Path of Damnation

Chapters

Prologue
Act I Chp. 1: Homecoming
Act I Chp. 2: The New Regime
Act I Chp. 3: Patience
Act I Chp. 4: Foundations
Act I Chp. 5: Happy Birthday
Act I Chp. 6: Happy Anniversary
Act I Chp. 7: The Aftermath
Act I Chp. 8: Say Please
Act II Chp. 1: Status Quo

Prologue

Author's Note

Set to the tune of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2e1wbaDiKc
Try listening to that and then imagine that sweet little girl singing my lyrics instead for extra creepiness factor! >:D

Prologue

Sparkle Sparkle little star,
Now you turn our world to char,
Up above the world so high,
Like a Princess in the sky.

Sparkle, Sparkle, little star,
Now you turn our world to char.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When she nothing shines upon,
Then you show your magic might,
Sparkle, Sparkle, what a fright.

Sparkle, Sparkle, little star,
Now you turn our world to char.

Evil breeding in the dark,
Equis burns with just a spark,
Ponies have nowhere to go,
Cursing Twilight Sparkle so.

Sparkle, Sparkle, little star,
Now you turn our world to char.

In Black Castle you shall keep,
And our nightmares you shall reap,
All around us ponies die,
Sun and Moon fall from the sky.

Sparkle, Sparkle, little star,
Now you turn our world to char.

Circling just like a shark,
Murder Hope inside the dark.
Friends and family you do scar,
Sparkle, Sparkle, little star.

Sparkle, Sparkle, little star,
Now you turn our world to char.

Sparkle Sparkle little star,
Now you turn our world to char,
Up above the world so high,
Like a Princess in the sky.

Sparkle, Sparkle, little star,
Now you turn our world to char.
****

"Welcome Princess, to the Shadow Realm."

That would have to be the last thing Twilight would have guessed this place to be. She was surrounded by an enormous forest absolutely teeming with life. She could hear birds chirping in the air and squirrels darting across the branches. The ferns at her feet rustled with the movements of small mammals, and somewhere nearby she thought she could hear a river babbling away. The light shining through the canopy of each tree was gentle and somehow distorted, as if there was some large mass of water overhead that the sun was shining through.

"Not quite what you expected, is it?"

Twilight slowly shook her head no, it was nothing like she would have imagined a place called the Shadow Realm to be.

"The Shadow Realm molds itself to reflect the mind of whoever enters it. Since I've already been here several times, it's focusing all of its attention on you. What you see around you is the reflection of the darkness within your very soul."

Twilight realized now then why this place seemed so strange yet so familiar. She'd seen it before. With a glance to the sky she searched as hard as she could, until she finally caught a glimmer through the tree branches. Water, she was in the forest on the ocean floor of her mind, but it looked nothing like how she'd seen it from above.

"How can my inner darkness look so....?"

"Beautiful? Why shouldn't it? Those who are evil are simply doing what they believe to be right. It doesn't see itself as evil after all, that's just the word others describe it by."

"You brought me here to face my inner darkness you said, but now that I'm looking at it, how am I supposed to do that?"

"Look behind you for that answer"

Where there had been a simple clearing in the woods now stood a rocky cave entrance, sticking out of the ground at a 35 degree angle. In the darkness of the tunnel, a faint light could be seen at the very end of it. Sombra strode up next to Twilight and gave her a comforting nuzzle. "You don't have to do this you know, you can still go back to your friends and your home. It's not too late, not until you step into that cave."

The concern in his words and in his eyes melted Twilight a little, and combined with his gentle touch helped replace her apprehension with happiness. She was making the right decision, she just knew it. "It's alright Sombra, I know that together we can..."

"I will not be able to assist you love, only you can pass over the cave's threshold. Only you can meet whatever waits you down there. Be very careful Twilight, you can still die in this place, and there is no way of knowing what you might come up against. I can only guarantee that when you come back up you won't be the internally divided princess anymore. The choices you make beneath, will define you for the rest of your life."

"I can do this, I know I can, and I think I already knew that I wouldn't come out of this unchanged. Just...promise me one thing? That you won't..."

"I already love you for everything you are Princess. Whichever side of you wins the battle below, I could never love you any less."

Twilight smiled, blushing a little but otherwise glowing with happiness. That was all that she needed to hear, and more. With a deep breath she smiled. She was ready, despite the cheeky voice in her mind that commented on the number of life-changing events happening to her beneath the ground recently. "I'll be back up soon, try not to wonder off." She said with a smirk.

"I have nowhere to go if not with you my love."

His unexpected romanticism caused her face to flush with blood once more, and after a long, passionate parting kiss (she had originally intended it to be a quick peck on the cheek, but her body had other had other ideas that gave it a mind of its own) Twilight took her first steps beneath the ground. On and on the tunnel stretched, the light at the end never growing any nearer, and the tunnel around her never changing. For all she knew she could have been walking in place for 5 minutes, 10, an hour, a week. Time had lost all meaning except for the rhythmic clopping of her hooves upon stone. After an eternity, or perhaps less than a day, she finally reached a wall of brilliant light. Without missing a beat Twilight strode calmly through to the other side, blinking furiously to adjust to the change in illumination.

What she saw once again reminded her about the foolish nature of preconceptions. She was back at her home, the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. Just behind her was her front door, now closed. She half expected to find Spike engulfed in one of his favorite comic books. Instead in the middle of the room was a rather large book fort, occupied by one decidedly smug Twilight Sparkle.

"Ah Twilight! We're just on time, quickly now into the fort, before the trolls and weedlesnips capture us for their nefarious purposes!"

Thoroughly bewildered, Twilight sat down midst the heavy fortification with Twilight, who seemed to be preoccupied with scanning the room for signs of danger and threateningly wielding a filly's picture book. Catching the looking Twilight was giving her, she smiled winningly, "It's the best weapon in existence! Remember how the pen is mightier than the sword? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so that means this picture book is a weapon of mass destruction!"

"Who are you?"

Twilight looked at her in surprise, as if it should have been obvious. "We're Twilight Sparkle of course! That makes you the goody-four-shoes, and me the far less socially acceptable." Still maintaining the grin she hefted the book mightily over the wall and was rewarded by a bloodcurdling scream silenced by an explosion like dynamite. With a wet splat the upper half of a leg landed within the fort. "Drat, a femur. I've got quite a lot of those; trying to collect a full set." A magical flash later and the body part was gone, teleported away to who knew where.

"That can't be true, I would never take pleasure in...", Twilight motioned to the wet bloodstain on the floor, "whatever it is that you're doing."

"Oh but you do Twilight. We're more powerful than anypony out there, and deep down you love the feeling of exerting that power over others."

Looking for a way to fault her argument, Twilight's eyes lit up. "Not Sombra, we, I mean I'm not more powerful then him or the other princesses."

"Hmmm yes, Sombra is certainly our equal. We caught a real dreamboat didn't we?"

Twilight was most uncomfortable with the way Twilight's eyes gleamed with lusty satisfaction, so she quickly changed the topic. Other self or not, she absolutely did not want to see or hear that about her Sombra from anypony other than herself. "So, what happens next then, what are we supposed to do?"

"Now, we talk, fight, or do whatever works. One way or another, we're both trapped in this room until we are resolved. We're here because we are divided Twilight, and neither of us is ever going to leave this room again. Instead we'll finally be whole, complete, one with our self. It's up to us now to determine the truth of who it is we really want to be."

Hefting another picture book into the seemingly empty room, Twilight was rewarded with another scream and bloody body part.

"Oooooh, a scapula! Those are rare!"
****

Sombra's ears perked up at the sound of hoof-steps getting closer. From the depths of the cave entrance a regal purple form began to emerge. Her steps were slow and deliberate, exuding an air of confidence that said she walked the earth as if she owned it. Her eyes glowed green through the darkness, the purple trails of power clearly visible from the corners. Without a word she strode slowly past Sombra, her body but a breath away from his. As she passed by she flicked her tail up and ran it under his chin, and then she had finished circling him, whispering seductively in his left ear.

"I have returned, my King."

So, after everything they'd been through together...having shared his thoughts, his memories, his teachings...after Twilight had finally understood both paths for the first time in her life, she had come to her decision. Pride and desire filled his eyes as he responded to his magnificent alicorn.

"Welcome back, my Queen."

Act I Chp. 1: Homecoming

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Act I Chp. 2: The New Regime

"Colonel Iron Wing! Take your pegasus battalion and scatter it throughout Equestria. I want every city, fort, village, and hermit's hut informed that our national security has been threatened. The Crystal Empire has already fallen, and while it poses no immediate threat, Equestria cannot suffer the same fate. We are at WAR! When your ponies are finished relaying the message they are to gather at our northern border with the Crystal Empire. Form them into a constant patrol scouring the mountains, nopony is to to pass without you knowing about it first!"

With a rigid salute, the colonel leapt into the air post haste. Princess Luna was a sight to behold. Bedecked in full battle armor, her silvery form shimmered under the fierce moonlight as she took swift and decisive command over Canterlot's resources. It had taken her less than half an hour to organize the search party that had brought Princess Cadence and Prince Shining back. When Celestia learned of her niece's fate, at the hooves of none other than her former student, it had taken Luna just 5 minutes to subdue her emotionally distraught sister and keep her from attempting to travel to the Crystal Empire by magically sealing her in the dungeons until such time that she could think rationally. Less than an hour later, and she had a fully functioning war room dominating the castle's ball room.

"Major General Pine Green, your division is to provide reinforcement of the border towns and forts. The mayor of Stalliongrad comes from a long line of proud military ponies, she should be more than willing to provide the war effort with everything she can. Make your base of operations there, it is well defended by walls of granite 10 meters thick, and their primary export of pine logs will make an excellent building material for all our troop's needs."

"I need volunteers from the Royal Guard, call in the reserves and prepare a draft. Equestria is not ready to defend herself, and we need every able bodied citizen to train, and train hard for the years ahead. Send leading scientists and doctors from each city and village to Canterlot at once, regardless of their field. "Dusk Glimmer, you are to organize these scientists into teams for research and development. Celestia and myself will oversee your operations and assign you specific projects as the need arises. Until then focus on advancing the fields of combat medicine, mechanical technology, and magical enchantments."

Lights bloomed in every household of Canterlot as the plush ponies peered out their windows and quaked beneath their fine garments. Not since the royal wedding had they seen such militant activity as armored pegasi zoomed every which way through the air, and troops marched through the streets. What could possibly be going on? They were not long left without an answer. Bells clanged and expedited hoof steps clopped against the cobblestones as heralds and news-ponies called out for all to hear.

"Equestria has gone to war! Equestria has gone to war!"
****

"How did it come to this?"

Princess Celestia was nearly unrecognizable. For once her hair obeyed the laws of gravity, falling in a tangled mass of faded color from her head. She had no more tears left within her to shed as she laid there sprawled upon her own prison's floor, ivory coat get caked in dirt and mortar dust. Faintly, she could hear the din of shouting and metal clanking as her country mobilized under her sister's command. That was the sound of thousands upon thousands of her little ponies getting ready to die. There hadn't been a war in Equestria since the Great Gryphon Incursion nearly 1,500 years ago; her ponies simply were not ready for this, she was not ready for this.

By now the Crystal Empire had likely fallen to the King and Queen's magic. As her ponies donned metal meant to save their lives, the Crystal ponies must be donning metal designed to imprison theirs. Defeating Sombra last time had been accomplished with minimal bloodshed, but as Equestria waited the Crystal Empire would get a chance to build it's own army as well. There would be no small battle between ruler's and their guards this time, and it was all Luna's fault for not letting her end things before they went too far!

"How did it come to this?" She repeated again, begging her empty room for an answer and expecting none in return.

"At first I blamed myself princess. I kept thinking there must a been something we'd done wrong, something we'd failed her in. Now I have to realize the truth; Somewhere in her soul Twilight had a monster buried deep as can be, and Sombra brought it out. Now that monster is here to stay, and there's nothing we can do to change it. She made that nice and clear to us with her brother."

Celestia craned her neck around to catch sight of who had surprisingly answered her. Sitting with their backs pressed against the bars of her cell were five miserable mares...Twilight's friends, the other element bearers. She noticed how Applejack was in the middle of the group, sitting tallest of the five. The others huddled around her like a bastion of strength as they tried their best to regain their footing now that their world had been so badly shaken.

Fluttershy quaked softly until Rarity offered her a hoof of comfort upon her shoulder. With that bit of assistance, she managed to gather the courage to speak what was on her heart. "I just couldn't believe that we'd lost our friend before. I think we all were hoping that by tonight we'd be back home celebrating that had she'd come back, and everything could simply go back to the way things were before as her best pony friends forever. But she never came back, not really. Our Twilight wouldn't think of hurting anypony, our Twilight would always put other ponies' needs above her own. Whoever that was, it wasn't our friend."

There was a lengthy pause before Applejack spoke again. "Way I see it, we're the only ones who could have stopped her afore...afore Sombra took her away from us. We failed to stop her then, and we failed to realize it as she took Cadence away tonight. We cannot fail again, its up to us, all of us, to stop her once and for all."

As Applejack finished her grim proclamation, her friends all drew a little bit closer. There was truth to her words, and while it didn't make the horror of Cadence's murder any less real, having resolved what they needed to do did offer them some small amount of comfort. A tentative voice called from behind the prison cell's corner.

"Sister? Art thou still wroth with me?"

Luna...oh how her sister vexed her so. Still, Celestia figured she should hurry her release from her cell and make peace. "No dear sister, I am not. Though I still have half a mind to drop the sun upon your head for locking me in here."

Smiling slightly, Luna stepped around the corner and cheekily replied, "Then I wouldst speak with thy half that is not so equicidal." The smile faded into a grim frown however as she moved straight to the reason of her visit. "Sister, while I can organize our defenses and command our military, Equestria needs you to lead the people still. Ponies are going to panic, and they need you, the face they've trusted for a millennium, to soothe their fears and guide them through these trying times."

"Our ponies should not have to face these trying times in the first place, dear sister" Celestia replied, a tad more tersely than she had intended. "We should have given chase to the Crystal Empire and defeated Sombra and Twilight before they could get a foothold and turn the country's resources against us. Instead, due to our inaction Cadence is dead and her people enslaved once more!"

Luna's face hardened into a glare that she leveled the full force upon her sister. Though it succeeded in stopping Celestia's tirade short, it did not cause her to back down any. The two now stood but a few paces apart, staring each other down through the prison bars.

"You are a fool if you think we could have fought them at that time and won. One country has fallen tonight, would you have really liked to give them another?"

"The longer we wait the farther this comes towards all out war. How many of our ponies will have to die because we did not take the chance to fight them, two on two!?"

"And how many thousands would have to suffer an even worse fate when you dash headlong into battle with Twilight and realize you cannot raise a hoof against her!?" Luna roared, wings flaring out in anger. "I can see it in your eyes, you would still see her for the filly you first guided. You would hesitate, just as you did in the throne room." Celestia flinched as if struck, seeming to shrink in size before her sister. "She would strike you down with a smile upon her face because you do not possess the will to strike at her with lethal force."

Celestia collapsed to her knees, fresh tears budding in her eyes. Luna was right, if they had done as she wished, they would both be dead for her folly, and Equestria left defenseless and leaderless. Luna dropped down to her knees as well, and in a hushed tone tried to soothe her sister. "I do not blame thee for tonight Tia, and neither shall anypony else. Thy heart has always been warm and kind, and just as the sun cannot withhold its light, you cannot withhold your love for us all. Now rise dear sister, we have a war to win."

With that, Luna stood up and stepped back, releasing the magical locks that kept her sister prisoner and opening the door. For a moment, nothing happened as Celestia lay there, collecting herself. Finally with a sigh she wiped her eyes and stood tall once more, her terribly dirty mane flowing smoothly once again. "You're right sister, and if my timing is correct it is time to raise the sun. Your border scouts should be returning soon if what I know of your battle strategy is correct, and they shall need the extra light for a speedy trip back home."
****

The sun rose slowly over the Crystal Empire, almost fearfully penetrating the early morning fog. Bit by bit, the crystal ponies awoke to greet the new day...and their new, architecture? It quickly dawned on each and every one that the entire empire had resorted to the sharp black crystal structure of the days brought by King Sombra. From every crystal tree hung one of the princesses' royal guards by their own entrails, and anypony who tried to flee found the way out of the empire blocked by a wall of green and purple flame. Some ponies chose to cower in their now alien homes, hoping to be overlooked. The rest simply gathered in a large crowd before the castle, spirits already fading as they waited to discover their fate and the fate of their princess.

Inside the royal chambers, Twilight stretched and yawned, having a very difficult time feeling motivated to leave her new bed. Noticing her husband's absence however was enough of a curiosity for her to raise her head and look around the room for him. There he was, absorbed with a stack of papers at the crystal writing desk, presumably reviewing their war stratagems. "Honey, we've been over the plans a hundred times already, come back to bed."

"I would, but since plan A, over-idealistic as it may have been, has failed and your improvisation has thrown plan B out the window, our position needs re-evaluation." Looking up from the papers at the always amusing bed-mane of his wife he grinned mischievously. "Besides my slumbering beauty, Celestia has begun the day and our nation needs addressing. You should get ready for your first public appearance as Queen Twilight Sparkle."

Grumpily conceding to the latter, Twilight clambered out of her nest of blankets, uncomfortably aware of how large she was with her pregnancy and how her husband's eyes still lingered upon her. She would not however give ground on the first accusation. "I did no such thing, my improvisation has only ensured the success of our most viable backup plan, not destroyed it."

"Is that so? When it became clear Princess Luna's caution meant that felling the leaders of both nations as well as the remaining elements of harmony all at once would be impossible, how was it that we followed the backup plan exactly?"

Twilight gave her stallion her fiercest glare which was completely undermined by her still messy mane, much to Sombra's amusement. "Our plans did not account for Hope branching out from Cadence. It was already well entangled with the unborn child, and even had some roots in Shining as well."

"So your solution was to let all three escape with a chance to save their lives?"

"A perceived chance my King, not an actual one. I placed a hemorrhaging curse in the wound. Even if she survived long enough to be treated by doctors, their medicinal magic would only cause the flesh to bleed even faster. Furthermore, by giving Shining a final 'chance' to save his family he'll be faced with the crushing reality that he failed to protect them, their ultimate death happening on his watch and not ours. While true if we'd simply killed all three Hope would be gone, but it would have the chance to manifest in another. Now it is crushed beneath Shining's own despair, and as an added bonus his dire mood will have the chance to spread to others, further crushing the likelihood of Hope making its appearance in this war."

Sombra was impressed, her quick thinking would actually prove more effective than the original plan of killing the Crystal Empire royalty and just simply taking over. His wife was truly a cunning one. "I concede then, plan B is therefore still in full effect. Now all we need is to maximize the growth of our martial might while keeping Equestria at bay until we are ready. Would you like to do the honors, or shall I?"

"They spent many fearful years underneath your rule already. I would seem the softer of us two, perhaps a source of leniency and restraint, or perhaps even twisted around as an unwilling suitor who only needed rescuing to help them turn upon the hated King Sombra. It would be best if I were to address the nation, so that they may know where their Queen truly stands."

Twilight spoke of the crystal ponies as a scientist would of training mice, deciding upon the appropriate voltage to shock them with when their behavior was displeasing. Her cold intellect made his blood run hot, and his uncomfortable shifting upon the chair he sat did not go unnoticed. With a sultry grin, she enticed him back to the bed. "My mane's a mess and I've yet to get properly ready for the day anyways. Perhaps you'd like to take care of your most, pressing matter before I get cleaned up? Hmmmmmm, my King?"
****

The crystal ponies still gathered in front the castle grew silent as a figure walked out upon the palace balcony, followed by the dreadful King himself. The first pony was hard to recognize at first; she was as tall as Cadence and of lavender coat with long flowing purple hair streaked by a dash of vibrant pink. This was the newest princess, Twilight! Had she and Spike the Hero come to save them once again? But why then did she have the same black armor as Sombra, and stand beside him so calmly?

"Hear me my citizens!" She began, a simple enough task to follow considering the royal voice boomed throughout the Empire. "Princess Cadence and Prince Shining armor are no more, slain by my own hooves." The entire crowd shuddered with dread, it had been the expected fate for their princess then, considering the state of her guards that still decorated the trees. "I am Twilight Sparkle, your queen. My husband you may already know." The most powerful evil tyrant in all of Crystal Empire history, and he had a queen now? This did not bode well at all. As their new monarch continued her speech, the were sadly proven quite correct. Tis a terrible thing to have dreary expectations not only met, but also surpassed.

"Henceforth all citizens 12 years of age and older are to join the glorious Crystal Empire armed forces, with the exception of pregnant mares. Once carried to term the mother will have a single month of recovery before being expected to join the armed forces, unless of course another pregnancy should befall her. All children are to attend specialized instruction facilities full time, so that parents need not be distracted from their duty to the armed forces and their country. This army will be tested by the fire-breath of dragons, the iron talons of gryphon soldiers, and the crushing strength of minotaurs. It is quite likely many of you will perish in battle, but be proud my citizens, to die in service of the Crystal Empire is a great honor. Lastly, failure to comply will be met with immediate and final punishment, as all crimes committed forfeit your rights as a citizen of the Crystal Empire. You shall either be killed immediately, or taken for live experimentation where you can restore your honor by furthering the knowledge our scientists. For today, remove the tree ornaments and throw them into the fire surrounding the Empire and return to your homes. All ponies skilled in crystal construction are to report to the palace in exactly one hour. You are dismissed."

Without any further ado, Queen Twilight about-faced and strode back into the castle, accompanied by the King, leaving behind a stunned crowd of crystal ponies whose world had just been turned upside down.

Act I Chp. 3: Patience

"My my, you certainly have been busy haven't you Lulu?"

Luna shot her sister a none too subtle glare at the use of her nickname. "Celestia!" she hissed, "not in front of our subjects!"

Celestia was too preoccupied with absorbing the sight of the castle's ball-turned-war room to pay her any heed. Long tables had been pushed together end to end and already scrolls were strewn across them. Reports were being received, documented, and sent by the dozens, and ponies galloped every which way in their hurry to complete their assigned tasks. At the far end of the tables several unicorns bustled around a large glass object supported by a sturdy frame of steel. It was flat, no more than a half a hoof thick, and curved like a parachute suspending somepony in the air. In all it must have measured at least 16 meters long and 9 meters tall. Upon closer inspection, millions of tiny facets glimmered in the glass, never reflecting light the same way twice.

Catching her sister's look, Luna smiled and explained the purpose of the new technology. "What you see before you is something one of the local scientists has been working on. He calls it the Reality Emulating Crystal Terahertz Universal Monitor. As of now only unicorns can power the device with their magic, but he one day hopes to modify it so that all of ponykind can use it with ease." Luna didn't even have to turn around to know that by now Tia had put together the unfortunate abbreviation and elevated an eyebrow towards the stratosphere. "He is most displeased by everypony's insistence in using the abbreviation, as it was not intended in the slightest. Though we are royalty I would still caution they tongue sister; you e'er did let thy humor slip past the confines of thy lips, and if his ears caught wind of it he would verily vent his frustrations upon thee.

"Butt of course dear sister! How could you ever assume such a thing of me?"

Before Luna's icy glare could freeze the blood in her veins, Celestia leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Trust me dear sister, militant strategy is not all we need to win this war, we must take care not to let ponies forget the good in life either." With a wave of her hoof, she indicated Pinkie Pie, who was having trouble containing her giggles. Seeing her able to laugh, even by this small amount, was enough to bring the ghost of a smile to the rest of her friends' faces. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Now, about the R.E.C.T.U.M" Luna sighed with exasperation and turned pleading eyes skyward as if there were help of any sort to be found there. Celestia did what every older sister does, and plowed ahead with her sentence whilst paying her sibling's antics no mind. "You've told me its name and that's it, what does it actually do, and more importantly why is it needed here?"

Luna opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as the ball/war room double doors slammed open to make way for a pegasus scout carrying a bloody unicorn. "Perhaps you are about to find out sister. Cavalry scout Dust Wing of the 2nd Division, report!"

Dust Wing was certainly an apt name for this pegasus, unlike most ponies his coat and feathers were mottled numerous shades of grey instead of monochromatic and powdery black hair grown long. Setting his bloody charge upon the ground, he promptly saluted Commander Luna and belted out the results of his scouting. "Yes Commander! Border towns and villages have been fully warned of the war and the danger of their position. Host city Stalliongrad is beginning preparations for the war effort support with great enthusiasm. The border itself however is completely impassible. Lieutenant Mind Shard attempted to cross and was nearly cut to ribbons. His condition is stable, but he will need rest and further medical attention before the day is out."

Princess Celestia regarded the bloody stallion with concern. "Lieutenant, you need not be here right now. There is no reason to suffer through a briefing when you are in need of our doctors."

His voice rasped like he'd been gargling glass, a thought that certainly was not helped as he coughed up blood. "No disrespect your Majesty, but this is of the utmost importance. You must see through our eyes as quickly as possible."

Luna nodded her consent, and guided him over to the R.E.C.T.U.M. "Project your thoughts upon this device Lieutenant, it will do the rest." To her sister she added "Lieutenant Mind Shard is part of a special intelligence unit. He and his two brothers are identical triplets, and they were born with a unique ability. No matter where they are in the world, they can connect their minds and share thoughts, full memories, and even magical power instantaneously."

Mind Shard's horn glowed with a pale green aura, and moments later the glass contraption hummed to life. In the ample space in front of the machine now stood the harsh landscape of Equestria's northern border, as real as life before them. A disembodied voice made everpony except Luna and the Lieutenant jump in surprise. "Colonel Iron Wing, my brother Mind Shard has arrived safely in Canterlot and secured contact with the Princesses."

From behind and to their left came a gravelly voice, obviously belonging to a figure of authority. "Well what are you waiting for then? Turn around and show the Princesses what they came to see." The projected snowy landscape spun slowly around like a camera rotating upon its stand to look in the direction of Crystal Empire. Instead, what they saw made Celestia gasp and Luna curse like a sailor. Stretching thousands of meters in the air, and reaching out join with the horizon on either side was an enormous veil of gas, the same color as a reddened wound turning purple from bruising and infection. The wall of gas all but blotted out the sun as its surface roiled like a miasma of hatred.

"This is Lieutenant Soul Shard, brother to the fool Mind Shard who dashed headlong into that gas earlier today. If we had not been connected at the time, we would not have been able to pull him from the barrier before it killed him. The gas becomes active if touched, violently slashing everything with fine particulates, which means if you breathe at all inside the gas you're nearly guaranteed to die. The gas wall does appear to have a top, but it reaches too high into the atmosphere where the air is thin and freezing. There is also no apparent way to measure the thickness of the barrier, rendering attempts to simply dash through suicidal at best. Worst of all, and the reason for Mind's folly, is that the gas seems to be impenetrable by magical means. Our brother Heart Shard was stationed in an outpost within the Crystal Kingdom, and now there is no way of knowing his fate."

Soul spoke flat and emotionlessly, but he could not hide from them the tears that clogged his eyes as the landscape grew blurry and indistinct. The entire war room had stopped to gather around the projected images now, and all anypony could do is stand in mournful silence. For all the military's posturing, this was still the first real threat Equestria had faced as a nation in centuries. Not only had an Empire already fallen in but a single night, but now there was a deadly and impassible wall spanning thousands of kilometers erected in time for morning as well? The sheer power behind such a spell was incomprehensible, and to make it even worse they were facing their first casualty as well. The war wasn't even 12 hours old, and already they'd lost a friend, a brother, behind a wall of hatred. They were terrified, and they had every single reason to be.

No, thought Luna, now is not the time to give in. If we let fear and despair set root now we might as well surrender to the will of the dark conquerors. If nothing else, we must try, we must fight, until we can do so no longer. "Lieutenant Mind, Lieutenant Soul, do not capitulate now in thy attempts. You have with thee now the Princess of the Night, the Dreamwalker. Allow me to lend my power and my experience to thy mental link and let us try once more. We will find your brother, and we will do everything in our power to bring him to safety."

Mind Shard stiffened like a board whilst the image before them was blotted out by a green hoof that wiped the water from its owner's eyes. They spoke as one now, "You honor us Princess, thank you for your kindness."

"Thank me when your brother is safe Lieutenants. Tarry no more, we must begin at once." Princess closed her eyes and took a deep, long breath. Her horn glimmered to life as her celestial mane wove constellations of brilliant light in an arcane wind. The polished gleam of her silver armor glowed bright with the blessing of the moon, and when she opened her eyes once more they were beaming pure white light. The gas wall in the image before them became to billow and boil violently, fighting against an invisible force, only to have the entire image suddenly split down the middle, a second one appearing beside it on the right hand side. Soot was floating through the air like snow outside the windows of a small stone room. To the left was a pantry of preserved rations, and on the right a desk that had recently met a splintering demise. Superimposed over the new scene was the sound of nearly hysterical rasps of breath, and quiet intermittent sobs.

"M-mind? S-soul?" whimpered a new voice, presumably Heart Shard. "A-and, Princess Luna! By the sun and the moon you've managed to break through! You've come to save me!" Celestia knew she should be happy that they'd successfully made contact so soon, but something about his tone was deeply disturbing. What had her little pony witnessed to drive him to such a desperate state of hysteria? She got her answer sooner than she was ready.

"All of Tartarus could not compare to what has been unleashed upon this land. I'm in outpost JC-093 halfway between the Crystal Empire city and the border. No sooner had this damned shroud popped did I see some kind of walking nightmare. It stood tall as Canerlot castle itself, the whole thing made out of some kind of solid shadow. It left burning hoof-prints as it walked, and its eyes..." Lieutenant Heart whimpered again and took a moment to re-collect his courage. "Those eyes burned with the hate of a thousand wildfires. The thing even had an enormous red horn. Before I realized it, the beast's horn glowed and it just ripped the top off a mountain, like it were made of paper! The mountain didn't take too kindly to it either, started spewing up streams of lava and filled the air with ash. Then, some...thing climbed out of the crater."

Princess Luna, still within the trance of her spell caused the memories Heart Shard described to come to life before them on the R.E.C.T.U.M. All who bore witness blanched at the demonic figure towering besides the newly formed volcano. Then, everypony flinched (and in many cases cowered) in fear when it sharply turned to look directly at them. "No. No oh no oh please sweet Celestia NO! This didn't happen before, this isn't part of the memory! It AGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

The scream belonged to four ponies in simultaneous agony. Those blazing, all consuming eyes zoomed to fill the entire image, until there was nothing else but the burning depths of their wrath. Suddenly it was replaced by the shadowy vision of massive hordes, too numerous to count, swarming across Equestria like a plague. Behind them all stood a monument of evil, the twisted black crystal of the once magnificent castle. Green and purple curse-fire burned everywhere, and standing looming behind their Black Castle stood its masters. On the right the demonic figure of hatred, and on the left stood a figure even more terrifying. It's body was a lavender flame given solid pony form. It had two sets of burning wings, darkening to the blackness of the void at the tips. So too were its legs and even horn shaded from that dark purple to pure black. While its counterpart's eyes burned with the passion of a volcano, this one's eyes seemed to absorb all light, all hope.

Neither moved, neither spoke, they had no need to. The sheer force of their presence in the vision cowed everypony in the war room, forcing even Celestia's breath to fall short and he heart to seize up in her chest.

"Don't...get...cocky. Equestria shall not simply roll over and let you two do as you please. We shall fight to our last breathe, our last hope, our last pony to stop you. DO NOT THINK YOU ARE GREATER THAN THE BONDS OF OUR PONIES' LOVE!"

It was Luna, standing, heaving, before the visage with sweat pouring in rivulets down her coat. With a final heave of her magic, she managed to reclaim the mental link, ripping away the vision to reveal once more the split image between Soul and Heart Shard. There would be no time to rest however, of in the distance of Heart's view, the volcano shook and began to erupt once more.

"Heart Shard," spoke Luna, "they come for you."

"I know." Heart, Mind, and Soul all answered, all defeated and weary. What could they possibly hope to do in time?

"I'm going to have to ask a great boon of you my subject...I must ask you to trust me."

"With my life, Princess."

"The enchantments blocking us from teleporting you out are too strong to shatter without risking your life in the process; however there is considerably less defense to stop us from using our magic to affect your current location through this link, so I offer you an alternative. I can place you into a deep sleep, a hibernation of sorts. Then with the aid of my sister our combined power would be enough to fold space around your slumbering form, to form a pocket and pinch it off from the rest of reality for a certain period of time. Nopony, no thing, would be able to harm you, let alone find you, until the time elapsed and space unfolded for you to awake."

"How..., how long?"

Luna hesitated, if they set too short of time he would awaken to the same predicament he currently found himself in, and if the time was set too long, the war could long be over before he had a chance to come home to his family.

"10 years" It was Celestia who spoke, the figure of determination itself. "Twilight was nearly as pregnant as Cadence was when..., if what Cadence said is true about her love for Sombra, then she should love her foal no less. This barrier is a delaying tactic, so that her child can grow to maturity, and in that time too amass an actual army. In 10 years you will be able to give us an inside look at what is happening in the Empire at the time, and by then we should have developed a safe method of extracting you."

Luna smiled, it was good to hear Celestia taking charge once more, it meant she was coming to grips with the war more and more. "It is up to you now Heart Shard, are you willing to wait in hibernation for 10 years?"

Heart actually chuckled as his vision shook once more from the latest eruption of molten rock. "Not like I have much of a choice hehe. I'm ready princesses, thank you, for everything. Soul, Mind, I love you guys, so you'd better not forget to come get me in 10 years! And I'd better see the both of you there when I wake up!"

Celestia's eyes were glowing white with power now as well, and with a soft clink she touched her horn to Luna's, feeding her as much magic as she had to give.

"Tell mum and dad not to worry, and that I love them too."

The air crackled as arcane symbols flashed in and out of existence around the princesses, their spell building to a climax while Lieutenant Mind unabashedly bawled on the cold marble tiles.

"Goodbye, everyone. I hope to see you again soon."

Brilliant, blinding light lit the war room brighter than the sun. When it faded the R.E.C.T.U.M was back to showing only one viewpoint again, one that was blurred beyond recognition past the tears. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were visibly drained and approaching their limits; Celestia's hair had returned to its base pink color, and Luna's to pastel blue. They would need time and rest to recover from such a massive spell, but they had succeeded.

"It is done. Colonel Iron Wing, prepare your ponies accordingly. We have 10 long years of war ahead of us."

"Let's make sure to keep our promise."

Act I Chp. 4: Foundations

Opal Heart quivered in terror, pressing herself as tightly into her corner and trying to be as small as possible. Everything had just happened so quickly. Mommy and Daddy had come home and told her that everything was okay, there was just a new King and Queen in the castle. Opal hadn't liked that answer, her room was all nasty and scary looking now and her parents looked completely lusterless, but Mommy said that's the way things had to be now, and that she had to be a good little filly for a little while longer. She at least wanted to see her friends, she was scared for them, but Daddy forbade her from leaving home.

Dinner was sparse, Mommy said the markets hadn't been open in days. They both had strange clothes on and around each foreleg was a red band of cloth marked by a black pointy thing. As soon as she asked about it, they sent her straight to bed, it wasn't fair! She bet Snow Lily didn't have to put up with such mean parents. Sneakily, Opal had embarked on a grand escape. Her parents whispered to each other in their room across the hall from hers, but they didn't hear her scamper out into the living room. Several warm coats had been thrown onto a chair, and on the dining room table cheese, bread, and apples lay on larges swathes of cloth. At the time she barely registered them as a passing curiosity.

With a triumphant giggle, Opal Heart pushed the door open and fled into the twilight, ooooh she couldn't wait to see her best friend again! Her escapades came to quite a sudden stop however, as she ran straight into a tall purple pony. She wore regal onyx armor, and an impressive red velvet cape. Upon her head was a tall black crown set with a gem the same shape as a purple star. Opal gulped, quite aware she'd been caught, and by someone quite important too.

"Opal!? Opal baby where are you? OPAL!?"

Mommy burst out of their house, quickly followed by Daddy, but they froze as soon as they saw her and the pony she'd run into. "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Heart is it? Thank you so much for assisting me. I was just looking around the empire myself for any poor children who hadn't had the chance to register for school yet. It starts tomorrow you know. How fortunate of me that you two were here to help."

"W-we were just getting our daughter ready for her first day of school tomorrow. The registration must have slipped our minds, so sorry my Queen. We'll be sure to bring the paperwork with us and turn it in to her new school."

"Whatever do you mean Mrs. Heart? You don't have any fillies yet. I hear you and your husband have been trying for a while, I do wish you the best of luck. Every mare should get their chance to be a mother, don't you agree?"

"Your information is wrong my Queen, that's Opal Heart and she's our daughter. Opal sweety, come inside and go to your room, you've bothered the nice pony long enough. We still have plenty to do to get you ready...for tomorrow"

The Queen's wing swept to the ground to hold the little filly close to her towering leg. "Oh that won't do Mr. Heart, I know you and your wife are so eager for a firstborn, but we can't just simply adopt orphans from the streets now can we? Besides, the Empire's new educational facilities are fully equipped to teach everypony, orphan or not. They will get to have three square meals a day, the finest education the world has ever seen, and warm beds to sleep on every night. Nothing but the best for the future of our nation."

Daddy suddenly leaped forward with a scary look on his face, one she'd never seen before. "Get away from her you demon!" But as soon as he moved, he was frozen mid-air, surrounded by a bruised purple-black aura. "Tsk-Tsk, it seems you've forgotten how hard it's been for you and your wife these past couple years. All that time after your marriage, and still no foals to call your own. Perhaps I should, refresh your memory so that you can remember why you're still trying for your own child. Maybe then you'll regain your hope instead of scaring poor little orphans."

Daddy's face was streaked with tears as he was held helpless, and Mommy was banging her hooves into a bloody mess against a wall of purple magic that encased her, screaming with all the power of her lungs between her wracking sobs. Opal Heart was terrified, why was the tall purple pony doing this, why was Mommy screaming?

"There there little one, don't be afraid, these ponies don't mean any harm. See? They've already calmed down." Daddy now stood next to Mommy, blinking like the time she'd woken him up from the middle of his unintentional nap. Mommy was frowning at her pale green hooves like something was out place, despite the fact that all the crimson blood was suddenly gone from them.

"Now, as I was saying I want to thank you both for your part in helping a poor orphan to make it into the academy in time. As a reward, when the barracks are completed this week you two may stay in your home instead of reporting to the normal sleeping quarters each night."

Daddy gasped in surprise. "B-but, my Queen, you said only such an honor would be bestowed upon the ranking officials and those who went above and beyond the call of duty to aid the Empire! We can't possibly accept."

"Don't be silly my faithful subject, by aiding me in bringing a lost child to school you have helped our future generation, and that can only be considered an astounding act of patriotism that helps to secure our future as a nation. In fact, if you would do me the honor of spreading the word to your unit tomorrow that any who find a lost child who isn't is school yet and bring them to me that they will receive the same reward, then I might just have reason to keep your file in mind for future candidates amongst ranking officials."

"I understand my Lady, I shall do all I can to earn the honor you have bestowed upon me and my wife."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now come along Opal, you get to come with me to the palace to get ready for school. Won't that be exciting!"

"No! I don't wanna go! Mommy! Daddy!"

"Perhaps we should retire for the night, our presence seems to be upsetting the child. Thank you once again my Queen."

"No! Where are you going! Don't leave me! I'm sorry I didn't stay in my room like you told me to, I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

As the door to the crystal abode locked close, the purple pony leaned down close to her and whispered fiercely.

"BE SILENT!"

With a whimper, Opal complied.

"Good, now look into my eyes child."

The magenta orbs stared down on her as cold as the northern glaciers. She couldn't look away! Try as she might, her neck would not wrench her head out of position, and those eyes held her bound like frozen chains. It seemed like they were sucking her deeper and deeper inside them, a bottomless pool of black nothingness.

"That will be your future child, unless you come with me and do everything I say without question. Do you understand?"

Opal had barely managed a nod, her eyes still locked in place in the horrifyingly empty depths of the Queen's eyes.

"Good, now come with me, my husband will be back soon from the southern outpost and I would like to have everything ready for his return. Do not look back, and do not speak. Simply follow, and obey."

Now, she sat in the Queen's bedchamber while she worked away at a black crystal at the writing desk, too frightened to do anything unless otherwise told.

"Still tinkering my love? Are we ready for the live test yet?"

"Hello to you too, and yes I believe so. I even encountered the perfect volunteer while out amongst the citizenry tonight."

"I'm glad you've seen some success tonight, the southern outpost turned up empty."

"Empty? How were they able to retrieve him in time? They shouldn't have been able to get past the barrier...unless."

"No, the Crystal Heart maintained the barrier enchantments perfectly, its only lapse was to let the semi-psychic clairvoyance spell through, something I made sure to modify so that the heart could not exploit the loophole any further. No, when I got there with our new pet the entire building was gone, a crater smoking in it's place."

"So the Princesses would go so far as to sacrifice one of their precious ponies to keep them out of our hooves? That is unexpected. Once the recruits are trained we'll need to set up a border patrol, we can't risk underestimating them again lest it be a far less pleasant surprise."

"Agreed. And I appreciate that you waited for my return before testing the Empire's newest method of 'instruction.' "

"I know how you enjoy a good experiment as much as I. It's certainly come a long way since the days we spent overloading the central nervous system of squirrels a couple months ago. Opal dear? Come here please."

Shakily, Opal stood and slowly creeped forward to the Queen. King Sombra was now in the room, and every little filly in the empire had heard about the nightmare of his previous rule. Suddenly the Queen didn't seem so bad in comparison. "Mrs. Queen mam, what is that?"

Chuckling, Twilight levitated the small crystal closer to the little filly. It must have been a trick of the light, but Opal could have sworn she saw sparks of purple light chase each other around beneath it's surface. "Why, it's a special kind of jewelry of course! And it's worn right here on the back of your neck." As she spoke, the crystal orbited around behind Opal's head, where she felt a soft pressure right where the Queen said it was supposed to go. Opal's eyes widened in pain and surprise, her whole body tensing before her her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed twitching to the floor. A small trickle of blood made a crimson track down her coat as the crystal drilled its way to her spinal column.

"After all, tomorrow is your first day of school, and we need all our precious students to look and feel their best."
****

"I see, so you both are resolute in your decision?"

The orange farmpony and cyan Wonderbolts candidate nodded in unison to the exhausted princesses. The other three friends had retired to their guest quarters already in preparation for the train ride back home in the morning. The princesses sat upon their dual throne, ethereal manes still their base pink and blue pastel, the demands upon their time and energy too great for either to rest just yet. Luna spoke once more, "Very well then, I'll have the paperwork taken care of for you. For now please go rest with your friends, a messenger will guide you all in the morning."

As the pair left the throne room, Celestia allowed herself to slump into the throne. "I'd sooner lose my own life Lulu. This war is going to reach so far, scar so many homes. If I could but save my little ponies the pain I would..." She let her sentence peter out. Lulu knew, she understood. Perhaps for her it hurt even more than Celestia could conceive, for while she'd had a millennium to become accustomed to watching her ponies pass away before her eyes, for her sister who'd only just started to get to get to know ponies and make friends it would be a brand new pain to learn.

"While we must ask of our subjects a hundred percent, of ourselves we shall demand a thousand times more. For all the mares and stallions, fillies and colts; past, present, and future, we must give everything there is to give to keep them free, to ensure their future. We shall not fail them Tia, I promise thee."

Together they sat in solemn silence, for a few seconds at least, as the next palace messenger dashed into the room requiring their attention. This time it was a nurse from the medical wing by the looks of it. The white hat bearing a red cross was a dead give-away, the tray she carried with her covered by a plain white cloth.l

"Princesses! It's simply awful, he's gone! We must set up a search party, call out the royal guard! What if they came back? Oh mercy what if they're still here?!?!"

Luna, eloquent as ever, politely asked the nurse to calm down so that she could explain. "Calm thyself and quit thy blathering. Now, start from the beginning, and tell us exactly what has happened, to whom, and the evidence for what you suspect."

"O-of course Princess Luna, my apologies. It's Prince Shining, he's disappeared from the hospital without a trace! The only things we found was this knife and some shreds of his coat." Taking the cloth covered tray in her lime-green magic, the covering was removed to reveal a bloody surgical instrument, and several scraps of fur. "The staff fears the worst..."

With practiced poise, Celestia levitated a scrap to her for closer inspection. While Shining had a white coat, this was a dark blue in color, streaked by a triangular section of pinkish purple. Luna was not so practiced in hiding her disgust however, and even less practiced in patience. "How could they dare return to Canterlot! Their arrogance will be the end, quickly sister we must..."

"Be still Luna." Celestia's tone was even and measured, and it left no room for argument. She was in a very dangerous mood, so Luna quietly waited for her sister to continue, not wanting to be the cause of pressure to break the dam her sister was using to hold back her emotions. "Nurse, where are the bodies of Princess Cadence and their foal?"

"They've been taken too! I hate to think what horrible things are being done with them."

"Search the palace gardens, a squad from the royal guard will assist you. I think you may find two freshly dug mounds of dirt there. Make sure they get their proper markers."

"P...Princess?"

"These scraps all seem to be from Prince Shining's cutie mark. Since nothing else was discovered, and considering the circumstances of his hospitalization, I can safely say that this was an act of self-mutilation. For many years he kept Canterlot, and then the Crystal empire safe from harm. It was his nature, and his special talent to protect those under his care, especially his family; something he was unable to do last night. He is overcome with loss and grief, and is doubtlessly blaming himself for their deaths. To him his cutie mark would have been a mockery, a bitter reminder of his failure. Now go, we'd best find those graves so that they may at least be marked for the beloved ponies who lay beneath."

"But, should we not still go after him? You said yourself how much pain he must be in right now. He needs us."

Celestia did not move, her face still frozen in a mask of emotionless reason, but it was not enough to hold back a tear as it formed in her right eye, and cascaded down cheeks hiding clenched teeth. Slowly, she put the scrap of fur back upon the nurse's tray and covered it over with the cloth. Then, as she spoke once more her words were strained from having to hold back what must have been a tremendous desire to do exactly the opposite of what she said. "No, he does not. What he needs is time to find himself again, time alone to forgive himself. Just like a young colt looking for their cutie mark, nothing we say and nothing we do will help to bring him back faster. It is something he must do by himself, in his own time. All we can do is to keep him in our thoughts, and to wish him the best."

Dejectedly, the nurse nodded and left the throne room to embark on her search of the palace grounds. It was not an answer that she liked, but it was the right one. Luna meanwhile kept an appraising eye on her sister, and as her shoulders drooped once more she knew that the moment of emotional tension had passed. "It does not cease to amaze use how wise you have grown in a thousand years...Sunbutt."

As she had hoped, the back-hoofed compliment caused her sister to snort with laughter. With a wry grin and that familiar twinkle in her eye, Celestia cocked her head at Luna and growled playfully at her. "Doth my eyes deceive me dear sister? 'Twould seem with thy ample consumption of the palace confections the crescent of thine own cutie mark is waxing." Together they burst into uncontrollable laughter, chortling in a most un-princesslike manner. When finally they could breathe again, Celestia gave her sister the warmest hug she could muster. "Thanks Lulu, I needed that."

"It was my pleasure to help relieve the weight lying upon thy chest Tia. Too bad it is a much more difficult matter dealing with the weight in thine..."

"Don't push your luck Lulu."
****

The next morning

Six friends drearily made their way through the empty Canterlot streets. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon, yet early as it was Canterlot remained eerily quiet. The whole city was suffocating under the silence, the atmosphere almost palpable from the sense of fear. Aiding Spike with Rarity's luggage was a stone-faced royal messenger, carrying half a dozen suitcases as if they were the lightest burden he had to worry about in his life.

Other than the chorus of good mornings when they had been woken for the train, the friends had spoken nary a word to each other. It was understandable really, for what was there to be said? Everpony felt the same fear, the same betrayal, and each fought with their own feelings of hopeless inadequacy. Words would have been as empty as the city streets, so instead they simply walked closely, taking comfort in each other's presence.

At the train station they met the first pony other than the royal messenger to be out and about. He, or perhaps she, was draped in so many rags that they bore closer resemblance to a mummy than a living being. Just as strangely, as soon as he/she saw the group from ponyville, he/she quickly scampered over to the other side of the station with a very peculiar gait, somewhere between walking and hopping, as if they'd forgotten how to use one of their back legs. There was no time to speculate on the stranger however, for at that moment the Friendship Express pulled up to the station with the screech of brakes and a cloud of steam.

ALLLLLLL A BOOOAAAAARD!

Unceremoniously, the royal messenger dumped the luggage just inside the first train car, and stepped out of the way to allow their owner's passage. Too worn out to even care, Rarity lead the way inside, assisting Spike with the remainder of the load, quickly followed by Pinkie and Fluttershy. Several moments passed before it registered in their minds that Rainbow Dash and Applejack hadn't joined them.

Rarity leapt onto a chair and poked her head out the train window, "Hurry you two, the train is leaving soon!" As if to punctuate her words the conductor gave a the train whistle a long tug to indicate a final warning. Rainbow shifted on her hooves awkwardly and AJ took her hat off, holding it to her chest as she looked solemnly to the ground. In unison they raised their heads, the moisture in their eyes barely restrained.

"We aint coming Sugarcube. Me and RD here, we just don't feel right going back to Ponyville like nothing ever happened. We's got to do something to help, to stop Twilight and her madness." Indicating the royal messenger who was now standing to their side rather impatiently, she continued. "This fellow weren't here to help us with the train, he's here to take me and RD to our basic training."

Fluttershy demurely poked her head out and gave her friends the large soulful look of a sad puppy. "I, I don't understand." AJ had to look back to the ground, biting her lip to keep her composure. Looking off to the side, then to the ground, and then to the side again, Rainbow was the one to answer this time, making sure to not make eye contact with her fellow pegasus. "We've enlisted, Fluttershy, we're a part of the Equestrian Army now."

With her boundless optimism, Pinkie Pie popped her head out a third window with a broad grin. "Then we'll enlist with you!"

"NO!" Everypony jumped a little at the fierceness of that single word. "Me and RD are the best athletes from Ponyville, we've got the strength, the speed, and the stamina needed to be soldiers, and quite frankly none of yall can claim the same. That, and Ponyville can stand to lose a farmer and a weather-pony. What it can't lose is it's dress-maker, party pony, nor animal caretaker. Yall will be safer, and your talents needed more, back at home where yall belong."

In the stunned silence that followed, the train whistled one final time before releasing its breaks and chugging down the track.

"Make sure to tell our families what's all going on, and tell them we love em'! We swear, we Pinkie Promise, that we'll see yall again real soon, so don't you worry!"

With tears streaming down their faces, the three friends raised their hooves and silently waved goodbye as the train whisked them away, leaving behind the two bravest ponies they'd ever known, a royal messenger, and a mysterious stranger wrapped in rags.

Act I Chp. 5: Happy Birthday

It was the perfect day, Celestia's sun beamed merrily down upon them in the cool air of this fine spring afternoon. They lay together beneath the sparse shade of an oak tree, watching the gentle wind guide the verdant branches in the steps of a gentle dance. Shining turned his eyes to the pink blessing in his embrace. She was so perfect, so loving, so...everything. Even the most mundane tasks brought happiness to his life when he shared it with her, she simply completed him in a way he hadn't known possible. The nostalgia of the days of his youth struck him, a time where a scraggly colt dressed in a wrinkled white collar shirt and blue tie loosely hanging upon his neck. What Cadence had seen in Twilight's disheveled big brother he would never know, but now each day was a miracle of love, for which he could not be more thankful for.

"Sweetie why are you looking at me like that?"

Shining chuckled, bashful at having been caught red-hoofed. "Oh it's nothing dear, just counting my blessings."

"Oh indeed? And how many do you have?" Cadence teased back.

"Well so far I'm up to 913, and counting. One for each day together since our first date."

Cadence was completely unprepared for that response. It was hard to tell on a pink alicorn, but anytime Shining could clearly see that his wife was flustered and blushing, he knew he'd done a good job. She lifted her forelegs halfway to her head in a subconscious attempt to hide her face as she tried to stammer out a response. "I uh, well... I mean, yo-you kept track?"

Shining's answer was to crane his neck down to give his wife a long, adoring kiss. When finally they broke the embrace of their lips it took Cadence a few moments to remember how to breathe, their hearts fluttering in unison. "I love you dearest."

"I love you too Shining" her eyes glimmering with tears of joy, "never forget that."

"I would never forget"

Cadence suddenly seemed urgent and pleading, reaching a hoof up to cup her beloved husband's face with its touch. "Please Shining, promise me, promise that you'll never forget."

Concerned, he rushed to assuage her, "of course my darling, I promise with my life never to forget our love."

The tears that had once welled with joy and love overflowed their container, running red with the liquid of life as all color drained from her eyes. Her body spasmed violently and Shining felt something warm splatter his pristine white coat. Looking down he found a gushing stab wound in his beloved that led straight to her heart. Hyperventilating, he tried desperately to plug the hole with his hoof to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop, it was too late. Spring was gone, as was the grass and the beautiful blue sky. All around him were the snow banks of the mountains north of Canterlot, and the sky was blotted out by a menacing redish-black cloud that sparked with purple lightning.

No, no this couldn't be happening it couldn't be real. Shining tried to back up from the corpse of his wife, only to lose balance and fall backwards into the near-lifeless oak tree, unable to move properly now that his body was suddenly missing a leg. Sharp bark stabbed into his flesh, but he could care less; the tree itself looked completely dead, yet it leaked sap worse than a pine tree, dark crimson sap that dripped from the branches and the trunk and tasted of iron. His eyes remained fixed upon the corpse of Cadence, already aged and decomposing, lips shrunken tight against gums and teeth, and eyes rotted away to leave hollow pits of darkness.

With a ghostly rustling sound, it slowly brought its head up off the ground to look accusingly straight through him with those horrifying eyes, or lack there-of. "But you promised Shining, you promised." It spoke with her voice through a tongue half rotted away, and the sound was somehow delayed by half a second so that as its jaws moved it took a moment for the rustling voice to appear on the wind. Peeling itself off the ground, the corpse slowly approached him, hoof desperately outstretched.

"Never forget.....You promised."

In blind panic Shining scrambled, shoving himself harder against the trunk of the blood-tree, until the rotten wood crumbled away and he fell from a rocky ledge, screaming the entire way down as the corpse of his wife watched him with eye sockets emptier than the chasm itself.
****

Shining woke to find himself on a lumpy train-car seat, screaming the word "NOOOO" and hoarse from the stress it put upon his vocals. Cowering across from the aisle was a brown earth pony dressed in a navy blue jacket and well-polished brass buttons. A similar navy blue hat sat upon his head embellished by the addition of a large bronze insignia. "I-I'm sorry sir, all I wanted was to see your ticket. B-but its ok! I won't tell my boss, it can be our secret I'll just say that I stamped it don't worry. I understand, loud and clear, a great big NO to showing your ticket. You obviously feel quite strongly about not wanting to show your ticket. I...I'll just be going now, you won't be disturbed again I promise!"

With that, the terrified colt dashed out the car door and slammed it behind him. Uncaring, Shining tightened the knots in his rag wrappings, and settled back into his seat, refusing to let his mind reflect on the nightmare that had woken him. Outside the window the outskirts of Equestria whisked by in a blur of sparse vegetation. The grey rock and empty, featureless landscape seemed somehow appealing. It was an environment that matched him completely. Perhaps this place, after a month of searching, would be the place he could finally live his life, away from everything and everypony. Away from the reflections of happiness that tortured him so much every time he entered a pony town. He lay his head down once more, hoping for rest to come with his sleep this time, failing to notice the large cloud stretching across the horizon; a redish-black storm that sparked with purple lightning.
****

Rainbow Dash tossed and turned on a mattress lumpier than a toad and harder than rock. She was absolutely exhausted, but the pain the bed inflicted on her already sore body had kept her just on the edge of consciousness. Now a whole new level of discomfort was thrown into the mix, the hair on the back of her neck standing up straight like she was being watched. Maybe it would go away if she kept her eyes squeezed shut and refused to acknowledge its existence. Turning over onto her other side, a booming voice jolted her awake, having come face to face with the culprit.

"PRIVATE DASH, WHAT IN HAY DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING STILL IN BED! REVEILLE SOUNDED FIVE MINUTES AGO!"

Poor Rainbow massaged a brand new bump on her head from hitting the support boards of the bunk above her, while simultaneously trying rub the ringing out of her ears. "Well maybe I would have heard it if somepony didn't inflict hearing loss with each word." She mutinously grumbled under her breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU SAID PRIVATE?"

"I said I'm glad to be up and ready for the new day sir!"

"WELL, I'M GLAD TO HEAR IT THEN. IN FACT YOU CAN HELP ME OUT BY SPREADING YOUR ENTHUSIASM TO THE OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR TROOP. GO LEAD EVERYPONY IN DOUBLE THE MORNING EXERCISES!"

Rainbow groaned, her troop would not be happy that she'd gotten them ladled with double the early morning workout. Aghast, she asked pleadingly, hoping for mercy. "Double?"

"YOU'RE QUITE RIGHT PRIVATE, DOUBLE JUST DOESN'T CUT IT. VERY WELL, TRIPLE IT IS! WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA PRIVATE, NOW GO TELL YOUR TROOP THE GREAT NEWS!"

Rainbow quickly exited the barracks before anything else could be levied against her. Just outside the tent flap she ran into Applejack, wearing a scowl that was quickly becoming all to regular on her face. Behind her stood the rest of Rainbow's troop, giving the one-winged pegasus glares that would have set her aflame had they been any more intense. It seems she wouldn't need to reiterate their punishment after all, everypony had already overheard Staff Sergeant Thunder Lung.

"Gosh darnit Rainbow, why couldn't you just get up on time like the rest of us?

"Hey! It's not like I wanted to get everypony punished. If you want to blame somebody blame Thunder Lung for giving my punishment to everpony instead of just me!"

"You just don't get it do you Rainbow? We all got punished because punishing us for your mistakes is supposed to motivate you more than just dealing with your own punishment. You're part of a team, so why don't you start acting like it and get your act together?"

"And that, Private Applejack, is precisely why you've just earned your troop an extra 40 pounds on the ten-mile hike." Staff Sergeant Thunder Lung was legendary amongst the recruits for his bellowing voice, and zero-tolerance attitude. Occasionally hushed whispers would circulate the boot camp, rumors of the fate of the unfortunate few who had earned his ire. In these times it was said he would speak with barely more than a hushed whisper; a dangerous whisper that would stop any recruit in their tracks instantly.

"If this was a battlefield right now, and Private Dash had not woken in time with the others to respond to a hostile enemy, the trenches would be her own grave. She would die, and it would be on all of your heads for not waking her yourselves to make sure the entire troop got out alive." he whispered. "Do not speak of teamwork when you so clearly do not understand the meaning of your words."

The resulting silence hung like lead upon them all. Head drooped in shame, Applejack slowly nodded her head. "Yes sir."

"GOOD, NOW GET DOWN TO THE PARADE GROUNDS AND GET RUNNING, YOU'VE GOT TRIPLE TO DO AND I EXPECT YOU TO STILL BE DONE BEFORE LUNCH IN THE MESS HALL! DISMISSED."

Together the troop trotted off to get started on the arduous tasks before them. Before she could go too far, Rainbow Dash quickly stopped her friend for a moment. "Hey listen AJ....I'm sorry, this whole mess was my fault, I'm sorry for getting everpony in trouble, and for getting you yelled at. Thunder Lung doesn't know you, but I know you'd never leave anypony in danger behind, so don't take it too hard. I'll do my best not to hold you guys back anymore."

"I appreciate the apology Sugarcube, but the Staff Sergeant was right. I thought to lecture you on what it meant to be a team without acting like it myself, and for that I'm sorry."

"Yeah yeah, so we both bucked up and promise not to do it again. Now if we're done with all that, bet ya I can beat you and the rest of the troop down to the parade grounds, 123GO!"

Applejack watched with a smile as her friend lived up to her namesake by turning into a multi-colored blur of speed. Thunder Lung's admonishment had hurt a lot more than she'd care to admit, and had it not been for Rainbow and her aversion to "being sappy" she might have just ended up wallowing about in the doldrums all day. There was just something about that scamp that could lift her mood again, and believe in herself the way Rainbow did in her.

Awh horseapples, RD had a huge lead now, she'd have to kick it into high gear to try and catch up. Putting on a burst of speed, Applejack gave chase to her best friend as the sky above her was darkened by a nasty storm advancing from the north; clouds a redish-black in color and sparking with purple lightning.
****

"Princesses! Urgent report from Colonel Iron Wing! A massive storm is coming from the Crystal Empire, blowing due south! It has already passed Stalliongrad, and reports from the Northwind boot camp indicate the storm is about to overtake them as well!"

From their throne both Princess Luna and Celestia looked up from the first drafts of Equestria's missive to the gryphon kingdom. Luna was the first to respond, short and to the point as usual. "Damage report?"

"Well, none so far. Not even a drop of rain as of yet. Weather captains have been ordered extreme caution and to not attempt to disperse the storm however, due to the large amount of unnatural lightning contained within the clouds."

"Unnatural how?" Spoke Celestia, eyes narrowing in both concern and suspicion.

"That is difficult to explain Princess, perhaps it is something you have to see for yourselves. If you please, the storm should be visible to Canterlot's north by now."

Sparing but a glance at each other, the princesses all but ran to the nearest window to look out upon the northern horizon. In the distance was clearly visible a massive wall of clouds, a nasty color like a smoky fire, and when they magically enhanced their eyesight, they could see the sparks of magenta electricity.

"What thinkest thee dear sister? Storm spells are certainly within their reach, but for the damage they are capable of the energy required is incredibly wasteful. It does not seem like them."

"Agreed, but see Luna, how the magic is sparking wildly there? I do not think the clouds the medium for the spell, more likely a symptom. The atmospheric disturbance of that much raw magic seems to be gathering the water to it of its own accord."

"But to what end Tia? Intentional waste of this much energy to no more effect than foreboding cumulonimbus would be downright foolish."

"Quite right, which leaves only the option that this effect is involuntary, and something truly troublesome is happening within the empire that is creating this storm simply as a side-effect."

Luna's eyes widened at the thought. "What monstrosity could do this?"

"I know not for certain, but I fear that Twilight's time of weakness is about to pass."

"You don't mean..."

"She was barely a month away when first she returned Luna, and that time has passed. From here on out, her power can only grow."
****

Throughout the Crystal Empire the crystal ponies experienced a rare day where all they had to do, was nothing. Barracks were locked tight, and ponies played games of crystal dice between the bunk beds, waiting out the storm swirling around the Black Castle that violently rained destruction just outside the city limits. Inside the Imperial Academy the next generation waited out the storm in their training pods, abhorrent to let a single moment of programming go to waste, their Queen would be so proud. Only one crystal pony faced this time with true displeasure, if not fear, and that would be the royal midwife.

"Why has my wife's fever not yet broken slave?" Demanded King Sombra.

"My apologies master, all I can do is ease her discomfort. I've seen this only once before, when I helped birth a unicorn in Equestria, the magical field of the mother and the foal are becoming separate now that she's gone into labor so that the foal can properly be born. I've never seen a separation cause such turmoil before, it must be a sign of just how powerful both mother and child are."

Displeased that his wife was in such discomfort, but mollified by the compliment to his family's might, Sombra left the midwife with one final warning before resuming his vigil by his wife's side. "Very well, but know this slave, the health of my wife and foal are intertwined with your own fate, and if either by the end of your services here are anything less than perfectly healthy, you and yours shall suffer the same."

"Yes my lord." The midwife bowed as low as her midriff would allow, she herself heavy with foal, as was most every mare in the Crystal Empire these days. With fear she glanced back at her patient, whose body was dripping with sweat, and mumbling to herself as she relived some memory or other in the height of her fever. Another contraction wracked the purple alicorn's body, and outside the storm responded with another tornado touching the ground; this one with enough ferocity that the rocks it touched sparked the dry vegetation into flame, becoming a cyclone of screaming hell that lit the sky as the pillar of fire danced across the mountains. Sure it was normal for ponies of extra-ordinary power to cause small pockets of strange gravity or heat when in labor, but this was on a level unheard of. The midwife shook her head and wished silently that this would resolve itself when the aura of mother and foal fully separated just like every other magically-charged birth, for if it didn't then she could kiss her existence goodbye.

"I'm here my beloved, my Queen of Darkness." Sombra took her hoof in his as he watched her unconscious struggle. "Feel my strength, know that it won't be long now before you can hold our foal for the first time." With a grip that would crush iron, he felt her respond to his words, and smiled encouragingly. She was more magnificent with every day, and if the magical disruptions to the Aether were anything to judge by, their foal would be no less amazing. His Queen grimaced once more, but behind the pain he could see a grim satisfaction; whatever memory she lived once more through this fever must be at least a pleasant one.
****

Arcane energy warped the wood around her with its power. With a mighty roar, Twilight unleashed everything she had in shards of magenta destruction upon the other Twilight. Infuriatingly, her other self lazily sidestepped the bolts of death, and even turned her coat into a silvery mirror-like substance that reflected Twilight's attacks right back at her. "That's so unlike you dearest, or should I say its so very much like me?" the other Twilight chuckled at her own joke. "Really now I thought we'd be stuck here through a droll eon of conversation while we tried to work our differences out like 'civilized ponies.' "For those last two words, Twilight made an elongated face that was obviously a mock of the self-important Canterlot nobles, monocle and all. "Ho hum, yes indeed good lady, I say!" With a snort, she couldn't hold the face any longer and cackled to herself. "I'm quite glad you decided to at least make things a fair bit more interesting for the merger."

Twilight simply stood where she was on the opposite side of the room, surround by the scorch marks of her own attacks and panting heavily from her exertion. "It doesn't make any sense, YOU don't make any sense! How can I be this tired already when you're still prancing around like Pinkie Pie on coffee!? I don't understa..."

"YES, EXACTLLY!" Other Twilight interrupted. "You don't understand me, but from what you think you know you're definitely bent on destroying me for it. But I understand you Twilight, I understand you all too well, and that is why you could never hope to beat me."

"Then why aren't you fighting back, where's this power you boast?

"Because I don't need to, you've spent so much time with Sombra now but you haven't learned a thing! You've struck blindly like a lost foal, and now it's lost you your friends, your princess, and your home." Other Twilight grinned with a demented wickedness. "And now, as you exhaust yourself uselessly trying to overcome me, you'll lose Sombra as well, to me."

Twilight's eyes flashed with anger, irises churning with sickly green as enough dark magic leaked from her eyes that it created thick ropes of purple smoke. She didn't cast a spell, she didn't wish for any special attack or item to come forth to her aid. She knew, she simply knew that at that moment her horn was plunged straight through the heart of the other Twilight. Within a moment her knowing that reality in her mind, the universe around her corrected itself, and the other Twilight looked down with pain and surprise at the bloody horn that slowly slipped back out from the new hole in her chest.

She slipped to her knees and coughed up a puddle of blood out of her lungs before smiling back up at the enraged alicorn. "Perhaps you've learned something after all."
****

The midwife scampered about for towels and warm water. Nearly 18 hours of labor! The Queen must be setting some kind of record, and as each minute crawled by the retribution promised by her King's glare only increased ten-fold. She'd all but given up on hope when she checked on her patient one last time to find her dilation almost complete. It would not be much longer before the foal would be delivered, and if there was any luck left in the universe, any at all, then the Queen would awake to the world as her foal did and her life would be spared the King's wrath.
****

Other Twilight was incapable of nimbly prancing about her opponent's attacks any longer. Now she stood with dozens of wounds tinting the oak to a lovely shade of cherry, a full half of her face sheared off, and yet she still managed that infuriating smile of hers. "So, is this your plan then? Quickly, best finish me off so that you'll never have to worry about me again, then you can go back to your life all happy as can be like nothing had ever happened. Isn't that right?"

Twilight let her anger slip away, falling exhausted to the floor. Nothing made sense, everything was just so wrong now. "I know what you're doing, you can drop the act. In the act of destroying you, I would become you, I would become something I despise."

Other Twilight harrumphed as the wounds that ailed her magically disappeared as if they had never been. "You wound me Twilight, how would you know I'm something to despise?"

Twilight sighed and buried her face in her hooves. Trying to defeat her other self had been an utter waste of time, no...she had to be honest with herself. She'd tried to DESTROY other Twilight completely and utterly. What was wrong with her?

"What's wrong is that you can't make up your silly mind still. You keep thinking too much."

Twilight gave her other self a frosty glare, "I hadn't said that out loud."

"Like that matters in here? Now that you seem at least willing to listen, consider this. The reason you're so confused and conflicted is because you have a whole life of experiences that told you what to expect in life, and laid out for you in nice neat gold-plated letters what was good and what was bad. Now you've seen the lies of the system, the shadows that lurk behind our precious Princess, and even our friends. Didn't you tell them, didn't you scream for all the world to hear that Sombra was your love, true as can be?"

Twilight simply nodded, not liking where this was going.

"And then they showed their true colors didn't they? They decided for themselves that you were delusional, and obviously wrong. They were going to KILL him. Just like you were so bent on killing me, you know that the same shadow inside of you lies within all of those hypocrites as well. The difference, is that while you are here to face the truth, they live their lives in self-righteous hypocrisy! You can pretend all you like, but the shadows don't recede just because you refuse to notice them. You've seen it yourself in Sombra's memories. Those village ponies that turned him away when he was a mere colt, enslaved and desperate. How much has really changed Twilight, how much has really changed?"

It was hard to listen to her own deepest musings to be aired for her to face directly, instead of hiding them away from notice, but that only made Twilight's words ring with greater truth. "Then, what can I do?"

Other Twilight got down and stared fiercely into her eyes. There was no mirth or madness reflected in those magenta orbs, just a determination and will screaming to be communicated and understood. "You do what Sombra has been saying all along you dolt....

YOU...
MAKE...
A...
CHOICE!
****

The mightiest thunderclap the world had ever known rang out from the storm as the magical-lightning infused thunderstorm erupted in a burst of electrical energy and Twilight awoke from her fever with a mighty gasp for breath. From the Queen's nethers a tiny horn appeared, soon followed by a tiny head, fore-limbs, and then finally the rest of the new-born colt. Right on his heels came a surprise; a second horn, and a second newborn, this one a filly, as a second thunderclap shook the pillars of the world. The midwife quickly finished her work, removing the umbilical chords with practiced precision and cleaning the twins of the remaining placenta.

Wordlessly, Sombra took his children from her, and brought them over to meet their mother as they cried from the unpleasant sensation of being out in the open. Twilight gazed upon them with adoration as the storm dissipated outside her chamber windows. Eagerly, she took her daughter from Sombra, and scooted over to allow him room to lie down with her whilst holding his son. "It would seem the universe has sought fit to bless us my dearest, now we get to use both the name we selected for if it was a filly, and the name for if it were a colt." If it were possible, Twilight would have smiled wider at her husband's comment. Gently cooing, she soothed her children, and with a happy yawn they stopped crying and nuzzled their parents. The midwife took this opportunity to quickly excuse herself, just to be sure the King had no chance to decide to punish her after all.

"Happy birthday beloved Amethyst Marrow. Happy birthday my Emerald Fletcher."

"Welcome to the family."

Author's Note

I've edited the story so now the large sections in italics represent flashbacks. Hopefully this will help prevent confusion between past and present events as I reveal more of what happened back in the shadow-realm for you guys.

Act I Chp. 6: Happy Anniversary

"Princes Celestia! Princess Luna! This so called 'war' is almost a year old, and there hasn't been a single conflict yet! Citizens of Equestria are beginning to wonder if this is war is just a sham! How do you respond?"

"Princesses! Is it true world leaders are meeting in the castle for a war conference today? How will you be able to justify Equestria's actions?"

"Why is there an enforced draft just so our sons and daughters can freeze their flanks off in Stalliongrad?"

"Why must we pay taxes just to squander our resources on a pointless war?"

"When will you see reason and..."

"BBBEEEEEEEEEEEEE SSSSSIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLEEEEEEEEEEENT!!

Everpony gathered that day at the royal press conference was instantly cowed into silence at the concussive command. Prince Luna glared down upon them, and seething with barely contained anger continued her response.

"How can we justify this war you dare ask? First you must ask how you can justify the royal family of the Crystal Empire being brutally murdered on Equestrian soil and not acting upon that atrocity. Mayhap you have already forgotten their deaths, or the fact that those same murderers would have toppled us at the same time had they been given the chance? You know well of the impenetrable gas that shrouds the entirety of the border that forces us to wait for our enemy to make the first move. How can you be so impudent as to think you can pass such judgement upon our actions, when our efforts and the military's sacrifice remain the only defense against an attack that could happen at any moment!?"

Her tirade completed, Luna scowled at the reporters before her, daring them to speak up. Not a single one could meet her gaze. Nodding to her sister, Celestia took her turn to speak, her speech slow and comforting, like that of a kind mother correcting their child's behavior.

"Please know that we understand how our ponies feel. To most, this war has been the same as any year prior, all except for having to pay higher taxes and to say farewell to friends and family drafted for the army. It means hard work, and sacrifice, and without any direct conflict so far that means our little ponies feel more and more that it is all for naught. I know that it is a great deal to ask for your trust and your patience, just as it will be a great deal to ask of our allies at the conference today, but rest assured that what we ask is necessary. If the Crystal Empire were to strike when we are unprepared, they would roll through the country like fire and destroy everything that we hold dear. This is why we must be ready, for the day they attack is not a matter of if, simply a matter of when."

She watched the crowd carefully, observing the downcast faces of her little ponies, many bitter or saddened as a child would be at being forced to accept such an inconvenient truth. Satisfied for now by their silence, she brought the meeting to an early close. "Thank you for coming. There will be no more questions"
****

Twilight secretly watched her foals with critical suspicion through the open door to their room. Ever since they were born they'd been a pair of whirlwinds on a rampage; seemingly boundless amounts of energy and mischief in equal parts. Fortunately, most of their antics involved making enormous messes for her to clean up, or the terrorizing of the castle staff. They were too young to control their magical outbursts still, and with their potent lineage when the outbursts did occur it usually required a crystal re-construction team.

Twilight smiled fondly at her playing foals, quietly absorbed with the new toys she'd created for them. Despite the sleep deprivation and all the headaches they inevitably caused, they were still the most precious things in the world to her, filling her life with innumerable happy memories. The way they slept so peacefully after a long day of mischief, and their tiny mouths smiling innocently at everything in the world, and her personal favorite, when their eyes went wide with wonder and curiosity, as they were now.

Twilight slowly let her suspicion ease, until she was confident that she could resume working on the invasion plans without having to worry about an emergency occurring as soon as she turned her back on them. At nearly a year old their attention spans were all but non-existent, so keeping them occupied and happy usually meant a full-time commitment. The toys she'd specifically created for them however, proved to be much more effective than she could have hoped.

For little Amethyst Marrow she'd created a 100% anatomically correct doll, and since she was prone to tearing her dolls apart, Twilight had added an extra feature so that any time the part of the doll was removed, the inner workings would be revealed in precise woolen replication. Right now her daughter was amusing herself with the heart of her doll, giggling whenever she squeezed it and it squeaked back in reply.

For Emerald Fletcher, she'd created a seemingly simple pendulum constructed of a row of five metal balls hung by taunt twine to the frame. The metal balls were hung so closely that they were lightly touching, able to only move from side to side. When ever he set a ball to swinging on one end, he'd be fascinated by the responding swing of the ball on the other end as the ones in the middle remained perfectly still. What kept his attention however, was whenever one of the balls suddenly broke the predictable pattern. Seemingly at random two balls would start swinging on one side instead of just the one, or when the rules of the toy were apparently broken when one end started to swing to and fro instead of from side to side. At the moment, he'd figured out the strings holding up each ball connected back into the wooden base, and had ripped off a side panel to observe a complex maze of gears, levers and springs that mechanically manipulated the metal merriment.

As the afternoon sun began to drift lower in the atmosphere, Sombra strode triumphantly through the door, obviously pleased as punch. Giving his work-absorbed queen a kiss on her pretty cheek, he swerved into the twin's room and swept them up in a surprise attack hug. Shrieking with laughter, they kicked and wiggled about in their father's forelegs as he used his magic to tickle them relentlessly.

"Don't get them too wound up, its your turn to put them to bed tonight." chided Twilight, who was doing her best to hide her smile behind a playfully stern charade. The way his foals could light up his face with such joy, and the same joy they had for seeing their father, it never failed to melt her heart like butter.

"Pway, pway!" chimed her little angels in chorus. "See? You heard the little tykes Twilight. Besides, if I get them wound up that just means they'll be more tired for bedtime! What do you say sweetheart, please?" Making the biggest puppy eyes she'd ever seen he put his hooves together and looked at her pleadingly. Her foals quickly caught on and joined him, "pwease mommy, pwease?"

Stifling a snort of laughter, she rolled her eyes. "Oh fine, but your logic is severely flawed if you think they'll wear out before you do. Just don't get too rowdy that I come home to another construction team ok?"

"YYAAAAAAAAAY" Thoroughly excited now, their foals began bounding around their father in circles. "Whoa there now, just hold on a sec, I gotta talk to your mother first, then we can have all the fun we can handle till bedtime!" Stepping carefully over his little treasures, Sombra gave Twilight another quick kiss on the cheek before throwing his forelegs around her in a warm embrace. "You're so lucky to get to spend most the day with our little miracles my Queen."

Twilight had returned to her checklist, making sure all the plans were in proper order for tonight, doing her best to ignore the extremely distracting nature of Sombra's proximity. "You might amend that opinion before the night is through sweetheart, besides they're most certainly not miracles. I put eleven months of hard work into those two while you just sat around grinning like an idiot."

"In either case dearest, I still had to wish upon a star." Sombra smoothly countered, punctuating the word "star" with a wondering hoof that stroked her flank, right by her cutie mark. Uncomfortably warm now, especially in her face where she was growing redder by the second, Twilight quickly switched the topic.

"You've spent almost a year training the troops now, they'd best be ready for tonight, especially my task-force."

"Worry not, I've whipped those useless lumps into usable enough material."

"That may be so, but while I require precision your forces will be of much larger size. I want you to take someone from the First generation to help look out for our foals, that way your attention won't be split between them and the battle constantly."

Sombra let his wife go and sat at next to her instead, looking over the slough of maps covering the workdesk. "Hmmmm, very well my dearest, I'd be lying if I said that had not been a concern of mine as well. Who should I take?"

Twilight cleared her throat, and with a slight glimmer from her horn, quietly called the pony she had in mind for the job. "Opal Heart, please report to the royal chambers. You may use the emergency transport node located in the headmaster's office. Authorization code 1337GL."

Moments later, a strong young mare fully in her prime materialized out of the black crystal in the corner of the bedroom, right next to the door. Immediately, she sank into a deep bow and held that position for her rulers. "You required my presence my Queen?"

"Yes, now stand for inspection."

Opal Heart got back onto all four hooves and stood tall and strong at attention in proper military style. Sombra walked around the mare, testing the strength of the deceptively small muscles hidden beneath her skin with his magic. From the point just beneath her brain stem, crystal veins branched out in all directions, bonded inseparably with her skin. It reached up to her cheeks, and all the way to the corners of each of her slate-grey eyes. Like tree roots, the crystal veins ran just past her shoulder plates and down across her chest, reaching halfway down her fore-legs as well.

Finishing his appraisal, Sombra returned to his wife's side as he mused over the information he'd gathered. "Good, very good. I'd feared the growth advancement spells would neglect the muscles since it forces the body to maintain nearly the same rate as development in the womb, yet her muscles are stronger than if she'd dedicated her life to body building. The agelock seems to have gone off without a hitch as well, no stress marks from suddenly stopping the growth process. The crystal formation is an unexpected side affect though."

Twilight, the Dark Queen and Headmaster of the Royal Academy, filled in with her own observations. "I've noticed the marks, though crystal, still bend and stretch with the skin as if they've taken on the physical attributes of both materials. Furthermore it appears correlative to how advanced their programming has become. Those of greater ability and knowledge display larger and more complex patterns of crystal growth. It serves no purpose beyond cosmetic that I can see so far, but the symptom is under close observation. I suggested Opal for this mission as she has performed the strongest of the students. Once her programming reached to the stage of being able to select optional additional knowledge, she selected first and foremost all information on the brain and what we know of sleeping and the REM cycle. Since then she has formed a strict sleep/consumption/programming regime that she has adhered to flawlessly."

"How far has she advanced?"

"She's learned every known language in the world, mastered physics, chemistry, 18 forms of martial combat, and medicine in that order. She's also began courses in the working of magic, as well as what is known about the mechanics of flight and first-person accounts of flying. She is the first student to take this subject matter, and the reason I suggested her for your mission. She's clever enough to anticipate the need to understand the laws and limitations of magic as well as matching pegasi by understanding flight patterns and proper three dimensional thinking."

"Most impressive indeed. Opal, what do you think of your Queen for providing such a wealth of knowledge for you to master?"

Almost as if the words were well rehearsed, a smile appeared on her lips as she answered. "I love my Queen and my King for the blessings they have brought me and the rest of the Empire. I am happy to be the greatest tool I can be for my Masters' wishes." The entire time, Opal's eyes continued to stare straight forward into nothingness, as empty as the words she spoke. She was the perfect tool, a drone, a biological machine of efficiency and obedience, soullessly serving her creators. The crystal synapses of her mind sent a small twinge of pleasure through her body as her Masters nodded happily at her words, her reward for pleasing them.

"Well-said Opal" praised her King, "and for your excellent performance you shall be entrusted with the safeguarding of Amethyst Marrow and Emerald Fletcher for tonight's battle. Tonight we march upon our enemy with the full might of the Empire, minus your fellow students of course. Tonight, we make the world as they know it burn."
****

Despite the disastrous press conference earlier that day, the ponies of Canterlot were in high spirits. It wasn't every day that foreign leaders for Equestria's every ally as well as several neutral nations visited, and it was unprecedented for all of them to be in Canterlot at once. All the way up to the palace, the only ponies untouched by Canterlot's agitated excitement were the princesses themselves, perfectly composed and regal for dignitaries already marching through the front gates.

From Saddle Arabia came the tall horse delegates, standing almost as tall as the princess Celestia herself. Next came the Duke and Duchess of Maretonia, resplendent headdresses proudly glimmering in the light of dusk. From the Gryphon Kingdoms heralded his majesty, King Alderlöwe. Representing the nomadic zebra tribes of the great grasslands south of Equestria came Chief Maunageera, and with him traveled Chief Thunderhooves of the Buffalo tribes, well on the way to being fast friends with the zebra elder. From the unnamed territory of the minotaurs came Warlord Steel Horn, towering above even others of his own race at a majestic 12 feet tall.

Lastly, from the skies dropped a creature older then even Celestia knew. Even thousands of years ago, when she still wandered the world in search of her destiny, he was already old beyond measure; and even though his kind had no formal government, when he spoke they would obey without question. He was Eitzel the Timeless, Patriarch of the Dragons and wielder of the World Pillar. Digging his gigantic claws into the stone of Canterlot's mountain, the behemoth of a dragon lazily curled himself around the mighty peak, letting his enormous jaws rest delicately in the castle grounds. If the whim struck him, it would be a simple matter to swallow the castle whole and rip Canterlot from the mountainside, but Celestia assured herself that he would not. His honor was nearly as legendary as his power, and as her esteemed guest he would be honor-bound to treat his host, her property, and her citizens, with the utmost civility, for the duration of the first World Summit at the very least.

All in all, nine of the ten leaders (along with their entourage of guards, servants, and advisors) she'd summoned had heeded her call. It seemed the diamond dogs were too busy and disorganized digging for their jewels to participate. Hopefully they would not be needed, especially since she'd never dared hope Eitzel would even reply to her message, let alone actually attend.

Soon, the sun had finished its dip below the horizon, allowing the moon to reach for the stars and the first World Summit to finally convene. The newly repaired throne room now held an oval-shaped table built of polished mahogany fit to sit the royalty gathered with room to spare. At the head of the table sat Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves, and as soon as the other leaders had finished seating themselves, they stood together to welcome them to Canterlot, and thank them for their time. All the while, Eitzel watched silently through a stained glass window, the pupil and very beginnings of a fiery iris all that could be seen due to his size.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat politely, and when all attention was turned on her, she spoke warmly to her guests. "First, let me start by thanking each and every one of you for making the journey to meet me here in Canterlot. I promise that I called us together tonight for a situation most dire to us all, and that you will find the time dedicated to listening to our call well spent."

Polite claps filled the air in response. Seasons change and nations rise and fall, but all around the world politics remained politics. All here were well familiar with the language of politics, and of the polite buttery words that inevitably led to favors asked and granted.

"Secondly, I must apologize for the nature of missives I sent each of you. I assure you that my vague yet urgent words were a matter of necessity, lest we ran the risk of our enemy intercepting those messages and divining my reason for calling you all together. As many of you may already know, the Crystal Empire was hostilely conquered, and under its new governance declared war upon Equestria and its very way of life. My sister and I asked you here because this evil not only threatens our home, but all the lands beyond it as well."

Luna picked up the conversation now, summoning to her side a map of the world as well as several charts and graphs. In a voice more grave than a granite marker she looked coldly into the eyes of each world leader as she spoke her piece. "The new Queen and King of the Crystal Empire are capable of fully-realized alicorn level magic at the very least, and if our worst fears are true, then each of them could single-handedly match even Discord in a fight. Furthermore, behind the barrier that they've erected on the border, it is impossible to tell what they are constructing for the destruction of our world. While we for now cannot break through to bring the fight to them, we can neither let ourselves believe that they are anything less than 3 steps ahead of us at all times. I guarantee that these two will not be satisfied destroying Equestria. No, we would merely be the stepping stone for the rest of the world. That is why we call you, all of you, to action. Together we can prepare for the inevitable attack, and all of us together would have the combined strength to push them back and keep our homes secure."

Luna was met with a deathly silence as everpony absorbed the information. Finally, the Duke of Maretonia stood, and with a nod to the princesses, addressed them in a polite yet coldly calculating tone. "Maretonia extends its sympathies to Equestria in your conflict. So that those gathered here may make a more informed decision, what do we know about the Crystal Empire's forces.?"

Princess Luna felt her ears start to droop back to her skull, and she shifted ever so slightly in discomfort. The Duke had hit the proverbial nail right on the head, and this particular nail did not exactly provide strong support for their call to action. "Little else than what has already been said here sir Duke, that and the last known count of the total citizenry of the Crystal Empire."

"Assuming a year's worth of standard population growth, about how many would that be?"

"Just shy of a couple thousand."

"Indeed? So that means that if every single citizen were forced into military service for the last year, I wonder at how they could pose a threat to Equestria's own well-trained and well-supplied forces numbering in the tens of thousands."

Around the table grumbles of agreement could be heard.

"Furthermore," continued the Duke, "I understand that other than the attack by the King and Queen themselves that allowed them access to the Crystal Kingdom in the first place, there has yet to be any contact, let alone combat to be had with them since?"

It was Princess Celestia's turn now to admit the truth to the Duke's words, well aware of where this argument was headed and powerless to stop it. "Yes sir Duke, that would be correct."

"I see. Then I must respectfully decline Equestria's call on behalf of Maretonia. While I have complete faith in Equestria's Princesses and their judgement on this, 'dire' situation, I cannot in good conscience ask my people to lay their lives on the line based upon thus so far alone. We of course, would be more than happy to restructure the trade agreement between our nations, so that we can be of greater support to Equestria and its need for war supplies."

Around the table foreign leader heads nodded with increased intensity and enthusiasm.

Celestia forced her regal form to remain passive, suppressing the need to sigh. It had been a longshot to hope that the other nations would understand their peril, especially since they were already aware of the unrest her own people felt at the unpopular military action. Luna meanwhile, could not hide her face as it darkened like a thundercloud. Instead, Celestia turned to her only guest yet to betray their opinion. Outside the window the dragon Patriarch's gaze remained impassive and intense as ever, studying them all closely.

"What of you Eitzel?"

Everpony in the room flinched in surprise as a booming voice filled their ears, rumbling like a volcano. "The affairs of mortals are no concern of mine. I had sensed the disturbance tearing at the Aether from the north, yet from the information I have learned here I see no reason to interfere. It would be wise not to disturb my rest again so soon Solar Sentinel, I may not take to it so kindly next we meet."

With that, her last hope released his clench upon the mountain and launched himself far away into the sky with booming wingstrokes. Before the rest of the leaders gathered could begin hounding her for altered trade agreements that would doubtlessly greatly profit their countries through Equestria's war, Luna stood with a frown creasing her face, peering outside the window Eitzel's eyeball had vacated.

"Sister, methinks thy sun has decided to rise again, many hours far too early. Also, did it always rise thusly from the South, or is that odd to more than just mine eyes?"

Alarmed, Celestia reached out with a tendril of thought to her star, finding it to be exactly where she'd left it, giving Saddle Arabia a warm and sunny afternoon. Switching to concern and confusion, she joined her sister at the window, only to have her emotions swapped out once more, this time with soul-crushing dread. Unable to contain their curiosity, the rest of her guests crowded around the window as well, but only one of them dawned upon the same conclusion as Celestia, though in his heart he desperately hoped that he was wrong, he had to be wrong.

Outside the window, the nighttime was lit softly by a redish orange glow rising from the southern horizon, the beautiful early morning light illuminating the dark clouds and casting them into dark contrast. Except upon closer inspection, the clouds were not so much back-lit, as they were black themselves, and they did not fly in the skies free of the earth, but connected all the way back down to meet with the orange glow at the horizon.

Celestia turned her sorrowful eyes away from the growing illumination to the south. The Chieftain's desperate eyes met hers, and she did not even have to say a word, her eyes said it all. At this distance, the light had to be emanating far from Equestria's borders, past the proud trees of the Everfree to the never-ending plain of tall brown grass from whence he came. And with a light powerful enough to illuminate the night sky, it could only mean one horrendous thing; the oceans of tall, dry grass were being utterly destroyed, along with everyone that lived there.

His nation, his home, was utterly ablaze.

As the Chieftain collapsed to the ground in shock, a hurriedly written scroll materialized from a waft of purple smoke, landing directly in front of Celestia. Though it contained but a single word, it was more than enough information for the princess, as only one of her subjects was capable of this type of written transpondence.

HeLP

****

Queen Twilight nodded with satisfaction as the last of her taskforce materialized from the crystal monolith under the cover of nighttime. The sunset was barely an hour past, and the time ripe for her and her 200 specially trained soldiers to strike. They'd arrived exactly on target, about half an hour outside of Ponyville and right in the midst of the Apple Family Orchards. With a silent command, she had her task force gather before her for one final review of their orders.

"Squadron A, you are to use the enhanced ice arrows to block of entrance from the side of the orchards closest to town. Second Platoon of the Crystal Army, you are to immediately begin collecting the fruit and uprooting as many trees as possible. Squadron B, you are to man the carts, and form a relay back to the crystal monolith for transport of the orchard trees. Start with the zap-apples, then move onto the regular apple trees. Squadron C, you are on basket duty, gather the fruit from as many trees as possible, starting with the farthest edges of the orchard and working inward to the tree gathering squad to maximize the harvest yield tonight. Once Squadron A is finished sealing off the entrances with walls of ice, half of them will join you to help hasten the harvest while the other half keeps guard. Finally Squadron D, you are to fan out to the neighboring farms, gather as much food and seed as is possible. Remember, this is above all else a stealth mission, the longer you remain unnoticed, the more we can take back to the Crystal Empire with us. Therefore, do not disturb the farmhouses, but if anypony stirs or otherwise notices your presence, you are to kill them immediately. Once I give the signal, drop everything, and I mean everything, set the rest of the crops on fire, and retreat through the crystal monolith."

Nervously, one of the ponies behind her managed to pluck up some courage to speak. "But, my Queen, with all due respect this is just wron..." He never had the chance to finish that sentence, as without looking behind her, she lifted the pony who'd dared speak out, ripped his spinal cord free of his back, and then stabbed him straight through the heart with it, leaving his corpse pinned to the nearest apple tree. Without batting an eye, she casually addressed the remaining 199 troops as if nothing had happened. "Now, are there any final questions? No? Good, now get to work, I have some friends that I'm sure have just been dying to see me again."

Without any further ado, she launched herself forcefully into the sky, rocketing toward her old home. As she approached the quaint little village she summoned her considerable magical might, recreating a handy little spell she'd learned from the Changeling invasion of Shining's wedding. It was an excellent spell, one that created an all-together satisfactory amount of damage for minimal magical expenditure, and best of all it had quite the dramatic flair, perfect for grabbing everypony's attention. Around her head and for-legs she formed a conical shield of raw magical power, turning the Dark Queen into the equivalent of a devastating meteor with perfect aim.

As Twilight arched to the center of town, she made a quick mental observation while bracing for impact. Hmmmm, looks like they've rebuilt Town Hall since last I was here, what a shame. Seconds later, she impacted the side of the unfortunate building with the force of a thousand charging manticores. What was not immediately pulverized into toothpicks was carried forward by her momentum, smashing though nearby buildings as if a tornado had sent the chunks of limber flying. Her flight meanwhile, carried her straight into the ground, blossoming a brand new crater and a resulting shockwave of earth and air that was certain to wake even the dead within the town's limits.

Calmly, Twilight strode from the crater, absentmindedly transmuting the floor of every nearby building into fresh magma, which promptly collapsed each structure into a burning, melting, mass of death. Brushing herself off one last time to make sure there was no dirt marring her coat, she turned her attention to a brightly colored gingerbread themed store as the Ponyvillians set about in a proper frenzied panic, running to and fro through the streets in confusion and terror. She didn't have to wait long, as a pink blur quickly emerged from the shop entrance, only to stop dead in it's tracks upon catching sight of her.

Slowly, Twilight strode forward toward her former friend. She did not smile, she did not speak, she did nothing but simply walk as if she had all the time in the world. She kept her eyes locked upon those of Pinkie Pie, holding her hostage with her relentless gaze. There was no way for her to escape, and no way to resist as Twilight closed the distance between them.

20 feet

"Stop right there, walk no farther traitor!"

Twilight paid no mind, the voice didn't even register as being heard in her brain. It belonged to nothing important, only Pinkie Pie was worth her attention.

15 feet

"Quickly now, defend the Element Bearers!"

Still she did not even notice the voice's existence, just as a giant would not notice the insects it crushes in the millions every time it takes a step.

10 feet.

Schlingch!

If Pinkie Pie hadn't been completely immobilized by shock and fear before, she certainly was now. Eyes wide with horror she watched as a dozen ponies leapt upon the purple alicorn, sinking axes, swords, and daggers alike into her flesh. This caused Twilight to pause her forward stroll, but still she stared into Pinkie's soul past the sword that had dug halfway into the Queen's skull and her left eye. No blood fell from her wounds as the ponies attempted fruitlessly to pull their weapons free from Twilight's body. Instead, a black flame tinted purple at the edges quietly licked along the length of each point of entry. After what felt like an eternity, Twilight turned her single eye away from Pinkie, and instead focused on the frightened face of the pony that had struck his sword into her face.

Several more moments passed, and the pony she focused upon grew more and more agitated as he and the rest of his team realized they could neither free their weapons from her body, nor simply let go of them and leave them embedded in her flesh. Sweat ran in rivulets down his coat, a cold fear shaking his knees as the blasted Queen continued to simply look at him. She had not spoken, nor flinched, not even shown any emotion at being impaled by a dozen weapons at once! That magenta eye stared into his soul, a black bottomless chasm ready to devour him whole, devoid of anger, of contempt, of any emotion at all.

All around Twilight, the secret guard Celestia had placed in Ponyville to protect the remaining element bearers fell to their quaking knees. The very air seemed heavier as it pressed down upon them, crushing them under its weight. But no, that's not quite right. thought the squad leader as Twilight's gaze continued to burrow into him. He recognized this feeling, it was something deep in his memory, this feeling of drowning in the air. It had a name, a name all ponies knew.

Despair

The traitor Queen's eye narrowed as if she'd heard his thoughts, and finally she broke the silence to quietly address them. Though her voice was barely above the softness of a whisper, everypony nearby within the broken town square felt the words reach their ears and stop their hearts with dread.

"You are vermin before a god, know your place in my world."

From the points where steel met flesh, the purple-tinted flames of darkness suddenly surged forward with a roar, and within an instant had consumed each guard in a wreathe of flame. Ashes drifted into the wind and molten metal fell sizzling to the ground, leaving a completely unmarked and unharmed alicorn behind.

"Tw...Twilight?"

Magenta eyes faced forward once more to discover Fluttershy poking half-way out of the doorway to Sugarcube Corner. Excellent, that saved her some trouble if all the bearers came to her instead of having to hunt them down one by one. Before either of them had a chance to come to their senses, she grabbed both with a simple levitation spell, pulling them off their hooves and within a couple inches of her face. It was nothing personal, but she couldn't risk them finding a way to resurrect the element of magic and complete the Elements once more, thus the current element bearers had to go. A little bit of heat was all that was needed, only a couple more degrees to boil their brain fluid and send them off to the next world.

Letting the magic flow to her horn, Twilight leisurely began to weave the targeted heat spell, giving her friends a chance to let their fate sink in. Their eyes went from fearful pleading, to pained disbelief, and finally broken acceptance. It was time to bid them farewell. Before the spell could launch from her horn however, a large stone cracked against it. It was nowhere near enough force or surprise to make her loose concentration or make the spell fizzle, but the fact that somepony had the audacity to attempt to do so irked the Queen enough that she dropped Pinkie and Fluttershy to the ground, turning to face the culprit.

Panting, Rarity stood 20 feet away, horn lit brightly with her azure magic as several more stones circled her head. Seeing that she had managed to get Twilight's attention, she wasted no time, tossing another one straight for her face, trying to buy her friends enough time to escape. Naturally, the stone disintegrated long before it got close to striking Twilight, so it was time to change tactics to something that could penetrate her shielding.

"Why did you come back here, Twilight!" Shouted Rarity, "How can you destroy everything you once called home?"

Her ex-friend did not respond, did not react in any other way than to slowly stride forwards. With a quick glance of her eyes, Rarity noticed that Pinkie and Fluttershy had not moved at all, both paralyzed to the spot and quaking like leaves. If she weren't a lady she might have taken the opportunity to curse vehemently. Her current methods weren't enough, she needed to distract Twilight better than this if she were to give her friends enough time to come to their senses. It was completely unlady-like, but all the same it was time for an under-handed blow.

"You said once that you loved all us girls, your friends. I wonder if you tell your foal that you love them too, and if you mean the same when you talk to them as you did to us."

Incredibly rude and quite uncalled for, but it had the desired affect, Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widening in surprise, then settling into a glare of righteous fury. Meanwhile, Pinkie and Fluttershy had heard her as well, and they now sat frozen still, mouths agape in horror and staring straight at the dressmaker. Before she could ponder at why they weren't running still, Rarity felt herself overcome with wave after wave of the most unimaginable pain she'd ever experienced. A thousand knives shredding her flesh to ribbons stab after stab, the burning agony of flesh heated so strongly that it melted right from her bones in a puddle, being torn limb from limb and then being stitched back together with a rusty needle and barbed wire. Nothing came close to describing the pain that wracked her body.

Twilight stood over the white unicorn's writhing body, horn aglow with a bruised purple-black aura, eyes a malevolent green and wafting dark energy. "Did you know? The pony brain is a marvelous thing, it has two fail-safes built in to protect the mind from sensory overload. One is a pain buffer of sorts, where pain over a certain threshold is numbed out, this results in the classical medical condition of shock. Secondly, is the brain's ability to shut itself down, knocking you unconscious to protect the fragile mind from overwhelming sensations. Now, how about we find out what happens when we turn both of those off, shall we?"

Rarity convulsed so violently that for a moment it lifted her entire body of the ground. Was she screaming? She couldn't tell, she couldn't think, couldn't do anything other than feel herself be washed away in a violent river of pain. Time and time again she felt a tugging at her consciousness, trying to drag her to shore and safety, and blissful unconsciousness. Time and time again the pull was denied, keeping her there, helpless to end her agony. Slowly, over time she realized that the pain had stopped, and slowly the world around her started to make sense again. First came back her sight, blurred and filled with multi-color dots. Next came her hearing, though every sound around her seemed underwater and from a mile away.

Her whole body was numb, and for some reason she could not move a single muscle. Searching with her eyes, she found the burning buildings of Ponyville still around her, and over by the molten crater where Sugarcube Corner had been last she looked, Twilight was speaking quietly to Pinkie and Fluttershy. The poor fools where right where Twilight had left them, their heads bent and pouring tears. Suddenly Twilight looked back at Rarity, sensing that she was still alive. Her eyes had faded back to their emotionless magenta once more, which hopefully meant that Twilight had finished venting her anger upon the white unicorn.

"Ah good, Rarity, you survived. Though from the state you're in I wouldn't recommend using magic anytime soon, not even a simple levitation spell. You've so little life energy left it would drain you dry. Now sit quiet there for me whilst I take care of these two, but don't you worry, you'll get your turn too, once I'm finished with them"

"N..n..no. Eave hem awone" It was equally painful as it was difficult to speak. Just breathing was an endeavor that sent new waves of pain through her chest, and she was so hoarse that her voice was all but gone. Still, she pressed on, she had to keep trying.

"I'm sorry Rarity, but I can't risk having known Element bearers running around. You will all die today, and there is nothing you, nor anyone else can do about it." Fluttershy's sobbing rocked her yellow frame even harder as she hid her face in Pinkie's flaccid pink locks. No Thought Rarity, It can't end like this, not after everything we've been through. They don't deserve this.

Twilight turned back to her original two targets now, lighting her horn once more with dark magic. Rubble from the destroyed buildings began to shake and rumble, until thin streams of matter floated through the air towards the Queen. The melted steel from the dead guards glowed hot once more and joined the glowing mass as it slowly took shape. Dark magic swirled around the matter as first a twisted shaft of rock formed, then sprouted from the end a long and wicked looking scythe blade, the steel stained purple from the evil magic it dripped with. Completed, Twilight levitated her weapon above her, readying it for a fatal strike.

"And so, this is how your world ends." Proclaimed Twilight once more in that soft but devastating voice. "Not with a bang..." Pinkie closed her eyes, tears still streaming from them.

"But with a whimper."

Schlingch!

Twilight stared in surprise as her scythe bit not into flesh and bone, but deep into earth and stone instead. Pinkie and Fluttershy had vanished in a brilliant flash of light just moments before the blade could touch them. Spinning around, she found Rarity collapsing her head back to the ground, the glimmer of magic disappearing from her horn. For a second, Twilight was too surprised to do anything, and then she laughed and laughed and laughed.

"You just signed your own death certificate using magic. And what a fruitless waste it was too! Do you honestly believe me incapable of following the remnants of a teleportation spell, especially one cast by an amateur like yourself?"

She continued to laugh for a moment as her horn glowed, but then it faded away as her face creased with disbelief, then anger and indignation. "An open-ended teleport!? You could have left them inside a rock, or a tree!"

"Anywhere is better than here with you darling," Coughed Rarity. "Besides, you can't track them when I didn't leave a path for you to follow, can you?"

With a deep breath, Twilight closed her eyes and calmed herself. Glaring down at the dressmaker with contempt, she coolly replied, "It doesn't matter, due to Applejack and Rainbow Dash's inexplicable absence tonight (you'd think having your home-town set on fire and partially blown up would attract the attention of the duo of heroic ponies), I was going to have to hunt them down anyways. With your pitiful power, Pinkie and Fluttershy can't be more than a hundred feet outside of the town limits. I will find them, I will hunt them down, and then they will enjoy all the more painful death for your insolence tonight."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than did a bolt of golden magic strike her violently in the side, quickly followed by a volley of magical destruction that hailed down upon the Dark Queen like holy fire. As Twilight howled in pain and rage, Rarity had one last thought before the darkness filled her eyes and claimed her forever. He did it, Spike did it.

Crimson beads of blood flowed from wounds all over Twilight's body, dripping from her brow and obscuring her eyesight. Far above, she could make out both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. They'd shown up rather quickly, but now was not the time to fight, it was time to withdraw. With a whip of her horn, she created a purple starburst of light in the skies above Ponyville to both signal her troops to retreat, and to temporarily blind the Princesses so that she could escape. With a mocking grin, Twilight charged a powerful teleportation spell. "You shall have to try much harder than that to stop us Princesses! Nowhere is safe, day or night we will strike where you least expect it, when you least expect it...and there will be nothing you can do to save thousands of innocent lives from being lost. And one day, when you are weak and weary, we shall end it all and come for you as well!"

With one final laugh, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light just as several more bolts of magic rained down to try and stop her. The last thing she heard from Equestria before popping into her room at the Black Castle was Luna's scream of rage as it filled the air behind her. The loud pop of displaced air startled her foals in their bedroom, and the poor darlings woke up crying. From her bed she could hear Sombra grumble dejectedly.

"We got home an hour ago and I just got the little demons to go to sleep!"

Chuckling, Twilight ran a quick healing spell through her body to clean herself up before leaning down to kiss her husband on the forehead. "Don't worry dear, I'll take care of them." To which she was rewarded an appreciative grunt. Smiling, she walked into her foals' bedroom, cooing softly and cradling them in her arms.

"There there now, back to sleep my little ones. Mommy is here to protect you, mommy is here to keep you safe." And she would, even though it meant tearing the whole world apart so nothing could ever threaten her little treasures, she would gladly do it a hundred times over. "I won't let anything happen to you, so long as I am here...."

"I'll make sure of it."

Author's Note

I swear, that's the last Mane Character I'll be killing off....for a while at least anyways. Author's honor.

Act I Chp. 7: The Aftermath

Princess Twilight Sparkle looked back down to her hooves, trying to sort out the mess of her thoughts midst the battlefield they'd made of the Shadow Realm's replica of the Golden Oaks Library. It would seem other Twilight liked giving straight answers as much as Sombra himself did. Make a choice? Wasn't she choosing between good and evil? Hadn't her choice been rather obvious by her attempts to eradicate her evil side? Hadn't it? No, the fact she'd acted so violently had only proved her actions more evil than her counterpart's in their battle. Maybe she was missing something.

Twilight looked up to try and pose the budding question in her mind, only to find with utmost surprise that the other Twilight was gone now, along with the rest of the library. She lay alone on a flat and endless plane of wood with nothing but darkness meeting the horizon. Frowning, Twilight fought off the feeling of displeasure rising inside her. Other Twilight had specifically said neither of them would leave the Golden Oaks Library until "the merger", so either she'd been lying, or somehow this still counted as "inside".

Standing up with a quick stretch, Twilight chose a direction at random and began walking forward. The steady rhythm of her paces would help her to think, and if such a thing as luck existed in this realm than perhaps she would in time locate Other Twilight as well. As expected, her steady walking regulated her breath, and in turn brought tranquility to her thoughts. Now that she had the chance, Twilight quickly did what she did best and made a mental list, grouping together all the information she thought relevant to her current situation.

First and foremost was the reason for her being in this seemingly endless chamber. She'd come down here to "become whole" as Other Twilight had put it. This was her purpose, her goal. The question was how to reach that goal. Solution: Make a choice. So far her actions had not furthered her progress to reaching her goal, so obviously she was doing something wrong. Only fools did the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Thus, to reach her goal she must first understand what she was doing wrong in the process of making a choice. There were only three logical possibilities:

1). There was something wrong in how she was selecting her choice. Probability: High. Her battle with Other Twilight had been all but an exemplary display of choosing good instead of evil.

2). She did not understand correctly the difference between the options for the choice, and hence could not properly make the decision. Probability: Low. Twilight was very certain of her understanding of Good and Evil, and the differences between the two.

3). She did not understand the choice itself. Probability: Unknown. What if perhaps the choice was not so simple as Good vs Evil as she had presumed it to be? In that case, it would raise the question of what exactly it was she would need to be choosing if not those two.

Secondly, Twilight grouped together the mass of memories and experiences she'd accumulated throughout her life. All of the trials she'd overcome with her friends, all the small things they would do for her to show they cared, and what she would do for them in turn. Then, there was Sombra. By every definition she knew, he was undoubtedly evil, yet still she'd fallen for him, for that kindness and love behind his hatred. Her goal had been to listen and understand, but she hadn't bargained on falling in love with the pony behind the darkness, regardless of his countless crimes against ponykind. Because of her love, her beloved mentor was now laying in a crater in Ponyville, a thought that still pained her with waves of guilt. But she'd had to do it, they were going to kill him, so she'd made the choice to save his life, and by extension chosen him over her friends and family.

She regretted that it had come down to that, but in her heart Twilight knew she would not hesitate to do it again despite how much the thought continued to pain her. So distracted was Twilight her musings, she did not notice it when she walked straight into another pony, nearly knocking them over in the process. Startled at the unexpected contact, Twilight focused upon the pony in front of her only to find herself staring straight back into her own magenta eyes.

"Watch it!" Exclaimed Other Twilight, "It's just about to get to the good part."

Looking past her double, Twilight saw a virtual crowd of blurry and indistinct ponies gathered in a rough semi-circle that she was standing on the edge of. Pushing past the specters Twilight stopped at the front row only to freeze in shock as she recognized the scene playing out before her, only this time she watched as a spectator and not from Sombra's point of view. Before them was a hospital bed, and on it lay a winged purple mare, lovingly cradling her newborn foal. This was exactly the same as her love's first memory that she had experienced, except for a few minor differences. To the side of the bed stood the proud father of the foal, none other than fully grown Sombra himself, and it was not his mother in the bed, but Twilight instead.

Mind blank and legs weaker than jelly, Twilight struggled to remain upright. A foal? The idea of starting a family was far from an alien concept to her, but she wasn't even married to Sombra yet, and ohmigoodness would she even be a good mother? How would she raise a foal when she was already an exile from her own home, how would she ever provide what a foal deserved, how could...

Before Twilight could drive her train of thoughts right off a cliff in her panic, the illusionary new mother spoke adoringly to her newborn. "Hello my little one. How I love you so." And with those words, she reached down with her right wing and tickled the tiny foal with her feathers. Unable to resist, the little one bubbled over with giggles as it reached up with four tiny hooves trying to catch the playful feathers. All the worries that'd been running Twilight's mind into overdrive just a second prior were banished to be replaced by an ache in her chest and a wistful sigh. Seeing her there, illusion or not, playing, laughing, and filled to the brim with love for her very own little one brought a longing ache to her heart that Twilight hadn't experienced before. Illusion Twilight looked happier than she'd ever been in her life, and right now as the real Twilight watched on, she couldn't help but wish with all her heart to be in that mare's place, doing the same exact thing.

The scene changed again, this time to a small and humble abode that looked entirely too familiar. Two little foals raced circles around a table, shrieking in laughter. Sitting at the table the illusion depicted Twilight once more, trying to read a newspaper and ultimately failing as she watched her two little ones scamper past her hooves. From the front door strode the unmistakable figure of their father as he removed a grey and battered hat that had been covering up his distinctive horn. Spying an opportunity, the two bundles of energy and mayhem raced from under the table to tackle their father, overjoyed to see him home again for the day.

"What a lovely little scene this is, isn't it?"

Twilight nearly jumped right out of her skin. She'd been so enthralled watching the illusion before her that she hadn't noticed Other Twilight sneak through the crowd to stand just to her left. Trying her best to regain her composure, Twilight turned back to the illusion and sighed longingly.

"Yes, it is. Could Sombra and I really have this life?"

"Well I certainly suppose it possible. After-all, countless families get started by running away from an old place to settle down somewhere far away and new, just like Sombra's parents did."

Twilight nodded slowly, hope for such a happy future filling her like a hot air balloon, at least until Other Twilight's last few words fully registered their meaning sunk in. Just like Sombra's parents...oh, oh no. There was a reason that house looked so familiar, she had seen it before and knew it well, not from an illusion, but from memory.

"Indeed." Continued Other Twilight, "Sombra's parents made it all the way to an obscure village of crystal ponies in the north, got to build themselves a nice house they could live comfortably and quietly in to raise their family. What's to stop you from doing the same?

From the illusion the roar of an angry mob grew loudly like the sudden onset of a storm. Fearfully, Twilight gathered up her foals and gave Sombra one last kiss before racing back into the kitchen. Sombra meanwhile faced the buckling door of their home with a snarl. With one final creak it caved in, and he was swarmed with a mass of ponies carrying torches and other makeshift weapons. Sombra fired lance after lance of spellfire into the crowd of ponies bursting into his home, but soon he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of bodies pressing through the door that stabbed him time and time again, not stopping even when he ceased his struggles and crimson blood stopped pumping through the hundreds of wounds scarring every surface.

"No, no it can't end like that, it wouldn't! This wouldn't happen."

As the Twilight in the illusion was roped out of the sky and set ablaze, just like Sombra's mother, Other Twilight turned to the purple alicorn and asked her one simple question. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Because..."

The crowd around them materialized, becoming distinct ponies leering in hatred as into the center was dragged the smaller of the two little foals, held by none other than the mob leader.

"Do you honestly think that just running off and pretending that you two could simply start anew would be so simple? Sombra is still the evil tyrant who enslaved the Crystal Kingdom, and you're still the traitorous princess who turned her back on her country. So tell me, why would this not happen, why would it be any different?"

"Be-because.."

The mob leader held the terrified and sobbing foal aloft for all to see in one hoof, and in the other he held a wicked knife hungrily gleaming in the torchlight. Twilight wanted to look away, she knew what was about to happen and she could not bear the thought of watching it happen to her little foal, even if it really was only fictional. But there was nowhere else to look, all around her were ponies chanting for death to the demonspawn, cheering for a murder most bloody and heinous. They'd first called Sombra by that, when he was but a foal as well, and still he would be know as an actual demon for the evil he had wrought through the rest of his life. What really would keep ponies from coming full circle and calling his progeny the same, from treating them the same?"

"I ask you this again Twilight Sparkle, have ponies really changed all these years? Are they any different from these villagers who banded together to murder the outsiders in their midst, or the countless villagers that turned Sombra away with disgust afterwards while he remained enslaved to the cause of all his hatred and misery? Just look at Celestia, at your very own friends for proof! They did not stop, they did not listen to you, they merely decided Sombra's fate for him and were resolved to take his life in the righteous name of doing good by destroying evil. So answer me this! WHY WOULD THIS NOT HAPPEN TWILIGHT?"

The illusion surrounding them burst into pure black flames, tinted purple at the very tips, and was slowly ripped apart and consumed by the fire. When all had been cleared away and the fired burnt out from lack of anything left to consume, a lone purple alicorn stood upon a flat field of barren wood stretching off in all directions to infinity. This alicorn stood tall and strong, easily the same size as the Princess of the Night now. Jutting a full foot out from her skull was a slender horn, and her wings were as proportionally large and grandiose as those of the Princess of the Sun. Similarly, her mane and tail billowed with a magical wind all of their own, brighter and more vibrant in color than they had ever been before. Queen Twilight opened her lime green eyes that billowed with dark power, and spoke her answer.

"Because I will not allow it."
*****

The world is filled to the brim with thousands of different sounds, filling the air with the whispers of the wind and the song of life. From orchestras of beautiful music to the simple thrum of a river running through its bed, sound exists in variety as great as life itself. What few understand however, is that for every sound matches a particular kind of silence, and just like sound the silence can be comforting or fill you with dread. This is the silence that met Applejack and Rainbow Dash as they rushed into the only home they'd ever known.

The sun had risen a third of the way into the sky that morning, but it was only visible as a faint glow behind the clouds of ash choking the sky. White powder covered the ground several inches deep in all directions, and it muffled even their frantic galloping completely. So complete was the lack of sound that the blood pumping through their veins was a maddening drumbeat. A deceptively peaceful landscape, devoid of all but the two ponies becoming increasingly desperate for some sign of life as they approached the skeleton of town hall. Finally, from the clouds of ash emerged familiar figures consumed with quiet argument.

"What in Tartarus where you thinking not telling me Celestia? If I'd but known I..."

"If you'd but once asked, you would have been informed. This war is a year old and you haven't even shown yourself until today. But you are right, Luna and I could not have known for certain until now, but warning you of even the possibility could have saved many lives last night."

Discord wore an uncustomary frown, and reluctantly nodded his head in acceptance of the princess's words. He didn't like that it was just as much his fault as it was her's, but that didn't change the truth of the matter. Taking notice of Rainbow Dash and Applejack appearing out of the haze, Celestia continued, never letting her eyes waver from the scared pupils of her two precious subjects. "We must amend that mistake, but later. There is much that must be done here first, and once that is completed, we will inform you of all we know."

"Princess! We came as soon as we heard about the attack! Please, please tell me is mah family alright?" Applejack could be as stoic as a rock, and just as sturdy, but the fear in her eyes and the quaver in her voice betrayed the panic she was barely holding at bay. Rainbow meanwhile seemed simply dazed, constantly looking around for something recognizable of the home she'd left behind.

"Your family is in the hospital brave Applejack..." and as the mare took a sharp intake of breath, Celestia quickly curbed her terror with the rest of her sentence. "Worry not, they are being treated for very minor injuries, mainly first degree burns and smoke inhalation. They took no part in the battle that happened here last night." Applejack's sigh of relief was short-lived at best as Madam Mayor trotted up to them.

"Princess, the damage report you requested has been compiled. In total, forty-five ponies are either dead or MIA. Town Square and the surrounding quarter mile have suffered complete structural devastation, but that is nothing compared to our agricultural losses. 128 Zap-apple trees and 259 assorted apple trees are completely gone as if they were ripped from the ground, roots and all. From the nearby farms to Sweet Apple Acres a total of 2 acres of carrots, wheat, and oats are missing. All the rest has been burned to the ground, nearly 20 acres of food has been lost. From this data it would seem that Ponyville's agricultural wealth was the real target of the attack, and Twilight was merely the distraction to buy her forces enough time to loot what they could."

"They did what!?" First her home was converted to a war zone, her family was alive (thankfully) but not unscathed, and now everything that made Applejack who she was had been pilfered and destroyed by those heartless brigands? She was having a very bad day indeed, and it only got worse from there.

"Where are our friends? Twilight wouldn't just attack the town as a distraction, for her to have been here herself she must have been going after them, are they ok?"

The strained mask Celestia wore nearly cracked. "Loyal Rainbow Dash, I'm afraid to say that you're correct, the other element bearers were indeed her targets while within town. Thankfully, with the help of Discord, we've discovered the location of both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and safely retrieved them. They'll be just fine."

"And Rarity...?"

Celestia took a deep breath, pulling from a reservoir of strength deep within to be able to maintain eye contact with the pegasus. "I'm so sorry my little pony, she used the last of her life force to teleport the other two to safety. Generous to the end, Rarity gave her life so that her friends could keep theirs."

Before, when entering Ponyville the silence of the desecrated landscape had been complete enough that the blood rushing through their veins had been a thunderously throbbing beat. Now, there was nothing but emptiness, hearts clenched tight in disbelief, a world standing still, a picture of time frozen upon a single frame where meager sunlight broke through to light upon two broken friends and a princess drooped under the weight of the world.
****

King Sombra slowly drifted into consciousness as the morning sun rose higher in the window. Arching his back, he stretched out all four limbs until a satisfying crack could be heard reverberating around the room. A wonderful rest for an equally wonderful night's work. Settling back into the comfort of his silken sheets, he turned over to face his still sleeping Queen. The morning light had caught her mane just right today, and each strand glimmered with beauty. In fact, her whole body seemed to be radiant with a heavenly glow, one that only made him love her all the more. Love, such a strange emotion to be feeling again, one that he'd long since thought forsaken him; yet here he was with the mare who had shown him it was still possible, and then given him a second impossibility, a family.

With a slow, deliberate stroke he ran his hoof from her muzzle all the way down her slender neck and back again before leaning in to kiss her on the forehead, just beneath the root of her horn. Then he nuzzled up close to her, letting his neck drape over hers, resting in the nook formed by her shoulders. This position gave him a perfect view of two sets of curious eyes, attached to two naughty little unicorns up far sooner than they should have been. Heads cocked to the side in perfect synchronization, they piped up together the same question. "Why are you squishing mommy?"

"With a coat this purple? I was hoping to get grape jelly" he deadpanned.

Thrilled by this idea, they eagerly volunteered their services. "Can we help!?"

"Hmmm, well I suppose you two can add that little bit of squish more that we need."

"Unless you want something very vital of yours to go 'squish' you'd better reconsider your answer honey." Came the muffled threat beneath him. Arching her head up to look over Sombra's mess of a mane, Twilight gave her foals a faux grumpy glare. "What are you two doing up this early?"

"Makin' gwape jelly!"

Twilight's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Shrieking with laughter, the fraternal twins scampered away to their room; quite pleased with themselves and the mischief they'd helped their daddy with.

Chuckling at his foals antics, Sombra dissolved his wife's stony indignation with a swift kiss and winning smile. "Good morning beautiful." He cooed. Trying her best to hold onto her indignation, and failing, she relented to his smile and punched him lightly in the rib cage for his impudence. "Good morning to you too troublemaker. Did the foals have fun last night? How did it go?"

"Even better than we'd hoped, though it was admittedly a tad disappointing that the zebras put up so little of a fight. They all live in what barely passes for semi-permanent tents or huts, we'd razed the capital in half an hour and spread far and wide across the plains from there with barely any resistance. Our fiery pet certainly enjoyed itself at least. What its sword and whip didn't incinerate, just being close enough to the beast was enough for all that dry grass to catch flame"

"And the foals?"

"They had a blast, Opal was quick to dispatch the zebra shamans that dared attack them. She even showed them the major weak spots that zebra and pony anatomy shared, much to their delight. You made an excellent choice in that one dearest."

"I'm glad to hear it, now how much damage do you estimate we did to the zebra territory?"

With a smug grin, Sombra puffed his chest out slightly in pride. "Near total. I took the liberty of enchanting the flames around us to be extra resilient to water and earth. Based on how far the flame had spread already before we left and how quickly it continued to do so, I estimate that not a single blade of grass was left untouched."

"Excellent, that's one less ally for Equestria. Let's check the Collector for results now that the world knows what we are capable of."

"Mmmm, but the bed is so comfortable this morning." Sombra stalled.

Twilight shook her head in exasperation and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, we've got a schedule to keep to." And with that she dissipated into a black shadow that whisked through the glass pane of their window."

Sombra simply sighed in defeat as he grinned to himself and followed her outside. The day that mare didn't adhere to her schedules and checklists would be the day Discord willingly watched paint dry, and enjoyed doing so. At the very tip of the castle spire, in the chamber that once hid the crystal heart during his previous rule, he met his Queen who was already running checks upon the floating prism of obsidian crystal there. Shaped like an oblong double pyramid, the giant octohedron thrummed with power. Invisible to all but the eyes of masters in the dark arts, threads of purple-green mist drifted through the open archways, connecting to the uppermost tip of the floating crystal.

"What are the fruits of our labor love?" Sombra inquired.

Without looking up from a checklist she'd procured from only she knew where, Twilight absentmindedly responded, "The Collector has received a 2000% increased input since last night, which is still slowly increasing. You were right, collecting the negative energy from the world is translating to a significant power source. The largest contributor is fear, at more than 80% of the total input and responsible for almost 50% of the dark magic generated. This level of intake means we could replace the crystal heart as a power source for our barriers within a few years. That, combined with the amount of agricultural gain we obtained from Ponyville, should ensure a smooth transition to the 2nd generation units and beyond."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that 'friend.' It would seem you've left a certain variable out of your calculations. Hhmmm?"

Twilight's eyes barely flicked away from her checklist long enough to register the messy amalgamation of taxidermist's spare parts lounging atop the Collector before she had resumed her work once more, not even deigning to acknowledge the draconequus's presence. Completely unfazed by Discord's sudden appearance, King Sombra stepped closer to the Collector and gave his surprise guest a polite nod.

"Welcome to our home Discord, we've been expecting you for quite some time now."

"Expecting me? Oh my and here I thought I'd have to worry for forgetting my manners and showing up unannounced." Replied Discord as he rolled out a spiraling red carpet for himself leading from where he perched upon the crystal down to the floor. Then, he promptly used the side of the Collector as a water slide instead, sending droplets of water splashing everywhere and gouging the side of the crystal as he slid down and off of it. Before his cloven hoof could even touch the floor, Twilight had already regathered the displaced matter and repaired the Collector all without looking up from her scroll.

"Oh no, not at all. Your allegiance with the princesses obviously puts us at conflict, and as our barrier can hardly stand up to a being capable of changing reality at a whim, we knew you would show up at one point or another. What we would wonder is why you've waited till now to grace our halls."

Discord chuckled humorously, a nasty gleam in his topaz eyes. "Oh you know very well what brought me here. She almost died last night but luckilyy managed to survive. I'm here to make sure luck has nothing to do with it next time."

Sombra grinned in return, flashing his impressive fangs to the Lord of Chaos. "And how exactly do you plan to do that? You're not exactly the type for diplomatic negotiations, are you my friend? Or perhaps you've come to kill us both and permanently end the threat to this special pony of yours? That'd be a refreshing change, you've never been willing to get your claws dirty with blood before."

Discord's grin disappeared, to be replaced by a snarl. "It just so happens there's a very persuading reason in front of me to change my ways."

"If that were the case..." Interrupted Twilight as she stood up and turned to the two of them, rolling up the finished scroll and tucking it away as she did so. "Then the only blood you'll get on your claws is that of Fluttershy's."

"Is that a threat friend?" Discord spat; as if the word was poison in his mouth when associated with her.

"A promise, dear Discord. You see we are well aware of the infinite ways you could interfere with our plans, or even directly oppose us in combat, and that is an inconvenience we'd rather avoid if possible." She continued, ever so slowly striding forward so that Discord was placed directly between her and her husband. "So we've taken appropriate precautions to persuade you to sit this war out."

Lifting her right fore-hoof, she turned it over to reveal a delicate butterfly carved out of the clearest of crystal. A soft pink light eminated from within, flickering like a heartbeat. "This artifact represents a spell I placed upon Fluttershy last night, what I hold here is a representation of her life force.If anything were to happen to it, I'm afraid dear Fluttershy would suffer from a very unfortunate cardiovascular arrest."

With a flash of light, Discord had taken the crystal into his lion's paw and was investigating it with a gem appraiser's monocle-sized magnifier. "Such exquisite craftponyship. Very high quality indeed, but the life source is copyrighted so I'm afraid my hands are tied, I'll have to confiscate this on behalf of the original owner." And with a touch from his claws it flew away towards the sun, reborn as a monarch butterfly.

With a look of exasperation, Twilight lifted her overturned hoof a hair higher and the butterfly crumbled to dust, reappearing as crystal in her grasp once again. "Pay attention Discord, I said this was merely a representation of the spell, a symbol, nothing more. You'd have to be able to strip me of all my power to break the spell from my grasp, and not even you are capable of that."

Discord harrumphed and crossed his arms in grumpy annoyance. "So you just conjure this pretty little trinket and expect me to cease all action against you simply because you claim that it could kill her? Hah! That's a pretty weak bluff if I do say so myself."

Nonchalantly, Twilight simply shrugged. "Well, if that's the way you feel then this holds no more value to me." With a slight tilt of her hoof, gravity greedily claimed the butterfly and sent it tumbling downwards. A mere moment before it struck the hard crystal floor and shattered into oblivion, reality restructured itself and instead it came to rest upon a soft bed of downy feathers. Silence reigned supreme as Discord avoided eye contact with either of the monarchs. Ultimately, he acquiesced, glaring directly into Twilight's eyes.

"Fine. But mark my words Twilight, I'll be watching." With a creak of old and rusty hinges, he pulled the front half of him open like a strangely carved door. Just before he could stomp through, Twilight stopped him with one final demand.

"Oh and Discord? I suggest keeping this a little secret between us. After all, if the Princesses were to find out, they'd be sure to do everything in their power to break the spell." In the pregnant pause that followed, she placed her hoof menacingly over the crystal butterfly for emphasis. "And if they were to do that, I'll save them the time and break it myself. Understood?" With a glare mighty enough that it set the pillar behind Twilight on fire - and cold enough to simultaneously freeze the flames - Discord stomped through the door he'd made of himself and slammed himself behind himself, disappearing from the Black Castle forever.

Sombra chuckled quietly. "What a fool, he's so used to his own near-limitless power that he couldn't recognize a spell like that would be completely impracticable. It'd require so much energy to maintain that it'd be noticed immediately by the princesses and just as quickly disrupted. I take it the present you left for the pink one is going to remain a secret though?"

"Of course" she replied, "After the first disruption last night I had to make sure that even if those two didn't die that they would at least serve my purposes in life. Already Fluttershy's life is proving its worth in keeping Discord at bay, now it only remains to be seen how long it will take before Pinkie too becomes useful."

Turning to look out upon his empire, King Sombra took a deep breath and filled his lungs with fresh oxygen and pride. From up here he could feel the power he held over his land, no, over the whole world. The Crystal Empire's every move was three steps ahead, and at this rate the world would be kneeling to his family before his foals had even fully grown. An evil grin stretched across his face, eagerly anticipating the feeling of their conquest. "One day these fools will realize that their resistance is absolutely futile in this game of ours we play; and then they will see that their only winning move is not to play at all."
****

With every thud the earth shook just enough to gently rock the amber liquid in their mugs. Late afternoon was slowly coming to a close over Ponyville, and it wouldn't be long until what remained of the town was lit with the orange glow of Celestia's sun. Under the guidance of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the town's cleanup had finished faster than you could say 'winter wrap-up'. Unable to join her old weather team in clearing the choking clouds of ash from the skies, Rainbow had instead attacked the piles of white powder upon the ground with a fervor unseen and unmatched by the rest of the town. The whole way, Applejack worked together side by side with Rainbow to clear the ground just like they would with snow. Having lost so much, friends and livelihood alike, everypony would have understood if they'd found the pair trying to take time for themselves to mourn and recover. Yet they were the first to begin working, and worked harder than two dozen ponies combined with narry a complaint between the either of them; and their spirit inspired new strength in the hearts of all who saw them.

Of all the tears that splashed to ground that day, not a drop had come from either. Not when they'd heard the news, not when they'd visited their friends and family in the hospital ward. Not even when cleanup reached the charred corpse of Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack walked the rows of charcoal husks with the solemn silence of a graveyard. Not even now would they cry, as Rainbow and Applejack listened to the rhythm of hooves marching the eighth funeral procession that day. It wouldn't be long now till their wait was over, and they would need to take their place in the final funeral. Rarity's.

Two friends, two mugs of vintage apple cider clenched tightly between two sets of hooves and yet still untouched.

"What are we even doing here Aj?" Rainbow's voice was hushed and gruff, like lead weighed upon her vocal chords, making every word a struggle to push out.

Applejack didn't look up from her reflection in the cider, the foamy bubbles long since dispersed. "I think the idea was tah drown our troubles in alcohol soes we can stomach our way through this day."

"Not here here." Rainbow choked out, "It was us who enlisted to defend Equestria, us who are supposed to put our lives on the line to keep them safe." Her voice continued to crescendo, until Rainbow's mug crashed violently into the wall where it was thrown. Rainbow buried her head beneath her fore-legs and clenched her muscles, trying to keep it together. "It should be us getting put six feet under, not them, not Rarity.

Applejack stayed silent for a long time, still staring into her mug, looking for an answer, a reason, for anything and nothing at all. "I know Sugarcube. She didn't deserve this, none o' them did. It aint fair, and it aint right."

The soft clang of a bell rang through the empty tavern as another pony entered through the front. "H...hey girls."

Both AJ and RD looked up to find Pinkie standing there awkwardly, hair straight, limp, and lifeless. "Hey there Pinkie, care to join us?" Offered AJ.

She shook her head sadly. "Sorry, I just came to tell you that the ceremony is about to begin, Fluttershy's already there and... and I"

Fresh tears budded in her eyes as gentle sobs interrupted her. Without hesitation, she was pulled into a tight embrace by the ex-apple-orchard caretaker and the one-winged pegasus. Her friends continued to hold her close until the pain and the tears had subsided enough for her to talk. "I...I don't know what to do anymore. It hurts so much and when I'm not hurting I just feel so numb. What's there to laugh about in this? H...How am I supposed to feel happy ever again when...when, when Rarity was."

A blue hoof gently stopped her endless stream of words. Rainbows eyes looked straight into her friend's, recognizing exactly what she found there. She'd felt the same when she'd lost her wing. She was so lost and confused, and in so much agony. "It never get's better Pinkie, no matter what they say it never does get better. But life moves on, and slowly with time, you'll start to feel something other than the pain. Even in your darkest days, somewhere there is a light just waiting for you to notice it, just waiting to be cherished."

Pinkie sniffled and nodded in understanding. Now it was AJ's turn to pitch in. "And on a day like today, I know just the kind of thing we need, and its something only you can do Pinkie. Once we've laid Rarity to rest, let's throw her a great big farewell party. You remember how much she loved your parties, I think she'd really appreciate us throwing one special just for her, for all the memories and good times we had together. Think you can do that for her Sugarcube?"

A ghost of a smile touched Pinkie's lips, turning those corners upwards ever so slightly. With one last sniffle and a hoof rubbing away the last tears from her eyes, she gave a somewhat happy nod. "Yeah girls, I think I can manage that. For Rarity." As the trio stood up to go join the others for Rarity's final moments above ground, Pinkie's last words echoed throughout AJ's heart.

"For Rarity."
****

On a hilltop just outside of Ponyville stood Equestria's greatest monarch. This would be the location for the final grave today, hoof-picked for it's view overlooking the rest of the town and the single weeping willow that crowned its peak. Here would be Rarity's final resting place. As she watched, a long black column emerged from the edge of the town, ponies by the hundreds wrapped in the black of mourning, cuing Celestia to nudge the sun a little closer to the horizon. She could not do much for the brave unicorn, but she could at least give Rarity the most spectacular sunset Equestria had seen come the finish of the ceremony.

Leading the procession by 20 feet was none other than Lulu herself, meticulously marching in her full battle regalia; a gleaming platinum star heralding a fallen hero. Next was what Celestia presumed to be Rarity's immediate family, a mare and a colt leaning into each other for support as they walked, and beside them a tiny unicorn filly with her head held high and lip firmly bit to prevent trembling. Behind them came a team of four stone faced ponies whom Celestia immediately recognized. In front and to her right was Applejack, adorned by a special black stetson and wearing a crisp black tuxedo. To Applejack's right walked Rainbow Dash, wearing a perfectly matching tuxedo to Applejack's and her one wing flared out slightly to balance out the weight upon her other shoulder. Behind them Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy wore simple black dresses, clearly mustering all their strength to keep putting one hoof in front of the other and help carry the precious cargo the four bore upon their shoulders.

With one corner placed firmly upon the shoulder of each of her closest friends, Rarity's coffin was a masterpiece of hoof-carved and polished mahogony. All along the bottom edge lay sculpted roses tied together by leafy vines, and on both the head and foot of the coffin lay Rarity's cutie mark of three resplendent diamonds. As was traditional, the lid had been left off until she would be placed within her grave, so from her vantage point Celestia could clearly see into the cask itself. Rarity had been dressed in the very dress she'd worn to the Grand Galloping Galla, golden tiara and all, as beautiful as a princess lying there in the pure white silken cushions.

Behind them came the heartbreaking sight of young Spike who wore nothing but his grief, towing a small wagon bent under the weight of her gravestone. The young drake had spent the entire day creating it from a slab of marble, refusing to let anypony else touch it or otherwise aid him. It was painstakingly inscribed with letters of gold, and set with the very heart shaped fire-ruby he'd given her years ago. It had been a simple matter to imbibe the gravestone with a perpetual existence spell so that not thieves nor weather nor the crumbling touch of time would ever dim the beauty of his final toil of love.

The rest of the procession was made up of the remaining of Ponyville's citizens, a long column averaging five ponies wide. By the time Luna had reached her sister's side the last few stragglers were just leaving Ponyville's outer edge.The four remaining element bearers carefully lowered Rarity's coffin to the ground, perfectly lined up to the pre-dug grave and placed on the opposite side of Celestia from Princess Luna. It was time to give her address.

"Citizens of Ponyville, I thank you all for gathering here this evening to pay respects to a very special unicorn. Throughout my centuries of sovereignty in Equestria, I can honestly say that Rarity was truly a one-in-a-million kind of pony. Creative, visionary, and a lady before all else, she has time and time again put her life on the line to save our kingdom from destruction. She helped return my sister to me, stopped Discord's rampage, ensured the safe return of the Crystal Kingdom, and even helped reform Discord himself with the magic of friendship. Despite all of this, still Rarity remained humble, in her own special way, sticking true to her roots in Ponyville. That isn't to say she didn't have her faults, nopony is perfect. Vanity was a word that never strayed far from the minds of those thinking of her. What made Rarity so special however, is that these faults did not define her, did not hold her back. Instead she drew strength from her friends, and their love for her, and in doing so remained the most generous pony I have ever had the pleasure to know, right down to the end."

Bowing her head in respect towards the open casket, Celestia stepped back so that Luna could finish the commemoration.

"Equestria has lost more than an element bearer. We have lost a hero, a role model, and as I understand it a truly gifted seamstress. As we lay her to rest this day, I ask you all to open your hearts, and let your memories of Miss Rarity fill them. Remember her, not as the Element of Generosity now gone, but as the pony who lives on now within us all. A friend, a sister, and a daughter. May she find only happiness in the realms beyond, and may she rest in piece for all eternity knowing that she is loved."

With a bow of respect at the open casket, Luna lit her horn with power and gently, slowly, lowered the lid into place as Celestia took the gravestone and placed it firmly in the earth at the head of the grave. Together, they levitated Rarity into the ground and four friends took shovels in hoof to fill the hole back in with the piles of rich soil on either side. Soon the thump of earth falling upon mahogany formed a melancholy rhythm as Sweetie Belle stepped forth and sang her sister's eulogy.

"There once was a sea of sadness,
Silent and blue and alone
For when the day made way for darkness
Full and bright the moon shone.
Pure and brilliant she sparkled
A sight everypony adored
While the sea would watch on in envy
Reflecting a meager white clone.

Oh why did you have to leave me
My sister why couldn't you stay?
As you lay beneath your willow tree,
Hear my final 'I love you' I pray.

All through the night, the sea would sigh
Afraid mere reflection its fate
As far out of reach danced the moonlight
With nary a negative trait.
Thus when the moon reached far below
To pull the sea into its dance
The sea rebelled and retracted
Resolved to break free from its might.

Oh why did you have to leave me
My sister why couldn't you stay?
As you lay beneath your willow tree,
Hear my final 'I love you' I pray."

As the young filly sang, she could not keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks, nor could she keep the waiver from her voice each time she struck the chorus. Celestia watched with the deepest of empathy as brave Sweetie Belle forged onward, despite the agony of her happy memories.

She sang of how the moon and the sea fought back and forth, pushing and pulling for many years, neither relenting to the other. One day, the wind swept across the water and up into the sky, guiding both to look upon the beaches so that they could see the consequences of their tug of war. To their surprise, pools of life had formed, and new creatures had adapted to the rhythm of the sea's ebb and flow. It was then that the sea realized that despite it's jealousy of the Moon's seeming flawlessness, neither of the two could have created a new place for life like this, not on their own. It had only been through their push and pull with one another that the beauty of new life had been created.

She had come so far, but now, as she sang the final chorus Sweetie Belle broke down and wept halfway through; unable to continue past "My sister why couldn't you stay?" All around the little filly heads drooped in mourning and the shovels stopped their grave task. Rainbow had to look away, wiping furiously at water that had finally broken past the levies of her eyes and now flowed freely in streams down her face. Applejack had to pull the black stetson down over her face in an attempt to hide the same flood as Rainbow, biting her lower lip in anguish. The silence was heavy and oppressive, made worse by Sweetie Belle's sobs.

This would not be how the day ended however. From the crowd crept two more fillies; an earth pony with an over-sized black bow tied into her slightly-singed red hair, and an orange pegasus with a violet mane. Together they helped Sweetie Belle to stand again, smiling and embracing her before letting go and supporting the unicorn filly from either side. In harmony, their three voices lifted together to finish her song.

"Oh why did you have to leave me
My sister why couldn't you stay?
As you lay beneath your willow tree,
Hear my final 'I love you' I pray.

The moon, a powerful beauty
The sea, life's watery home
Each was a wonderous being
Each with their own path to roam.
Yet together their special connection
Made a single, mightier soul

Two parts, of one greater whole."

As the final notes of their song crescendoed, the setting sun clothed Rarity's grave in a halo of golden light, and in that single moment. That one magnificent span of time where the universe paused for breath, hundreds of ponies stood united with small smiles; hearts lightened by the sight of the trio of fillies banded together to turn a solemn ceremony into something beautiful instead. Sweetie Belle stood staring up into the boughs of willow tree, the ache in her soul salved by the love of her friends nearby, and a happy tear upon her eye that her sister had gotten a royal farewell that even she would approve of.

In that brief moment, two new lights, small and almost unnoticeable joined the sun's rays. Upon the grave, the fire-ruby glowed as warmly as a welcoming smile, and with the shimmer of magic a mark appeared upon the flanks of the unicorn filly. It was a tri-color swirl of violet, emerald, and sunset orange superimposed by a single note the fairest shade of sky blue.

"Goodbye big sis, I'll miss you."

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait getting this chapter out everybody, but I hope it was worth the wait. (I must have taken at least a week on Sweetie's song alone, props to all you songwriters, that is tough work.)

So a couple things:

1) I started writing the song while I was listening to Starswirl's Frankenstein by 4everfreebrony, so consequently it ended up following the same rhythm/melody in my head. I recommend giving that song a listen if you're having trouble singing Sweetie's song in your head ^_^

2) Just fyi, the moon is a metaphor for Rarity here, and the sea a metaphor for Sweetie Belle, in case you were wondering.

3) Sweetie's cutie mark is a combination of the CMC's and Rarity's eye colors. I won't be divulging its exact meaning for quite some time yet, so speculate as you will but that little fact is rather important.

4) Sorry for any confusion that may be caused from imagery of Discord's exit from the Crystal Empire. I myself can't quite grasp the picture of Discord using himself as a door and then slamming himself shut as a mode of exodus, but the idea was such a wonderful paradox, I couldn't resist putting it in. It is after all, a very Discord-like thing to do.

Act I Chp. 8: Say Please

The last rays of sunset slowly faded from the marble pillars of the Canterlot throne room. The greatest sources of warmth to be found came from flickering torches firmly ensconced along each stony support. Around the oval table sat all but one of the foreign delegates who had arrived for the disastrous war council. Chieftain Maunageera had left by the fastest pegasus-carriage available along with a flight of rescue workers, a gift from the Princesses to provide expeditious aid for surviving zebra tribes. A thickness lathered their throats and weighed upon the stomach of each dignitary. It was a strong gravity that drew their eyes downward and bent their backs, keeping silent the thoughts that though left unspoken were shared by all.

They had all stayed this extra night for the very obvious reason that their previous stances would need to be revised, and the consequences of their actions weightily considered. It was obvious that concern had not been Chieftain Maunageera's only motive for a hastened withdrawal. One of Equestria's oldest allies had been struck down before it even had a chance. Even if they had wanted to, there would be no organized Zebra participation in this war now.

This was the most worrying fact they all faced. Who would be next? Would they be any safer pledging allegiance to Equestria in their war than if they just remained neutral? After all, the Princesses had flown off to address a sudden attack from within their borders. If they could not defend themselves even after a full year of preparation it would mean a terrible risk for the ally, and for what good?

These thoughts were briefly stymied with the arrival of a powerful flash of light. As it dimmed, six figures appeared from the teleport. Standing tall were Princess Luna and Princess Celestia herself, and beside them stood a cyan pegasus with her left wing missing, a demure yellow pegasus, and two earth ponies. "Thank you all for staying the extra night to attend the revised war council. Your courage and your willingness to listen our proposal even after all that has transpired is something for which Equestria is eternally grateful for. We have brought back with us the four remaining bearers of the Elements of Harmony, for it is important that they hear what I have to say tonight as well."

"Four? Forgive me if I am mistaken your highness, but should not that number be five instead?" Interrupted the Duke of Maretonia. He quickly realized the answer, and his mistake, from the pained sadness in each of the four ponies' eyes.

Gentle and soft, Celestia responded quietly. "She died rescuing two others from certain destruction, and she indirectly saved many more by keeping the Queen's attention centered on herself rather than the rest of the village while we reacted to Spike's letter. May she rest in peace."

Luna stepped forward now to take control of the meeting. "As all of you may already be aware, the Crystal Empire struck both the village of Ponyville and the great grasslands of the Zebra Nomads. They attacked hard, and fast, and without any warning. From Ponyville and the scout reports from the rescue team sent with Chieftan Maunageera we've concluded they are using a method of transportation previously thought impossible by all except the most accomplished masters of dark magic. While a majority of Ponyville's crops were burned and destroyed, several tons of food were harvested first. At the center of the harvested crops was found a large crystal monolith, darker than obsidian. It has been destroyed, and several samples sent to our science division to analyze. Reports from the Zebra capitol confirm the existence of a similar crystal structure. A surviving eye-witness described two pillars of crystal erupted from the ground with the sound of breaking glass, curving together to form a gigantic archway from which King Sombra and his army poured through."

A low murmur spread through the gathered delegates, this news only serving to confirm their fears. Choosing to ignore it, Luna pressed on. "While we do not know how this feat was accomplished at this time, rest assured the most brilliant minds in Equestria are investigating it at this very moment. That being said, for the safety of our populace Equestria will be declaring martial law. All civilian towns and cities shall henceforth host a military base of operations for the proper training and protection of our citizens. With the expanse of our railway systems and the new steam technology allowing for fast and safe mass transport, Equestria can be ready for an attack from anywhere in the country and quickly be able to gather the full strength of our armed forces from all corners of the land if need be. We recommend a similar course of action for any of you who are willing to join us as allies."

"But before that decision is made" Said Celestia ominously, "you must first understand the full truth of what we are facing." She paused a moment to make sure she had everpony's attention, then took a deep breath and began her explanation.

"In our brief encounter with Twilight Sparkle last night, Princess Luna and myself were able to confirm our worst fear. It was long known to us that King Sombra was the avatar of Wrath, ever since before our battle with him more than a thousand years ago. In the fight last night however it became apparent that Twilight is also an avatar, most likely that of Despair. We knew Princess Cadence to be the avatar of Hope, so as the avatar of Despair it would make sense that Twilight's first priority was to kill her natural opposite."

"Vat exactly are you zaying Zelestia?" came the gruff growl from King Alderlöwe. "You zay many time zis 'avatar', but ve have yet to hear vhat exactly it is you mean."

Nodding in polite acknowledgement of the gryphon King's interruption, Celestia continued. "Worry not good king, I was just about to explain. You see, an avatar is a living creature that carries the power of a greater cosmic force. They can be thought of as similar to the Elements of Harmony, as both an avatar and an Element are tied to a celestial power. They should not be confused however, as an Element is just a piece of the entity it represents, bearable only by those that represent that entity in its entirety. Avatars however have access to the entire power of the cosmic entity and can appear inside of anypony. In our battle with Twilight my sister and I made sure to lock the area in with an ant-teleportation spell before we began. Unfortunately she managed to escape with a massive surge of power and a shift in her magical signature. This first confirmed that she was indeed an avatar, and secondly revealed a far more dangerous fact."

"Twilight is learning to siphon the power of Despair without needing to channel the avatar state." Everypony in the room jumped a little at Princess Luna's voice, colder than steel and foreboding as a ghostly breeze. "An avatar is as Celestia said, simply a host for the greater force which can be called upon and channeled in what is called the avatar state. This temporarily alters the avatar's physical appearance, and exponentially increases their power, but it has the severe cost of merging the avatar's consciousness with that of the force they represent. In effect, you give up your own body to become something, and somepony else. A prime example of this is Discord, once the avatar of Chaos, and now completely incapable of reverting to his original form. Indeed he's even forgotten of his existence from before being Discord. If Twilight can use even a portion of that power without suffering the side affects of channeling the avatar state, then she is an even greater force to be reckoned with. If we are to presume that Sombra has accomplished the same, then as it stands the Crystal Empire has two powerful avatars to Equestria's three."

The room fell silent in shock at the Princesses' final declaration. Realizing that her sister had failed to notice the looks of surprise and confusion on their guest's faces, Celestia gave a quiet cough for attention and elaborated for her. "One of the three is obviously Discord, whom we have Fluttershy here to thank for helping turn him to the side of friendship several years ago. The other two that my sister is referring to are the two of us. Respectively, we are the avatars of Night and Day. Furthermore, while others become avatars through their actions and intentions throughout their lifetime, my sister and I were born into this world as avatars. It is because of this that we were born as immortal alicorns rather than any mortal species. Lastly, know that there are two levels of power that we know of, that of the forces of creation and those that were born from the collected consciousness of life as it bloomed into existence. As Day and Night my sister and I fall into the higher category with Discord, while Wrath and Despair fall into the latter as they are constructs of thought and emotion.

Excitement rippled through the room like an electric shock. The princesses were hiding such awesome power? Surely nothing could stand in their way then, this war would be finished in no time! Eyes gleamed with hope, and smiles spread to every face except two. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack frowned more, if it were possible, their eyes narrowing as they calculated what Celestia had just said, already recognizing the largest 'but' in existence on its way.

"That being said" countered Luna, "neither myself nor my sister have living memory of ever channeling our avatar states. We've never been able to, even though we were born with the knowledge of exactly what we are. Whether that is a secret that has been lost to us over the time of centuries, or if another force is at work to protect the world from the unknown power of our avatar states, or some other reason all together we do not know. Only once have we ever come close, but that was a corrupted, false avatar state brought on by extreme negative emotions that channeled but a portion of the avatar power. You would remember that event the as banishment of Nightmare Moon."

Celestia winced imperceptibly at the memory while the previously hopeful expressions dropped like bricks from everypony in the room. "So what you're saying is that the only way to get a fair fight is if both you princesses and Discord work together to take on Sombra and Twilight?" inquired Applejack with an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, if of course he is willing when we ask him."

"My my my Celestia, I'm glad to hear that you were at least going to ask me before marching me off with the rest of your goonies." Discord's voice echoed throughout the throne room, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. With a whinny of surprise and pain, a Saddle Arabian toppled to the floor as his seat stood up and transformed into Discord, though he kept the wooden look as he walked over to the princesses. For their part, neither Luna, Celestia, nor any of the element bearers seemed one bit surprised by his unorthodox appearance, nor by the fact he'd been hiding to listen in to the conversation instead of simply joining it. His entrance did grant him a small smile from Fluttershy however, so Discord chalked it up to a success anyways.

"Well then Discord, you have our request, how do you answer?"

"Straight to business eh Celestia? Very well. I must respectfully decline, I'm sorry. I don't fight after all, I'm a trickster, a manipulator even, but I cannot do what you ask. It'd absolutely ruin my manicure." To emphasized this he batted big dramatic eyelids garishly coated in makeup and stuck his lion paw out theatrically in front of him.

Celestia frowned slightly. Just this morning Discord had been absolutely livid at the near loss of his best friend. His breath had hissed with the promise of a thousand unique and painful deaths, and for the first time in her life when she had looked into his ghastly yellow eyes, she'd seen fields of blood behind those crimson pupils. It had been a humbling, if not slightly frightening experience. Now here he was suddenly returned to his normally jolly demeanor, acting as if he was without a care in the world. Acting, perhaps a bit too forcibly.

Choosing her words carefully, Celestia tried to persuade the draconequus to action, hoping to uncover the reason for this sudden change. "Please Discord, reconsider. We have the means to deal with the Crystal Empires army, but if we are to quickly bring this conflict to a close we need you by our side. Consider the lives that could be saved, innocent civilians that wouldn't have to see the horrors of war if you chose to fight with us." Though she spoke no names, Celestia let her wing drift down to gesture at the ponies standing beside her, specifically Fluttershy.

A light briefly flickered behind Discord's eyes, and when he spoke he kept his toothy grin plastered to his face despite the sound of bone grinding and collapsing under pressure. "Believe you me Celestia, when I say that I know full well what would happen if I were to directly join your war. It is not a matter of something that I simply do not wish to do, rather that which I cannot possibly do. Please, ask me no more of this matter."

Princess Luna and Princess Celestia looked at each other, mulling over Discords strange behavior. It would need to be investigated further, but for now they would need to respect his wishes regardless. "As you wish Discord, we would not force this upon you. Perhaps we can find a way for you to be able to in-directly assist the war, so that you need not face conflict head-on. Every contribution helps, no matter how small."

Turning to the rest of the room, Celestia addressed them as well. "That goes for you all as well. We cannot force our request upon you, nor do we wish to. The enemy is powerful beyond measure, it is true, and they have shown themselves to be both cunning and merciless. But this meeting is not about their overwhelming power, nor the threat of destruction that they impose upon us all. No, tonight we are gathered here to remember what it is that we are capable of. Through countless decades of history all species of the world have lived through legends of famous heroes of simple origin. Heroes who have suffered through oppression and death, until one day they stood strong and shouted "ENOUGH!" into the blackened night. Heroes who have fought against odds seemingly insurmountable, and achieved that which all others had deemed impossible. These legends were not blessed with power, or born gifted with unnatural strength. No, what set these special few apart was the will to fight for what they believed in despite what mighty obstacles barred their way, and every single time they achieved their goals by drawing strength from those around them. Tonight, Equestria is calling on the world for heroes to stand up and face their inner demons given magical manifestation. We are calling on the world to band together so that our enemies do not face a single nation or civilization, but the entirety of our combined courage and heart held steadfast against the nightmare of their darkness. Together, we are mighty, and together we will prevail."

"Now, who will answer our call?"

Author's Note

Strange to have such a short chapter after my last few, but as this is the end of Act I, I guess it can't be helped.
Also, I've divided up the chapters into Acts now to separate the story into clearer chronological sections. Act I for setting all the pieces into place, Act II for really getting the ball going, Act III for when the proverbial excrement impacts the fan, etc.

For the next chapter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg-vgGuTD8A

Act II Chp. 1: Status Quo

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That boiled ruby the sea
They fled thy wrath, but in fire they drowned
All for our children three

'Twas grace that taught our enemies fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did my grace appear
The hour we first conceived

Through families and friends afar
Death I have sown
'Tis grace hath kept me sane thus far
And grace will forge us a throne

How sweet the name of Sombra sounds
In a reaper's ears
It brings rivers of blood, and skulls to pound
and drives the world to tears"

*****

Cold northern wind whistled over the brittle stone landscape Shining Armor now called 'home'. Here and there small tufts of stringy grass forced their way out from the space between the rocks, sparse enough to be called barren by most, but just enough that Shining didn't find himself starved to death by the end of each day. The place held a certain charming melancholy that could always bring a bitter smile to his face. These rocks certainly thought themselves strong and mighty, but all it took was a little time and the right gust of wind to send a tower of granite tumbling back to earth, shattering and bringing down everything nearby along with it.

A more urgent gust shoved its way past the lone unicorn, causing him to shiver and turn back for the comfort of shelter. The moon would be crawling into the night sky soon, and he'd need to be ready for the freezing temperatures and the usual onslaught. Picking out the rocky outcropping that marked his abode, Shining shoved his weight against a precariously balanced boulder. With a grunt of exertion he managed to push the rock up, now wedged just enough between the ground and the angular roof of his home that it allowed him to pass through the now exposed crevice. Entering the small cave (if it could even qualify for such a title being a mere eight paces in diameter) Shining began the tedious ritual that was now his nightly routine.

First things first, he had to make sure he wouldn't suffocate during the night. Letting his magic flow in ethereal tendrils from his horn, he gently prodded around the roof of the cave, locating his chimney and making sure nothing had fallen in to block off airflow. It'd taken him weeks of careful and tedious work to drill out a hole as thick as a pony's hoof up through the granite and limestone; though due to the fact he hadn't managed to bring the unstable rock formation down on his head in the process, he was reasonably proud of it.

Next, the keystone. Kicking a wedge-shaped rock out of his "front door", Shining use his magic to cram it against the boulder outside. It wouldn't do to have his only exit be blocked off by the devilish whim of the wind after all.

Finished securing his door, Shining lit the pile of prepared logs on the far side of his cave. With the freezing temperatures each night brought, he'd quickly realized the need for a fire to continue his survival. About three days east, he'd discovered a small grove of pine trees growing on a hill. It had been too close to a nearby logging village however, so he'd ultimately decided to move past the grove and on to his current abode, keeping the pine trees in mind for whenever he'd need them.

Now, as nighttime officially fell, he performed the final step to his ritual, the one that had never once been successful in all the years he'd lived in solitude. He silently prayed for mercy, for release from this nightmare he could never escape. And as it went every night, his prayers received an equally silent response. It was but a matter of time until the crackling of pine dragged Shining's exhausted mind underneath a black veil of unconsciousness.

It was the perfect day, Celestia's sun beamed merrily down upon them in the cool air of this fine spring afternoon. They lay together beneath the sparse shade of an oak tree, watching the gentle wind guide the verdant branches in the steps of a gentle dance. Shining turned his eyes to the pink blessing in his embrace. She was so perfect, so loving, so...everything. It'd been so long, he couldn't even feel the pain those loving, happy eyes brought him. He'd tried everything over the years; ranging from trying to save Cadence from the gaping stab wound, to simply running away from that picturesque hill. Each time, he would inevitably be faced with her rotting corpse, begging him to remember. It was only through gruesome death would the nightmare release him, sweat-covered and panting heavily in early-morning light.

Recently, he'd adopted the strategy of simply doing nothing. He would not speak, he would not act, he could only close his eyes, shut his ears, and curl up in a ball on the ground to await the inevitable end. First would come the concerned questions from his dead love, wondering what he was doing and if he was ok. Slowly, these would morph into desperate shouts as he was shaken by her hooves, demanding to know what was wrong, and didn't he love her anymore? Then would come the warm splatter of her blood across his side, and Corpse Cadence would take over, her rotting voice begging him over and over again to not forget his promise. Through it all he held firm, locking of his mind as best he could, like a turtle would hide in their shell.

It was as such that on this night it took him many moments to realize something had changed. Tentatively opening his eyes, he peeked out from his fetal position to find Corpse Cadence completely gone, along with the rest of the familiar dreamscape. He was back in his cave, warm fire still burning brightly against the chill in the air. Every hair on his body immediately stood at attention as adrenalin coursed through his veins. The nightmare had never once ended early, and never had it ever deviated so much from the original; therefore whether he was actually awake right now or still dreaming it didn't matter, because something big had changed.

"Oh relax already, before you manage to hurt yourself."

Instinctively Shining reared up in surprise at the unexpected voice behind him. He would have made a truly majestic sight standing on his back legs and musclebound forelegs waving in the air in front of him, if not for the fact that momentarily his instincts had forgotten that he only had one back leg upon which to stand. With only the right leg to support his entire weight, Shining immediately lost his balance and tipped over into the pine-log fire with an entirely un-stallion like yelp.

The owner of the unannounced voice in Shining's home lay upon a couch-sized red satin pillow, her starry mane billowing softly in a magical wind, and sapphire eyes rolling in exasperation at the stallion's panicked antics. With a single blink of her eyes, he was removed from the fire unharmed, and the inside space of his home expanded to comfortably host five ponies at a time. Red-faced with embarrassment, the former captain of the guard took in all of these details to quickly make his assessment of the situation.

"This is the first time you've visited my dreams in many years Princess Luna. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

This earned him a snort of derision from his guest. "Six years of self-enforced isolation, and yet he still remembers his manners? I wouldst hold thy courtesy if I were you Shining Armor, for I do not guarantee my visit to bring you happiness in the least."

Shining frowned, he didn't like the sound of where this was going. "Then what is your purpose here Princess?"

Luna's eyes hardened as her mouth took the slight downturn of a disapproving frown. "I am here on behalf of my sister's wishes. I don't suppose you are aware of anything of the outside world and the state it's in?" She paused for a moment, just long enough for Shining's affirmation. "Of course not, just as the Ostrich quivering with it's head stuck in the sand will not notice the twister behind it."

Shining Armor narrowed his eyes in anger, glaring at the Lunar princess that had apparently dropped in just to insult him. She returned his glare with one equally fierce. No more would she tolerate this situation, it was going to end tonight.

"My sister believes you need this time alone to come to terms with your wife and child's deaths and to 'rediscover' yourself as she puts it. To this end you were allowed to leave uncontested, and though you would have been an invaluable asset to ending this war in a timely manner, you were allowed your solitude." Shining interrupted her with his own snort now.

"An invaluable asset? Don't make me laugh. What could I have done that anypony else, especially you royal sisters, couldn't do better?"

"Provide safe passage through the gas barrier on the Crystal Empire's border and allowed the war to end before it's third year."

There was complete silence but for the crackling of pine between them as Shining stared at her in surprised non-belief.

"The magical toxins that make the Crystal Empire's border impassible bested hundreds of good ponies who attempted to foil it. Any tunnel would instantly fill with the gas once directly under the border, and it reaches too high in the sky for any wings to fly over it. Any form of attack simply passes through, and even pegasus-formed tornadoes failed to disperse it. One year, 4 months, and 28 days into the war however, Canterlot scientists discovered the weakness to the gas barrier. Very powerful shielding magic could hold the gas at bay, though the level of success varied greatly. For some the shield would hold back the gas for a precious few seconds, while others seemingly had no effect at all."

"A couple of seconds? That's not exactly a weakness your majesty."

Luna gave Shining Armor a freezing glare for his interruption. "Perhaps then you would let me finish my explanation so that you may understand." Satisfied with how the stallion quailed under the intensity of her gaze, Luna continued with her lecture.

"As you well know, each unicorn has a noticeable magical signature. It is most noticeably displayed by the color of their magic when casting a spell. Since the effectiveness of the same shield spell varied so greatly from unicorn to unicorn, it was determined that the magical frequency itself determined the spell's success. Three months of vigorous testing, in which both my sister and I participated, and the correct magical frequency was calculated that would be able to fully repel the gas and allow safe passage of an entire army across the border. How cruel indeed, that the Crystal Empire would leave us the key to their gates, taunting us with its broken teeth."

Shining felt the blood drain from his face. "Why? Why didn't you come sooner? If I'd know I would...I would have..."

"No" proclaimed Luna solemnly, "you would not." She sighed and summoned a smaller, royal blue version of her pillow for Shining to lay upon. "This is not the first time I have visited your dreams Shining Armor, it is merely the first time I've allowed you to be consciously aware of it. You do not remember it, but I approached your subconscious many times to implore your aid. Each time was met with failure. The death of your family haunts you deeply, more deeply than I've seen any pony haunted before. You blame yourself for being unable to save them, and that blame has become a poison in your mind. I very much doubt that you'd be able to cast a shield of any sort in the sorry state you're in."

Letting his body crumple into the soft embrace of his pillow, Shining tried his best to wrap his head around what she was saying. "You specialize in mental magic, so why don't you just...?" he finished lamely with a vague gesture of his hoof.

"A pony's mind is their territory, and theirs alone. To intervene directly would be the blackest of magics and would only cause you harm. No, only you have the key to ending the torment you put yourself through every night, and in doing so recover your magical specialty. But that is not why I am here tonight."

"It's not?" What more could there possibly be?

"My sister is running herself ragged worrying over every detail of this war. She loves each of our subjects like a mother would her children, and to have them all in such grave danger is a burden I dare not imagine."

"So you're here because she worries for me?"

"Of course not. In fact I'd be in for quite the earful if she knew I was disturbing your solitude now. I'm here because she worries for everypony and it is physically impossible for her to help them all nor guarantee their safety. Despite your current state, you are still far more capable than many of our citizens, as is proven by your ability to survive in the middle of a rocky wasteland. Also, on a more personal note, I'm not willing to tolerate a once-great stallion moping around like a lost colt any longer. I know better than any else what good that does, and its gone on long enough, regardless of what Celestia thinks."

Princess Luna stood, rising to her fullest height and banishing everything around them. The pillows, the crackling fire, even his cave, leaving nothing but a starry expanse far above and below them. With a great bellow, she unleashed the full power of the Royal Canterlot Voice upon his sorry mortal ears.

"PRINCE SHINING ARMOR, FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND BY RIGHT OF MARRIAGE PROPER RULER OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, i CALL UPON YOU TO HONOR THE VOWS YOU ONCE SWORE. i CALL UPON YOU TO CAST ASIDE YOUR SELFISH WALLOWING ABOUT IN THE DULDRUMS AND VENTURE BACK INTO CIVILIZATION ONCE MORE. I CALL UPON YOU TO PROTECT AND SERVE YOUR PRINCESS, YOUR KINGDOM, AND YOUR COUNTRYMEN. EASE THE BURDEN OF WORRY UPON MY SISTER'S BROWN BY GIVING YOUR AID TO ALL WHO NEED IT, I BESEECH YOU!"

As the mighty echoes slowly faded away, Shining caught himself staring at the stars that surrounded his dreamscape. Each speck of sparkling light might as well represent the hundreds, if not thousands, of ponies that Luna was expecting him to help. Him of all ponies. Hadn't she just mentioned that he was blocked off from his shield spells? What use was he in the first place, now even more so without his specialty in magic?

Slowly, a bright white light ate away at the dreamscape, pushing it back and reaching out to envelope the Princess of the Night. Regally, she turned from him and began to walk towards the light, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more. Before the light consumed her and the dream ended however, she gave one final warning.

"As you make your decision on whether to answer my call or not, remember this, a saying most ancient. 'Tis only a fool that repeats the same over and over again and expects the results to be different'. Regardless of how I feel about your actions up to this point, I can say with confidence that I know at least one thing about you Prince Shining." She turned to make eye contact, staring into him through eyes of stars and sapphires as she looked deep into his soul and judged it worthy.

"You are no fool."

*****

Blueish-white light flickered against the rough stone wall. While a far cry from as illuminating as an actual flame, the fire of each mage-light lantern consumed no resources and emitted no smoke. Furthermore, as far as could be detected, they also never emitted heat; a useful feature when trying to evade detection that made them the proffered source of illumination in a top-secret facility such as this. Two silent guards stood vigil by a giant metal door, making for three immovable steel objects at the end of the narrow rocky passage. Carved into the door itself were hundreds of circular patterns mixed with strange blocky writing etched by none other than Princess Luna herself. If one were to douse the mage-lights, they'd find that each carefully placed line would glow as softly as moonlight, pulsing like a heartbeat with unknown arcane power. What's more is that this door had more in common with a wall than any other door. It had no handle, no hinges, and no key, and only two ponies in the world were allowed access; one of which was slowly approaching.

The two guards snapped to attention, holding their hooves in a perfect salute as their ruler and commander in chief strode by them. With a solemn nod, Princess Celestia acknowledged their greeting before turning her full attention upon the door itself. She spoke no words of power, nor was there any sign of magic flowing from her mighty horn, and yet with a deep breath and a confident stride the door welcomed her inside with a nimbus of blinding silver light. The guards watched impassively as she disappeared from sight, resuming their vigilant watch only when the very tip of her tail was gone and the magical light no more.

On the other side of the door two yellow orbs bobbed cheerfully at their unexpected visitor.

"Well well well, look who's come to visit me after so many months. Honestly Celly, is this how you treat a dear friend doing you a favor?"

Celestia simply sighed in response, letting her mane fall limp and the illusion magic upon her face drop now that she was past her subjects. She could not afford to let them see the exhaustion that etched itself upon her features, nor how the many sleepless nights had left discolored bags beneath her eyes. Even so, she could still manage a smile for her old friend and his teasing.

"Good day Discord. I'd offer to bring you freshly baked cookies from the royal kitchens in repentance of my long absences were it not for the mysterious and daily disappearance of our very best confections. Mayhaps I should replace our supply of chocolate chips with raisins to give our thief an unfortunate surprise?"

Discord's tail twitched nervously at the thought, tying itself into a Gordian knot as he struggled to come up for a good reason as to why she shouldn't carry through with the dastardly plan. Celestia chuckled softly to herself, it was a rare chance indeed to get the upper hoof on Discord in wordplay, and despite his many...quirks..., he at least managed to brighten her day some with his antics.

In order to redirect the conversation away from his petty pilfering, Discord gave a cough to clear his throat and got down to business. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Celestia's smile dropped in an instant, settling into a now-familiar worried frown. "You know why Discord. There are an increasing number of incursions from the Empire, and the number of times our interceptors have arrived in the last possible second to contain the raids are becoming too numerous. I came to check in on you and make sure this task is not taking too much a toll."

Discord blew a raspberry and held his cackling sides. "Take a toll? Oh me, ooh-hahahah. Celly your jokes still surprise me after all these years."

Celestia simply nodded, "Of course." His act fooled none. The draconequus sat upon a throne of mechanical pipes and devices, numerous tubes inserted into his arms and lengthy torso that slowly pulsed with his magical energy. In this circular room in which he sat at the center were countless R.E.C.T.U.M devices specially designed and fitted to the walls for his use. Most of the tubes and pipes led to the powering and maintenance of the magical screens, while the rest led into a focusing orb installed in a pedestal before him. This room, and hundreds of identical bunkers scattered across Equestria all powered by Discord's magical clones provided DUNE's first and foremost line of defense.

Though he had refused to directly participate in any battle of the war; to prevent anything like the Ponyville incident from ever happening again, Discord had offered his services as a counter-measure to the strange crystal-transport system that had caused such devastation. By constantly pulsing his magic throughout the earth, Discord was able to locate the dark crystal like a dolphin would echo-locate a fish. Next came the difficult part. It isn't enough to simply locate the crystal veins, their final destination has to be determined from all the possible target outcomes in Equestria as well. This was further complicated as the Crystal Empire began creating multiple veins at a time, many leading to dead-ends or false targets.

As the avatar of chaos, Discord was the only creature alive able to predict the final destination and level of threat for each and every single crystal vein to 100% accuracy. To accomplish this feat, he would invoke the nature of chaos itself, observing all possible outcomes for every variable at once, and backtracking from there to the current state of the crystal vein to determine it's fate. It was nothing less than creating sense and order from chaos, and despite his bravado Celestia knew all too well that it was killing him bit by bit each time. It was like a dragon trying to use their power over heat to breath ice instead, and yet Discord had been performing these minor miracles of magic hundreds of times over for five years straight, all for the sake of a gentle yellow pegasus.

The silence grew long and awkward between them, both fully aware of his deteriorating state and neither wishing to acknowledge it. It was Discord who broke the silence first, all merriment dropped from his voice. "I know the reason that you're really here Celly, and your words won't make it any better. How could you have let this happen?"

Celestia rubbed her temples, her exhaustion manifesting itself into a headache already (though headaches had ever been an inevitable part of speaking with Discord in the past). "I'm a monarch Discord, not a tyrant. I would not force Fluttershy to join our armed forces, and neither would I force her to change her decision now that she has. You are aware that Captian Applejack is in charge of the armed forces stationed in Ponyville, correct?"

"I'm not the eyes and ears of Equestria for nothing you know." He sassed.

More temple rubbing ensued. "Then perhaps you are also aware that Applejack feels the same way? Now that Fluttershy and Pinkie both have signed up, they are directly under her command. She's seen fit to put them through the basic combat and self-defense training and only the most basic of posts to ensure that neither ever see combat."

Discord's begrudging look informed her that he did in fact know all of that already. "Discord, do not worry. Her friends will look out for her, and by learning basic combat her safety is only more-so guaranteed in the event of something unexpected. She couldn't stay on the sidelines forever, watching as everybody she loved stepped forward to face the struggles of war without her. She's too kind to let them face the darkness without her right there with them."

Discord slouched in defeat, drooping like a limp noodle. Then, with a glint of hot steel in his voice he straightened up and resumed pumping his magic into the machines with a gusto. "Remember this Celestia, every year that goes by is another year we've failed them. Whether we could have stopped this at the beginning or not, every year is another year we've failed to make our friends truly safe. You should leave now. With me stuck down here our fates lie in you and your sister's hooves. Guide us well, and make haste in ending this war, for all our sakes."

*****

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"Subject: Earth Pony, Male.
Place of Origin: Eastern Maretonia"

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"Test #203: Relative Tensile strength of skull, spine, and femurs."

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"Hmm, what do you think big fella? Want to try the sword? Perhaps the spear? Oooh! I know, how about the hammer?"

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"Hammer it is! Let's start with the femurs and work our way up!"

From somewhere far off, King Sombra's voice rumbled through the crystal walls. "Amethyst Marrow get moving young lady, it's time to go!"

With a sigh, the magenta unicorn slipped her safety goggles up to her forehead and switched on the overhead lights. Bright glaring light filled the rest of her laboratory, causing her rusty-colored test subject to squint and moan around his gag. "I know I know big fella, daddy had to go and spoil the fun I had planned out for us today. But don't you worry, I'll be back in a couple days to continue where we left off. Here, be a gentle-colt and hold this for me while I'm gone." Hefting an impressive 200lb maul as if it were a paperweight, Amethyst gently placed it upon the earth pony's chest and stored away the rest of her tools for later. Finished with her meticulous organization, she all but pranced on the way out, leaving the hapless earth pony to struggle vainly just to breath.

It was a beautiful day in the crystal empire. Celestia's sun glared down upon them with the fury of an angry monarch, but she paid it no heed. Instead she marveled at all her parents had accomplished in the last few years of their reign. To the south lay the industrial quadrant where machines the size of small cities (of her brother's own design) slowly ripped the mountains apart, separating weak stone from the valuable minerals it contained. Forcibly awakened volcanoes belched lava endlessly, providing the empire with an endless source of geothermic energy and, more importantly, pure obsidian.

To the north lay miles upon miles of specially designed greenhouses, growing the tonnes of food the empire needed to sustain itself. Amethyst chuckled to herself, she supposed it would be more appropriate to credit Ponyville in this case, after all it was their plants and seeds that they had generously 'donated' flourishing inside those greenhouses now. To the East was nothing special, just the four-story barracks buildings that housed the Crystal Empire's entire militant population. Though unremarkable to look upon the rows and rows of crystal prisms, it still brought a smile to her face, as far off on the horizon she could just barely make out the signs of further construction adding yet more barracks to the count. It signified the Empire's ever growing strength, and ever growing pool of subjects for her to 'improve'.

To the west of the castle lay her personal pride and joy, the laboratory that she had just come from. She'd formed it herself just two years ago, taking inspiration from the structure of amino acids to form the many-sized domes where she conducted her experiments with covered walkways connecting each dome to another. On the farthest end of her laboratory stood her favorite dome of them all, completely black and stretching deceptively far below ground. This held all the prisoners the Crystal Empire collected over the war, and all the facilities she could ever want to persuade them to loosen their tongues (or to simply have fun with them if they held no significance.) In the middle of that room was her most prized possession, a book detailing all the great tortures ever conceived, a book she has since doubled in size.

Next to that was her brother's own facility. As usual, the twerp had jumped at the opportunity to try and one-up his twin sister and the result could only be described as needlessly complicated. Emerald had pulled out all the stops creating his lab, giant gears constantly churned away to the time of swinging double-pendulums that dragged the gears into new positions, or pumped pistons up and down into the ground. These all served to constantly change the shape and design of his building, spires rising one moment and disappearing the next. As she watched, a massive tower slowly tipped over and unraveled, revealing a cubic building inside with the remnants of the tower in a tilted orbit around it. How he'd managed to construct this endlessly changing monstrosity (let alone find the entrance and actually get any work done inside) was far beyond her, not that she'd ever admit to such a thing.

Beyond both buildings lay the Empire's very own Imperial Academy, a structure that had grown to truly massive proportions since it's founding. Every month, the foals of the next generation entered for incubation and expedited programming. By the end of six months they would leave campus fully-grown to join the ranks of their brother's and sister's in the army, ready to create the next generation of lucky crystal ponies. Stupid Emerald may have gotten his chance to show off his machines in the industrial sector, but it was she, Amethyst Marrow that had worked side by side with their mother to genetically improve her students. Thanks to Amethyst and her extensive knowledge of biology, pregnancy lasted only two months in crystal ponies, and their physical strength and endurance rivaled that of even minotaurs. She'd given her parents an army that would take the world by storm, and they couldn't be more proud.

Trotting up the steps to their castle, she found the rest of her family already gathered in the main hall. Her father stood across from her mother with an exasperated yet loving smile on his face, nodding periodically as she went through a checklist that stretched across the hall. Next to her father was Emerald, already extremely bored and busy fiddling with a simple gyroscope. The very sight of him was somehow aggravating enough to make her want to roll her eyes, so instead she turned her attention to her favorite brother instead, Cobalt Tempest. Only three years old, Cobalt was the odd one out, a pegasus in a family of unicorns (and one alicorn). With very little magical power to call his own, Cobalt had come into the world far more quietly than she and Emerald had, and since then had stuck to his mother's side like glue. Even now he stood slightly behind and under her mother's left foreleg, as if using her to shield himself from the uncertainties of the world.

With a smile, Amethyst crept around her seemingly oblivious mother and snuck up behind her unsuspecting victim. Coiling her muscles, she crouched down, waiting...waiting...waiting for that perfect moment...and THERE! With a giggle and a cry of "Gotcha" she launched herself forward only to find herself crashing into Emerald's terrified face. Disentangling herself from her twin, she looked around to find her intended victim chortling with laughter and her mother giving her a stern and knowing look, horn alight with the distinct bruised-purple aura.

Having paused with her checklist already, Twilight bent her head down to Cobalt and gave him a gentle nudge with her muzzle. "Go on now sweetie, go play with your brother and sister while your father and I finish with the preparations for their trip." Still trying to contain his giggles, Cobalt leapt in their direction, letting his wings keep him afloat till his destination. "Hiya Emerald, Hiya Ammy, you guys are so lucky to get to go with dad to Windigo Peak. I wonder if he'll take me when I'm older?"

Brushing himself off from Amethyst's impromptu lion impersonation, Emerald rolled his eyes. "Dad's taking us to Windigo peak for our monthly magic lessons dummy, why would he ever bring you along?" Tucking his wings closer to his body, the crestfallen Cobalt felt stupid for asking. "Oh, right." Inexplicably, Emerald felt an impending sense of doom. No mystery went unsolved around Emerald however, and seconds later he had his answer as Amethyst's hoof clubbed him across the back of his head, hard enough to plant him face first into the palace floor.

"Don't listen to him Tempy. Remember that while we're gone with dad you get mom all to yourself, and since she's an alicorn you get to learn everything you could want about flying and weather from her. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to come back and find you've gone and found your cutie mark already." As she'd hoped, this brightened Cobalt's mood notably, his wings twitching in excitement and eyes gleaming brightly. "You really think so Ammy?" She couldn't help but smile at his exuberance. Reaching out to ruffle his short silver mane, she looked him straight in his amber eyes and said, "Definitely."

Cobalt pranced in joy, his brother could be a bit mean sometimes, but Ammy always managed to cheer him up. His own cutie mark, wouldn't that be exciting? Both of them had gotten their cutie marks around his age, so that must mean he'd be getting his soon too! Cobalt's happy dance took an unexpected turn however, when an blood-red aura flipped his world upside down and tossed him high in the air. "Beware! Tis' I , the all-powerful King of the Beasts from Underbed, fall back to earth to be my dinner!" His father bellowed playfully.

"NoooOoOOooOOooo" giggled Cobalt gleefully, I'm gunna stay up here, you can't catch me when I'm flying!"

"Bwahahahaha, foolish child, did you not think I would come prepared? Behold my newest ally, the one-horned purple pony eater!" With a whoosh of air Twilight appeared behind her youngest colt and began to tickle him mercilessly. "Yes! Excellent work my fiend, now bring the child to me so we may feast together!"

"Feast? On this beautiful little angel?" Gasped Twilight in mock surprise, "I could never! I think I shall keep him all for myself oh King of the Beasts." To add insult to injury she blew him the biggest, wettest raspberry possible, one mimicked by Cobalt beside her.

"Gah! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

Chuckling warmly, Twilight landed upon the floor once more to embrace her husband and their two eldest foals. "Now you three be careful up at Windigo Peak alright? Make sure to keep nice and warm while you're away, and don't hesitate to write back home if you need anything. Remember the windigo population is in no danger of being eliminated at this rate for another few years, so go all out and have fun with your lessons!"

Rolling her eyes, Amethyst hugged her mother back and sighed. "Relax mom, it's only going to be a couple days. You'll barely notice we're gone." Released from her grasp, Sombra gave her a quick kiss goodbye and a wink. "See you soon love. Alright kids, lets go have some fun we've got to get an early start to get there before all the windigos flee the peak again." Without further ado, all three of them disappeared in a flash of ruby light, leaving the Queen and the young prince behind.

"So mommy, Ammy said you'd help me get my cutie mark while they were gone!"

Arching her eyebrow at her littlest angel, Twilight could barely contain her smirk. "Oh, did she now? I don't know, you're still too young to have a cutie mark, don't you think?"

Standing as tall as he possibly could and flaring his wings out to make himself look bigger (and thus older) Cobalt proudly declared "Nope, I'm all growed up see?"

Putting her hoof around him, she tugged him close as they walked out of the main hall. "Hmm, I suppose you are. Your father certainly thinks so, he suggested I give you the talk while he was away."

"The talk? What talk mommy?" Goodness her colt was so adorable when he cocked his head in curiosity like that. "The same talk I gave your brother and sister when they were your age. Come, we'll need the viewing crystal in the throne room for this." Taking to wing, Twilight flew through her castle fast as an arrow, carrying along Cobalt for the ride. Arriving at their destination, she settled her colt down on a soft pillow before turning to the large half-globe set in the floor (Ammy called it the great wart of the castle, much to her parent's chagrin).

"Pay close attention now Cobalt, as this is very important." Waiting for her eager cult to nod his head in acknowledgement, Twilight continued. "As you know, we, the Crystal Empire, are currently at war with Equestria and its allies. In fact it might be easier to simply state that we are at war with the world. Like your brother and sister before you, you need to understand our reason why, and that's what we're going to show you today, understand?" Another nod. "Excellent." Twilight slowly let her power flow into the viewing crystal, allowing a view of a quaint and oddly-not-made-of-crystal village to come into focus.

"This is a small town in south-west Maretonia, in fact the farthest gathering of ponies from Equestria's borders that exists, besides ourselves of course." Cobalt's hoof shot up into the air as he thought of a question. "Yes sweetie?".

"Why does it have to be so far away from Equestria mommy? If Equestria is our enemy, should't we be viewing them instead?"

Twilight swelled with pride at her colt's keen mind. "Yes love that's true, but the viewing crystal only works if it can form a crystal bridge between here and the target location. We're not entirely certain how, but Equestria seems to have a system in place that lets them detect every new crystal growth that happens beneath the surface, no matter how low. Furthermore, normal scrying spells are being blocked by the very sun and moon above us so that our enemy can keep us in the dark as to what they are doing. Fortunately, their defenses weaken the farther from Equestria's borders you go, thus why we're able to see into this corner of Maretonia without detection." With a soft "oooooooh" Cobalt settled back down into his pillow and waited for her to continue her lecture.

"Now, I'd planned on showing this to you last night, so I took the time to do a little bit of preparation. You see, in this town there is a popular and handsome young colt running for mayor, and he seems to have gotten the entire town behind him in support of his numerous fake promises. All, but one that is. This filly has actually read the bills that he intends to pass as the new mayor, and found several clauses cleverly worded to fill his own pockets and drive the poor even further below the poverty line. Taking a stand, she's called out his hypocrisy before the entire town only to get booed for hating their beloved candidate. Not one single pony believed her, and now she lives a sole outcast in a society addicted to his sugary words."

"Another advantage of the viewing crystal over traditional scrying is that I'm able to project a small amount of my magic through it and affect objects on the other side. So last night I took the liberty of murdering the pompous fool in his sleep."

"Wait wait wait, you killed him!?" Squeaked Cobalt in surprise.

"Hmm? Oh yes, simply levitated a knife over and slit his throat, I even disintegrated the blade so there would be no evidence of the crime nor who did it. Did them quite the favor really."

"But, why mommy?" Twilight sighed and looked her little angel in the eyes. "Because you need to see this Cobalt, you need to see the ugly truth that they hide beneath their happy lives with your own eyes.." She returned her attention to the viewing crystal, where a shriek of dismay could be heard as the sun crept over the horizon. "Ah, it looks like they've found him. It should only be a matter of time now. Watch closely."

Together they watched as a throng of ponies grew quickly in the streets, shifting about nervously and yelling in loud voices. For the longest time they seemed to mill about in confusion, wondering who did it and why, and what would they do now? Slowly but surely, a decision was made and shared. Confusion turned to anger, panic into outrage, and as one the mob marched on the door of a nearby home and broke down the door and dragged a still half-asleep pony outside.

"That Cobalt, would be our little outcast, the one who spoke out against the pompous fool from the beginning. Now in the case of a murder, the law states that the body is to be examined and the crime scene thoroughly investigated for evidence to determine subjects. Any suspect charged with the crime is innocent until proven guilty through hard evidence and important details such as means, motive, and opportunity. Watch instead what they do."

Struggling vainly against the small horde of ponies holding her captive, the filly seemed to be extremely upset, shaking her head violently whenever she was accused of the crime. This only enraged the crowd even more, a few taking the opportunity to beat her with their hooves before placing her in chains and staking them to the ground. "See my dearest Cobalt? See how they ignore the justice of their own laws simply because she did not share the same view as everybody else. She was the only one to not like the fellow, whether or not she's ever shown a tendency for violence or not, whether she has a valid aliby or not, because she was different from the rest, she's unfairly accused, and unjustly sentenced."

Cobalt felt a growing feeling of dread lay heavy upon his chest as the crowd amped itself up higher and higher. Now gathered in a tight circle around their victim, it was not long before the first stone flew through the air and pelted the poor pony with a loud crack. Soon, more and more followed in its wake, scattering her blood as she reeled in pain. Cobalt wanted to look away, he wanted to hide himself under his mother's wing so that she could tell him that it was all ok, that it wasn't real. But he couldn't, for in the tears that stained the innocent pony's face he saw a pain that went far beyond physical agony. It was a pain that he could not fathom, but now wished with all his heart that he could remove from this world. Just as quickly as it had begun, the spectacle ended as a final rock forcefully caved in her head, and ended her torment.

Twilight's heart wrenched at the sight of her little colt's quaking. He was still so young, still just a baby. Wrapping him tightly in her wings, she picked him up and held him close against her. "There there Cobalt, I'm so sorry you had to see that. But it's important for you to know what we're fighting against. Your father and I were both outcasts in that cruel, unchanging society, but we have the strength to fight back, we have the power to change it."

Cobalt looked up from where his face had been buried in her chest, tears falling big and heavy from his eyes. "How *hic*, how are you gonna fix it mommy?" Twilight sighed deeply and gave him a kiss.

"That's a very difficult question love, and its doesn't necessarily have any right answer. The world is like a great big wound that's been festering for the last thousand years. Only time and the choices of all ponies involved can eventually heal it."

"Then, what can we do? I don't wanna see anypony hurt like that again."

Twilight closed her eyes and held him closely, rocking gently back and forth to soothe her gentle colt. "We do the only thing we can sweetie, just like any wound that's been allowed to fester for so long, we must first burn out the infection and let the body do the rest."

Behind her muffled shouts of panic could be heard from the viewing screen as it filled with Twilight's magic, bursting with brilliant violet light that violently destroyed the images inside. Somewhere in south-west Maretonia, another name was crossed off the map.

Author's Note

Just FYI, for pony aging I try to stick as close to anatomically correct as I can. However since the show seems to demonstrate a much slower and more human aging timeline, for all my stories I use this physical maturity comparison chart here and then double the length of the horse timeline. (For example, 10 years to reach physical maturity as apposed to 5.)

http://horses.about.com/od/understandinghorses/a/Comparing-Horse-To-Human-Age.htm