A nightly guardian

Chapter 9

A thousand years ago Part 1

Lyra was once again going through documents Luna had provided her with. She had no idea where she kept getting them. After all she herself had looked through most of the documents and notes in Zeos study. Most of them had been safe for fillies. No dangerous research, no personal notes and surely no notes on the night Nightmare Moon had first awakened. Seeing these notes on hypothetical dimensional travel, Lyra wondered if her mentor had maybe cleaned out everything she didn't want her to see. Even so she was pretty much fed up with her secrecy, she was much more curious of where this was going. After all, she had kinda promised Luna to see this through as well.

The documents on dimensional travel seemed to belong to a part of Zeos research, that had been abandoned. Some were simply notes of how the magic most likely saturated all worlds, and therefore made travel between them possible. Others listed similarities between the worlds for which he could not find a single explanation.  There was the language for example. Zeo referred to Equestrian as English. From what she could make out that wasn't his native language either. Which was the reason why she was unable to make out some of the notes at first. Luna had been kind enough to cast a translation spell on them. Zeo stated that he believed there to be a direct link between his own world, and Equestria. Obviously he had looked for a way home and had wanted to invent a spell to do just that.

Lyra assumed that he had worked on this during the three years, that he and Luna had not talked to one another. Seeing as the notes seemed incomplete, he either had given up on that endeavor or Luna was trying to keep the results from her. The unicorn could not blame her mentor for this. Dimensional travel, especially to a world were magic was once common but is not anymore, could mean problems for Equestria should the traveler be discovered.  What she found most interesting, was Zeos theory about the passing of time in Equestria. Apparently he had first had that idea after he had checked his cellphone over and over again. Every function related to tell the time seemed to work very slow, while all other functions seemed to be alright all together. Picking up another of his notebooks, a few pages fell out of it. Lyra picked them up with her magic, hoping to find further elaboration on his plan to go home.

What Lyra did not expect, was to find that the pages belonged to another brand of research entirely. Just the title alone gave it away. This research was about the Death root extract and it's effects.

Found some Zebras in the southern border lands. They have vast knowledge of poisons and herbs of all kinds. My travel there last week revealed to me that they are the equivalent to the African natives back home. They are.... But who am I to judge them. After all, we are in a world that's foundation is magic. However they are really quite amazing. The books Celestia has provided me with had quite some information on the topic, but none of them came even close to what they were able to tell me. They refer to it as "Demons Blood". According to them the insanity is not the only side effect. The wicked magic is sure to drive a magic user insane, but there are other effects. If the magic is somehow able to absorb a will for it's own, a very powerful and purely evil being can be born. Sadly this makes my research into the matter ever the more urgent. Luna has changed recently. She tries to hide it, but she can't fool me. Her appearance.....

The mint green Unicorn wanted to finish reading, but suddenly the notes were yanked out of her magical grasp. by a midnight blue hoof.

"Where did you find those?", Luna inquired, unable to hide her irritation completely.

"It was in one of the notebooks. Just fell out when I picked it up. So hoof it back here, if you don't mind, it's quite interesting.", she replied a little angry that her research had been interrupted.

"I am sorry Lyra, but this has nothing to do with what I wanted you to work on tonight." , her teacher chastised her.

" I don' even get why you want me to read about this. It's neither medical nor of any use. All I found are half baked theories at best."

"I wanted your opinion, if you see a chance to interrupt such a spell, or to nullify it.", Luna clarified coldly, as she sat down in front of the fireplace of Lyras own personal study.

"Interrupt it? Nullify it? I don't see why that would be so important, but yes it would actually quite easy. The theory states that it will only work if the caster has on object from the world he or she wanted to travel to. It has something to do with magic harmonics, but I don't really understand that part. If one where to take that object away, the spell would have no focus, so the magic would disperse. But why is that so important to you?" Lyra elaborated, a little proud of herself. She had not forgotten the other notes however and planned to see if she could find references n Zeos study later.

"It is possible that humans may discover this world. Their electricity acts much like our magic, so I thought we could maybe hinder them from coming here."

Lyra didn't buy it. From what she had learned, the two were entirely different forms of energy. And even if her mentor was telling the truth, so it was highly unlikeable that humans would be able to come here, using such a half baked spell as a layout. They would need something from Equestria and that they didn't have, as far as Lyra knew. Unless Zeo had actually succeeded. In that case they could have something,, which still didn't change the fact that they could not do magic. The slightly nervous smile Luna gave her didn't help ease her suspicions.

******

Three hours later

Luna had to hold court this night, so Lyra was able to do some independent study, or so she had thought. What she had not expected to find, when she returned to her study after getting some books, was Celestia laying on the carpet in front of her fireplace.

"Luna will not be able to interfere this time. It is important that you an I have a little chat. Alone." The sun princess stated without looking back at her. Instead her usually gentle expression, was now stern and fixed on the magical fire.

"Your highness, ehm.... I don't understand." The mint green Unicorn stammered.

"I am not going to beat around the bush. I am happy that Luna has found a friend in you, but I was against her taking you on as her student. I never wanted to deny that right to her but the topics she has you learn, are usually not meant for Pony kind. We agreed to that aft she had returned from the moon. Yet I see that she is doing it again. Tell me, what do you know about the second Nightmare Moon incident?", Celestias voice was cold, and almost emotionless. At the same time however Lyra had the impression that the princess feared what she would hear. Her whole body was tense, as if she prepared herself for action, that she hoped would never come.

"Well.... As far as I figured out from what Luna has told me, it was due to Starswhirl meddling with the mind-link spell. Why do you ask?"

"Did you not read Zeos notes I slipped in your work today? Didn't that give you a better idea of the matter?"

"I'm sorry, but Luna took them from me. Wait, you slipped them in there? Where did you find them, and why did you do that?"

Lyra put down the stack of books she had been carrying, and set herself on the sofa she had bought the day before. Either Celestia was uncomfortable that she was now on higher ground then herself, or wanted to make true to her position' but she stood up and placed herself on the sofa as well, so she could face Lyra.

"It is quite unfortunate that she has found out. I will have to fill you in myself then it seems. So tell me, what do you think happened to Starswhirl?”, the princess inquired.

“Well... I suppose his mind got fried when the mind-link spell went wrong.”, she stammered, not quite comfortable with the white Alicorns gaze on her.

“You have it partially right. He was quite a skilled Unicorn mage, and thought he could do better then Zeo. Zeo however had put in precautions in the weaving of the spell, to prevent the participants from being hurt. He did so after one of his experiments went wrong. Starswhirl removed those, thinking them useless. When he then performed it with Lunas mind as a host, the worst thing possible happened. His mind was drawn from his body, as he died and towards the Death roots magic. The two combined and overpowered Lunas own mind, locking her in that same mental prison she keeps that magic in nowadays. Starswhirls will got split from it when my own student, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends used the elements of harmony on her. After that the magic was harmless again, unless you count the strain on my sisters sanity. She was able to lock it back up again, so she has been mostly fine these days. I myself had to exile her to the moon, since I tried to save her AND him. I failed at that task. I could have saved either her or him, but I was simply too weak to make that decision. So I exiled her in the end, before she could defeat me. I don't know what Luna has told you about the reason she teaches you all of this, but I can only ask you to be very careful. My sister has a good reason, and I understand her feelings better then she can possibly imagine, but I don't want any harm to come either to you, nor to her. Do you understand Lyra?”, Celestia explained, tensing up once again.

Lyra thought for a moment. If Celestia thought it necessary to come and talk to her about it in private, she surely made it sound much more dangerous then she had imagined. The Unicorn trusted her mentor, but that didn't mean that a direct warning from Equestrias ruler was to be taken lightly.

“I do not know what this is all about, and I don't think you are going to tell me. Luna has a plan, that much I know. It has something to do with the magic that made Nightmare Moon, but I don't know much more. She had me promise to use the “purge” spell on her, should it overtake her.”

Celestia gasped.

“The purge spell? That would kill her!”, she exclaimed.

“I am aware of that your highness, but your sister seems set on trying it anyway. She told me, she wants to rid herself from it's corrupting influence once and for all. I think she wants to do it even if it would mean her own demise.”, Lyra explained hanging her head.

“That is more then foalish. You have to try to talk her out of it! It's not worth it!”, Celestia was not so regal now. In fact her eyes were full of terror and conflicting emotions.

“It is not my place to do so. From what I understand she plans on doing it soon, and I will assist her as good as I can. I am confident in my abilities, and I am sure I can do it. Even if my talent is not magic, but music, and it tires me greatly to use spells outside of my affinity, I think I still am a better choice then anypony that would attempt to hastily learn these spells.”, the mint green Unicorn said, avoiding Celestias gaze.

“What? You know it could mean her death, and you are still willing to do it? What kind of friend are you, willing to take that risk?”, Celestia accused.

“A very good one. A friend that is willing to bear the burden of killing a friend, if it means putting that friend out of her misery. A friend that is not afraid to help if asked to do so, even if it could possibly bring uncomfortable consequences.”, Lunas voice cut her sister off.

“Lulu?”, Celestia gasped, as her sisters voice came out of the shadows.

“You have been warned Celestia. I will not tolerate your interference in this, seeing as it is not a danger to Equestria this time.”, Lunas voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, and even Lyra was starting to feel a little scared. She had seen Luna angry before, but not to a degree that she used her magic to actually scare another pony.

Celestia jumped up from the sofa, and ran for the door. Before she could reach it however, shadows enveloped her from head to hoof. Lyra wanted to interfere, once she saw that Celestia began to struggle against the shadow magic that enveloped her, but it was too late. It slowly dragged the sun princess into the ground, making her disappear after only a few more seconds. Before her muzzle disappeared however, she glanced over to Lyra.

“Be.... careful....”, she stammered. Her voice was not worried for herself, but for Lyras sake...

Only a moment after princess Celestia had disappeared into the stone floor, Luna stepped out of the shadows snickering.

“What did you do to her Luna?”, Lyra accused instantly.

“Oh? Nothing really. You don't think I would harm my dear sister, now do you? It's nothing more then a light slap on the fetlock, don't worry, she is completely fine. I have send her back to new Canterlot, using my affinity with the dark. To be precise, I made her appear in Donut Joe's. She hates Donuts.”, Luna laughed.

Lyras muzzle stood open for a moment. Yes, sure the scene had certainly looked pretty bad, but she also knew that Celestia had much more magical power then her sister. Had she wanted to, she would surely have been able to overpower her.

“But why was she running then?”, she asked confused.

“Her affinity is light, mine is darkness. If my magic touches her, it is very uncomfortable for her. It also works the other way around by the way. It's not painful, but more like uncomfortable cold feeling for her, a hot one for me. I will most likely not hear the end of it for quite some time, but I just could not sit by. I have told Celestia time and time again, that she is not to meddle into my affairs.”, Luna answered, now having taken her sisters former place on the sofa.

“Besides, I could not let her banish you.”, she added.

Lyra was dumbstruck. Banish her? Why would Celestia want to banish her? She had done nothing wrong and was surely no threat to Equestria in any way. Her teacher began to chuckle.

“Don't worry. Had she done it, it wouldn't have been for long. I'd have gotten you back as soon as I had noticed. She is just a little overprotective of me. So, want to continue todays lesson?”, Luna asked nonchalantly. Lyras muzzle hang open, and she could not help but suddenly doubt her mentors sanity. Without waiting for Lyra to answer, Luna began to talk....

Zeo was working on a potion in the eighth floor of his personal study. That at least was what he had told Luna. In all reality he had started to make some more potent alcohol to drink. He did this a lot these days. Red Steel and the other members of the night guard covered for him, whenever he overdid it but even he knew that it could not go on like this. Usually they just hauled him over to the barracks when it happened, and hid him there. Nopony wanted to put up with an upset Princess Luna. She had been very distant these last three years, and had been found talking to herself more then once. Some of the night guards even swore they had seen an unknown pure black Alicorn in armor strolling the castle. Investigations on the matter had brought no results whatsoever.

A knock on the door, got Zeos attention.

“Come in.”

Red Steel entered the room, not pleased to smell the alcohol in the air.

“You at it again, lad?”, he asked in a disapproving tone.

“As if you don't like it yourself. Don't think I have not noticed the few barrels missing from my storage. So what can I do for you old friend? Want to actually ask me this time, before you take some of my Vodka?”, Zeo mused.

“Nah. Ah hav' much betta news for ya. We've found'em. Big shot this time. Sharp Blade will be there ah guess.”, he said.

“That's good news indeed. You know what to do. We'll get them this time. This time we won't let them escape. Have the Unicorn learned that spell yet?”

“Da antiteleport magic? Sure. Had dem work overtime ta do it. Dere will be no escape dis time. But Zeo... Ya want ta reconsider. Killing dem all will not bring back yer daughter.”, Red said, looking more then uncomfortable.

“Is that what you ask of me? Do you want me to spare them?”, Zeo asked, looking his longterm friend in the eye.

“If dey surrender, let'm be. Take'm prisoner. Da mines can always use more workers. Please do meh dat favor Zeo.”, Red Steel pleaded.

“I guess... I guess I can do that. But only because it is you Red. Had anypony else asked me, I would have denied the request, I hope you know that.”, Zeo said, gathering his things.

This night would hopefully put an end to the attacks on his wifes live. After that he could put his full attention to healing her. He already had the general idea on how to do it, but he still had to refine some of his skills. The method was not the problem... The resistance he was anticipating was what worried him.

Thirty minutes later

Zeo hid in a bush near a cave, at the base of mount Unicornia. At his feet lay a dead Earth pony mare he had killed just moments before. He had done it with his own hands, without the use of magic. He had never done that before, and it sickened him. Killing another living being was not in his nature. He wanted nothing more, then to get this over with.

He had strangled the mare, not to make to much noise or alert their targets with the use of magic like last time. Zeo had wanted to give her the chance to surrender, but at that point it had already been too late. Feeling her life and panic filled struggle under his hands, had been too much for him. But there was no changing what had been done. Other then he had seen the Ponies in his group do, he had not let her lifeless body slump to the ground. Instead he had put her to the ground gently. She had been just another mercenary. She knew what had risks that included...

Still, that didn't make it any easier for him what he had to do now. His troops had taken position around the cave, and would invoke the anti teleporting charm as soon as he entered the cave. He had ordered them not to follow him. Every pony that escaped from the cave was to be given the chance to surrender. If they did, they were to be brought to the mines in the south without trial. If they didn't, he had authorized on spot executions.

Turning around fast, he vomited as his stomach turned. Back home he had never had to do such things. Hell he had even refused military service. But now here he was, commanding a force of Ponies, intend to kill other Ponies.

Slowly he stepped out into the moonlight, and the anti teleport spell was put in place. The two Unicorns that stood at the entrance to the cave noticed him instantly. One of them ran back into the cave, while the other one charged him. The stallion was tried to envelop him with his magic, but it got absorbed by the gems he had attached to his coat. The stallion was dumbstruck, and tried again.

“Give up. Your magic won't work. Surrender now, and you will live.”, Zeo stated coldly. His voice held more confidence then he actually felt.

The stallion changed his tactics and started to charge at him. A quick lash from one of the magical strands that were now surrounding him, decapitated the poor stallion. Zeo could hear shouting and the clip clop of hooves approach from deeper inside the cave. More swiftly as anyone/pony would have anticipated, Zeo ran into the cave to meet the last of the rebels head on.

Red Steel watched as his friend charged into the cave. His heart sank as the screams of dying Ponies reached his ears, and the smell of blood filled his nose. To his surprise however, he had to find out that the screams didn't come from the direction of the cave at all. They came from the bushes all around him. When a Pony in black leather armor and a dark hood jumped at him, he knew for sure what was going on. He himself had done similar operations in the past. He jumped back as fast as he could, evading a short sword his opponent carried in his mouth. They had walked right into a trap.

“Well played Sharp Blade... Well played indeed....”, he mused, as he started to fight off his attacker. The two short blades attached to both of his front hooves, glinted in the moonlight as he shouted out orders.

“Keep da Unicorns safe! Somepony get ta Zeo! He has ta know 'bout dis!”, he shouted to nopony in particular when two more Assassins jumped at him from the shadows. He had quite the hard time to fight off three opponents at the same time. They were skilled, that much he could tell. Dodging a sword from the right, he jumped to the left only to be met with another blade. Breaking off both of his own blades, he used his front hooves to jump backwards against a tree. Mid-flight he bucked at the tree to gain speed. Planning to jump over his attackers to run to the cave and inform his friend, he saw a crossbow bolt out of the corner of his eye that came straight for his face....

Zeo fought against a seemingly never ending tide of Ponies. At first he had tried to make good of his word to Red and give them the chance to surrender, but that had soon become way to dangerous. Most of his anti magic gems were already used up, and he thrown them to get rid of the spell-casters in the rear lines. They were obviously smartening up. Had they just charged at him at the beginning, they were now trying to break through his defenses from afar. The problem was that they were doing a pretty good job at it. Three of his five shield spells had already collapsed due to the strain of bolts and other things hitting them. Not even his magical strands were doing him much good, since had to use those to defend himself from attacks that came from behind. Something was definitely wrong here. Red would never let anypony attack Zeo from behind. Something must have happened outside, but Zeo could not go outside to check without making himself vulnerable.

That alone was not the biggest problem however. Throwing spells left and right, while he continuously fed his last remaining two shields with magic, was taking his toll on him. Already could he feel that same burning sensation that he had felt that night over three years ago. His magical circuit would not be able to endure that punishment for much longer. When his fourth shield broke, he jumped into a side-tunnel. There was no getting through here. He had not anticipated so many opponents at all. Just who was behind all this? Who had enough money to hire that many mercenaries?

Panting like he had run a marathon, he fired one last spell against the ceiling of the runnel he had just entered. It collapsed with a loud bang, burying some Ponies who had tried to follow him under several tons of rock. Zeo was sure that they would need quite some time to clear that way again. Just in case they tried it with magic, Zeo placed his last three gems amongst the rubble. Would they try levitation, the gems would absorb the magic until they were full, and ultimately explode.

Already straining himself hard, Zeo dropped his defensive magic and the energy he got from it to open up a hole in the wall. After staggering inside, he collapsed the entrance behind himself, or that was the plan at least. With a blinding flash of light, a anthracite and gray colored Unicorn suddenly stood in front of him. He did not recognize the Pony, for he had been blinded by the teleportation. Just before he felt a slumber spell being placed upon him, Zeo knew that his friends outside had most likely been defeated.

Luna lay on the grass of the courtyard lawn. This had become one of her favorite past time activities lately. it was just so peaceful. It helped her to calm down. Lately there had been gaps in her memory, and she got angry and violent for no reason whatsoever. Even being with Zeo failed to comfort her these days. Her feelings for him had not changed as far as she knew, but his presence made her sad above everything else. The way he looked at her, when he thought she couldn't see him didn't help either. It was as if he was inspecting her like a wild animal that could strike at any second, rather then his beloved wife. Sure, they had not spent much time with each other until she had sought him out two weeks ago. All this time, all those years lost because he had chosen to safe her life. She blamed herself for it in the end. Zeo had made a very hard decision that had been harder on him, then it had been on her. There also were other things that she felt bad about. Cherry Punch, one of her few friends amongst the night guard, had told her that Zeo had stayed true to her all this time. She on the other hoof had entertained some relationships....

Just as Luna was about to fall into another depression about her own mistakes, something fell into the grass just a few hooves away from her. Looking upwards, she could barely make out the outline of a Pegasus speeding off into the distance. As her gaze fell upon whatever had fallen in front of her, her heart skipped a beat. There, barely breezing and a crossbow bolt sticking out of his neck, lay....

"Red Steel!", she screamed, running up to him. He was barely awake, and from the puddle of blood that already formed under him told her he would not make it.

"L... Luna.... Zeo...in...d...danger. It was a....", the dying stallion panted between coughs. Before he could finish what he had wanted to say, his body gave one final jerk and became limp.

Next to the now dead stallion Luna found a map that had a cave at the base of the mountain marked. It must have fallen out of Red Steels saddlebags....

Without thinking Luna spread her wings and took flight. Her husband was in danger. She had done him wrong in so many ways, and he had never stopped to look for those who were after her life. And now his loyalty and love had gotten into trouble.

Lyra face hoofed. Even she would have seen the situation for what it was. The rebels surely had dropped Red Steel there to lure Luna into a trap. Sure she would have gone as well, but not before getting each and ever available guard to help.

"You seriously fell for that?", she asked a little confused.

"In hindsight, I know i was stupid. But it was my beloved one that they had in their clutches. Had they made the demand for me to step down as a condition for his release, I would have done it. I was also feeling quite guilty... You see... I had some lovers in the time Zeo and I avoided each other. Of course he knew about it, and it was mostly me avoiding him... I was feeling guilty, and I wanted nothing more then to help him then. I wanted to make up for all that I had put him through....", her mentor explained, a pained expression on her face.

Zeo came to slowly. His head hurt pretty bad and even before he opened his eyes he could feel that he was chained up against a wall, and his magic had been sealed. As his eyes opened slowly, he looked into the grinning face of a yellow coated Earth pony mare with amber mane and tail. Her cold gray eyes gave away her excitement.

"So you are Sharp Blade I suppose?", he asked as calmly as he could.

"Oh I see my old teacher has mentioned me, creature. Well... he won't mention anything anymore after tonight.", the mare responded, her grin never leaving her face.

"What have you done to him?Where are Red and the others?"

"Let's just say he and your other "Night guards" now finally have the peace they always wanted.", she chuckled.

Zeo slumped against the wall again. All of those he had brought with him... dead... It was hell on his conscience.

"And soon all of this will finally be over. Then Equestria can finally grow and flourish under one single ruler.", a new voice spoke up. Zeo closed his eyes. He knew this voice. Over the last few months he had heard it almost on a daily basis. He had trusted this Pony, and even informed her of his actions and tactics tonight. Having been a commander during the war he had thought she could give him some pointers...

"Platinum... So you merely spied on me, didn't you?", he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course you silly creature. Luna and Celestia were born in my kingdom. Imagine the shock when I found out that there was a Pegasus born, in the Unicorn Republic! Celestia was originally a Unicorn. She should rule alone. That way, even if nopony really sees it that way, we Unicorns have won the war of the races after all.”, she explained in a dry tone.

His eyes still closed, Zeo shook his head.

“You know... there has been racism where I come from as well. You know, it didn't end well. The guy who did it, shot himself in the end, because he was too afraid of what he would have to face if he was captured. I can promise you however, that you will not have that kind of mercy, Platinum. Once I get out of here, I will show you that it is a bad idea to get on my bad side. You will curse the day your father bucked your mother. What I will do to you, will be spoken off for generations to come.”, Zeo said, his voice burning with barely suppressed rage.

“Don't make me laugh, creature. We have already sent a message to your oh so dear wife. Once she has swallowed the bait, and comes here, it will all be over.”, Sharp Blade taunted.

Zeos head sank to his chest. He knew that Luna was in a state of emotional turmoil right now. She was not able to think straight. If she was to somehow find out about this, then she would not get reinforcements. She would likely come alone. The thought alone sickened him. He wanted to do something, alas with his magic sealed he was unable to do anything.

“AAAAhhrrrrrgggg....”

The scream made Zeos head jerk up in surprise. His eyes shot open, to see two Pegasi in heavy armor that lay against the far wall of the room he was in. Platinum and Sharp Blade seemed to be at least equally stunned. Then a torrent of flame burst through the only entrance to the room. More screams reached Zeos ears, as the smell of burnt flesh reached his nose. Soon afterwards, everything was silent yet again. Only the slow clip clop of hooves could be heard in the distance.

“Go see what's going on.”, Platinum ordered, obviously not so sure about her plans anymore. Sharp Blade nodded, and galloped out into the tunnel. Her dagger was in her mouth before she reached the door.

Luna trotted slowly through the caves tunnels. The Ponies here had tried to attack her, but she had defended herself. Many of them were dead now. She did not know how she had done it exactly. One moment she saw several spells coming her way, the next she stood in a tunnel whichs walls had been burned. All over the place Ponies lay motionless, while there was little more then ash left from others. At that moment, she didn't care. All that mattered was that she HAD succeeded in defending herself. It was then that she heard hoof steps coming closer and closer.

She did not stop her advance. Her mind was blank except for one thought, and that was that she had to safe her husband. A yellow coated mare with amber mane and tail came running towards her. The dagger in her muzzle was ready to strike as she jumped Luna. Again Lunas vision blurred  as if she was fainting. The next thing she knew, was that she stood over the body of the mare, one of her front legs crushing her skull. Revolted, she drew her hoof back and inspected it for a moment, before she heard a cry of pain from deeper within the cave. Her hooves started a gallop even before she could order them to do just that....

Zeo was bleeding. Platinum was afraid and tried to push that fear of death away, by torturing him. Her magic was not very strong, but she was skilled with it. The tiniest hit, even if it did not come with much force behind it, caused a great amount of pain. Already was he panting. His friends were dead. He would soon join them, and if Luna met with Platinum, who was much better at magic then her, then it would all be over.  He had failed not only his friends, but also his wife and his daughter... He was worthless....

The door slammed open and a panting Luna entered the room. Without any hesitation she grabbed Platinum, who was obviously surprised that she had made it this far, with her magic and threw her against a wall. She then approached her bleeding husband, who was also panting heavily. Each breath seemed to be labored, and he was fighting just to stay awake. Lovingly the Alicorn removed the chains that bound him, and undid the seal that held his magic in check. For what seemed like an eternity to her, Luna held her husband in her hooves and cried.

A gray blast of magic threw Luna off balance, causing her to drop Zeo and hitting her head on a rock, knocking her out. Zeo, who was still fighting not to faint from the pain that had been inflicted on him, saw Platinum approach.

“Well... That was easier then I had thought it would be. I think Celestia will need someone to confine in soon, and who better then me, who has been with her for so long? Now all that is left is to dispose of you two. In fact, I must thank you before I do. That you took out all these mercenaries for me, really saved me some time. Wouldn't have wanted to leave loose ends, now would I....?”, Platinum monologued, when something caught her eye. Before she could react however, something that looked like a pure black feeler smashed fight into her and knocked her back several hooves. That was when Zeo finally gave in to the blackness....

When he came too, he was laying on the grass of the castle lawn. It was still night, and that just could not be. Carefully he struggled to his knees. Checking the clock on the highest tower of the castle, he found his fears confirmed. It was already eight in the morning.... The sun should have been up hours ago, not to mention that he had absolutely no idea how he had gotten here. Suddenly he heard voices from nearby, and crawled towards them. He needed medical attention, that much was more then obvious. Zeo just hoped that whoever it was, would be a friend rather then a foe. In the latter case, he would not live to find out why the sun was not yet up.

As he approached, he saw two Alicorns standing in front of each other. One was Celestia, her Pink mane moving in an non-existing breeze. The other one he did not recognize at first. It was pure black, wearing light blue armor. It was not until he saw the eyes of that second Alicorn, that he realized that it was Luna. Rummaging through his pockets, his cellphone fell to the ground. While picking it up, he hit the record button by mistake, just to stop the recording almost at once. His fingers trembling, Zeo worked himself to his feet and mustered all his remaining strength. What he had feared for so long, had finally happened. He had to get to his study and get “it”, if it was not too late already....

Lyra stared into the eyes of her teacher, but Luna did not say another word.

“What? That's it? What did he go to get? What happened then? Luna, come on, I wanna know!”, she pleaded.

“I'll tell you tomorrow. For tonight I think you should get some rest, and I need to set the moon for Tia.”, the midnight blue Alicorn  explained. The two of them said good night to each other after that, even so Lyra was still a little irritated by the way Lunas story had ended. Not only that, but Celestias warning also was still fresh in her mind.... Why would she tell her to be careful?

After deciding she would sleep in her study tonight, Lyra turned in for the night. Even so many things were on her mind, she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.....

Half an hour later

Lyra was tossing and turning in her sleep. A nightmare was torturing the Unicorn. A nightmare about the events that transpired a thousand years ago. She kept seeing Nightmare Moon attacking and eventually killing Zeo.... That was when a pale blue light crawled into the bedroom of her study from under the door. It almost looked like some kind of mist, but also as if it were alive.... It raised up as if it was looking around, before it enveloped Lyras horn. The Unicorn instantly stopped wriggling around in her bed, and her breathing became much more relaxed.