had been created by Sombra, but the former tyrant merely shrugged when asked, stating he could have easily created something like them but didn't remember or care.

Soon enough though, it became clear that most of the rumors were true. At least the more tame ones. But then again, if any of the more extreme rumors surrounding Sombra's reign were true, there'd be no witness alive or sane enough to prove it. And the majority of what Sombra was accused of was proven within a reasonable doubt.

Sombra seemed perfectly happy with the results.

Finally, Sombra himself was called to the stand.

"State your name, age, and occupation for the court." Clear began.

"King Sombra, centuries, and prisoner."

"Your name isn't 'king'."

"It is my title." Sombra replied smugly.

"I didn't ask for your title."

"You should have."

"And if possible, the court would prefer a more accurate age."

"Does what happened before my death count? I hope it does, because I haven't done much after it."

"You- yes. It counts."

"In that case, should I count the centuries I spent imprisoned in the ice? I notice that your other 'witnesses' didn't, but then again, they don't remember any of what happened between their sealing and release." he chuckled, darkly. "Though, to be fair, I don't remember all that much more either."

"The defendant will cease his rambling or he will be held in contempt by the court."

"I already am."

Clear sighed, nervously looking at the former Shadhavar. That voice terrified him, though before now he couldn't ever remember hearing it. "I would like your testimony to what you were doing during the incident with Gold Vein, during what we believe to be in early february."

"I have no idea. But I probably did it."

"Please try to focus."

"It would be impossible. Honestly, I barely remember anything of it, just flashes of my time in the Empire." He said. "I remember destroying buildings, I remember feeling proud and intensely angry, and I know that the fear the sl- the Crystal ponies looked at me with was well-deserved. I plead guilty."

Wright slammed his head against the Crystal table he was sitting at, letting out a long sigh. He had just spent over an hour trying to prove with the barest of clues there was a slimmer of a chance something other than Sombra could have been responsible. Twilight winced at the sheer sound of the impact, and the Shadhavar among the jury put his hoof to his forehead with a less impressive, but still resounding in the current silence of the courtroom, sound.

"...Well." Luna said eventually, as the Crystal Ponies began cheering. "Do you have any further questions for the defendant, mister Clear?"

"Sombra, you admit to all crimes accused of you?" the prosecutor asked.

"To a less severe degree than most of you suppose, but yes."

"Then that's all I need, your honors."

"Then the jury may leave to make their verdict." Luna concluded, slamming the gavel.

The jury wasn't gone long. "The jury finds the defendant guilty." One of the Crystal pony members said proudly, the others nodding their assent solemnly.

Sombra turned toward the four Princesses. He debated internally what to do next. He wanted to live of course, but he was no longer allowed to put himself first. He had made an oath in blood to the Nightmare. If she decided he deserved to die, then he would allow her will to be carried out. He smiled a little internally, not that that was likely. The new Nightmare seemed horrified by the idea of capital punishment, or murder in general. She was horrified with his acts, but she wouldn't let him die. He attempted to subtly connect with the crystal he had sent into the roots of the Empire, but he couldn't make a connection. His magic was still too weak. He was in the Princesses' hooves.

Celestia nodded, stepping forth. "Under old Crystal Law, you would be executed." Celestia began, frowning slightly at the cheering of Crystal ponies. "Under old Night Law, you would be executed." The cheering continued, though it was dying out as they slowly realized that by listing these punishments before hand, and the emphasis on 'old', they weren't likely about to happen. "Under ancient Equestrian Law, you would be executed. But this is a different age than the one your crimes occurred in. The three Empires are ruled differently, by different ponies, than they were in that age." She looked at him. "Even you yourself seem like a completely different pony than the one of legends."

Sombra said nothing. Celestia turned back to her former student, her young niece, and her sister. Her equals, now. "Fellow Princesses of Equestria, the defendant has a guilty verdict. How do you sentence him?"

"Banishment to the Moon. Indefinitely." Luna replied.

"...Banishment to the Moon." Cadance agreed. "Forever. Permanently."

Twilight looked over the Crystal ponies. They looked at the Princesses, pleading, and at Sombra, with anger, a triumph. "...Banishment to the Moon..." She agreed as well. Out of all the punishments listed, Luna assured it was the most equine. And Sombra honestly deserved it. Certainly as much as Nightmare Moon did.

Celestia nodded, turning back toward the Shadhavar. "Sombra, you are hereby sentenced to banishment to the Moon for life."

Sombra smiled and bowed. "Thank you for your most merciful judgment, Princesses." He looked toward Twilight. "Nightmare Twilight, if I may say a few words before somepony carries out my sentence? A last request?"

She looked to Cadance, who nodded, and then to Luna, who simply shrugged. "You may." Twilight finally said.

"There may come a time when you need your most powerful mage, when you need an immortal champion, or when you need advice to do what you cannot do and the other Princesses won't dare tell you to do. There may be a time when you find the Night Empire at a great war, be it with ponies, or another race. And know that I will survive, I will thrive, and I will win for you. And that I am immortal, and I am loyal. If you ever decide that the Empire has a need for the great King Sombra, if you ever decide you need the Crystal Empire on it's knees in seconds...." He gave a wide, shark smile. "You will know where to find me."

And suddenly any remorse she felt for banishing him was lifted. He was still as dangerous as ever, and he still held all the evil thoughts. He would do it all again, if he had to. "Sombra, you are permanently sentenced to banishment to the Moon. Do not try to escape." Twilight ordered, her face becoming grim.

"I'll be waiting for your call, my Princess." He said happily.

The Elements of Harmony were brought forward, and each of Twilight's five friends took their positions and began channeling their elements. Twilight removed her crown and dawned the Element of Magic. She felt the influence of Celestia and Luna's magic, guiding the Elements' beam into a banishment spell. And with a knowing, almost relieved and assured smile, Sombra was gone.

Author's Note

Okay! No more Sombra!... for now. Honestly, I got carried away with this plot line, it's covered three chapters, two of which are the longest I've written. The next chapters will be the aftermath of Twilight's first public Princess act, and more focus on Longma culture. But then again, I write what I feel should be written, so don't hold me to that!

18. ~Hearts and Hooves Special~

Well, seems like it hasn't been long since I spent that time writing about the Nutcracker, here we go, another holiday chapter! And, for a once-in-a-lifetime-event, this special is canon! That's right, all pairings, timelines, and such, are all canon to the story.

Today is Saint Valentine's day, a holiday that was used to replace a fertility festival, and to honor a man who gave his life helping soldiers and christians get married (which was illegal at the time in Rome). Before we move onto the story, whether you're christian or not, and whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I'd like you to remember a man who died helping others find love.

Now then, onto the story!

Luna sighed, rubbing her forehead and sliding deeper into the throne. "Is there something the matter my- er, Princess Luna?" One of her attendants asked, genuine concern in his eyes.

"Arbor, are you aware of what day it is?"

"Yes m'lady, it is a friday, is it not?"

"And what event is celebrated, on this particular friday?"

"...oh! I almost completely forgot! It's Heart's and Hooves Day! Thank you m'lady." The attendant said, marking something in his own memory. "I must remember to get something for my Special Somepony." He glanced away slightly, before turning back to Luna. "I take it the years on the Moon and that ancient devil's petrification have done little to soften the blow of the memory."

"...Unfortunately." Luna conceded. "Don't trouble yourself with me though, I'll be fine." Arbor nodded and turned again to his work, before stopping himself, taking a deep breath.

"M'lady?"

"Yes?"

"I... I.. I am going to ask Obsidian Spike to marry me tonight, if everything goes well... or even if it doesn't. And if she accepts, would you... be willing to perform the ceremony yourself?"

Luna raised her eyebrows in mild surprise before feeling her expression soften. "We would be overjoyed. When will the even most likely take place? If it can wait until after Nightmare Night, We may be able to get your new Nightmare to do the ceremony."

"I... I would prefer if you did the ceremony, despite the honor of having the Nightmare join us... and either way, it is a little too early to discuss the ceremonies, I've not even asked her yet."

"Well, I wish you my luck, and you have my blessing and promise, simply tell me when the ceremony will be held. If you wish, you are dismissed." Arbor gave a bow, before flapping off into one of the thousands of labyrinthine tunnels that dotted the ceiling of the throne room.

Luna found herself smiling for nearly an hour afterward. She directed for the remaining work to be sent to her own office. An office that would soon belong to Twilight. It was nearly evening, and she decided, despite it being early for most Longma, that it would be okay to have a night off for her attendants. It would be unfair if only Arbor got the chance to spend the early evening with his Special Somepony.

She fluttered up one of the tunnels, eventually coming up to a balcony on a high tower. Evening comes sooner this high up North, but she had timed it well enough that she and Celestia would rise the Moon and lower the Sun simultaneously as always. As she reached up and gripped the celestial object, she gave a tug, and felt the pull from the Sun.

She had missed this. Living at Canterlot was nostalgic, living with Celestia so close by, surrounded by Pegasus and Unicorns and nobles who would second-guess you. And though they're just as likely as the Longma to outright oppose the Princesses, that is, never, the Canterlot nobles were so snake-like, subtly pushing their own agendas, trying to work around the Princesses as if they were obstacles rather than trying to convince them, and then giving up in honor if they were still opposed, as the Shadhavar and Longma did.

The Canterlot nobles felt like a challenge the first year, as opposed to ruling the devoutly loyal Shadhavar and Longma, and once just as loyal Crystal Ponies. But soon they had become simple annoyances. Luna knew that the nobles had valid concerns, and their points and decrees and subtle demands all could have had as much weight to them as any made by her own Lunar nobility, but the sheer persistence, the inability to take no for an answer, the tense, strange loyalty that demanded respect and recognition from Luna while all they seemed to do was not act directly against her. In comparison, ruling the Night Empire was soothing. The Lunar nobles would bicker just as much, they would ask for just as much, they would complain just as much, but when Luna said to go away, they went away. When she said they needed to rework their plans, they reworked them. When Luna shouted "QUIET!!!" They'd shut up and stay shut until she had made her point, without cowering, without quivering, without the mumbles and grumbles.

She had absolutely loved the social interaction with Celestia after those years of solitude, she loved being with her sister, she loved just being mellow, without that magic-fueled jealousy turned rage. But this is the home she ruled for so long, these were the races, that when they saw Equestria unite under the Princesses, turned away from the divine-looking, bigger, shrouded in daylight Queen in everything but name, and looked to the younger sister, with the short starry mane, who stood shyly away from the masses, and bowed only to her.

They were her people.

And she gave them away.

Why? She asked herself. But she knew why. She had known since the Civil War turned for the worse a thousand years ago. In fact, she had even known a long, long, time ago. Thousands upon thousands of years ago, she knew that she would have to find them another Nightmare.

She stood on the balcony longer than she had intended to. Smiling up at the Moonlight, and of the beautiful patterns of silver-turned green light that reflected off of the magnetism in the air in the distance, and off the icy mountains. If she jumped off, and flew into the icy air for miles, she could turn around and see her Castle of Darkness shimmer with silver-white light reflected from the blue and black spires of crystal and obsidian. It was somewhat ironic, that the Castle of Darkness dazzled with light on cloudless nights. But that would have to be for another time.

The night was young, the Longma and Shadhavar children would be waking up, just as the Earth, Pegasus, Crystal, and Unicorn ponies would be drifting off to sleep. And just as the lovers in the Solar country would ignite their romantic escapades with the fall of the Sun, the lovers of the Castle would now wake, looking forward to a night of preparation that would hopefully ignite their own romance with the rising Sun.

She was glad, she supposed, that the Longma wouldn't ask her to come out to their festivals, though they held the festival all the same. That was something she wouldn't be able to do in Canterlot. It was practically a requirement that the Princesses be present for every minor holiday that occurred in the Mountain city. Hundreds of ponies would be there to celebrate her terrible judgement.

Luna blinked as she realized that at least in Solar Equestria, two of the five biggest holidays of the year celebrated Luna's mistakes. Nightmare Night existed to no longer to celebrate the Moon, but rather relive some fraction of the terror she inflicted on their ancestors. And Hearts and Hooves Day was worse.

Luna sighed, resting her forehead on the railing and letting out her second deep sigh from the depth of her soul that evening. "Why, oh why in the name of the Moon, did I have to drink that @#$%ing love poison?" She said to no one in particular.

Celestia let the sun fall in the West and smiled as Luna's moon began its ascent in the East. She made her way out of the privacy of her balcony to the chaos that was the Hearts and Hooves Day Ball. Pink, red, and velvet heart symbols decorated the walls, the balloons, and even the sprinkles on the cake. She always did enjoy this particular festival, despite the memories associated with the event.

When Celestia thought back on that day, it was with mixed feelings. It was hilarious at first seeing Luna act like a lovestruck filly and making nonsense words, but it was also terrifying thinking about how Luna was practically brainwashed for the better part of a week... and the consequences of the Queen of the Night Empire suddenly dropping everything to run off with a Talica Earth Pony prince. That hadn't been pretty for the Talicons or the Longma. And even less so for the rest of the world when Discord made his appearance among the sudden chaos of two of the most militaristic ancient pony nations suddenly leaderless.

It was a terrible event, with it's ups and downs, giving Discord inspiration to begin his own world order only a century later and putting Ahuizotl in permanent command of the Talica being two of the biggest issues. But it was also remembered for being the most public romantic escapade in the history of the Royal Sisters, that started a new romantic literary age that lasted even longer than the memory of Discord's short reign.

Not to mention eventually becoming one of the best festivals of the year.

Celestia knew that Luna still felt bad about what happened, and if she were an ordinary pony, Celestia would have been completely understanding. It had been embarrassing, possibly dangerous, and it nearly collapsed the Night Empire and did collapse Tenochtitlan. But it wasn't Luna's fault, and there had been hundreds of close calls over their rule. It couldn't be helped, all that mattered was that they keep trying to do their best in the present and in the future, the past being best left in the past.

Celestia grinned as the cooks bowed as she made her way into the kitchen to look at the massive cake. The festival, beside being a celebration of love and discord, was also the date of hundreds of weddings, and the great ballroom would serve as the reception for dozens of noble weddings this year, not to mention hosting the traditional Ball. The cake was magnificent, standing three times as tall as her, and on each ring were well-crafted miniatures of each couple in a step of their own dance. And at the top, the famous romantic symbol of a sapphire Alicorn dancing with a ruby Earth Pony, both with their own canterlot-styled crowns. Most people assumed they were fictional, until Luna returned three years ago. Celestia looked at the statues with a grin.

They always cut Luna's mane so short, and made her so slender, and instead of the griffon-feather and pelt-wearing aztec warrior prince Huitzi was, they portrayed him as the traditional heavy-set prince with a Canterlot crown.

When she erased the connections between Nightmare Moon and Luna, she found herself hiding more and more of Luna's history. She was sad having to hide so much from her people, of alienating Luna from them further. But it was better they remembered Nightmare Moon as only a boogiemare. At least Luna could thank her for distancing Luna from the legend of Hearts and Hooves.

She found herself caught up with the events of the evening, marrying one set of happy young, and occasionally not so young, lovers after another, before the cake was served and the party started in full. Celestia typically stood somewhere elevated and pony-watched, listening for gossip and trying to look for interesting events, memories that would last, like those of the elements of harmony ravaged Grand Galloping Gala two years ago, but she found herself dancing for the first time again in fifty-seven years.

"Princess, they're organizing some sort of party outside." Sanguine announced, standing by the window. Twilight looked up from her current research and got up to look at the town hall. It was lit up with pink heart-shaped lanterns for the evening.

"Oh yeah! Today was Hearts and Hooves Day, I almost forgot." Twilight said to herself. "Well, that's nice." Twilight concluded turning back to her work.

"Today is Heart's and Hooves day?" Sanguine asked slowly.

"Yeah. Can't you tell from the heart balloons?"

Sanguine glanced outside and then back to Twilight. "Honestly, with this town's style of decor, there's not that much of a difference."

Twilight raised an eyebrow and giggled a little. Ponyville had always loved the heart motif. "I suppose that's true."

"...And, the fact that it's Hearts and Hooves day... doesn't bother you?"

"No... why should it?" Twilight frowned slightly. "If you're asking why I don't have a date-"

"No, no, I guess you wouldn't have anything against it really. Nightmare Moon always hated Hearts and Hooves day, but she allowed it to be celebrated anyway."

"Why would Luna hate Hearts and Hooves Day?" Twilight asked.

"Well, apparently something happened a long, long time ago. It was ancient even a thousand years ago. Y'see, Nightmare Moon was seduced by Prince Huitzi of Tenochtitlan, and she drank a love poison he had made using the recipe given by an ancient Talica creature; Tezcatlipoca, 'the enemy of both sides' or as he later called himself-"

"Discord." Twilight finished. "He was the dragon in the story who gave the Prince the love potion?"

"Yep."

"And Luna was-"

"Yeah." Sanguine shrunk back from her Queen as Twilight Sparkle's eyes began to sparkle with knowledge.

"The tale of the Alicorn Princess and the Earth Prince was one of the longest running and most influential legends in the history of known and unknown pony history! It's left it's mark on every generation of literature since the last days of Starswirl the Bearded! It's the tragic romance story!"

"...um..."

"And it was Princess Luna and an Aztec the whole time?!"

"They're called the Telica-"

"I know, I know, but still! This is a huge mystery of literature solved!"

"...you... didn't know?"

Twilight shook her head 'no' excitedly. "What more can you tell me about it?! I need to send an essay to Canterlot university! Can I quote you? What credentials do you- oh! Of course, you served under Luna herself, of course you'd know! Does Celestia know? Oh!! I should talk to Discord about this-"

Sanguine sighed internally, refusing to show what might have been considered disrespect. Instead she found herself smiling as the princess ran around in a hurry of excitement that came with a new source of knowledge. Sanguine wondered why Twilight wouldn't have known. It had only been a thousand years, and most decent history books- but then again, nopony had known what Longma were. The red mare decided to let it go, perhaps she would have a discussion with Oscuridad. She cracked a slight smile. Perhaps it would be a good project for Twilight; creating the first accurate history book of Equestria it's had in a thousand years.

As the Moon rose overhead they left the Tower stealthily, taking off silently, spiralling around each other. She bobbed in the air currents, cool and warm, higher and higher. He cut through the same air, spinning around in one spiral after another like a scythe spinning around one rung to the next. They met high above, meeting in front of the Moon and flapping in place, in the moonlight making for a terrible silhouette. Their dragon wings making a clear demonic image over the white moon, the light sifting through their frills, giving the appearance of glowing spines going down their necks, and three skeletal tails hanging where there should have been one mass of hair.

But closer, to each other, they were beautiful. Her blue eyes, locking into his golden. Her gray-white coat shining in the moonlight next to his lightning-scarred ash-gray coat. His body was striped with the burns of a confrontation with Celestia, one thousand years ago, and covered in the cuts that came with years of practicing warfare. She was covered with the same cuts, but they were better hidden without the scars.

They sat in the air together, utterly silent, staring into each other's eyes. It didn't get any more intimate than that, but at the moment, they didn't see why they'd ever need any more than that.

The moment slowly ended, and the two descended again, a smiling Crow Moon watching from a nearby window, the bruises that covered his body fading in the time since the race and the trial. "Chief! Kalt! Enjoying the moonlight?" Crow asked with a wide smile.

"Yes." Kalt answered simply.

"...Crow Moon, you know better than to spy on your fellow guards."

"I'm off duty til I recover, remember?" He said with a smile. "I can spy all I want if I want. So... Chief, do you remember that rule against romantic involvement between active soldiers? Especially within the most honorable elite bodyguards of the Nightmare?"

"Of course I do. I was simply enjoying the moonlight with Kalt." Jaeger answered, raising an eyebrow.

"I have a fairly strong notion that Princess Twilight Sparkle wouldn't expel you from the guard if you asked her to remove the rule."

Jaeger smiled slightly. "No... it's a good rule. We can't afford to be distracted by romance, and there are an entirely separate set of rules regarding superior officers courting their subordinates that exist for their own necessary sake." He turned to Kalt. "I think we can wait until we've served our time in the guard."

"Yes."

Crow shrugged. "It's not every night that you get a new Queen who might not be afraid to offer some preferential treatment for the sake of true love."

"...No, it isn't." Kalt replied. "Well then, the Moon is beautiful tonight, but I think it's time we headed inside. Den might want to change shifts." She said in a cool voice.

"Yes, let's. I'll take the first watch. Have a good sleep." Jaeger said, turning his eye on Crow. "And you better sleep as well, you need all the rest you can get."

"Jaeger, you know as well as I do that it's next to impossible to sleep during a full Moon like this."

"Hm." Jaeger replied. "Try your best anyway. That's an order."

"I'm off duty." Crow replied with a smirk.

Jaeger rolled his eyes and drifted down to the entrance to the Tower with Kalt.

Sombra sat, smiling, upon his own throne, constructed from the finest of moonstone he could find. He stared upwards at the beautiful blue and green jewel that made up a significant portion of the horizon. He glanced at the calendar and smiled. Hearts and Hooves day. Luna always disappeared on this day, and the Empire always felt grateful that their Queen allowed the display of public courting despite her hatred for the holiday. He wondered what his new Queen thought about the holiday. He calculated that tonight would be a full Moon. His new home would be displayed in full for the lovers of the world to stare up at.

He smiled, it was a long ride yet. But he could wait it out.

He glanced back at the calendar. A giant stone circle it had taken him hours to set and enchant just right. It would be a long ride yet indeed.

But one with a destination.

Author's Note

Happy Valentines' day!

What would've been. (Consider 18 the last chapter, this is merely all that I had planned for the future, plot-wise)

She finished her history book, though it did have some trouble being accepted nation-wide. After all, it wasn't as pretty a history as everypony expected. Discord was an excellent source of information, as were the princesses and her bodyguards.

As the weeks passed by Twilight became accustomed to the changes in her life. After all, she had spent her early childhood in a tiny apartment, her mother an author, her father a merchant who occasionally had to travel out of town, and a brother in a nearby pre-military academy. Then she spent the rest of her life til' adulthood as the protege of the Princess, having tests sprung on her, learning the magical arts, as well as anything else Celestia sprung on her. Then had come three years of living in a little hamlet next to a monstrous forest, running the little-used town library, hanging with her friends, and occasionally saving the nation and/or the world.

Those were significant lifestyle changes, and the newest one was really only a mix of the three. She once again had several other ponies living in close quarters with her, just as military-minded as Shiny was, she was living in a castle, under the supervision of princesses, and she was supposedly going to help save a nation.

Nothing too big. Just more friends along for the ride.

The biggest change happened after that, and once again Twilight had to move, after a final celebration with her friends and good-bye party on Nightmare Night. While the change wasn't too bad, the distance was something of an inconvenience. Moving into the far North, away from her best friends, was difficult, but promises to write and meet up at least weekly were made, and kept. It helps, of course, when one is an all-powerful alicorn with teleportation abilities and a sect of dark-magic wielding Shadhavar willing to open up a link to her castle-covered tree-library.

It wasn't too bad. The worst part was the culture shock. The eternal devotion, the deference, the immediate obedience, were shocking. It filled Twilight with a kind of dread, to be given so much power. She had never had the temptation to misuse her political power before, but the Longma would literally let her get away with anything she wanted, no whim was too unimportant. Twilight made a vow to herself that she would never misuse the power the Longma put in her.

Each of the pony races were expected to live in harmony, and as such, they followed the elements: the Longma, with their blood-bonds and devotion to the Night Empress, represented Loyalty. The Shadhavar, with their ancient tongues and mind-based enchantments, were Honesty. The Earth Ponies, who brought food from the ground for all the other races along with themselves, were Generosity. The Crystal Ponies, with their joy-powered defenses, represented the element of Laughter. The Pegasus, who used the rain and clouds to control the weather to protect the other ponies, and to aid the Earth Ponies in their farming, were Kindness. And the Unicorns, whose ancestral task was to keep the Sun and Moon spinning, and hold back all the other forces wishing to take the world, were the element of Magic.

Equestria, or rather, the Pony races, were finally as they should be, united in full. But conflicts came up with time, and Twilight couldn't just push them away. The root of the problem, of course, was that the Longma were warriors, and Equestria was the most peaceful nation on Earth. Her warlords (why she even had warlords were beyond her, but oh well) were constantly trying to advise her to "give a show of strength" this or "give them a warning they won't forget here" that, or, the one that irritated her the most, "assert your authority as the Empress over the sun-hag and the crystalline traitors".

Her new subjects were loyal to a fault, but they were itching for a war, while her main priority was preventing one. The Longma had come from a time when Solar Equestria was waging war on them. Thousands of her people cried out for blood to be avenged on the descendants of the ones who spilled it. Twilight had to forbid looking into the family records of Equestrians in order to curb the demands for revenge and duels. And with all their hatred of the Equestrians, that hatred was nothing to that they had for the Crystal Empire, as Sombra had demonstrated in the weeks before. The way it was "supposed" to be was with Equestria divided neatly in two; the Crystal, Shadhavar, and Longma under the alicorn of night, and the Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorns under the alicorn of day. But the Crystal Empire had broken off and formed their own nation, with their own alicorn, and the Night Empire ponies demanded that the Crystal Ponies return.

It was fortunate Cadance was so understanding. Over the course of several years, she and her sister-in-law managed to create a compromise between the three "lunar" races. Just as Luna and Celestia ruled over Solar Equestria as partners, Cadance and Twilight would together rule Lunar Equestria, and for a time, her subjects were appeased, no longer out for blood.

It would be the work of a lifetime, but Twilight and Cadance together began amending the laws of the Night Empire, and reintegrating them with modern Equestria. But the Longma were still restless and battle-hungry. Having an enemy they were not allowed to attack, the Crystal Empire and Celestia, seemed to sate their need for war, in some strange way, but now that they had no enemies, that they had made peace, even forgiven, the solar and crystal ponies, they had no target for their rage. It almost rose to a boiling point, when out of the blue Sombra returned, raising an army of windigoes, both the cold spirits of hatred, and ice-magic influenced Shadhavar like himself. He and his army conquered solar Equestria in days, but was driven out by the Longma, Crystal, and loyal Shadhavar ponies. He drew back to the West, forming his own nation, taking defectors and monsters in from all over the world, to create his own military. The Night Empire had its enemy.

One day in the early morning, Sombra appeared before Twilight in secret, drawing a deep bow.

"Well, my Mistress?"

Twilight was prepared to strike him, hold him back long enough to be put in chains and locked in somewhere worse than the Moon, but he was holding himself completely vulnerable. "...What are you doing here Sombra?"

"I have done my best to interpret your wishes," he began, "but I fear I may have angered you in my initiative."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Night Empire is the tool which Equestria uses to slam down its enemies. But in order for it to exist, Equestria requires enemies. In my meditations on the Moon, I realized finally, that that was the secret. The true cause of the war, rather than the Sun-Hag's aggravation. The Night Empire needed a war, and Equestria had no enemies. At least none that could stand the rage of an Alicorn or the Elements of Harmony... now though, you have me. Your MONSTER, my Empress. I am immune the Elements of Harmony, or close enough, I cannot be destroyed by them. I am immortal, like you! I am a monster that will return again and again from any prison you send me to! I will save the Empire!" He laughed maniacally. "It's the perfect way to serve you, my Empress, I realize that now."

"Wh-and terrorize Equestria?!" Twilight narrowed her eyes. "I order you to stop, to surrender, and to disband your armies!"

Sombra shook his head sadly. "My dear Empress, I know of your burden, believe me, I do." he said evilly. "But do not worry, your servant knows what you truly want-"

"For you to stop killing ponies!" She growled.

"You are glad that my new 'Windigo Empire' exists. You're deeply thankful for a constant, common enemy. You are most welcome my Empress, I have divined your needs, and I will meet them for the rest of eternity! I will protect Equestria, as you wish, by doing what I do best."

"Sombra." Twilight growled, charging a blast of magic that would hopefully knock him out with the first hit.

"BWAHAHAHAAHA!" He flew into the night, in the form of a black, shapeless smoke, that flew faster than the best of the Pegasi, content in his role for the future.

Empress Nightmare Twilight Sparkle protected Equestria from Sombra's threat, and ruled over the Longma fairly for thousands of years.

The End.

Author's Note

Hey there. Sorry about such a quick ending, but this was everything I planned on doing with Longma. Wrapped in a little package. I regret not thinking of putting a conclusion in earlier. (It's been almost a year after all, since 18: Hearts and Hooves.)
A lot of people were pretty bummed that Longma had been cancelled. I didn't make a blog post really to explain it, to the best of my memory but essentially there were two reasons I stopped:
The first is that I lost interest in MLP and being a brony. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and this site is actually pretty clean and well-behaved, but there's a huge amount of bronies who are utter A-holes, and there's a huge amount of disgusting stuff put out on the internet by bronies. Seriously, children watch this show, and when they're done watching it, they'll look it up. You look up "Rainbow Dash" on google, and not even halfway down the page you find a picture of her in fetish gear. It literally sickens me. Do whatever you want on your free time, but don't put it where children can reach, you know? After a while, it just gets distasteful, and I don't really want to be a part of it.
Second is that I was getting too invested in the backstory for the Longma, who were an original creation of mine. I liked the idea behind their powers and civilization, and I realized that later on, I might want to use the Longma, or something like them, in my own original stories. This brings up legal issues, if, at some point in the future, I write a story that contains dragon-like creatures who swear fealty to a Night Empress, and someone points out this fanfiction, it has to be different enough. So the two choices I have are deleting this when the time comes, or stopping it, and developing the Longma civilization in my head, rather than on fimfiction.
So, what happens now?:
Recently, a comment mentioned that I should find another author to continue the story, and to that I say: go ahead. Longma, as it's been set up, is now free for anyone's use. Anyone who feels like it is welcome to use the original characters, locations, backstory, and original races, such as the Shadhavar. Knock yourselves out. Send me a message sometime if you have any questions about characterization or backstory if you're interested, or if you want me officially to give permission to use them or anything like that.
So... yeah, Longma is done, thanks for all the comments and support, and I'm truly sorry that I couldn't bring all of you to its end in normal story format. So, in consolation, take the above conclusion, which wraps up all I had planned for the future of the story, and feel free to use anything inside the story that interests you. I'd like credit for them, though, if it's not a bother.