A new crisis

Chapter 3

Luna

Twilight felt as small stone fragments cut her skin, as she was sliding through the stone floor. On top of her was Luna, pinning her down. Her eyes were glowing, and she wore an expression of righteous furry on her face. Twilight did not understand it one bit. She had thought that Luna would like to see her. Afterall, she considered the former princess a friend of sorts. But she had to act now, before she was seriously hurt. Laying on her back, with the angry Alicorn on top of her, she kicked upwards into her belly, sending her flying. The other mare, however was not impressed in the slightest. As she rose up into the air, she spread her wings and took flight. Twilight herself lifted off after her, curious to find out what this was all about. Stardancer briefly flew up the other mare, obviously in an attempt to stop her, but was knocked back to the ground in an instant.

Shooting magical bolts at each other, the two Alicorns rose up higher and higher, until they almost reached the barriers edge. There, they encircled each other, waiting for an opening. It was hard on Twilight, who had just recently learned how to fly, while her opponent was way more experienced. But.... something was more then off. Was this really Luna? She would never have expected to be attacked the moment the former princess saw her. But then she noticed what had bothered her from the beginning. Up here, the sunlight was not blocked that much, so she could see the other mare more clearly now. That was by now means princess Luna. She was smaller, had a full moon as a cutiemark and violet eyes, instead of green ones.

"Who are you, and why are you attacking me?", Twilight demanded.

"That is none of your buisness!", the other mare shouted, chargring at her.

Twilight lowered her head, and gave her wings a hard flap. Like a bullet she shot down towards the ground once again, when she felt that her tail was being grabbed with magic. It felt like her whole spine was being overstretched, the moment she went from almost sonic speed to zero. Spinning around, she used her own magic to cancel out the spell that held her, but was to late. Already she could feel herself being thrown straight downwards, with an incridable force. At the speed she was going now, she was unable to stop herself from falling. Since she had turned in mid air, her wings were now facing the ground. If she hit it from this height, at this speed... then even her new Alicorn body would not survive.

Twilight turned her head to look at the ground rushing up to meet her, as she felt herself being enveloped by magic once again. This time however, it was not the dark purple one that had sent her flying in the first place, but a pale white magic. The ground was still coming up to meet her, but at a much more moderate speed. Also was her direction changed and she headed to where the statue of Moonsinger had once stood. There, in front of the ruble, stood Stardancer together with another Alicorn. This one was definitly Luna. She could see the former princesses cutiemark of a cresent moon, surrounded by two dark clouds.

As she was gently put on the ground in front of Luna, the former princess looked into the sky angrily.

"Come down here young lady! You have some explaining to do!", she shouted with the royal Canterlot voice.

The "other" Luna shot down from the sky, landing right beside Twilight, giving her an annoyed glare. What suprised Twilight the most was, that she had not lost her glasses during their shot but, quite intense fight.

"What do you have to say for your self Star?", Luna asked furious.

"I... I didn't want her to take you away.", the "other" Luna said, hanging her head.

Luna adressed Twilight next, her expression becoming more gentle.

"I am sorry for the trouble my daughter has given you Twilight Sparkle. She  is quite protective of me, even so I have told her more then once that there is no reason for that.", she clarified.

"Your daughter?", Twilight asked shocked.

Luna nodded.

"Yes. Shooting Star is my biological daughter."

Luna turned back to her daughter, giving her a look of disapproval.

"You are grounded young lady. Oh, and don't think this is over yet. Your father will hear about this.", Luna said, pointing a hoof into the direction Twilight and Stardancer had come from.

Giving Twilight an angry glare, Shooting Star shot off into the direction her mother had indicated....

"I am truly sorry Twilight. Star is not a bad girl. But being a born Alicorn is not easy on her. She fears that I might go into another war, if Celestia would ask me to. But I must say, I am quite suprised to see you as a full Alicorn."

"Well princess....", Twilight started to say, but Luna raised a hoof to stop her.

"Please don't call me princess. I stepped down sixty four years ago. Luna will be sufficent. So, why are you here Twilight? I can only assume that my daughter was not too far off in her assumption, seeing that you are a full Alicorn now."

"Well... Luna... That is actually the reason I am here. But don't get me wrong please. I also wanted to see you, I just never had the guts to come here, since I was in hiding.", Twilight explained hastefully.

Luna looked downcast, and gestured for Stardancer to leave the two of them alone for the time being. Afterwards she teleported both of them into a small office, that Twilight assumed was hers.

"Twilight.... I am glad to see you, really I am, and you could have come here any time in the past. There would have always been a place for you and your friends here. As a matter of fact, the garden of shadows has become kind of a refuge for ponies that were disappointed in my dearest sister.", Luna explained, taking a seat behind a large wooden desk.

"Well... I never thought of that if I am honest, but Luna, please listen to what I have to say, before you judge my presence here.", Twilight asked the former princess.

Luna just nodded and gestured to a chair standing in front of her desk. Twilight guessed that this was where her students usually sat.

"Ok, let me start at the beginning. Yes it is true. I was in hiding from your sister, and so were my friends. I even made Discord change me back into a Unicorn, for the sake of hiding. I died some days ago, but the elements of harmony safed my life. So they did for all my friends. Celestia has then used the Alicorn stone to break the chrystal cocoons that had formed around us. This however has caused a....", Twilight was interrupted by Lunas eyes beginning to glow.

"Let me guess.... It broke.", Luna stated, failing to keep the anger out of her voice.

"Y...Yes.", Twilight answered, a little intimidated.

"I did some research on the elements of harmony, and that stone in particular myself. I knew this day might come....", Luna sighed as her eyes returned to normal.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you even know what the Alicorn stone was? It was a container, that held all the corrupted Alicorns of old. Their magic, their knowledge.... simply all of it. I assume the only way Celestia was able to break the stasis you were put in, was to use that kind of force. She may have had the best of intentions but, this was just foalish. I can only guess she did it to win your trust back Twilight Sparkle....", Luna explained, burrying her face in her hooves.

Twilight knew it to be true. Everything made sense now, and she could only pitty her former mentor... But it was her fault aswell. Had she spoken to Celestia earlier, like Discord had wanted her to time and time again, then this could have been avoided.

An awkward silence fell over them, that seemed to last for an eternity, until Luna broke it with a stern face.

"So... My sister wants the garden of shadows to assist her to whipe the Alicorns of old from the face of this world? Is that it? Is that the reason she sent you here?", Luna inquired, with a tear in her eye.

"Yes... That is why I was sent here. But Luna, you have to believe me. Over the last sixty four years I would have really loved to come and see you! It is just that I.... was too much of a coward...", she said, hanging her head.

"Twilight.... I will do it, if you answer one question honestly, and do me a personal favor. Do you think you can do that?", Luna asked softly, raising Twilights chin with one of her hooves.

Twilight nodded.

"Ok... As for my question. Do you honestly believe this is the right course of action? I mean without the Alicorn stone, we can not seal them again, and to make a new one is a verry risky and difficult task. What would be, if those Alicorns simply wanted to live peacefully, and that we leave them alone? Would you still suggest we throw the first punch?", Luna inquired.

"No. If they don't pose a threat to Equestria, then we should establish peacefull relationships with them. I have not spoken to Celestia about this yet, but I think she would agree."

"Good. Then we can agree there. I know where their kingdom was so long ago, since I myself have done excavations there. I will sent a messanger there to see what the situation is. If they seriously intend on waging war against Equestria, then the garden of shadows has no other choice then to act. Now to that favor you will have to do me. Twilight Sparkle, I consider you one of my closest friends, even so we have not seen each other in such a long time. The favor I ask of you is simply this: One way or another. If there is a conflict, or not, I want you and your family to move to the garden. Do you think you can do that? Ofcourse your friends are also invited to come.", Luna said, with a hopefull look on her face.

Twilight thought for a moment. She could not verry well make that decission for all of her relatives and friends. She would have to talk to them....

Luna watched as Twilight tapped her chin with her hoof. It made her smiling inside. She knew that what she was asking of Twilight was no small feat, but so was what she was asking of her. Celestia still knew where to press to make her soft... Had she sent anypony else, either her guards at the edge of the forest would have taken them out, or she would have refused right away. Twilight however had freed her from Nightmare Moon twice, and had not rested until she had been able to relate to her former subjects. The mare in front of her, was her friend.... Maybe the only one she had. Ofcourse there were her two biological children, and her granddaughter, but those did not count for her. They were family, and even so she got along with most of them, she felt uncomfortable being herself around them. Twilight Sparkle was a different story entirely. She had always accepted her, just the way she was. Also Luna wanted to know that she was safe, was there to be another conflict. She had seen Moonsinger die, and she did not want to relive that with Twilight.

"I am not sure I can convince my whole family to move here.", Twilight finally broke the silence.

"I mean, especially my oldest daughter would be verry hard to convince. She and I have never gotten along verry well, and I am sure she would just love to deny that request, just to make things harder on me. However, I can say that I will gladly accept your offer. In Equestria, except of my family, there is barely anypony left that would keep me there. But Luna, I have a condition of my own. I will only accept, if you extend that invatation to Spike and Discord. They are also part of my family and I will not leave them behind.", Twilight added.

"As for Spike, I had already assumed you would bring him, but Discord.... Are you sure of that? I founded the garden for the children that lost their parents, due to his meddling. He will have to work more then hard, to win their trust.", Luna said doubtfully.

"Then I guess we have a stalemate?"

"No... No not at all. I mean.... he can come if he wishes too, but I will keep a vigilant eye on him. One wrong move, and I have to throw him out. It is not that I don't trust your judgement Twilight, but I also have to consider how my children feel about him.", Luna clarified.

Within the hour, Twilight made arangements for some of Lunas children to get her belongings. The former princess of the night, maybe hoping Twililght might show up one day, also had a house prepared for her. As Twilight saw it for the first time, her muzzle dropped. It was less of a house, but a small estate, with servants and everything. Along the path, that led to the front door, stood several statues, that showed herself and the other bearers of the elements of harmony. Also she saw that a fountain was set up in the backyard, with another statue on it. This one however, showed Luna herself. The water of the fountain, came from the eyes of the statue, that pictured Luna sitting on her haunches.

Twilight was in awe of so much luxery.

"Luna... I can't possibly accept this! This... villa is ment for royalty or some pony of status, but I am neither."

"That may be true for Equestria, but this is the garden of shadows. Status and royalty have no meaning here. The only place they do, is the school you visited earlier. I make sure to have a modicum of discipline there. In the garden of shadows, a pony lives in a house that is either given to them, like in your case, or they built themself. And don't you worry about money either. Money has no value here. We do own quite some, but that is mostly only used when we need something that we can't produce inside the garden. Then one of my children ventures out and buys it.", Luna explained.

"But... how does your economy work then, if there is no money?", Twilight wanted to know, as they walked through the second floor of her would-be new home.

"That is fairly easy. We trade. For example: I teach what I know about Alicorn magic to young Unicorns that want to ascend one day. In return I recieve food and other supplies from their parents. They also trade these for the materials they need to grow crops and so on. It works pretty well, so you don't have to worry about anything. I am sure there will be a job for you at the school, if you wish to teach."

"I think I would like that. I am pretty well read, so I think there are quite some things I could teach those young ones.", Twilight said, already sorting out topics she would cover in her first class.

"Actually I was hoping you would teach them on Equestrian history.... I was away for a thousand years, and most of my children lack in that respect. Out of that lack of knowledge grows petty hatred, as you saw with Star earlier... I want that to stop. I have long since forgiven Celestia, but I have kept her out of here, for her own safety. About a quarter of our population are either naturally ascended, or born Alicorns. Was she to set foot in here, I don't know if I could control them. The only thing to fight that ignorance, is wisdom. Would you do that for me Twilight?" ,Luna asked pleadingly.

"Ofcourse Luna. Sounds like I have some lecturing to do here.", Twilight responded smiling.

It was a joke between the two friends, from that one time Luna had come to Ponyville on nightmare night. Twilight had lectured Luna back then, on how to relate to her subjects. As the two of them entered one of the many bedrooms, Twilight came to a sudden stop. This was the only room she had seen, that was furnished. At the far end stood a big canopy bed, and behind it, hang.....

"Luna is this....", Twilight asked, pointing at the banner that hang behind the bed.

"Yep. This is my bedchamber. I don't think I told you yet, but I sometimes stay here. I hope don't mind. I built this house after I came back from the war. Moonsingers death and everything.... I just needed to take my mind of off things for a while.", Luna explained, her head hanging.

"I don't mind at all Luna. But, when you are here, please let me know. Seeing how big this villa actually is, I can't help but think that we might actually be in here for weeks and still miss each other.". Twilight laughed.

Lunas expression lit up as her friend put a wing around her. She just knew it had been a good idea to invite Twilight to stay in the garden. Even if there might be another conflict ahead of her, she did not fear it. She felt strange, standing this close to Twilight. As long as the lavender Alicorn was by her side, Luna felt she could face anything.

In Hoofington

Radiance could not believe it. Several strange ponies had shown up, and were slowly emptying her mothers house. She had ofcourse protested against this, as had the rest of her family, but one of them had just hooved her a letter, and continued his work.

My dear family,

I love all of you, and I want you to know that. These ponies, are part of the children of the night, I told all of you about. They have my permission to take my belongings with them, since I will move to the garden of shadows. They simply do me a favor. As for the rest of you, and my house, I hereby extend an invitation to all of you. Luna, former princess of Equestria, has invited all of you to live in her refuge. If you decide to come, I would be verry pleased. Please accompany the children of the night back to the garden, should you choose to come. Don't worry about your belongings. If you simply tell them where you live, they will get them for you. As for those of you who decide not to come, I can only say this to you:

Please reconsider. There might be another conflict coming our way, and the garden of shadows will be the safest place to be if that is the case. If you still don't want to come, please splitt all my wealth between those who don't want to come, and make sure you spend them wisely. I suggest you barricade yourself somewhere, and don't come out until everything is over....

Twilight Sparkle

Radiance thought for quite a while. She had already discussed the matter with the rest of the family, and the outcome had been like she had predicted. Her husband, daughter and granddaughter would go with her to the garden. The other had vehemently refused to leave their homes, and were already planning out what they would do with the money her mother had left for them. It was hard for her to admit, but she and her descanents were most likely the only ones who really cared about her mother. Twilight had always been pretty strickt with all of them, but Radiance knew why she was like that. She had always guessed that her mother was hiding something. Some years back, she had done some research on her mother, but had been unable to find any mentioning of her, until the day she was first seen in Van Hoover. There she had been researching for her book about the war, that had made her rich. At the time however, her mother had already been about twenty years old, so Radiance had known that there was something in her past that she hadn't wanted to share with the rest of them. Even a fake name had been within her theory, but she had never anticipated what princess Celestia had told them earlier..... Her mother... a national hero... Radiance had always been proud of her, but now she was so even more.

Rainbow Dash was taking care of Applejack and Pinkie, back at Canterlot castle. Discord was also with her, carefully whiping sweat from Pinkies brow. The transformation had caused some side effects inside Pinkies psyche, that they both hoped would be resolved shortly. Applejack on the other hoof, was simply resting. The day had taken alot out of her, and she was still a little airsick.

"So... Rainbow Dash, what do you think about Celestias change of heart?", Discord broke the silence.

"I don't know. I mean making all of us Alicorns, and removing your bracelet surely is a step into the right direction, but I don't trust her yet. That's why I asked you to teach me magic, instead of her.", Rainbow explained.

"I can understand that. She does seem to really mean it though. I am the spirit of chaos. I would feel it if she was lying to me. Also her remorse is genuine. Believe me, I checked.", the draconus added.

"So... you mean she has really changed?", Rainbow asked him, a tint of hope in her voice.

"I didn't say that. All I said is that she really is regretting everything that has happend in the past, and that she is being completly honest with us. She is not hiding a single thing.", Discord clarified his earlier statement.

He himself was not to sure what to make of the whole situation. Celestia had welcomed him at the palace when he had turned up here a few hours ago. She had even, without him asking her to, immideatly removed his bracelet. In that instant, he could have banished her to the sun, but he did not. The feelings he felt emmiting from her, were just too convincing. He really wanted to believe that Celestia had changed, since he knew, better then anypony, how hard everything had been on her. If she did change, he thought to himself, it would be better for not only her subjects, but for her own well being aswell.....

Rainbow watched Discord, as he got lost in his own thoughts. She was not too sure what to think right now. Pinkie had awoken earlier, with her mane flat and an insane glint in her eyes. It had remembered her too much of the time they were hiding in the dungeons. Soon after her mane had become poofy once again, and she had fainted.... Discord said that there were two souls fighting inside her, for reign over her body. It was a sideeffect of the ascendtion.....

Inside Pinkies mind

Pinkie was running through the darkness, once again being an Earthpony. Where was she? What was she doing here? All around her, she could hear laughter, but it made her shiver. It was not the good kind of laughter. She felt as if thousands of ponies laughed at her, not with her.

"What's the matter Pinkie Pie? I thought you liked laughter.... Too bad you can't protect your friends just by laughing...", a cold voice spoke from the darkness.

"I CAN protect my friends if I have too! No meanie mean meanie pants will hurt my friends!", she retorted.

"But it has happend before, hasn't it? Remember that your laughter hurt Twilight.... It was your jokes that hurt her. All that is in your head are cakes and parties. How can you possibly hope to protect anypony?", the voice laughed at her.

"I am not only thinking about that! Show yourself you big meanie!", Pinkie challenged the voice.

"Do you really want that Pinkie? You can just embrace the darkness and accept defeat. If I show myself however, it will hurt you verry badly.", the voice said patronizingly.

"I said show yourself!", Pinkie scremed angrily.

Out of the darkness, came a perfect copy of herself, with flat mane and tail. Pinkie remembered this.... This was how she was before she got her cutiemark. Before she could say anything to her doppelganger however, she jumped her, and began to chocke Pinkie. Trying to fight back, Pinkie began to chocke her doppelganger, fighting for her verry existance.

"Don....'t fight it Pinkie... You know I am the stronger one of us.", her image taunted her.

"You are the one that got us killed!", Pinkie reprimanded.

The two mares fought like this for a while, before Pinkies hooves dropped to the ground, releasing her grip on Pinkamenas throat.