A Heart Full of Love, A Soul Full of Rage

Chapters

The Shooting Star (Clop)
Beginning of the End
Promises to be Fulfilled
Enemy of my Enemy...Whose also my Friend?
How Daring Are you? (Clop)
The Break In
So Much For Stealth...
Enter...Solar Eclipse!
Not For Peace...Not For Harmony...
Coming Full Circle
Hatred is Born from Love
How Far Untill Rock Bottom
The Cavelry Arrives!...At the the wrong time...
(Sub Chapter) Fun With Portals
Truthful Visions
Worth Living For
Aftershock
The Ins and Outs of Royalty (Clop)
The Flames of Evil, the Wrath of Love
Aurora Sparkle

The Shooting Star (Clop)

The train ride to the Crystal Empire was nothing short of boring. Other than the few minutes Daybreak and Twilight had spent talking with the Wonderbolts, there was nothing to do, there wasn't even any books for Twilight. Now it was true, talking with the Wonderbolts had been very entertaining, it had given Daybreak a chance to confirm the rumors spreading about them. And it seemed like they were true, they did have a new member called Shining Star. Shining had a starch white coat with a fiery yellow and red mane and tail. Although Daybreak had not gotten a good look at his Cutie Mark, he could only assume it had something to do with flying. It was also very obvious that the rumors about Spitfire's relationship with him were true, and she was making no attempt to hide it. Daybreak had not even gotten an official answer on the status of their relationship, he had inquired if it was serious. Then in full view of the whole team and every guard in the car, Spitfire had pulled Shining Star into a full blown make-out session and stated "what do you think?".

Daybreak wondered if that's how he and Twilight came off to others sometimes, and could understand why they always burst into giggles. Spitfire's team seemed to have no problem with the relationship, or the random public affection either, and she told Daybreak to assure Rainbow Dash that this would not interfere with her future place on the team, or their performances. With that in mind Daybreak and Twilight had made their way back to their seat and snuggled close. Unfortunately, even if the train beds had been down, their was no way they could do more than snuggle. Their was guards everywhere and always at least one within 5 feet...literally, Twilight actually measured the distance each time...5 feet. It got so annoying Daybreak actually considered causing some random chaos on the train just to get rid of them. He began to smirk mischievously at all the possibilities he could think of. Twilight eyed her husband, she knew that look

"Don't even think about it sweetie"

Daybreak's smile turned into the most innocent face he could muster as he looked at Twilight, he even made a small halo appear over his head.

"Whatever do you mean Twilight"

"Don't play dumb with me buster, I'm onto you, I know that look anywhere"

Daybreak continued to give her his innocent look and made several more halos appear over his head. Twilight facehoofed herself

"I swear, you're too much like your father sometimes"

"Buuuuuut that's what you love about me isn't it? That and my winning charisma"

Twilight giggled and leaned in to kiss her derp husband, but as she got close and opened her eyes, she saw Discords face inches from her own. She yelled and fell backwards in her seat, her wings spread out, panic stricken. Daybreak returned his face to normal as he rolled in his seat laughing, Twilight did not look as amused and shot him a glare. Daybreak saw her look and only continued to laugh harder

"What? Oh come Twily, you were the one who said I was too much like my father, I merely began acting the part"

Twilight continued to glare, but then had a better idea, she gave Daybreak an evil smirk

"Yeah, I guess I did say that, but now I think you're too much like your mother!"

Without warning she fired a magical blast squarely in Daybreak's face. Once the small purple dust cloud cleared, the head of Princess Celestia was on Daybreak's body. He looked himself over and materialized a mirror in front of himself. He played with his mane for a moment

"hmm...Not bad"

Hearing Daybreak's voice come out of Princess Celestia's mouth, combined with the way Daybreak was poofing his mane with his hands, was just too much and sent Twilight into a giggling frenzy. She collapsed in her seat and giggled madly, flailing her legs and wings about like a mad mare. Daybreaks snapped his fingers and returned his face to normal then eyed Twilight with a stare

"Oh you think that's funny do ya? Well how bout this"

He quickly attacked Twilight with his fingers, tickling her all over. He attacked her wings and her hooves, keeping her in a constant laughing fit. He even nomed all over her belly with his teeth, sending the adorable mare flailing about desperately trying to escape her loves clutches. She squirmed all over the seat trying to make her way to the aisle to safety. Daybreak held her in place though and continued the tickle torture of his love. With all the squealing Twilight was doing, Daybreak was actually very surprised that none of the guards had come to check up on them. Only moments ago there had been guards every other foot. Now it seemed they were all gone or otherwise occupied.

Daybreak easily overpowered the still squirming mare and pinned her back against the seat, wings still spread wide. He continued to tickle her, but only lightly, so she could catch her breath. As she continued to twitch at his tickles, he couldn't help but gaze up her body, like he had done so many times before. Every time she appeared perfect to him, her sleek slender body, tight little flank, purple mane with a bright pinkish/violet streak, her gorgeous violet eyes. Everything about her, even her crazy obsession with neatness or love of all things book related, he loved it all and would not trade this mare for all the bits, power or fame in the world.

He had been lost in thought for so long that Twilight had begun to giggle again, but not from his hands, which had ceased moving, but just from the way he was staring at her, like she was the most important and interesting thing in all of Equestria or even the world. To brake Daybreak from his trance she wrapped her hooves around his neck and pulled him into a deep and longing kiss. His mind snapped back to reality as he felt her tongue dance along the inside his mouth. Even her breath smelled perfect to him, where as to her, his breath was hot on the inside of her mouth, and although it did not smell bad, feeling his warm air did excite her further and helped her deepen their kiss. After a few moments, or it could have been a few hours for all she could tell, Twilight disconnected from the kiss and lowered her eyelids halfway, giving Daybreak a sultry look as she fluttered them

"I love when you look at me that way"

"What way?"

Daybreak was unaware that he always stared at her when he had daydreams or deep thoughts. Twilight was about to comment on how cute he looked when he stared like that, but there was a sudden whistle from the front of the train and a guard came bursting through the compartment door

"Your highnesses, there you are, the train stopped over thirty minutes ago, we have all been looking for you"

Twilight let out a soft giggle, which surprised Daybreak as she was usually the first one to freak out if they were not on schedule. The guard bowed, then quickly began to hustle them off the train and into the awaiting carriage

"We must move quickly if we are not to be late"

They hopped in the carriage and once the guard captain was properly seated at the front, he whistled to the four stallions pulling the carriage, and they were off towards the Crystal Castle. The ride to the castle was uneventful, but still exciting for Daybreak, as this was his first time visiting the Crystal Empire, the sheer endless amount of crystals spanning in all directions across the terrain was absolutely intoxicating. Daybreak couldn't help but stare at rainbow array of color, while Twilight just giggled at his wide eyed expression. It was so cute to her, he was like a foal using magic for the first time when he stared at the crystals.

As they neared the castle Twilight shook Daybreak out of his trance and pointed towards the giant, glass-like doors indicating the entrance to the palace. Daybreak looked around as they exited the carriage and proceeded inside the palace, the entrance chamber was massive in size and definitely larger than Celestia's palace by a couple times. Daybreak could easily understand why King Sombra had wanted this Empire so badly, even for just the scenery this place was amazing. Still mesmerized by the beauty of the castle, he didn't notice that he and Twilight had reached the doors to the meeting room already. Only once Twilight thumped his head again did he notice he giant twin doors and catch the hint.

They pushed open the doors and proceeded inside, Daybreak immediately noticed Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor already seated around a large, cyan blue, crystalline table. Celestia was seated at the top of the table and smiled warmly as Daybreak and Twilight entered the room.

"Welcome you two, we were beginning to wonder if you had fallen asleep on the train, or were perhaps otherwise occupied"

The sultry tone in which Celestia made her statement let them both know what she was implying, that and the fact that the other princesses and Shining Armor chuckled. Twilight blushed a deep red at her mentors statement

"Uh..no Princess nothing like that, we were just...umm.."

Celestia chuckled and motioned for them to take a seat. Although Twilight clearly still wanted to explain herself, they sat quietly and waited for Celestia or the others to speak. Once they were seated, Celestia rose and walked to the center of the room

"I suppose I should start with why we are all here...I wish it for better circumstances...We have recently received news that the Changelings are massing somewhere near the outskirts of the Crystal Empire"

Princess Cadance, Daybreak and Twilight immediately came out of their chairs and stood up, Cadance was the first to speak

"Are they planning some type of invasion"

Celestia shook her head

"It does not appear so, mostly due to the fact that it was a Changeling who actually informed us of their massing. According to the single drone that came to me and my sister, Queen Chrysalis has come to make a request of peace between our races. Apparently, after your last encounter with them, you dropped their hive down on top of them?"

Twilight and Daybreak shot glances at each other, Twilight had never mentioned to the Princesses that they had met the Changelings again in their rescue of Daybreak. However she remembered that specific part very well, Daybreak had blasted apart the tunnel they were in to subdue Chrysalis and allow them to escape. They looked at Celestia and nodded, she nodded back and continued

"Well regardless of why that happened, when their tunnel collapsed on them it completely destroyed their hive and crushed most of their drones."

She paused to see the reaction the news would have, and was meet with the results she had expected. Everypony, even Daybreak, seemed bothered by this news and generally shocked. She continued

"Due to their race already being endangered because of their attempted invasion of Canterlot and defeat by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, the loss of so many more in the tunnel and their hive has brought them to desperation."

Daybreak raised his hand, seeing this Celestia couldn't keep a straight face and smirked slightly

"No need for that anymore Daybreak, you stand equal to us now...but yes, what is it?"

Daybreak had an almost stern look on his face

"No disrespect Princess, but even knowing all this, and that they want peace, why are we here? I mean me and Twilight specifically, I know no pony here has many good feelings for the Changelings, but they specifically targeted me and Twilight in their latest attempt to take over. And let's face it, they aren't exactly a trustworthy race. Even if we give them peace and allow them to live nearby, they will betray us...eventually"

Celestia's expression did not change while Daybreak spoke, but it was obvious to Twilight that his stance in this disappointed her, she let him finish and turned to Twilight.

"Before I answer why you both were invited, I'd like to know your stand in this Princess Twilight"

Twilights eyes widened slightly, she did not want to be put on the spot for this, but she did already know her answer, although she doubted Celestia would like it

"I'm sorry Princess, but I agree with Daybreak, they are too untrustworthy a race to allow them to live with ponies, and as Daybreak said, they share a personal dislike for me and him in particular"

Celestia sighed at her statement

"I was afraid you would say that. Well it is almost ironic you should say that, because the reason you are here is to be the prime negotiators for peace between our races"

This time it was Shining armor who stood up in surprise

"What?! Princess you can't possibly ask that of them!"

Celestia shook her head

"I'm not the one asking, Chrysalis herself stated she will negotiate with nopony but these two, I already tried.."

"But then it is obviously a trap, if they are asking for specific ponies"

Cadence couldn't help herself as she burst out and Celestia nodded looking back at Daybreak and Twilight

"This was my thoughts as well, but then I was informed of their plan."

Everypony raised their eyebrows, at this news, especially Daybreak

"What plan?"

"The Changelings apparently already have a way to save their race, apparently their is a unicorn with them willing to give them food and help them reproduce, he refused to show me his face when I met with him, as he was covered in a head to hoof robe, and his voice was changed by magic, but he was very clearly with them by choice. I did sense some powerful magic coming from him, but he refused to elaborate on who he was, or why he was there. But apparently he made a deal with them, in exchange for the revival of their race, he wants to meet the two of you"

She motioned at Daybreak and Twilight

"Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still very suspicious of them, and so I took some other precautions. Discord will be joining you as well and observe from a distance along with your friend Rainbow Dash, and the Wonderbolts. They are all already here and have been briefed prior to this meeting. Right now they are on their way to the meeting place to prepare."

At least now Daybreak knew why Rainbow Dash hadn't crashed by to talk this morning, it made sense to him in a way. Having Rainbow and the Wonderbolts patrolling the skies for any sign of trouble and have Discord hidden away watching for any sign of threatening magic. At least Celestia had planned their protection well. Knowing this, Daybreak saw little choice in going and as he looked to Twilight, he saw she was thinking the same thing. They didn't like it, but it was their duty to go and help bring about peace. Daybreak and Twilight both sighed and spoke together

"Fine, we'll do it"

Celestia smiled warmly

"Your friends will be waiting here for you when you return. I suggest you leave immediately, the meeting will take place tonight, I arranged that part to give the Changelings more comfort moving about. Apparently they don't want it to be too easily seen how little numbers they have left.

Twilight and Daybreak bowed to her and left the meeting room, with Twilight in the lead, Daybreak followed her outside the palace, apparently this meeting place must have been well known, considering she seemed to already know where they were going, or she was taking a really good guess. The latter seemed more likely as they reached the edge of the palace and she began looking around for a carriage. Once they managed to get ahold of a carriage, Twilight told the driver to take them to the outskirts of the Empire, near the caves. Daybreak was surprised by her apparent knowledge of their destination

"Umm...Twilight, how do know this is where we are supposed to go"

"I don't, but if I was Queen Chrysalis, and I'm so glad I'm not, I'd hide near caves, especially if I was trying to hide the real size of my army"

"But why not just ask Celestia where the meeting place is...I mean, we were literally right next to her?"

"Because I doubt the meeting place is where their army is hiding, that wouldn't make any sense. And also because I don't trust Chrysalis for one second. Even if her race is nearly extinct, she would never turn to ponies for help, she sees us as food for her, and this unicorn that's with them, something about him not showing Celestia his face or basically anything about him, that just doesn't sit right with me."

Daybreak wondered if Twilight had acted this way at her brothers wedding. Clearly her and Chrysalis had some history having already battled before. That and the fact that just by number of encounters alone, Twilight had more experience with the Changelings than him.

Once they neared the outskirts of the Empire and were directly in front of the caves, Daybreak paid, and tipped the carriage driver then sent him on his way. Twilight was clearly not wasting anytime investigating, as she had already began hovering and was slowly beginning to attempt flying over the nearest cave system. Daybreak sighed and thanked his mother that Twilight was not an experienced flyer. He knew Rainbow Dash would have already soared ahead by now, leaving him no time to gather the energy he needed to fly as well.

Daybreak had only ever attempted flying like his father once, and it had gone decent...but he was still more comfortable just walking. However as he watched Twilight steadily climb, ever so determinedly higher, he knew there was no point in asking her to wait for him to walk. So instead, he shut his eyes and began to focus his magic around him. It was a relatively simple concept, being able to fly, as long as you had the stamina and the brains to master it. Had Twilight not gotten wings, he would have eventually taught her to do it too.

With his magic stably flowing around his form, Daybreak began to will his aura to float, while also remaining attached to his body. He felt his aura trying to free itself from him, but he held it against him and began to lightly hover. Once he was off the ground slightly, he smiled and opened his eyes, the rest from there was easy, he just had to maintain his magical stream, the hardest part was just lifting your own self up. Although he was sure it was only so easy for him cause he could draw in natural magic instead of relying on his own supply like most unicorns did.

With that thought in mind, he took off after Twilight, and caught up to her within moments. He could see the semi strained expression on her face, she was flying relatively fast, which was probably a new concept for her, so he could understand being tired out quickly. What he couldn't understand, was why she was dropping a foot or two every couple of seconds and rubbing her hind legs together so awkwardly. He raised his eyebrow and zoomed in front of her, hovering a few feet away as they continued forward

"Twilight what's wrong? Your flying is really...awkward right now"

She looked over at him with a half strained smile and gasped

"I...don't know what you're...*pant pant*...talking about sweetie...I'm fine, just a little...winded from the...wind...up...here?"

She gave a forced smile that he didn't buy for a second

"Uh hmm...sure...well ok then..."

He quietly flew under and behind her trying to figure out what was wrong, but doing that while flying relatively fast was not easy. He went around her a few times trying to see some kind of small problem, but unless she really had to pee, he couldn't find a reason for her to be scrunching her legs quite like that and flying so strained and awkward.

Twilight reached the top of the mountain and was almost able to see down the other side to check for more caves, when Daybreak appeared right in front of her, causing her to hit the brakes and nearly crash into him. She skidded in the air and stopped just in time to avoid colliding with him

"Geez Daybreak, watch out, I almost hit you"

She went to fly around him, but he put his arm out and pulled her back in front of him

"Twilight...spread your hind legs"

A deep red blush appeared across her face

"W-why?

"What aren't you telling me Twilight, why are you flying so awkwardly, or at least...more awkwardly than usual?"

"I don't know...w-what you mean"

"Then spread your hind legs"

She scrunched her face to think of a legitimate excuse that he would buy, but sighed as she knew she was too obvious. She slowly unscrunched her legs and spread them out for him to see. Daybreak quickly flew behind her and stared. Twilight blushed a darker shade of purple at knowing he would quickly realize what was wrong, but prayed he would at least help relieve her once he knew.

Daybreak stared at his loves soaking wet sex, he had never seen it so wet before, unless she had just finished a climax. He wondered if she had been pleasuring herself while they were flying, but didn't see how she could have possibly done that without him seeing.

"Twilight.."

She looked back at him, when she did her wings stuttered for a brief moment, and she dropped a few inches, then quickly regained herself and continued her blush.

"Are you horny?"

She locked up her wings at his words and began to plummet out of the air, Daybreak instantly grabbed her hind legs and pulled her back into his arms, he gently held her bridal style as she recovered from her short drop. She looked up at him, surprised by how quickly she had been grabbed, almost like he had been expecting her to do that. He smirked at her

"You know sweetie, if you were horny this whole time, you only had to asssssssk"

"It's not that...it's...Eeeeeeeeep!

Twilight let out the sexiest and longest moan Daybreak had ever heard from her as he had gently dragged his index finger along her soaking lips. Her squeal instantly brought the blood flowing rapidly down to his crouch and snapped his member to attention. Twilight quickly attempted to close her legs, but instead accidentally got them wrapped around Daybreaks head, so that he was staring straight at her exposed, and very glistening, sex. Daybreak licked his lips, which instantly sent Twilight into a panic mode and she finally squealed out, much louder than need be

"Daybreak! Don't! I'm in my Estrus cycle...I'm in heat!!!"

Daybreak raised his eyebrows at her

"Wow Twilight...That actually explains all of it..."

He chuckled

"...So what would like me to do sweetheart?"

Twilight hesitated for a moment, then shifted back around in his arms, allowing her wings to be fully extended behind her as she straddled his chest

"Well...I was hoping to explore these caves and find out where the Changelings are hiding so we could spy on them until the meeting...but I just can't stop thinking about having you fill me up with your rock hard-"

"Ok Twilight I get the picture.."

Daybreak blushed, something about her talking about him that way made it really hard not to rut her right the and there. Twilight giggled and said

"Anyways...normally we wouldn't be able to have sex since I'm in heat, cause it's an almost guaranteed pregnancy for mares"

Daybreak saw where she was going with this and smiled

"Well it's good thing I'm not a normal pony isn't it?"

Twilight giggled

"Actually, just the opposite...I was sort of hoping...you'd have sex with me right now...as your stallion form"

Daybreaks eyes must have portrayed his thoughts because Twilight smiled shyly and nodded

"Yeah...I do Daybreak...I wanna have a foal with you..."

Daybreaks face still held some shock, but Twilight could see a smile starting to form and her wings flapped once in joy

"You'll do it?"

Daybreak smiled and kissed her on the lips, as they kissed, he morphed into his stallion form and continued to kiss her. For a moment his magic faltered ad fizzled from the change and him trying to stay hovering, but he got control and managed to keep the both up. Twilight then smiled and had a idea, she nuzzled his neck affectionately

"Hey sweetie, before we do, I have an idea, I've been wanting to try this since I got my wings, and since it's getting pretty late it's the perfect time"

Daybreak looked around, they had indeed been out for quite awhile, the sun was already being set and night was beginning to rise. He turned back to Twilight

"What do you wanna do sweetie"

She winked at him

"Embrace my name, just like you did...follow me"

Daybreak was confused, but let her out of his grasp. He was surprised she could eve flap her wings, let alone fly, with how horny she was. Either way he was very ok with just following her straight upwards, it gave him a clear view of her perfect plot, and eh knew she knew he was staring because she purposely flicked her tail out of the way as they flew ever higher and higher.

Once they both broke through the layer of clouds in the sky and were in full view of the moon and all the stars, Twilight grasped Daybreak and wrapped her hooves around him in a tight hug.

"Stop your magic sweetie"

Daybreak widened his eyes

"Are you crazy Twilight?! What are you gonna do?

"Just trust me Daybreak"

She looked him dead in the eyes and he nodded. He deactivated his magic, and instantly dropped a few inches, but then came back up as Twilight flapped her wings for both of them. She looked into his eyes and smiled seductively

"I've always wanted to do this"

Before Daybreak could ask what she meant, she crushed her lips against his and snaked her tongue into his mouth. Instantly his member went hard as a rock again. Twilight smiled in their kiss, she quickly lifted her flank and slammed her rear down on his cock. He let out a moan into her mouth as she smiled so much he had to stop their kiss

"Twilight?..."

"Oh It's true...it feels even better in heat...oh Daybreak, everything feels so right now...just one last thing before this moment is perfect"

Daybreak smiled brightly at her happiness

"What's that love?"

Twilight leaned back in the air and pulled him with her, then she stopped flapping her wings.

"Start thrusting big boy"

Daybreak saw what she was doing at the last moment before they began to plummet back towards the ground. The force of their fall pushed him forward and he instantly understood what she wanted. Quickly he began to thrust repeatedly into his loves soaking sex, at over 100 mph! Twilight yelled out in ecstasy as they plummeted toward the ground, and her stallion pounded her sensitive clit into numbness. The sheer speed of the fall combined with the coldness of the wind, lit their nerves like flames and they bot began yelling into each others mouths as newly found feelings of unreached pleasure surged through their bodies. Twilight felt her vision blur as her love lamed against her rear and racked her brain around in her head. She could never remember feeling so good in her entire life. She saw the ground and caves below fast approaching and knew they still had a good minute before she would do it, but she wanted to be sure they both climaxed right as it turned night time so she could do it.

Daybreak ponded away as fast as he could against Twilights rear, but they were falling to fast for him to hear if she was even speaking to him. He occasionally caught her yelling in pleasure but other than that he couldn't make out words very well.

Twilight felt the rush, the adrenaline, the pure ecstasy of everything that she ever wanted happening all at once and understood then why Rainbow craved this feeling so deeply when she flew! they were nearing the ground now and they both felt their climaxes building, neither one could hold one for much longer and Twilight started to yell, she yelled so loud eve over the rush of the wind Daybreak could still hear her

"OH YES! THAT'S IT DAYBREAK! OOOOOH THAT'S IT! JUST A LITTLE MORE! YES YES YES! FILL ME UP DAYBREAK! FILL ME TO THE BRIM WITH YOUR CUM! IMPREGNATE MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"

Those words set Daybreak over the edge and he came like a fire hose inside of Twilight. At the same moment, Twilight began to orgasm as they were right above the ground and the last glimpse of sunlight disappeared. She closed her eyes and lit her horn brighter than she had ever before. Then at the last possible moment, she extended her wings and rocketed them both straight upwards into the air, with her horn setting off a trail of purple magic behind them, Daybreak quickly caught on and followed suite. His green trail and her purple trail created a wave of beautiful color in the sky that could be seen all the way from the Crystal Empire's palace balcony!

As they soared back up into the air, then back down to the ground, they landed very ungracefully and tripped, falling down onto their backs, still cuddling each other close, on a cliff side overlooking several caves and stared up at their creation. The moon had just fully risen and gone from twilight to night time, I was only then that Daybreak understood what Twilight had mean about embracing her name like he did. He made the daybreak a plethora of colors whenever he could h morning, Twilight had now just made that same creation with him. Daybreak truly felt closer than ever to Twilight.

He held Twilight close and kissed her gently on her nose, she giggled and softly rubbed their muzzles together, then softly locked her lips wit his. There was no lust behind this kiss, just pure love and happiness, Daybreak felt the gentle flicking of her tongue along the rim of his mouth and met hers with a similar gentleness. He looked deep into the eyes of the mare he loved more than any other

"I love you Twilight Sparkle"

She had heard him say those words hundreds of times, but each time it touched her heart and brought small tears to her eyes. She snuggled into his chest

"I love you too Daybreak"

Twilight was so content at that moment in time, she didn't want to move, even for the meeting that would be happening later that night, but it seemed fate had similar plans for her, because just then a familiar voice rang to them

"Yeah and I love both you guys, but somehow always manage to miss the good stuff. Nice light show by the way!"

Daybreak and Twilight turned their heads back and saw Rainbow Dash hovering some feet away looking unsurprised to find them

"I figured it could only be you two who could cause something like that in the sky..."

She turned towards the edge of the cliff side and yelled

"I found them, they're over here about ready to fall asleep!"

Daybreak and Twilight heard the flap of wings and then a zap of someone teleporting, moments later they were surrounded by the Wonderbolts and Discord. Daybreak just rolled his eyes, figures the party would come to them

"Let me guess, we someone managed to land right where we are supposed to be, didn't we?"

Discord snaked his way next to his son and Twilight, then stretched out laying next to them

"Oh come now my boy you don't think you're that good do you? Actually the spot where we were going to camp is at the bottom of this cliff side, where the actual meeting is, but sleeping up here, with such a good view of your 'Shooting Star Aurora' was just too good to resist"

Rainbow, who had just landed on the other side of Daybreak and Twilight with the Wonderbolts, laid down and shot a glare at Discord

"Hey, I came up with the name for their show, get your own"

Discord changed his mane rainbow colored and pretended to mock Dashie, but seeing as everypony was too tired to react, he returned it to normal, then changed the nearest rock into several pillows for everypony. After that he laid back and went to sleep. The Wonderbolts seemed to follow Discords example and were all curling up together to sleep. Spitfire and Shining Star were curled together cutely under a shared blanket while the others just slept near each other. Rainbow had snuggled close to Twilight, leaving Daybreak to snuggle Twilights other side with no interruption, as only his father was to his side, and he doubted he'd be snuggling up to him anytime soon.

As soon as the others dozed off Daybreak leaned in and whispered in Twilights ear

"Before we get some rest, there's something I wanna ask you sweetie"

Twilight nuzzled his neck

"Sure big guy, what is it?"

"What was all that stuff earlier, about you yelling for me to 'impregnate you' Twilight"

She tried to hide her blush behind her mane, but it was still obvious to Daybreak as was her abnormal squeak in her voice

"Well, like we said earlier, we did it when you were a stallion, there's a very good chance that I'm gonna be pregnant now Daybreak...But I yelled it because that's what I wanted, I wanna have your foal, I wanna raise a family with you Daybreak. I-it's been my dream since we first fell in love...when I thought you died that time, I didn't just die inside, my dreams died too, I never realized how much I really wanted to have a family with you until it was gone, I don't want that opportunity to go by again, I'm ready now...to have a family of my own!"

Daybreak smiled, she had that look of determination she had whenever she set out on one of his mothers adventures, it was so cute to him. He nuzzled her neck lovingly

"Well then I'm glad I could be the stallion lucky enough to call you mine Twilight"

"Ditto"

Daybreak and Twilight looked over at Rainbow, who was staring at them

"What, you didn't think I wouldn't snoop now did you, don't forget I'm in this love triangle too or I'll have to buck both of you in your sleep just to remind you.."

She smirked at them

"Congrats by the way, in case you do turn out to be pregnant Twi, I'm sure you'll know soon...actually now that I think about it, we can know as soon as we get back to the Crystal Empire. I saw some of the unicorn Doctors and Nurses their use magic to tell if a mare was pregnant the day after she had sex, it was so cool...not for her though, cause she was and her parents were right their...I may have laughed.."

They all laughed and snuggled close together

"I Love you Rainbow Dash, I Love you Twilight"

"I Love you too Daybreak, I Love you Dashie"

"I Love you both too, now shut it so we can get at least some sleep before we gotta do this peace talk in like three hours"

They saw her smirk as she said it, and they cuddled close together. Daybreak looked up at their lingering creation and silently transformed back into his normal form. He held up his palm towards the night sky and before he lowered it to sleep, whispered aloud

"Here's to Peace"

Beginning of the End

Rainbow Dash exited Cadences room, as she shut the door behind her, she chanced a quick glance back at Daybreak. He was leaning over Twilight's chest from his chair, letting his tears fall onto the burn mark that now scarred her near perfect purple coat. She smiled, despite being about to commit, probably, the highest form of treason Equestria had, she still felt unusually calm. Maybe it was the fact that Daybreak had asked her that made her so happy, it was undeniable proof that he trusted and cared for her enough to share his plan. Daybreak had made it clear to her she did not have to help him and would not stop her from trying to tell Celestia if she thought she should. But despite her deep feelings of loyalty to her friends, to the princess, and to Equestria's laws, she knew that this had to be done to save Twilight.

Celestia wanted to try and find another way to defeat King Sombra, but by the time they succeeded, it would be too late for Twilight. Cadences magic could not hold off Sombra's dark powers forever, maybe not even more than a few days. She had only lasted about a week the last time she needed to constantly maintain a powerful spell like that when protecting the Crystal Empire. Although this was a much smaller figure to protect, the magic fighting against her was also more powerful than Sombra had previously been. Rainbow wasn't exactly a mathematician and neither was Daybreak, but with all those factors combined, they figured Twilight had about a week to live unless they destroyed Sombra.

That did not give them much time, although Daybreak clearly had a pretty good plan, there were still several things that could go wrong. However, starting tomorrow, Daybreak and Rainbow Dash would vanish for the next week, they knew they could not chance involving any of their close friends in what they would do, nor could they be allowed to spot them in any way. Because if their plan failed, they would likely be fugitives or jailed for treason, and they could not allow their friends to become part of that.

Rainbow Dash exited the crystal palace and immediately took to the skies. She might as well get started as they certainly didn't have a lot of time to waste. First she needed to create a huge storm over the Crystal Empire, whatever kind of storm it was did not matter, just so long as it was enough to make everypony seek shelter. Now there were a lot of factors going into just this part of their plan. For one, Rainbow had never put together a whole storm by herself before, although she promised Daybreak she would have it done in under an hour, that would certainly be pushing it. And second, they had never messed with the weather around here before, and so were unaware if it held any special properties that would hamper their progress.

Nevertheless Rainbow knew she had to try if Daybreak was to have any chance of succeeding uninterrupted. So she began gathering clouds into groups and smashing them together like she normally would for Ponyville. She gave each of the clouds a little kick start with her hooves and moved her small groups together so she could start the all at once when she was ready. Within no time Rainbow had already changed the days forecast from sunny to cloudy and began to cover and smoother out any large patches of sunlight.

Back inside Cadences room, Daybreak saw the sun beginning to fade behind clouds and knew Rainbow must be doing well if it was happening so quickly. He sighed in relief, thankful that their were no problems in moving the clouds, darkening the sky was the only way he could perform his duty without being spotted, add to that a huge storm, and there would be no pony outside to watch him. He acknowledged that if he could just change the weather at will like his father this would have saved them a lot of time, but cotton candy clouds would have probably given him away really quick.

As Daybreak stood up he looked down at Twilight, staring at the deep magical burn mark on her chest, this was the reason he would go against Celestia and all of Equestria if he had to. He swore he would save Twilight no matter what the cost, and afterwards, only after she was safe, he would face the consequences for what he was going to do. Daybreak held out his palm and snapped his fingers. With a small "pop" the Smarty Pants doll he had given Twilight so long ago appeared in his hand. He set in down with her and pulled the covers over her comfortably. He propped her wings gently so she would be comfortable. Then he leaned down and kissed her horn, he left a tiny bit of his magical trace on it, to give her pleasant dreams while she slept, hopefully, peacefully. He knew Sombra's dark magic had many ways to causes mental torment, he hoped he had at least spared her some nightmares. Once he was sure she was comfy, he turned and left the room.

Once outside he took to a jog and snapped his fingers again. This time, the magically enhanced fire ruby Cadence had given him appeared around his neck along with his royal necklace that brightly displayed his cutie mark like one of the Elements of Harmony. As he jogged he used his magic to fuse these two objects together. His royal necklace still clung to his neck like an element, but at the center of his cutie mark was the fire ruby. He had shrunk it slightly so it would not bulge or be in his way, but it nevertheless shined brightly around his neck before he dimmed the shine with his magic.

He smiled at his creation and instantly touched his claw to it, as it glowed he transferred some of his own magic into the necklace for storage. He had planned to use his crown/necklace for this purpose for a long time, to just store power inside should he ever need it. He had decided he would do this three times a day, storing small fragments of his power inside it until he would ever need it.

As Daybreak began to walk the streets of the Crystal Empire, he saw the sky blacken as the storm clouds blocked out the sun. He looked around and saw many of the crystal ponies dashing inside their homes already, apparently preparing for the storm. Daybreak smiled, this was going better than he hoped, now all he needed was a secluded alley for his summoning spell.

Luckily for him that did not take long to find, even with the sky nearly pitch black, there were alleys where the mere color of the purple crystals there, created a kind of dark shade to the alley. Not at all evil or shady looking, just pretty in a dark way. Daybreak found one of these alley ways and waited for the light to completely vanish behind the clouds. Once it was dark enough to possibly be confused for night time, he began his spell.

He sat down cross legged and held out his palm, with another small "pop" a tinge of pinkish aura appeared in his palm, floating like a little bubble. He smiled, happy he had held onto bits of her magic, just in case he needed it. The little bubble began to shape itself in the form of a wizard hat. Daybreak almost smirked, even her magic was obsessed with her get up. He pushed the thought away and focused on the aura in his palm, and for the second time, began to track down his Great and Powerful friend.

Promises to be Fulfilled

The Great and Powerful Trixie sat in her home, comfy on her newly styled couch (courtesy of Rarity), leafing through the pages of her newest book The Best Tricks for the Best Magicians vol.38, it had been a long time since she could recall herself being bored, she had always had something to occupy her time. Whether it was performing, practicing or, in the sense of her old ways, thinking of ways to best Twilight Sparkle. Although ever since her newest friend had made her a star in Las Pegasus, she didn't really care too much about besting her former rival anymore. Lately though, she couldn't get her friend out of her head, like their was something about him she just couldn't remember, it seemed on the edge of her thoughts but just out of reach. It occupied much of her time, thinking about him. Somehow someway, he always seemed to creep back into her head, she was worried she might be developing a small crush on her former stage partner, and that severely worried her.

The problem with having a crush who was already taken and happy in his relationship was...well...exactly that. She hated this constant boredom for it allowed her mind to wander to more intimate thoughts about her new friend, thoughts she couldn't help but feel she'd already had before. She so wished that another show would come up soon, anywhere, just so she could occupy her mind. For how much she loved showing off, even her shows did not help relieve this nagging feeling that she was missing something. Even when Ms.Cheerilee had invited her to the schoolhouse to perform magic tricks for the kids and teach them about basic magical skills that would be easy to learn, she had still felt...empty afterwards. It's not that she didn't love it every time, she just had this aching feeling that she was forgetting something important in her life.

As if life wanted to give her the quick answer to her problems, a loud "POP" suddenly echoed around her home. Trixie shot into the air off her couch and landed on her coffee table, horn ignited ready to obliterate anything that moved! As she looked around begging for whomever had scared her to show themselves, she noticed a small puddle in the center of her living room. She found this extremely odd, for she had not spilled anything nor had she been practicing any magic to make water. She slowly approached the puddle with her horn lit and peered into it from a hoof's length away. She eyed it suspiciously, half expecting it to jump at her, she began to circle it as though it was her prey. Finally losing patience, a voice erupted from the puddle

"Oh would you just look inside the portal you crazy mare!"

If Trixie hadn't been afraid before she was at that moment, she yelped out and shot backwards across her floor. After she had finished shooting across the room, a light went off in her head, she knew that voice! Her previous fear instantly gone, she darted back to the puddle and shoved her head down to the surface as though it was a pond.

"Daybreak?"

She whispered quietly

"Is that you?"

The puddle itself almost seemed to shimmer in annoyance

"Of course it's me Trixie, who else would just randomly drop a portal made out of water inside your house?"

Trixie raised her eyebrows and gave Daybreak a moment to consider what he had just said. Realizing his mistake he just sighed

"Oh just jump in the portal already"

Trixie knew al her years of magical study told her that listening to him would probably be a decision she would come to regret, however, she was so bored she almost didn't care. Plus she had missed her friend, he didn't visit nearly as often as she had hoped he would. Trixie quickly ran into her room and threw on her cape and hat, then ran into her bathroom and shut the door

"Just give me a minute"

She heard him sigh through the water and could swear he had caused bubbles to appear on the surface of the pool. She giggled as she quickly brushed her teeth, flossed, gargled and made sure she looked her best, she even redid her mane. As she finally trotted over to the pool of water, she poked at the water with her hoof and saw the magic shimmer on the surface. Knowing that it was indeed a portal and not just Daybreak pranking her, she dove in head first!

.....

Daybreak watched as Trixie plopped out of his small water portal and immediately rushed to her feet to compose herself. As she looked around she seemed confused

'Where are we?"

"The Crystal Empire"

"Then...why is it snowing everywhere?"

Daybreak sighed...Rainbow Dash had done everything right, and made a big storm...but apparently the clouds around here were different, and what she had thought were rainclouds actually turned out to be a crystal-like snow. Daybreak just put his face in his hands as his fur started to shine and sparkle from the little bits of snow covering it.

"It's a long story Trix, can we just skip that part"

Trixie nodded, then dove forward and embraced Daybreak in a hug

"Why don't you ever visit the Great Trixie, you promised her you would"

Daybreak cringed, both from her surprisingly strong hug and the fact that he hadn't ever visited her, he did feel a bit bad about that. She clearly had missed him, the lack of air reaching his lungs told him that much. After scrambling out of Trixie's death grip and shaking the snow off his fur, Daybreak got his mind serious again.

"Anyways Trixie, the snow storm is just to keep ponies inside for now, and so no one would notice my spell to bring you here...summoning spells are kind of illegal in the Crystal Empire, ever since they got rid of..."

His eye twitched as he remembered the Empire's previous ruler

"Ever since they got rid of their last king, no pony wants any risk of something bad getting in here"

Trixie seemed to follow, and, unknown to Daybreak, had seen his twitch at the mention of Sombra.

"Ok I get the weather, but why did you need to bring me here? Considering you went through the trouble of making a snow storm I highly doubt it's just to talk or hang out"

He shook his head

"Sorry Trix, you're right, I do need your help, but I a sorry I haven't visited you much, I promise I will soon, ok?"

She smiled and nodded like a young filly happy to have been promised a toy. It almost made Daybreak smile, but he kept his face straight and continued

"I need to ask you...where did you learn about the Alicorn Amulet, who told you about it. It's only mentioned in one known book and as far as I know, those copies are locked up in Canterlot, except for the one in Twilight's library. So where could you have heard of it?"

Trixie mulled his question over for a moment, his sudden interest in the Amulet was certainly...interesting, but hard to understand, as he already knew where it was he could just study the Amulet personally if that was what he wanted, so that meant he could only want one other thing...

"What would you want to ask this pony, the one who told me about the Alicorn Amulet, what exactly are you trying to do Daybreak?"

Daybreak lowered his gaze slightly to ide his eyes behind his mane

"Trixie, I'd rather not get you involved in this..."

Trixie let out a laugh

"Considering you're talking to me about it, I'd say I'm already involved...Now come on, out with it, tell Trixie what you want, and then she will tell you what you want"

Daybreak sighed

"Fine...I-"

"Oh and one more thing!"

He raised his eyebrows at her sudden excited look

"Yes Trixie?"

She shook giddily

"Remember that time you told me you erased part of my memory for a time, until you could trust me...well I'd like it back, I wanna remember whatever it is that keeps nagging at my brain, so do that for me also and I'll tell you everything you wanna know"

Daybreak flushed a deep red in spite of himself. He remembered exactly what he had made her forget. He was not sure fi he really wanted her to remember that time. But he was not about to deceive her, and saying no probably wouldn't get him anywhere either. He knew Trixie, she could be more stubborn than Twilight at times. Once again, he sighed

"Alright fine, but when you remember, not-one-word-Trixie! Just get right to the info I need ok?

She nodded noticing his deep blush and growing all the more curious

"Fine buster, now start talking"

He leaned up against the icy wall of the alleyway

"Well...I need the pony who told you about the Amulet to tell me something as well...I've heard rumors of a pony somewhere in Canterlot that knows thing most ponies don't, and that he only trades that info for either alot of bits, or the right kind of pony. Now I can only assume this is the same guy who told you about the Amulet. What I need to know though is...If their is any secret passage ways, or tunnels or any unknown way into the Canterlot library, specifically the Star Swirl The Bearded section, AND I need to know where to find a certain book hidden within that section."

Trixie eyed him suspiciously

"Well all things considered, I'm guessing this book must be pretty powerful or important or something like that if you, being a Prince, can't just walk right in and borrow it? And what may I ask, is actually stopping you from doing just that?"

Daybreak was beginning to worry Trixie was too smart and to curious for her own good. With a tinge of annoyance he muttered

"Princess Celestia

Trixie did not see all that surprised by his answer, but was clearly happy to hear it

"You realize that by taking that book against her orders, you'd be committing treason right?"

Daybreak actually chuckled this time

"Trust me Trix, by the time this week is over, that one bit of treason will probably seem like nothing compared to what I gotta do afterwards"

Trixie's eyes showed her surprise, but her curiosity was also still there

"I can only wonder what would make Celestia's own son betray her?"

Daybreak whipped around to face her

"How did you know I'm...?"

"Vinyl Scratch has a big mouth Daybreak"

She chuckled at his reaction. Daybreak almost swore. It was already public knowledge that he was Discords offspring, if ponies started hearing that he was Celestia's too, without knowing the full story, that would definitely cause some problems for the Princess, then she'd have to actually give detail on how Daybreak was created..."

He shuddered at the thought, many ponies in Canterlot already viewed him as odd and weird, but still respected him for his position, if it got out just what he actually was...yeah that was something he didn't want to think about. However he did feel the need to comment on Trixie's last remark

"I'm not betraying Celestia Trix, I'm just doing what I have to do, and I'm not taking no for an answer...and yes ok...I might hurt some ponies if they get in my way. But after I'm through I have no intention of causing Equestria or anypony harm, ok?"

Trixie did believe what he said, but it would still be treason, yet somehow, she didn't care very much.

"Alright then...Trixie will come with you"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Why not!?"

"Trixie are you nuts!? This is way too dangerous!"

Trixie sat down on her haunches a and gave him a very well made pouting face

"As opposed to what? It's not like I can't handle myself you know!"

"No Trixie!"

"Let me come, or no info for you"

Daybreak opened his mouth to argue, then shut it just as quick, he muttered under his breath

"If I didn't need that information"

"You'd do what, big fur ball, Trixie knows full well you could destroy her in a magic duel...why not just force me to tell you?"

Daybreak looked down at the ground of the snowy alley way, they were in at least three inches of snow by now. Trixie chuckled at him

"You said you'd do anything you had to, even harm other ponies for this, yet you can't force a small mare like me to give you what you want?"

After Daybreak failed to answer for a few moments Trixie smiled

"See, you need my help"

Daybreak gave a low growl, but Trixie just chuckled at him. Knowing he wouldn't frighten her without real force, Daybreak conceded

"Fine...you can come, but just to be clear, Rainbow Dash is also part of this, and I won't have you two bickering the whole time"

"Trixie promises not to tease Rainbow Dash...By the way I'm curious, will Twilight Sparkle be joining you on your adventure of treason, or has she decided to remain loyal to the Princesses law?"

Daybreak felt a slight sting in his heart and merely stated back to her

"No...she won't be joining us Trixie"

Trixie could see that her question clearly bothered him, and although she was now shining with curiosity about their current status due to this, she decided to let it be for now. Instead she stepped close to Daybreak

"Alright then buster, it's time for you to revive my memories, get to it!"

Daybreak was definitely not looking forward to this part, but he had little choice in the matter, technically he had promised to give her that memory back once she had proved she cold be trusted, and he wouldn't be here right now if he didn't trust her. He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time and ignited his palms in his aura. He placed his hands on Trixie's head allowing his magic to flow all around her head and into her horn.

His magic seemed into the pores of her mane ad horn, slithering its way through her magical center and to the tip of her horn. Trixie let out a low moan, nearly making Daybreak stop from surprise

"Yikes! Trixie, what the hay! Don't do that!"

'I'm sorry I'm sorry...it just feels so...nice...to have somepony else's aura playing with my horn."

Daybreak rolled his eyes and sped up the procedure. After a few more moments of magical horn massage, and two more yips from Trixie, there was a large flash of white light (thankfully hidden amongst all the snow) and Trixie was left standing there, with a silly look on her face as her memories came flooding back to her. She swayed back and forth in her own little world. She seemed like she was going to fall over once, but she stayed on her feet with her same silly look. It was obvious when she finished replaying the memory, she shook her head to clear her vision and stared at Daybreak wit a deep blush on her face. Seeing this Daybreak knew she remembered and blushed as well then coughed a little to loudly

"Well...umm...now that...that...is taken care of...you should really-"

"Daybreak.."

Her voice came out like a whisper as the most proud mare Daybreak had ever met, stared at him like a school filly on her first crush. She walked up to him slowly, and reached out her hoof to his face. For a moment Daybreak thought she was going to try and kiss him, and prepared to stop her, but then, there was a loud smack and he felt a searing pain in the side of is face. He looked up and saw she had wailed him in the cheek with a snowball, and had three more floating behind her. Without thinking he snapped his fingers and they all poofed into mud and plashed down in the snow, Trixie then jumped at him and tried her very best to smack him in the face.

She caught him off guard, but he managed to hold her hooves back as she flung them out at him

"You big jerk! How could you do that to Trixie!"

Daybreak dodged a smack at his jaw

"What are you talking about!? YOU MADE ME!!! It's not like I wanted to...Ouch!"

She swung and actually managed to slug him in the mouth, he staggered back a step and she instantly stopped swinging and checked to see if he as ok. He pushed her hooves away, for fear she might try ad hit him again. She showed she meant no harm and forced him to let her see he was alright. He rolled his eyes and let her look. Surprisingly enough to her, there wasn't even a scratch. Once she looked him over to her satisfaction, she took a couple steps back from him, and began blushing wildly. Daybreak wasn't sure how to react, at least she wasn't hitting him anymore. Trixie gave an awkward cough, Daybreak hoping to clear the air, decided to finish what he was here for in the first place

"Alright, Trixie, all awkwardness aside, I need the info I came here for, who is the pony that told you about the Amulet and where can I find him"

Trixie shook her head, unable to look Daybreak in the face as her blush got worse and worse. Daybreak knew he didn't have time for this, so he walked up and grabbed her around the shoulders, gently, but enough to get her attention

"Trixie! Please, I need this information now!"

She shook her head again to clear her thoughts and pushed him away

"Alright, Trixie did promise she would tell...The pony you are looking for is called Aecious, he's a pegasus. He has a midnight black mane and foggy grey fur, emerald colored eyes...although his most defining quality and most mysterious, is that he's a blank flank..."

Daybreak raised his eyebrows in a somewhat disbelieving manner

"A full grown pegasus stallion...with no Cutie Mark?"

Trixie nodded

Daybreaks narrowed his eyes to slits and ignited his magic. It was time to get serious, from here on out, he would be committing treason, and that left no room for error, he had to focus on one thing, and one thing only. He remembered Twilight's face, the look that showed across it as Sombra's blade had pierced her chest. He took a deep breath and let his power flow through him, fueling his anger and thirst for vengeance. His aura prickled around him in a green ripple

"Where can we find him?"

Enemy of my Enemy...Whose also my Friend?

Rainbow Dash swooped around the Crystal Empire, flying over every single of this place, checking to see if there was even a small patch she had left unclouded was hard work. Especially when she had to constantly be on the watch for any of the Princesses. If even one of them decided that the sudden snow storm was worth investigating personally, she knew she'd have to dash outta there asap to avoid getting caught. Rainbow made another round over the alleyways checking inside and under the clouds for holes. By a chance glance downward, she caught a glimpse of Daybreak subtly moving through the alleys. He looked like he was with somepony, but from this high up, Rainbow couldn't tell who. Deciding that her work was done, Rainbow took a nose dive to meet up with him. Unfortunately, by the time the pony with Daybreak was in full view and recognizable, Rainbow couldn't stop flying to drop her jaw in surprise.

She came skidding to a halt next to the pair and immediately pointed a hoof at Trixie

"What is she doing here?! I thought you said we couldn't trust anypony?"

Daybreak didn't stop walking and motioned for Dash to follow them out

"Complications came up, and she had the info we needed...Too bad for us her condition for telling was, we bring her along"

Trixie shot a glare to Daybreak

"Geez, why don't you just say point blank you don't want Trixie with you"

"Well, to be honest Trixie, I'd have preferred if you had just gone back home, we can't afford any screw ups here"

Rainbow quickly flew in front of Trixie as they continued to move forward, attempting to reach exit the Empire's barrier and current blizzard

"Yeah, plus you aren't exactly trustworthy. All we got from Daybreak is that you had changed for the better, I gotta see this for myself before I start giving you the benefit of the doubt. The others may be ok with you now, but I'll be withholding my judgment until I see how you really are."

Truthfully, Dash was right, at least partially. Other than him, none of them had really gotten to know Trixie since she had returned to Ponyville. In fact, to his knowledge, Rarity was the only one who had even spoken to her and that was just for business as he understood it.

"Look Rainbow, we don't have time to bicker about who should and shouldn't come, she's here, so deal with it for now ok?"

Dash made to pout, then nodded her head, slowly. Trixie smiled but Daybreak shook his head

"I wouldn't get too happy yet Trixie, cause you and Rainbow are gonna have plenty of bonding time once we get to Canterlot"

Seeing that they both wore confused expressions, Daybreak elaborated

"Even if I get inside the library and get the book, I need you two to watch the outside in case anypony tries to come in after me."

They both began to protest but Daybreak shut them down and told them to deal with it. He motioned for them to continue on, so the followed while quietly bickering behind his back.

Walking through the snow storm Rainbow had created was certainly not enjoyable in anyway. Snow blew across the air in a relentless fashion, often clinging to Daybreak's fur and giving him the appearance of a white ball of fluff. It would have been humorous at any other time. But it seemed Daybreak was immune to humor at the moment. Even as Trixie occasionally made to try and talk with him, he often just redirected her conversation to Rainbow Dash. A feat which Dash did not fail to notice, and was frequently annoyed by it. Eventually they came to the exit of the magical barrier of the crystal heart, and exited through, out into the open prairie of the crystal fields. Daybreak looked back at the field, it had stayed visibly active since Sombra had returned, a fact that proved how desperate the crystal ponies were to keep out there former king.

Trixie and Rainbow shook off the snow from their coats and waited for directions from Daybreak. He stared back through the barrier, and gently placed his hand on it. He began to doubt he would ever be allowed back in after what he would soon do. Rainbow snapped him back to reality by chucking a small stone at the side of his head, not enough to hurt, but it was generally annoying. Daybreak turned and glared, Rainbow quickly pointed at Trixie, who then ignited her horn menacingly. Daybreak just rolled his eyes and Rainbow sighed

"Oh come on Daybreak, I'm just trying to lighten the mood..."

"Have you forgotten why we are doing this Rainbow Dash!?"

Daybreak snapped back

"This isn't like your adventures with Twilight and your friends before! This isn't like all our fun times we've had saving Equestria and solving the mysteries of the world! In everyponys eyes, we are gonna be the villains, we are the bad guys this time Rainbow, we are about to not only steal, what is probably the most guarded book in Equestria, but also, steal the crystal heart too! This isn't something we can ever turn back from once we start, and there is a good chance we will both be jailed at the very least, and that's if we succeed..."

Even as he was losing his temper at her, Rainbow didn't flinch, unlike Trixie, who upon hearing that they were going after the heart too, was utterly befuddled

"What would you need the Crystal Heart for Daybreak"

Rainbow Dash whipped around with a shocked look on her face

"You didn't tell her? But you let her come along?!"

Daybreak shrugged

"The less she knows, the less trouble she can get in. I doubt Celestia would have seen her actions criminal if they had been ignorant, but now it seems we have to tell her."

Trixie shook her head

"I don't really care either way, I already said I was coming along, so there is no point in me turning back now anyways, whatever you are doing, I think I've known you long enough to know it can't be that bad...even if it really does appear that way...Trixie only has one question for you though...Why wouldn't Twilight Sparkle be with you, I didn't think she'd be the kind to side with Celestia over you, and you said she wasn't coming."

Rainbow eyed Daybreak, a suspicious look on her face

"Daybreak...why?..."

"I don't wanna talk about it Rainbow, she doesn't need to know"

Trixie raised her eyebrows and Rainbow flared up

"NO! Daybreak that's just wrong, you, she at least deserves to know that much if she's gonna be part of this"

Daybreak turned away from Rainbow, he walked off toward some nearby crystals and began recreating the image for their portal to Canterlot. Rainbow shook her head and motioned for Trixie to come closer, she obliged and moved close so Dash wouldn't have to raise her voice

"Trixie, we are doing all this because of Twilight"

"What do you mean?"

"Twilight was badly injured recently, by King Sombra..."

Trixie clearly knew who Sombra was, because at the mention of his name, her gaze dropped and she looked generally worried for once

"Is Sparkle alright?"

Rainbow shook her head

"She's only got about a week to live, he blasted her with some kind of dark magical spell that is killing her from the inside...Trixie...she is going to die...for certain....unless..."

Trixie understood and nodded

"Unless Sombra is destroyed before then...That explains the need for the Crystal Heart, to lure out Sombra, I'm guessing...but what's this book in the library for?"

"Well...I don't quite understand how it works, although I don't think Daybreak fully does either...but apparently, this book contains a powerful magic, mostly dark, so I'm told. And anypony who reads from it is filled with untold knowledge of certain magic...I can't really explain it well, but apparently the magic that is formed varies by each pony."

Trixie was clearly intrigued to learn this, but could at least now understand some parts of their plan, Rainbow allowed her to absorb that for a moment, then continued

"Now only Daybreak told me this part...but apparently Princess Luna read from the book and was filled with the knowledge that allowed her to become Nightmare Moon...and King Sombra also read from the book before he became...whatever he is now, apparently he didn't always look...soooooo...."

"Evil?"

"I guess, no other real word for it"

"Ok Trixie understands all of that, and she guesses that based on that info, there obviously hasn't ever been any good results from that book...but knowing that, why would Daybreak want to use it, what if it corrupts him too..."

Dash had no answer, but it was a question that had certainly been eating at her. To be frank and honest, Daybreak was, pretty much overpowered when it came to magic, and she knew he was aware of that. And personally, just in Rainbows opinion, she thought he might even be stronger than all of the Princesses, unless they all combined against him...other than that, she assumed Discord could best him...maybe, she wasn't exactly sure on that one though. It seemed to make sense that the father should beat the son, but they were both so full of surprises...she really didn't want to have to find out. Add that to the fact that this book would give him some unknown power that may corrupt him...she was seriously worried about what might happen.

She lowered her head

"I don't really know what we could do if he got corrupted too-"

"That's what I have you for Trixie"

They both turned and saw Daybreak had completed the portal to Canterlot, Trixie was flabbergasted

"ME?! What in the name of Celestia do you think I could do against you?!"

Daybreak almost chuckled

"If I happened to lose control, you can use the Alicorn Amulet, or give it to somepony else if you don't want to, you should remember where it is now"

Trixie opened her mouth, as thought to argue, then shut it, as though unable to form a proper argument. Oddly enough, it was Rainbow Dash who was still unconvinced by Daybreak's supposed plan

"Even with that Amulet, no matter how much power it may give anypony, how can you expect them to take you on?"

A slight chuckle escaped from Daybreak, which worried both Trixie and Dash

"They don't have to take me on, they just have to have enough power to seal me or keep me from using any magic"

"That's not as easy as you make it sound you know"

Trixie piped up, she could see that he hadn't really thought out what a viable solution would be if he couldn't handle the power he was supposed to get. He also however, didn't really seem to care all that much either.

"Look if it comes to that, we can figure it out then, right now I only care about actually getting the book, and killing Sombra, after that's done, we can worry about side-effects."

Although unconvinced, Trixie and Rainbow decided not to argue with him and proceeded over to the shimmer pool of water that was their portal. Looking inside they could see Canterlot swarming into clear focus. Daybreak walked up behind Trixie and placed his hand on her hat

"Once we are there, it'll be your job to find Aecious, Trixie, once that's done, I'll do the rest of the talking, got it?"

Trixie nodded

Rainbow Dash looked to Daybreak with a confused expression

"His name is Aecius?"

Trixie shook her head cutting across Rainbow

"no no no, Trixie believes it is pronounced Awe-see-us not Aecius"

"Arceus?"

Daybreak smacked his face into his palm

"For the love of Celestia it's Aecious! A-E-C-I-O-U-S! Can we please move on now?"

Rainbow snickered

"You sure its not Aucious?"

Daybreak glared at her, she rolled her eyes and casually hopped into the portal, with a slight push from Daybreak, Trixie followed behind her. Daybreak went through last, still wondering even he would have been better off just going at it alone.

After the brief feeling of being sucked through a small watery tube, the trio appeared in the grand city of Canterlot, none to ceremoniously though, the portal spat them into a heap of garbage and disappeared with a small pop. Trixie got up from the pile of trash fuming, clearly displeased to have been spat into a pile of filth. While Rainbow and Daybreak merely wiped the large pieces of trash off them, Trixie went the extra mile and cleared off all trash and dirt from her cape and hat, then tended to fixing her mane and coat. By the time she was finished, she looked up and saw them both waiting for her impatiently, Daybreak was tapping his foot on the ground. Trixie blushed

"What? Trixie takes pride in her appearance, she must look her best if she is to be meeting with Aecious again"

Rainbow hovered above the unicorn and picked a small banana peel off the top of her hat

"Why? Is he some high end pony? Probably stuck like the rest of the rich ponies around here..."

She rolled her eyes, clearly displeased or annoyed with the way Canterlot ponies often treated them. Daybreak had to admit it was true though, before he was a prince they treated him like trash too, just because he lived in Ponyville, or rather most of them did anyways, there was always a few good ones.

Trixie however, had a small blush, but hid it well

"No, nothing like that, he actually dresses rather bland, usually he has a long black robe covering most of his form, sometimes he wears a hood, he did last time Trixie met him, although that was because it was snowing, but other than the robe, he will often wear nothing as far as I have seen. No Trixie just wants to look nice when speaking to him, so he will hopefully remember Trixie"

Rainbow rolled her eyes

"You're the only mare that dresses in that getup Trixie, I highly doubt anypony would forget that. Also could you calm it with the first and third person talking, pick one geesh...At least before you used to be set on one.."

"Oh let her be Rainbow, we have more important things to be doing anyways"

Trixie beamed at Daybreak and trotted ahead of the pair

"Follow Trixie"

Daybreak and Rainbow followed close behind as Trixie began her trot along the nearby alleyways. She wove through the shadowy corners of the streets like she had practiced it a dozen times over. Night was beginning to dawn on Canterlot, that meant that the Princesses had no doubt returned to Canterlot, and must have judged the random snow storm as natural. However Daybreak knew what else night meant for the quiet streets of Canterlot. Just as Trixie went to round the nearest street, a light shined by her, missing only because Daybreak had yanked her by the cape half a second before. He pressed her and Rainbow up against the wall and made a "shhhh" motion with his hands.

After a few moments, the light inched its way around the street and passed them by, as it passed it became clear it was a royal unicorn guard, out on nightly patrol. Trixie wiped the sweat from her head

"Trixie is most sorry, she had no idea there would be guards out already"

Daybreak shrugged

"It's fine Trixie, they aren't normally out until the moon has risen fully. It does seem odd that the patrols would have already started..."

His expression showed he was obviously worried, but Rainbow Dash offered solution that made him feel much more at ease.

"Well, considering everything that has happened, and King Sombra returning, it makes sense that the guards would be on a more alert status than normal."

Daybreak thought about this, then sighed with apparent relief

"Don't worry Daybreak..." Rainbow said as she patted his shoulder for comfort "There's no way they could be onto us already, we haven't really broken any laws yet, unless annoyingly distracting snowstorm counts, other than that we're good"

Daybreak smiled, but was still a bit shaky

"That's true Dash, but we still can't afford to be seen, especially by guards, they would inform Celestia of our whereabouts immediately. After all, it can't possibly go unnoticed that one of the Princes' of Equestria just suddenly disappeared during the day, they and our friends are all probably wondering where we are now."

Dash nodded, she then noticed, far up ahead, two more guards had just entered the alleyway and were holding their position checking corners for something, probably homeless ponies. Dash pointed them out to Daybreak and Trixie. Trixie huffed in annoyance

"Uggghh how dare they come down here and get in our way like that..."

Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle

"Yeah, how dare they just stand there and do their job, right?"

Trixie huffed and Daybreak rolled his eyes

"We're gonna have to sneak past them, I don't wanna risk teleporting around Canterlot if I can avoid it, that's sure to be noticed by somepony eventually"

Trixie smirked slyly

"If we get spotted we can always just drop them..."

Rainbow shot her a look, quickly causing Trixie to clarify her statement

"I meant as in knock them out, or gag them and throw them in a dumpster or something"

This did not cause Rainbow to feel much better, despite the fact that it was better than what she had originally thought Trixie had meant. It wasn't like she minded kicking around the guards, it just didn't feel completely right to her to do so unless they had to

"Let's just sneak by, ok?"

Daybreak saw the look in Rainbow's eyes. She was clearly not comfortable, he placed his hand on her back and gave it a gentle rub with his claws

"That's fine with me Rainbow, let's go"

He gave her another reassuring pat on the mane before directing the mares to follow behind him, he motioned for them to stay no more than two hoof steps away and mimic his movements. The alleyway ahead of them was filled with trash cans and dumpsters, along with small crevices in the walls where ponies could hide, Daybreak assumed that ponies without homes probably did this from time to time. It wasn't hard to imagine considering where he used to live. The two unicorn guards ahead seemed done with their investigation of the crevices ahead and turned to walk down towards Daybreak and the others.

Daybreak quickly dove behind a dumpster with Rainbow and Trixie right behind him. Although they were dead silent, the guards still seemed to feel the need to come down towards them, apparently checking every little hiding hole for possible prowlers or lurkers. Daybreak considered there options, magic would be too obvious ad would give them away just from the light, although he was sure he could knock the guards out with ease, he didn't want to run the risk of there being others about.

He shut his eyes tight, slowly but surly hearing their hoof steps growing closer. He knew that his whole plan would be ruined if the Princesses were alerted to where he was now, he was sure Celestia would figure out what he was up too. He couldn't run that risk, even if it meant taking out these guards, in any way he could. With that thought in mind, Daybreak dove from behind the dumpster and grabbed at the nearest trash can, and, with a magically enhanced kick, he sent the container flying at the two. As the container neared them, time seemed to slow down for Daybreak, he saw one guard begin to shut his eyes in fear, while the other activated is horn. Daybreak went for the one with his eyes shut first.

The unicorn with his horn flared caught the can in his aura and began to turn his head to toss it away. At almost the same moment as the guard turned his head to fling the can, Daybreak slid under it and came up in front of the pair. Without haste Daybreak ignited his already flying fist in aura and connected it with the guard who had shut his eyes for that brief moment. His fist met the guards jaw and propelled him into the nearby wall, the other one was beginning to bring his head back around as Daybreak brought his other hand down in a knife strike onto his neck. The guards horn went out like birthday candle as he dropped to the ground with a thump.

Daybreak began to turn around to give his friends the all clear, when a loud yelp followed by a swooshing sound of a hoof reached his ears. He whipped his head back to see two ponies standing at the alleyway entrance. The first one was another patrol guard, and was beginning to slump forward to the ground. The other was a stallion covered by black robe and hood. As the guard slumped forward, his eyes rolled into his head and a slight bit of drool escaped from his lips. The stallion gave him a look of disgust and walked over him, barely allowing his robe to touch the guard. He approached Daybreak and began to extend his hoof while motioning back towards the unconscious guard

"I think you missed that one"

Daybreak smirked and took his hoof, shaking it firmly

"I think you missed those two"

Daybreak pointed behind himself at the guard on his belly, and the other inside the wall. The stallion chuckled

"Naw, I didn't miss 'em, just wanted to see how you'd handle it...and I'd say you handled it well for not using any magic...my names-

"AECIOUS!"

The stallions eyes shot wide along with a pair of wings that shot out in his shock as Trixie dove forward from behind the dumpster and tackled the hooded stallion to the ground, crushing him in a death hug. Besides completely destroying his personal space, her tackle had also caused him to lose his robe, which now lay on the ground as Trixie pressed their noses together and practically squealed in his face

"It's been so long since Trixie has seen you, how have you been?"

Aecious struggled out of Trixie grasp and flapped his way to his hooves, he dusted himself off before addressing her.

"I was alot better since our last talk Trixie, that is until you nearly crushed me to death just now"

Her ears lowered as she began to form a small frown on her face, Aecious took notice of this and chuckled

"You've certainly come down a few notches since we last met...What happened to the Great and Powerful Trixie whose pride and ego were bigger than Celestia's sun?"

Trixie blushed, but perked back up again, Daybreak quickly cut her off before she could speak and delay them further

"Not to be rude, but we are in kind of a rush"

Rainbow Dash swooped in from behind the dumpster and hovered next to Daybreak

"Yeah, so why don't you just give us what we need so we can get going?"

Aecious eyed her with a curiosity

"Are you presuming that I know what you're here for?"

Rainbow flushed

"Oh...well...um...not really, I only meant that-"

"Oh, I see, it was just a brash statement then...you must be Rainbow Dash, assuming of course I couldn't surmise that from your flamboyant colors and Cutie Mark"

Daybreak smirked, this pegasus had quite the attitude, although he clearly had made the wrong impression on Rainbow already, as she then stuck her tongue out at him and landed next to Daybreak. Daybreak stepped forward and retrieved Aecious' robe from the ground. He draped it over his right arm smartly, took three paces and handed it to Aecious, then bowed slightly and took a pace back. Aecious raised his eyebrows

"Hmmm...now that is peculiar...You are Prince Daybreak, no doubt...but you move like a servant of the palace, rather than a royal yourself...I can only wonder at what your backstory might be. Should be an interesting tale to tell sometime..."

Daybreak let a sly smirk slip across his face

"It might just be the most interesting tale you've ever heard"

"Oh now I wouldn't go that far, I've seen quite alot of weird and strange things in my life so far"

Aecious took a slow pace and circumnavigated his way around Daybreak, strolling an a perfect circle as though studying him.

"As it so happens, I do know why you're here, and what you want from me."

The looks of shock he was expecting to get from his new acquaintances did not come, instead, the only real change in their expressions came from Rainbow Dash, who wore a skeptical look

"And let me guess, you know that from whatever secret sources tell you all these things you supposedly know?"

Aecious gave her a dry look

"Hardly...I'm just not an idiot. It wasn't exactly a well kept secret, what happened to Princess Twilight, although I assume the nature of her condition has been under exaggerated. After all, the news reached me almost immediately. And considering the rumors that you disappeared almost immediately afterwards are also apparently true, I can only assume the fact that you are here in front of me proves that her condition is in fact much worse than what has been shown, apparently enough to drive you to steal from your own mentor. Does that sound about accurate?"

Daybreak was beginning to reeeeeeally like this pegasus, he couldn't recall ever meeting anypony who this this clever, other than Twilight, and certainly never met one who wasn't a unicorn. With a slight nod he continued their talk

"So what is it gonna take to make you help me get inside?"

Aecious was clearly waiting for this question, as he apparently already knew what he wanted and answered immediately.

"I'll do ya even better, I'll get you inside the library and passed nearly all the guards undetected and I'll accompany you myself to help get it done. And I only want one thing in return..."

Daybreak was assuming he wasn't going to like whatever Aecious wanted, but asked anyways

"And that would be?"

Aecious seemed to pause just to watch their faces grow more and more scrunched with anticipation, finally he chuckled and conceded to tell them, enjoying his moment of brief humor

"I want you to issue a royal decree, that I am to be left alone by all royal guards in Ponyville and Canterlot from this day forward, assuming you're not exiled or killed as a result of your decisions after today, I want to be left to my business from now on."

Now perplexed, Daybreak had to know more

"I can understand Canterlot...but why Ponyville?"

Aecious turned his back to them for a moment as though to hide his expression

"Let's just say, I used to live their...and I'd like to be welcome back without having to wear a large hood over my face...oh and while we are at it, you can add Cloudsdale as well...for my own reasons"

Daybreak and Rainbow Dash traded glances with each other, both were clearly uncomfortable with the thought of such a knowledgeable pony being immune to all guard interference in such places...but nevertheless, unlike with Trixie, Daybreak doubted he could force the info out of this pegasus even if he was cruel enough to torture him. Although he knew it would probably cause him some extra annoyance in the future, Daybreak agreed to Aecious' terms and shook his hoof again. He decided he would just have himself or Rainbow Dash check on him every so often, just to be sure he wasn't abusing his privilege. And of course this was all under the assumption that they were even still alive or in any position to make that order at the end of this.

Aecious redressed himself in his cloak, and began move down the forward alley towards the streets, he turned and motioned for them to follow, but as Rainbow made to take of he shook his head and lightly stomped his feet, indicating her to only walk for now. As they rounded the closest street, Daybreak took a glance at the night sky and saw the moon was in full rise by this point. He looked down the upcoming streets, there was no guards to be found, Daybreak could only assume Aecious had already dealt with them, or else picked this route cause he knew it was clear of patrol. Daybreak ran up beside Aecious, curious to learn as much about this mysterious pegasus as he could.

"Aecious, there's really no need for you to actually go inside the palace with us, why not just tell us what we need to know and be done with it"

Not slowing his run to talk, Aecious managed words out in between breaths

"You need somepony with you who can adapt quick should the situation collapse on you, or should our plan fail. No offense meant to your friends, but they aren't exactly equipped to handle the situation we may face."

Rainbow Dash, who had been right behind Daybreak until now, sprinted to Aecious' side, clearly annoyed

"And what is that supposed to mean?!"

Aecious did not change his pace, or expression, although Daybreak did detect a slight flap, or quiver in his wings under that robe, clearly Rainbow did have some kind of effect of him. Although Daybreak couldn't tell if it was positive or negative.

"I mean exactly what I said Rainbow Dash, you and Trixie are not equipped to handle what we may face inside that castle. I don't know if you realize this, but we may very well have to fight more than half the royal guard should anything go wrong. AND that may not even be the worst of it, without a proper distraction or guide for you, it is a possibility that you may even run into one of, or both, of the Princesses if we aren't careful...Can any of you honestly say you would be willing to try and take down the royal guard or try and force your way past the Princesses"

"Yes!"

Daybreak answered without hesitation, but Aecious seemed to have expected that

"I was referring to them, not you"

Rainbow Dash and Trixie, who had managed to finally catch up with them, both shared equally worried looks. Giving both Daybreak and Aecious a clear answer, Aecious shook his head, and, as they rounded the nearest street corner skidded to a halt in front of another alley and approached the two mares

"Despite what skills you both may have yourselves, you endanger his task by not being fully committed, you would hesitate if the situation became dire, you may have chosen to accompany him and commit treason by word, but other than a pretty snow storm and leading him to me, what have either of you really done wrong yet? I can't force him to send you both home, but I would at least highly encourage that you two not be brought inside the castle."

Trixie lowered her head in shame, and although Rainbow looked upset enough to scream at Aecious, and although at another time, Daybreak would have actually loved to see those two go at it, now was not the time. Daybreak brought his hand down in Rainbow's mane and ran it through her hair, massaging her scalp and scratching her ear, effectively crippling her instantly. Aecious looked interested

"Hmm...a herd perhaps?

Daybreak flushed slightly

"Sort of...it's just me, Twilight and Rainbow Dash, Trixie's not part of it"

Although Trixie was shocked by the sudden revelation of Daybreak having a herd, it also encouraged her to try to get in on it if she could, after all, herds could always add new members...she hoped at least. Aecious turned away and shook his head, then pointed at the alley in front of them as they started down it.

"We will sleep here for the night, I've got my own little hiding spot farther in...it's more or less a bar than anything else...but it's not public, officially it was closed down years ago due to some.......questionable activity going on there, but the owner had nowhere else to go, so she secretly continued it, leaving the outside to rot so it would look abandoned. Trust me, if you feel like gathering some real team members for your adventure after Canterlot, this would be the place to do it. All sorts of ponies that don't wanna be bothered come in here all the time."

Rainbow looked very suspicious

"What sort of ponies?"

Aecious had been hopping Rainbow would as that, and clearly enjoyed giving his answer

"Well, Daring Do frequents here almost every time she visits Canterlot, I hear you two are pretty close now, considering you're in her newest book. I would assume she's here now as she arrived in Canterlot just a few days prior as A.K Yearling."

Clearly that was enough for Rainbow Dash, she rocketed past them to the bar ahead, and bean hopping in front of it, impatiently waiting for them to catch up. Aecious smiled and Daybreak let out a small chuckle

"You read Daring Do?"

"Everypony needs a hobby, what of yourself Prrrrrrrince, what do you do with you free time?"

The obvious answer was a little too private for him to be sharing with a pony he just met, but Aecious seemed to gather his answer from Daybreaks face. With a chuckle he led them into the bar, although the initial look on the inside was less than welcoming, Daybreak could easily see why this place remained hidden and was a good place for ponies that didn't want to be bothered. The mere setup seemed to allow for ponies to duck or hide at a moments notice should the guard come knocking, and the run down look would make any suspicion nearly vanish should anypony actually bother to come in. The door had an old bell attached to it that rang surprisingly loud when opened, add to that there was a long hallway wall before the actual bar entrance inside, and this place was the perfect hide away for ponies.

Aecious immediately made his way to the counter to talk with the owner, she was clearly not used to so many ponies entering at one time, and so was understandably nervous at the sight of them, combined with the fact Daybreak was a Prince, he could see why Aecious might need to explain things to her. Meanwhile, while Trixie scoped out the bar for a free table, Daybreak looked around for Rainbow Dash. Surprisingly she had already managed to locate Daring Do in the hoard of crowded tables, begin a conversation with her, and to Daybreak's great surprise, trap her in a death hug. Although Daring did eventually manage to escape her hug, Rainbow kept up a conversation with her. She didn't seem as annoyed as Daybreak heard she had been the last time they met, although this was clearly under better circumstances...at least for Daring.

Daybreak smiled and walked over to join in their talk. Rainbow practically snatched him from his walk and pulled him over to introduce him to Daring. She seemed pleased to meet him, and they all managed to strike up a conversation about their activities as of late. Somehow Rainbow managed to "let slip" what they were up to, and although Daybreak was extremely flabbergasted she would do that, Rainbow assured him that no pony was better at keeping secrets than Daring Do. Once they had explained their current state to Daring she seemed thoroughly interested, and even voiced that there were several hidden passage ways under the castle that could come in handy to them. Daybreak was about to thank her for that bit of info, but Aecious called him away, waving from the counter. Daybreak excused himself and went over to Aecious, who was clearly upset about something

"What's up? You scrunch up your face anymore and it might turn inside out...is something wrong?"

"Yes something is very, horribly, unbearably wrong......they have only two rooms available"

Daybreak couldn't see the problem at first, then after a moment it struck him and he couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing. As he wiped the tears from his eyes he managed to cough out

"Have fun with Trixie lover pony, I'm sure she will just loooooove the good news"

Aecious glared at him, but was quickly interrupted by Daring Do's approach, followed by Rainbow closely

"What's up over here.."

She glanced from Daybreak's face to Aecious' frown

"Is something wrong?"

Daybreak managed to stop his fit and coughed out

"They only have two rooms available, so Aecious and Trixie will be together and me and Rainbow in the other"

Aecious kicked the legs of the closest table, making a very unsubtle crack in it. Daring was quick to his rescue though

"That's ok, you and Rainbow Dash can room with me tonight, that way your friend here can get his own room"

Rainbow Dashes eyes lit up like Hearths Warming Eve, Daybreak knew that look and immediately feared for his life

"Oh dear Celestia..."

How Daring Are you? (Clop)

The night stretched on, and after a few hours everypony made their way to their separate rooms for the night, a few of them not quite as somber as they had arrived. It was a little odd for Daybreak, watching so many ponies he barely considered friends (except for Rainbow) to say goodnight to each other and him and walk off as if they'd known each other for years. Daring led the way to her room, Daybreak had seen many of the rooms in this place already, he wasn't expecting much more than a small room with decently sized beds...oh how wrong he was! The moment Daring opened the door to her suite (and it was definitely worthy of such a name), both Daybreak and Rainbow's jaws hit the floor. The inside was absolutely magnificent, the walls were crimson with, what Daybreak could only assume, were gems lining many of the door handles. The bathroom itself looked more like a hot tub than anything else, and the bedroom...the bed could have fit all three of them and Big Macintosh easily. Rainbow was the most surprised of the two

"Daring...I had no idea you roomed so...extravagantly"

She chuckled at their faces

"I usually don't, but considering how often I frequent here, they made this room just for me, I thought the same thing when I first saw it, but they insisted, plus its got some of my memorabilia scattered about the shelves. Sometimes this place feels more like my home away from home than a bar/hotel room, plus no pony knows about this place, at least no pony who I should worry about, so its the perfect getaway spot."

Rainbow took off throughout the rooms, shooting into one of the walk-in closets while Daring shouted after her.

"Make yourself at home!"

Daybreak struggled not to snicker as he spoke

"Somehow I don't think that will be an issue"

With all of her tiredness now assuredly gone, Daybreak assumed Rainbow would not be back anytime soon. Daring invited him to sit on the nearby couch with her and talk. He obliged, still being tired himself, despite the shock of the place. As she sat down, Daring Do flung her hat across the room towards the nearest coat stand, and to Daybreaks amazement, it landed with a perfect Whoosh, right on the outstretched arm. With a chuckle at his face, Daring leaned her front hooves back and stretched out on the couch. She rested her back hooves on the coffee table nearest them and looked to Daybreak, giving him the "well relax" look he so often recalled Rainbow giving him whenever they visited her house.

Taking the hint happily, Daybreak stretched out as well, lightly laying his legs across the table and leaning back in the couch. He briefly freaked when the couch leaned with him, but he quickly realized that it had recliners built into it, he was certainly impressed with the place. Amid his relaxing thoughts, the sounds of Rainbow going through several walk-in closets and gasping at whatever they held could be heard. Both Daring and Daybreak found this quite humorous. Eventually after a few minutes of awkward silence, Daring finally broke the tension

"Sooooo...You're the newest Prince of Equestria huh?

He nodded back to her, catching her curiosity

"Well not be rude or anything, but what are you exactly? I mean you're certainly not a pony, I can tell that much. But I've seen alot, and I do mean alot of odd looking creatures that can speak in my travels, and I've never seen anyone like you."

He took a moment to consider how he could go about answering Daring's question. Unsurprisingly, not many ponies knew what he really was, or even knew who his "parents" were. More often than not he had tried to appear in his unicorn form for public displays anyways, but everypony knew what he really looked like. Now whether they wondered in secret or asked in the open and Celestia just didn't share, almost no pony knew that Daybreak was Discord's son. His whole "Prince of Chaos" title was known to only a few, and even fewer knew what he was truly capable of.

However Daring Do was different, although Daybreak wasn't a crazy fan of her like Twilight and Rainbow, he had enjoyed her books and knew about her adventure with his friends while he had been away recently. He knew that if there was one pony on the face of Equestria that he could blindly trust with a secret, it was certainly Daring Do. That said, he figured a pony with her intelligence could understand a direct and honest answer, so he took a deep breath and began, without pause for breath, a sentence of length that would have made Pinkie Pie proud

"I'm the product of a certain god of chaos growing fed up with his own "weaknesses" and deciding that the best way the overcome them completely was to magically rip them from his person bottle them up and toss them away then I floated as a magical specter creature for a amount of time I cant recall and attached myself subtly to Princess Celestia and drew strength from her magic eventually gaining my own pony form after a thousand years after which I appeared in the back alleys of Canterlot and built myself a house out of construction pipes with no memory of my parents or even my time as a magical pulse."

He paused for the breath he so needed and drew in several quick and sharp rasps. Daring seemed overly interested in his story, as during that time she had drifted closer on the couch and was now laying fully length ways on the couch, resting her hooves in his lap. Her marehood was firmly covered by her tail, which was tucked neatly in between her legs. Daybreak at least was sure she wasn't coming on to him, thankfully. Daring let out some light giggles

"No need to rush through it or overcomplicate, just explain it how you want, I'm interested to hear it"

He nodded, relieved

"Anyways...After that I lived in the "house" I had made out of pipes for about a year, more or less. During that time I had frequent magical discharges that I couldn't control. Eventually I released one that was noticed by the Princess and she invited me to study with her privately..."

Daybreak explained everything he could to Daring, and she absorbed it all with a unique interest that he had never witnessed before. Never grossed out or blushing at anything he told her, never judging him, and he pretty much told her everything he could remember, and he meant everything. Eventually he finished his tale, ending with where they were right then, and their current situation, filling in the gaps Daring didn't already know. Once he finally finished, Daring Do just laid there, with a smile on her face

"Wow man...and I thought I had an interesting life...you should consider turning that into a book someday, never know who might read it"

She winked at him, causing the blood to come rushing to his face. Daring still seemed to have one question though

"So...you still haven't explained to me why you're wearing this"

She reached forward with her hoof and poked his royal necklace, with the fire ruby in the center. At her touch, the necklace emitted a very low hum and sparked red for a split second. Daring looked on, intrigued, even as the light went out. Daybreak on the other hand, blushed wildly, for he knew what that necklace glow actually meant and felt like he was intruding on Daring's privacy, yet he couldn't help but wonder who a pony like her, might be in love with. Daybreak cleared his throat and shoved his curiosity aside for the time being

"Oh...umm...symbolic representation?..."

Daring lowered her gaze at him

"Not buying it?"

"Not in the slightest"

Daybreak should have know better than to try and lie to Daring Do, but he hadn't even explained to Rainbow Dash why he was constantly wearing this now, that was one part he needed to keep secret , nevertheless he confided in her his plan, feeling like she would at least understand his need for secrecy. Thankfully for him, she did, and seemed to understand perhaps better than he expected.

"Weeeeeell, not that it's really any of my business...but when are you guys planning on heading out tomorrow? I mean, if you've only got a week to get this done, I'd assume you'd start asap..."

Daybreak gave her a suspicious look, but told her anyways

"Well, I was planning on letting everypony get a goodnights sleep while I stay up and plan the break in...but I guess I'd say around sunrise..."

Daring flashed him a look that he understood as teasing, he blushed

"Yeah yeah I know, irony, I've heard every pun out there don't worry..."

Daring flashed a smile, but it quickly faded as a loud CRASH echoed throughout the room. Daring's head came up over the couch to see Rainbow Dash rubbing her head with her hoof, she was hovering in front of a low wall. Daring immediately understood what had happened and laid back down. However seconds later Rainbow appeared above them, beaming with a surprising amount of glee.

"You guys look comfy, mind if I join you?"

Without waiting for a response, she plopped down in between them, laying her head in Darin Do's lap and her back hooves across Daybreak. Rainbow smiled upwards as Daring looked down at her and chuckled, meanwhile, Daybreak was blushing madly. Rainbow had spread her legs as she draped them across his lap, giving him a clear view of her sopping sex. He struggled to hide his blush and not stare, wondering how she could possibly be this turned on already.

Daring noticed his blush and peeked over Dash, following Daybreak's gaze. When her eyes came to rest on Rainbow's exposed sex, she gained a light blush, but did not give any attempt to look away. Rainbow remained oblivious for a moment, lost in staring at her idol from her lap, however, realization eventually dawned on her and she looked to see what Daring and Daybreak were staring at. She to followed there gazes, her eyes came to rest on her own exposed marehood, clearly soaking wet and on display for them both. Rainbow blushed wildly and attempted to close her legs, accidentally kicking Daybreak in the head and pulling them both off the couch.

Daybreak ended up on his back with Rainbow's face unintentionally pressed into his crouch, her rump straight up in the air for Daring to see unobstructed. Rainbow shook her head to clear her slight stun, and suddenly felt a pair of hooves on her flank, grasp it firmly, followed by Daring's voice speaking to her

"Wow Rainbow Dash...your pussy looks amazing..."

Rainbow's face flushed a deep red, she made to say something, but she was instantly silenced as a long wet tongue was pressed against her sex and dragged it's length. All that escaped Rainbow's lips were a long drawn out moan as Daring Do licked the length of her marehood. Meanwhile, Daybreak was attempting to work his way up off the floor, however Daring was having none of that and ceased her work on Rainbow to push Daybreak back down

"Oh no you don't big boy, I can't let a perfect catch like you get away without rutting me, you guys have had almost as many adventures as me, and some much more interesting, it's rare to find ponies, or anyone like you guys."

Daybreak shook his head and pushed up off the ground, making his way to his feet. Despite his very obvious arousal at the sight of these two mares like this, he didn't care for sex as long as Twilight was in peril.

"I'm not interested, please don't take this the wrong way Daring, you're a gorgeous mare, and to tell you the truth you remind me alot of Rainbow Dash, so if it were another time I could easily see something happening. But I can't find any joy in something like this right now, with Twilight injured and dying, it just feels wrong to have sex without her around...plus, I'm married to her...I'm not a cheater Daring"

Daring Do smiled and swiped Daybreak's feet out from under him before he could move to react. He landed on his butt and she pushed him onto his back. He made to get up, but was quickly pushed back down as Daring pushed Rainbow Dash onto his chest, she did not struggle against Daring, and even helped pin Daybreak. He struggled to get free, but froze in place the moment he felt a hoof stroke the length of his shaft. He peeked over Rainbow and saw Daring Do smirking at him

"Fine, I can understand you not wanting to be a cheater, to be honest that actually turns me on more...but what about Rainbow Dash? She's part of your herd isn't she? I'm sure you could fuck her brains out and that's ok...I'll just have a little fun too.."

Before he could respond he felt a pair of lips wrap around his shaft, unable to hold back a gasp, he let out quiet moan. Daring began to wrap her entire mouth around his cock, surprising him with how easily she seemed to manage the feat. Daybreak felt his mind go fuzzy as the adventure pony licked his length while sucking on him from inside her mouth. He opened his eyes to Rainbow Dash's soaking marehood hovering above his lips, he heard a raspy squeak escape Rainbow as she looked back at him

"Please Daybreak.."

Daring stared as she sucked him off, waiting to see what he'd do. Eventually he nodded to Rainbow Dash and Daring's eyes lit up with glee. She stopped sucking on him and got up, pointing towards her bedroom

"Well come on then, it's much comfier in there"

She pushed against Daybreak's back with her skull, helping him up and slightly forcing him down the hall way. Rainbow followed behind, unable to fly from the enormous wingboners she was experiencing. She stared as she watched Daybreak walked down the hall, his stallionhood waving around as he was pushed by Daring. Eventually they made it to the enormous bed and all began to climb in. Daybreak moved to lay on his back, but this time it was Rainbow Dash Daring pushed onto her back. Daring motioned for him to get on the bed, and he followed, wondering what she wanted. Daring climbed on top of Rainbow, and positioned her slit over Rainbow's lips. Rainbow blushed at being this close to her idols most private of areas, and Daybreak saw her own marehood begin to get visibly wetter. Daring winked at Daybreak, then slammed her hips down on Rainbows face. The effect was almost instant, Rainbow opened her mouth to keep Daring from trapping her nose and Daring began to grind against Rainbows unmoving tongue. Rainbow was so surprised she didn't even react at first, until Darin finally goaded her with a gasp

"You can lick too ya know"

Rainbow blushed and instantly began to flick her tongue inside her idol. Daring was instantly mesmerized by Rainbows skills, having plenty of practice on Twilight and Daybreak already, she knew exactly where to lick to get the desired effect on Daring. Once her initial shock of being face raped wore off, Rainbow really began to pick up the pace of her licking, causing Daring to grind faster and gasp out for breath in rasps. She looked up to see Daybreak still sitting there, a stupid, mesmerized look on his face that she couldn't help but find cute. She giggled through her moans

"You just gonna sit there, or you gonna help Rainbow get some relief?..."

Daring bent over on Rainbow's belly and spread her legs. Rainbow instantly made a series of squeak noises meant to be protests. But they did not hinder Daring as she spread Dashes legs with ease, and leaned down in between them. She placed her hooves on either side of Dashes swollen lips and spread them for Daybreak, eliciting more squeaks from Rainbow

"Seeeeee? Look at how swollen and wet she is for you- Ahhh"

Daring was quickly silenced as Rainbow slammed her tongue against her insides, smacking her G-spot and sending Daring into a world of bliss. Daring collapsed over Rainbows swollen pussy as Rainbow worked her tongues magic on her idol. Daybreak understood what Daring wanted and scooted closer on the bed until he was on his knees in front of Dash's slit. He grabbed her butt cheeks firmly and hoisted her back side into the air, bringing it level with his, now throbbing, erection, Daring managed to lift herself back to a sitting position on Rainbow's face to give Daybreak the room he needed.

Daybreak pushed his dick against Rainbow's outer lips and lightly rubbed himself up and down her. She moaned into Daring, causing her to shiver on Rainbow's face. Daybreak gave Rainbow's ass a hard squeeze before he thrust hard straight into her lips, slamming inside her, balls deep. Rainbow let out a screech and long lick against Daring as she felt the sensation of being split down the middle. It, felt, amazing!

Daybreak began to repeatedly bury his cock inside Dash, giving long slow thrusts into the horny mare as she arched her back and squealed into Daring Do. Daybreak couldn't help but grow hornier and hornier as he continued to slam into Dash. Her athletic physic kept her body nearly virgin tight all the time, which only made it harder on Daybreak as he tried to hold back his orgasm despite being in a vice grip. He secretly wondered what would happen if he transformed back into a stallion right now while he was screwing Rainbow, but he would never do it. He did not want to risk hurting his little cyan lover.

He looked down as he heard Daring give a sharp squeal and attempt to scramble off of Rainbow. But she was unsuccessful as Dashie had wrapped her front hooves around Daring's legs, allowing her no escape and forcing her to remain on her face. Daybreak leaned forward over Dash slightly, curious to see what she could have done to cause the adventure pony to collapse into the drooling mess she now was on top of Rainbow. He gave a good thrust as he leaned and saw, Rainbow was still lapping at Daring Do, but only occasionally, the rest of the time she was nibbling and biting at Daring's flank cheek. Daring Do was clearly in a world of bliss as she was continuing to orgasm on Dash's neck even when she wasn't being licked.

Daybreak began to feel his end coming and wanted to give Rainbow an amazing end as well. He pulled out of Dash, much to her dismay, then gave her swollen lips a zap with his magic, eliciting another yelp from her. Rainbow had no idea he had just zapped her with a pleasure enhancement spell, but she would soon. Daybreak pulled his hips back as far as he could without actually backing up, then in one final swift thrust, he buried himself deep inside Dash!

The effect was instantaneous, Rainbow began to cum before he was even half way in, she was practically screaming as she came! Daybreak was unable to hold back as her whole body clamped around him, tighter than before. Although he remained quieter than Rainbow, he still let out quite the gasp as he released his load all over Dash's insides. He felt himself release strand after strand of his cum inside Rainbow and she twitched as each one settled inside her.

Eventually he too was finished and he pulled his rapidly softening dick out of Dashie and began to magically remove all the sex juice coating her neck, face and lower body. The he did the same to Daring as she laid next to, the now unconscious, Rainbow Dash. He wasn't surprised she was asleep already, they had certainly tired her horny ass out. Daybreak rolled off the bed and made his way to the shower, bypassing the hot tub completely he made his way inside the shower and turned on the hot water.

For a few minutes he felt the calm that has escaped him since this whole ordeal had started...but it was extinguished instantly as he heard the shower door open and close. He opened his eyes and saw Daring Do, now fully "naked" missing her jacket, soaking in the hot water as well, but staring at him with an almost serious but slightly shy face.

Daybreak knew where this was about to go and made to speak, but Daring held up her hoof to stop him

"I'm not here to try and have sex with you"

Daybreak instantly shut his mouth, slightly surprised to hear that, considering she was standing in the shower with him. He motioned for her to continue, she was blushing slightly as she struggled to form words

"Well...you see what I'm here for is a little more...umm...personal...and awkward.."

Daybreak raised his eyebrows, finding the statement very hard to believe, but he let her continue nonetheless. She shifted uncomfortably and kicked her hoof against the tile beneath. This was very unlike her...

"Well...I know you and Princess Twilight, and Rainbow Dash are in a herd...but I was wondering if I could...well umm...

Daybreak saw where she was going and should have known, she wanted to be part of the "herd"

"I wanna ask Rainbow Dash to be my special somepony..."

Daybreak's mind did a one eighty...

The Break In

Daybreak awoke the next morning feeling much more at ease than he believed he should, given his current situation. However despite everything that had happened in just one day, he had managed a goodnights sleep. He looked over at Celestia's sun rising slowly above the clouds

"Day Two"

He muttered aloud to himself. That meant he only had six days left to kill Sombra and save Twilight...

Unable to sleep any longer, Daybreak subtly rolled and squirmed his way out of Rainbow Dash and Daring Do's embrace. He made his way towards the window and stepped outside onto the miniature balcony. Peering into the already busy streets of Canterlot was nothing like the view of Ponyville at home, nor did it grant him the same feeling of peace and calm. However he could still see the rising sun, that would have to do for now. He gave a quick glance back inside, both mares were still sound asleep in bed. He thought back to the previous night as his eyes fell on Daring Do

"I wanna ask Rainbow Dash, to be my special somepony..."

Her words echoed across his mind... he remembered his response to her. He had certainly been shocked at the revelation, but he had told her he was fine with it. However Daring had, thankfully, not mentioned it to Rainbow that night, and hopefully wouldn't before they departed either. He needed Rainbow focused, and asking her something like that now would only conflict her feelings towards him and Twilight, and she would be a wreck, he couldn't have that now. He let out a sigh, things just never seemed to stay simple for him...

Eventually he gave up on trying to find peace in sitting on the balcony and went to go wake the others, Rainbow first. He levitated Rainbow Dash out of bed, still asleep and carried her out of Daring Do's room before deciding to wake her. He floated her to his arms and held her bridal style, giving her a light pat on her belly hoping to wake her easily. This proved unsuccessful, Daybreak had figured she'd be difficult since she could sleep through hurricanes, but there was no time for this. He knew he'd regret it, but he also knew she'd wake up instantaneously for sure.

He shifted her in his arms and slowly let one of his fingers rub around the outside of her back hoof. Rainbow gave a slight squeak in her sleep, telling Daybreak that his efforts were working. He began to gently tickle her back hooves with as much of his free hand as he could manage. Rainbow went from lightly squirming to a flail of laughter immediately. She swung her hooves about wildly and nearly knocked Daybreak in the face twice. Eventually she wiggled out of his grasp and landed on her haunches with a plop on the floorboards. As she rubbed her behind, She looked up at Daybreak with a very annoyed expression

"What the buck was that for?!"

Daybreak extended his hand and helped her to her hooves

"Sorry Dashie, no time to waste today, we gotta leave, lets go"

Rainbow looked back at Daring Do's room and made to say something but Daybreak grabbed her by the hoof and pulled her down the hall before she could.

Once he had pulled her all the way to Trixie's room, Daybreak released her hoof and knocked as loud as he could without waking up anypony else in the hall. However a different pony than he was expecting answered the door. Daybreak's eyes went wide as Aecious stepped out and smiled

"Umm...Aecious, this is Trixie's room"

The pegasus nodded, clearly wondering why Daybreak would state the obvious

"Yes I know that, I came to get her up some time ago, since then we've been waiting for you to come calling, I've already told the owner we are leaving, let's go"

Daybreak nodded his head slowly, slightly surprised that Aecious was not only up before him, but had already gotten everything ready for them to leave. Daybreak stepped aside as Aecious exited his room, followed by Trixie, who greeted them with an unusually happy "good morning" and headed down the hall. Daybreak raised his eyebrows as he started after them

"Do they seem a little...different today Rainbow?"

"I don't really care, let's just go"

Daybreak whipped around and saw Rainbow's face as she trotted past him, she looked absolutely livid. Daybreak rubbed the back of his head

"What the hay is wrong with her?"

He put the thought out of his mind as he continued after his allies. After thanking the owner for the rooms, he continued outside the bar and saw the others sitting around waiting for him. As he approached, Aecious walked up and handed him a rolled up scroll

"Tuck that away and don't open it until you are inside the library"

"Why? What is it?

"Let's just say that it will help you find your book in case I'm not there to lead you to it"

Daybreak made the scroll vanish in his palm, gaining a raised eyebrow from Aecious

"Trust me, it's safe where I sent it...but more to the point, why would I even need this, you planning on ditching us?"

The Pegasi looked offended

"I don't abandon my allies, however annoying I may find them...but I cannot allow the princesses to see me, and I scoped out the palace early this morning. They have definitely upgraded security around it, and I'm sure it's worse inside. Whether or not they are expecting us, or just prepared in case of Sombra or Chrysalis, I cannot say. However I think that by the time we know, it'll be too late to turn back. So I'm giving you this in case I must hide myself should the princesses appear. Do not fear, I will not abandon you without ensuring your escape, I can promise you that much"

Daybreak knew better than to give this pegasus his full trust, after all, the mere fact that he meant to avoid detection by Celestia or Luna, meant he was hiding something. However he didn't care at that moment, and up till this point Aecious had given him no reason to make Daybreak distrust him. Daybreak still felt uncomfortable knowing that security had been recently upgraded, it wasn't exactly hard to believe Celestia would expect him to try and take the book by force, nevertheless they had to try.

"Alright fine, let's get going..."

"I know you're not thinking about leaving without me are you?"

Daybreak looked up and saw an outline of a pegasus descending from the open window in the bar. He shielded his eyes from the sun and saw that it was Daring Do hovering down to them. She landed in front of Rainbow Dash, causing an instant change in the cyan mares expression. The sour look she wore moments ago was gone completely, replaced with a beaming smile. Daybreak knew the answer before he asked the question

"What are you doing here Daring?

The adventurous mare flashed him a smile

"What kind of a dumb question is that? I'm coming with you of course! If you're planning on breaking into the Palace you're gonna need one hay of a distraction, even with those passages I told you about you'd still have to sneak past several guard patrols, unless you're planning on just fighting your way through?"

Daybreak had actually thought about that several times. All he had to do was remind himself that Celestia was standing in the way of saving Twilight and he was filled with enough rage to make him want to take on the entire castle by himself.

"I was considering it"

Aecious looked severely annoyed by Daybreak's answer

"You do realize we are making this plan for a reason right? Not so you can blow it by charging in there full of anger and hot air and get somepony killed! You may be a demigod but the rest of us aren't, you do something stupid and you might get one of them hurt or worse"

Daybreak fumed despite the pegasus having a valid point, so he held his tongue and simply nodded. Daring smiled and continued

"Anyways, I don't know what you have for a plan so far, but I'm pretty sure I can give you a good distraction"

Daybreak nearly chuckled

"Somehow I don't doubt that, but indulge me anyways...What are you planning to do?

Daring reached into her saddle bag and pulled out an ink quill and several sheets of paper scrolls

"Sign autographs of course!"

Daybreak face palmed himself

"Oh dear Celestia we're doomed"

.....

About That Same Time Inside The Palace

The magical windows of Celestia's castle shimmered with rainbow colored light as the sun princess stood in front of their most recent addition. She stared into the glass that depicted Twilight and Daybreaks' ascension into their current prince and princess status. She couldn't help but wonder where Daybreak was now, ever since he had yelled her out of Twilights sick room, he had vanished along with Rainbow Dash. His friends had not spotted him since and rumors where beginning to spread throughout the city of some kind of impending attack. The Princess had no choice but to increase the guard, with Sombra and Chrysalis out there, she couldn't risk ignoring these kinds of rumors.

Despite her and her sisters failed attempts to locate Daybreak, or Rainbow Dash, Celestia thought she had a pretty good idea of what he was up to, and despite her personal feelings towards her student...she could not allow it to happen. She wanted to believe that Daybreak would respect her wishes and seek another way to defeat Sombra before time was up, but the fact that he had seemingly vanished did not lead her to believe such. Combining that with the fact that Discord was his father...she figured that listening to an order was not going to go over well with him. She let out an exhausted sigh and returned to her throne, seating herself upon it she turned to her closest guard

"Summon the former bearers of the Elements here at once along with Discord, and dispatch additional guards to the library entrance, then wake my sister and tell her to meet me in the meeting room with the bearers shortly."

"Yes your Highness, at once"

The guard sped out of the room to seek out Twilight's friends, and Celestia was suddenly thankful she had decided to keep them close by. Bringing them back with her from The Crystal Empire had taken some convincing, after all it could very well become Twilight's death bed soon. However, after she had stated that she needed their help to locate Daybreak and Rainbow Dash, they had come without much of a fuss.

That said, she knew that they had become restless since returning, she had encouraged them to stay in the suite that was provided for them. Although she could tell that they knew her kind words of encouragement to remain, were really an order, she was pleased that they cooperated and respected her decision. Although she suspected that it was only because she convinced them they could help find Rainbow and Daybreak more by remaining put rather than running off.

Celestia rubbed her temples with her hooves, there were too many unknowns in this whole mess of theirs. She had no idea where Daybreak and Rainbow were or if they were together, although she suspected they were. She didn't know why they had vanished so suddenly, but again she had suspicions. Chrysalis had said there was now peace between her race and ponies on account of Twilight's supposed death, but with Sombra around, she could not be certain about their situation either. Everything pointed towards Sombra attacking the Crystal Empire again...but then why did she feel like she needed to fortify Canterlot the most...

.....

A.K Yearling made her stroll seem as casual as possible as she approached Celestia's castle. She could feel the stares of the guards baring down on her from the posts above as she made her way towards the front entrance. She approached the two guards at the foot of the stairs that ascended to the inner palace. She stopped and noticed both guards seemed to look rather antsy the closer she got. She smiled at them as she spoke, trying to make her voice sound as sultry as possible

"Hello sirs, I was just wondering if I might be able to set up a booth in the inner garden, you know, to sign autographs for any fans that may want some?"

The two unicorns looked from each other back to Yearling, then the younger of the two stepped forward shyly, and pulled out a small piece or writing paper and blushed

"Umm...do you think perhaps you could sign one for me first?...then I'd be happy to let you in Ms.Yearling. In fact, I'm sure the Princesses would love to know your visiting again. I believe Princess Luna is still seeking an autograph from you, having missed you last time you were here"

A.K Yearling winked at the young stallion, causing him to blush a bright shade of red before she snatched a quill out of her saddle bag and approached the guard. He levitated his paper up for her, his legs shaky at meeting his favorite author, and concentrated on keeping the paper firm for her. As she scribbled away on the paper, Yearling shot a glance upwards to the upper post and saw the subtle flash of light, then the guards collapsed in their posts. She looked to the far left and saw the same flash of light appear, then a quick flash of a black robe, and those two also fell.

"Four down" she thought to herself as she finished signing parchment.

As she finished and returned his paper to him, the stallion looked at her with eyes so huge, he seemed more like a little colt than a full grown stallion guarding the princesses. Yearling smiled at him and motioned inside

"Could you fine sirs possibly show me to the garden now, I'll gladly sign more for anypony once I'm in there"

The two guards nodded, the younger ones face now beaming with joy, and began to escort "Yearling" inside the castle.

.....

Daybreak watched the scene unfold from the rooftop post, he smiled to himself, Daring Do was a cleaver little mare indeed. With all the ponies that would rush to have her sign for them, several guards would also have to be called from their current posts to deal with the crowd and keep back extreme fans.

He did an about-face and found Rainbow waiting patiently for him by the exit door, he quickly turned and saw Trixie and Aecious staring over at them from the other post across the tower. They nodded knowingly to each other, and proceeded inside their own door. Daybreak watched as they vanished down their path and turned to Rainbow Dash

"No turning back now Dashie"

He saw the fierce, determined smile she wore, grow bigger

"Wouldn't dream of it, let's go!"

He nodded and opened the door, allowing her to go first and then proceeded inside himself, shutting it quietly behind him. They proceeded down a flight of spiral stairs at a decent speed, but as they neared the bottom they heard voices behind the exit door. They halted at the bottom and pressed their ears to the door, hoping to hear what was happening inside. They did not hear what they were expecting though, instead of the rough or brisk voice that many of the royal guards seemed to have, they instead heard the unmistakable, high pitched shrill laughter of a certain pink haired friend of theirs. Pinkie's voice ripped through their ears even through the wooden and steel clad door.

"Oh this is sooooo awesome! The Princess letting me stand guard with all these big guys...I can't believe she trusts me sooo much! I'm gonna be the most vigilant guard out there, nothing gets past Pinkie Pie!"

Rainbow and Daybreak traded shocked expressions with each other. Rainbow quietly hissed to Daybreak

"What could possibly posses the Princess to let Pinkie stand guard with her guards?"

Daybreak shared the same confused look

"I have no idea Dash, but it doesn't change anything, we still have to get by..."

"You aren't suggesting we actually hurt Pinkie?!"

Rainbows face showed shock and worry, Daybreak immediately calmed her

"No no Rainbow, even I could never hurt Pinkie, she's our friend, and more importantly...she's Pinkie Pie. We'll just have to figure out a way to get by without hurting her"

Rainbow's face regained it's determined look, satisfied with his answer, and she approached the door

"No time for a plan, I got this!"

Before Daybreak could stop her and remind her they had no idea how many guards were with Pinkie, Rainbow bucked open the door and flew into the room. Daybreak came around the door in time to see Pinkie's smiling face still beaming even as Rainbow caught the guards with her unawares. Rainbow landed and quickly gave the first one a backwards buck to the chest, sending him into the wall and knocking him out instantly, she then tackled the remaining two by herself and began wrestling with them on the floor. She was outnumbered but she seemed to be able to hold them both down, although Daybreak wasn't sure for how long.

He came out into the room and saw Pinkie's face had now changed to shock, he momentarily ignored her except for the quick "Hi Pinkie" he gave her as he moved by to assist Rainbow. He neared the scrambling mess of flailing hooves and wings as Rainbow Dash wrestled with a pegasus and earth pony guard on the floor. Both guards seemed to be attempting to scramble for their weapons while also fighting off the wild pegasus. Daybreak grabbed up all three in his aura and motioned to the guards

"Hi guys"

He quickly swatted his hands together, slamming both of their heads into each other, the clang of their helmets echoed none to subtly, across the room. He dropped the guards and released Rainbow Dash. After helping up Rainbow they turned to Pinkie, who looked very upset at the current situation, her eyes even looked a little watery.

"Why would you do that Dashie...Daybreak...those guards weren't bad, they were just doing their job?"

Rainbow cringed slightly, but Daybreak stepped in front of her, almost meaning to shield her from Pinkie's watery eyes

"This isn't her fault Pinkie Pie, I asked her to help me, she only doing it out of loyalty to me...don't blame her"

"NO!"

Daybreak quickly turned as Rainbow yelled and pushed past him, confronting Pinkie

"I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do, this is the only way to save Twilight...Pinkie Pie you have to understand..."

"I do understand..."

Daybreaks look became a skeptical one and Rainbow looked surprised, but Pinkie continued anyways

"I do understand...perfectly...and I don't blame you for walking your own path...but we all decided to find another way...Princess Celestia told us in detail what happened in Princess Cadences room, we know what you want to do...but we can't let you do that."

Daybreak and Rainbow both opened their mouths to argue, but Pinkie raised her hoof to silence them

"We all care about Twilight as much as you do Daybreak, we've been her friends for a long time, before we even knew you. And I understand better than anypony else the need you feel for her, to want to do anything to see that smile on her lips again, I know you love her more than anything else in this world, I truly do. But this isn't the way, that book isn't safe to use, you can't lose yourself again just to save her...there is always another way, and we'll find it much quicker as friends...together"

Pinkie extended her hoof to Daybreak. Rainbow stared from Pinkie to Daybreak, unsure of what he would do. Pinkie's smile had returned to her face as she wiggled her hoof slightly, tempting Daybreak.

Daybreak's face was unreadable for several moments...until a small smile began to form on his lips. Pinkie's smile grew even wider as Daybreak reached out slowly and gasped her hoof. He looked his pink friend dead in the eyes and smiled at her

"Thank you Pinkie Pie..."

Without so much as a flinch he quickly pulled her forward by the hoof and swung his other hand, connecting it firmly with the side of her neck in a knife strike. The pink mares eyes seemed to roll in her head and she uttered a low squeak as he connected with her.

"For understanding me..."

So Much For Stealth...

Pinkie Pie's eyes rolled up into her head as she collapsed forward into Daybreaks outstretched arms, he leaned over, setting her up against the wall. He turned around to move forward, only for his eyes to meet a very angry Rainbow Dash

"You said you wouldn't hurt her!"

She pointed her hoof at him accusingly. Daybreak instantly tried to calm the fuming pegasus

"I didn't hurt her Dash, she's fine...she may just have a minor neck cramp when she wakes up..."

This did not seem to satisfy Rainbow, Daybreak could practically see the fire in her eyes as she glared at him

"We can't go around hurting our friends Daybreak...What would Twilight say if she saw you do that?!"

His eye twitched slightly, that was a low blow using Twilight against him like that, and Rainbow knew it. Daybreak turned his back to the cyan pegasus

"I told you from the beginning, I'll do whatever it takes to save Twilight...if that means I gotta knock somepony out, I'm not gonna hesitate. I don't have the luxury or the time to be second guessing myself or my choices right now...I've made my choice to get this done my way Rainbow Dash, I said I wouldn't force you to go along with this...so if this is bothering you, than you can walk away!"

Rainbows ears drooped to the side of her face as she lowered her head in sadness. Unfortunately she really couldn't see another way to solve this...the Princesses had no idea what to do, which meant Daybreak's plan was the only way to save Twilight...even if she didn't approve of his willingness to knock out their friends...she respected his determination to see this through. Plus Pinkie had made it clear there would be no convincing the others to remove themselves from the situation.

Rainbow sighed in defeat

"I'm not leaving you Daybreak...I hate to admit it but you're right...but try to be a little more reserved with restraining our friends if we meet anymore ok?"

Daybreak's eyes darted to the sleeping Pinkie Pie, he wanted to comment that he hadn't caused her any real pain, just a brief shock...but instead he held his tongue and nodded, he knew what Dash really meant.

"Fine Dashie...I'll tone it down a bit"

Rainbow nuzzled against his fur for a moment

"Thank you Daybreak...let's get going."

Rainbow darted ahead with Daybreak following right behind. They made their way down and past several more flights of stairs before finally coming to, what seemed like, an exit door. They exited through the door and found themselves staring into a large room filled with stained glass windows. They were all gleaming with light, sparkling in the rays of Celestia's sun, but that was not what caught Daybreaks attention. What drew his gaze was the fact that this room was previously unknown to him, as in he did not recognize it. This was much to large to be the hall leading to Celestia's throne in which all the magical glass depicting him and his friends were in. This room, was filled with nothing but these magical glass windows and the room itself seemed endless, Daybreak could barely spot a door at the far end. Other than a few wall crevices here and there and some window curtains the room was nothing more than one long, large hallway filled with glass windows.

Rainbow noticed Daybreaks concerned expression and laughed, starting forward

"What's the big deal dude, it's just a hallway full of windows"

Daybreak held out his arm, blocking her way and narrowed his eyes

"That's what's bothering me...I've never seen this room before, and I spent alot of time here as a colt growing up...I'm finding it hard to believe that we just happened to pick a passage way, out of all the passages in this palace, that I haven't seen before..."

Rainbow rolled her eyes

"Geez and I thought Aecious was paranoid...well fine...assuming you're right, what do we do now?"

Daybreak ignited his hands in a fiery blue mist

"This!"

He waved his hands forward and Rainbow watched as the mist moved forward, beginning to spread throughout the room. As it spread to the ceiling and corners, it began to dissipate until it completely vanished from view. Daybreak frowned and Rainbow raised her eyebrows in confusion

"And that diiiiiid....what exactly?"

Still slightly frowning Daybreak gave the Rainbow mare and quick glance, then returned it to the room

"Well...that was a spell Twilight taught me once...but...I guess it didn't work"

"Why? What's it do?"

"It's supposed to detect any magical presence in the immediate area...but I'm not getting any feedback...except from the magical windows..."

Rainbow did not seem to share in his worry and only seemed to gather this as good news

"That's great, so let's go then"

She flew into the hallway without another word...Daybreak meant to yell after her, but merely sighed and followed behind. Quickly zooming ahead of him, Rainbow hit the breaks as she flew past one particular window. She hovered in front of the picture in depicted, unable to believe her eyes.

Daybreak had stopped running to catch his breathe, knowing Rainbow she wasn't going to wait unless he teleported after her, so he figured he might as well conserve his energy. That is...until an sound piercing shriek met his ears! He looked up and saw Rainbow backing away from a window a bit ways down the hall as though she was terrified of it. Daybreak cursed under his breath, the whole damn city probably heard that yell...He quickly teleported to her aid.

Rainbow was still cowering from the window when Daybreak appeared next to her

"Rainbow Dash what's wrong?"

He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, she was shaking like a leaf. He wondered what could cause his friend such distress and turned towards the window. Rainbow noticed his gaze moving and jumped up to stop him

"NO! Don't look!"

She tried to turn him around but his gaze met the glass before she could. For a moment nothing happened...then Daybreak watched as the glass pieces began to swirl inside the window, creating a hypnotizing array of colors. The pieces swirled around in several circular motions before coming to rest in a shape. Daybreak stared and began to see the figures the glass had created, in the window he saw a picture of Rainbow Dash, holding, what appeared to be, a small batch of white cloth in her hooves, as the picture moved, Rainbow removed the top of the cloth to reveal a foal underneath. In that same moment another pony appeared beside Rainbow Dash putting his/her hooves around Rainbow's neck and kissed it gently, the picture then froze in place. Daybreak stared hard, but no matter how he tried he could not make out any features of the foal, or the pony behind her, he could not even tell their gender, they remained a blur in the picture, although he could swear he could make out the outline of an unmistakable hat on the pony behind Rainbow. What confused him more though, was how this had terrified Rainbow.

He turned and saw her shake her head and point back at the window

"Just wait" was all she said before going silent again

Daybreak was still confused, but turned back to the window anyways. He stared and again the window began to change, with it's same hypnotic swirl of colors and shapes the window began to shape a completely different scene. He once again saw Rainbow Dash, but this time she was alone, standing in some kind of grassy field. In front of her were several gravestones spread out over a hilltop. Rainbow approached each one and began to set flowers (which had mysteriously appeared in her mouth) on them as she passed them by. Daybreak counted four gravestones in total but could not make out the names on them as she passed, until she reached the final one. She paused in front of the marker and set a whole bundle down instead of just one. Daybreak stared hard at the writing engraved on the marker

DAYBREAK

PRINCE OF EQUESTRIA

SON OF DISCORD

HE FOUGHT TO THE END FOR WHAT HE BELEIVED IN, HE WAS A TRUE FRIEND TO THOSE WHO UNDERSTOOD HIM

Daybreak wanted to look away from the sight, but his eyes seemed glued to the picture as it changed again, but this time only one feature changed, and that was the name on the gravestone...this time it read

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA

SISTER TO PRINCE SHINING ARMOR

THE MAGIC OF FREINDSHIP NEVER BURNED BRIGHTER IN ANYPONY

The picture froze in place and did not change anymore. When Daybreak finally tore his sight from the window, his eyes turned and met Rainbows. He could see her eyes had tears brimming the corners, just barely held back by her will, he knew his next words would probably only make it worse, but he knew he had to say it

"I think this window is showing your possible futures Rainbow..."

Against his expectations, Rainbows tears still did not fall, instead she put on a determined look and stared him in the eyes

"Let's get out of here Daybreak...I don't think we should let this place distract us"

Once again she hovered in the air and took off ahead of him, he immediately made after her, but as he passed each window he began to understand why this place was so big and had nothing but windows (and the occasional curtain covering a window) covering the walls. They probably all showed the possible futures of ponies and creatures Celestia deemed important enough to watch. Now that he thought about it, this was probably how Celestia knew Twilight was destined to become an Alicorn princess. He was tempted to stop and find his own, if it was here, but he let that thought instantly fade as he reminded himself why he was here in the first place.

When they finally reached the end of the seemingly endless hallway, both Daybreak and Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. Both had been expecting some kind of trap, despite their previous talk, by the time they were done with the room. As they exited through the door with haste, they were relieved to see a pathway they both recognized that would lead them straight to the library. Both had their own memories of sneaking along this route before hand and were just happy no guards were in sight. They began a slow trot, making sure to check their corners along the way. Although he knew that this was a rarely patrolled route, Daybreak found the lack of guards in this area to be very suspicious. They rounded several more turns and even passed a guard post which he knew should have been patrolled before he finally stopped them and took another route. Rainbow nearly flew by him as he turned, once she caught up she immediately began her questions

"Dude what gives? The library is just a few rooms away."

"Something is wrong Rainbow, we passed spots that should have been patrolled even on a normal day, we're gonna take this little side trip just in case"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes "You are more paranoid than Aecious, well I hope you know you're heading towards the kitchen..."

Daybreak rounded the next bend and stopped outside the kitchen door

"Don't worry Rainbow, I know. The kitchen is two hallways away from the library. I should know, I used to run and grab Twilight food from the here all the time when we were young"

Rainbow flew up next to him as they neared the kitchen doors

"You brought her stuff to eat? What were you...like her servant or something?"

Daybreak chuckled

"More or less, but it wasn't to eat usually...she practiced her magic on anything she could, and to avoid being a live subject I brought her oranges and stuff to test on instead...although that didn't always stop her"

He smiled in spite of himself, Rainbow took note of his happy look and was filled with more determination than before. Putting her own worries of her future aside she pointed towards the kitchen

"You know there's bound to be somepony in there, right?"

"Probably, I'm sure we can deal with it though"

He pushed open the door to the kitchen, he had not even stepped fully inside before letting out a barely concealed gasp of terror. Rainbow followed suite as she too walked in and followed his gaze. All over the floor were the bodies of royal guards, at least half of the patrol that should have been in this area were here, and if that wasn't enough, Daybreak also saw Rarity and Fluttershy among them. Although Fluttershy seemed to be better off than the others, she was standing perfectly still, with a pinkish aura surrounding her face. Her eyes glistened, she was clearly unconscious, Daybreak walked up to her first and touched her neck, she felt fine, her heart rate was normal. Daybreak turned to Rainbow, who was clearly worried for her friends

"She's ok Rainbow, this just looks like a simple stunning spell, she's probably in some kind of peaceful dream. It's best if we leave her like this for now, it should wear off on its own later"

Rainbow looked visibly relieved to hear that Fluttershy was alright. Daybreak wasted no time and quickly examined Rarity. He placed his fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse. For a moment he was quiet, the he felt the reassuring "thump thump" of her pulse in his fingers. He mimicked this motion for a few of the guards before turning back to Rainbow with a relieved smile

"They're all alive Rainbow, they've just been knocked out...and although some care was taken not to cause harm to Fluttershy and Rarity, it looks like our friend didn't bother with much restraint on the guards. It looks like they'll all be fine, but some of them may have a concussion or minor dislocation of joints...I'd bet my bits that Aecious and Trixie already came through here...."

Although Rainbow was annoyed by the apparent lack of restraint on the guards, she was relieved her friends were unharmed and felt better about simply moving on after hearing that. Daybreak got up and moved through the piles of unconscious guards towards the door with Rainbow right behind him. Once they exited the room Daybreak counted off his friends on his fingers

"Let's see...that's Pinkie Pie...Rarity and Fluttershy...the only one we haven't seen yet is Applejack...I'm assuming she'll be with a guard patrol just like the others."

Rainbow snickered aloud

"I'd like to see Aecious try and take on AJ"

The hint of satisfaction in her voice was too obvious for Daybreak to let be

"You really don't like him do you Dashie?"

They continued forward with Rainbow slightly ahead of Daybreak, not looking at him

"No...I don't trust him either, I'd trust Trixie more than him, he's dodgy, and all these skills he mysteriously has...you aren't curious where a random street pegasus learns to fight well enough to take down all those guards back there?"

She motioned towards the direction they had come, Daybreak shrugged as they slowed to a trot

"Sure I'm curious Dash, but it's not really my business where he learned his skills..."

The glare he received just prior to finishing told him she didn't buy it in the slightest, he sighed

"OK fine, yeah I don't really find him all that trustworthy, but he's the only pony with the skills we need for now...it wouldn't exactly behoove me to question him while we need his help. If it really matters to you that much, I'll learn what I can about him before I grant him my end of this deal...that is what's bothering you isn't it?"

"That obvious?"

"No, just a lucky guess combined with common sense...after all, treason or not, it's still my job to protect Equestria from all threats, if I really ever thought he was a threat I'd do what was needed, don't worry Rainbow."

He smiled at her and received the same look back, they managed to remain in calm sort of happy until they entered the final hallway before the library entrance ahead. As they entered through the double doors, they came upon the hall that lead to Celestia's throne room ahead, and in the center of the room, off to the right, was the door that led to the library. Daybreak wasn't surprised to see a small guard force and Applejack in the way of the door. At this point it was fairly obvious that Celestia knew they were here.

"She must be running out of guards if this was all she could commit here" Daybreak thought to himself. He turned to Rainbow, they nodded to each other and began to cross the room. Applejack, along with the guards flanking her (Daybreak counted five in total) began to move away from the door to meet them halfway. Unlike the guards they had seen until this point, these guards appeared to actually be armed with spears, and the unicorns with swords. Daybreak knew this could actually get bloody if one of them managed to draw their weapon. He doubted Celestia would have ordered them to kill, especially Rainbow Dash, but the mere presence of the blades and spears made him weary.

He leaned over and whispered in Rainbows ear

"I can take them all out with one spell Dash, this will only take a moment"

Surprisingly Dash shook her head and answered loudly

"NO! We don't need to do that this time, let's see what they wanna talk about first..."

She quickly lowered her voice to a low whisper only Daybreak could hear

"AJ is mine when this goes south, got it?"

Daybreak could see this was defiantly a fight that mattered to Rainbow, although he didn't understand why, he agreed anyways. As they reached the midway point to the door, AJ and her guards reached them as well, stopping twenty feet from where they were, more than enough room to prepare in case they charged. To Daybreak's great surprise, AJ was smiling at him

"Can't be lettin ya pass along through here partner~"

Daybreak had figured she'd try and talk him down first

"Sorry AJ, but you won't be stopping me today, just make this easier on everypony and get out of our way.."

"Wasn't talkin to you partner, I was referin to Rainbow Dash~"

Daybreaks eyebrows shot up in surprise, he glanced to Rainbow, she seemed generally confused as well. They both waited for AJ to continue

"Ah ain't foalish enough ta think ah can stop ya maself Daybreak. Even with these guards here, Ah know we can't take on no son of Discord. No Ah'm here to keep Rainbow Dash from going beyond this point, after this point she really would be committing treason against Princess Celestia, and my orders from the Princess are ta keep that from happening~"

Daybreak was unsure why the Princess would only want to stop Rainbow Dash

"What's so special about this specific spot Applejack"

"After this room, the Wonderbolts are right outside the library along with Celestia's best guards, and the Princess herself is inside the library waiting for ya in case ya get through that too~"

That was going to be annoying, with the Princess nearby, Aecious had likely vanished already, so counting on his help wasn't an option, that meant he'd have to fight the Wonderbolts and the guards...and then Celestia herself. He thought about it for a moment...it wasn't an unwinnable situation, in fact he still saw himself being able to achieve his goal...But he would certainly be exhausted afterwards and would be in no shape to fight Sombra...

"Daybreak"

He looked up from his thoughts and saw Applejack still smiling at him

"The Princess put a protection spell on the castle, nopony can teleport in or out according to her...Even if ya can get through the Princess and get the book, ya have to come back out this way, and by then Princess Luna will have all the guards back here and ready...Ya can't win this one, ya can't fight the entire guard and the Princesses, ya gotta know that...just stop now and let us work together to find another way ta save Twilight. The longer we spend fighting each other, the less time we have to try and save her.~"

Despite her having a valid point about fighting the entire guard and the princesses...he had already made up his mind in case of this before hand. He looked at Rainbow Dash again, she flashed him a grin

"Go for it" that's what that meant.

"Thank you for all your help Rainbow Dash"

Rainbow turned away from AJ for a moment

"Hey, I'd do it again anytime for you dude and you'd do the same for me, it's what friends do"

The cyan mare always found a way to make him smile even in times like this, he shared her smile and motioned back the way they came, dropping his voice to a whisper

"When you're done, I think Daring Do has something to talk to you about"

Despite the surprise on her face, Rainbow nodded and flared out her wings, taking a charge stance at AJ. Daybreak yelled over to his friend

"Get ready AJ, here we come!"

AJ sighed but still kept her smile

"Ah figured it would come ta this~"

Rainbow Dash took off at a full speed flight at AJ, Daybreak wasn't surprised to see AJ had expected this, and saw her subtly motion to the guards flanking her, both of whom were unicorns. They ignited their horns, Daybreak suspected they were going to trap her with some kind of spell. However he had a plan for that...right as Rainbow was a few feet from AJ, Daybreak vanished into smoke. Appearing directly in front of Applejack, she yelped in surprise along with her guards, caught off guard, Daybreak ducked quickly and Rainbow flew over him, missing his head by a few inches and tackled AJ out of her ring of guards. The two mares toppled and rolled over each other as they wrestled for dominance over the other several feet away.

With his momentary advantage, Daybreak took the liberty to grab both unicorns by the throat, and sweep their feet out from under them. As they fell he pulled upwards on their throats, momentarily giving them the sensation of being hung. The two panicked and their horns went out, unable to channel magic due to their lack of focus. They struggled in his grasp, with his height advantage over the ponies, he was able to hold them there, while they struggled to breathe, with little to no effort. the other guards quickly drew their spears, but lasted about as long as the unicorns. Daybreak spun on the spot and threw the two unicorns into the other two guards, sending them all clattering across the floor. With only one guard remaining, Daybreak snapped his fingers, for a moment the guard seemed to think he had been spared. Then out of the ground, a black vine that was all too familiar to many of the ponies, sprouted out of the ground and tangled itself around the guard, effectively immobilizing him. Daybreak glanced over to where Rainbow and AJ were wrestling, he nodded to Rainbow as they thrashed about and saw her steal a nod to him as well, without a word he continued on ahead through the doors.

Ahead someways Daybreak passed a staircase that led to Princess Luna's observatory, as he passed by he noticed the small clatter of hooves coming down the stairs. He turned to the door expecting a fight, but was pleasantly surprised to find Aecious leaning in the open doorway.

"How did you get up there?"

Daybreak knew this was the only way in or out of Luna's observe, unless he had climbed up the wall...or flown up, considering he was a pegasus after all. Aecious merely smirked at Daybreak, allowing his robe to sweep to the side, revealing a bleeding leg. Daybreak gasped and immediately went to aid his injured companion, Aecious stumbled forward and collapsed against Daybreak

"I lured Luna's guard to the top of the tower and trapped them up there, they won't be getting out any time soon?"

Daybreak helped Aecious to his hooves

"Let me heal your leg for you, it'll only take a sec...and by the way...how did you get this kind of wound from just four guards? Me and Rainbow saw what you did to Rarity and the other guards.."

"It was four of Luna's guards...have you ever tried fighting bat ponies close range before? They bite...those teeth aren't jut for show ya know..."

Daybreak had never even considered Luna might have guards here too, he was about ask Aecious if there could be anymore, but he merely held up a hoof

"She only ever keeps four with her at a time, and they are currently locked in her observatory and immobilized...trust me...now if you're gonna heal my leg, please do it now...my leg is going numb from their poison...

"They have poison?!...what's it do?"

"....Makes your limbs go numb..."

"...Oh"

Daybreak knelt down to eye level with Aecious, he moved his robe aside to reveal Aecious' bleeding leg. He assumed the poison must have been quick acting because the amount of damage done to his leg was much greater than anypony should be able to stand without going into shock...much less be able to walk off. It looked as though Luna's guards had tried to bit and pull several times on his leg, Daybreak could only imagine what Aecious had done to piss off the, normally docile, bat pony guards. He began to course his magical energy through Aecious' leg, lifting the droplets of poison from the wound. Without to much strain Daybreak removed the poison quickly enough, and with a simple snap of his finger, the muscle fibers and fur on Aecious' leg quickly healed and repaired themselves.

Once Daybreak had finished, Aecious examined his leg with interest

"Nicely done" was all he said before motioning to the last set of double doors ahead of them.

"Let's go"

Although he thought Aecious should rest his leg, he seemed fit enough to continue and they didn't have time to waste as it was anyway. The pair moved ahead through the next set of double doors, coming through the other side the library door was in plain and within his grasp...Daybreak let out a moan of frustration. Standing between them and the door, was the Wonderbolts, including Spitfire and Shining Star, along with several elite guards of varying ponies species. Daybreak spotted several unicorns armed with twin swords, and he was sure amongst all the spear-heavy Pegasi and earth ponies, he spotted some spiked flails. Even Aecious looked slightly startled at the amount of guards in their way.

"...I thought me and Trixie knocked out most of the guards in this place...how are their so many here"

Daybreak hadn't even thought of Trixie until now, not taking his eyes off the threat in front of them he whispered to Aecious

"Where is Trixie anyways? We could really use some more magic right now...?"

"I sent her outside before I went ahead, she's probably with Daring heading back to the bar right now, it's safer that way and she wont be charged with any crimes because we performed memory spells on anypony that spotted us, they'll only remember me..."

Daybreak nodded

"Thanks...now...how are we gonna get out of this one?"

"We could try talking to them...maybe appealing to their...oh who am I kidding...let's just kick their asses..."

Daybreak couldn't help but smirk slyly

"And here I thought you were actually turning sane for a moment...well give me minute with the Wonderbolts...I can maybe...at least get them to lower their guard that should make things a little easier."

Aecious barely twitched his head to nod, and began to follow Daybreak forward, chancing their luck and hoping to get as far into the room as possible. It seemed Spitfire had said something to the guards and her team, because only her, Shining and Soarin were proceeding to the center of the room. Daybreak hoped this would go better than his meeting with AJ, but it seemed to be starting the same way...

Both teams reached the center of the room simultaneously and halted five feet from each other. It wasn't until now that Daybreak noticed none of them were in their uniforms. He found this to be very peculiar if they were supposed to be standing guard. Aecious on the other hand did not seem to care, his eyes were fixed on Shining Stars chest, where a red hexagonal amulet dangled around his neck. It was clearly something of importance to Shining because when he noticed Aecious' stare, he held a hoof to the amulet as though to shield it from his eyes. Aecious did not simply let it go, unfortunately and started their talk off the wrong way

"Where did you get that?"

His hoof pointed directly at Shining's chest. The white pegasus countered Aecious' stare with his own, keeping his eyes fixed into Aecious' he seemed to be speaking only to him

"Twas a gift...that's all you need to know"

Aecious held out a hoof, Shining looked at him like he was crazy

"May I see it...?"

Shining glanced to Spitfire and Spitfire to Daybreak, Daybreak shrugged

"This isn't really why we are here Aecious..."

The pegasus seemed to snap out of his trance, shaking his head he glanced at Daybreak

"Daybreak...I'd like to change the conditions of my continued service to you..."

Shocked, Daybreak merely looked at him, fumbling for words

"Umm...Is this really the time?"

"Yes...if you can still keep guards from me after this that is great...but instead, if you cannot, I'd like your word you will not pursue me yourself...just in case"

Suspicion was written all over Daybreak's face, Shining, Spitfire and Soaring seemed more interested in listening at the moment them trying to restrain the two. Aecious saw Daybreaks expression and shook his head

"Assuming we all succeed, there is a chance the Princess will want me captured...I mean I did break into her castle without any magic and I obviously didn't ditch you like I planned even though the princesses are near by, that makes me a threat...it's only natural to want to protect my flank..."

Considering this for a moment, Daybreak did agree and he could see why Aecious would only worry about being pursued by him, he could restrain Aecious with powerful magic even his skills couldn't save him from. Daybreak smirked

"Fine, I Pinkie Promise"

He went through the motions with his hand, gaining a smile from Aecious, it disappeared quick as lightning as he seemed to suddenly realize he did something wrong

"I don't know what you just did, but the promise part is enough or me...now then back to business"

They both turned to Spitfire and the others, the captain raised her eyebrows to the pair

"Finally remembered we're here did ya?"

"Why aren't any of you in uniform"

He motioned to Spitfire, gaining looks from all three

"Does that really matter right now Daybreak?"

"Not really, but it was just a curiosity, I mean I've rarely seen any of you out of uniform, let lone all of you at once"

Glancing between themselves quickly, Spitfire seemed to decide to answer

"Well, you'd be surprised how much a simple lack of uniform can help keep ponies off your tail, especially when we are trying to catch some down time...ponies usually flock to us by spotting our colors, without them we can usually walk at least some streets without getting mobbed by fans...Plus we didn't actually come here today to fight you Daybreak. We came to get autographs from A.K Yearling, but the Princess saw us in the courtyard and asked for our help..."

"Oh...I guess that explains it"

"You know, you never struck me as the kind to betray Princess Celestia, Daybreak"

He shifted his gaze to Shining Star who had made the comment

"Excuse me?"

"What you're doing...it's treason, we've been briefed on the basics before we agreed to stop you...you have to stand down"

"And you'll do what if we don't?"

Aecious took a step forward, glaring at Shining. The latter stared back, clearly the two already despised each other...Daybreak had no idea what was going on with them

"If you both don't stand down, we'll have to stop you, and those guards back there will too"

This was when Spitfire chose to step forward and place a hoof on Shining's shoulder

"Hold it Shining, I never said we'd fight them...don't get hasty because of the other one, no pony needs to get hurt here"

A small smirk crossed Aecious' lips as he glanced from Shining to Spitfire, to the other Wonderbolts

"You know..."

He caught the pairs attention

"...I can see Spitfire and those elite guards being a problem, but the rest of you...I count maybe ten seconds before you're all on the ground and Daybreak is in that library...starting...now!"

Daybreak glanced to Aecious, unsure of what he meant, however Aecious dashed past him, yelling as he dove towards Shining

"GO NOW!"

"OH SHIT!"

Daybreak yelled as he understood.

Aecious tackled Shining to the ground, causing the remainder of the Wonderbolts, and the guards to come rushing. Holding Shining down, Aecious whispered in his ear

"One...two...three...four..."

Daybreak flashed past the Wonderbolts, easily moving through the startled crowd and teleporting into the mass of elite guards, stopping them from reaching Aecious. He swiped ones sword from his sheath and chucked at the ceiling.

"Five...six...seven...eight"

As it connected with the ceiling above Daybreak blasted it with a high intensity spell, causing the blade to explode with the enough force to create a small sonic boom, destroying the ceiling and causing massive rubble to fall! The explosion propelled the Wonderbolts and guards all over the room along with Shining and Aecious. Daybreak however, timed the force of the shockwave and used it to propel him straight past the ponies and through the library doors. Daybreak smashed against a book shelf with a painful yelp, but still managed to magically seal the doors behind him.

Aecious, though dazed, still managed to cough out, loud enough for Shining to hear

"Nine...ten...Ha...*cough*...see I told you...You're all on the ground...and Daybreak's in the library..." *cough cough*

Although the dust had not fully settled from the falling ceiling, Shining could still make out where Aecious was lying on his back, coughing and laughing. He got to his hooves, noticing a sharp pain in his back right leg, he looked back and realized he had twisted his hoof. It was sprained and painful, but he felt he could walk it off and still capture the pegasus ahead of him.

.....

Inside the library, Daybreak rolled over, and using the book shelf as support, managed to work himself to his feet. He could feel he had, at the very least, bruised his ribs, although it felt worse. He ignited his hand in magic and placed it on his chest, then let out a sigh of relief.

"At least they aren't cracked or broken" he thought to himself.

"I don't know enough about my own body to risk trying to fix any of this here, but at least I know it's just a really damn, painful bruise"

Armed with the knowledge he wasn't gonna bleed internally, Daybreak felt much better about continuing ahead on his own. He walked through a few shelves of books, searching for the Star Swirl The Bearded section. He knew it was in the back somewhere, but even as a colt he had always found it difficult to find in this endless room of books. After searching for a few moments he found the large sign indicating the book section he sought. He blasted the lock off the gate-like doors and proceeded inside.

He figured this was the moment Aecious had been referring to and knew their would never be a better time. Holding out his palm, he caused a small flash of white light, then the map Aecious had given him appeared in his hand. Opening it, he found where he was, and began to follow the direction of where the book was hidden. After rounding a few shelves, Daybreak came to a blank wall. He rolled his eyes, having enough experience with magical puzzles to figure what he had to do. Igniting his hand in aura he placed in upon the wall and waited. After brief moment, his aura went out and was absorbed into the seemingly blank wall. With a smile, Daybreak waited, and watched as a door began to form on the wall.

Reaching out, he grasped the handle and flung open the door, proceeding inside quickly and shutting it behind him. Light instantly flooded the, before dark, room and greeted Daybreak with a sight that made him groan. Ahead of him in the room, there was a pedestal that held the book he sought, and flanking the book on either side, was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"Oh buck!"

Enter...Solar Eclipse!

Gazing into the stern face of the sun or moon princess would probably cause anypony in their right mind to cower in fear or beg for forgiveness. Their stern stares showed the seriousness of Daybreaks current predicament, there was nothing but disappointment in their eyes and a mingled fire that he could see hidden behind their stare. Daybreak however was not fazed, he glared at his mother and aunt with contempt and rage. To think that the mare who had given him life would act against him in this way infuriated him more and more by each passing second! He could almost feel the pits of lava burning in his belly, telling him to swipe them both aside and go. But something inside himself kept him standing there, in the doorway, as though he wanted to hear what they had to say first. After all, he had listened to everyone else, might as well continue the streak.

Celestia attempted to soften her stare, if only enough to make holding a conversation easier. Clearly she meant to speak first.

"Daybreak..."

Se began with an unmistakable sadness in her voice, although the sound did not sway his thoughts, it at least made him more willing to listen

"...Daybreak...You've spent nearly all of this day, running amuck through our halls...your halls, that you swore...that we all swore, to protect as the royals of Equestria...you've incapacitated several of the guards here including your friends. And now you intend to steal this book.."

She motioned to the pedestal holding the old looking book

"...Full of evil and ancient magic to hunt down and kill the former ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra...correct?"

Daybreak almost stared at her, was that some sort of a question...it felt more like she was stating what she already knew. He felt his rage boil again

"Yeah...that about sums it up! Why? Planning on using this moment in my trial after I'm done?!"

Although he was almost yelling now, Celestia's voice remained calm and controlled

"No...I merely wanted to state what you've done to this point so you can hear it for yourself...This isn't something I can just overlook, nor can I allow you to take this piece of forbidden power...if you do this now...there is no returning to this city for you...ever"

Daybreak could see that this was no empty threat...Celestia meant it. But he had come to far to care at this point. He felt his claws extending as he balled his fists, slightly cutting into his own skin.

"You done?"

The venom behind his words seemed to elicit the reaction he wanted, Celestia lowered her head and nodded. Princess Luna however, stepped forward, she actually placed herself between him and the book before speaking to him. Unlike Celestia she looked him directly in the eyes, allowing him to see her true feelings behind them. He could see small tears forming on the sides, but they were well concealed.

"Daybreak, I understand...perhaps even better than any of your friends or anypony else ever will...the pain and sorrow...the anger...the burning hatred that swims inside you right now. I understand the desire to want to cause nothing less than the absolute annihilation of the one who did this to you right now...And I understand your willingness to go through any and all hardships to see your vengeance and your goal...fulfilled..."

"I know you do Aunty Luna..."

Daybreak didn't know what had caused him to say those words, perhaps it was because he had existed as part of Celestia during the time of Nightmare Moons first arrival, or perhaps it was because he knew she really did understand, either way he saw the smallest of smiles form on her lips as he uttered those words. However it seemed she still wasn't finished

"...Nevertheless, despite my feelings I know one thing for certain. If you use that book, it will corrupt and dominate your mind, your friends that you have always fought for and loved, will become your enemies. Saving Twilight may not even matter to you anymore...You will become evil and there is no doubt about it...And I cannot allow that to happen. So please understand, I stand against you now, not because I believe there is another way, not because I disagree with your vengeance...I stand against you now...to stop the evil inside you from destroying the things that I love!"

It happened so quickly Daybreak barely managed to throw himself out of harms way. Luna had ignited her horn and sent a devastating beam of midnight blue magic at Daybreak! He threw himself to the side and came up snarling, furious he had not seen that coming. Without hesitation he charged Luna, claws bared and swimming in green aura, he made it only five feet before Celestia sent her own wave of magic at him, forcing him again, to dive away. He quickly glanced to the right and dove behind a support column, his breathing heavy. He had expected a fight, but for some reason, he was still surprised that they had attacked him. Perhaps some part of him thought they would back down. Either way it did not matter, he needed that book!

From behind the beam Daybreak sent a shock wave of energy across the room, both princesses shielded themselves in magic, protecting them. Celestia however, failed to notice the wave ignite the wall behind them in white light. At the last moment Luna's eyes caught the light, she pushed her sisters head down as the wall behind them exploded, sending debris of stone rocketing around the room. The pair barely dodged the incoming debris, giving Daybreak ample time to dive for the book. He made a quick jump in its direction, but was thwarted by falling debris narrowly blocking his path. As he blasted the debris away he saw the book floating away, wrapped in Luna's aura. Daybreak reached out and grabbed the book with his aura, effectively causing a tug-of-war to start between the two. Daybreak wretched against Luna's magic trying to pull the book away, but she would not give in and puled right back. Celestia, having cleared away the rest of the debris, levitated a large piece of the ceiling and aimed at Daybreak. She fired the boulder, forcing him to dive away and lose control of the book. Daybreak was not about to be outdone however and came up with green flames licking at his palms.

Luna pulled the book close to her chest as her sister stepped in front of her. Daybreak was getting more and more aggravated by the moment. They were a good team, but he was Discords son, they should not be able to best him when they could not best his father without the elements. Holding out his palm, Daybreak caused the green flames in his palm to jump from his body and begin to swirl around him, each forming into their own green, flaming swirl of energy. Celestia narrowed her eyes and let loose a powerful ray of energy at Daybreak. He countered with one of the green orbs of fire, meeting it halfway and wrestling against her power. With four more still circling him, Luna could see he was still plenty a threat, she materialized a saddle bag on herself and placed the book inside, keeping her eyes locked on Daybreak while her sister still fought the green fire orb. Daybreak smirked and raised his finger, pointing at the moon princess.

Her eyes flared wide as three of the remaining four orbs circling Daybreak rocketed themselves at her. She blasted one away, but the other two were too fast for her. She dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the one aiming for her right wing, but could not avoid the second strike. The third orb struck her on the saddlebag, incinerating it instantly, but leaving the book unharmed. The book fell as Luna was knocked away from the force of the impact. Daybreak grabbed it with his aura and pulled it into his grasp. As he turned to leave, heard a loud cry of rage. He turned just in time to see his own green fire ball rocketing straight for his head. With no time to teleport away, Daybreak leaned straight back, barely dodging the ball as it singed his fur crossing over him, destroying the last orb. He came up to see Celestia already upon him. His eyes showed her his surprise as she let loose a beam of energy nearly point blank on his chest. Despite the singe it created in his coat, the only real pain came when he was knocked forcibly through the only undamaged wall left in the room.

As the rubble fell around him, Daybreak was finally fed up with these two and decided to just grab the book and go, rather than fight. He pulled himself out of the pile of cracked and broken wall pieces and walked back in the room. Celestia was helping Luna up, who had a small singe on her flank from where he had struck her with fire. Their horns ignited the moment they spotted him, but he kept his eyes fixed on one thing. The book, laying in rubble, dropped by him when Celestia had blasted him through the wall. He took a running start for the book and watched as both Princesses fired off beams against him. He dove and dodged under the incoming fire, but as he neared the book he saw Celestia move from Luna and take off for the book as well. Both were in a full on sprint, but with the aid of her wings, Celestia reached the book a spilt second before he did. Within that spilt second, Daybreak dropped to the floor and slid on his back under the princess, swiping the book from her magical grasp. He came up still in full sprint, heading straight for Luna. He never slowed even as he somersaulted over the moon Princess and reached the end of the room.

He was now in front of the door he had entered through, and staring at the princesses with a triumphant look on his face. He wiped dust off the cover of the book and began to open it. What happened next was all a white blur for him, he could hear both the princesses shouting his name, sounds of a titan-like explosion, then he was filled with most amazing white hot feelings in his chest he had ever experienced!

.....

Outside the library, an explosion ripped through the hallway of Shining Star and Aecious' battle. Shining was not sure how Aecious had managed to fight him off for this long, let alone throw off the debris he had been under beforehand. But he did not care, he had to capture this Pegasi! Another explosion ripped through the hall knocking Shining Star off balance, Aecious saw this and attacked, taking advantage of Shining's momentary clumsiness to full on head-butt tackle him to the ground. He dropped a hoof down on Shining's face, but was quickly thrown off him as the stallion rolled backwards and propelled him away. Aecious steadied himself in the air with a flap of his wings and quickly landed next to the pile of guards, who had been previously knocked out by the falling ceiling. He swiped up a fallen spear and chucked it straight at Shining! The Wonderbolt ducked off to the side and took a flying charged at Aecious, however this proved to be a mistake he immediately came to regret. As he neared his target, Aecious jumped up, straight over his head in a summersault motion, as he flipped over Shining, he reached down and grabbed him by the jaw, bringing him up and flipping over himself. Aecious then sent him flying across the room into some scattered wall debris.

Shining stood up dazed, having just had his bell rung as he was flipped around he did not see Aecious charge him until it was too late. The young Wonderbolt felt something hard and solid connect with his gut and propel him back into the rubble he had just escaped, head first. Shining felt the stars clear from his eyes, as he looked up from his new home in the ceiling debris and saw Aecious standing over him, rubbing his shoulder. Shining could only assume that's what had smacked him in the stomach as Aecious quietly mumbled

"Dang Wonderbolt bodies, you ponies always feel like you're made of iron..."

He turned to leave, but as he went to take a step, he felt his leg was heavier than before. He looked down and saw Shining Star clutching his back leg. The dazed pegasus managed a serious look on his face

"Can't let you...leave..."

Aecious rolled his eyes and made to kick Shining away, before a familiar, but very serious voice met his ears

"If you value your hide, I wouldn't do that!"

Aecious looked up from Shining, his eyes found Spitfire and Soarin, their uniforms slightly torn from the explosion and debris, but nevertheless they looked ready for a fight. Eyeing the two Wonderbolts, Aecious seemed to think better of kicking the downed stallion and merely pushed him off his hoof roughly. Shining seemed out of it, his eyes had gone temporarily wall-eyed, Spitfire glanced sadly at her coltfriend, she was happy he had held his own until this point, but trying to capture this pegasus clearly wasn't a good idea at present. She pointed at Aecious

"Look, we don't really have any quarrel with you or Daybreak, I was actually planning on letting you guys pass before this..."

She motioned around the room

"...happened...but it seems Shining Star and you got ahead of yourselves...So I'm gonna straight up say it this time...you are free to go as far as we are concerned."

Aecious smirked and turned to leave, but Spitfire's next words stung his insides like venom

"But...if you ever hurt Shining Star again, I will personally hunt you down and show you why my team fears me as much as they respect me..."

Although it was barely noticeable, and she was sure Soarin had missed it, Spitfire saw Aecious give a slight shake of fear as her words clung to him. She smirked as he left the room, glad her threat had the effect she wanted, then turned her attention to her own stallion. Soarin was flapping his wings over Shining Star in an attempt to wake him with a light breeze, while Shining mumbled many inaudible words through his daze. Spitfire thought he probably had a minor concussion, nothing too serious, but she still wanted the doctor to look at it later. She helped Soarin get Shining into a minor sitting position, before another, but noticeably larger explosion ripped through the hall! This one actually left a cloud of dust which took its sweet time settling. Through the dust cloud, Spitfire could see the outlines of a figure standing where the wall used to be, She figured Daybreak's fight with the princesses must have reached its climax...

.....

He had never felt like this before! The rush, the adrenaline, the sheer amount of limitless power he felt coursing through his veins! Even when he had been connected to the magic of the world through Discord he had not felt like this, it almost burned as the waves of power literally rolled off him! When the dust finally cleared, Daybreak stepped out from the rubble and approached Spitfire. The Wonderbolt captain stared at him in awe, he could only wonder what he looked like to her now. He couldn't help but let a sly smirk swim across his lips as he approached the stunned captain.

"What's wrong Spits, you look like you've just seen a ghost?"

Though Soarin made no attempt to hide his shock from Daybreak, Spitfire managed to close her jaw and form a sentence...

"You...you look...is that even you anymore Daybreak?"

He glanced down at his hand and up his own arm, judging from just what he saw here, he could understand her shock. His fur looked more like a bright white now than brown, he almost looked blonde. Along with that, there were yellow flames licking at his palms as they rolled down his arm from an unknown source. The flames were a yellow that could only be compared to the sun, as they rolled down his arms and settled in his palms, they would drift down to the floor. Spitfire expected to see scorched marks where they touched, but no damage to the floor appeared. His mane and tail had also gone through brief changes as well, instead of laying down over his face as his mane did normally, it now stood slightly straighter and seemed of a darker shade of green than before, along with his tail, whose fur seemed a tad spikier than before. All in all Daybreak liked his new look and could definitely get used to the sheer bliss it gave him. He had never felt so free before, he always had known that he had few limitations as a chaos prince, but only now did he truly feel like he was limitless in his potential.

Glancing back at the Wonderbolt, Daybreak thought about her question to him. He definitely felt like new, maybe a new name would fit him best like this...

He smiled at Spitfire, and she shivered, which she didn't understand. His new form was the epitome of radiating power and felt amazing just to stand near it, it seemed like a unending glow of beauty surrounded him now...then why did his smile make her so nervous, and if that wasn't enough, his voice felt like icicles in her body. For all the heat his flames created, she felt cold as he spoke.

"I guess...I am different now, aren't I Spits...Daybreak seems to old fashioned for this form....you can call me...Solar Eclipse"

"How fitting..."

She didn't know what had made her say that, it was just the first thought that jumped into her mind...She glanced at Soarin, who seemed to be having the same worries as her. They nodded to each other before Day...Solar's voice cut through their thoughts

"Where is Aecious?"

Spitfire was first to answer, eager to allow Solar to leave so she could tend to Shining Star

"He left...walked out he same way you came in before..."

Spitfire saw his eyes narrow, only now noticing the green that they once held had been replaced with a fiery crimson, and they looked more like the slits of a snake than his eyes. Solar glanced down at Soarin, noticing him holding his injured teammate

"What happened to Shining Star?"

"Aecious and him fought once you left...and well...it ended with Shining smashing head first into a pile of rocks and rubble...he may have a minor concussion"

She hadn't even the time to blink before Solar had appeared in front of them, it happened so fast she hadn't even had the time to yelp in surprise. Solar walked past her and knelt down next to Shining Star, Soarin looked a bit apprehensive about letting him near him, even as he reached out his hand and placed it on Shining's forehead. Luckily they didn't have the time to protest, mere seconds after he placed his hand on Shining's head, there was a small yellow glow and Shining's eyes shot open again. He still looked slightly confused but at least he was conscious again.

With that done, Solar removed his hand and headed for the exit. Spitfire never moved to stop him...but it was only once he had left that something very odd occurred to her...where were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?

Not For Peace...Not For Harmony...

Princess Celestia lay under a pile of rubble, barely retaining her consciousness from the several blasts that had attempted to escape the room. He felt her body pined to the floor by the large mass of ceiling rock that now lay over her. Her head rang with sounds of the blast...she was to dazed to summon any magic to remove herself, so she just lay there under the rubble. She wondered to herself...how the sweet, young innocent stallion that had once served Twilight's every need could have become what he was now...A fugitive of Equestrian law...Tartarus bent on the destruction of another...overcome with godly amounts power. She wondered where she might have gone wrong. Her time back then had mostly been with Twilight, and although Daybreak had nearly always been present to hear her talk of the importance of friendship, the two had never shared many private talks with each other. She felt somewhat guilty herself...she had treated Twilight like her child and had basically ignored the closest thing she had to one...then through her own selfish desires had lost him for several years after...In a sense she had made him this way. Her nieces words rang in her ears

"Someponys will do anything for love...the power of Love can be stronger than any morale value...any magic out there...and it can drive ponies to do insane things"

Cadence had said those words to her once long ago...before she was even a princess...yet it was only after all this time Celestia finally felt she understood what she had meant by that. Daybreak had truly lived up to Cadences words, doing the insane, the unthinkable, all in the name of the one he loved. Celestia couldn't help but feel that perhaps it was for the better that she never fell in love. That was a magic that belonged in Cadences domain, and Celestia could not allow herself to be distracted by it. It was an odd sort of irony that she didn't understand how contradicting her thoughts were. But she would understand at a later date...for now she lay there under the rubble, allowing Daybreak to escape unopposed and continue on his quest. She could hear the sound os distant hooves growing louder as her eyes began to feel heavy on her face...

.....

The double entrance doors of Canterlot castle shook on their hinges, causing both Rainbow Dash and Daring Do to consider changing locations to wait for Daybreak. Rainbow could only wonder what had been causing these constant explosions...but she had a pretty good idea...

Moments later another rumble could be heard, but much closer this time, Rainbow saw as the wall nearest the garden fell and crumpled to dust on the well kept grass. Rainbow and Daring watched as Daybreak (or at least, what they assumed was Daybreak) stepped out on the grass. The moment his feet touched the dirt, the grass and plant life around him began to grow rapidly, within seconds, the whole patch was blooming with flowers. It happened everywhere he stepped if he lingered for more than a few seconds, Rainbow would have found the scene quite comedic if Daybreak's face were not so serious. He approached them with smile that reminded Rainbow too much of Twilight...the day she had been freaking over not sending the princess a letter that week.

"Daybreak...? That you?"

He grinned, showing his recently sharpened canines

"I suppose in a sense...yes we are Daybreak...but we prefer Solar Eclipse if you don't mind Dashie..."

He turned to Daring Do, ignoring the obvious surprise on Rainbow's face.

"Sup Daring?"

She reached over and took Rainbows hoof in her own, causing a small blush to form on Rainbow's cheeks

"I asked her out...she said yes...thanks for the advice when I asked you..."

His sharp-toothed grin remained every creepy

"Anytime...come on...we're going"

Now it was Daring's turn to look surprised

"What? Already? Shouldn't we wait for Aecious...Or Trixie even?"

Solar had already turned to leave, beginning his walk out of Canterlot. He motioned for Rainbow and Daring to follow wordlessly. They exchanged worried glances but followed anyways. They reached the edge of Canterlot in little time, having had no distractions along the way for once. They came to a halt outside the train station, Solar looked around for a moment, then motioned the two mares over to him.

"Grab my hands"

He instructed them without explanation. Although Daring knew enough about Daybreak to know he would never harm her, she still felt a sense of uneasiness at his sudden change in personality. Solar noticed her hesitation and flashed her a toothy smile

"Don't worry Daring...I won't bite...much...hehehe"

Somehow that actually made her feel better, bad joke or just a bit of humor, she just didn't want him to be so serious...even if he was about to murder somepony. She herself, had fought off several bandits and armies over the years, and had still managed to crack jokes...if only at her enemies. Daring looked over and saw Rainbow had already grasped his hand in her hoof...not wanting to leave her mare by herself, Daring followed suit.

At the moment she touched him the world seemed to become a vacuum of darkness. She felt as though she was being pulled through a small pipe as the air was squeezed from her lungs. She desperately wanted to take a breath and feared she would pass out from the panic! But as quickly as it began, it had finished. Daring opened her eyes, and as they refocused she saw they were standing in the Crystal Empire.

Solar had already started moving ahead before the two mares came out of their stupor

"Hey! Wait for us!"

Daring grabbed Dashies hoof and pulled her along after Solar.

The two mares sprinted after Solar, attempting to catch up with him as he weaved through the crystalline buildings. Daring leaned over to Rainbow Dash as ran

"What are we doing here? I thought he was going after Sombra next...?"

"We are, but he needs the Crystal Heart to lure Sombra to him...I think he knows that trying to track Sombra across all of Equestria and possibly beyond would be pointless...plus Sombra would likely flee...after what happened the last time they fought, I doubt anything other than the Crystal Heart could make him come to Daybreak..."

"Sombra must want this place very badly if he'd go to such lengths just to recapture it again"

Daring kept her thoughts to herself, but secretly wondered just what about this empire could make a pony like Sombra so obsessed...she doubted it was just the simple scenery...

They spotted Solar ahead heading for the palace, Daring pulled Dash to a halt, keeping them both hidden from sight behind a building. Rainbow stared on as Solar continued ahead

"Is he just planning on walking in and taking it?"

"Looks like it"

Solar strode up to the two guards standing just outside of the entrance to the castle, and the Crystal heart. Both immediately raised their spears

"Halt! Who are you?"

He stopped in front of the guards, they began to approach him as though conducting an inspection. Even from their hiding spot, Rainbow could see a sneer flash across Solar's face, Rainbow nearly screamed as she watched what happened.

The moment either guard was within arms length, the flames on Solar's arms sprang to life and engulfed the guards in blinding light. They died away almost instantly, but as the flames receded, the two guards were left crumpled on the ground. Although Daring and Rainbow could see the guards were alive and mostly unharmed, they were clearly unconscious, with their armor singed slightly.

Not missing a beat, the moment his flames were back on his body, Solar strode forward into the open hall that held the Crystal Heart. Only now did he see the irony of the Crystal Hearts defenses...no pony that was evil or corrupt at heart could get inside the barrier to remove the Empires defenses. Ironically Solar was now standing right in front of it, intending to do the exact same thing, but for another reason.

"I guess now we find out...am I evil or corrupted now?"

The thought passed through his mind as he reached out for the Heart. He felt a slight hesitation within himself as his fingers neared the crystals edge. He braced for whatever may happen, and firmly grasped his fingers around the rough edges of the heart!

For a moment nothing happened, he began to feel foalish as he stood there just griping the heart. He began to give a pull and attempted to pull if from its hold. With a decent tug, the Heart came free of its bonding's...then the whole world went dark...in a flash of white!

.....

Daybreak blinked his eyes several times...attempting to clear the spots from his vision. He felt considerably different, he looked down and once again he had changed, he looked like his normal self again. the flames surrounding his arms and body were gone and his coat was back to its healthy caramel. Looking around he began to realize he was no longer standing in the Crystal Empire...in fact...he wasn't standing anywhere as far as he could tell. His entire surroundings was nothing but a white landscape, clear and colorless. the only presence was him...and him?

He looked and saw another form of him, standing only a few feet away. Only this one was clearly Solar Eclipse...Daybreak felt a joke worthy of Pinkie Pie spring to his mind as he stood next to his other form.

"Oh dear...I'm quite beside myself...wow...that sounded much better in my head..."

"Now that's funny considering where we are."

Daybreak gave a very unmanly yelp as he jumped back in fear. He had not expected his other form to speak, much less move around as it was now, giving a glance at him Solar smiled.

"You don't look to happy to see me...or perhaps you're just in shock, that would be the less surprising of the two...after al why wouldn't you be happy to see me...you created me after all"

Solar's smile gave Daybreak the creeps

"Is that really what I look like when I smile in that form? No wonder everypony gave me distance...I'm downright creepy"

"Well now that's hardly a fair thing to say isn't it?"

Once again Daybreak jumped, he had only thought those words, they had never left his lips...so how had Solar know what he was thinking...unless...

"Where are we?"

He knew the answer before asking, but he had to hear the confirmation

"You already know...at least you think you do...so that makes it true in this place...Still confused?...Fine I'll humor you...We are in a pocket of your mind...my new home, which you created for me more or less on purpose. This is where I reside in your mind for now..."

Looking around, this place seemed like a rather dull home, even if it was only created like 30 minutes ago...Daybreak glanced back to Solar Eclipse

"So if you're a completely different being...then why do I remember everything we just did up to grabbing the heart?"

"We shared this body with a duel consciousness, and shared an appearance...basically your personality and appearance fused wit mine smoothly to create the form you had...but that is no longer the case.."

"What do you mean?"

"When you grabbed the Crystal Heart, its power tried to throw you off, like it does to any corrupt being who touches it...but you aren't corrupt or evil in your heart...so you were able to wretch it free...but in doing so, it split us apart...me...and you, are now separate beings again"

Daybreak considered this...but felt like Solar had basically just told him an unspoken truth

"So if it separated us because you were there...doesn't that make you..."

"It doesn't matter...you created me using that book...and you created me to do a thing you weren't powerful enough to do on your own...a being created for murder...of course I'm not gonna be pure hearted you dunce..."

Daybreak felt a slight surge of guilt well up in him...or maybe that was Solar feeling sorry for himself...if they shared a body, why not feel each others emotions...

"You seem a bit upset...are you mad I created you?"

He received a glare from Solar, as though the answer should have been obvious

"You should be able to understand how I'm feeling...after all we share a similar scenario...I didn't choose to be brought into creation through a means which made me Evil...I had no say in the matter...I was created because someone else wanted something done...You created me to be the power YOU need to kill the evil king...it's ironic actually...You were created in a similar fashion. Discord ripped you from his body to free himself of restraining good emotions and feelings...you never chose to be the Prince of Chaos...you just are."

Sadly Daybreak knew this was true, and felt a bit of pity for Solar Eclipse. However he also knew that he had made use of his situation and Solar could do the same

"Hey...its ok ya know...you and me, you're right we aren't that different...but look at me...I made the most of my situation and chose to move past it...you can do the same...be your own person"

A small smile crossed Solar's lips

"Hmm...not a bad idea actually...but then, are you suggesting we don't kill King Sombra?"

"No...I'm not suggesting that...he needs to die...but you don't have to do it...give me your powers...and then you can separate yourself from me and be your own pony if you want?"

"Hmph...Not a bad idea at all...but I think I'll decline...I just wanted to see what you'd say...No I'll keep y powers and use them when you need them...for now we will share your body...swap out with me if you ever need that extra push...we can share mine again when we get to Sombra.."

Daybreak nodded and grasped Solar's hand, shaking it firmly, ignoring the searing pain radiating in his hand from the flames Solar was putting out.

As they shook hands, the world around them began to fade into darkness...Daybreak began to feel his hands grasping something hard an firm in his arms

.....

As the world exploded back into reality, Daybreak became faintly aware of somepony pushing against his back while screaming his name. He shook his head vigorously, looking around he saw Rainbow pushing him to move, Daring Do holding a door shut tightly with her hooves, while an unknown force pounded against it, and the Crystal Heart was in his hands. With a quick glance of his body, he could see he was in his normal form, he smiled, happy to know Solar had kept true to his quick promise, then turned his attention to where he was. He looked around, to see that they were locked in the entry room to the palace, with an unknown amount of ponies banging on the doors behind them.

"What the hay happened?!"

He looked around to Rainbow, who seemed to have realized he had finally come to

"You blacked out on us. The moment you grabbed the heart the whole barrier around the Empire dropped, and a huge wave of energy flew out from you. After that every guard in this place came running...so we had to push you here. You seemed to move on autopilot but you never spoke, or even blinked...and all that flaming aura you had earlier is gone...What happened?"

Another slam from behind the door earned a worried look from Daring and Daybreak decided now was not e tie to discuss his new friend.

"Later...I'll tell you later...right now we help Daring"

Dashie nodded, but as she moved to help Daring hold the locked doors, Daybreak pulled her back, and swiped his hands to the side, motioning for Daring to move out of the way. She got the hint just in time too, for a second later he unleashed a wave of wind and magic from his palms that knocked the unknown amount of guards behind the door tumbling down the crystal steps. The doors remained closed...if only barely standing on their hinges. Daybreak grabbed Rainbow and Daring by the hooves and pulled them up several flights of stairs. After a few quick turns, Rainbow recognized that they were quickly headed for Cadences room.

"Daybreak...what are you doing?! The exit isn't through here...Daybreak...DAYBREAK!"

"Rainbow I swear by Celestia! If their was ever a time I needed you to shove a hoof in it and just trust me, now is that time, now keep running!"

He pulled them through a series of twists and burst into Cadences room, the Princess was sitting next to her bed, her magical health shield still circling Twilight's unconscious form"

"What the..?!"

Daybreak pulled his two mares by her without a word, kicked open the balcony door and dragged them out through it. He shoved the Crystal Heart into Rainbows grasp.

"Wait for me..."

"What? What do you me...AGHHHHGH!"

He grabbed them both and flung them into the air, with no hesitation he let loose two beams of energy and struck the two mares, enveloping them in his power! Within seconds they disappeared with two 'pops' and left him standing on the balcony alone.

Wit that done, he turned back to Cadences room, and slowly walked back in, over to the Princess. She regarded him with a slight glare, but also a smile...somehow those two looks just seemed to fit on her at the same time

*Sigh* "Daybreak...sometimes I wonder just what I'm going to do with you..."

Taking a seat next to Cadence, Daybreak let out a sigh of his own

"I just don't know anymore Sis...I feel like I'm doing the right thing for her.."

He motioned to Twilight

"...But I keep having to do so many things that I know are wrong...I keep hurting so many good ponies...even my friends...and I'm just gonna keep doing it until he's dead...does that make me a bad 'pony'?"

Cadence looked over her brother-in-law, he ad become quite a topic around the Crystal Empire, even before this whole mess two days ago...ponies had talked of Daybreak The Hero who had fought Discord, and the Changeling horde single handedly and lived to tell of it...ponies just admired him. That was why, unlike Celestia, Cadence had not informed any of her guard about what Daybreak was doing...yet at this point, with him taking the heart...and her guard chasing him in here...she might have to.

"Daybreak...It's not my place to decide for you if what you're doing is right or wrong...but you're trying o save the mare you love...no pony can questions your motives, your loyalty, your love...the only things left to question is your rationality, your reasoning, and your intentions afterwards..."

Daybreak gave a an obvious shift of discomfort in his seat

"My intentions afterwards...I guess once I've saved Twilight and killed Sombra...I'll turn myself into Celestia and accept my punishment for treason...after that I don't know what I'll do...she'll probably exile me if she doesn't lock me up...I don't know"

A smile curved across Cadences face

"Well I wish you didn't have to steal the crystal heart for it...but I know I can't stop you anyways...so me protesting is pointless...just as long as you protect the peace and harmony of our home and Equestria...I can't really protest your actions much..."

Daybreak placed his hand on Twilight's chest, and lightly rubbed his hands along her soft fur

"I'm not doing this for Peace...or Harmony..."

Cadence raised her eyebrows

"Really? That's a surprise coming from you Daybreak...a being created given form by Celestia...If not for peace and harmony, then what...for what will you fight for against King Sombra?"

Daybreak ran his hands along Twilights fur, his body shimmered gold, for a spilt second Solar Eclipse reappeared startling Cadence away from him. He touched the tip of Twilight's horn with his finger and slowly lifted it, Pulling a small purple blob from the tip. He placed the blob in his open palm and caused a small vial to appear in the other. He dropped the small blob in the vial and attached it to his royal necklace so that it hung just below it. This was a pure essence of Twilight's magic in a physical form, by keeping it near him he could keep track of how Twilight was doing. Since it held her life force in it, it would change depending on her health, so now he would always be able to know how much time was left. Even though he was keeping track of the days anyways, this gave him a more comforting feeling than counting down the days.

He turned away from Cadence and walked to the balcony window, before he jumped, he turned back and gave a final smile at Cadence. She returned his smile, if only half heartedly as he leaned back and fell. As he fell he began to shimmer in green light, and prepared to teleport away.

"What am I doing this for...not for Peace...not for Harmony...No...what I'm fighting for is something much more precious to me"

He closed his eyes as the image of his inspiration swam in his head, and he vanished in green light.

Coming Full Circle

A craggy coast splashed waves of rippling whiteness against its banks as a shimmer of bright green light spat out a familiar form onto the ground. Daybreak bounced twice against the sand before skidding to a stop, his face buried in the ground. With cartoon-like antics he began pushing his legs and hands against the sand in an attempt to free himself. Feeling two pairs of pony hooves wrap around his waist and pull, Daybreak began to push harder and finally freed himself with a distinct 'pop'. Sitting himself in the sand Daybreak looked up and saw Rainbow and Daring taking a seat next to him, the Crystal Heart resting only inches away. Looking upon the two mares Daybreak saw an obvious look of anxiousness on their faces. Wit a slightly worried expression, and a feeling he already knew the answer, Daybreak asked them what was wrong. After looking back and forth between each other, the two mares nodded and Rainbow spoke up

"We wanna know why we left Aecious and Trixie behind...you didn't give us anytime to talk about it, and it doesn't feel right to leave them back there like that"

"I never wanted them to come along in the first place Rainbow, and especially not his far into it. They've done their part, they don't need to see this...they don't need to be a part of this, and neither do you two...I know I asked you to come with me Rainbow, but you've don't your part. What happens next won't be pretty, you and Daring can leave now...go home...back to Ponyville, back to your friends and families...you both can be forgiven and pardoned for what you've done...I can't...Princess Celestia told me herself, I'm banished from Canterlot for good, I can never return...I can't-mmmph!"

His speech was cut short as Rainbow's hooves grasped his face and crushed his lips against hers. His pupils shot wide as a deep red blush rushed to his cheeks. His eyes immediately found Daring Do, but did not find the look he was expecting. Instead of surprise or shock, maybe even anger, he found only a relaxed smile. Rainbow pulled away from him and rubbed her hoof across his face, softly caressing his fur in a way that only Twilight had ever done. A quick feeling of regret hit him at letting Rainbow leave their herd, but he quickly banished the thought, he knew she was happier with Daring Do. Rainbow backed off from him and nuzzled Daring, then looked back to him

"Dude you really need to know when to shut up. I knew from the beginning what following you might lead to. But I came anyways because I know that the end is worth it. I may not be able to follow you into your battle against King Sombra, but I'll follow all the way there and help any way I can"

Although her failing to mention his banishment did not go unnoticed, Daybreak was thankful for her words and her caring as much as she did. With a quick nod to satisfy them both, he picked up the Crystal Heart and motioned for them to follow him.

He had to admit, walking along a rocky coast line such as this one was relaxing. The subtle crashing of the waves at his feet, the smell of salt water and the fresh breeze on his fur, he could definitely see himself spending large amounts of time in a place like this after this ordeal. He felt a calmness rush through him as the cool water brushed his feet, allowing him to close his eyes and walk without much thought at all. Only a loud cough from Rainbow Dash awoke him from his blissful daze. He turned and saw Rainbow pointing awkwardly at the water

"Daybreak...umm...the fish.."

He glanced at the ocean, where Daring was standing a bit deeper, attempting to hide her laughter from the scene in front of her. A bit farther where the water was too deep for the ponies to wade, several fish where dancing across the surface of the water, wearing very fancy looking top hats. Daybreak had to give them credit, for not having feet, they seemed to tap dance relatively well, especially for being in such a large group. He face palmed himself in slight embarrassment

"Sorry...I got a bit distracted...must have gotten too relaxed...one sec"

With a snap of his fingers, the fish returned to normal and splashed back into the ocean, their miniature top hats slowly rising to the surface as they regained there natural senses and darted away. Daybreak gave a slight blush and turned from the two mares continuing on ahead. Daring quickly caught up to him

"By my guess we should reach a rocky chasm in a few hours if we follow this path, we can camp there for the night...then figure out what to do in the morning"

"I already know what we're gonna do...it's only a matter of making sure King Sombra takes notice enough to come"

"And what might that be?"

Daybreak tapped his finger to his chin, wondering how best to explain his plan

"I guess the best way to explain it would be to say...I'm gonna charge the Crystal Heart up with my magic and make it start sending off magical discharge. Anypony, especially King Sombra, who could recognize that kind of power would definitely come to investigate. Add to that the fact that Sombra wants the Heart very badly, I'm sure he'll be along to seize his chance to secure it again."

Daring could see some major flaws in this plan, but was sure Daybreak already knew that, so she held her tongue for now, instead happy that he had not insisted they act now, without resting. Rainbow suddenly zoomed ahead of them, clearly full of energy again

"Well then come on! Let's get to this chasm and rest up! I wanna be ready and rested when that curvy horned creep arrives!"

Glad she seemed to be getting back to her normal self, Daybreak followed after Rainbow at full speed and renewed vigor, Daring followed close behind, preferring to trot instead of fly. They ran onward to the horizon, speeding towards their goal with renewed courage and faith in their hearts.

.....

Darkness. That was all she could feel around her. Darkness in her mind, darkness on her fur, nothing but complete, unending darkness. It had been this way for several hours, or maybe several days or several years. She had lost track of time as she galloped forward, lost in this endless abyss that was darkness. There had been no attempt to free herself with magic, somehow she had just known that would be futile...but she also knew there was hope. She didn't know why she knew, but somehow she just knew, she had to keep running. She had to escape the abyss that was everywhere, she had to find her way back to him. Every so often she would hear things, see things, feel things around her. Most recently she had felt a familiar hand on her fur, it had caressed her for a few moments of comfort, but when she had looked down there was nothing, but the feeling had remained. Then it had vanished, like the voices, like the images, like everything had in this endless dark.

She remembered a fight and she remembered being struck by an evil magic during that fight, and after that...darkness. She had been here ever since. She had heard her name since then and heard things said about Daybreak, but in this place she was unsure what was real and what was a vision. She had already been tormented constantly by the disembodied voice of a unicorn she had come to hate. It teased her with the thought of freedom, tormented her with horrible visions of her friends in varying scenarios which she could not save them from. It sometimes showed her images of herself, laying there in the crystal empire, while everypony gathered and left. She heard everything that happened around her sometimes, and sometime she wished she could not hear it. The things she often heard were never good news. She always heard them discussing Daybreak though, and that made her listen, even though she always regretted hearing what she heard. She could not believe what the voices always said he was doing, she knew her Daybreak, he could never do these things. Never invade the palace, never battle the princesses, their friends...never steal from them, commit those treasonous acts...she refused to believe it.

"It's true...You know it is...why deny it and continue on in doubt

"SHUT UP!"

She yelled into the darkness that refused to leave her be. It always whispered to her, she was given no respite from its torment. So she kept running forward despite the clear aching in her legs to stop she powered on, not even sure where she was going, but anywhere was better than this abyss.

"He's doing it all for you...everything...and now he journeys to fight the King...he will fail...like you did...and he will fall...like you have...We will enjoy watching it from our place in your mind...Would you like to see?"

"NO! SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She hoped the voice would leave, but it did not

"You cannot outrun us, we are in your mind after all...you can't banish us like a bad dream...I think you want to see...deep down you want to see what happens...Maybe we should show you"

Despite her protests, a watery image shimmered into view in front of her. She tried to run through it, but it seemed to be moving with her. She veered left hoping to avoid it, but it continued to flutter in front of her sight, refusing to let her look away.

"Look now...Look at his fate...the fate you caused for him because you failed...because you were not strong enough...not fast enough...not clever enough...weak"

"SHUT UP!!!"

Her yells were of no use, the image began to shimmer and show her a rocky chasm filled with falling boulders. She saw Rainbow Dash struck by debris and disappear into the dust cloud of rock with only her yells to hint at what happened next...the image changed...she saw Changelings swarm and pile and badly hurt Daring Do who could not hold back the endless horde...the image changed...she saw a pony she did not know, dressed in black robes being impaled into a rock face by black crystals, droplets of blood dripped from his lips as he smiled looking at something she could not see...the image changed...She saw Trixie...her hat and cape changed to red and black, her eyes filled with purple and red flames of dark magic as the Alicorn Amulet hung around her neck...sprawled motionless against debris...the image changed again.

Twilight tried to shut her eyes but found she could not, or either they were shut and the image remained anyways.

"NO! NO STOP IT! STOP IT!"

She screamed and begged for the images to cease but it cycled again...she could only keep running as she watched in terror as the image cleared and she was forced to watch. She saw Daybreak facing King Sombra, yellow flames licking there way up his arms and body, his claws clenched in anger, his mane and tail fur standing on end and flowing with energy like Celestia's or Luna's did. Then the image flickered and she saw Daybreak on the ground, his faming yellow aura gone, on his hands and knees, Sombra standing over him...The image flickered again...Daybreak was lying on the ground fully now...Sombra stood over his body with a long, black shadowy scythe stuck into Daybreaks back...An evil sneer crossed his face as he lifted the Crystal Heart into his magical grasp

"The Empire is mine at last!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The image vanished as her screams echoed into the abyss, her outrage destroying the image as her horn flared up in amazing power!

"Wait! What are you doing?!"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUUUUUUUT!!!!!"

Her fury ignited the abyss in purple light as reality began to engulf itself in purple light and shattered around her!

.....

Twilight shattered the blue aura of healing around her as she sat straight up in her bed. Cadence winced in pain as her bubble shattered and she stumbled back from Twilight!

"DAYBREAK!"

She screamed for him as her eyes ignited in white light! The room around her began to change as her power transformed the objects around her. Cadence ducked her head as a beam of white lightning shot from Twilight's horn, missing her by inches and turning the vase nearest her into a salmon!

"TWILIGHT NO!"

Cadence tackled her off the bed without thinking, despite her own exhaustion she shook her sister-in-law repeatedly yelling her name until she got through! Twilight blinked her eyes and the raging power faded instantly, returning the room to normal as quickly as it had changed. She held her head in pain as Cadence helped her off the floor and embraced her in a hug. She returned the hug, but instantly wished she hadn't, as her body screamed in pain and she collapsed to the floor. Both her and Cadence looked down...and saw, there, still on her chest...was a raging swirl of dark magic, still attempting to slowly spread over her form. It gave a small lurch and moved a slight inch, expanding as it did so. Sombra's magic was a reminder to her, she was still dying...now she was just awake to feel it. She glanced to Cadence

"Where is he?"

"He's not here Twilight...I'm...not sure how to explain it to you..."

The look on Cadences face is what solidified the belief Twilight had, her visions were probably real. She didn't want to ask, but she knew she had to

"I think I might know..."

Twilight sat down on her haunches and explained what had been occurring inside her mind since Sombra had struck her, minus the vision of the future, she just couldn't bring herself to mention that. Cadence was surprised to find out that Twilight had been able to "see" everything that had happened so far, at least here in the palace, so she had the minor details. Cadence reluctantly filled in the blanks for her and watched as her expression grew more and more hurt as Twilight realized the full length of what Daybreak was doing just to save her. As if she needed more of a reminder, the dark energy on her chest gave a painful lurch upwards. It was beginning to touch the inside of her legs, for some reason it seemed to be spreading quicker than before.

"I need to find him Cadence..." She tried to show a look of determination, but all she managed was a pained expression from the earing ache now touching the inside of her legs

"Twilight...you're in no condition to go anywhere, he's out there right now getting ready to fight Sombra for you, to save you. If you go out there and get yourself killed, imagine what will happen. He could be more powerful than Discord right now for all we know...He can take Sombra for sure"

Cadence flashed her a smile meant to convince her, but Twilight did not seem to catch it as she was now wondering about a much more curious matter.

"Cadence...Where is Discord anyway? Why isn't he here, or out there trying to stop his son?"

Cadence hadn't thought of Discord since their last meeting, but bringing him up now, it was very odd he would suddenly disappear like this

"...I actually don't know...maybe he's keeping an eye on Daybreak...I have no idea...Celestia spoke to him in private after he briefed your friends on Daybreaks plan to steal the book...he seemed pretty upset afterwards...I mean like actually upset upset, like he generally didn't like it...but since then he's vanished...none of us have any real way to summon him without the elements...he usually just shows up"

"I guess we can't count on him for help then...not that we ever could to begin with...but it would have been nice for once..."

While Twilight paused to think, tapping her hoof to her chin like she always did, Cadence took this chance to try and get her back in bed

"Twilight...you really need to lay back down and let me put the healing spell back on you...Sombra's magic is spreading much quicker now that your awake, who knows how much time that has cut off your life!"

Twilight realized then, she was living on borrowed time unless Daybreak defeated Sombra soon...but she had seen in her visions that Daybreak and his allies would fail...she had to be there and prevent that

"No! I have to go after him Cadence!"

"That's insane Twilight! We have no idea where he even is right now, and Sombra's spell is spreading to fast, if you leave now, assuming you can even walk out of the door, there's no pony to keep you alive long enough for you to even get to him!"

"Actually there is! And she is more than willing to help Twilight Sparkle in her time of need."

Twilight's neck whipped around quicker than should have been physically possible for anypony who wasn't Pinkie Pie. Standing in the door way, surrounded by at least twelve guards, was Trixie, and another pony who she only recognized as the pony in robes from her visions. The leader of the group of guards stepped forward

"Apologies your highness, but we caught these two lingering in the area shortly after the Crystal Heart was stolen, they resisted our questioning and we were forced to apprehend them"

"If by apprehend us, you mean we allowed you to take us so we could meet with the princess, then yes, you 'apprehended' us"

Trixie flashed the guard a mocking grin to which she received a glare from him.

"You resisted arrest"

"I told you not to touch me and we'd cooperate...you touched me" The robed pony's face remained calm and free of any detectable emotion as he spoke, but hidden behind his stare Twilight could see he was obviously annoyed at something. She on the other hand, had never been more happy to see Trixie in her whole life and let out a gleeful squeak at the blue mare as she embraced her in a bone crushing hug despite the searing pain in her chest from the contact. Trixie's eyes shot open and the guards seemed unsure of what to do. Twilight made a small chuckle at their looks

"It's ok guys, she's safe.."

She looked at the robed pony from her visions, he had been with Trixie so he couldn't be that bad

"He's good too, you can go, thank you"

The guards bowed, the leader giving one last glare at the robed one and took their leave. Cadence regarded the robed pony as she spoke

"Why did they have so many guards with you, it's usually only one or two per pony?"

"I knocked out the first two groups that tried to arrest us...this is just what's left from the force that eventually restrained us..."

Cadence didn't see any change in his expression, but she thought she detected the smallest hint of mocking in his voice as he spoke. Meanwhile, Twilight had released Trixie and was questioning her with a smile that seemed to scare the blue mare into reconsidering her offer

"How are you even here? What do you mean about you being more than willing to help me? Can you do the health spell too...and whose this other pony?"

When she finally took a breathe Trixie took her chance to speak before Twilight could continue

"Well...introductions should come first...this is Aecious, he's the pony who helped us...helped Daybreak...break into Canterlot palace, although he was supposed to just help us and leave he decided to stick around afterwards and actually come with us for the break in..."

"Daybreak is a unique character, his emotions, like his power, change more than a raging storm on the ocean...I was curious to see how he would proceed...look where that got me...he left us behind"

Twilight detected a hint of bitterness in his voice, at least now it was clear why he seemed annoyed, even if his facial expression refused to change from it's stone-like state.

"I told you Aecious, he never really wanted us along in the first place...he probably thought he was doing us a favor by not bringing us..."

"Humph...he took the Rainbow one and Daring Do...why not us Trixie..."

"Are you two a couple or something?"

The question had escaped Twilight's lips before she could stop herself

"NO!" They both bellowed at her and returned to their argument. Twilight could see that this was going no where, so after giving a loud cough to draw their attention, she proceeded

"Trixie...you said you can help...how?"

"Why Trixie is so happy you asked! I can cast the health spell Princess Cadence has been using on you"

Despite the slight irritation the studious side of Twilight felt at Trixie switching from third to first-person midsentence, she held her tongue, and merely kept to the important details

"How"

"Why Aecious taught me of course...for a pegasus he has quite the knowledge of complex magic"

Twilight raised her eyebrows at him, but he merely shrugged, Cadence however, was not content with the lack of knowledge

"Where would a pegasus learn of such a complex spell in enough detail to teach it to another pony?"

For the first time, Aecious' expression changed. As he looked at Princess Cadence his hardened stare softened, just a bit, but still enough for the two princesses to notice

"I was taught alot of skills in my previous line of work your highness..."

Twilight became inquisitive then, and couldn't help herself

"And what would that be?"

His stare returned almost instantly

"Don't worry about it"

While being told off as such would normally offend even Twilight, she sensed there was a better way to get her answer, but it seemed Cadence had caught on too

"No I'm curious too, what did you used to do Aecious"

She filled her voice with as much compassion as she could manage to make her voice sound innocent and inquisitive. Yet again, at Cadence's words his stare softened and he spoke with more ease

"I was an assassin your highness"

The princesses had expected to hear that, even Trixie had suspected, but it was still a shock. Cadence had heard enough for now and instead posed another inquisition

"Why are you so willing to answer my questions but not anypony else's?"

His eyes twitched and his face showed a clear sign of discomfort at this question, Cadence was about to suggest that they focus on the important task at hand instead, but then he answered, and she was once again swept up in curiosity

"You remind me of another princess I used to know...you...look alot like her, your highness"

Cadence opened her mouth to question further, but Twilight placed a hoof over her lips and shook her head, Cadence understood, now was not the time. Twilight smiled and took Cadences momentary daze of curiosity to make it easier to leave.

"So Trixie, how long could you keep that health spell going?"

"A few days if I had to...so more than enough time for us, hopefully"

"And do either of you know where Daybreak might be?"

"If you have anything with his magical residue on it, I could probably find him. He used a similar spell to track me down, it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Well then let's go"

That seemed to break Cadence free from her thoughts, she bolted in front of the door, blocking the exit out.

"No way Twilight! You're in no condition to move around. Even if Trixie can cast my spell, what do you intend to do to help Daybreak? You going would only endanger the both of you more, you can't fight Sombra like you are now, and you'll only make Daybreak worry more. He needs to stay focused if he's going to win against-"

"Cadence I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for him to rescue me again! He's always been there for me when I needed him, and now he's out there creating enough chaos to throw Discord a birthday party, And he's doing it for me! I'm going after him!"

Cadence recoiled back at Twilight's fierce gaze, she remembered that look all too well. Memories of a crystal cave under Canterlot sprang back to her, she quickly banished the terrible memory and looked at her sister. There was no way that this small group in front of her should make that much of a difference when she thought of the forces that Daybreak and Sombra commanded. But she also knew that there was no arguing with Twilight.

Twilight watched as Cadence, reluctantly stepped aside from the doorway and allowed them passage.

"Thank you Cadence"

"Please come back alive Twilight...I don't wanna lose you...

She could see the tears well up in Cadences eyes, Twilight embraced her in a tight hug, wincing as she did so.

"I will come back, but right now he needs me"

She turned and thrust her hoof into the air, wings flaring outward as she did as she struck a heroic pose

"Alright! Let's go save Daybreak!"

Aecious rolled his eyes

"And assuming we actually find where he is, how do you propose we get there...hm?"

"I have...no idea"

"Perfect...off to a great start then aren't we..."

Cadence couldn't help but give a small giggle

"Come on now Aecious, play nice"

A huge blush instantly found Aecious' face as his lips sealed themselves so tight it seemed he might no ever speak again. Cadence found this rather cute

"As it so happens, I might have something here in the palace that can help you out...follow me"

She slowly strode out the door she had previously blocked and headed down a spiral staircase. Twilight and the others followed closely behind, wondering what Cadence could possibly have stored that would help them cross Equestria in time...

Hatred is Born from Love

"Day Four...Day Four"

Those were the words Daybreak continuously replayed in his mind over and over. It caused him a great deal of stress every night and was the culprit behind his lack of sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Twilights blank expression, the look that had been burned into his brain as he had watched the mare he loved most, fall to King Sombra. He could recall in perfect detail the way his dark blade had pierced her chest...He clenched his fists tightly as he remembered the beating he had delivered to Sombra shortly after. The merciless King had laughed and toyed with him...Until he had received a small sun to his muzzle. Then the bastard had run away like a coward! How he longed to slash his newly sharpened claws across that smug, soulless face that he had come to despise.

He felt a trickle run down his fur, a sudden sharp pain in his palm, he looked to his hand and saw he was bleeding from a wound in his fist. He unclenched his hand and felt his claws retract back into place, the yellow and green flames that had been licking at his fingers die down as he mentally clamed himself. Quickly healing his small wound, he jumped down from the boulder he had perched himself on and made for their new camp.

Their camp wasn't much more than what one might pack for a sleepover in the woods, probably even less. Daybreak had materialized sleeping bags for Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, but he preferred to just sleep on the Cliffside their camp overlooked. It gave him a brilliant view of the night sky. The full moon and blazing sun were always first seen by him each day, although he hated having to see the dawn of a new day lately. Each time it only reminded him he was a day closer to losing Twilight for good. Despite the absolute power the burning sun seemed to fill him with, he wished he could simply halt the days until Sombra was dead.

He reached their camp in a few minutes time and found Rainbow cuddling with Daring, the latters head resting against the formers chest. He smiled at the pair, happy he was able to find Rainbow the happiness she deserved...he had to make sure she and Daring made it out of this if he did not. They deserved much more than he did, to be happy. He coughed to draw the pairs attention, once they spotted him they slowly broke apart and trotted over. Rainbow yawned loudly emphasizing the tiredness of the whole group

"What's up dude, you make any progress with the Heart yet?"

Shaking his head roughly, Daybreak managed to convey his annoyance without words. Ever since they had gotten here he had been attempting to send out a magical pulse with the Heart big enough for a unicorn like Sombra to detect. But each pulse barely made it into the air before it dissolved, and he was having a hard time understanding why. He charged it with enough magic to grow an apple orchard twice the size of Sweet Apple acres each time, but somehow it was never enough and the pulse faded away. He was increasingly frustrated with the thing and wondered if perhaps he was doing something wrong.

"Maybe I can make something of it, let me have a look" Daring Do held her hoof out to him

Seeing no real harm in it, Daybreak held out his palm, the heart appeared in his hand, and he tossed it to Daring. She caught it and began turning it over several times in her hoof, examining it closely. He wasn't really expecting much, even though she was an expert on rare artifacts. The heart was magical and needed magic to charge its power...then why was it glowing in her hooves? Daring prodded her hoof at the glowing crystal, causing a bright array of colors to burst forth from the center and rocket into the air! Daybreak's jaw hit the floor, the ray of power was stronger than any progress he had made with it so far!

The beam leaped across the sky in a magnificent array of color wide enough for any within several miles to see, and any magical beings to feel. Daybreak felt warmth spread through him as its light showered over him, feeding him with a seemingly endless amount of relief and joy. The feeling was brief but very welcome, amongst all his dark and depressed feelings, the rays of light filled him with hope again. He began to smile wider, but the feeling vanished, as did the rays of light. He watched as the beautiful beams shot back inside the heart like a genie's lamp.

Daring stared as Daybreak and Rainbow collected their jaws from the floor, they both continued to stare at her, until she sheepishly handed the heart to Daybreak.

"Uhh...I think it works now"

That seemed to snap Daybreak out of his trance, he took the heart and made it vanish once again.

"What did you do Daring?"

"I just...ya know...poked it"

"I know that, geez...I mean how did you power the Heart, it's magic, Pegasi don't use the kind of magic the heart requires...how could you have done that?"

Rainbow Dash had a blush spread across her face, she looked as though she had a bad sun tan. She kept glancing over at Daring Do, finding a particular interest in kicking at the dirt.

"I...I think I know why"

Now it was Daring's turn to blush, leaving Daybreak still in the dark about the whole thing, Rainbow decided to clarify

"Daybreak...it never really struck me till now...but back in the Crystal Empire, when we used the Crystal Heart to defeat King Sombra, it was powered by the love and happiness of the crystal ponies...you were trying to power it with just magic...so maybe it wasn't as strong?"

"But that still doesn't explain how Daring was able to...to...oh!"

Daring pulled her hat over her face in embarrassment, impending her from seeing as Rainbow Dash flew straight to her, tackling her into a bone crushing hug. Daybreak was sure he could here Daring gasp in pain, but it was drowned out over the sounds Rainbow Dash made as she assaulted Daring with kisses. Feeling more or less uncomfortable, Daybreak took his leave of the pair, and headed back for his Cliffside rock. Once he was atop his perch, he once again materialized the Heart in his hands. He held it out in front of him, his reflection shinned brightly at him, almost teasing him to try again.

"So...The Heart is powered by love, not magic...or maybe that's one and the same...at least now I understand why Cadence is the perfect ruler of that place...ok so following Rainbows advice now...Love, not magic...aaaaaaaand go"

He strained his face and attempted to pull his aura off his palms, surprisingly difficult as of late. He always had at least some magic flowing around him lately, mostly due to his new powers he was sure, so pulling it off his hands was actually rather difficult. It was not made any easier by the loud moans and yells Daybreak could hear coming from the camp. His concentration challenged, Daybreak strained to hear his thoughts over the loud yelps. He succeeded in removing the aura from his hands, but now came the hard part...how to activate it? He really didn't need to, seeing as the pulse Daring had sent out was more than enough...but it was more or less to see if he could.

He held it up to his face, leaning forward to press his cheek against the smooth surface of the crystal. He didn't expect much, so was sincerely surprised when he heard the faintest of laughs echo from within. He shot his face back from the crystal, looking around in confusion, he knew that laugh anywhere...

"Yeah...I definitely need some sleep...I'm starting to hear voices in my head..."

"I really don't see how that's a problem!" the shrill raspy voice echoed in his head, reminding him he was not alone with his thoughts.

"Shut up Solar...That's not what I meant, I just heard the Crystal Heart giggle...and it sounded like-"

"I know, I'm right here dummy, I hear everything you do, real or not...and I agree, you need some sleep, you'll need our energy for the King, so you'd better rest up."

"Our energy?" He echoed the unspoken words

"What do you mean 'our energy'?

"...You're a dumbass...If I had hands right now I'd facepalm myself after smacking you upside the head!...I need rest too ya know, I'm effected by what happens to you...if you rest, I rest, if you eat, I eat, if you die...hmm..."

"What?" He ignored his every impulse to tell Solar where to shove it after calling him a dumbass

"Well...it's funny really...everything that happens to you effects me...but if you die...I don't think I'll die."

"Why? What else could even happen?"

"Weeeeell...I don't really know...but since we are two separate beings now...it's possible that if you die I would live on, or even the other way around, if I die while I'm in control you could possibly live on too..."

"Don't get any ideas"

Daybreak heard something that sounded like an annoyed cough from within his skull

"Why I am offended you would even suggest such a thing..."

"Really?"

"...ok no...but still...have a little confidence in me Daybreak...I do live in your head after all..."

"It's because you live in my head that makes me worry...after all you said it yourself...your a being created for murder, and although I sympathize with you...and sort of feel bad about this...you can't blame me for being cautious can you?"

"I do still have feelings ya know...but I don't blame you...I'm your opposite after all"

"How can you be my opposite, that's almost laughable...I created you out of hatred for King Sombra"

"Hatred is born from love Daybreak...Your love for Twilight is what makes you hate King Sombra...You're the love...I'm the hate...us existing together is a very delicate balance...trust me Daybreak...now that I'm here, if you ever lose control you'll see what I mean...in here I'm docile...but out there, free...I'll be very different, if I was you (no pun intended) I would make sure not to release me until you fight Sombra...trust me"

"I'll take your word for it"

"I would...I think your friends are done bucking, the loud moans seems to have ceased...we should go back and rest, who knows when Sombra will show up"

"Yeah...good idea..."

"And stop thinking about that laugh...it's annoying me in here, and it's distracting you...just relax"

"I'll try.."

Daybreak rose from his perch and headed back for Rainbow and Daring, sincerely hoping the silence meant an end to the sex and not just a respite. He couldn't deal with two horny mares right now...

How Far Untill Rock Bottom

The twins crystalline doors of the throne room swung shut as the party followed closely behind Princess Cadence. They had been mostly silent since she had started leading them through the castle, and so each felt their own version of awkwardness for the situation. Trixie's awkward feeling came from her current predicament, the barrier she had recently erected around Twilight after she had fainting spell. The blue mare wasn't sure how to feel about this sort of 'help' towards Twilight, even though she had offered in the first place. She sometimes felt very prideful that it was her magic that was helping Twilight stay on her feet another step...and sometimes she felt as though she were holding a fanning leaf over Twilight, like it was only for her convenience. She knew that was not the case, but one does think of odd things during long periods of silence. Especially in a place like this, where her very thoughts seemed to echo around the shiny room.

She was so distracted in her thoughts, she did not notice the others had stopped, and walked straight into her own spell bubble. After briefly booping her nose, and the looks from the others, she regained her composure and gestured her hoof to Cadence as though to say "Yes yes I'm fine, now why did we stop". The Princess pointed ahead, causing them all to peer around her to view the room. Although nopony but Twilight seemed to recognize the place, the gasp she made was loud enough to cover for all of them. Cadence nodded and motioned for Twilight to go ahead, along with Trixie.

"Go on ahead, you should remember the way I'm sure, we'll catch up in one sec"

The two mares nodded and proceeded up the long spiral staircase that led to the top of Sombra's former tower. Although he knew the Princess probably meant to speak with him, Aecious tried to proceed ahead anyways. Cadence held her hoof out to block him, smiling as she did

"Uh uh Aecious, we need to have a talk first"

The stone expression in his face changed to one of mild curiosity

"About what, might that be your highness"

"...You weren't being truthful earlier, when you said why you were still going after Daybreak...were you?"

His eyes showed the slightest signs of shock, but it was quickly hidden behind his hood as he lowered his gaze

"What...would make you say that?"

"I can sense you emotions Aecious, I am the Princess of Love after all, reading ponies thoughts and emotions is my specialty."

That bit of knowledge was enough to elicit a reaction, a very shocking one at that. His cool voice cracked for a moment as he showed visible signs of panic.

"Please...please don't say anything to his friends...especially Twilight..."

"Why would I do that? I don't have any reason to do that to you" She smiled at him as though that should be obvious

"Then why stop me just to tell me you knew this about me...?"

"Because I want to give you some advice...hiding yourself, how you really feel and think, from the world, will never solve your issue. You should face the issue yourself, or at least tell him about it. You may be surprised if the outcome is not what you expect.."

Although he chose to take what she said with a grain of salt, Aecious still could not bare to face the facts of himself

"Where I'm from...it is not acceptable...not natural..."

"Well now that's very odd...I mean you can see it all over Equestria, heck you've probably seen it while being around Daybreak"

He brushed her statement off, that did not succeed in comforting him

"Look...Princess...I appreciate the effort...but this really isn't helping me any...we need to catch up with our companions"

Without waiting for a response he dove under her wing and took off up the stairs. Cadence sighed to herself

"If he's planning on running the whole way up, he's gonna be in for a shocker...I'd better go catch him"

She then took off, flying after him to save the Pegasi from a torturous walk up the ridiculous amount of stairs that inhabited Sombra's tower.

....

Reaching the top of the tower had taken mere moments for Twilight and Trixie, because, just like last time Twilight had cast the anti-gravity spell and sent them shooting up the to the top. Unfortunately it seemed Cadence had not thought of this, and so lagged behind, but eventually Twilight saw her head poke up along with Aecious' as the two flapped their way up to them. Once everypony was back together, Cadence led them back into the area where Sombra had formerly held the Crystal Heart. Cadence pointed to the center of the room, where the booby trap that had ensnared Twilight sat, deactivated after Sombra's defeat.

"This...is how we can get to Daybreak"

.....

Daybreak awoke to a sharp snap! He looked to his left, then right...he heard it again, the faint rustling of rubble and twigs being stepped on. He softly rolled himself to the cliff edge and looked down into the ravine below. Indeed he could see the outlines of several shapes moving down below. He rolled back to Rainbow and Daring, still asleep in one sleeping bag, lucky for him. He reached over and quietly grasped both of their muzzles in his palms, covering their mouths to keep them from squealing. They both awoke instantly and tried to struggle, but stooped the moment they saw his face. He released Daring's lips and held his finger to his own, making the "shush" motion and pointing to the cliff side.

He rolled over to the edge, the mares following his lead and slowly peered over the cliff side. They too then saw the figures moving down below, Rainbow shot a glance at Daybreak, he shuffled his way past them, making his way down the cliff side, consistently hiding behind rubble wherever possible. He shuffled around a large boulder, attempting to get within earshot of the group. He waved to Daring, signaling her when to move. The adventurer flared her wings and grasped Rainbow's hoof, preparing for a mad dash to Daybreak. She saw his hand slash downward through the air, and she took off, pulling Rainbow with her! The sweet thrill of her adventures returned to her for a brief moment as she darted around a near boulder, pulling her lover with her. The excitement of being discovered by these unknown intruders reawakened as one broke off from the group, to investigate their out of breath panting. Daybreak flailed his arms showing for them to shush. Daring grasped hers and Rainbow's lips tightly and shut them...the investigating group member seemed to decide it was nothing, and continued after its companions. The two mares slowly inched their way over to Daybreak and eavesdropped on the creatures conversation with him.

In the dark they could not make out what these creatures were by body structure, but the voices were more than enough, for Daybreak and Rainbow would never forget those speaking patterns. It was like multiple voices overlapping each other saying the same thing at once in a machine-like voice...The Changelings. Daybreak could already feel his fists clench and his blood boil, he instantly felt a wing begin to rub his back. He could tell without looking that Rainbow was attempting to calm him, he relaxed a tiny bit and allowed her to settle his rustled fur as they listened to the changelings speak, their raspy, insect-like voices clearly agitated over something.

"We were told it came from this area, Queen and King do not lie, you should not question them" This one was clearly the leader of the group, Daybreak recognized that his voice was coming from the front of the pack

"Yes, but we have been searching for much time and still we find nothing, no magical force with the kind of power described to us, and certainly NOT the Crystal Heart..."

"We thinks that perhaps the kings obsession with that object may be clouding his mind"

"Both of you hush! Do not speak in such ways about our king, he restored our race in a matter of days, from nearly nothing, to a stronger horde than before..." again came the leaders voice, which meant either there was only three of them, or the others were just keeping silent

"Yessss King may have made us stronger than before, but we are still very thin in numbers, he has not fulfilled his full promise to our beloved Queen, we are still few, stronger yes, but not restored."

"He cannot feed our hives like Queen thought, he cannot help her breed. King holds no love within him for either task to be accomplished"

"That is why he gave us these new powers you simpletons, so that we can take the ponies that we use to breed us and feed us with their love, and if we acquire the Crystal Heart for King, he will control a whole Empire of ponies, all of whom will feed us and breed us!"

It seemed to Daybreak that Sombra was not doing a very good job as king if some of the changelings would speak this way about him. Although that was probably because the Changelings needed love to feed and breed, and Sombra had none...although the leader of this group seemed to have a good argument of his own, if what he was saying was true anyways.

"Yes yeeees, a whole Empire sounds perfect for us!"

"Yes that would be more than enough, how do we get this?!"

"First we need to find the Heart, King said he sensed it somewhere around here, it is most likely being guarded by some ponies hoping to trap us and use it as bait...but they don't know how strong we've become."

"Yes, just us three can take on any number of pony guards now..."

"And its all thanks to our King"

"Yes well, more like our kings glorious plan, he seemed especially pleased with how he dealt with that annoying Alicorn"

Daybreak's fur stood on end and prickled against Rainbow's wing. She looked at him with concern as she retracted her wing from him.

"Yessss, well fooling that brat was nothing but simple strategy for King, after all she is Celestia's student...One fool takes after the other"

Daybreak's eye twitched slightly and his fists began to crush to piece of rock he was grasping

"I recall the moment he returned and tended to his scared eye he told our whole horde what had occurred, I remember his laughter as he spoke of killing that worthless mare.."

The Changeling never got to finish his sentence, at that moment Daybreak screamed with terrifying rage and hurled over the boulder he had been behind, golden yellow flames swarmed around and up his body as he adopted Solar's form.

"NO! Daybreak don't!" Both Daring and Rainbow came out from the boulder a split second later attempting to stop him, but he was already at the group.

The three changelings yelled in surprise as he made for them, claws extended and an unending rage in his eyes. He made for the first of the three and used him to show his intent. As soon as he was within reach, he thrust his claw straight into the closest Changelings chest and pushed upward, impaling him onto his arm. Green globs of what could only be blood, dripped from the fist sized hole in its chest as Daybreak swatted it from his hand. The other two seemed terrified as Daybreak then looked to them, they both charged their horns with green fire and prepared to fight.

Rainbow and Daring halted as they saw the first Changeling fall, Rainbow gasped in shock at the hole in its chest. She could not believe what she had just seen. She held no love for such horrid creatures, but never could she have believed Daybreak would really just kill one, so quickly and without hesitation.

The other two faired no better than the first, but at least the leader seemed determined...for a moment. It sent a blast of green fire straight towards Daybreak's face, quick enough so that he had no time to dodge, but he did not have to. Daybreak reached out and grasped the fire in his right hand, then continued forward and planted it firmly into the leaders face in the form of a fist. The leader sailed back and skidded into the rock covered ground, the right side of its face severely burned. Daybreak watched as the other one attempted escape, but made it no more than three feet before he had it in his magic and slammed it into the ground repeatedly, after he finished and the creature floated in the air limp, he simply tossed it into the rubble nearby. Then he advanced on the downed leader...

The leader watched as his final companion fell, presumably dead

"good, at least now he can't find out where King is...he'll never break me...but those two, might have cracked..."

Daybreak was upon him in seconds and grasped him firmly by the neck, lifting him into the air to look him in the eyes. The leader could see the pure, utter hatred burning in his eyes like the flames surrounding his form. The leader did not fear death by him, but the sight itself was, in fact terrifying

"Where is King Sombra!?"

"Burn in Tartarus you monster!"

The leader spat at him in defiance, Daybreak merely grimaced in disgust and tightened his grip on the creature neck. He could feel his claws beginning to dig into the changelings neck, he knew it had to be in sever pain.

"I'll ask you one last time, then I'll kill you, where is King Sombra?"

"You think you've won something by killing us Chaos Prince? You've gained nothing! You've killed your chances at finding King and I'll die before I tell a monster like you anything."

Daybreaks smile was a mocking one, he lightly twitched his head over to the changeling he had smashed into the ground. The leader followed his motion and saw that he was now getting up. It looked over at them with fear and took off sprinting down the valley without hesitation. Daybreaks smile grew wider as the leader realized what had happened

"Mons-"

Daybreak squeezed tightly, and with a bone crushing crunch, the creature's word was halted before he could finish. He felt the green blood begin to drip down his claws, signaling him that it was done, he tossed the leader over to the other dead changeling and magically removed the green blood from his claws. Within seconds the yellow flames had subsided and he looked like his normal self again. He turned to Daring and Rainbow, aware that they had both just watched what he had done.

"Come on, we can follow the fleeing one to Sombra"

Daybreak turned and started to pursue in the direction it had gone. Daring began to flap her wings, but saw Rainbow was frozen stiff. She stared at the dead changelings and let out a small whimper. Daring glanced at Daybreak, who had also stopped running when he saw they had not followed. He wasn't oblivious to what was going on and Daring knew they could catch up, she waved for him to go ahead, he nodded and took off again. Meanwhile Daring lightly nuzzled Rainbow

"She must be pretty freaked out by watching him do that...I mean I've seen ponies die before in my travels...and yeah what Daybreak did was a little dark for him...I guess I just understand it more"

"Come on Rainbow, we can't fall behind, we need to catch him"

"Why..."

"What...?"

"Why...why would he do that...?"

"Oh...umm.."

Daring wasn't really sure how to answer a question like that, from what she had heard, Sombra had been obliterated right in front of her the last time and she had been completely fine with it. What made these changelings so different...maybe it was actually seeing the blood and bone crushing sounds...or maybe it was because they had never directly killed anything before. After all it was the Heart that had destroyed Sombra before, and the Elements had only trapped Discord...Luna had just been restored...and Chrysalis had just been sent flying.

"He's angry Rainbow..."

Rainbow looked to into her eyes, Daring knew that was a pitiful answer, but it was truthful.

"Rainbow...for someone like him...anger is dangerous...especially with that whole split persona thing he's got now...all that power...all that anger and rage..it was bound to burst sooner or later...to be honest I think you'd better prepare for more...there's alot of changelings, and they serve Sombra. Daybreak might deal with them the same way. I know he'd never ask us to do the same, so the most we can do is help how we can...it's why we came along in the first place remember..."

"Yeah...yeah I do...I guess you're right...let's go"

Daring nodded and began flapping, she hovered there until Rainbow was in the air with her, then they both took off soaring rapidly after Daybreak.

.....

The pursuit of the changeling did not last nearly as long as Daybreak would have liked, it was a good way to build his adrenaline rush back up, unfortunately, they arrived at the apparent ending point in about twenty minutes. Daybreak and the others hid behind some boulders as the drone approached a solid rock face, looking around to check if he was followed. Once it was satisfied it pressed its hoof to the stone and took several steps back. After a brief wait, the stone began to shift outwards, opening toward the creature like an exit door rather than an entrance. The drone entered and waited inside until it had shut completely, then presumably traveled down the tunnel that Daybreak had noticed for a brief moment.

Daybreak waited for several minutes after the drone had left, checking to see if it would reappear. When it did not he came out from his hiding spot and approached the stone wall. Rainbow and Daring followed behind him, watching as he placed his palm upon the wall as though examining it. He felt around as though feeling for an entrance switch, but Daring knew what he was actually doing, she had done the same thing several times before. He was checking for traps, and that meant checking over the whole boulder, which seemed to be taking plenty of his concentration already so she did not wish to disturb him by offering her input at the moment.

After he had thoroughly molested the rock, Daybreak stepped back with a smirk, with a wave from his hand he signaled for the mares to quickly back up. As they did he poured a significant amount of his green aura into his right hand, then with a loud yell, he thrust his fist forward into the boulder and plunged into its center! He kept his hand rooted inside the rock for several seconds as though waiting or something. Right as Rainbow opened her mouth to comment, the boulder collapsed into a pile of rubble revealing the passage way down Daybreak had seen before.

"We should stick together, other than Changelings, we don't know what's down there...stay close"

Daring and Rainbow acknowledged his statement with a nod and moved closer, Daybreak then proceeded into the tunnel, his hand held aloft with a bright green glow giving them the only light they would have once they got farther down. The light of Celestia's sun faded quickly as the trio descended deeper into the dark, eventually snuffing out all outside light after a few turns in the tunnel. They strode as quickly as they could without making much sound, which was hard enough on its own considering this place seemed to magnify even the smallest sound times one hundred.

Luckily they reached an opening sooner rather than later and Daybreak was able to extinguish his light. Given that the room they were in was full of its own, eerie green light, Daybreak easily surmised that this was definitely the new Changeling hive. A few feet ahead, there was an obvious path leading to the next room, which he eagerly followed. They came upon an entrance chamber, but it seemed almost insulting to call it such, even Daybreak had to admire the artistic beauty that this hive had now. The room was filled with eerie green light that retracted off the black crystals lining the walls, the green sacks that housed the few changelings sleeping were covered in crystals as well. The whole room was the epitome of creepy beauty in Daybreaks opinion. This was actually one of the few reasons why he was planning on letting Queen Chrysalis live...at this moment, he had no problem strolling in and murdering this whole hive in a blind rage, but the queen had wanted peace. She had just bucked up and was now stuck with Sombra whether she wanted him or not. In his mind, Chrysalis would be spared, any other in his way would not, simple as that.

As the trio made their way into the "throne room" of the hive, they could make out a large number of drones gathered around two overly large thrones. Daybreak and grabbed the two mares and pulled them behind a large crystal to avoid any detection by the drones. He poked his head around the crystal hoping to get a better view of the thrones. It wasn't hard to spot the bright red cloak that adorned Sombra's armor, even in this lighting and, Daybreak was pleased to see, Sombra's left eye was still seared shut from their battle. He felt a ping of satisfaction as a smug sneer made its way across his face. He could see Sombra and Chrysalis fairly easily, enough to the point he could make out their basic expressions. King Sombra looked as he always did, pleased beyond measure with an evil smile stretched across his muzzle, Chrysalis on the other hand, did not seem to share the his mood. And it only seemed to get worse for her as the drone Daybreak had allowed to escape came running through the crowd to approach the throne.

"Let's get closer, I wanna hear what they're saying" Daring nudged his ribs and pointed to several more crystal they could hide behind much closer to the throne.

Daybreak nodded and they moved up, staying hidden behind crystals as much as possible, barely coming out except to dart to another set of crystals. Luckily none of the drones seemed to take any notice, and soon the trio was within decent earshot of the thrones, they could also tell their expressions much better than before, and they did not look good. Sombra's expression seemed to be fading as the drone recounted what had happened

"...and then he grabbed up leader by his throat and crushed his neck..."

"And how did you escape?" Queen Chrysalis seemed somewhat concerned about this drones fate, while Sombra sat in silence

"I...I fled Queen...when he grasped up leader, I ran, he already thought me dead, so I took off and made it back here before he could stop me and..."

King Sombra held up his hoof to silence the drone, who fell quiet instantly. Sombra was clearly trying to keep a calm demeanor, but it was obvious to Daybreak, who had spent enough time around Cadence to read emotions like that, Sombra's anger was reaching a boiling point.

"Did it ever occur to you...that he simply allowed you escape?"

The drone looked as though he'd been slapped, clearly that was enough of an answer but Sombra waited anyways

"N-no my King...why would-"

"WHY INDEED!"

Sombra's patience had finally reached its climax, he stood from his throne and screeched at the drone. Daybreak' would have called it the 'Royal Canterlot Voice' but it was to dark and hoarse sounding, it nevertheless carried the same effect though as the drone cowered back in fear.

"WHY WOULD HE ALLOW YOU TO ESCAPE?! LET US THINK FOR A MOMENT...MAYBE BECAUSE HE KNEW YOU WOULD RUN STRIGHT BACK HERE LIKE A FRIGHTENED ANIMAL? MAYBE BECASUE I MURDERED HIS WIFE AND HE SEEKS REVENGE?! I CERTAINLY THINK THAT IS A LOGICAL ASSUMPTION! THE SCAR ON MY LEFT EYE CERTAINLY AGREES! AND NOW YOU'RE STUPIDITY MAY HAVE LED HIM STRAIGHT TO US! WELL...WHAT DO YOU AVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

"M-my Lord...I'm s-sorry...please forgive me.."

"I do.."

"W-what?"

"I do forgive you...I will be merciful"

The drones expression relaxed, he had been spared. King Sombra's horn ignited in a black fiery blaze, and within seconds the drone was engulfed in the same such blaze. It's scream of pain echoed across the walls as it's body became nothing but ash. The other drones seemed stunned and Chrysalis rounded on the King

"You said you'd be merciful, you said you forgave him!"

"That was merciful...I could have done much worse"

Daybreak's gave dropped, he had suspected that would happen, but it was still quite a thing to see. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do seemed much more shocked than he was. Their faces were his queue to finally end this asshole once and for all!

He ignited his body in yellow flames and tagged out!

It's your turn now Solar, let's make him pay for what he's done...but first, let me talk to him"

"Fine, your words, my body, once you little 'talk' is done I'm in control though, right?"

"Yes"

"Just remember Daybreak...don't ever say you weren't warned..by myself included"

"I know"

His body in full form, he strode out from behind the crystal to face the King. Not like he had to try hard to be noticed, he was the brightest thing in the whole damn cave. The drones noticed him instantly, but parted ways without a fight, forming ranks to allow him to pass by. King Sombra's anger seemed to vanish as he laid eyes on Daybreak, and his serious look was replaced with a smirk. Daybreak stopped at the foot of the throne and pointed at the King, staring him dead in the eyes with his fiery, soul piercing stare.

"King Sombra...It's time for you to die!"

The Cavelry Arrives!...At the the wrong time...

Ever since the beginning of history, there has always been an unmistakable calm before a major conflict. These calms range from wars to simple stand offs between enemies. A moment where every side involved takes a sigh of relief, or a moment to reflect on their life and how it came to this point. Determining if every decision that lead them to this point was the right one. This time was no different...Daybreak/Solar stood pointing at the Sombra, waiting for his response, but no pony moved, every being in the chamber was either lost for words, or too shocked to react. Sombra stared at him for several moments, waiting, perhaps, for the golden demi-god to lower his finger or make some move of aggression. But he never did, and so both parties sat staring at each other. Upon realizing his enemy was waiting for some kind of response from him, a sneer curled up Sombra's lips

"You're here to kill me then? Really? You're just gonna stroll up and kill me? What will you do if I don't fight back I wonder? I doubt you have the heart to-"

The explosion that came seconds later drowned out whatever the king had been saying. Both thrones were ripped apart in a fiery blaze, sending Chrysalis and the surrounding drones flying into the crowd below! The queen and those surrounding her connected with the crowd, sending the entire rank and file order of the changelings into chaos, which was just what Solar had wanted. The drones below the destroyed thrones, scattered about like bees whose hive had been shaken. Solar simply strode down from the destroyed chairs into the crowd, looking for Sombra. He was not foalish enough to think that such a simple attack would have killed the King. He had sensed his attack connect, but he also sensed a quick barrier had been made at the last possible moment, so he could only assume that Sombra had been blown into the crowd below.

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were easily discernable from the crowd of scrambling drones, Solar approached them with haste, knocking and punting several drones from his path along the way at his leisure.

"Where is Sombra, did either of you see where he went?"

Both mares shook their heads, Solar had expected as much

"Stay together and find a way out.."

The roof above their heads exploding in black fire interrupted their brief conversation. Solar blasted the two mares away, none to lightly, and dove, just as the rubble found his former position. The mares coughed and sputtered in annoyance, having their fur partially singed by Solar's magic was nowhere near pleasant, despite it having saved their lives. Rainbow Dash took her gaze upwards where the roof of the cave had previously been. She now saw only the bright rays of sunshine indicating an exit.

"Found one"

He ignored Rainbows smart remark and searched around for the King, knowing he only would have made that hole to try and escape again. Quickly spotting his target making a dash for the exit, Solar took off in full sprint, pursuing the King through the crowd of scrambling drones.

"Come on...Rainbow...we gotta go before this place comes down!" Daring tugged against Rainbow's mane, pulling her eyes away from the pursuit unfolding within the hive.

"We should help him Daring...it's why we're here"

"We were here to make sure he got to Sombra, not to help him fight...we can't get involved in a fight of that scale, we'll only be in the way" She had her teeth on Rainbow's tail now, and was pulling her away from the scene and falling debris, towards the massive exit hole that hundreds of drones were now fleeing through.

"Rainbow if we don't get outside we'll be crushed, then what good will we be to him"

That seemed to do the trick, the mare shook her head and flared her wings

"Uh...Right let's go!"

She rocketed towards the exit with Daring close behind! Dodging falling debris seemed to have become a special talent of theirs just by necessity alone. The mares barely dodge the occasional boulder that decided to be larger than they were, but soon enough they broke through the layer of dust and bounced against the dirt ridden ground above. The rolled over away from the slowly expanding hole in the ground and watched as tons more drones exploded outwards into the air, then crashed into the cliff face or were temporarily blinded by the sun, causing most of them to crash just like Rainbow and Daring. They could only assume Chrysalis was among that horde fleeing the tunnel, because they never actually laid eyes on her.

Nearly all the drones stayed in the same general location, even the ones that crashed or hurtled out of the hole at top speed, returned to the group that was gathering several yards back from the expanding ground.

Daring pointed to a small cliff slightly overlooking the hole where they could see what happened safely, without being too far away to assist if needed. Rainbow nodded and followed her up, the drones were clearly to preoccupied with whatever was happening below to care about the two mares.

They had barely settled themselves when another explosion ripped apart most of the remaining ground in the chasm. Several drones who were too close were either blow away somewhere, or plummeted through the hole for an unforeseen amount of time. Following the explosion, golden flames erupted from beneath the hole and shot into the sky! King Sombra emerged from the hole and crashed through the drones surrounding it, skidding forward in the dirt, catching himself, and breaking into a full sprint, in the opposite direction, toward the exit of the chasm into the grassy plains. The drones who weren't knocked over seemed confused as to what had happened, seconds later when Solar emerged from the fiery hole looking like the embodiment of all things demonic, and took off after Sombra, they seemed to gather it for themselves...King Sombra was getting his flank kicked, and was now running for his life!

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash took only a few seconds to recover from their shock, and, along with the rest of the changelings, then instantly take off in full pursuit of the fleeing pair.

.....

The king emerged from the rocky gorge to the grassy plains, thinking that the open prairie would serve as a better fighting ground for him than the terrible monster now pursuing him. As prairies normally lead to forests, and Sombra was certain that he could lose Solar in a forest if he had to flee and become a shadow once again. Unfortunately for him, this grassy plain was very small and very short, it stretched for about the length of Ponyville town square, then dropped off into, what looked like, an endless canyon of rocky abyss.

If he wasn't forced by his own pride to maintain his appearance as a king, Sombra's ears might have dropped down in fear. No forest, meant no escape, that meant he had to face the monster currently barreling toward him at an unbelievable speed. The king turned a 180 and filled himself with his dark powers, allowing hatred and fear to fuel his horn as he faced down the snarling beast that was Solar Eclipse, speeding towards him, drawing ever closer. He began to form barrier of crystalline dark magic between him and the oncoming Solar, the barrier extended several spikey appendages outward, daring anypony to try and pass through it.

"I am King Sombra, Ruler of the Crystal Empire, and I shall destroy any who stand in my way!"

.....

Solar was not halted by the King's pointless war cry, he continued on his charge towards the fearful prey, and in one magnificent leap...he smashed straight through Sombra's barrier, tackling him into the ground. Several shards of sharp crystal stuck into Solar's chest, but he paid them no mind as he felt his claws tighten around the kings neck. He stared deep into the soulless eyes that were King Sombra and watched in cruel amusement as the dark unicorn struggled to breathe beneath his grasp. He slowly tightened his hold on the kings throat, taking sweet pleasure as he felt neck veins pulse into his fingers. He bared his fangs to the struggling king and hissed in his ear, though it was more than loud enough for all those around them to hear.

"So this is the true face of a king, a ruler, in his final moments...coward...you look your gonna cry...do you truly fear death so much? Or maybe...maybe you fear that black abyss of nothingness...maybe you know that somepony like you is destined for Tartarus...That look of fear in your eyes right now...do you even know how many ponies you've made experience what you're feeling? You're the kind of monster I have no problem crushing from existence, as you shall now experience..."

Sombra hacked several times against the tightening grip around his throat, but someone managed to cough out a few gasps of laughter.

"Ha *cough*...You think I'm the monster here...you...you're worse than I ever was, and you know it...You've done the same things I have, the only difference is...unlike me...you just haven't claimed your throne yet-"

Crunch!

Solar felt his claws sink into and passed the kings neck as he crushed his bones into toothpicks beneath his claws. Solar stared at the blank expression on Sombra's face, enjoying the fear the was his last expression.

His sneer of victory vanished in an instant, for seconds later, smoky black tendrils erupted from the ground and bound themselves around Solar. Looking down he growled in anger as the kings body dissolved into a smoky shadow, and reformed right in front of him. The King's armor formed after his body had fully regenerated and attached itself to his skin with a sickening clank! He sneered at Solar

"So much for your grand scheme of vengeance eh?"

Solar did not so much as blink at the King, but nevertheless his golden flames erupted from beneath the ground, appearing to spawn from the same source as Sombra's tendrils. They snaked there way up through Solar's bindings, and vaporize them back into nothingness.

"Why won't you just stay dead already!?" Solar snarled at his snickering enemy

"What, and miss this chance to reclaim my throne? Never!"

They both moved simultaneously, Solar bringing up his hands, and Sombra arching his horn, towards each other. They each expelled a wave of power towards the other with such force, that the impact of them connecting shook and cracked the ground beneath them! Green fire met black energy and seemed to split the world apart!

"What is it with you and fire? Green fire, golden fire, can't you do anything else with all that magic, or was the knowledge of the book too much for your petty mind to handle?"

Solar reached outwards and, quite literally, grasped hold of his green flames as it traveled from his other hand, then pulled it downwards, slamming their magical duel into the earth and cutting off both of their streams. Sombra staggered slightly from the pull and was barely able to dive away in time as Solar appeared in front of him and swung his claws for the King's throat.

Sombra was already counterattacking before he even finished rolling away! Before he came to his feet, several large black crystals shot upwards from below and fired at Solar like bullets.

Not even bothering to move away, Solar held out his palm as though to catch the on coming shards. However as they reached his body, each seemed to explode into glassy sand. Solar spun his arms in front of his body, causing the small pile of glass to gather like a miniature tornado. Solar directed the stream at Sombra, who, without missing a beat, materialized a wall of crystal in front of his form, causing the wind blown attack to blast apart against it.

Solar snarled and began to erect twin golden blades from the ground. The tips of both had small flames burning on the ends of each.

"Really? This again? Your memory must be as bad as your marriage...and considering your current situation...well..." The sneer that followed only fueled Solar's hatred for the king that much more as he grasped the handles of both and charged!

Three scythes burst forth from the ground to defend their king from Solar's attack. As he swung for Sombra's head, the king parried with the first scythe while using the second to sweep at Solar's feet. Solar quickly warped behind the king and went for a killing jab to his kidney, but was once again parried, by the third scythe appearing in his path. Solar jumped away and crossed his blades in an X across his torso, assuming a basic guarding stance he had watched some unicorns use. Sombra's crackling laughter served as fuel for Solar's burning flames, but he did not dare allow it to distract him. He knew Sombra wanted him to charge, and knowing from their past battle, the skill Sombra possessed, a charge would be unwise.

"Why don't you just tell me where the Crystal Heart is, so I can be on my way? I'm a busy king and it's pretty clear that despite your

power boost, you're still no match for me."

"The Heart is safely out of your reach, so why don't you focus on me, after all...by the time this is over, the Crystal Heart won't be the one your worried about" He inflamed the tips of his blades brighter for extra emphasis.

Sombra merely smirked and began to walk toward Solar, ever so subtly curving his walk. Solar could tell he was trying to circle him like prey, so that his scythe would have a better angle and he would be off balance. Solar shot the same smirk right back and followed the circular motion. The pair now circled each other, both daring the other to strike first, but Solar knew better. In swordplay, the one who strikes first is usually the most eager or impatient. Both of those could be taken advantage of, and Solar felt both feelings right now...plus, he knew Sombra's tendencies of impatience were much worse than his just from watching him inside the cave briefly.

Adding that to the fact that he knew the only way to get the upper hand on the King was through a counter strike, he felt much more comfortable waiting on Sombra's patience to run dry before continuing. He wanted him dead so badly...but he knew that his bloodlust would get him killed if he was not careful.

They continued to circle each other for endless minutes that dragged on for eternity, dwindling down the patience of many changelings, but also making them sloppy. So it was no surprise that Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were able to sneak so close to the fight without being detected. They were within 50 feet of the stand off, hidden behind a conveniently fallen tree, watching with great intensity for any moment where they might be able to assist.

Solar watched the King's hooves, hoping for a sign of his next move, waiting for the simplest thing to slip him up or cause an opening which Solar could exploit. But Sombra wasn't having it, each of his steps were as precise and accurate as the last. He stepped over and around his own hooves without tripping, keeping his eyes locked on Solar's torso.

Solar analyzed everything the King did as he walked; from the amount of milliseconds it took him for each step, to which foot he picked up and dropped first. Anything and everything that might give him helpful info on the king, no matter minor it seemed, was of interest to Solar's eyes.

Solar barely had time to react as the attack came, the first scythe missing his head by mere centimeters as he ducked. The second came and forced him to drop into a roll towards the King to avoid being severed in half. He came up right into the third scythe and only managed to keep his head by pushing the blade of is own sword against his neck just as Sombra's scythe found it. The strike knocked him several feet away, and left a deep (self inflicted) gash on Solar's neck. His blade had missed anything important, but the bleeding was nevertheless annoying. Sombra resumed his position with a mocking smirk, his three blades of death daring Solar forward.

"That was an impressive way to defend yourself, I'll give you that. I would have never thought to practically cut my own head off to block another from doing the same" the sarcasm embedded in Sombra's voice was very unwelcome to Solar and only served to piss him of more, if that was even possible.

"By the way...how does that sting? I can't imagine that those flames on your sword are just for show.."

Unfortunately Sombra was right, the fire around Solar's swords had a side effect which he was now finding very annoying. Although his wound had cauterized almost instantly, it was now causing an unending sting in his neck that refused to leave him be. He felt as though he was being zapped by a thunder cloud every couple of seconds, and it was severely limiting his concentration.

What he didn't understand was how he had not seen Sombra's attack coming, even he had to move around in some type of motion to move his blades, yet Solar had never seen his hooves move until the attack was already upon him.

His thoughts were broken by another scythe coming for his head, Solar ducked and dove himself backwards

"What again?! But his hooves never moved!"

He came up and by pure instinct, positioned his right hand blade to defend his back. This saved his life as the second scythe connected with his sword, causing both blades to slide over one another. Solar caught Sombra's movement in his left corner eye at the last moment and mimicked it. Both blades attempted to hook downwards against each other causing a brief parry that knocked Solar's blade free from his hand.

Solar stole a glance at Sombra and saw the third scythe was absent. The millisecond decision to press the attack rather than attempt to locate the third blade, seemed to take forever in his head.

Solar dove forward into a role as though diving for the King, as he tucked, he aimed and threw his blade straight for Sombra's head. Propelled by his magic, the blade sliced through the air without falter. Sombra's general surprise was shown with a frightened yelp as he ducked his head and glanced after the blade, to ensure it did not circle and return.

The King realized his mistake too late, as he returned his gaze forward, Solar was already upon him and coming at him with an uppercut from below.

Solar saw that Sombra could not escape in time and knew his attack would connect, effectively crippling Sombra, then he would finish him in a fiery blaze of death, a funeral fit for a king (pun intended). As his fist connected with the bottom of Sombra's jaw, Solar's vision suddenly erupted into white light and a searing pain found its way into his skull. Nevertheless he kept his follow through and pushed his fist through the attack, then immediately collapsed to the ground in blinding pain as the King was propelled up and back away from him.

Solar grasped his head in pain and shook the stars from his eyes. His vision fluttered back to normal and he saw the object of his new headache. The butt end of the third scythe had jabbed him in the face, were he not in so much pain, the very thought of such a strike would have made him laugh. Luckily it seemed Sombra had faired no better, Solar spotted him lying several feet away, very dazed and unable to successfully make it to his feet.

Head still throbbing, Solar wobbled to his feet, once he had steadied himself he walked over to where the King was spread eagle on the ground. As Sombra heard him approach, he rolled over and attempted to stand but his body said no, and his hooves gave out the moment he was right side up. Solar stood over King Sombra with a satisfied smirk on his face, the King hated him for thinking he had won

"A blow under the jaw, instantly crippling to just about anypony who isn't ready for it, and you weren't ready"

"Neither were you.."

"What do you..?"

Solar's senses screamed a warning, he reacted instantly, diving into a backflip he watched in slow motion as the scythe traveled under his belly in mid air, missing him, once again, by mere inches. The blade flew past him and impaled itself into Sombra's back as he tried to turn away, propelling the surprised king backwards several more feet. Solar landed upon his feet, more surprised than anything and thanked his mother that he had such acute sense.

Solar strode over to the king once more, watching as he writhed in pain, impaled by his own blade onto the grassy dirt. Were it anypony else he would have felt pity for them and possibly removed the curved blade. Sombra was an exception though, he wanted to see him die this time, and make sure he did not just turn into smoke again. The king's eyes showed real pain, and Solar spotted actual blood seeping from both ends of the wound. He put his foot against Sombra's ribs and pushed him onto his side, revealing that the blade had indeed pierced him straight through. In fact, it seemed that most of blade had shoved itself through the front side of his chest. Solar was sure that if it had not been a curved weapon, it might have gone straight through him completely.

"Killed by your own weapon...pathetic. This was your weakness all along? Your own sick, dark magic? Had I known that from the beginning..."

Solar felt a surge of grief in his gut, but knew it was not he who was feeling it...he did know why it was there though. Celestia had been right...goddess that sucked...Daybreak hadn't needed him at all to defeat Sombra after all. That meant everything they had done to get here was pointless...

Shaking his head aggressively, Solar returned his mind to the present situation. He would have plenty of time to worry about his fate later. For now he needed to ensure Sombra died, permanently this time.

Extending his hand outwards, a small ball of hot energy began to form within his grasp. The swirling mass formed and contracted in his hand, shaping itself into, what appeared to be, an extremely miniature...sun. Sombra's eyes widened in fear, even he must have been able to tell what would come next. Solar reached down and grasped his claws firmly around the King's throat, lifting up to eye level. The scythe stayed embedded within the Kings chest and Solar was careful to give it some distance from his own as he held Sombra to his face.

"Look at me" He hissed at the King.

He could see bits of blood dripping from within Sombra's fangs, and his eyes seemed to be glassing over. But nevertheless Sombra looked him in the eyes. Solar held the small sun up to Sombra's face, making sure he could see it clearly.

"This is your death my king, my only true regret is that it didn't come to you sooner, and that Daybreak needed me to do it."

He pulled his hand back, firmly grasping the sun in his palm...and the world erupted into a blinding white light. Solar nearly dropped Sombra in surprise, but kept a firm grip in case, although it was clear he was not causing it either, as the King shut his eyes in pain. Solar looked towards the source of the magic light and found he could not believe his eyes.

The Crystal Heart was floating in the air, hovering above the very spot on the Cliffside, where Solar had last made it vanish, safely hidden within a pocket dimension. If that wasn't weird enough, it was spinning rapidly, and causing a small little bubble to form around itself. the bubble expanded outwards at the pace of each spin the heart made (in other words pretty damn fast). Solar, and the struggling King within his grasp, watched as the bubble expanded outwards, engulfing the cliff side. Then with a small pop it vanished, leaving four ponies standing in its place, one of them holding the Crystal heart.

Solar could not believe his eyes as he stared at the mare at point in the group of four. He could never mistake that purple coat anywhere, but at the same time it seemed impossible...

"Twilight..."

Solar was so distracted he had forgotten about Sombra...until he felt two pairs of hooves wrap around his chest, and pull forward. Solar's eyes went wide as his body erupted into blinding pain, he found Sombra's eyes staring directly into his, an evil grin spread across his face. Solar looked down and saw the merciless blade that now extended from Sombra's chest into his own. Sombra sneered him, then to Solar's horror, became a shadow once more and appeared in front of him, the wound his scythe had made, completely gone.

Solar stumbled forward and collapsed to his knees, and watched as the scythe also evaporated from his body...but the wound did not. He looked up and saw the blade hovering inches above him, Sombra's mocking smile still ever present. Solar saw the blade drop, felt the blinding pain pierce his back, and heard the voice of a mare screaming his name...then his world went black.

(Sub Chapter) Fun With Portals

1 Hour Earlier

.....

"This, is how we can get to Daybreak"

The ponies stared blankly at Cadence, who beamed, gesturing at the former security system floor as though it should be obvious.

"Umm Cadence...I don't think anypony but you understands why this will help"

"Hm? What really?"

She looked around at their confused expressions and giggled

"Oops, sorry. Everypony in the Crystal empire knows about this place now, I keep forgetting none of you have been here, even Twilight hasn't come back up here since we defeated Sombra..."

She gestured to the pad which formerly held the Crystal Heart

"This pad on the floor used to have a security spell in it. It was designed, as Twilight remembers I'm sure, to activate should anypony approach the heart."

Twilight nodded her head vigorously, clearly intrigued but still not seeing how that helped

"The thing is, even King Sombra knew somepony might discover the Heart and defeat his security system, or simply have another pony with them...so he laced a second spell into this pad..."

Cadence ushered them forward with her hoof. They quickly gathered around the pad and watched as she dipped her horn to its surface, gently tapping it with the tip of her horn, causing a small spark to jump from her to the pad. The spark spread out along the surface of the design and pulsed a small beam from the center. The beam hovered in the air, then began expanding, it expanded outwards until it covered the entire pad, causing Twilight, Trixie and Aecious to retreat back several paces.

As the hovering pool of magic finished its quick transformation, the three ponies returned to their positions and peered into its depths. Inside the pool, a cliff side was visible, peering out over a vast canyon that clearly stretched on for miles, except for a tiny bit of grassy prairie just below the cliff.

"Where's that?" Twilight pointed at the pool with a confused expression, indicating that she too, did not recognize it.

"Beats me" Cadence replied "But wherever it is, that is the Crystal hearts current location. If it moves the portal will change too"

"This is a portal?" Twilight retracted her hoof back, clearly having been about to touch it

"Yes, Sombra knew if anypony stole the heart he would be vulnerable, so he laced a portal spell in after the security spell to take him directly to it...but he never got to use it, so it's just been dormant since then."

It was hard to tell who beamed brighter, Trixie or Twilight, but both mares immediately made for the portal with surprising speed.

"Hold it!" Cadence caught both their tails with her magic, halting them from touching the portal

"We still have one problem.."

"What nooooow" Twilight groaned in a whine that almost made Cadence giggle.

"We need somepony to stay behind"

"Why"

"Well unless you all fancy flying back (she eyed Trixie especially) from who knows where in Equestria this is..." she gestured back at the portal "We need somepony with magic to stay behind and keep this open"

"I don't see how this is a problem"

Cadence went wide eyed at hearing Twilight say that so bluntly

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's obvious isn't it...you should stay behind Cadence, this is your Empire anyways, you need to stay and protect it in case..."

Her mind jumped back to her visions, causing her to wince slightly

"...in case something happens.."

Cadence looked relieved

"Well I guess that settles that...you can head through now-"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaait!"

The shout came from the stairs...suddenly the door burst open allowing Shining Star, Spitfire, and the rest of the Wonderbolts to spill into the room, each toppling over the other trying to get through first. Shining jumped forward from the mass of tangled wings the quickest

"We are coming too!"

"What?!" Both Twilight and Cadence gasped in unison

Spitfire was next to free herself from her team and found her way next to Shining

"Yeah, we owe it to Rainbow Dash and Daybreak to rescue their flanks. Besides if they are fighting King Sombra, they'll need all the help they can get right? I hear he's a pretty bad dude.."

Twilight made to speak, but Cadence silenced her with a hoof in the mouth

"Look, as much as we'd love to send all of you, we can't"

Spitfire raised an eyebrow at the Princess, something Twilight found rather annoying

"Look.." she said, once again gesturing at the shimmering portal

"..this thing was meant to be used by only Sombra, it won't stay open for long after more than one pony travels through...if we are lucky we can fit maybe five before it shuts...and that's if they are quick"

Spitfire and Shining looked back at Soarin and the team, they each exchanged quick glances, then turned back to Cadence

"Alright, just me and Shining Star then"

Still looking a bit apprehensive, Cadence nodded

"Ok...nothing ventured nothing gained, as they say..."

Shining quickly approached Aecious and gave him a glare

"I'm watching you"

Aecious gave him no response, simply choosing to ignore and approach the portal entrance with the others. Cadence had them all gather and get ready to jump in, one pony after the other. She positioned Twilight first and Trixie right after, those two had to make it through more than anypony else, Twilight for Daybreak, and Trixie to keep Twilight standing. Next was Aecious, Shining Star, then Spitfire last.

Twilight glanced to Cadence, she gave a nod signaling Twilight to go, then she jumped! She vanished upon contact and the portal began to shimmer, Trixie jumped through straight behind her. There was a brief halt after Trixie, Aecious was about to jump, but then the portal lurched around and began to shrink rapidly. Aecious went wide eyed and jumped through quickly, the portal shrank even more and barely remained pony sized, still continuing to shrink. Shining Star dove and just barely made it through, Spitfire dove straight after him, but the portal vanished the next moment. Spitfire rolled across the floor, and came up with an annoyed expression across her muzzle.

"I thought it could hold five?"

Cadence flushed "I said maybe five...they're on their own now...let's hope for the best"

Truthful Visions

Her world had ended...that was the only possible explanation for what she saw, the only thing that would make sense of the scene unfolding below. Twilight stood, overlooking the cliff edge as her companions formed behind her. She watched as Daybreak had turned to see her almost the moment she had appeared...then her world had shattered. She watched as Sombra had wrapped his hooves around Daybreaks chest and impaled them both, then appeared in front of him like nothing had happened. She had wanted to look away, but watched on helplessly as Sombra had brought his blade down into Daybreaks back, shoving both into the dirt. Daybreaks aura had evaporated as he dropped, and Twilight desperately waited for him to rise...but he did not. He stayed face down in the dirt, his necklace sprawled out in front of him as the king merely chuckled and walked past him, his cape dragging over Daybreaks body. The kings eyes locked onto hers, and she found the ability to move once more. She screamed in fury, her wings flared outwards to match her anger, then she ran and dove over the cliff, rocketing herself towards Sombra!

Trixie and the rest of her friends who had also witnessed the scene unfold, suddenly remembered that they too could move and began to act. Aecious was the first one to notice the Crystal Heart resting neatly on the ground, for he too, was unable to look at the scene playing out down below, he managed to hide the small tears that formed in his eyes as he reached out and grasped up the Heart in his hooves.

"Don't even think about running off with that!"

Shining Star seemed to materialize next to him the moment he touched it. Aecious gave him a glare, after making sure his face was free of water

"Really?....Honestly...I mean come on, do you really think I'd come all the way out here just to steal this?"

"No...I think you're the shadiest one here and I don't know what you really want, so I'm just covering all the bases of general distrust"

Rolling his eyes, Aecious nudged Trixie and motioned at the heart in his hooves

"This is what he really wants, regardless of what happens, we must make sure he does not get his hooves on the heart."

It seemed only fitting that the moment the words left Aecious' lips, a small horde of changelings decided to rain down next to them and make a grab for the crystal.

"Fan-bucking-tastic" Shining Star whined as he gave the first one who approached, a swift buck to the face "Changelings...it had to be changelings"

"Deal with it!" Aecious replied, sweep kicking a pair of the drones off their hooves.

The small horde that seemed to invade their cliff side grew slightly, as more of the insectoids rained around them. Aecious grabbed one around the neck, then swiftly lifted and threw him into an oncoming pair successfully knocking them back. Three more quickly approached him from the right and he narrowly avoided being bitten by their sharp fangs as they lunged out for him. He summersaulted away, then caught himself in the air with his wings, and propelled himself back at them. Not seeing the quick switch from retreat to attack coming, they were caught off guard as Aecious smashed his skull into the closest drones ribs, then sent him crashing into the other two.

Several more approached and surrounded him on all sides and began trying to smack him around inside their circle. The first one to reach out for him was the most unlucky. He grabbed the drone by the hoof and swung him like a baseball bat into the next closest. Fighting the endless drone horde, all while keeping the Crystal Heart within his grasp was becoming extremely difficult, as he kept having to switch the hoof carrying it so he could defend himself.

As he swapped the heart to his right hoof and slammed a drone attempting to bite him, into the dirt, one came at him from his right flank. He didn't have the time to change hooves as another came for his front, he grabbed the first one by the neck with his free hoof, then used it to push himself back at the flanker. Although the drone hadn't expected it, he reacted too well for Aecious to out maneuver him, and ended up tackling the pegasus to the ground and attempting to swipe and bite at his neck. Aecious moved and ducked his neck out of the reach of its jaws, while trying to swipe its own clawed hooves away from his face. The next snap of jaws came too close and he reacted by shoving the Heart into its mouth, forcing it to stay open. He saw several others quickly approaching his position, he knew he could not beat them back effectively while pinned under this drone, but he saw no easy way out without sacrificing a limb to be bitten and poisoned. He had learned from past experience changeling fangs had a numbing poison in them meant to help subdue foes.

As he struggled under the weight of his current problem, Aecious saw the new on comers suddenly swept away by a huge blast of wind. Then, just as suddenly, a random rope appeared and snaked its way around his current attacker, then pulled it off him. He was quickly on his hooves as the drone was hog tied ad tossed away. He quickly caught Trixie's eyes as she stood a few feet away and winked at him

"Your welcome"

He grimaced...great...now he owed her.

Her gloating caused her to nearly be struck by another attacker, but Aecious flying-kicked it away with the help of his wings, at the last moment. He quickly turned and gave her the smuggest look he could muster

"Your welcome"

She fumed and took it out on their next attackers, who quickly found them selves hanging upside down in the air as Aecious smacked them around one by one.

Hearing a quick yelp, Aecious and Trixie turned, then ran to assist Shining Star who was bravely, but stupidly, wrestling off and fighting with, a good ten to fifteen drones at once.

.....

Twilight's fury towards Sombra became unbottled like a hurricane from Tartarus as she flew towards him. Her hell-fire stare bore straight into Sombra's eyes, so much so, that he could see the hatred boiling before she ever reached him. She smashed into the ground approximately ten feet from the king, sending out a wave of jet black, fiery aura. She stood from her small crater, her eyes blazing with black flames curling against the edges of her eye lashes. All the pain in her body from Sombra's curse was replaced by a bottomless feeling of hatred and a desire to destroy the King!

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, who had recently moved out of there cover to assist in fighting the changelings, watched as Twilight advanced on Sombra, a crazed, homicidal rage etched across her face. Rainbow could never imagine somepony like Twilight wearing such a look, the only comparison she could make was back to when she had thought she missed a deadline for the Princess that never existed in the first place. This however was a whole new level for the purple mare, and were they not currently surrounded by changelings, Rainbow would have run to assist her friend without hesitation.

Sombra felt no fear build inside him as the alicorns power rolled off her and touched his senses. He felt the weight of her might sweep over him, it felt like lead had been placed upon his back, making it difficult to stand straight and tall. Yet despite these feelings and the power he could sense from her, he was still unafraid. Her power was pure rage, and it was uncontrolled, she would not be much of a threat in such a state. Add to that, he could tell that hers was a much less power than Daybreak's had been previously. Although Daybreak hadn't tried using the king's own power against him until the very end, so this could still be a potentially interesting fight, but he was unconcerned, as he still knew the end result would not change regardless.

"Sombra!"

The purple alicorns voice was filled with venom, the king found it amusing, but nevertheless could feel the power behind it.

"I'm going to send you to Tartarus!" her rage sent droplets of magic literally dripping off her horn and scalding the ground beneath her hooves.

"Oh really? I find that hard to be-"

Crash!

Before his sentence was even finished, Sombra felt himself smashed into the ground, crushed under the weight of what felt like a small mountain, but he knew it was only a magically increased boulder....nevertheless it hurt like hell! The king reappeared as a shadow and took solid form, but other than that, he was given no chance to retaliate. The moment he was solid, the ground opened up beneath him, seemingly to fall to his death, but before he could, it smashed against him instead. He was pinned into the ground with only his head sticking above the dirt as the weight of the planet was smashed against him from both sides, holding him firmly in place. His head now spinning in pain as stars danced in his vision, Sombra noticed the outline of Twilight slowly walking towards him.

It wasn't that he was worried for his safety, he was King Sombra after all...but that look in the alicorns eyes, the black flames seemed to fit her better than anypony else, and that maniacal stare she looked at him with, he could swear it was a smile...it certainly made him uncomfortable...if nothing else, he feared her crazed smile more than anything. The mare in question slowly strutted her way towards him, her walk did not suit her body, it was too...content...too calm for such a mare as her, especially given the circumstances. She made it all the way to Sombra's buried form and lowered her head to his. She stared deep into his cold, flaming eyes and he stared right back, but found it difficult not to look away. Her gaze was piercing him like his own crystals would her, and then...she smiled at him. It wasn't a normal smile, it was a broken smile. One that said "I'm bucking crazy now, find me somepony to dismember please". Unfortunately for Sombra, he was the only pony around to be the object of her torment. She winked at him

"I'm going to enjoy this"

There was an almost sultry look in her gaze, not seductive or sex craving, but a kind of weird enjoyment that he did not find comforting at all. Sombra watched as she raised her horn and the black flames rushed to surround it in their veil of dark power. Once it was bursting from the tip with power, she aimed it down at him. Her horn was almost touching the tip of his nose, so close that he went cross eyed trying to focus on it. At that range...her spell would most defiantly destroy even him. The moment she fired he warped away, appearing behind her for a surprise attack. Twilight seemed to have anticipated him because a black force field had already erupted around her, forcing him to back off and wait for her next attack.

The King didn't have to wait long, mere seconds after turning back around to face him, Twilight charged him again. This time though, he was ready. He waited until she was directly upon him, her horns dark blaze mere feet from his face...then he let loose a roar, exploding an energy wave outwards from within his horn! The shockwave propelled Twilight away and shook the ground under their hooves! Twilight quickly struggled to her hooves, but it seemed Sombra was not finished yet, he continued to release energy pulses from within his horn, the force and power growing with each blast. Soon the whole canyon was beginning to shake under the force of his magic! Twilight shook her head, clearing the stars from her eyes from being knocked back yet again by his pulses. She was forced up against the rock face by his waves and was unable to get much distance from it without being knocked right back. She heard a crackling sound and looked above her. The cliffs were beginning to become unstable from all the magic pulses ripping through them. A large boulder broke from its prison and rocketed towards Twilight!

The princess let out a yelp of fear and dove out of range just in time. The boulder shattered into pieces as it struck the grassy, yet surprisingly hard, ground below. Her rage forgotten, she was now more focused on not being crushed by falling debris from this lunatic king...But it seemed like many of her friends were not as aware of the danger as she was.

.....

Aecious felt the ground beneath him give way, he flapped his wings madly and dove for safe ground, grasping a stable piece of cliff side and pulling himself up just in time. The Crystal Heart rolled out of his grasp in his dive and he could now see it sitting a mere few feet away. Finishing his pull onto the cliff he made for the heart with all his speed. A random drone had the misfortune of beating him to it and was instantly soccer kicked back off the cliff. Two more crashed down in front of Aecious inches from the heart, but to his relief they did not rise up, seemingly unconscious from the fall. Aecious quickly shot a glance upward and saw Shining Star grasp two more of the changelings around their necks and summersault throw them back to the ground. Their crash was painful to watch, even for Aecious...intentional or not, he was pretty sure they were dead, although considering the thrower, he doubted it had been intentional. Scooping up the Heart in his hooves he turned to see a large swarm attacking Trixie. She blasted them back with a wave of magic, mocking them as she did so...but her exhaustion was becoming apparent. She was hunching over after each spell, her hat was lopsided and barely still on her head, and her accuracy was slipping dramatically. Had that last attack not been a wave, he was pretty sure it would have missed her targets. She seemed aware of it too, perhaps that was why she was using such attacks.

Aecious galloped to assist the mare, but was intercepted by large squad of his own. Meanwhile, more drones came after Trixie, she avoided their attacks as much as she could, but found it near impossible to strike back. Finally one landed a blow on her face, sending her hat spinning away and knocking her to the ground, dazed. The dog pile was instantaneous, every drone near dove on top of Trixie and attempted to beat on or bite her!

Aecious saw this and yelled for her, but was unable to reach her as his own problem refused to leave him be. He quickly smashed his hoof into the closest drones face and decided to ignore the rest. He spread his wings and took off for Trixie, his hood flying off at his sudden burst of speed. He immediately could tell the other drones were after him, but he didn't care as long as he could smash through and free Trixie. He felt the image of Daybreak being impaled flash across his mind, suddenly his wings surged with strength and he felt the distance between him and the drones ahead close extremely fast.

Before Aecious could smash through the pile of drones on top of Trixie, a large explosion formed and spread from within the mass of insect bodies. Every drone, and Aecious was sent rocketing backwards, many smashed into the rock faces and did not get back up. Aecious was lucky and only skidded against the ground until he could right himself. He brought up his head and saw Trixie standing where the pile had previously been, red magic dominating her eyes and horn, the Alicorn Amulet blazing across her chest!

"What! She brought that with her?!" Aecious was in shock that Trixie would take such a risk bringing something like that near Sombra

With a newly rejuvenated vigor, Trixie snatched up the nearest drones in a red bubble of magic and began to toss them one after the other over the side of the cliff. With little to no effort, she turned, and sent several rays of magic at the nearest drones. With her aim restored to its fullest, her beams met their mark and left many of the changelings as a random assortment of plants. The many drones that had previously surrounded Aecious now turned their attention towards the larger threat at hoof. They sped towards the blue mare, but faired no better than their previous comrades, many of them ending up as small pieces of fruit.

Aecious marveled at Trixie's newfound might, he had never seen the Alicorn Amulet in action before, and now that he saw just how powerful it could truly make a unicorn, he almost regretted telling Trixie of its whereabouts. Although at the current moment it seemed to be saving their flanks, so he didn't mind so much.

Trixie defeated the rest of the drones in a matter of minutes, giving Aecious and Shining Star a moment to relax. Their moment was, unfortunately, cut short as the cliff side they were standing on began to start crumbling away again. Another wave of magic tore through the ground beneath their hooves. Aecious was forced to take to the air as the ground below him gave way and fell to the canyon below...right towards where Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were fighting!

.....

A flash of rainbow flew by her mane as Daring Do turned to see several changeling drones that had previously been behind her, hit the ground with loud thumps. Rainbow Dash darted back and forth between the ranks of the changelings, swatting them around like they were play things. Daring Do actually had to struggle to beat her mare to any of the drones, she found it oddly hot to watch her special somepony beat the snot out of an army of insect-like creatures. It was just one of those things you can't help but be turned on by, no matter how odd it really was.

Daring grabbed the closest drone by the legs and tossed him into the swarm that Rainbow was headed for, successfully knocking them apart before she ever reached them.

"Sttttttrike!" Daring pumped her hoof into the air as Rainbow landed next to her.

She turned to high hoof her mare, but stopped in her tracks as she caught wind of her expression. There wasn't a hint of happiness in it, but there was plenty of anger. Daring could see Rainbow's eyes darting around, presumably to find another drones to beat into the dirt. She hadn't even begun to consider how Rainbow might have been feeling right then, she did feel guilty about it now. They had just jumped right into the fray the moment Twilight had shown up, Daring had never gotten a chance to say anything to Rainbow about Daybreak. Not that she would know what to say in the first place, she was used to watching allies fall, it came with her job. Other than Rainbow Dash, Daring could watch just about anypony fall without it changing her.

Rainbow Dash was much different though, she hadn't lived her life around death and destruction...ok maybe destruction, but not death. Daring could only imagine how she must be feeling inside right now, she couldn't say any words that would fix it, but perhaps she should try...

Daring reached her hoof out for Rainbow's shoulder "Rainbow Dash.."

Rainbow turned and brushed her hoof away before it landed "There's more coming, let's go"

Simple, blunt, to the point, direct...straight up. No matter how she phrased it to herself it had been an emotionless remark to her that was only meant to inform, not damage. Yet somehow Daring found her body unwilling or unable to move as Rainbow Dash flew towards the oncoming swarm ahead, her eyes remained glued in a wide ark of shock. Even as she watched her special somepony collide with the swarm and begin demolishing them, she could not find the will to move. Rainbow Dash was a mare of emotion, she put feeling into everything she did, into every breath she took and every task she set her mind to. For her to say something so void of feeling, caused Daring to feel sick in her stomach. Rainbow Dash was in agonizing pain, she could feel it, she knew it was true. She knew because...that was just how she had sounded...the very first time...

"NO!" She stomped her hoof into the dirt and flared her nostrils.

"She will not become like me!"

She screamed and propelled herself forward into the swarm of fighting changelings ahead. She crashed into several of the drones on her way in, but she didn't care, she wanted them all gone now! She swung, kicked, bit, and head butted every drones she came across until her and Rainbow had cleared the whole area of conscious changelings. Daring's eyes immediately found Rainbows mane, she had her back to her. Without a second thought, Daring Do dove forward and tackled Rainbow Dash onto her back. She instantly began to struggle and buck outwards, thinking a drone had gotten hold of her. It was only when she took the time to look into Daring's face that she realized she was fighting her marefriend and began to get up, but found a pair of hooves planted firmly against her chest not allowing her to rise.

"Let me up Daring"

"Not until you hear me out Rainbow"

"I said let me up Daring!"

"NO DASHIE!"

Her rise in pitch caused her voice to crack, giving the impression that she was crying, which was not far from the truth. Daring felt like crying, seeing Rainbow Dash like this. Rainbow had frozen the moment Daring had yelled, she looked into Daring's eyes and found them staring back into hers.

"Rainbow Dash..."

The flood gates of her eyes opened without warning, she burst into tears right there under Daring Do's hooves. Daring was frantic

"What did I do...all I said was her name"

She felt Rainbow's hoofs wrap around her body and pull her into a warm embrace, Daring did not resist. She let Rainbow cry into her fur and empty out her sadness onto her.

"So much emotion...in everything she does"

The thought was almost enough to make her smile, but she withheld it for Rainbow's sake.

Rainbow held Daring tightly, neither of them noticing the wave until it knocked them on their flanks. The magical wave swept straight through them, and the cliff above. Daring looked up and saw the incoming debris in time, she pushed Rainbow and dove out of the way of certain death. Both mares made it to their hooves seconds later, only to be surrounded by a small changeling horde that seemed to decide defeating them was more important than the falling mountain. Daring flared her wings, but Rainbow dashed past her and took into the air, the fire returning to her tear stained eyes, she drew off several of the drones after her. She flew straight up into the falling debris, dodging the boulders with ease while the drones below her were smashed or slammed back towards the ground.

Daring battled with the remained drones, there was still more than enough to cause her some concern, but she had faced worse odds several times before. She dove under the legs of he nearest drones and kicked him skyward, then grabbed the second closest and pushed him to the ground in a leg lock. She held his face against the dirt, daring any of the others to come forward. The first one that did had his ally pushed into his face, then had Daring's hoof connect with it from behind as she sent them both flying. Another went for her legs and she stomped his face into the dirt and turned in time for another to make a sweep for her muzzle. She reacted and swiped her hat off her head and slammed it down over the drones mouth, then punched him in the jaw while repeatedly kicking his partner back into the dirt!

Rainbow Dash swooped through the falling sediments with ease, mostly out maneuvering the drones and causing them to crash into the boulders rather than fight them all head on. Suddenly a drone shot up from underneath her and made a grab for her mid rim, she grasped it by the muzzle and sunk her knee into its mouth, then sent back down to the earth. She looked down and watched it crash into a drone in front of Daring, causing her a brief look of satisfaction, but her look quickly vanished as she yelled something incoherent while pointing behind Rainbow. She turned and found a huge boulder inches from her face, but before she could scream or react a purple beam struck its side and exploded. The boulder was reduced to dust that flew everywhere, blinding Rainbow in its cloud.

She frantically rubbed her eyes in pain attempting to clear the dust from them. Then she heard a brief snap followed by blinding pain! Suddenly her left wing stopped working and she began to plummet quickly towards the earth

"Damn! A larger piece of rock must have hit my wing...I think it might be broken!"

She struggled to remain in the air with just one working wing, but nature would not have it as several more large boulder found there way to her. They all struck her and shot her straight back towards the ground! Daring screamed Rainbows name as she fell and ran to catch her, but her brief moment of distraction left her unguarded, and every changeling around her took their chance to abuse it. With one large leap, every drone piled on top of Daring Do and began sinking their teeth into any piece of flesh they could find. She tried to scream in pain, but her whole body was already going numb. She could only watch in horror through the drones as Rainbow Dash and the rest of the debris landed on top of them. Daring watched it hit, but felt nothing...then her world went numb along with her....

Worth Living For

Twilight screamed out a warning, but it was too late...the beam struck the boulder and Rainbow never saw it coming! She had been trying to protect Rainbow and destroy the large rock before it became a problem, but she never thought Rainbow would be so distracted she wouldn't notice it at all! The explosion itself surely paralyzed her, and Twilights fears only grew as she saw several more bits of debris fall into the dust cloud she had created. Rainbow exited the cloud within seconds, but she was not soaring high and laughing like she always would after some near disaster, no she was falling. Boulders surrounded her on all sides and her wing was clearly dislocated, and that's if she was lucky. Clearly though, she was in no position of luck, Daring Do was shouting below her and attempting to run to her in time, but the drones in pursuit caught her easily in her distracted state and pulled her to the ground. Twilight watched as they all sunk their poisoned fangs into her flesh, Daring Do struggled for several more seconds before finally going limp under the dog pile.

Unable to take anymore, Twilight attempted to take off towards her periled friends, she was quickly grabbed and slammed back to the ground by several dark tendrils sprouting from beneath the ground and was forced to only watch as the boulders, and Rainbow Dash, came crashing down over Daring Do. She turned and saw King Sombra slowly walking up behind her, her fury reignited and she whipped her body around for an offensive. She lunged towards the king with her horn flaring! A tendril quickly blocked her path and struck her across the face, knocking her back several paces. She flared out her wings, Sombra merely stared at her, unimpressed.

"Don't waste your strength tiny Princess, you're clearly no match for me in your sorry state..."

"Burn in Tartarus!" she screamed back at him

Tears winked at the sides of her eyes, they filled her with anger and hatred for the stallion before her. She was about to lunge out again when she heard several loud thumps behind her, and the sound of hooves approaching. She turned to see Aecious, Shining Star and Trixie galloping their way to her. Sombra barely seemed to care and made no attempt to stop them as they reached Twilight's side and helped her to her hooves.

"Aww isn't that sweet, the gang's all here...or what's left of it anyways" he chuckled mockingly, but then his eyes narrowed as he saw the Amulet blazed across Trixie's chest and the Crystal heart which she now held under her hoof.

"Well, that at least explains what happened to my army, I knew there was no way a pathetic band of disorderly foals such as yourselves could have beaten my horde without some kind of special power...Give it to me, and the Crystal Heart, and I promise to only kill this one" he motioned at Twilight

He reached out a hoof to take the Heart from Trixie, and was met with only a magical slap to the hoof, and a pulsing field of energy that knocked him back several meters. He glared at Trixie as he stumbled to gain balance

"Stupid whorse! How dare you strike me! I am a king! No pony strikes me and lives!"

He took two steps towards Trixie, her eyes lit up with red aura as she prepared for the fight. He advanced on the group with a quickened pace, his eyes so locked on Trixie he almost didn't see it coming...Within five meters of Trixie and the group, Aecious dove forward with remarkable speed and launched an uppercut straight for the King's jaw. He missed by centimeters as Sombra stumbled backwards, and attempted to regain balance.

"Keep on him! Don't give him a chance to focus any magic!"

Aecious seemed to have read the kings mind as he charged him again, right as Sombra's horn started to glow he made another swipe for the kings muzzle, effectively breaking his focus and forcing him to dodge back again. Trixie caught the idea quick and dashed forward to help as Aecious danced and jumped around Sombra, barely missing as he tried to strike the King, She tossed the Heart to Shining Star before proceeding after the two fighters. Shining Star started forward after them, then turned to Twilight

"You should go to Daybreak...while there is still a chance, Celestia knows he needs you right now more than ever.." He saw her eyes dart to Sombra and quickly added "Don't you worry, we got this, go!"

She nodded and instantly darted away from the battle. She thanked Cadence for this healing bubble Trixie had around her, without it, she wasn't sure she could even move at all.

She reached Daybreaks side and instantly bit back tears, the scythe was still stabbed into his back and their was a coat of red dominating his brown fur. She pulled out the scythe with her magic and tossed it to the side, then she lifted his face from the ground and set it sideways, so his face was no longer in the dirt. She struggled back tears and ran her hoof along his back. She lowered her muzzle to his fur and lightly rubbed her cheek along his back following her hoof. She tried to nuzzle his cheek but only succeeded in making herself tear up more.

"Oh Daybreak...I'm so so sorry...If I had only gotten here sooner...if I had only been here this whole time, none of this would have happened..."

Her hoof pasted over his wound and she gave a light yelp, something had shocked her. She looked down and her eyes widened at what she saw. There, inside his wound, there was still magical aura flowing...but it was not his normal color. It was the same color as the aura he had been covered in when she had first arrived, and although she had only caught a glimpse of it before it faded, she was positive this was the same kind. But why was it flowing around in his wound?

She leaned closer, and saw that the fibers of his skin were shooting small sparks at each other...as thought they were attempting to reconnect themselves. This almost made Twilight grin with hope, but she stopped when she noticed that many of the strands were not connecting. Like they were rejecting each other, Twilight had no idea what that meant.

"Oh Daybreak...what is happening to you?"

.....

Being dead wasn't so bad, it was like floating through the clouds. There's no cares and no worries, just the freedom of floating through the whiteness. He felt no need to look around at his surroundings, or even open his eyes at all, he was just there. Enjoyment of the peace and quiet, the freedom from all of life's worries and responsibilities.

"Ok that's enough of that!"

A firm hand struck the side of his face causing his eyes to shoot open in surprise. He shouldn't even be able to feel anything because...because...well he didn't know really. At first his answer would have been because he was dead, but considering his face still stung he would say that was the wrong answer.

After blinking his eyes several times he looked around at his environment and found...nothing. There was no environment to see, it was just as he had felt, white nothingness. Except for the figure standing over him...he looked up and saw Solar Eclipse looking down at him with an unamused look stuck to his face.

"What's with you" he regarded his other half with little concern for the current surrounding

"What's with me? That's what you say? How about what's with you, laying around like some dead animal waiting to fade away, is that how you're gonna repay me?"

Daybreak's eyebrows raised slightly "Repay you? What are you on about?"

Solar moved his free hand to the side, which had been covering his chest, and revealed a blade sized hole in it. The wound began to bleed the moment his hand was away, and he quickly replaced it back. Daybreak started upward but Solar motioned him back down.

"Don't bother, we are past helping at this point"

"I'm so confused...what happened? Where am I?...The last thing I remember is the fight and then we...."

He looked to Solar for some kind of reassurance, but found only his pained stare looking back at him

"There's no easy answer...I suppose I should go in order of your questions...What happened, well that's pretty simple...we died...or rather, I died while in control of your body.."

Daybreaks expression did not change to show any understanding which told Solar he was not helping ease his confusion

"It's rather hard to explain...I guess the simplest way to say it is, I died and you didn't."

"Why?"

"Because I was in control at the time, right now, back in reality, we are just lying on the ground with our body's magic trying to heal the wound. But it can't because it's trying to heal the wrong body."

He had clearly lost Daybreak again and tried to reword his explanation a different way. With a small wave of his hand a magical image shimmered to life in front of Daybreak showing two figures standing next to each other

"Ok imagine this, two beings in one body, that's us right?"

Solar swung his hands past one another and the two shadowy figures crushed against each other, leaving only one.

Daybreak nodded "Yeah"

"Ok now let's just say, two bodies inside one form, how's that?"

He swung his hands again and the single figure shimmered and became slightly larger in size and muscle growth, but basically looked the same. Then changed back to the previous form, this repeated until the process was happening so quickly the images began to look like they were jumping in and out of each other. Daybreaks eyes burst wide

"Now I get it!"

"You sure?"

"Yes" he shrieked with excitement in his voice "You and me don't just have separate powers or separate minds, we have our own bodies too, so damage to one isn't carried over to the other...but then...you lied to me that time..."

Solar knew he was referring to their last lengthy talk and shook his head

"I didn't lie, we aren't free of each other's damage, You're unconscious right now for a reason, if we were completely separate you would have just swapped right back when I died."

"Is there any other damage to me other than probably a headache from hitting the ground?"

"You'll probably feel slightly drained once you go back, I had to use more than just my own power during that fight...it seems we were wrong about Sombra, he was a much stronger foe than we thought, it looks like Alicorn magic is the only way to defeat him, he just shrugs off everything else with that shadow form of his..."

Daybreak got to his feet and looked around, then allowed his eyes to fall back on Solar's wound, covered by his hand. He suddenly felt a wave of sadness

"You said you died...does that really mean..."

"Yeah, sorry Daybreak, you gotta finish this without me..."

"Wait...but you're still here, your talking to me right now, it doesn't seem lie that wound bleeds unless you remove your hand we can just swap out again once we win and get you to a doctor...and where are we anyways?"

Solar smirked

"That won't work Daybreak, my body, my physical form is already dead and gone, only my psyche and some of my power is felt in you. You could say this wound not bleeding is just me suffering until I let myself die, I can't prolong it forever...as for where we are, well we are in our fathers domain...the Chaos Region. It's a pocket dimension filled with nothingness, father frequently spends his time here just creating random bit of chaos for amusement, it won't harm anypony and it's his realm anyways."

Despite his curiosity about the "Chaos Region" Daybreak still needed ore clarification on some other things first. Drawing his gaze away from the whiteness, he once again found Solar's eyes.

"How long do you have...you know...left?"

"Minutes...an hour maybe...I'm gonna hold on at least long enough to watch you beat this bastard...but then I'm gone"

Daybreak's gaze dropped, he would have shed tears, but they refused to form for some reason. Solar put his free hand on Daybreak's shoulder

"Don't weep for me, I was created to be evil remember? This is a fitting end."

"But you weren't evil! You were good at heart!"

"Only because I shared yours, you felt the merciless rage that filled us when I was in control, I kill without remorse, it's what I was created for."

"...I thought of you as my friend Solar Eclipse"

*silence*

"What? Do you not believe me?"

"No I do...that's the weird part"

Daybreak saw Solar smile, that was enough for him right then

"So how do we get out of here? You want me to materialize a zipper or something and let myself out or..."

"As amusing as that would be, no...all you have to do is will yourself back, think about it hard, and you'll wake up back in your body. But remember, you're fighting him with your own strength this time, not mine. You have to deliver the killing blow with Alicorn magic, or he'll just keep coming back."

"I know"

"Good, then go"

Daybreak shut his eyes and began to focus on waking up again

"Thank you Solar Eclipse"

Even though his eyes were closed, he still saw the white flash of light inside his mind, then he felt a rush and a familiar, yet painful, crash...He was back!

.....

Head trauma, check...unending ache in his chest where a hole previously was, check...the knowledge that he had bucked up once again, check. Yep he was alive.

Daybreak shot open his eyes, immediately he rolled over onto his back and sat up. He was momentarily blinded by the sunlight, but quickly shook away the stars in his eyes when he heard the scream of a familiar mare. Daybreak refocused his eyes on the scene directly ahead of him...Trixie was being held in the air by her neck, a thin black tendril wrapped around it and traveled back to the ground near King Sombra. Twilight stood a few feet away from Daybreak, her back to him and her eyes locked on Trixie. Aecious was on the opposite side of Sombra, a dagger clenched between his teeth as he struck a menacing stance and Shining Star hovered just out of range holding the Heart. None of them dared to move towards Sombra, in case he should decide to just snap Trixie's neck.

Nopony had yet noticed Daybreak sit up, or sensed any of his returning magic apparently, which not only gave him the element of surprise, but also offered him a chance at a quick end to the fight. However that opportunity was snatched away as he began to rise, for Trixie's eyes had flared up in blood red light, and from somewhere within her core, a shockwave of red aura exploded outwards destroying the tendrils holding her and knocking everypony else on their flanks or sides. Trixie's hooves barely touched the ground before she charged Sombra again! Although he had been knocked off balance, The King quickly righted himself and caught the charging mare before she could stop and dodge. He fired a black ball of energy at the charging mare, striking her full in the face, then grabbing hold of her with his own aura and slamming her against the side of the rock wall! Trixie hit the ground with a thud, the Alicorn Amulet clattered onto the ground from her neck...she was out cold, if not worse.

Daybreak was on his feet before any of the others, and felt the fire of hatred for the King reignite within his chest. He took a step forward but stopped in his tracks as he saw Twilight begin to drop as well. A transparent magical field was disintegrating from around her as she fell and Daybreak instantly understood how she had come out here in the first place.Trixie had placed a health field around her, which was now gone due to her lack of consciousness. He teleported over and caught Twilight in his arms, brushing a piece of her mane out of her eyes, he turned her cheek to look at her eyes. They were glassy at best and clearly fading from consciousness, but she was still there. She looked up into his emerald eyes with a soft smile of surprise

"I'm sorry...I thought you were dead...I...I had to come after you...I heard about all those things you did...just to save me...I love you"

She let out a soft, but clearly strained giggle, and went limp in his arms. Her head fell to the ground as her neck muscles quit, but Daybreak caught her and held her to his chest. Looking down he watched as the black aura on her belly sprang back to life as though free of its forced sleep, and immediately cover her entire body in a thin aura. It settled on her body and fizzled lightly against her fur, Sombra's curse had finally taken full hold on her. Daybreak felt for her pulse, his fingers found the veins on her neck and felt as the faint beats slowed until he could feel them no more.

"Twilight...No...Twilight don't you dare do this...Don't you dare die on me...Not after all this..."

"Daybreak"

"No no no no! Twilight wake up! Wake up you hear me?! Wake up!"

"Daybreak"

"You're stronger than this, you're the strongest mare I know, you can't be beaten by him...by this...Please Twilight wake up!"

"DAYBREAK!"

"What!?" He screamed looking around expecting to see somepony there, still completely unaware of the fight going on behind him. He looked around but found no one there.

"Daybreak it's me, Solar Eclipse, have you forgotten about me already...I'm still here ya know!"

"What do you want..."

"Daybreak there is no time for mourning right now, pick yourself up, she's gone...but there's still a way, but first you have to kill him...you hearing me Daybreak?! You have to kill Sombra or she has no chance, do it...Now!"

"Yeah...Yeah I hear you..."

He slowly rose to his feet, black flames snaked their way up his legs from the ground to his hands and surrounded his palms. His emerald eyes became that of a serpent and he snarled like a mad beast as he stared towards King Sombra, who was currently fighting with Aecious and Shining in the distance. A sinister grin found it's way onto his face as he looked towards the distant battle

"I hear you loud and clear"

.....

Aecious dove under the oncoming blade, he avoided losing his head by only a few inches and came up with a hoof punch to the kings face. Sombra phased into a shadow allowing Aecious to slip straight through him, as he began to solidify Aecious gave a powerful flap with his wings and propelled himself back at the king. He twisted himself in the air and slashed at the kings throat with the dagger held between his teeth. Sombra had begun to make a lunge for Aecious, but was forced to allow him to phase through him yet again. The knife passed through the kings shadowy throat leaving him unharmed, Aecious watched in near slow motion as the blade made its full pass through the king. The moment it was fully free, Sombra solidified and attempted to stab Aecious' chest with his horn whilst he was still off balance. At the last moment Aecious brought his rear right leg around and collided it with the back side of Sombra's head, knocking him away several feet and causing him to be briefly dazed.

Aecious landed and winced in pain, the soreness of striking his bare leg against the kings armored helm made standing uncomfortable and difficult. Sombra shook his head to clear away the stars in his eyes, growling in annoyance he charged up his horn causing several black crystal shards to rise from below the ground. The shards hovered menacingly in the air and began to fire themselves at Aecious with impressive speed. He dodged many of them in a single jump but felt several scrape against him as they passed by, and several more tearing through his cloak. He landed and tore the robe from his body, scowling in annoyance at his destroyed clothing. Sombra merely sneered and summoned up more shards from the earth, these ones larger than before.

"Oh buck" Was all Aecious uttered as they began to fire at him.

He turned and ran as the shards shot like spears seeking his flesh! He dove and dodged but it was only a matter of time before one met its mark. He dove and skidded flat on his chest barely avoiding one smashing right in between his spread legs, he shuddered at the thought of losing such a precious body part and began to scramble to his hooves. Three more large shards launched themselves at him before he could stand and would have succeeded in striking him if Sombra's focus had not been smashed away just then. Shining Star had swooped down from above and smashed the Crystal Heart down on top of the King's head, leaving a good sized dent in his helm and causing him to hit the dirt, clearly stunned and in pain.

Aecious got to his hooves with Shining's aid and took his chance to attack the stunned King. He quickly approached with the dagger still held between his teeth and made for a swipe at the Kings throat. Inches from his mark he was teleported away, just as Sombra himself lunged forward, a dark scythe sprouting from the ground and slashing where Aecious had just been milliseconds before. Aecious reappeared where Daybreak was standing, several meters from where the fight had been and yelped in surprise!

"Your welcome" was Daybreak's only greeting, but Aecious felt his chest explode with the warm fuzzies nonetheless.

Shining Star saw where they were and flew over to meet them, ignoring the pissed of King Sombra who was back on his hooves. He came to a stop and hovered just a few feet away, presenting the Crystal Heart in his outstretched hooves to Daybreak. He merely shook his head and pushed his arms away gently

"You've held onto it better than me so far, you keep it."

"We thought you were dead" He commented after giving a loyal nod to his command

"Yeah, I get that alot"

Shining raised and eyebrow, but Daybreak just shrugged.

"Isn't it great Aecious? With Daybreak's help we can get this jerk for sure!"

Aecious merely nodded, a light blush tinging his cheeks as he looked away from Daybreak. Shining noticed this and flew right in his face

"You ok? Your face is all flushed"

Aecious attempted to keep his stone look without reacting too much and removed the dagger from his teeth so he could speak "Y-yeah, must just be this weather, I might be catching something *cough *cough*" He faked a few coughs for emphasis and quickly looked away, replacing the blade in his mouth.

Daybreak, now fed up with waiting, strode past his companions and walked straight up to King Sombra. Aecious and Shining, noticing this, quickly followed behind him. Once he was right up in Sombra's face he glared into his eyes

"This time I'll make sure and put you down"

Sombra let out a small chuckle "I already killed you once, a second time shouldn't be that much harder"

"Release Twilight from your curse now, and I might only strip you of your magical powers.."

"Release her? She's as free as she could ever be now, free from everything, including life...just...like...YOU!"

Sombra's horn flared black and he vanished into smoke once again, Daybreak brought up his hands expecting an attack...but nothing seemed to happen and he thought perhaps the King had just been trying to intimidate him. Then out of nowhere the ground shook underneath him and black shards shot forth from the ground straight for his chest. Daybreak had no time to react and felt himself suddenly shoved to the side. He was pushed onto his face and was unable to see what happened behind his back, but the sound was enough to tell him before he looked.

He heard the swift sounds of flesh being pierced several times and the distinct grunt of a stallion. He turned to see just as Shining Star yelled

"Aecious!"

Daybreak saw it plain as day, Aecious was standing right where he had been moments before, several of Sombra's black crystals extending upward from the ground and piercing into his chest, some of the thinner ones even stabbing straight through and out his back. Shining stood frozen as Daybreak saw the look on Aecious' face, it was almost...happy...was he grinning?

"Why?" was all Daybreak could sputter

Aecious seemed to chuckle at his question "Why indeed.."

Bits of blood dripped down his lips and onto the crystals along with his dagger, Aecious' head slumped forward and went limp. He was being held up only by the crystals as all his limbs went limp and dangled at his sides. His eyes seemed to struggled with the ability to stay open as they scanned over Daybreak, apparently looking for something.

Sombra materialized a ways away and began an evil laugh "Well he wasn't my intended target at all...but at least that's one less piece of trash to liter my kingdom...It's a shame really, such a waste of good talent. I could have used a pony like that as my elite guard...now look at him...so normal in death"

"He was a better stallion than you could ever be" Shining Star spit at the King, struggling not to tear up.

"Oh really? Cause I could have sworn I heard you say how much you distrusted him, how much of a shady figure he was, how you were concerned he might just run off with my Crystal Heart...and you're telling me he was a good pony? Hmm perhaps your right...after all I do always seem to kill the good ones the quickest."

"Shut Up!" Shining Star propelled himself forward with his wings, but felt a sudden force grasp him by the tail and pull him abruptly back. He looked back and saw Daybreaks hand outstretched with magic surrounding it, and aura also covering his tail holding him in place.

"Don't do something stupid, you'll just die, then what will his sacrifice have meant?"

"But he-"

"Save it, I already know Shining...Don't you think I want to murder him right now too? I just watched the mare I've loved forever, die in my arms for the second time because of this asshole. But just rushing in will get you nowhere, besides you're no match for him anyways, and you don't need to throw your life away, you have a mare waiting for you...He's mine"

"But-"

"No buts! Or I'll restrain you myself. He's mine!"

"...Fine"

Daybreak could tell he really wanted to fight, which was a big change from the light hearted pegasus he knew before. He pitied him, pain does that to a pony, makes them made of harder stuff. Especially losing a friend you didn't even know you had, it was probably for all their differences that Shining felt a closeness to Aecious...or maybe he really didn't like him and was just that kind hearted. Either way, he had to be kept out of it, that much was certain.

A black void of aura sprang to life around Shining without any warning, and froze him still in the air. Daybreak whipped his head around and saw Sombra standing where he had been before, his horn bubbling with power. He sneered and motioned his head upwards, Daybreak saw what he planned to do and moved with a flash!

The king thrust his head upwards, and Shining Stars body flew with it, straight up into the sky! Then the king swung his head downwards and the pegasus followed. He rocketed towards the ground with increasing speed, his eyes widening at the rapidly approaching ground. Sombra began to chuckle loudly before Daybreak's fist appeared next to him and collided with the side of his head! Sombra was propelled back into some fallen debris, and took his time crawling out. This instantly caused the aura binding Shining Star to fade and vanish, but the stallion continued to hurtle towards the ground. He flapped his wings sporadically and attempted to right himself in the air, but only managed to causing his body to spin out of control as he plummeted downwards towards fate.

"Come on Shining, you're a Wonderbolt, you can save yourself..."

He continued his downwards dive towards the ground with no foreseeable happy ending. Daybreak face palmed himself and tried to think hard on how to save the falling pegasus without opening himself or them both for an easy attack. He could already see Sombra had regained his footing over by the rocks. He was sure the King was just waiting for Daybreak to step in so he could exploit an opening. Daybreak doubted what he was about try would work, but he had to hope there was a fire inside that pegasus somewhere that longed to burn brightly. Cause if he was wrong, they were both likely dead if he had to save him. Daybreak put his hands to his mouth while still keeping Sombra in his field of vision and yelled as loud as he could

"SHINING STAR! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY ABOUT TO LET YOURSELF DIE IN THIS KIND OF PATHETIC WAY? WHAT WOULD SPITFIRE SAY ABOUT A PEGASUS WHO FELL TO HIS DEATH?!"

Unbelievably Shining Star seemed to hear him, and his words seemed to have some effect! The Wonderbolt stopped flapping wildly and just let himself fall. once he stopped spinning wildly, he gave his wings one giant flap and righted himself! With some balance he managed to slow his decent enough so that when he did finally crash next to Daybreak, he didn't look too badly injured. With Sombra still in his peripheral vision, Daybreak helped Shining Star up from the dirt . Somehow the stallion had managed to hold onto the Crystal Heart throughout the entire thrust and drop, that told Daybreak that Shining should definitely keep hold of it, besides he would just hinder himself if he tried to fight and protect the Heart too.

Once Shining was safely hovering again, Daybreak turned his full attention back to King Sombra, who seemed so utterly bored with them now, that he had taken to reading a magazine of some kind and was sipping on a mystery beverage with a straw. Daybreak, thoroughly fed up with him now, approached until he was within arms length of the King. Sombra casually looked up from his magazine, and incinerated it in his lap.

"You took long enough, I was hoping you'd let that pegasus crash, then you'd have been six for six today on friends you couldn't save."

Sombra noted the twitch in Daybreak eye which signaled the coming attack. His guard was up before either of them moved, and so Daybreaks magical blast, which would have caused severe damage if it had hit, merely exploded into a smoky cloud which Sombra took to be an advantage for him. That is, until a fist came flying through the dust and barely missed his nose as he leaned back. The second attack came too quick and he was off balance. Daybreaks claws slashed upwards against his armor and along his face, he screeched in pain and quickly sent out a spherical wave of magic in desperation! Then warped backwards several meters away while he nursed is wounds.

Daybreak rolled out of the smoke and came to his feet once he saw the kings bleeding face. He admired his claws and saw that there was indeed blood from the king on his fingers and claws. Looking back at the wounded king, he got a clear view of where his claws had struck, and saw that he had managed to slash across the eye he had burned to a crisp the last time...how fitting. Hopefully it would stay damaged this time. Judging by the lack of change in the kings expression, Daybreak surmised that he either did not have enough energy to shadow himself and heal, or did not wish to waist the magical power needed to do so yet. Either way, Daybreak now held the advantage and he intended to keep it.

Unfortunately for him, that also meant he had probably just pissed off the most powerful evil unicorn to ever rule in Equestria...he was so great with ponies sometimes...Sombra's face had stopped bleeding and he now stared at Daybreak with a long scar across his face, much of it still red with blood, but apparently most of it had been magically singed to cauterize and keep from hindering him any. Despite that, Daybreak doubted the king would be seeing properly anytime soon, and even if Sombra could sense him through magic, he still got the satisfaction of the blow. Although Sombra's look was far from satisfying to Daybreak, it wasn't pain or agony, it was pure seething hatred. That did not bring Daybreak the kind of satisfaction he wanted, but it was nice to know the King now shared at least in his physical pain. At least now Daybreak could get the satisfaction of making the King fight all out before he killed him.

Deep in his own thoughts, Daybreaks eyes looked away from Sombra for the briefest of moments... and it almost cost him his life. The King vanished and reappeared in front of Daybreak so rapidly, his eyes hadn't even the time to turn back to face the King. Relying purely on instinct, Daybreak leaned his body and head straight back and felt the beam fly straight through where his head had just been. He launched his foot outwards and succeeded in pushing the king away, but only just out of point blank distance, for Sombra seemed to have been expecting the kick.

Daybreak dove backwards and landed on his hands then launched himself upwards from the handstand into the air. He ignited his palms and focused a beam towards Sombra, but before firing noticed a large shadow hovering over him. He cursed his rotten luck and teleported himself away, just as the house sized boulder was smashed down on him.

Sombra sneered as he watched Daybreak reappear on a higher point in the cliff side. He seized several more boulders from the rock faces in his magical grasp and began to hurl them at the young prince! Watching Daybreak warp from rock face to rock face as the former was smashed to pieces or exploded from the impact of giant boulders was hardly amusing to the King. But he didn't care about playing around anymore, he just wanted to kill this annoying false prince, and move on with his life. This guys insistence to not stay dead long after his due was seriously weighing on the kings nerves and he just wanted him to die at this point!

King Sombra was seriously throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him by this point. Daybreak warped away from another house-sized boulder only to feel the bladed end of a scythe inches from his nose seconds later. Ducking by reflex saved his head until red crystals began to burst from the ground and fire upwards at his sternum(chest area for those not anatomically versed). He summersaulted backwards several times, pushing against the ground with his hands after each flip to keep himself moving away. He back flipped over the edge of the cliff right above the king ad looked straight down at him, seeing his chance at last. Propelling himself with fiery aura from his hands, Daybreak launched himself directly down at Sombra's position. The King certainly panicked initially, as he began to rapidly (and inaccurately) fire dark beams fat him from his horn tip!

Daybreak easily whizzed past, and around, the beams as he headed for the King. In a last attempt to protect himself for whatever destruction may come from Daybreaks impact, Sombra erected a barrier around himself moments before Daybreak made contact. Daybreak had been hoping for this and thrust his fist outwards as he struck the barrier, surrounding it in waves of magic so his bones did not shatter upon impact! The moment he touched the force field, there was an explosion that was likely heard all the way back at the Crystal Empire! Daybreak and Sombra, and the whole rest of the rocky valley was engulfed in a huge dust cloud immediately, disabling anyway for anypony or changeling to see what occurring inside...everypony...but one.

Upon impact, Daybreaks magical barrier to protect his body cracked and shattered, but did its job well, for when he obliterated Sombra's barrier and was propelled away he still had the strength to dig his fingers into the dirt and fight against the forces of physics attempting to send him flying. He held his clawed fingers in place firmly until the magical forces pushing outwards from the shields destruction ceased. Normally anypony inside that shield would have been seriously injured, but Daybreak knew better and rushed the impact point eh moment he was back up.

Badly dazed and limbs aching from such an exertion and loss of power, Sombra was nearly unaware of the approach before it was too late! The attack came too quick and did not allow him time to summon any magic to defend himself, he was forced to attempt an evasion.

Daybreak's palm swiped through the dust with a whisp, cleaning cutting through the air and rock particles in his path, but not finding his target.

"Another foot forward" came Solar Eclipses voice within his head.

Without hesitation he swiped forward again, and found...nothing .

"What the hay dude?" he asked to the air

"One more time, quickly before he gets out of range"

Without missing a step he swung again, and although he still found nothing, this time he swiped close enough to see his target outlined in the dusty air...he continued his attacks without pause. Swiping and punching, he could see Sombra's outline barely dodging his attacks, he varied up his attacks and even threw in a quick roundhouse to catch him off guard. It almost worked, but the king ducked at the last moment. Daybreak would have brought his heel down on the kings skull, but he didn't fancy a sharp horn in his foot , so he regained his stance and continued to swipe, punch and kick away.

Although he felt himself graze armor a few times, none of his blows landed and it became frustrating to the point of intolerance. Sensing his frustration Solar chose to aid him

"Steady your emotions Daybreak, he's only avoiding you because he senses your attacks coming through his magic"

"But how can he be doing that, I'm attacking quick enough so he can't use magic"

Talking inside his own head, while also keeping Sombra within range and on the run was extremely difficult, but he nevertheless managed to find a rhythm between questions and attacks.

"The spell he's using isn't one he needs to consciously maintain, it more or less stays active by itself once cast, he could have cast it at any time. Possibly even before this whole battle began. As long as the caster has the stamina to maintain the spell, they need not even think about it."

One punch

Dodged

Two swipes

Ducked and avoided

Crescent kick

Rolled with and jumped away

Daybreak could just make out each way his attacks failed through the unending dust cloud and knew Solar had to be right. Without magical aid, Sombra could not have dodged all his attacks in the ways he did. Although they were last minute dodges, they were the perfect ways to avoid each blow and looked smooth, despite the jumpiness and haste which each was performed.

"Look Daybreak...I can help...I'll cast the same spell with my own power, you're both bordering on exhaustion, magically, and physically following right behind. Any minute now you're going to collapse, likely before he does. With all the magic output from switching bodies and nearly dying...we won' last much longer if we don't act fast, and you can't risk casting any more spells that aren't vital or you'll just drain yourself and drop quicker...

"Won't the amount of time it takes for you to tell me the info from the spell slow us down"

"You're forgetting we're not really talking, the brain perceives things at a much faster rate than you think. To you this conversation feels real because it's your mind, but in reality your full focus is on the fight and this talk is barely noticed by your brain...Still confused? Ok...think of it like this...the magic spell Sombra is currently using and we are about to copy speeds up the rate at which the electrical signals travel through your brain to reach your conscious mind and activate your muscles to react to outside influence...in short it speeds up you reaction time and reflexes tremendously...Well since I am part of your mind, if I cast the spell, it will relay through me much faster than Sombra because I'm basically made up of magic at this point...and then I'll relay it to you at the speed you would have received it if you cast it yourself...Get it now?"

"I guess so.."

"Look if it helps, just think of me predicting the future for you, and you doing what I say, alright?"

"Got it"

"Good, get ready, I'm about to cast the spell, after that, I'm just your guide"

Sweep Kick

Jump

Follow-up roundhouse

Duck

Two horizontal slashes to head then chest followed by third downward vertical

Ducked, jumped back to avoid, then dropped and tuck rolled away

In the middle of his next strike Daybreak suddenly felt a cool wetness flow through his head, like a cold steady stream. He suddenly felt things seem to speed up, then slow down, as if he was moving faster than before. He smirked, then loosed fist straight for where he knew Sombra's head should be

"Kick forward with your strong leg...now!"

His punch barely finished missing, Daybreak extended his right leg straight forward with force and instantly heard the familiar clang of armor being impacted, followed by the aching in his foot to reassure him he had struck. With the dust partially settling now, Daybreak could see Sombra much better now, but was still unable to see him clearly. Therefore he surmised what he could based on Sombra's current stance. He was hunching forward griping at his chest plate with his right hoof, panting in pain, and hopefully exhaustion.

"No time to rest, keep him distracted and focused on nothing but your next attack"

Daybreak obliged and swiftly moved for another attack

He thrust a right jab at Sombra's face

"Left handed uppercut, straight ahead"

He obliged and was met with happy results, that being the kings jaw. Sombra staggered back and attempted to ignite his horn, but Daybreak quickly reengaged him. Jabbing again at Sombra's face, the king was forced to jump back, and Daybreak instantly leapt after him with a roundhouse. Unable to get to avoid the attack off the ground, Sombra quickly arched his horn and fired a small beam at Daybreak. Quickly shifting to a defensive form of attack, Daybreak stopped his roundhouse halfway and planted his swinging foot into the ground, pushing back. Then leaned backwards, avoiding the beam, with a moment before he lost his balance, he ignited a fireball in his palm and tossed it at the king. Daybreaks vision was still blurred by the continuous dust cloud, but even as he fell he saw his fiery orb strike the king full in the muzzle and knock him to the ground some feet away, Daybreak followed a moment later.

He instantly rolled over and jumped to his feet to continue the attack, but Sombra did not rise.

"That last attack wasn't alicorn magic, he's not dead, finish him now before he can cast any magic!"

"I know!"

Daybreak charged forward and closed on the king within ten steps, Sombra twitched slightly on the ground, and Daybreak caught a quick glimpse of his horn bubbling

"Daybreak stop!"

"Oh shit! Too late!" He actually yelled aloud as he realized his mistake

The ground underneath him shifted

"Jump! Now!"

Daybreak launched himself into the air as the ground opened up underneath him, crystal shards extended upwards from the cracked ground and attempted to impale Daybreak, but were out of sufficient range, and merely served as a surface to propel himself off of towards Sombra. The king had risen and could feel him coming, Daybreak's axe kick barely missed the kings helm, but Sombra was already prepared for a counter attack before Daybreak could regain his balance.

"Daybreak look out!"

"Shit"

"Gotcha" Sombra snarled as the ground exploded in Daybreak's face, spraying his eyes with dirt and gravel.

Daybreak tripped backwards as he tried to wipe the gravel from his eyes, but caught himself with his hands before hitting the ground and immediately rolled to avoid the oncoming scythe which struck next to him. Quickly jumping to his feet Daybreak turned and fired a magical beam at Sombra's face...or at least attempted to. The magical aura built around his hand for a moment, then fizzled out

"Shit!"

"Fuck!" both panicked as his exhaustion finally caught him and his magic fizzled out. The butt end of a scythe staff struck the side of his face and knocked him back down to the ground on his belly.

"Daybreak! Move!"

His muscle wouldn't respond quick enough, his spell had faded away and he turned too quickly to avoid the blade as it drove for his chest. Sombra's eyes frilled with joy as he brought the blade down at Daybreak, then he suddenly felt a blinding pain pierce the back of his neck and he cried out in pain. The aura around the scythe fizzled away as it reached Daybreak, who looked to Sombra and saw, to his amazement, Aecious' dagger, sticking out of his neck. Daybreak didn't waist a moment wondering, he launched himself forward and grabbed up Sombra's scythe. With one swift motion he fueled the blade with as much Alicorn magic as he could, and swung it up and under, straight into King Sombra's underbelly! The kings eyes went wide as he stared into Daybreaks

"Regenerate from this you bastard!"

Daybreak planted his foot into Sombra's chest and kicked him backwards, pushing the blade deeper into his stomach. As Sombra struck the ground, Daybreak's arms ignited into golden fire and he thrust them outwards spread eagle! A wall of golden flames erupted on either side of King Sombra and circled around the king with rapid speed. Then Daybreak crushed his palms together and the wall of flames followed suite, smashing themselves against Sombra and forming into a sphere of golden and orange flames with him at it's center. Daybreak lifted his hands as though holding the sphere and sent it high into the sky, then with a swift motion, he swiped his hands apart, and the miniature sun sphere exploded into the heavens, sending magnificent light spiraling in all directions!

The only thing that remained of the king clattered to Daybreaks feet...Sombra's red horn. Daybreak picked it up in his palm and suddenly heard a dark voice erupt from within the horn

"ONE DAY YOU WLL JOIN ME IN TARTARUS DAYBREAK...THIS IS MY CURSE TO YOU! DON'T EVER FORGET TH-"

Daybreak incinerated the horn into ashes in his palm and watched as it became nothing more than dust in the wind. For a brief moment, he felt a small happiness...he had done it! He had beaten King Sombra...but at what cost?

He collapsed down to one knee, barely able to stay conscious he heard hoof steps running over to him, but he didn't care at the moment, he had to remain awake and get to Twilight...

"Whoa...easy there Daybreak...your body is about to pass out from exhaustion, if you wanna avoid that you need to absorb some chaos magic right now...just relax and remember what father taught..."

Daybreak shut his eyes and calmed his mind. He reached out with his mind and willed some natural magic to absorb into him. the magic flowed around his body in an invisible force and quickly entered him all at once. Just like every time he did this, he felt an overwhelming sense of power and felt inside a vacuum. For a moment it threatened to overflow and escape out of his body...then the feeling passed and he felt rejuvenated instantly.

That won't last you know...your magical stamina is back, but physically you're still on empty...you will pass out eventually so let's get moving before then"

Daybreak nodded to himself and stood up to see Shining Star a few steps away. The dust seemed to have been fully cleared from Daybreak's last attack. Shining regarded Daybreak with a smile, but looked sad when it was not returned.

"Cheer up bro, you beat him...you won"

Daybreak looked over at Aecious, still impaled on the crystal shards, then to the pile of rubble he sensed Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were buried under, to Trixie seemingly unconscious or worse against the rock face, and lastly...to Twilight...who still lay dead where he had left her...

"Yeah we won Shining...but at what price?"

Aftershock

The physical pain wasn't as excruciating as the mental exhaustion. Every fiber of his being longed to collapse forward in the dirt and sleep off the last, Celestia knows, how many days of stress. But he knew he had to will himself forward, and that his stress wasn't finished yet. Daybreak approached the spot where he had obliterated King Sombra moments before and picked up Aecious' knife from the ashen waste of the king. Taking a last glance at the dust particles of Sombra, Daybreak turned and headed over to where his friend still stood impaled by several crystal shards. Daybreak found the pegasus was still alive, barely, and with the help of Shining Star, he smashed and removed the shards piercing through his body, then laid him on his back against the cool dirt. He held out the knife and rested it on Aecious' chest

"I think this is yours"

The pegasus regarded him with the smallest of smiles, and even that seemed too much for him right then

"Is it over?"

"Yeah...yeah it's over, thanks to you...you probably saved my flank out there with that throw...how did you manage that?"

Daybreak heard him give a faint chuckle, followed by a violent cough and some blood splatters

"What kind...*cough*...what kind of an assassin would I be if I couldn't throw a blade?"

"That's not what I meant, I mean how did you know where to throw it in all that dust?"

Even in his dying moments, Aecious still managed to have that reserved look of pained distrust on his face. Like it was necessary to hide everything

"Everypony has there talents...even if I never found mine...I worked to be good at things like this..."

Daybreak immediately opened his mouth to question exactly why Aecious had never found his Cutie Mark, but saw that his head had already hit the dirt, his lips still partially spread in his last grin. Daybreak's fist clenched in the dirt, he reached over with his opposite hand, and gently shut Aecious' eyes.

"Goodbye my friend..."

Wiping his eyes, Daybreak stood up and made his way over to where he knew Rainbow Dash and Daring Do lay buried beneath the rubble. Shining Star simply remained put, continuing to stare at Aecious with seemingly no reason to move away. Looking down at his former enemy, Shining felt a surge of regret in how he had treated the pegasus and resolved to make up for it in his own way later on. He reached over Aecious' chest and removed the dagger Daybreak had left with him and stored it inside his Wonderbolts outfit after clenching it tightly for a brief moment. Then he stood up and followed after Daybreak.

Daybreak worked with his regained chaos powers to clear the rubble away as quickly as he could. As much as he wanted to go to Twilight, he knew he had to help the others first. As Solar Eclipse reminded him, they still had a chance...

With a brief but notable strain, he lifted the major portion of the debris with his magic, then tossed it away. He dug through the rest until he saw a cyan wing sticking out from under the rubble. He immediately smashed the rubble in the way without hesitation and removed it quickly. Once he had cleared most of the rocks he could see the majority of Rainbow Dashes body, he quickly scooped her up in his arms and pulled her free with a minimal strain. Setting her down free of the rubble he turned his attention to finding Daring, until Shining Star gasped and called him back to Rainbow.

"Daybreak! Daybreak her wing!" Shining Star was frantically pointing at Rainbows right wing, the one he hadn't seen in the rubble. It was bending in a direction that was very unnatural and made them both a little queasy to look at.

"It's broken" Solar's voice rang through his head

"I know...I need to mend it" He bent down to examine her wing

"We don't have the strength to mend a wound like that, you can't draw on that kind of power right now without passing out..."

"I have to do something Solar!"

"Daybreak?" Shining Star's voice cut across his in-head talk. He quickly turned to the young Wonderbolt

"What is it Shining?"

"I can see Daring Do buried under some drones...she looks ok, looks like the drones took the worst of it. I think I can get her out myself...why don't you try and snap Rainbow's wing back into place and set it?"

"Hm...that's not a bad idea...we don't need magic for that"

"Yeah...way to go Shining"

He knew the Wonderbolt didn't hear his thoughts, but the silent acknowledgment was enough for now. He turned to his cyan friend and once again found himself sick at the sight of her wing. He couldn't bring himself to touch it for fear of waking her and causing her anymore pain.

"Daybreak...you have to do it...it'll be worse for her if it's not treated somehow"

"I can't...I can't cause her anymore pain...she's the only other mare I love like Twilight..."

"If you don't she could bleed internally...maybe even die...do it for her"

Daybreak nodded to himself and scooped his cyan love into his arms. He grasped her wing in his right hand while holding her against his chest with his left arm.

"Rainbow...I'm so sorry for this"

'Do it quickly"

He held firmly where the wing was most damaged, right above where he felt the first bone out of place, and before Rainbow could wake he quickly jerked her wing upwards and snapped it in the opposite direction, back to it's normal positioning on her torso! Rainbow Dash's eyes instantly sprang open and she screamed! She screamed like Daybreak had never heard her scream in her life, her voice rang in his eyes and felt her whole body begin to violently struggle against his grasp! She attempted to flap her wings but Daybreak kept a firm hold on the injured wing, not allowing it to move, knowing she could easily reinjure it if it moved before being set. Rainbow bucked outwards and kicked him square in the mouth, then twice in the chest, he tasted blood on his lips but he held firmly anyways. Were she not so weak she might have easily broken his ribs, but Daybreak still held her tightly until she regained control of herself. Her screams eventually faded into sobs as collapsed against Daybreak's chest in exhaustion, quietly sniffling in pain. Neither of them said anything, nor did Shining Star looked towards them at all during the episode, but simply continued to dig through rubble to free Daring.

"That's one part Rainbow...now...the other needs to come next."

He instantly felt her whole body tense up in his arms, he felt sick to his stomach knowing he had to cause her more pain. Rainbow shook her head violently and tried to wriggle free from his grasp. He held her firmly against his coat, feeling his eyes beginning to overflow with water

"Please Rainbow, stop struggling...I don't wanna do this anymore than you do...your only making this worse"

He could hear her whimpers and please for mercy as she struggled to free herself

"No...no please don't...it hurts it hurts...just please don't touch my wing anymore"

He could feel Rainbow streaming tears as he was forced to restrain her against him. She continued to beg and plea as he took hold of her wing with his free hand once more.

"Please Daybreak don't...please don't it hurts!"

He felt his self loathing rise to a new high at hearing the toughest mare he'd met turn into a whimpering filly at his hands. He firmly grasped her wing, and with a self hating grunt, he yanked it hard to the side until he heard a familiar snap and Rainbow's eyes reached there peek in wideness. She collapsed onto his chest and began to cry out and whimper in pain

"It hurts...it hurts...it hurts so badly...please make it stop...make it stop Daybreak."

He wanted to wait until she was more recovered before messing with her wing anymore, but he knew he could waste no time in casting it so she didn't reinjure herself .While Shining dug and Rainbow sniffled, Daybreak went about gently setting her wings with a makeshift cast until it could be properly treated. He touched her as delicately as possible and ran his fingers through her mane to calm her while he worked. Rainbow stayed quiet during the whole thing, not crying out in pain anymore, and anytime she did make a sound it was only a light whimper. She stayed well in control until he finished, then looked at him with watery eyes once he stepped back to examine his work. It wasn't terrible for his first time, considering the lack of supplies other than twigs, leaves, rocks, and a bit of medical tape Shining had in his uniform. It would hold until they got back and she could be properly examined, as long as she was cooperative. Daybreak looked down at his sniffling patient, she was looking up at him with big watery eyes, like he had just saved her life...oh wait...

Rainbow mumbled something inaudible under her breath, which caused Daybreak's ears to perk up.

"Wait...what was that Rainbow?"

"I said I...love...you..."

"oh..."

He knew how she really meant it and had to ask

"You love Daring too right?"

Her answer was instantaneous, like she had been expecting it

"Duh...of course I do...I just...wanted you to know...again"

Daybreak almost enjoyed these moments when Rainbow showed real affection. Being sensitive wasn't something she did often, so it was sweet to hear and would have made him smile any other time. He gently pulled her into a hug, gave her back a soft rub and kissed her cheek.

"I love you too Rainbow"

He felt a small pain in his heart and immediately remembered he had to still get Trixie...and then face the inevitable...Twilight. Releasing his hug on Rainbow Dash, Daybreak made his way to the unconscious Trixie. The Alicorn Amulet was sprawled out in front of her, surprisingly it had not been snatched up by any drones during the scuffle. Daybreak took it in his palm and sent it away, presumably to the "Chaos Region" Solar had mentioned before. He knew it would be safer there until Trixie was feeling better. Despite the fact that he felt like he should give Trixie a full recovery, he could not remove his mind from aiding Twilight. So he quickly healed her minor wounds with as little magic as possible and checked for anything dislocated or broken. She seemed to be in good health, other than some minor bruising from the beating she had taken from Sombra. Although Daybreak could sense her mind, Trixie did not wake, so he gently picked her up in his arms and carried her over to where Shining had finally succeeded in freeing the unconscious Daring Do. Setting her down next to the white coated Wonderbolt Daybreak turned and headed for Twilight without another word.

Shining Star gave Daring Do a thorough examination to make sure she had no broken bones or other serious injuries. He inspected her wings closely and noted a few missing feathers, but other than that she seemed in good condition. Clearly being buried under a pile of changelings was a good shield from falling debris.

"Hmph...At least they're good for something" Shining thought to himself, his own disgust for the changelings surfacing again as he stared at the many unconscious or injured mares around him.

He took his time patching up Daring Do, he wanted to make sure the adventurous mare was completely injury free. He had only discovered she was a real pony a few days ago, and could still recall his geek out moment with Spitfire when she had revealed herself in Canterlot. Of course, she had been A.K. Yearling at the time, but he had followed her for a bit after she left to try and get another autograph. However he could easily recall that what he had seen instead was much better. Seeing her strip off her disguise and reveal herself as the real Daring Do was soooo much better than a second autograph. Other than Spitfire, he doubted whether anypony else on there team even knew she was real. Being quite the fan boy, he knew she must have a reason for not revealing herself so he mostly kept to himself about it, except for Spitfire, cause he had to tell his marefriend. Luckily they had both agreed to keep it to themselves, so there wasn't any issues.

Looking down at the unconscious adventurer, Shining felt the full load of what they had just done hit him hard. He staggered and collapsed on his haunches feeling woozy. They had really just fought King Sombra and the changelings, and somehow they had won. It was all so much to process at once, they would be heroes for this...he couldn't wait to tell Spitfire! He quickly spun himself around to ask Daybreak when they could leave and immediately felt a surge of guilt at his happiness, he had almost forgotten. In the distance, Daybreak was knelt down next to Twilight, holding her head tightly against his chest. Even from here Shining could see the stream of tears flowing down his friends cheeks.

Daybreak stroked his fingers through Twilights long purple locks, letting his tears run down his fur and drip onto her chest. He couldn't bring himself to even think of the victory they had just achieved, to him this was the biggest defeat of his existence. Although he would not admit it aloud, even if they had lost and Sombra took control of the Crystal Empire, if he had saved Twilight along the way, he wouldn't have minded. Whether or not that made him a bad creature he didn't care, he just wanted Twilight back. He would give p his magic, his strength and his life if could just have her back.

"How much are you really willing to sacrifice to save her Daybreak?"

Solar's voice sounded hazy even in his mind where it should have been crystal clear, it was clear he too, was fading. Daybreaks free hand found its way to his royal necklace, still hung around his neck hugging his body tightly.

"Anything...to be honest it probably makes me a bad person...but I really would sacrifice anything to bring her back..."

'Well then...I don't have to regret this decision..."

"What decision"

There was a brief pause in which Daybreak was left to wonder about what may have happened if he had not created Solar Eclipse in the first place. Would things have ended differently if he had fought Sombra on his own, or maybe with his friends aid?

Don't dwell on 'what if's' Daybreak" Solar's thoughts literally interrupted his own, an ability Daybreak still found annoying.

"Why shouldn't I? Things might have been different"

"There's no point in wondering about it. Now please focus I'm about to teach you so very powerful magic"

Normally this would have peeked Daybreaks interests, but right then he was having a hard time focusing on anything but his colossal failure

"Why should I care?"

After another brief pause, Solar's voice came out again, slightly more scratchy than before

"Because it can save Twilight."

Like a bomb went off in his head, Solar suddenly had Daybreaks full attention.

"Ok, now I'm listening!"

Daybreak could feel the smirk on Solar's face just by his voice. Perhaps he was enjoying the flare of hope he had just created for Daybreak.

"This spell is one straight out of the book that made me, the official written name given by the princesses is The Lifegiver but I think a more suitable name would be The Apple of Chaos"

"Why's that?"

"Because of what it does, this spell has the power to literally, bring back the dead. Not all zombiefied like you might think if they have been buried for awhile or something, no. This spell can resurrect any living creature that did not die of a natural cause, as healthy as they were at the time of their death"

The gleam in Daybreaks eyes was matched only by the excitement in his voice

"Why would the Princesses hide away such a spell?! This could completely remove murder as a factor in society"

'Hold on! I wasn't finished. Yes If it were that easy, then you might be right, but the conditions for the spells use are what make me call it the Apple of Chaos..."

Solar's sudden change to a sterner tone made Daybreak wonder what he could mean

"Tell me"

"The conditions for this spell are an equivalent exchange...To get something you have to give something of equal value. A soul for a soul, a life for a life. If you wanna bring back Twilight Sparkle, you have to sacrifice somepony else, and that soul has to willingly give itself up or it doesn't work...there are a couple other factors to the spell such as creatures like us and Discord can't be revived, but they don't matter right now. After this, you, Luna, Celestia, Discord and Twilight will be the only creatures currently in existence to know of this spell. It must remain that way, lie, hide the book, do whatever you have to, to ensure no other pony learns of it. Most importantly, make sure that book is never read by anypony else but yourself and those I previously mentioned..."

Daybreak sat on the ground in silence, he stared at Twilights expressionless face. He understood the name now, Apple of Chaos, anypony who wielded this spell had power over life and death. Just imagining what might happen if every common day unicorn could wield this spell on whenever they wanted, made Daybreak shiver. Even more worrisome, is what else that book may contain, this was just one spell and he could wield the magic of life and death. Another had created Solar Eclipse, Nightmare Moon and turned King Sombra into what he was. Daybreak fully understood why his mother and aunt had tried to protect it so desperately. He probably owed them both an apology, assuming they didn't arrest him as soon as he got back.

Nodding to himself, he excepted Solar Eclipses wish and vowed to never allow anypony else read what was inside the book so long as he could protect it. With a silent thank you, Solar began to transfer the knowledge of how to cast and control the spell, into Daybreaks conscious mind. Within a short time, he knew everything he needed to know about it's power and was ready to save Twilight! There was still one problem however, which stopped him midway through casting the spell. Solar already knew what it was, but for kindness sake he asked anyways

"Daybreak...what is wrong?"

"Solar...I can't...I can't sacrifice one of my friends like this...Even if I ask their permission, it's still wrong..."

For a moment Daybreak thought he heard Solar Eclipse chuckle before he spoke again

"Wow...you really are dense sometimes aren't you?...Daybreak, the whole reason I've even held on this long is so you can use my soul."

Daybreaks face showed visible signs of both shock and relief, Solar found both amusing.

'I know the many things you might say to me...and all I'm going to say is don't bother. This is my life, it may not have been my choice to live, but I'll be damned if I don't choose how I die."

He felt Solar stand up within his mind, he allowed himself to see him within his thoughts once again and appear before him. Solar strode forward within the white nothingness they both shared in his thoughts until he was nose to nose with Daybreak.

"I am a being created for evil, a being created for murder. Their is darkness within my heart, but not by my choosing. I resent the purpose for which I was given life. So therefore, in these last moments of mine, I choose to reject my purpose! Instead of being a creature to take life, instead I shall end my own by giving life to another!"

Solar quickly thrust his palm out and placed it upon Daybreak's chest. He moved his hand to Daybreaks arm, then moved it to rest above his heart. They stood like this for a moment, each with a hand resting on the others heart, until a golden glow began to emerge from under Daybreaks palm. Solar smiled at him and took a small step back, as he did so, a palm sized sphere of golden light came forth from his chest and rested on Daybreaks palm, still outstretched.

"Take it"

He grasped his hand around the sphere, pulling it close to his chest where Solar's had been.

"Now...crush it!"

Although apprehensive, Daybreaks did as instructed and crushed the sphere in his palm. Instantly it exploded into golden dust that began to swirl around Daybreaks mental form. The particles flew around him and gathered closely, then all at once, flew straight into the top left portion of his chest with a force that nearly knocked him off balance in his own mind. Solar's voice suddenly broke the momentary silence, but although he spoke, Daybreak could no longer see him anywhere, and his voice sounded as though it was growing fainter

"That was my soul, separated from yours until right now, you can now use it as the trade for Twilight's soul when you weave the spell...I hope you find happiness in your future...goodbye Daybreak..."

Solar's voice faded away into the smoke white distance, Solar's absence brought Daybreak out from his mind and back to the problem at hand. Turning his head he called out for Shining Star to come over, the Wonderbolt seemed to eager to oblige, clearly tired of simply watching over wounded and unconscious mares. The moment he arrived Daybreak explained in partial detail what he was about to do. He edited the details here and there to shade out the idea that he was literally bringing Twilight back from the dead, but more or less freeing her from Sombra's curse and healing her bodies wounds with a powerful spell that required a large amount of power. Luckily Shining Star had no idea what a soul looked like (neither did Daybreak until a moment ago), so when Daybreak outstretched his palm and the large golden spherical mass appeared within it, there was no problem or explanation needed. With the soul mass in his palm, Daybreak scooped Twilight onto his lap with his free hand and quickly regarded Shining.

"I don't know what might happen to me after I've cast the spell, so I'm counting on you to get us home or rescued if I keel over during this...alright?"

The white pegasus showed a suspicious look on his face and even raised an eyebrow to Daybreak, which he pretended not to notice, but nevertheless, the stallion still threw up a goofy salute and nodded his head towards Daybreak.

With that out of the way, Daybreak was ready to begin. He rested Twilights head against his lap for better support and turned her on her back. He moved her legs so they were spread enough tat Daybreak had an unobstructed view of her entire chest and underbelly, which was where he would need to perform the spell. Shining Star blushed heavily as Daybreak spread her legs

"I'll just...um...wait by the others ok.." Shining dashed away without another word, he dashed away so quick he left a smoky image of himself where he had previously been.

Daybreak ignored the Wonderbolts shyness and began to weave the spell. With the spiraling soul mass in his one palm, he waved the other over Twilight's chest in a figure eight motion. Her under belly began to glow a faint white

and the fur around her heart faintly popped and sizzled with activity. He pushed the palm that was holding the soul mass near her heart, then with a quick shove, he crushed the spherical ball against her and caused it to once again, explode into golden dust. But this time the dust did not encircle him, this time it circled around Twilight's body. The force of the soul gently lifted her off the ground a few feet, not enough to make Daybreak worry, but enough that he would be sure to catch her when it was over.

Twilight's wings suddenly went erect, and the rest of her body followed suit. Her front and back legs shot outwards, stiff as a board, her horn burst into a faintly golden glow which fizzled little sun colored dust particles. It was a magnificent sight, Daybreak watched in awe as Twilight's eyes suddenly shot open, full of white light! The golden dust swirling around Twilight instantly reacted and began to spiral back towards her chest, just like it had for him, then smashed itself against her, seeming to just dive into her heart! Daybreak felt a sudden pull from within him, he looked down to see some of the golden dust was coming from within his own body too. He wondered what that could mean, but instantly lost the thought as the last bit freed itself from him. As the last particle broke away from his body, it was as though someone had cut his puppet strings, and he collapsed to one knee. He felt extremely weak all of the sudden and his head began to spin, what had just happened? His eyes became heavy and he began to have difficulty just remaining at one knee, his whole body seemed to be urging him to just lay down.

"NO! Not yet...I have to see Twilight alive first.."

If he had truly screwed up the spell somewhere and used his own soul or something, he at least had to see Twilight alive before he excepted his fate. He looked at Twilight still floating form, her eyes still open and glowing a powerful white, she was clearly still not conscious. Her body began to vibrate rapidly as the last bit of golden particles made it's way inside her body, with the last entering her the golden aura around her horn, and the white around her eyes, faded immediately and she dropped. Forcing himself to move, Daybreak lunged forward and caught her in his arms. It took all his effort not to drop her or go down with her, for some reason she suddenly felt heavier than Big Mac would, but her body showed no physical change. That led Daybreak to believe that he was just extremely weak at the moment.

He looked down at her face, brushing her mane out of the way he saw that her cheeks had a bright red blush dawning them, he beamed and practically slammed his ear against her chest. The seconds he waited felt like an eternity to him, just waiting for that faint sound that would make him complete again.

Thump Thump

Daybreak smiled so big, he almost thought he'd break his face, his eyes began tearing up and started to overflow down his face. But he didn't care, nor did he care about the sudden pain building within his legs, begging him to drop back to his knees. All he cared about was that Twilight Sparkle was alive again! It wasn't until his arms nearly gave out and he almost dropped Twilight, that he finally acknowledged what was happening. He gently set her down in the dirt and stared at her face. Leaning down he planted two quick kisses on her cheek and lips.

"Welcome back Twilight"

He smiled to himself, then turned to ensure that Shining had seen what occurred, and it was clear by his wide-eyed expression that he had. But it was not him hat was rushing over to them, it was Rainbow Dash. Had he the strength, he may have called out to her and told her to quit her moving about in her injured state. But right then, all he felt like doing was sleeping. He fell forward in the next moment and face planted into the dirt alongside Twilight.

Rainbow saw him collapse and sped up her run to a painful speed. She reached them and immediately looked down at Daybreaks face, his eyes were still open and he was smiling at her. That goofy smile of his, she couldn't understand why, until she looked next to him and saw Twilight's chest rise and fall with her breathing. Then she too started to tear up and sat her haunches next to them, waiting for Shining Star to come see for himself. Daybreak had no idea what was coming with his black out, whether it was death or something else, but if it was death, than this time he could die happy. He closed his own eyes as they began to fill with haze and eventually...darkness.

.....

The next time Daybreak opened his eyes, he took his sweet time. Consciously being aware that he wasn't dead was a nice thing and he wanted to enjoy whatever scenery they might be at on their way home. However...the mass of which he was laying on, did not feel like earthy ground, a sleeping bag, or tent. In fact...it felt like...

The door slammed open and Daybreak gave a yelp of fear, sitting straight up in his bed.

"Wait what!...Bed?!"

He looked around at the pale whiteness of the room in which he was now laying. He was indeed in a bed inside some hospital yet again. This seemed like a frequent occurrence with him now that he thought about it. He looked towards the source of the door slam and found his mouth drop open. Pinkie Pie was standing in the doorway with her face contorted in a similar brand of shock as his, she was also carrying flowers in her hoof. That were presumably for replacement with one of the piles of dead ones that seemed to encircle his bed, they were all likely from his friends, they also seemed to encircle the area next to him, which had the blinds drawn closed to provide privacy for the patient, Daybreak quickly wondered who it might be. Pinkie stood in the doorway only a moment longer, before venturing a step forward and allowing the door to shut behind her. She griped the flowers she held in her hoof tightly and stared straight at Daybreak, but he was unable to return her gaze. The memories of the things he had down to his friends came rushing back to him, Pinkie's in particular and he found himself unwilling to look at her.

"Hey Pinkie...that you?" A familiar voice suddenly rang out from no where.

"Uhhh..y-yeah Dash it's me.."

"What's wrong Pinks, you sound like you've seen a-" she ended her sentence as soon as she opened her drapes and saw Daybreak sitting up.

Rainbow Dash stared at Daybreak, then back to Pinkie. Her wings suddenly flared out and Daybreak could see the new cast that had been attached to her wing, it looked much comfier than his had been on her. The trio remained in a silent staring contest for a moment, until Pinkie finally ventured forward closer to Daybreaks bed and replaced a bouquet of flowers that was dying, with her own. Daybreak wanted to say something to his pink friend, something that would make this horrible feeling of guilt and awkwardness filling his gut go away. But every time he opened his mouth his tongue felt like lead. It wasn't until Pinkie looked up from replacing the flowers that Daybreak finally felt like talking. It was her smile, she was smiling at him, and although it was a normal occurrence for Pinkie to smile at everypony, Daybreak saw the sincerity in her eyes. She wasn't upset at him, or judging him by his actions, she was genuinely happy.

Daybreak reached up and scratched his head with his hoof looking for something to say but stopped dead.

'Hooves?...Why do I have hooves?"

He looked down his body and found he was indeed in his stallion form. He must have been really exhausted for him to revert back in his sleep. Pinkie was still looking at him and smiling, while Rainbow still showed the awkwardness on her face that Daybreak felt inside. Finally giving in to the pink mares stare of happiness, Daybreak opened up his arms and spread his hooves, motioning for a hug. Pinkie's eyes sparkled with glee, and she dove onto the bed crushing his body in her hug of death. She squeezed until Daybreak swore he could feel his bones breaking underneath her embrace. She nuzzled her face against his neck and even planted a daring peck on the cheek before finally releasing him. The rush of air that filled his lungs during her release was a small taste of heaven for the exhausted stallion. He felt as though he owed her the apology she deserved

"Pinkie Pie...I..."

"Shush" She silenced him with a hoof in the mouth, he was forced to taste her hoof against his will as she practically gagged him to keep him quiet. Other than her tasting oddly like candy and the impossibly large grin she wore, this wasn't weird at all.

"Don't say it Daybreak, Pinkie don't wanna hear it, and your gonna listen to Pinkie this time, riiiiight?"

Pinkie winked at him ad wiggled her eyebrows causing him to blush as he realized what she meant, he nodded lightly and she removed her hoof from his windpipe. Instead of an apology Daybreak came at her with another question instead

"Soooooo...Pinkie...Where is everypony? Are these flowers all from them?"

Her smile never dimmed, in fact he could have sworn that it grew bigger as she spoke

"Well of course there from everypony silly, I mean I tried to get you a whole room full of flowers myself, but the nurses wouldn't let me...big meanies, so I just settled for replacing mine everyday. Everypony else has stopped by to see you and Dashie every other day, but I come every day to see my bestest buddies! Applejack came by three times, Fluttershy came four times, and Rarity came by once...Oh oopsie and I forgot, and I come by every single day...oh and then there's Applebloom..."

Daybreak barely listened to her next words as the only part that rang in his mind was that she stopped by everyday...Everyday...How long had he been here.

"Hey Pinkie..." He didn't mean to interrupt what she was saying, but he knew if he didn't she'd never stop. She didn't seem to mind though

"Yeah, what's up?"

"How long have I been here"

"A week, seven hours, and five minutes.."

Daybreak head whipped around to face Rainbow Dash, whose expression looked bored beyond any face he could ever muster

"You've been counting?"

"Yeah dude, unlike you mister snoozy, I've been awake this whole time and bored off my flank with nothing to do. I actually considered coming over there and straddling your unconscious ass just to wake up and entertain me."

The image of Rainbow Dash straddling him while he was unconscious brought a heavy blush to his cheeks. Pinkie however, seemed unfazed, or her smile was just so big it blocked out the ability for her to blush.

"I'd usually just get Twilight to bring me some Daring Do books when I'm stuck in here...but umm...well..

"Go on" Daybreak urged, but neither Dash nor Pinkie seemed to want to continue

"Is she still out cold or something?" he scanned his expression between the two mares, both whom seemed to be trying to hide theirs. It was Pinkie who answered this time

"No...No she's plenty awake...I don't think her voice has ever been more awake actually.."

"Pinkie!" Rainbow practically hissed at her and the pink mare finally managed a blush through her planet sized grin.

"Am I missing something?" Daybreak asked, still very confused

"Well..." Rainbow seemed to wrestle wit the idea of telling him, then gave in to herself.

"Yeah, you are missing alot dude...While you where out cold, the Princesses came to visit...all of them...and even Discord..."

"Oh no.." He could only wonder how that might have gone over, unluckily for him, he didn't have to wonder as Rainbow continued

"Oh yeah...it wasn't pretty. They visited Twilight first and at first everything was normal...until Discord, of course, brought up the issue which he knew would set Twilight off her rocker."

"And that was" But he already knew the answer

"Your punishment...well the short version of it all is...after about an hour of yelling and screaming, Princess Celestia basically banished you from Canterlot...for like...ever"

Daybreak winced, that was harsh, but not unexpected at all, truthfully he had been expecting much worse.

"Who was yelling and screaming?"

"Twilight...and Celestia....at each other"

"What!"

"Yeah...It got to the point where Nurse Redheart actually came in to quiet them herself, but when she saw who it was, she left without a word and instead had a unicorn put a sound proofing spell around this wing of the hospital. So we still got to hear the whole thing. Celestia is furious at you...like big time furious dude...I thought she was gonna throw you in jail at first, her sister and Cadence protested, but she seemed dead set on jailing you...Discord even threatened to go back to his old ways if she arrested you...but none of them made her budge until Twilight got involved. I've never heard Twi use words like that before, but she was cursing up a storm in there, it made even me a little jealous, that big brain can sure come up with some creative phrases for how idiotic a pony can be."

Daybreak felt like his fur had turned a pale white and his eyes had shrunk to tiny little balls. If Twilight had destroyed her relationship with Celestia over him, that would be too much and he would have to do something. Rainbow seemed to read his mind

"Don't worry dude, after they both screamed at each other for an hour or so (most entertainment I've had this whole time by the way) everything seemed to settle down, Twilight somehow talked down every punishment Celestia wanted to give you. But she couldn't make her lift her ban on you. That's what got her in such a fowl mood lately, whenever the Princess tried to visit, Twilight tried everything to get her to let you back, even going so far as to tell the nurse not to let Celestia in to see her...unfortunately that didn't really work out so well...royal authority and all that came into play and Celestia was in pretty quick. Although Twilight is still pretty pissy about the whole thing...though that might just be the hormones"

Daybreak raised his eyebrows at Rainbow, where could hormones possibly come into play here "What are you talking about Dash?"

"Shhhhhhhh Dashie, your not allowed to spoil it remember?"

Pinkie had on a very serious, yet somehow still happy, face as she glared at Rainbow. The cyan mare chuckled and nodded motioning for her to take it away. Daybreak was befuddled once again

"What's up with you two...you're acting very...suspicious, what aren't you telling me?"

Pinkie began to giggle madly and bounce up and down in place "You'll see soon silly, can you walk?"

"Well of course I can walk, why would you ask that- wahhhhh Pinkie what are you doing?!"

The pink party planner had latched her jaws onto Daybreaks exposed leg and pulled him from the bed, then began dragging him by the tail toward the door. Once outside, Daybreak pulled his tail free from her teeth and began to follow of his own free will

"Come with me buster, so you can see"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and hoped out of bed herself, following them down the hall. Once Pinkie made a right and began passing several windows that peered into the rooms, Daybreak began to notice an odd pattern with every room they crossed, there were newborn foals in every one.

"Pinkie, where are we going?"

"Shhhhhhhh, mister noisy, you'll wake the babies, just follow me and be Silent Bobby for a moment ok?"

"Fine" he grumbled, not understanding why she couldn't just tell him.

Rainbow trailed behind them watching his face with several snickers, she was clearly enjoying herself, or maybe she was just happy to be out of the room for a change.

When they finally came to a halt outside a room that looked larger than the others, just by the fact that it needed double doors, Daybreak collided into Pinkie without noticing her halt. Luckily her bushy tail was the perfect air bag and he bounced right back unharmed. he looked around his pink friend and saw her motion him to go forward. He pushed open the doors with his hooves and was suddenly shoed through the by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, then he heard the doors being pulled shut behind him.

Rolling his eyes he took in the room in front of him, it was certainly large and well equipped to handle just about any need a patient could have, he even spotted a bath tub that looked like it belonged in the spa house. But what caught his eyes wasn't the decorum or the room, it was the purple mare before him, who was pacing back and forth in that cute way he had always loved. She failed to turn and see who had actually entered and kept to her pacing, so it was no surprise when she regarded him as Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, I told you...I'd rather be alone right now...and I swear if you leave that woopie cushion in my bed one more time, I'm gonna turn your hair yellow and your coat white while your sleeping"

He smirked and just couldn't resist "Well, maybe I should just leave then?"

Twilight halted midpace and did a one-eighty. Her eyes fell on him and exploded into happiness, suddenly she was on top of him in a bone crushing hug that reminded him all too much of five minutes prior. She assaulted his face with kisses and covered ever inch of his muzzle she could get at. The look of sheer joy in her eyes was more than enough to satisfy Daybreak as she cuddled against him on the cold white floor. After a few moments, she remembered where they were and released him to his hooves. Once he was successfully standing, she gently nuzzled his cheek and they started their recap.

"When did you wake up?"

"Five minutes ago, Pinkie Pie hads never been the subtlest with doors...she umm...filled me in on what happened between you and my mother"

Twilights gaze suddenly shifted to disdain and she looked utterly pissed

"You shouldn't call her that?"

That one took Daybreak by surprise, it seemed today was full of them

"Why not Twily?"

Although her gaze did soften a bit at her cute nickname, she still held the venom in her words

"Because she doesn't treat you like a son...especially not when she talked about you earlier...she talked as if you were a criminal, it was all I could do to not lose my temper"

Daybreak raised her an eyebrow and she challenged it

"What?"

"Sounded to me like you didn't really restrain yourself when Pinkie told the story."

Twilight blushed crimson

"How much did she say?"

"I got the detailed yet short version of it, you know Pinkie, but apparently you used some words that made even Rainbow Dash jealous...and proud" he added with a snicker

Twilight face flushed even more

"Well you would have too if you heard the things she said about you"

"Can you blame her Twilight?"

"Yes! I most certainly can blame her!"

Her voice rose to higher and higher pitches the more annoyed she got, he found it so incredibly cute.

"Twilight, I broke into her castle, beat up most of her guards, and then for the icing on the cake, I fought against her and Aunty Luna, to steal a book of unknown and unstable darker powers!"

"To save me! You weren't doing it for personal gain or the 'glory' of defeating Sombra, you did that for me! You should be getting a medal and a feast, not a prison sentence"

He shrugged his shoulders in a way he knew she hated just to get under her skin "Differing view points Twilight"

She was back in front of him in a single teleportation, glaring him directly in the face with the best 'Stare' she could manage, but the moment Daybreak stared back, then smirked, she broke. She burst out laughing and flared out her wings in glee. He loved seeing her like this again, hell...he loved seeing her again in general. After her laughter subsided they had their real talk where they explained what had happened to each of them during their time separate. Daybreaks stories of Shining Star and Aecious clearly captured his loves attention and she felt for him when he described what it was like to watch Aecious die. He made a mental note to find out what happened to everypony later. He also explained everything he and Solar Eclipse had learned together. Solar Eclipse was clearly her favorite topic and she kept wanting to know more, but Daybreak finally managed to subdue her questions with the promise that he would tell her everything once they were home together, as a proper family.

However at the mention of the word family, Twilight's face broke out into blushes again and suddenly she was back to standing up and pacing worriedly. Daybreak wrapped a loving hoof around her neck to stop and comfort her

"What's got your big brain wired love?"

She found difficulty looking him in eyes and instead stared at his sunrise Cutie Mark.

"Well...umm...do remember back before this whole thing started...that night...up in the sky?"

Daybreak recalled exactly which moment she was referring and could understand her blush, she had said some pretty...intense stuff.

"Yeah.."

"Well..do you remember what I said?"

"I believe you were screaming 'I'm your mare, I'm you mare' and 'impregnate me' am I right?"

A pillow suddenly struck his face, followed by another, and another, and then one more before he finally heard Twilight say, with a very obvious blush "You...big...aggghhh"

He chuckled and pulled her close to him in a hug, where she quickly bit his neck in annoyance, not enough to hurt but enough to get the message across and pulled away

"Anyways...do you remember what I said might happen because you were a stallion that night..."

Daybreaks eyes bulged with realization

"No way." he whispered

A piece of parchment was levitated over to him, which he took in his hooves...it confirmed his thoughts with the results on the page, he looked up to see Twilight blushing.

"Daybreak...I'm pregnant"

"SURPRISE!"

"Ahhh!" Twilight and Daybreak yelped in fear

The twin doors flew open to reveal Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie both grasping her party cannon, and firing it's confetti contents straight into Daybreaks and Twilight's faces. Twilight felt her blush intensify as Pinkie and Rainbow danced around them happily

"We both knew before you did dude"

"And we just couldn't resist waiting outside to throw you a big party in celebration!"

"Yeah, by the way, next time, don't take so frickin long to catch up, we've been waiting here for like, ever"

Daybreak merely held the piece of medical parchment in his hooves and stared at the results, he felt...happy. But also a great fear, their life just got a whole lot more complicated.

The Ins and Outs of Royalty (Clop)

The morning blossomed with it's usual array of magnificent colors . The orange and yellow rays of Celestia's sun shot across the horizon as a new day in the simple town of Ponyville began. Daybreak stood on the balcony of his lovely tree home, staring at the rising sun which his Cutie Mark represented. He lightly tapped his front hoof on the wooden balcony beams, waiting to play his part in the sunrise. Finally as the sunrise reached the peak of morning, Daybreak activated his horn and felt his power flow through him once again, his eyes glowed white from the awesome power flowing through them. With a quick burst energy he released his power at the sun and relished in what was about to happen. He waited only a few moments, then the rays of the sun exploded outwards displaying a beautiful rainbow of colors across the morning sky causing Ponyville to seemingly shine in the light. Daybreak smiled at his creation, he did not do this every morning, but on the occasional day he felt particularly happy or just woke up early enough and felt like it, he would add his input to Celestia's sunrise.

She had already stated to him she quite enjoyed his addition occasionally and so had no objection, after all, she had allowed Twilight to play a role in the recent summer sun celebration, so this was only fair. As for Twilight, if she was ever up early enough to see it, she would stand with him and watch, usually drape a wing around him and sometimes just talk about the beauty or science of his aurora creations. The days like this were rare, since Twilight liked to sleep in much more lately, as their "royal duties" often made them extremely tired through out the day. Some how they always managed to muster enough strength to make love every single night though, it was almost routine, but amazing in every way even still.

He stared out across Ponyville, this was usually one of those moments Rainbow Dash would show up and either talk with him for an hour, or drag him to the bedroom. However this morning he seemed to be clear of the rainbow haired beauty. He was almost disappointed that there was no real job he had to perform today, he had become accustomed to the day to day routine of assisting random ponies and teasing Twilight every time somepony would ask her for help. However today promised to be free of incident, or so he hoped. Being the son of the Chaos God, he had first hand experience on how quickly the day could change. A good example that jumped to his mind was; only hours after the coronation/wedding, a unicorn called Sunset Shimmer had broken into Twilight's room and stolen her crown, then retreated through a portal to another world, forcing Twilight to pursue her alone. And now, with the Elements of Harmony no longer in their possession due to the Tree of Harmony nearly dying only a few days prior, Daybreak was always on the lookout for something to go wrong. Without the Elements around, it was his duty to protect Twilight, and so he must always be ready for the worst.

Finally satisfied that neither Rainbow Dash, or any other random anomalies were inbound to his home, Daybreak turned his tail around and casually walked back inside. As he made his way over to the bed, he watched Twilight gently roll around in the bed, her ear twitched lightly towards him as she let out a quick squeak in her sleep. Daybreak's hoof shot to is face and immediately covered his muzzle to keep from bursting into laughter at the cuteness. He slowly circled the bed to get a good view of her adorable bed head. Then he placed his hoof gently in her mane and began to caress her gorgeous hair. He began to twirl it with his hoof and considered giving her a hair swirl, but before he could, she rolled over and wrapped herself in the blanket. Her entire upper half was almost completely encased in the blanket cocoon except for her head, while her bottom half was turned in the most erotic position. Her legs were pressed tightly together towards her front, giving Daybreak an almost unrestricted view of Twilights near perfect marehood and tight little flank.

Daybreak could feel the heat rushing to his lower half and was desperately trying to resist pounding his new wife's gorgeous rear right the and there. He managed to resist the urge to pounce, and instead lowered his muzzle to her tight lips and dragged his tongue the length of her slit, he relished in the sweet, almost grape-like taste she had to her body. Twilight let out a long coo from the covers and there was a quick flapping motion from under the sheets. It took Daybreak a full minute to realize, Twily's wings were desperately trying to be free of their restraint. Daybreak eyed the weird form under the covers, he was able pin point where Twilight's wings were from the desperate, almost painful looking, flapping under the covers.

Daybreak lifted the entangled of bed sheets off of Twilight's wings ever so gently, so as not to wake her, and set them neatly to the side. Once her wings were free, they expanded outwards rapidly and nearly smacked him in the face. He ducked in time and narrowly missed a face full of feathers. Although many Pegasi considered their "wingboners" to be nothing more than annoying, Daybreak found it quite cute, and very helpful. It always gave him access to Rainbow and Twilight's sensitive nerves under their wings whenever it happened. And right now was he perfect time to torture his love with her oh so sensitive wings. Daybreak stayed at the edge of the bed and leaned over Twilight's right wing. Once he had full view and access to her wing, he went to work. He lightly nibbled on her feathers and massaged the nerve endings on her wing tip and along her back. He could feel Twilight shiver and shift her legs as he played, she twitched and squirmed under his gentle touch, but he kept her in place. He considered turning back into his other form so he could really give it to her with his delicate fingers, but he decided against it for now.

A sudden squishing sound brought Daybreak's attention to Twilight's lower region, it was immediately obvious to him she was enjoying his massage a little to much, as she was now sopping wet, and apparently trying to get herself off by rubbing her hind legs together. Daybreak almost felt bad for her and decided to give her one good push to wake up. He took his teeth away from her feathers but continued to work her nerves with his hooves. Once again he lowered his lips to her soaked ones, and gave her slit a long, good, lick. A loud and drawn out moan escaped Twilight as she shivered in the pleasure her body was now aching for. Daybreak kept his tongue firmly on her marehood and continued to lick around and inside her lips, drinking up her sweet nectar. Finally Twilight's eyes shot open as her second loud moan came out

"OH YEEEEEEEEEES!"

She drew out her moan as her hindquarters began to shake with arousal. She twitched and turned under Daybreak's merciless tongue. He danced his saliva coated muscle all over her soaking lips and drank her arousal like it was life giving. She bucked outwards and flared her wings, desperately flapping, trying to push Daybreak's tongue ever deeper into her bottom. Her aroused muscles kept her wings nearly frozen in place however, and left Daybreak free to his torture of Twilight's delicious snatch. Twilight felt her energy completely disappear and she dropped her front end down leaving her hindquarters raised in the air, for Daybreaks tongue to continue assaulting. Which he did so with great pleasure, now it was even easier though with her hips at his eye height. He grasped her flank cheeks and gave them a good squeeze, bringing her mare lips closer to his face and diving his tongue ever deeper into her. Twilight just laid there, her hips rocking back and forth, with a small pool of drool leaking out of her mouth as Daybreak almost literally licked her senseless. She could barely form words as he tongue fucked her slit with all his might

"Oh Celestia! Daybreak! I'm so...close! OH! Just a little more, please don't stop!!!"

Just as she was about to go over her peak, Daybreak removed his tongue from her. She made her disappointment very obvious with a loud whine. However her whine was cut halfway short as she immediately felt a very large and hard object shove itself deep inside her mare lips. It was so sudden and she had been so close that the moment the object was fully inside her she let out an ear shattering scream and clamped down on the object with a mind-blowing orgasm. Twilight turned her head around and saw that it was Daybreak and he was balls deep inside her body. He felt her clamping around him, that only made it easer and he went with the pull. He began to quickly but gently thrust in and out of her while she begged for him to give her more, still riding out her last orgasm.

"Oh Yes! Oh yes! Give it to me Daybreak!!! Rut me! I'm your mare! I'm your Mare!!!"

Hearing those words brought Daybreak to the edge quicker than he thought and he had to really pick up I pace to make sure Twilight came twice before he finished. Twilight wasn't being any help to him, her sexy words only made him want to cum more and more.

"Oh Daybreak, pound me raw! Oh! OH! Spank me Daybreak! Mmph! Spank my delicate flank!"

Daybreak raised a hoof and gave her rump several goods spanks right on her right Cutie Mark. That was it for her, Twilight rocketed into her second orgasm and screamed into the pillow she was crushing. Her body's spasms pushed Daybreak over too and he went into his orgasms with her. And just like every other time they ever orgasmed together, their eyes lit white and magical energy flowed through their bodies, intensifying their orgasms to an unbelievable high.

As they came down off of their magical high together and their eyes began to return to normal, they both realized just how god it would be to just sleep away the rest of the day in their bed. However as fate would have it, right as they were beginning to get and comfy together and snuggle close, there was a series of several sharp raps at the door downstairs. At first they tried to ignore it, but whomever it was had persistence and did not cease knocking. As if that wasn't enough, they then began to ring the doorbell that Daybreak had recently fixed, though he was starting to wish he hadn't fixed it at all. Try as they might, they could not ignore the endless knocking and ringing, and once it became clear that whomever it was, wasn't going to leave quietly (obviously) they finally submitted to going downstairs.

Daybreak had been expecting some random pony who needed the princess or princes help with a silly problem when he came to the door, what he did no expect was half of the royal crystal guard to be outside his home, at his front door. The pegasus closest to him pulled out an overly large scroll and cleared his throat

"Prince Daybreak and Princess Twilight, you are hereby ordered to report to the Crystal Empire at once for an emergency meeting regarding the safety of Equestria's borders and the future protection of its citizens"

The guard rolled up the scroll and began to hand it to Daybreak. Daybreak shot him a glare

"I don't like to be handed things"

"Well that's ok cause I love to be handed things"

Twilight came out past her husband and took up the scroll in her magic. It was clearly a longer, more written out version of what the guard had just said and she wanted to read it thoroughly. Many of the other guards were backing up slightly from Daybreak, as he kept shooting them dirty looks. Twilight saw this and giggled from behind the scroll

"Oh be nice sweetie, it's not their fault"

Daybreak mumbled quietly

"Was supposed to be our weekend off"

He grumbled to himself until the captain coughed and said

"Also your father has requested that you come in your natural form Prince Daybreak"

Daybreak quickly shot him another look of displeasement then let out a sigh. Twilight's head never left the scroll but he heard her comment from behind it

"I'm sure Discord has his reasons sweetheart"

"I know, that doesn't mean I gotta like it"

He kicked at a nearby stone and sent it flying like a bullet into the bushes beyond and grumbled under his breath. Twilight just giggled some more and kept reading through the scroll. The guard nearest Daybreak came forward again

"Your highnesses, this is a most urgent matter, we must get going"

Daybreak raised an eyebrow at the guard captain and Twilight looked around the scroll at him, then back to Daybreak

"Well, ok then, I'll just go get our friends and we can..."

"I'm sorry Princess, but we must leave now"

Daybreak let lose a low growl causing the captain to turn towards him. Daybreak had already transformed back into his two legged self with his claws extended as he stretched out his arms. He eyed the guard carefully

"Our friends come first, they need to come to"

The guard was clearly terrified of Daybreak, but stood his ground none-the-less

"I'm sorry sir, but these orders come directly from Princess Luna, you must leave at once, the your friends will be brought to the Empire by train, but you must leave now."

Daybreak smiled and retracted his claws, his whole attitude instantly softened

"Clearly this is important if you're willing to risk standing your ground against me...Alright let's get going Twilight"

He placed his hand on her back to walk with her to the station, but she didn't move at first

"Why are these orders coming from Princess Luna and not Celestia"

"Princess Celestia is to busy to even spare a moment right now, she is preparing for your arrival and the meeting that will follow"

Twilight nodded and followed Daybreak to the train station. Once they stepped onboard, it became obvious that this meeting, whatever it was about, was clearly important. The entire train seemed filled with nothing but royal crystal guards, every single car was filled with them. Once Daybreak and Twilight found their seats, they were informed that the Wonderbolts were also coming with them and were in the back car right now. Daybreak and Twilight immediately made their way towards the rear car. Daybreak was curious to see if the most recent rumors he had heard were true, that the Wonderbolts had acquired a new member, and that this new member and their captain might be a little more than teammates. Daybreak looked out the window as they headed towards the back car, Equestria really was beautiful, a sight he was sure, could never been ruined.

.....

Outskirts of the Crystal Empire

A dark figure dashed illuminated by lightning dashed inside the cave. The raging storm outside fit the creatures mood and purpose almost perfectly. The insect-like creature took several steps inside the cave and saw the mass of tunnels and passages that spanned ahead. To many, these passages were endless mazes threatening to swallow anypony foalish enough to enter them. But to a creature used to these types of caves, it was a simple matter to discover if what his queen sought was here.

The creature began to hover in the air, and its jet black body began to glow a emerald green that surrounded its body all the way up to it's deformed horn. Once its aura covered it completely, the creature began to buzz around the room, stopping occasionally at certain walls, then moving on to the next. it did this for about thirty minutes with no change, this was not uncommon, often they would search caves for hours and still have no luck, there was no reason today would be any different. AS the creature began to scan the next series of walls, the green aura surrounding its horn suddenly erupted into a red and blackish cloud of aura. The creature dropped out of the air and hit ground, cutting of the spell wit a smirk.

"It's here! It's here! My queen shall be so pleased"

Without hesitation the jet black insect made for the mouth of the cave and took off into the raging storm. it let loose a maniacal laugh as it flew into the storm.

"Yes! Yes! Our Hive may yet be saved! Praise the Queen!"

The Flames of Evil, the Wrath of Love

The full moon cast a bright glow over the small group of friends sleeping on the Cliffside, none of them were awake, save for Discord. He was propped up in a chair floating happily around his son reading some type of magazine, clearly waiting for something to happen. As he flipped to the next page, he raised his eyebrows as a shadow darted behind a nearby boulder. He snickered to himself, their race always thought they were so sneaky

"You may as well come out from back there, your stealth is terrible"

After a moment of consideration, the creature stepped out from behind its hiding place. The moonlight revealed it to be a changeling drone, which the hissed towards Discord

"You mock my stealth Chaos God, but it is only through your special magic you detect me..."

The drone hesitated for a moment and eyed the others that were sleeping

"We were not expecting so many, the request was for only the newest prince and princess"

Discord flashed the drone a mischievous smile, which made it very uncomfortable

"Now come on, your Queen can't really have expected Celestia to send her two favorites out here to meet with you without some protection, I mean really, that is truly funny"

The drone hissed again and motioned down the cliff side

"The time approaches, please come with me"

Discord rolled his eyes

"You drones are no fun, hive minded or not, you could at least show sooooome individuality, maybe your species wouldn't be in this desperate situation if you branched out a bit more"

The drone seemed shocked by his words, but Discord paid it no mind, he vanished his chair and shrunk his magazine, tucking it safely in his mane. Then, with a snap of his fingers, he made several buckets of cold water appear over the others and gave them a very rude wake up call. AS the buckets dropped they soaked the Wonderbolts, who immediately shot up as though electrocuted, but when they saw it was Discord, they mumbled some rude words and began to dry off.

However when the buckets fell towards Rainbow, Daybreak and Twilight, a green force field erupted over the and caused the buckets to spill away harmlessly. Discord was unamused by his offspring's prior planning and materialized three wooden paddles over each of their flanks. With a snap of his fingers all three of them were awoken very sharply to the quick sting against their behinds. Without even waiting they all turned to Discord and gave him an evil glare, Rainbow even shouted something Daybreak would not be letting her say in front of his children. Discord merely shrugged

"If it wasn't for your force field it would have just been a little water...sorry, your fault"

Daybreak shot him a nasty glare, but ceased when he saw the drone standing at the cliffs edge

"umm...are you waiting for something?"

The drone again pointed down the mountain

"come, it is nearly time"

It quickly jumped and flew down the mountain without another word. Discord flew next to Daybreak

"Geez, their species is so rude"

Daybreak gave him a skeptical look and shook his head, then motioned at the others to join him.

The Wonderbolts already seemed packed up and ready to watch the skies, although it seemed as the rookie, Shinging Star was carrying most of their stuff. Daybreak guessed that whether or not he was dating the captain, she still treated him like a normal member during duty time, that did seem like Spitfire. Rainbow was chatting with Soarin which left only Daybreak and Twilight. He looked them both over, no real need to get ready, they had not brought anything with them, although Daybreak suspected that Twilight had stashed a quill and scroll for an official peace treaty, but he had no idea where she could hide it. Luckily for him, their was no time to wonder, as Discord took this moment to interrupt his thoughts

"Well the lets go, clearly everypony is ready, lets go do this precious peace treaty with the most untrustworthy race in Equestria"

Daybreak shot a glare at his father as the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash took off behind him

"We made peace with you didn't we"

He jumped off the cliff side before Discord could retort and Twilight was right behind him, he heard her giggling as she flew next to him

"I'm pretty sure you just left him speechless up there"

"He'll be fine, it's just banter"

"Oh really, I'm pretty sure you meant that one"

"You know me so well"

She winked at him and flew ahead, landing on the crunchy rock covered surface of the valley below. Daybreak landed a few moments later and looked back up the mountain. At the top he could see his father holding a pair of binoculars, watching them both from a lawn chair, and he was holding what looked like, a glass of apple cider wit a small umbrella in it. Daybreak sighed and followed behind Twilight to the center of the valley, their they sat down near a pile of collapsed boulders and waited.

After a few minutes of waiting the drone that had led them, or at least it appeared to be the same drone, came out from behind the boulders and hissed

"The Queen will see you now"

Daybreak rolled his eyes and Twilight let out a sigh of annoyance, then ruffled her wings in impatience

"You made it seem like we were nearly late...fine where is Chrysalis?"

The drone motioned to the boulders near the rock face. Slowly the edge of the rock wall began to morph into the mouth of a very wide cave. Daybreak raised his eyebrows and Twilight let out a light gasp, she leaned over and whispered to Daybreak

"That's a pretty powerful illusion spell, to hide a whole cave, I didn't think Chrysalis had that much power"

Daybreak was surprised as well but recalled something Celestia had mentioned to them

"Maybe it's not Chrysalis sweetie.."

She looked at his face and saw he was thinking the same thing

"...Maybe that unicorn my mother told us about is as strong as she thought"

Twilight had been worried about that, a powerful unicorn living with the changelings could be a problem if these negotiations went south on them.

After allowing them to stare in awe for a few moments, the drone smirked and shattered their minds once more

"If you are finished marveling at MY spell, the Queen will be arriving shortly, I suggest you bow, as she will no doubt show you the same respect"

Daybreak and Twilight heard everything the drone had said, but only one had stood out to them...Twilight stuttered on the word

"Y...you...your.."

"Your...spell?

Daybreak finished her thought for her and looked to the drone for any sign that he was lying, but the drone merely smirked

"Yes it is mine"

Daybreak could not believe that for a moment

"How is that possible, when I fought your hive you all had barely any magical power beyond your shape shifting, how could you now suddenly have such power?!"

The drone enjoyed the confused looks on the royalties of Equestria and sneered happily as he heard the approaching steps of his queen and her new advisor

"You will see very soon, don't worry"

....

Meanwhile, up on the cliffs edge, Discord was at the edge of his seat with binoculars, staring in fixation at the power these drones now held

"oooooh this looks like it's going to be exciting after all, oh I'm gonna need a bigger camera"

He dropped off his chair and walked to the very edge of the cliff and kicked the large camera he had set up down the mountain. Then with a snap of his fingers, a new and much muuuuch larger camera appeared in its place and began filming again. Discord then hopped back into his chair, which then morphed into a recliner chair and reset the binoculars back on his eyes.

.....

Back down on the ground Twilight and Daybreak waited for Chrysalis to appear from inside the cave. For several moments, all they heard were approaching hoovesteps and the occasional clatter of, what sounded like, metal or armor from inside the cave. All at once Chrysalis became visible fro the cave mouth along with a cloaked, and relatively large unicorn stallion. The moment Daybreak laid eyes on Chrysalis and the cloaked figure his head exploded in pain and his body felt cold to the bone. The pain nearly caused him to pass out and the cold nearly gave out his legs. Twilight saw him stutter and put her wing out to steady him.

"Daybreak! What's wrong, what's happening"

Daybreak grasped his head in unending pain, he could barely keep his vision from going blurry as his whole body seemed to give out

"Arrrgghhh! I don't know...Twilight, something doesn't feel right about those two...we should...agggghh...leave now"

Twilight nodded and extended her other wing, and ignited her horn threateningly, then she lowered her head as though aiming at Chrysalis

"What did you do to Daybreak?"

Chrysalis eyed Daybreak from the mouth of the cave, clearly her suspicions had been true, not all of her magic had been removed from him back then, he still held a trace. She smiled and began to walk forward towards Twilight, although the other unicorn remained in place at the cave mouth.

"My dear Twilight, the traces of my magic inside of him are merely reacting to my presence"

Twilight flared up, her horn beginning to glow dangerously brighter

"What do you mean! What magic of yours could be inside him?!"

Chrysalis could tell the young alicorn was definitely not faking her anger, or the power in that horn of hers, nevertheless, she continued forward until she was nearly right in front of the pair of the and chuckled

"Surely you must remember dear Twilight, after all, he wouldn't be here now if you weren't aware of at least some of it"

Twilight racked her brain, she could see Chrysalis wasn't just teasing her. It took a few moments, but then she remember. All that time Daybreak had spent in the hospital after their encounter with Chrysalis, he said she had done horrible things to his mind with her magic, but she could never get him to fully explain what had happened and the doctors and Twilight had used up all their power trying to remove all Chrysalis's magic from his mind. She remembered all right, that meant Chrysalis could fix him then too. She powered up her horn more, this time Chrysalis actually took a step back in fear as Twilight spoke

"Fix him! Now!"

Chrysalis eyed the alicorn

"If I do, then you'll agree to peace with our race?"

Twilight's horn fizzled slightly in her surprise

"You mean, you didn't do this to him on purpose"

Chrysalis smiled

"Well, not right now anyways, back then I did yes, but not right now no..."

"Not that it doesn't have it's uses right now though" The queen thought to herself

Chrysalis approached Daybreak and Twilight lowered the power in her horn to a minimum, but still kept it active, just in case.

As the Changeling Queen stood in front of him, Daybreak managed to give her a glare as the beads of sweat rolled painfully down his face. Chrysalis chuckled

"You haven't changed much since before, you still have that look of defiance in your eyes"

She turned to Twilight

"I'll fix him, but you have to agree to peace between our races if I do, right now"

Twilight flared up again, slightly

"That's what we came here for in the first place"

Chrysalis smiled

"I'm sure"

She extended her hoof and lifted Daybreaks chin, she brought his face up to hers and smiled as he glared at her. Twilight was getting antsy

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna remove my magic of course, unfortunately for you, there is only one way to do it"

Twilight was about to inquire what that would be, but before she could, Chrysalis grasped Daybreaks face, with plenty of surprise form him, and crushed her lips against his, instantly shoving her tongue down the back of his throat.

Twilight let out a yell in protest and her horn flared all the way back up in power, however before she could react anymore, Chrysalis removed her lips from Daybreaks and took two steps back. Daybreak dropped to the ground and began to violently cough and spit up his saliva. Twilight reared on Chrysalis as the queen stared at Daybreak almost disappointed

"What did you do?!"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes

"I just said it, I removed my magic from him, true he's still very weakened magically...But that little show he's putting on, is all him right now"

It was at that moment Daybreak chose to sputter

"Dear Luna you taste terrible, don't you ever brush your teeth, or at least your tongue woman!"

The Queen glared at him while Twilight fought back the urge to laugh. She kept her composure and said

"So, peace between our races is a yes then?

Chrysalis turned her attention away from Daybreak and eyed Twilight

"Well, yes and no, one last thing has to happen before our races can have peace..."

Se let out a high pitched whistle and the unicorn in the cloak began to walk forward from the caves entrance. Chrysalis's attitude suddenly dropped slightly and she said

"I want you to know something Twilight, despite our differences, this condition wasn't part of my plan, but I had no choice, I have to save my race"

Twilight raised her eyebrows

"What do you mean?"

The cloaked pony took that moment to clear his throat

"She means me!"

Twilight's eyes shot wide, she recognized that voice, and immediately knew why he had concealed his voice from Celestia. But it was too late now, the cloaked pony threw off the garments around him and revealed the silver clad armor underneath. Twilight gasped as the shadowy body of King Sombra became visible to her, instantly everything made sense to her, including the Changelings newfound powers!

King Sombra smiled evilly, even as Daybreak tried to stand up his legs failed him, he was still to weak from Chrysalis removing her magic from him. Sombra sneered at Twilight

"I have been waiting for this chance since I was revived"

Twilight gave a shudder of fear

"And what chance would that be"

The king smiled, his pointed fangs glistening sharply against the moonlight.

.....

High above, Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts saw the events unfolding underneath them. As King Sombra made his appearance, Rainbow Dash gasped in surprise

"That's King Sombra! He's supposed to be dead!"

Spitfire swapped glances with the rest of her team

"Is that bad"

Rainbow nodded

"Very bad, let's go!"

She dropped into a nose dive, with the Wonderbolts following right behind her, she shot down straight at King Sombra.

.....

From the cliff side Discord saw the King reveal himself, and instantly did a spit take of the lemonade he was drinking! He jumped off the chair he was in and took off down the cliff side

"Oh no you don't King Sombra, as much as I love the chaos you caused in the Crystal Empire back in the day, I can't have you harming my offspring".

.....

King Sombra looked around and saw Daybreak and Twilight's friends rocketing in at him. He snickered

"Even the Chaos God is here, how delicious!"

Twilight began to light her horn, but the King had other plans, he let out a roar and caused a spherical vortex of dark magic to appear around himself. For a moment he looked like he had returned to being a shadow again, but then, all at once he released his power in a giant wave of energy scattering the canyon.

The Dark magic struck Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts and set them twirling away into the boulders and trapping them under debris that fell from their impact. As Discord was struck by the wave, for a moment he pushed his way through, but then he too was sent into the surrounding boulders and was trapped by the debris that fell.

Twilight's horn was extinguished instantly in Sombra's energy field, even as she tried to ignite it with her magic, she could not even cause a spark wit the black crystalline substances now covering her horn. Daybreak, could still not find the strength to stand, and was unable to summon any magic as the black crystals stuck to him as well. He could barely keep a himself on his knees, let alone stand, he felt extremely helpless and vulnerable as King Sombra approached them both.

The King stared at the two creatures he most wanted to meet and also hated more than anything...and smiled

"Now that I have your attention, I'll make this brief...I want my throne back Twilight Sparkle! But because of you I was thwarted in my attempts to regain what is rightfully mine."

The dark flames in his eyes grew more fiery as he spoke

"And you Daybreak, because of you and what you have caused in Equestria as of late, I was delayed in my revival. For whatever reason, Equestria is now filled with more love and compassion than ever before, and you are to blame. It sickens me, because were it not for your presence, I could have revived myself months ago. Instead only my horn remained and I had to rely on another species finding me to revive myself. Luckily I was actually sought out by these Changelings, and in exchange for the power to save her race from extinction, their queen gave me the info I needed to find you two."

Daybreak felt a burning in is chest, he understood what Chrysalis had said to Twilight now, she had not wanted this, but nevertheless it was her fault. He glared as King Sombra continued

"I've waited a long time for this moment, and now I can exact my revenge!"

Daybreak had heard enough, he extended his claws and lunged at the king. this immediately proved to be a bad idea, as King Sombra let loose a swarm of black fiery lightening and struck Daybreak back onto the ground. Daybreak twitched from the shock, and burn marks, but was otherwise unharmed. Twilight on the other hand, lost her mind! As she saw Daybreak hit the ground, her horn exploded magic outwards, destroying the black crystals on both her and Daybreak.

Black flames swarmed around her eyes as the dark magic she had used to free them was now turned on the king. Sombra looked surprised, but also pleased as Twilight turned her dark powers on him

"Well now, this is interesting...an alicorn using dark magic, Celestia teaching you some new tricks perhaps"

Twilight ignored the king and released a shadowy ball of black flames at him. Sombra was surprised but not unprepared, he raised a shield and dispelled her attack with ease, snickering in the process

"Or maybe not, you clearly have no control over that dark power. Perhaps I just struck a light nerve when I zapped your friend here."

Daybreak struggled to his feet again, but the king merely laughed and blasted him back to the ground. Daybreak felt his fur singe when the kings magic threw him to the ground again.

Twilight ignited her horn in her own aura and let loose a blast of energy at the king once again. Not even bothering to dodge this attack, King Sombra allowed the beam to pass right through him as he burst into black smoke and shadows. Twilight yelled to Sombra in frustration

"We aren't afraid of you Sombra, we've defeated you once already!"

An evil laugh echoed through the black smoke

"You should fear me!"

Daybreak saw, all too late, what came next. From within the black cloud of shadows, a sword-like beam of dark magic shot from the center and struck Twilight cleanly in the chest. Twilight's eyes went wide as she slowly looked down, the shadowy blade of energy protruding from her chest hung their like a real blade. Slowly she lowered her head and coughed, sending bits of blood splattering onto the dirt below her hooves. Twilight struggled to stay standing and looked up to the king in time to see another energy beam strike her where the blade stood and send her flying backwards inot the rock wall behind them. She struck the cliff face with a thud and more blood escaped her lips, then she collapsed onto the ground, motionless.

King Sombra watched as the dark blade disappeared into smoke from Princess Twilight's chest, he let loose a evil sneer

"One down, one to-"

Before he could finish a blood curdling screech mixed with a terrifying roar ripped through his ears, as the king was struck in the side of the face by an unknown object that burned into his skin and sent him crashing into several rocks. Sombra rolled from the debris in time to see Daybreak charging him, fiery rage etched on his face and claws burning with his magic

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Those were the only words the king heard before Daybreak appeared in front of him again and slammed his fist into the side of Sombra's face. The king managed to stay on his feet but staggered back several steps from the blow, before he could recover, two more strikes followed, one to his face and another that blew a hole in the side of his armor. The king was knocked off his feet and was in complete shock. No being should be able to strike that hard, let alone break a part of his armor. He looked up as Daybreak advanced on him again, and saw his claws and knuckles were covered in his aura, Sombra quickly understood how the blows had been so powerful. The king looked into Daybreak's eyes and saw they were ignited in his aura. The king began to worry if he should continue fighting this opponent when he clearly had more power than the king had first expected.

Unfortunately for the king, Daybreak was not waiting for his approval to continue. He teleported in front of the king and grasped him firmly around the throat. He lifted him off the ground, while pulling back his other hand to form a ball of energy.

"You're not gonna live long enough to regret what you just did!"

Daybreaks words came out cold and unforgiving as he looked into the kings eyes. Sombra looked back as he struggled to breathe, he exploded into smoke and appeared several feet away, coughing for air. He looked up in time to duck as the beam of energy Daybreak built in is palm seared past his head. Sombra quickly let loose his own beam of magic as Daybreak rushed him again. Daybreak jumped up and flew over the beam then dive bombed Sombra, tackling him to the ground. Daybreak slammed his fist into Sombra's jaw, he felt the kings head hit the ground and bounce back. He lifted his fist and slammed down again, but Sombra vanished into shadows before the blow struck him. A dark beam of energy came from within the shadow and knocked Daybreak back several steps. He quickly recovered and let loose a green ball of flames at the shadow. Sombra dove out of the smoky shadow and rolled away just as the flames exploded around it. He came up just in time to receive a kick to the chest from Daybreak, however this kick was not magical and only made him stagger back, while Daybreak felt a searing aching in his foot form kicking armor.

Sombra ignited his horn and caused a black evil looking scythe with a skull on the bottom of the handle to grow out of the ground. It began levitating in the air once it was free and took off at Daybreak. Daybreak kept his claw soaked in magic and extended them with a small growth spell as the evil blade approached him. The scythe swung at his head but he parried with his claw, and with his free hand grabbed the handle and brought it to his grasp.

Sombra facehoofed himself, nopony had ever down that before, although nopony had ever had hands when he had fought them. He watched as Daybreak ran his hand along the scythe and turned it into a long purple bladed sword. Then he lowered his stance and charged Sombra. The king was hardly worried, as he erupted another scythe fro the ground, he had been dueling with blades long before Daybreak had even existed. Daybreak swung downwards at the king, but was instantly parried by the curve of the scythe. Sombra then hooked the scythe inwards and swiped the sword from Daybreak's grasp. The blade swung away in the air as Sombra swung downwards in a slash that would cut Daybreak in half. Daybreak vanished at the last moment, causing Sombra to stagger forward in his follow through swipe. He reappeared behind Sombra holding his sword and plunged it deep into the kings rib cage.

Daybreak smirked as the scythe in Sombra's aura vanished into smoke

"Burn in Tartarus you bastard"

For a moment a look of surprise at being outmaneuvered by a novice shone on Sombra's face. But even as Daybreak pushed the blade deeper Sombra let out a chilling laugh. Daybreak attempted to pull the blade out to stab him again, but it seemed to be stuck in his side. He then noticed that another scythe was forming out from the ground behind him. He first thoughts were Sombra must be trying to get him with one last attack, but as he looked at the stab point on the king, he saw no blood coming from the wound. He quickly let go of the sword and dove back in time to avoid the oncoming scythe. As it missed him, both blades vanished into a shadowy mist as Sombra chuckled

"So much...hatred...I've never met a creature like you before Daybreak. I thought you were nothing but another magical being, obsessed with the love and happiness that these Princesses so love to preach about...But your willingness to kill me so quickly, and so ferociously. I find it quite, delicious, in fact I think you and I have a lot-"

"Shut your mouth!"

Daybreak cut him off and blasted several more beams of magic at the king. Sombra dodged by becoming shadows again and reappeared several feet away. Daybreak snarled at the king

"Don't talk like you know me Sombra, you know nothing about me. We have nothing in common other than we both wield powerful magic."

Daybreak pointed at himself

"I'm nothing like you, I may not be as pure as the ponies I live with but I am sure as Tartarus not as bad as you. I am the son of Discord and the Prince of Chaos."

Daybreak's eyes narrowed as he send his next words

"I am the husband of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and soon, I will be your destroyer!"

A large ball of magical energy formed in his palms, it quickly grew to a intimidating size and resembled the morning sun. King Sombra took a few steps back as the Prince yelled to him

"I AM DAYBREAK YOU BASTARD AND YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!!!"

He threw the fiery sun at Sombra and collapsed to one knee. Sombra attempted to blast the oncoming ball of power away but his attacks fizzled away near it. He yelled out in anger as the ball of heat struck him and exploded! The heat from the mini sun ball seared and burned Sombra in many places and blackened many parts of his armor. The side of his face that took the worst of the attack was burned heavily and his eye now showed a long burn mark running down his face. But the energy did not destroy him, and as Daybreaks attack faded, King Sombra was left laying in the dirt, a small charred crater around him.

Daybreak snarled in annoyance at the Kings survival and began attempting to form another attack. The king noticed this and worked his way to his hooves

"Sorry Daybreak, not today"

Without another word the king became a cloud of smoke and flew away into the night sky, the Changelings and Chrysalis followed behind him without a word.

Daybreak spat in annoyance, then once he was to his feet, ran over to Twilight as quick as he could. He quickly sent out a small wave of energy to free his friends and father from Sombra's dark magic and the rocks they were under. As they rocks and magic were blasted away, Discord, Rainbow and the Wonderbolts came flying to Daybreak's side. As they approached, they saw him kneeling down and holding Twilight in his arms. Tears were streaming down his face as he saw the deep burn mark scared onto her chest. Rainbow walked up to him and draped her wing around his neck as tears began to fall from her as well.

"I'm sorry Daybreak"

He didn't respond to her, he began mumbling to himself through his tears

"Twilight...no no no Twilight...you can't be...you can't be gone...wake up please...please wake up...please...please Twilight I can't live without you...please wake up..."

Discord approached his son and focused on the young alicorn

"Daybreak..."

"Shut up Discord, go away I don't wanna hear it right-"

"Daybreak she's alive!"

His head shot up

"What!?"

Discord took Twilight from his son's arms

"She's alive, but not for long if we don't go now! Come on"

Discord pulled them all close with magic, then snapped his fingers and they all vanished.

1 hour later

After arriving in the middle of the Crystal Castle's throne room out of thin air and explaining the situation to everypony there, Daybreak and Discord had taken Twilight to Cadence and Shining armors room and set her in the bed. After 20 minutes of pain stacking magical healing they managed to make her breathing at least noticeable, so Daybreak could only assume they had helped. But as his hopes started to soar, Twilights vitals began to drop rapidly again and Cadence had to cover her in a magical veil to stabilize her.

"It looks like King Sombra infected her with some kind of dark magic, like sickness...it's killing her slowly...But I don't know how to stop it"

Cadence sighed, clearly she was as distraught as Daybreak about this, Discord however, seemed to have an idea

"Well, there is one way to stop it for sure...If King Sombra were destroyed, all his magic would fade as well, I'm certain that includes this sickness, after all from what I understand, his curse on the Crystal Empire and it's citizens faded after he was defeated by the Crystal heart."

Daybreak stood up from Twilight's bedside the moment he heard those words

"Fine...I'll go destroy Sombra then"

Celestia and Luna looked worried at his words, Celestia more so than anypony else

"You realize that means you have to kill him, right Daybreak?"

"If it means saving Twilight, I don't care"

Princess Luna raised her eyebrows to her sister, she was unsure if she should speak up, but at seeing Daybreaks determined expression, she decided it was for the best, despite knowing her sister would likely be very upset at her for it

"Well...Other than the Crystal heart, there really is no known way to destroy King Sombra, even we were only able to seal him away"

Daybreak sighed, he knew this was true, even throwing a small sun at Sombra had not destroyed him, however Luna seemed to have read his mind

"However...there is a book hidden in the Starswirl the Bearded section of our library that speaks of a powerful magic...perhaps if you acquired it.."

"That's enough Luna!"

Celestia looked very troubled by her sister revealing that book

"You and I know full well that book is too risky to use and most certainly cannot give it to the son of Discord!"

Daybreak was offended by her words, had she forgotten she was practically his mother!

"You don't trust me?"

Celestia flushed, realizing she had said this in front of everypony and Discord himself

"It has nothing to do wit trust Daybreak, the book contains evil magic and other magic that has never failed to corrupt even the purest of hearts! Luna read from the book before she betrayed me and transformed into Nightmare Moon, and the only way I was able to stop her was with the Elements of Harmony! Imagine what that books knowledge might change you into, or what else it might do to a being like you. You're the son of the Chaos god! You already posses power greater than most anypony in existence! You can't-"

"Did King Sombra read the book?"

Celestia stopped midsentence at his question, he had figured that out almost instantly and that was not good, but there was no point in trying to hide it, so she slowly nodded. Daybreak's expression remained stern

"Then I'm going to use it"

Celestia flared out her wings

"I cannot allow you to do that!"

Daybreak lost his temper then and yelled at his mother

"GET OUT! Get out of here! Saving Twilight should matter more than anything else, if you cant understand that, then just leave us be!"

Everypony, even Discord, was shocked to here Daybreak speak to Celestia in such a manner. She however did not raise her voice, she merely sighed and left her room, her sister followed behind her. Cadence saw tears beginning to fall down Daybreaks face and motioned to Shining Armor for the to leave

"We'll let you have some time alone Daybreak"

Discord followed them out of the room, leaving Daybreak siting alone next to Twilight's bed, Cadences magical veil still keeping her vitals stable. Daybreak eyed Twilight closely, eve through his tears he could see Sombra's dark magic lightly surrounding her eyes and horn. He shut his eyes tightly, he knew what he had to do. He turned and yelled out of the room

"RAINBOW DASH!"

....

From outside the room, Rainbow and the Wonderbolts watched everypony and Discord exit the room, they had waited outside as it had been a private meeting. Cadence stopped and informed Rainbow and the others of what had transpired and let it sink in as she continued on her way. The Wonderbolts quickly took their leave to get some rest, leaving Rainbow pondering what she should do. A few moment later she heard Daybreak yell her name and bolted inside the room, desperate for an excuse to enter.

....

Daybreak watched as Rainbow dashed through the doors and over to his side, embracing him in a hug before he could stop her. He couldn't help but hug her back and kiss her on the nose, she could feel the tears on him before she saw them

"I'm sorry Daybreak"

"Don't be, I'm the one who should be sorry"

Rainbow was confused and pulled back

"Why?"

She looked into his eyes and saw he was seriously conflicted over something

"Because I need to ask you to do something terrible, and I know I shouldn't"

Rainbow Dash looked straight into Daybreak eyes and pulled him into a deep embrace, wrapping her wings around him tightly. She had a feeling she already knew what he would ask.

"Shoot Daybreak, I'm all ears!"

Aurora Sparkle

Daybreak found difficulty in keeping his thoughts focused for most of the "party", which Pinkie insisted was totally necessary. Even as she managed to gather more and more of their friends into the large room, Daybreak only wanted to be alone with his thoughts, or maybe with Twilight. Everypony seemed to find a reason to talk to him though, not that he really minded, he certainly owed the majority of his friends an explanation and apology. Rarity and Fluttershy were thankful, but it seemed that stubbornness was shared by Apples, as Applejack also refused point blank, to allow him to apologize to her. She told him repeatedly that he had nothing to be sorry for, and should be more focused on important stuff. He partially agreed with her there, he kept trying to locate Twilight in the quickly growing mass of ponies in the room. He suddenly wished that the maximum occupancy limit for the room was lower so he could find his way to Twilight easier. Once he did manage to track her down, he pulled her to the side before she could vanish again for some private talk.

She still looked beyond happy every time she saw him, and he felt the same, but there was still some stuff he needed to know

"Twilight...we still need to talk about some stuff"

"Ok...what's up? Is something wrong?"

"No no, nothing is wrong, this whole thing just got started so quickly, we didn't get to finish talking."

She smiled brightly, her pearly white teeth shining bright enough to make him chuckle

"Ok, so what do you wanna talk about"

"Us mostly...How could these doctors and nurses possibly know you're pregnant, it's barely even been two weeks?"

She giggled at the bemused expression he always made when he was confused, his face scrunched up to where he looked like he was making a fish face, she thought it was the cutest thing.

"When they brought us all in, they did thorough examinations on all of us using medical unicorns. I don't know the exact details, but apparently while they were scanning over me, they could sense a miniature life force residing inside of me...right where a foal should be..."

Daybreak leaned back and sat down on his flanks, this was alot for him to absorb. Twilight sat next to him and nuzzled his cheek

"Wow...I'm gonna be a father"

"Yeah I know...we're gonna have to start baby proofing the library ya know"

Now that made Daybreak chuckle, he couldn't wait to see how they managed that one.

"This is a huge step for us Twilight...are you sure we're ready for it?"

Twilight stared at him, she could see the spiral of emotions circling inside of him

"Daybreak...are you happy...happy that I'm pregnant"

He shot his eyes back to her and locked their stares for emphasis

"Of course I am Twilight, I'm happier than I've ever been...I'm just worrying about how much responsibility this will be for us."

"As you should" a voice came from behind them

Both Daybreak and Twilight jumped in surprise, Twilight landing perfectly in Daybreaks lap. However their initial shock was nothing compared to their faces when they saw the source of the voice. Princess Luna stood behind them smiling

"Aunty Luna!"

Without hesitation, Daybreak launched himself at his aunt and embraced her with a hug. Her squeezed her tightly, trying to convey all his feelings to her with that hug. She seemed to understand him as she patted his back for reassurance

"It's ok Daybreak, I'm not mad"

He released her and took a step back

"You're not?"

"No, although initially I was, I have taken the time needed to understand why you did what you did, and I do not blame you for it. Though my sister does not share my sympathy, and though she wishes to convey her congratulations to both you ad Twilight...she has no wish to see you right now" She motioned to Daybreak and he understood that meant Celestia didn't want to see him mostly, Twilight was just with him.

Twilight seemed extremely annoyed by this and Daybreak could see the color building in her cheeks. He quickly decided it was best to get the subject off his mother before another yelling match occurred.

"What about Cadence? Or my father? Are they here?"

Luna shook her head

"Both of them wished to come, and assure me, Discord especially, that they will make a visit. But both are too busy right now. Discord is busying negotiating with Queen Chrysalis and the few remaining changelings on their current status as friend or foe and Cadence is working on getting the Crystal Heart back in place and making sure everypony in the Empire knows Sombra is gone for good now."

Daybreaks mind heard the word Chrysalis and a red flag rose in his brain

"Why is Discord with Chrysalis...come to think of it...I never saw what happened to her during my fight with Sombra"

Princess Luna looked away, having a brief flashback of Discords description of the encounter.

"Well..."

.....

Queen Chrysalis exploded forth from the collapsing cave around her into the dust filled air. She looked down from the sky as her changeling shot upwards into the air, all attempting to flee heir collapsing home once again. She watched as King Sombra scrambled forth from the smoky depths and took off in a mad dash away from the scene, moments later Daybreak emerged and followed in pursuit. She knew this day was lost, not that she had ever really cared to begin with, she didn't care for Sombra' conquest, all she had really wanted was her race to flourish again. She looked down at the many drones who turned back and began to fight instead of fleeing like they should, there was no helping them now, she could only hope to gather the ones that were fleeing and rebuild in a more remote location. She made her way higher into the sky and took off towards the horizon as fast she her wings would take her.

Meanwhile, Discord sat on a cloud some several meters away, continuously tossing popcorn into his mouth as he watched the scene below unfold from above. Cadence herself had requested that he come out here to keep an eye on the situation, but so far he was sure his offspring could handle it and entertain him along the way. Just then he watched as Queen Chrysalis herself emerged from the dust filled cavern and took to the air, with a glance back down at her army, she took off in the opposite direction away from the battle. Discord set his popcorn down on his cloud chair and lowered the sunglasses on his face. He hadn't really been planning on helping in any way, but for his offspring to go through all this trouble just for Discord to allow one of his targets to get away...now that was just too cruel even for him to do, at least...not to his own kin anyway. So with a sigh he stood up snapped his fingers. The next moment he appeared in front of the changeling queen, stopping her in her tracks

"Why hello Chrisy, I don't believe we've met before..."

Chrysalis flared up her horn, preparing for a fight with this sudden invader. Discord smirked

"But either way you'll soon learn not to challenge Discord!"

He snapped his fingers and watched as Chrysalis was suddenly wrapped in a silk-made cocoon, mummifying her from head to hoof leaving only her snout free for her to breathe. The section by her abdomen formed itself into a tiny silk handle, which Discord then wrapped his fingers around and began to carry Chrysalis like a briefcase.

"Come along Chrisy, let's get you back to the Princesses, I'm sure they're just dying to see you"

With another snap of his fingers he was gone an instant later.

.....

Luna ended her story leaving both Daybreak and Twilight slack-jawed with bemusement. Daybreak was the first to recover his senses

"So that flank-hole just left us there? We could have died...in fact, we did, both of us...technically"

Luna raised an eyebrow to him

"Yes about that...Celestia would request to have the book back I she were here I'm sure...but fort he sake of our relationship, all I'll is this...Is it safe?"

Daybreak nodded and Luna smiled

"Wonderful...well than I'll leave you two be, you have a party to enjoy"

She turned and made for the door, giving them both a quick glance back and a wink, she disappeared through the exit.

"She didn't even mention my banishment"

"I'm sure she's expecting me to have already told you by now."

"Good point"

With a smile the duo stood back up to reimmerse themselves in the party that they were managing to miss. They went back to enjoying themselves for the remainder of the evening. Everypony partied and danced in the surprisingly spacious room, they played games and even drank cider. However it was eventually time for everypony to leave, and so Daybreak took this chance to track down what had become of Shining Star, Daring Do and Trixie. After some searching and many questions, he found that Shining had not been held more than a few hours and had been released, what did surprise Daybreak was that he had taken possession of Aecious' body and was intent on tracking down everything he could about the pony. Seems he had more of an impact on the Wonderbolt than Daybreak had thought. That having been decided, it seemed Spitfire had somehow agreed to this and switched Shining to the Wonderbolts Reserves until he returned. She seemed a little annoyed about it when Daybreak spoke with her, but she understood why he had left and said he had given her a good reason, which Spitfire was unwilling to share. But before he had left, he had apparently asked her to marry him and she had said yes. Daybreak had no idea how long they had been together nor could he ever see a mare like her settling down, but if it's what they wanted then he wasn't the guy to stop them.

Next came Daring Do, who was the easiest to find, oddly enough. Once she had arrived She had been immediately placed in a private room to hide her identity and was kept there until she awoke and was able to disguise herself. Daring Do was still in the hospital when Daybreak went looking for her, and managed to catch her right as she was being discharged. Her and Rainbow were saying their temporary goodbyes. According to Rainbow, Daring said it would be impossible for her to settle down in one spot, but that didn't mean she didn't want a family. Luckily for them Twilight seemed to have the perfect idea on how they could start one, and had just the spell for it. After giving them explicit advice and instructions on how to make it work, along with a little potion for the effect, Daring Do was off again, and headed for her home until Rainbow was released.

Lastly came Trixie, suffering only minor wounds, she too had been discharged before he had awoken, but not before she wrote him and Twilight a note congratulating them and telling them where they could find her if they ever wanted to. Apparently she was taking Aecious' death pretty hard and needed some time alone, so Daybreak would give her space until she was feeling better. He hoped her ability to quickly bounce back would still apply here, but he wasn't sure.

With everypony accounted for and all the proper papers filled out, Twilight and Daybreak were both discharged (after being forced to clean up most of the mess from the party on their own), and headed for home. They promised Rainbow they would visit until she was better, but had to start preparing for the newest addition to the library family. With Spikes help, foal proofing the library didn't take but a few weeks and once it was finished...it was the most hilarious sight to behold. Next came the two parts Daybreak had feared the most ad out off for as many weeks as possible. But as two months went by and Twilight was actually beginning to show it in her belly, Daybreak knew it was unavoidable now...he had to inform her parents. Daybreak and Shining Armor had wrestled over who would have to tell several times, but Daybreak always lost to the stallions superior strength. He wanted to write them a letter, but that wouldn't be right...so eventually they made time to ask them to come visit, seeing as they couldn't visit them with Daybreak being banned from Canterlot for the foreseeable future.

The next ting they had to do was find ponies who could foalsit for them in case they were ever busy. Twilight, being the prepared mare is, wanted to have this ready before the baby was even born, and although Daybreak put it off as much as possible, he agreed. Although he was banned from Canterlot, he was still a prince and had royal duties occasionally, and those times where his duties and Twilight would happen together would mean they would need a foal sitter since Spike often went with them whenever they had those duties. But they needed somepony who was always available, and their friends had lives too so they couldn't count on them. Eventually Daybreak came up with an idea that Twilight was absolutely against 100% but could find nopony better, or readily available. And so around the fourth month, after Twilight's parents got done reacting the way parents did, which was happy crying from her mother and severe glares from her father. Twilight and Daybreak called for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to come over for a visit.

Truthfully the parental visit hadn't gone nearly as bad as Daybreak thought. The few times he had met them before, they were only intimidated by him in his nonpony form. But these days he spent most of his time as a stallion, so her father had no issue giving him a stern lecture about how raising a foal was a huge responsibility and he better be ready for it. Her mother cried mostly but they both showed him their love at the end of the visit, when they hugged and kissed his cheeks. Her father even said that Daybreak was a fine stallion for his daughter to be with. Now they only had to hope that the Cutie Mark Crusaders visit went as smoothly, but they knew from experience not to hold their breathe. Before the three destructive fillies entered the library Spike had Crusader proofed it himself, it would take alot to make any books come crashing off those shelves now, anything less than a hurricane was not removing those chains.

As the three fillies entered the home, Daybreak and Twilight greeted them with same happiness they always had. They did love these girls to death, but if they ere gonna foal sit their child, they needed to be briefed...and Twilight was gonna make sure that happened...alot. The moment they were inside, the first words out of their mouths was that Twilight still looked beautiful, even with a giant tummy. The comment made her blush, but helped lighten the mood of shyness she had suddenly developed. Daybreak eventually sat the down and told them why they had invited them over. The whole town knew they were looking for a foal sitter who could always be ready when needed, but not everypony was qualified or available. So they had chose these three because they believed, or at least Daybreak did, that wit the right prepping beforehand these flies could be the perfect foal sitters. As expected the trio began to shriek with joy and happiness, but Daybreak quickly reminded them they needed to take it seriously. He had chosen them because they were the three fillies who knew how to have the most fun, and he wanted his foal to experience that...but he also knew their capacity for danger exceeded his own. So they needed to learn to balance fun with responsible well enough for him and Twilight to trust them with their foal. The fillies gave a Cutie Mark Crusader salute and promised to practice whatever they were taught.

For now that was enough, and Daybreak se them on their way with the promise to invite them back once they knew more about their foal, like the gender for instance. Once out side he heard the fillies screech "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FOAL SITTERS YAY!" and smiled to himself.

As the months went by and Twilight got more and more into her pregnancy, Daybreak found that he barely had time to keep that promise of lessons to those fillies. Most of his day was spent taking care of Twilight, not that he minded, it made him think of how things were when he was a little colt, the real problem was keeping her hormones under control. A pregnant mare was easy, a horny pregnant mare was something of another universe. It got to the point where Daybreak actually invited Pinkie Pie over to help him out of desperation. Between taking care of her, her royal duties, his duties, the library and teaching the Crusaders, he barely had time, or the energy to sedate her lust, and he needed help. He would have gone to Rainbow, but lately she was gone with Daring Do, and hadn't been back to Ponyville for several months, she wrote frequently though and was clearly excited about something as of late, but didn't say what. So that left their other friends and the list of willing "buck buddies" for Twilight was thin, not cause of anything to do with her, it's just that when you compare Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy on a list of "who would be most likely to buck the hell out of you just to help out" Pinkie Pie kinda stood out among the rest.

Pinkie also offered to help with the house work, Daybreak and Spike pretty much that covered. Between magic and dragon stubbornness, the house remained clean twenty-four seven. Daybreak wished he could join Pinkie as she hoped into bed with Twilight, but he and Spike were so tied they literally collapsed on the couch (yes they had a couch now) most of the time and napped together. Though the few times Daybreak had the energy, he made sure to remind Twilight how much he loved her and still thought she was sexy, and Pinkie was defiantly a helpful partner in this.

All in the as the months went by, the time for Twilight to give birth drew ever nearer, and Daybreak's duties became more and more frequent. He began to worry he wouldn't be around he help his love when she needed him most. Then one day, while he was working at Rainbow Falls to settle a trade dispute at this years market, a letter poofed into existence in front of him. It was clearly from spike and the message was even cleared, it was happening now! He quite literally dropped what he was doing, stood from his seat and teleported away without a word. He had bee gathering up his chaos power in the last month, making sure he stored enough power so tat he could teleport home no matter where he was and be with her, and it paid off in the end.

Daybreak appeared in the library just as Spike and Pinkie were helping Twilight into a carriage. She was yelling in pain and may of the towns ponies were gathering around, aware of what was happening. Daybreak galloped through the crowd and hoped in the carriage as it began to take off. Twilight face showed immediate relief when she saw him. He grasped her hoof in his while Spike held the other and Pinkie watched her tummy, all the way to the hospital. Once they arrived, Daybreak took over taking care of Twilight, and with an unbelievable output of magic, he literally separated the crowds in their way while Spike and Pinkie quickly informed the nurse Princess Twilight was about to give birth. It may have been greatest display of medical affection Daybreak had ever seen. Doctors and nurse rushed about guiding them to a room while news ponies gather outside the doors to witness the miracle. Once they were successfully inside the room and had Twilight down on a bed. Pinkie ran with a speed that would have frightened Rainbow Dash herself, to go and gather there friends.

Once the pain and screaming began, only Daybreak and Spike were allowed to remain in the room, and even that pushed it. The nurses wanted to remove Spike too, but through insistence from them both he was allowed to remain. The little dragon never looked so afraid in his life for Twilight, the moment she let out her first scream of pain, he buried his face against Daybreaks' chest and tried to block out the sounds. Daybreak could see all manner of ponies gathering outside the window, and thanked Luna it was a one-way glass. He spotted all their friends, the Apples, the Wonderbolts, Derpy, Vinyl, eve ponies he didn't know, practically all of Ponyville was taking up the hallway outside. The only ones Daybreak was unable to spot, were Rainbow Dash, Daring Do (or her A.K Yearling disguise), or Shining Star, heck, he even spotted Trixie in the crowd.

A scream of pain brought him back to reality and he brought his face next to Twilights, giving her an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek. As she grasped his hoof with al her strength her felt her body convulse again, and she screamed louder than before

"OH CELESTIA IT HURTS! IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS! OH PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EQUESTRIA MAKE IT STOP!"

Daybreak held her hoof and endured listening to his love suffer, he couldn't tell who was closer to tears, him or Spike. The next scream of pain brought with it a reaction from her horn. The beam shot across the room and struck a nearby trash can, immediately changing it into a well developed cactus. The next beam missed one of the nurses holding Twilight down by only a few inches and Daybreak was forced to intervene. He squeezed her hoof hard in his and put his face in her line of sight, so she could only see him

"Twilight listen to me, I love you and I know you're in pain, but please try and stay calm, you're going to hurt somepony if you don't"

She let out a breath as her body shook again and screamed

"AHHH I CAN'T....AHHHH I CAN'T STOP IT, IT HURTS SO MUCH...PLEASE PLEASE DAYBREAK HELP ME! MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOOOOOP!"

Several more beams fired off from her horn and Daybreak was forced to take cover, along with the nurses and doctor as they barely missed each of them. Daybreak and the others resumed their position but exchanged worried looks, Spike hid behind Daybreak.

"Don't you all know any spells to help at least control her magic like this?"

The doctors and nurse shook their heads, even the unicorns

"No, we've never had somepony so powerful before, most unicorns just give us a small zap or spark, nothing we can't take, so there has never been any need for one."

"Then what are we gonna do, even I don't know what to cast for this?"

"I do!"

The door flew open, enveloped by a pink aura, and in its wake Trixie stood, her hat and cape already removed. She quickly shut the door behind her and dashed over to Twilight. She stood on the side opposite Twilight and smiled at Daybreak

"Watch what I do Daybreak, in case you ever have another kid and the Great and Powerful Trixie isn't around to save your flank again."

Her horn buzzed to life and a small pink bubble formed around Twilight's horn, then the same happened on Trixie. The next convulsion came a moment later, followed by a scream and another wave of magic, but this one did not escape the bubble, instead Trixie's horn lit up in Twilight's aura and she received a brief shiver as her whole being was momentarily electrified. Daybreak was impressed but partially confused, Trixie smiled.

"It transfers all the power she releases to me temporarily, she can release her magic without harming us, and I only get buzzed for a moment, its helpful"

Daybreak nodded and quickly resumed comforting Twilight. He nuzzled her cheek even while she screamed and gently rubbed her chest with his hoof. The process went on four hours and by the twelfth hour, Trixie was higher than a kite on Twilight's power, she reminded him of Pinkie on a sugar rush, but she nevertheless remained enough in control to continue the spell. Several more screams later the doctor finally gave him some good news

"It's coming, the baby is finally coming!"

Daybreak smiled and watched Twilight do the same, but only for a brief moment, for then her eyes went wide and she let out the loudest scream yet

"OH MOTHER OF CELESTIA IT FEELS LIKE I'M BEING SPLIT IN HALF! TAKE IT OUT TAKE IT OUT! I THINK I'M DYING FOR THE LOVE OF HARMONY SOMEPONY TAKE IT OUT!"

A nurse bent down in between her raised hind quarters and instantly said

"Ok, I need you to push...right...now!"

Another scream rocked the room as Twilight whole body began to violently shake as she squeezed the life out of his hoof! Daybreak felt his hoof going numb but he didn't care, Twilight screamed again and this time the bubble around her horn finally burst! Trixie's bubble popped as well and she looked worried as Twilight's eyes began to glow with white light. Daybreak looked around frantically and sighed to himself

"Oh man...this is gonna hurt..."

Without another word he quickly mimicked Trixie's spell and cast a green bubble around Twilight's horn, then around his own. Instantly his eyes began streaming tears as head splitting pain erupted inside his skull. is body shook as violently as Twilight as he struggled to take in the massive amount of power she was releasing. He felt his vision blur and darken, and he realized he was blacking out, but he held the spell in place. The magic began to electrify his whole body and traveled down his legs and to the floor. He heard one final scream from Twilight and then he felt his back hit the far wall, then there was silence.

Dazed and in agonizing pain, Daybreak opened his eyes and saw Trixie hovering over him with a smile. She quickly helped him to his hooves and motioned over at Twilight, whose whole body was sprawled out over the bed as she panted loudly. Spike was holding a bundle of cloth in his arms and standing next to her.

Twilight's watery eyes found his, and she silently called him over to her. He was by her bedside before he could even think about it and took the cloth from Spike into his hooves. He was filled with new energy as he held the foal in his arms, the shakiness was gone from as he stared at the body of his child

"It's a filly" the doctor said

Daybreak smiled and showed Twilight her daughter. She had the smallest little patch of green hair on her head, and an even tinier purple streak within the strands. Her coat was the faintest shade of brown, possibly due to her father, but it was bordering on pinkish, nevertheless she was the most beautiful thing Twilight had ever seen.

"What should we name her sweetie?"

Twilight's eyes stared back into his, full of love and happiness. Even in all her pain she would never ever forget his moment with him.

"Aurora...Aurora Sparkle"