The Darkest Star In the Sky

About Five Thousand Years Later...

Twilight Sparkle had been reading very late into the night. Spike had already gone to bed. She usually gave herself a pretty strict bedtime, but the Journal of the Two Sisters was just too fascinating. Before she discovered the book in Celestia's and Luna's old castle, she had never even pictured the two of them as children. This was her third time reading through the entire book, but she still managed to find something new each time.

She yawned and looked at the clock. She looked surprised, not knowing that it was that late. She closed the journal reluctantly and set it on a pedestal. She stretched and yawned, suddenly feeling very tired now that she knew what time it was. She went up to her loft, about to get ready for bed. She looked down at Spike who was out cold from such a long day. She smiled. He had grown so much since the two of them moved to Ponyville. To everyone else, it looked like he had not grown at all. But having spent a good portion of her life with the baby dragon, she could tell how much older he was getting. In fact, she was hesitant to refer to him as a baby. Thanks to the lack of information on dragons, she knew very little about how they age and grow, save for the events surrounding his birthday. However, it was still nice seeing him get older. She hoped that she would be able to to see him grow up for many more years to come.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight jumped at the sound of the mysterious voice. It sounded like it was coming from behind her, but there was no one else in the room that she could see except for Spike. “Hello?” she called out to the empty air. “Who's there?”

There was silence. Twilight felt her heartbeat quicken with fear. She didn't recognize the voice that had said her name. She waited for a few more seconds before deciding that she must have been imagining things. It had been a while since she had slept. She yawned and made a move to get into her bed.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash right in front of her eyes. She gasped and covered her eyes.

“The abandoned castle at sunset tomorrow. Come alone.”

Twilight tried to see who it was, but her vision was temporarily impaired due to the flash. By the time her eyes readjusted, the mysterious person was gone.

“Whuh?” Spike groaned. “Did someone turn on the lights...?”

Twilight rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the residual stars at the edges of her vision. “No, Spike. Go back to sleep.”

“Don't have to tell me twice,” Spike said, falling back to sleep immediately.

Twilight looked out of the window. Who was that and what did they want with her?

*

Trixie Lulamoon was all but lost in the Everfree Forest. She had just barely remembered what she had come into this forest for. It was, of course, to retrieve something that had been taken from her in an unfair contest.

It was getting darker as the sun set below the horizon. She knew all about the strange creatures that lived in the forest, especially the ones that came out at night. She would have to turn around now if she wanted to return to her carriage safely. The only problem was that she had no idea where she was. She gulped nervously.

“Are you lost, my little pony?”

Trixie turned around to see a pony standing in front of her in the near perfect darkness. It was hard to make out any distinct features, but she could tell that it was a mare. Her teeth were gleaming in the darkness with an unsettling smile. “Who are you?”

“Well that's rude,” the mare said disapprovingly. “Isn't it customary to introduce yourself before asking for someone else's name?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow but decided to along with this strange pony. “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. Again I ask-” The pony started giggling, throwing Trixie off. “What's so funny?”

“I'm kidding! I already know who you are, Trixie Lulamoon!” the pony admitted. “I'm actually a big fan of yours.”

Trixie was surprised. That's one sentence that she had not heard in a very long time. “Really...uhh, I mean of course!” she caught herself. “It's always nice to meet fans of my magic act.”

The pony stepped a little closer to Trixie and extended a hoof for her to shake. Trixie could get a better look at her now. She was a light gray Earth pony with a long, shaggy black mane. She had green eyes. Something about her...did not look right to Trixie. She did not let her worry show on her face though. “I'm sure it is,” the pony said. “But it's not your magic act that I enjoy about you.”

“What are you talking about?” Trixie asked, trying to take her hoof back. The other pony wouldn't let go though. She pulled and pulled, but her grip was strong. Trixie was now very worried. “Let me go!”

The mare frowned insincerely. “Aww, I really wish I could. But...your time has come.” She stretched out her other hoof to her side. A swirling white and black vortex appeared on the ground beside them.

Trixie was in full panic mode. She tried again to get away from this stranger's grip but to no avail. “What are you doing!?” she cried out. “What is that?”

The pony looked her right in the eye and smiled dementedly. “Your destiny.” And with that, the pony fell into the vortex, dragging a screaming Trixie down with her.

*

There were fewer things in this world that Luna enjoyed more than raising the moon at night and lowering it in the morning. Yes, even lowering the moon was enjoyable to her now. She recalled the days when she would resent lowering the moon to make way for her sister's sun. Back then, she did not appreciate the balance that it brought to the world. Just as she and Celestia were sisters, so were the sun and moon. They kept each other in check. Without one, the other would fall into chaos...and so would the rest of the world.

Right now, she was lowering the moon to bring forth the day. Pretty soon, her sister would arrive to raise the sun, just as they had always done together. She smiled when she thought about how the two of them were back together again. It had been about a year since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had freed Luna from her Nightmare Moon persona, but the memory of the whole affair was still fresh in her mind. She was glad that it was over.

“Oh, my dear...it is never over...”

Luna lost her concentration as she heard the voice. It was a sickly sweet, feminine voice. She looked back and forth, but saw no one. She was alone on the tower. Confused and wary, she returned to lowering the moon.

“You've already forgotten me, haven't you?”

There it was again. “Who's there!?” Luna called out, apparently to the empty air. “Show yourself!”

There was a long silence before the voice spoke again. “Wow, you aren't kidding. You really don't remember me. You have no idea how much that hurts me, daughter.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Daughter...?” she repeated.

Even though Luna could not find the source of the voice, she could hear her smiling. “Don't worry, dear Luna – Mother will be home soon.”

Luna waited for a long time, but the voice was gone. Who was that, she wondered. And why was she claiming to be her mother...and by extension, Celestia's? They had no mother, only a father...and he was long dead. Was it really possible...?

She shook the ridiculous notion from her head and continued with the lowering of the moon, as she had been tasked to do for as long as she could remember.

*

The entire landscape was blanketed in white. Snow was coming down at an unstoppable rate, whiting out the entire sky as well. Each hoofstep the old pony made was quickly filled back up, erasing all visible traces that he had ever been there.

The old Earth pony was maroon red and had a long, shaggy black mane and tail with white streaks. It was difficult to tell just how old he was, but he looked about middle-aged. He had gray lines under his eyes and the corners of his mouth were creased with years of frowning and stress. Yet, he looked unaffected by the snow and ice pelting him from above. He was looking for something...or rather, someplace.

He stopped and scanned the horizon for any sign of his destination. He cursed at the blinding snow. It was extremely difficult to see even two hooves ahead of himself. He wished that he had brought goggles with him, but that would have ruined his plan.

He smiled as he caught a glimpse of what he was searching for. There was a high tower in the distance, made of nothing but pure crystal. He knew what would be in the center of that tower, radiating love and happiness all over Equestria. But it was not the ancient relic that he was after.

He trudged on through the snow, hurrying his pace now that he could tell exactly where he was going. It took several minutes, but he finally got a clear view of the Crystal Kingdom. Smiling to himself, he began staggering, swaying back and forth as he walked across the snow. Suddenly, he collapsed into the powdery mix. The snow felt cold against his body, but he ignored it. He knew that it would only take a while before his plan yielded success.