Sins of The Past

"You must be very desperate to come to me for help." the dark-maned thing said, draping itself across a throne. "Explain what you're doing here."

"Could I start with the questions, please?" Celestia asked, rubbing the arms of the chair she was sitting in.

"Alright."

"Where am I, exactly?" Celestia asked, glancing around the room. It gave the distinct impression of a cathedral, which unnerved her. She had never quite warmed up to the idea that ponies worshiped her -- or others.

"Lon, Lonki; to be completely accurate, you're in the Serpent Tail mountain range, near the peak of Wyvern Tooth mountain." the thing said, gesturing widely with its hand.

"Lah-wyn? Am I pronouncing that correctly?" Celestia asked, stalling to figure out what she absolutely needed to know.

"Yes, that is correct. Was there anything you wanted to ask?" The thing seemed to be losing patience, so Celestia went for the obvious elephant in the room.

"Who are you?"

"My name doesn't translate too well to your language, so call me K. I am the reigning goddess of Chaos and Justice."

"Chaos and Justice? At the same time?"

"Yes. It was never supposed to have been like that," K said, sighing and looking away.

"Do you know who Enigmatic Insanity is?" Celestia asked, preparing to run away. Mentions of Enigma's name brought reactions from all over the spectrum. She wasn't sure how K would react, or how she would get away. Walking on her hindlegs was more difficult than it seemed.

In the end, this isn't about Celestia, or the shady deals she made to try and be stronger than her enemies. Let's stop dawdling and return to who really this story is about: Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight dug through her library, searching everywhere for a book on the Hajahact Empire. She was unable to find anything, even when she tore up other libraries too. It was as though they didn't exist to historians. Twilight tried her last hope: Princess Luna, keeper of hidden knowledge. If there was any scrap of information about them outside of so-called 'official' channels, she'd know it.

The sun was setting when Twilight finally arrived in Canterlot. She knew that Luna had been overworked lately, having to raise both the Sun and the Moon, in her sister's absence, but she was hoping that the princess of the night could spare some time to talk.

Luna was waiting on the balcony, watching Twilight approach the castle. Deciding to save the young princess some time, she jumped from the balcony and floated gently to the ground.

"Twilight?" she said, royal Canterlot voice in full effect.

Twilight leapt into the air, not expecting Luna to be right behind her.

"Luna, can we talk?" Twilight asked, cutting through all of the formalities. There'd be time for that later. The two princesses walked into the parlor and sat by the fire, neither one wanting to open the conversation. Finally, Twilight cleared her throat and asked what had been on her mind for the past few months.

"Where is Celestia?"

Luna looked away, at the floor, out the window, anywhere but at the princess currently tearing her heart out.

"I do not know. It has been such a long time since I have seen my sister. Cadence watched her go through the mirror, but to where is a mystery. We tried Canterlot High, where you went, but she was not there," Luna said, tears brimming in her eyes. "Did Celestia abandon them?" was the question acting as an elephant in the room.

"The other thing I wanted to ask you is, do you know anything about the Hajahacts?"

"The empire or the inhabitants?"

"The empire preferably, though if you know anything about the Barriers, this is the time to speak up."

"I know the Barriers, excluding Enigmatic Insanity, were once normal ponies who were exiled from Equestria and her allied territories. Insanity herself, well, that's a long story. The Barriers each took their banishment in their own ways --" Luna was interrupted by a grey mailpegasus running directly into the closed window. Shaking her head, she opened the window and took the letter from the pegasus. She tore it open and removed the slip of paper inside.

"Dear Luna,

The mirror is acting up. I think there's something trying to get through. I have it doing Lamaze --" The handwriting abruptly changed. "Sorry, Cadence isn't in the best of mental states. Please get here as soon as possible. I don't know what is trying to break through but it --" The rest of the letter was just a long streak of ink down the page, like the page had been yanked away.

Luna and Twilight teleported to the Crystal Castle, only to run into a blue maned unicorn. For a moment, Twilight thought it was her brother, Shining Armour, but quickly realized that it wasn't. Light diffused through his body like he was made of glass -- or ice.

He looked down.

"I suspect that I'm in the presence of Princess Luna and Princess Twilight?" he asked, offering a hoof to help them up. "Celestia is looking for the both of you. She needs to brief you." He turned quickly and gestured for them to follow.

They were lead to the throne room, where Celestia and Cadence were, speaking in hushed tones. Around them were one pure white unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony. The earth pony and the pegasus were strange looking; the earth pony had a black coat but it had cracks in it, revealing what looked to be lava. His mane was mainly red but it had yellow and orange streaks in it, giving the impression of fire.

The pegasus' mane looked the least organic of everypony's; it was like trapped lightning, zigging and zagging as it saw fit. Its light alone could light a small room. The pegasus was the first to notice the trio, yelling out "THEY'RE HERE!", despite the circumstance not requiring the loud announcement.

The small group all looked over at them, some more hesitantly than others.

"Luna. Twilight," Celestia started, standing. "I am glad you made it here safely."

"As am I,": Cadance said.

Shining Armor bit his lip, obviously struggling for words. Eventually, he managed a quiet, "Hey Twily."

"These are K's knights," Celestia said, gesturing to the ragtag trio of ponies. The pegasus waved cheerfully. The other two pretended to not notice the gesture. "You may want to sit down for this, Twilight." The Sun princess laid a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, gently getting her to sit. She sat down next to her prized pupil, mentally debating on how to break the news.

Maybe a bandage approach would be best.

"Your friends, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, will be away for a while. A long while." Celestia said, looking out the window. "I had to trade them for the ponies sitting before you. Collateral, you see."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Twilight's scream resonated through out the castle, shattering several glasses.

This probably wasn't the best course of action after all.