Tears On Her Lashes (Sequel to Miasma)

DAY1

"Hey, girlfriend. What's up? How you been?" She asked. Her misty form shimmered, as if it had been disrupted for some reason.

"What's up? WHAT'S UP?" I screamed. I levitated a vase and shot it at her.

"Ow!" The Miasma yelped, obviously stunned by the vase. She picked pieces of it from her skin. "Okay, obviously you haven't been doing good," she said, cocking her big monstrous head.

"What are you doing here? How Why? WHY?!" I screamed through my hysteria. Monarch had tears in her eyes as well, but was just standing there in shock watching the whole scene unfold. It was as if she knew about the Miasma...

"Oh, stop being such a big baby," replied the Miasma, waving me off. "I'm not actually here. Remember that time when I came to warn you about my return, but you forgot about it?"

I did remember. The Miasma used the mist to manipulate my brain and make me forget about seeing her. But this time, it would not happen. Besides, Monarch had a Changeling brain, which makes her very hard to manipulate. She could help me remember.

I nodded to the Miasma, and she smiled. "Don't you remember all the fun times we had together, Woona?"

I shuddered. Night Mare Moon was not my idea of "fun".

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about my newest plan. I can trust you with my ideas, right?" The Miasma chuckled. Once again, I nodded. She grinned.

"Great!" The Miasma cleared her misty throat. "So! Well, I won't spoil all of the fun things I have planned, but I will let you in on this: I'm getting stronger. You banished me to a place where it was so damp and moist I regenerated almost instantly!"

"So why wait five hundred years to attack?" Monarch asked, standing behind me.

"Because, Monarch, I was still banished. I couldn't find my way back here without getting completely lost forever," she answered, a mocking tone to her voice. I growled.

"Okay, so, what's next?" I asked her, hoping she could see my anger.

"I'll be back, however, in maybe..." she looked at a fake watch on her hoof. "...Eh, two or three days."

Gasping, my knees buckled, sending me to the ground. "TWO DAYS?!"

"Or three. It depends."

Monarch looked as scared as I was. "But why if you were banished for a thousand years before would you not be banished for at least that much?"

"I'm getting stronger, little one," the Miasma answered her, lowering her head down to Monarch's level.  "Also, the banishment was by default longer while I had a host. Everypony knows I'm stronger in a host."

I heard Celestia clamor in the background, walking towards the Moon Suite, and I knew, like before, that Celestia would be the reason I would have to say goodbye to the Miasma.

She saluted me as she turned to mist, disappearing into the abyss just as Celestia burst in.

This time I would not make the same mistake as before. I told Celestia everything the Miasma told me, leaving out no details. She sat in front of me, looking me up and down as I talked, but not interrupting.

"I see," she said after I finished. "We must advance the troops and prepare for war."

"No," Monarch cut in, her Changeling voice sounding grand and majestic. "The Miasma is powerful. My mother's army once battled her, thousands of years ago. She will destroy your army drone by drone until you surrender, assuming you are still alive.

No, what you must do is hide your people. Make sure none of the Lighties or Nighties are out during this time. Your Guards should only fight to protect the town, not against the Miasma herself. You must fight the Miasma yourself."

Just then Twilight walked in, apparently overhearing our whole conversation. "I'll go alert Equestria. Nopony should go out of their homes for any reason whatsoever. Tonight will be the time to start hording food and supplies, we do not know how long the attack will take place."

"Okay, Twilight. Get to it, and I'll go tell the Guards," Celestia said.

I nodded. "Monarch, you go with Twilight," I told her.

She started to fly off with Twilight, and I turned to Celestia. "What will we do this time? The Elements of Harmony are still locked up in the Tree of Harmony, and we have no other options!"

Celestia sighed. "I have been thinking about this. We will fight directly until we have no other options, then we perform my plan."

"What plan, sister?"

She sighed again, then sat on my chair. "We send her to a star."

"How?" I was interested now.

"The Sun is a star, is it not?" Celestia asked me.

"Yes."

"Well, you cause an Eclipse, assuming this is during the day. If it is nighttime, you don't have to cause one, obviously. I grab a hold of her, fly upwards, and use my magic to trap her in the star."

My spirits faded. "But you would be trapped as well," I replied, shaking my head.

She nodded. "I know. That's the catch."

"I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself, Celestia."

"I know, I know. Don't worry, this is just a suggestion. For the worst-case scenario."

"Okay." She stood, and I followed her down to the Army Headquarters to talk to the Guards.

Soon the Guards were prepped and ready to go, Monarch and Twilight successfully rallied up the ponies of Equestria, who were now frantically buying food and supplies, and I was sitting with Celestia silently drinking some tea.

"What are we going to do?" Celestia asked me, breaking the awkward silence. I shrugged.

"Fight her until she gets tired and careless."

Celestia sighed. "What if that never happens? She said it herself, she's gotten much more powerful than before, and even then we could barely even harm her without the Elements."

I shrugged again. I had no idea what we would do. Is it possible to fight her? Is it possible to defeat her? The only way we could ever get that information is from the Miasma herself.

Or from somepony who fought her herself...

"We have to go to Chrysalis," I said triumphantly. With any luck, and a lot of bribery, maybe she can help us figure out a battle plan. With four Alicorns (including Monarch) we could at least put a couple of dents in her misty body.

Celestia smiled and we walked over to the end of the Canterlot Castle where we could summon the Changeling Queen.

I looked into the pot of green gunk Celestia had created.

"Are you sure this will summon her?" I asked. Celestia nodded, full of pride.

"Yup, this right here will yank her from her little colony straight into the real world."

"Okay then." I turned my magic into the evil Sombra had created years and years before. Celestia did the same, and soon the green gunk started spewing even greener steam. Suddenly a holed leg inched through the steam, and a Changeling materialized in front of us.

Problem was, it wasn't Chrysalis. The younger Changeling gaped at us with a look of annoyance.

"What the hay do you fillies want?" She asked, and I noticed that she looked almost exactly like Monarch, but where Monarch had blue, she had purple.

"Fillies? We're thousands of years older than you! We are-"

"Enough, Celestia. I think she's just a young naive baby Changeling who acts like a big toughie when she isn't with her mommy," I mocked, and the young Changeling growled.

"What do you want?" She purred sarcastically.

Celestia stomped her hoof and looked at me. "Pity, we wanted Chrysalis. This here is nothing more than a larva!" I smiled, then turned to her.

"Who are you?" I asked her, and she scoffed.

"Oh, you ponies are so slow. I am Queen Moth Wings of the Changeling Colony."

Celestia cursed. "So there is no more Chrysalis?"

"She has...stepped down."

I remembered Moth Wings from Monarch. She said that Moth Wings was her little bratty sister, and since Monarch "failed" in her mission, Moth Wings was the Changeling next in line for the throne.

"Great!" Celestia yelled, exasperated. "How are we supposed to get her old war plans against the Miasma?"

Moth Wings' eyes glinted. "War plans? Mother taught me about this!" Her chest swelled with pride. "I was the number one war planner out of all two hundred twenty-one of us!"

"Okay," I replied. "What does that do for us?"

Moth Wings looked down at her holey hoof and smiled sheepishly. "Well, the Miasma does affect us in some ways..." I waved my hoof in a motion meaning "go on". I knew she was aching for war, as most Changelings were.

"I will lead my armies in attack of the Miasma if you do one thing for me..."

Celestia snarled. "What?"

"Give me Monarch. It will be fun torturing her as I've wished to do for so long."

I shook my head. Monarch was my friend, and I would never do that to her. But Celestia cut in, saying "You have a deal." I gaped at my sister, feeling anger like never before. How could she have ransomed of a pony like that?

"What the hay, Celestia!?" I yelled at her when we released Moth Wings and we exited the room. "That's murder! You're murdering my friend?! You are such a flank hole, you galloping idiot!" I started spewing more curses at her, releasing my anger completely, until she waved a hoof at me.

"No, Luna. You have it all wrong. I won't actually give her Monarch. We can defeat Moth Wings ourselves after the war, assuming we're alive. What we can't defeat is the Miasma, and whether you like it or not we need those drones."

I nodded, still a bit ticked off but cooling down nicely. I guess she was right...

DAY2

I woke up panicked, and I could see it was the middle of the Day. Wow, it was late. I heard clanking in the next room. It was Monarch, probably still adjusting to the Nightie routine.

I laid in bed for ten minutes until I couldn't stand it anymore, and got up to go talk to Monarch. Walking through the majestic Moon doorway, I was surprised to see the three Alicorns sitting and drinking tea (or at least Celestia and Twilight were, Monarch was sniffing it, frowning, and setting it back down).

"Heyy, guys," I told them, walking cautiously. My hair was frizzy and rumpled, for it had not changed to its wavy state.

"We were just talking about the Changeling army helping us, Luna," Monarch informed me, frowning deeply.

"Oh."

"I have informed Monarch about...our ideas," Celestia said awkwardly.

"Oh."

I knew what this meant. Monarch knew about Moth Wings' plan, and how'd we agreed to it. I felt bad.

"Monarch, I-"

"It's fine, Luna," Monarch assured me.

Deep inside, I knew it was not "fine". We had ransomed my friend off to her evil little sister. But what could I do? Nothing.

"So, anyway, the Changelings are here," Twilight said as she broke the silence.

"Great," I said. "Where are they?"

"Training with our Guards and being dispatched across Equestria."

"What about Moth Wings?"

"Snoring away in the throne room."

"Good, good." I brushed my mane and used my magic to make it normal again.

Suddenly thunder boomed in the background.

I looked at Celestia. "Did the Pegasi schedule a thunderstorm in Canterlot?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Crap." Something told me that we should go outside.

Outside was chaotic. Ponies had listened to us and stayed indoors, but you could see the drones and the Guards freaking out.

I told them to stay calm and looked to the sky, where a blue mist started to form around us and Canterlot. It thickened to a point where I could barely see my own hoof.

"It's happening," a drone near us buzzed. "It's happening!"

I could see the mist above us turning black as midnight. The drone screamed and flew away. It knew what was coming.

An evil laughter filled the air.

"Ah, Equestria! I have missed you so much!" The Miasma yelled, looking stronger and full of misty, evil power. She laughed maniacally.

"Now then, my good friends!" She yelled to us.

"Welcome, to the New Mist Era!"