Through the Flames

by Lunar Specter

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Original Character, Spike
Length: 8257

A lot can happen in 20 years. Some things change, some don't. Twilight learns this the hard way after encountering a new villain and waking up 20 years in the future.

A lot can happen in 20 years.

Ponies and places can change, but there are some things, like friendship, that may never change.

After encountering a new villain, Twilight wakes up 20 years in the future. Now facing a whole new set of problems and challenges, Twilight must join the fight for survival in a world gone insane.

Published 2014-12-31 04:00:04 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-12 06:09:44 UTC

Prologue

The Friendship Express. The primary method of transportation across Equestria, and normally guaranteed to be a nice, quiet, hassle-free trip.

“Rainbow Dash, give me back mah hat!”

Normally. Well, as ‘nice and quiet’ a trip with six of the most famous (and crazy) ponies in Equestria could be when on a four hour train ride to Canterlot.

A thud sounded throughout the car, followed by a cry.

“W-What? Pinkie Pie, get…off!” cried Applejack, currently held down in a death grip by non-other than Pinkie Pie.

“Nope!” was the pink pony’s response.

“Pinkie!”

“Sorry, Applejack…no, wait, actually I’m not sorry. You need more hugs. I have a weekly quota to meet on hugs for each of my friends aaaaand I haven’t meet yours yet! So since today’s Sunday, I gotta get them all in today! I mean, it’s not like Rainbow Dash had asked me to hold you down while she made off with your hat or anything!”

“Pinkie Pie, let me go!”

“Isn’t quota such a neat word? Twilight uses it lots of times! It sounds funny too! Quota! Quota! Quota!”

Raucous laughter sounded nearby from a certain prismatic mare, causing Applejack’s attention to shift back to her.

Applejack glowered at Rainbow. “This is all your doin’, ain’t it?”

Rainbow’s laughter died down and she responded by plopping Applejack’s hat onto her head, flashing a cocky smirk, turning around and strolling to the opposite side of the car, where the car’s other occupants sat.

While one occupant, a certain yellow pegasus, was watching on with a small, amused smile that still held a hint of concern, the ruckus went completely unnoticed by the car’s other two occupants. Rarity was pre-occupied with applying the finishing touches to a rather large, flashy hat, which she had insisted was a necessity for reflecting the importance of their visit. Princess Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, was busying staring out one of the car’s many windows, completely content with being lost in thought. In short, she was worried about what might await them in Canterlot.

Earlier that morning, Celestia had sent her a letter. That of itself was not that odd, given the well-known knowledge that Twilight and Celestia were close. Most would dare say their relationship was closer to a mother-daughter one, than a student-teacher one. That is to say the arrival of the letter is not what concerned Twilight. No, it was its message. A simple and concise request for her and her friends’ presence in Canterlot immediately. Nothing else was written. No reason for summons, no mention of a great disaster, nothing. Although, upon closer inspection, Celestia’s handwriting was ever so slightly messier. Meaning she had written the message while in a hurry. To Twilight, something just felt off about the whole thing.

This mystery is what wracked Twilight’s mind while on the train ride, her friends’ presence the only thing keeping from panicking.

“Howdy, ma’am. Mighty fine meetin’ a Princess like yerself on dis ‘ere train.” Spoke a suspiciously familiar voice from beside her.

This succeeded in drawing Twilight out of her thoughts as she turned to behold Rainbow Dash sporting a very familiar Stetson and her ever-present smirk.

Quirking an eyebrow, Twilight asked the one thing that came to mind:

“Rainbow Dash, what’re you doing?”

“Well, Ah do believe Ah’m tryin’ tah impress a certain young missus.” Dash replied, in a voice that was a perfect impersonation of Applejack’s. However, her accent was way off which resulted in her just looking silly.

Twilight, however, was not really in the mood for fun and games.

“Dash, I don’t know how you can be goofing off at a time like this.” Twilight responded, turning back toward the window.

Rainbow’s smirk faltered at that, but a second look at her friend revealed that the alicorn was actually very stressed underneath her calm appearance, which if it were not for the years they’ve known each other, Dash would not have noticed.

Dash sighed. She knew what she had to do but she was never very good at all this sappy stuff. Taking the seat next to Twilight she tried to comfort her to the best of her ability.

“Chillax, Twi. I’m sure there’s nothing all that big going on.” All hints of Dash’s earlier impersonation attempt were gone.

Twilight’s attention returned to Rainbow, although she now bore a rather unimpressed expression. “Her letter requested our presence immediately and I’m fairly certain that usually means it is something important.”

“Oh, come on. I bet it’s probably some kinda princess duty or something other political thing.” Seeing that that alone didn’t cheer her up, Dash continued. “I mean it can’t be another bad guy or trouble maker out there! I bet no one would dare show their face again after how we defeated Tirek!”
That got a small smile from Twilight. “I suppose you’re right.”

“We’ll be arriving at Canterlot station in ten minutes!” Bellowed a voice over the train’s intercom system. “Please gather all of your belongings!”

“Well I guess we’ll find out soon.” Twilight said.

Something horrible had happened.

That is all Twilight could make sense of from the chaos that greet them when the train’s doors had opened.

Confusion and panic filled the air. Royal guards were running back and forth across the station, manning their assigned stations for if there were any sort of emergency or attack. The citizens in the station all appeared to be confused, for most of them were standing off to the side and warily watching the guards or trying to leave the station to return to their homes or board the train to stay out of their way.

She was now kicking herself for leaving Spike behind in Ponyville. She had wanted him to stay behind to look after the castle and, in the worst case scenario, be out of harm’s way. She was sure that they had tried to contact her about whatever was going on.

It didn’t take very long for one of the guards to approach Twilight after they had all deboarded the train.

Coming to a short stop in front of her and quickly dropping to a bow, he started to address her. “Princess Twilight, there’s an emergency at the castle! Full details haven’t been provided, but the signal has been activated that we’re under attack.”

Luckily, Twilight’s sharp mind kicked in before panic could begin to set in.

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Return to your station.”

He gave a quick bow before running off somewhere while Twilight glancing back to her friends.

“Come on, girls!” She called, before running out of the station, the rest of the girls in tow. Twilight, Dash and Fluttershy taking flight as soon as they exited the station.

Arriving at the castle revealed it to be even more hectic than the station. Several guards were outside the castle assuring that the many servants, nobles, and political figures made it out safely and were directed to another location, while many more guards were rushing into the castle.

Twilight and her friends joined the herd of guards rushing into the castle and headed straight for the throne room, where Twilight knew the Princess would be at this time of day.

The hallways were filled with guards. Some of the higher ranking guards were barking orders to their subordinates, others were rushing to their stations.

Along the walls and floors of the hallways they ran down, they saw scorch marks. Paintings and rugs were caught aflame, guards desperately trying to put the flames out. Many of the beautiful statues and vases that normally decorated the halls were smashed, either by the guards or whatever the source of all this chaos.

There was even a sight that Twilight dreaded to see: severely burnt guards either lying unconscious on the ground or those unfortunate enough to still be conscious, crying out in pain.

The closer they got to the throne room, the more hectic it became.

As they rounded the corner, they finally came across the entrance to the throne room.

The marvelously decorated doors were severely scorched and sealed shut in a magical glow that Twilight didn’t recognize. Guards flowed the hallway and were desperately trying to break down the doors, which appeared to be ineffective against the magic sealing them.

There was still no sign of the Princesses.

As they neared the door, the guards gradually seemed to notice their presence and cleared a path for them until they stood in front of the door.

As a guard, a Captain of one of the squads, addressed her and explained all that was known of the current situation, Twilight lit her horn and began to analyze and crack the magic seal.

Apparently, a pegasus guard on the outskirts of the city had spotted a mysterious being approaching the city on foot and by the time the guard, one of their fastest sentries, could deliver the message to the castle, the being had teleported within the castle’s main lobby and started wreaking havoc.

By the time she had cracked the spell, Twilight had learned that this being had powers beyond anything they have ever seen. The guard described it as having a pony-like shape with a body made of molten lava. It could cast flames, burned everything it touched, and traveled long distances in the blink of an eye.

As the spell fell away from the doors, Twilight creaked one of the doors open and prepared for the worst.

When no attack came immediately, she and her friends barged through the door. Besides them, only two guards made it through before the spell reactivated and sealed the doors again, trapping them in the room.

Glancing around, Twilight beheld the room. It was completely destroyed. Scorch marks and fires filled the room, both throne lied in ruins and several of the window murals in the room were smashed but fire raged where they once were delaying pegasi guards from entering.

Worst of all: there was still no sign of either Celestia or Luna.

Instead, the room’s lone occupant was a unicorn stallion with a tan coat and a dark red mane covered in soot and cowering in the center of the room. He was curled into a ball and appeared to be trying to shield himself with his forelegs over his head.

The two guards who managed to enter with them, one a unicorn and the other an earth pony, approached the stallion with their spears armed at the ready.

“You there! State your name. Why are you here? Where are the Princesses?” The earth pony guard barked at the stranger.

The stallion peeked out from behind his forelegs and seeing the guards, rose out of his fetal position, glancing about the room as if looking for something.

“M-my n-name is Lavan, I-I was h-here seeking appeal d-during day c-court. I d-don’t know w-where the Princesses are.” The stallion, Lavan, stuttered. “T-that thing attacked before I knew what happened. When I h-had looked up again, they were all g-gone.”

Twilight approached the stallion as the soldiers lowered their defensive stances.

“It’s okay. What you’ve experienced must’ve been dreadful.” Twilight addressed Lavan before turning to the guards. “Please escort him out and assure that he has no burns and is properly attended too.”

Twilight turned around and return to her friends, all of whom wore expressions of deep concern.

“Well, what do we do now, Darling?” Rarity asked.

“I…I don’t know. I guess we should begin with-” Twilight never got the chance to finish as cries of pain and clatters of armor on marble interrupted her.

Whirling around, Twilight saw both guards blown back and knocked unconscious. Lavan looked neither concerned nor scared as he smirked at them with an evil grin.

“Well, well. I never expected there to be yet another alicorn and a rather fresh one from the look of you.” He gave out a laugh, his visage beginning to literally burn away as his flesh turned to into smokeless fire and molten lava, his horn all together melting off. “Though, I’ll give it to you that you’ve had a rather excellent teacher. I’m assuming it was either Celestia or Luna, maybe both.

“It’s such a shame, you do show much promise.” He began to stalk towards them. “No matter. I’ve been sent here with a job to do and I shall keep my word.”
Before any of them could respond, he had summoned a fireball and launched it at them.

Luckily, Twilight had casted a shield upon instinct which was large enough to surround all six of them and powerful enough to give them enough time to plan their attack.

“I-I’m sorry, girls.” Twilight was obviously started to break down. Panic starting to set in, she curled up and hid behind her bangs. “I should’ve seen past his disguise. It’s so obvious now that his magic signature was off the charts.”

She felt a pair of hooves firmly, but not harshly, grab her shoulders.

“Twilight, now’s not the time t’ be panickin’.” Applejack said. “We can’t do this without ya.”

Twilight raised her head to meet Applejack’s eyes, seeing that they were as confident and honest as ever. The alicorn couldn’t help it as a small smile graced her lips.

“AJ’s right. We need to do something. We need to fight back.” Rainbow suggested.

“We can fire a rainbow at him!” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“One problem with that, darling: we don’t have the Elements anymore.” Rarity replied.

“Oh.” Pinkie’s ears dropped.

“Umm…what about that thing we did after we defeated Tirek? The thing that felt all warm?” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Fluttershy, you’re brilliant!” Twilight cheered, perking up instantaneously. “That stemmed from the Elements and what we defeated Tirek with. It comes from our harmony and from our friendship! We accessed it before and we should be able to do it again!”

Twilight could see the looks of realization cross all of her friends’ faces and one by one they slowly moved in closer.

Together, they closed their eyes and touched upon that link that was always the key to activating the Elements.

What they didn’t notice was that slowly their cores began to glow in the colors of their coat and that glow increased in brightness with each passing second.

They could feel that Twilight’s shield was growing weaker as the heat intensified and just as the shield reached its breaking point, their energy reached its crescendo. In perfect synchronicity, their colors blended together into a rainbow and rocketed out of the shield toward the villain.

Feeling their energies reaching its full draw, Twilight opened her eyes to witness Harmony’s work.

The rainbow surrounded Lavan and caused a blinding light, obscuring his visage.

Something wasn’t quite right.

The rainbow didn’t seem to be merging with him and hopefully changing him for the better, instead, it almost seemed to be reflecting off of him as it danced in the air.

The blinding light also obscured several of the rogue beams that ricocheted off him. One beam in particular she almost didn’t see until it was too late as it was redirected towards them.

She didn’t know what would happen to them if hit. She didn’t care. Only thing her mind processed in that split second was that her friends were in danger. So, she did the first thing that came to mind: she teleported into the beam’s path.

She didn’t feel the impact nor did she feel any pain. The blackness of unconsciousness had greeted her before she could experience either.

Author's Note

Next chapter will get into the main storyline more and should come out in the next few days.

Its been a while since I've written anything that isn't a lab report or paper on an engineering project, so if any of you see anything that could be improved upon or any grammar mistakes please point them out!

Thanks for reading!

Chapter One

Black.

Nothing but never-ending black. Above her, below her. All-around.

She didn’t know where she was or how she got there. She didn’t even remember who or what she was…is. It felt like she was just…there. Floating…standing…she wasn’t quite sure. It didn’t matter anyway. There was nothing to do, nowhere to go, because there was nothing all around.

At least, not until she heard them.

The voices had breached the darkness, somehow. She could never fully understand them though. Always obscured, like a conversation in the next room. She could tell some voices were different than others though, whether from their differences in pitch or tone. For instance, one was soft and sweet and never much above a whisper while another was deeper and had a distinct twang.

When she heard the voices, something weird happened too.

Colors.

Each voice brought a distinct color to the darkness. Yellow. Orange. White. Cerulean. Pink. A light purple. Sometimes there was only one voice and only one color, other times there were many voices and the colors would create a beautiful aurora as they danced across the darkness. Regardless if there was one or many, the voices and colors always filled her with a certain warmth, like she knew them from some place in a long forgotten memory.

She noticed too that the colors came from various places in the darkness but always left in the same spot, flying off in the same direction and disappearing. She didn’t know when, but at some point she had started moving in that direction. She couldn’t tell if she was walking, running, or floating; all she knew was that she wanted to follow those beautiful colors and so she did. The colors would come and go but she’d keep moving. Even when the colors and voices had stopped altogether, she still kept moving until she finally reached the end and everything turned white.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes to a familiar crystal ceiling.

Groaning, she closed her eyes as she stretched. Her muscles were strangely stiff and ached as she did so. She couldn’t really remember, but she probably just had another late night hunched over books. She rolled out of bed and spread her wings, hearing the satisfying pops of stiff joints loosening up.

Sighing contently, she opened her eyes. She found herself in a room with no windows and a single door for an exit. The room was barren of decorations. There were no portraits, no statues, not even a rug. Her bed was located on the opposite wall of the door and next to the bed, facing it, were a couple of rather plush and comfortable-looking chairs. The room appeared to somehow be self-illuminated, probably by a spell or enchantment, for though there were candle fixtures on the wall, none were lit.

She didn’t know where she was.

Twilight knew for sure that she was in her castle, she’d know that crystal architecture anywhere. But she’s never seen this room before and she was sure that she and her friends had discovered all the rooms.

So…she couldn’t have brought herself here. Maybe someone else did? The last she remembered, it was Saturday night and she was falling asleep in her bedroom after going over the checklist for tomorrow’s picnic with the girls.

Regardless, standing around and analyzing this strange room wasn’t getting her anywhere.

For some reason, her stiff muscles didn’t want her to walk as she nearly stumbled to the ground taking the first step. A quick spell took care of that soreness and the alicorn soon enough found herself at the room’s lone door.

Locked.

Analyzing the door, she found the door was locked and sealed with a magnitude of spells. Someone had obviously either wanted to keep her in or keep someone out. She needed to find someone and demand information…and that lock would take forever.

In a flash of magic, Twilight found herself on the other side of the door. Obviously if they were hoping to keep her in, they had forgotten one very important fact. That, or the lock was really meant to keep someone out.

Mind back to her current task, Twilight now found herself in a dark hallway. Whatever illumination spell the last room had, this hallway now lacked.

Lighting her horn, she noticed she was at the end of a hallway but she couldn’t tell how long the hallway was. Carefully, she started to make her way down the hallway which she noticed, like the last room, was strangely devoid of decorations unlike most of her castle. The hallway ended in a set of stairs which she soon discovered lead to…a wall. Great. It wasn’t even a full set of stairs.

Unless… remembering all the Daring Do stories she’s read, a common motif is the secret passageway. Maybe, that’s what this is.

Examining the nearby wall along the stairwell, she looked for something that might appear to act like a switch. Her horn’s light fell upon an elegant candle stick that must’ve at one point lit the hallway, figuring that objects like that normally serve as a switch, she tugged on it. Nothing.

There was nothing else on that wall so she turned around to examine the other wall that lined the stairs. This one had a candle stick as well, which after pulling on it, revealed it to be nothing more. However, this wall did have something a little different, on the wall was an exquisitely carved engrave of her cutie mark, the main star being no bigger than her hoof. All the details were just right, they even carved it out of the same beautiful crystal that her castle was made of. Astounded by the sheer beauty of the piece, she reached out to touch it. It depressed slightly at her touch and a click sounded, followed by the grind of stone moving as the wall blocking the stairs pulled back to reveal a room.

Leaving through the newly discovered exit, she found herself rising through the floor to her castle’s library.

At least, she was pretty sure it was her castle’s library. The place looked like a war had hit it. More than half of the books were gone and those that did remain lay scattered around the room, most were burned, slashed, or otherwise ruined but several still appeared to be fine. Many tapestries and paintings that once decorated the room were slashed or burned, the statues smashed beyond recognition.

The library’s normally grand double doors had been blown off their hinges by some powerful force and lay on the ground.

Something wasn’t right. So many questions ran through Twilight’s mind: Could this really have happened in one day, or could she somehow have been out longer? Where were her friends? Where’s Spike? Are they alright?

Including the all-important question: what, in the name of Celestia, happened?

Willing down her panic, which as she had learned never helped a situation, she found her way through the ruins and out of the library. The rest of the castle wasn’t much better, and it looked like a soul hadn’t stepped hoof in any room she’d passed through in a rather long time, judging by the dust. This only raised more questions.

Making her way outside to the castle grounds, Twilight found what appeared to be a series of long abandoned tents around her castle, enough to host small army. This wasn’t what concerned her however, in the light of day, off in the distance, she could see Ponyville.

Or what remained of it.

From her vantage point, she could see that so many of the buildings were burned down or collapsed. Only a scattered few buildings appeared to still be in one piece. But, still, not everyone could’ve left…right? Surely there was someone there who held the answers.

Twilight found her way through the maze of tents and followed the short distance to the outskirts of Ponyville. There didn’t seem to be very many stable buildings on this side town, but she began to make her way past each building, calling out for help as she went.

It was unbelievably quiet, like there wasn’t a living soul left in the town. Still, she persisted, searching through each building for any signs of ponies.

It was while searching through one of the buildings on a block adjacent to town square that she felt it…she was being watched. By Luna, she swore she saw a shadow flicker out of sight while leaving one of the buildings not soon after.

That incident was in the back of her mind by the time she had reached the town square. It was while crossing the town square that she heard a light shuffle from behind her. From very close behind her.

She froze in fear. Her heart hammering in her ears.

“Turn around, slowly.” A gruff voice from behind her demanded.

The alicorn decided that not fighting was probably a smart idea. She didn’t know who or what they were, or what they were capable of. Slowly, she began to turn around.

In front of her was a pegasus in black armor. A mare, if her body shape, still evident underneath the light armor, was any indication. Her mane was concealed beneath a helmet; her face hidden behind a scarf and a set of strange-looking flight goggles. She was in an attack stance, a dagger attached to her foreleg by some sort-of strap and pointed at Twilight, her wings spread wide as if ready to attack. Her wings were mostly covered in some type of armor, but the tips revealed that her coat was a light blue. However, her stance left her tail out of sight and her cutie mark hidden under her armor, leaving no further means of identification.

There was a long, awkward silence as the two simply stood there looking at each other. It was the stranger who broke the silence.

“Where did you get that image?” She asked, in the same gruff voice.

“W-wha-”

“I ASKED, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT IMAGE?!” The stranger yelled, lowering her position as if ready to lunge at Twilight.

“I-I don’t know what you’re t-talking about.” Twilight managed to stutter out, taking a step backward.

With impeccable speed, the stranger closed the distance between them and tackled the alicorn to the ground before Twilight could even react. The touch of cold, sharp metal pressed to her throat stopped her from fighting back.

“You heard me, changeling! Where did you get Twilight’s image?” The stranger growled, her face close enough that Twilight could feel her hot breath on her face. The lunge had caused the stranger’s scarf to fall loose, revealing a cerulean muzzle with a slim scar running on the right side of her muzzle from the tip of her nose and disappearing behind the goggles.

“I-I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m not a changeling! I just woke up a few hours ago and I don’t have any idea what is going on!” Twilight cried, cringing away in fear.

The stranger paused and pulled the blade slightly away from her neck. A good minute must’ve passed before the stranger spoke again, this time dropping the gruff voice and speaking in a voice that was all too familiar.

“If you’re not a changeling, then answer this question: how did we meet?”

The shift in voice caught Twilight momentarily off guard, but she answered almost automatically none-the-less.

“You crashed into me.”

A click sounded as the pressure of the blade disappeared, the pegasus stumbling backward off Twilight. As Twilight stood, she watched as the pegasus removed her helmet, a mane that spanned the colors of the rainbow falling loose. With the helmet, off came the goggles that shielded her eyes, revealing them to be a beautiful cerise.

In front of her was her friend Rainbow Dash, gawking at her as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Twilight was still shook up from the encounter, but a smile still overtook her face as she felt relief to finally see a familiar face.

Dash stood there for a good number of seconds before she finally reacted. Reaching out a hoof to touch Twilight’s chest, as if to make sure she was real.

“T-Twilight?” she asked, her voice cracking near the end.

“Yeah. Dash, what is -” Twilight didn’t get to finish her question as Rainbow pulled her into a tight hug.

Dash was never one for public displays of affection and she rarely initiated a hug, but yet here she was, hugging Twilight like she hadn’t seen her in forever. Just how long was she asleep? Maybe some kind of spell or something had gone wrong? …And since when did Rainbow wear armor and know how to use a dagger...and have a scar?

It was time for some answers.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight spoke up, “what is going on?”

Rainbow pulled away from the hug and faced Twilight again. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I have no idea what is going on! What happened to Ponyville? To my castle? To you?! To me?!” Twilight questioned, gesturing wildly in the direction of each of the objects as she mentioned them.

Dash’s expression was briefly one of confusion until realization dawned.

“What is the last thing you remember?” she inquired.

That wasn’t exactly the answer she wanted, but Twilight answered the questions anyway. “Falling asleep in my room the night before our picnic.”

Dash’s gaze flickered back and forth between Twilight’s eyes, as if searching for something. “Was this about two months after Tirek attacked?”

Twilight nodded.

“So you don’t remember getting Celestia’s letter and going to Canterlot?”

This time Twilight shook her head.

Dash looked away and took a deep breath.

“Twilight, you should take a seat.” She suggested.

It took Dash awhile to give the whole story about what happened that day, even filling her in about what happened after she was knocked unconscious.

She and the rest of the girls had awoken to find no Lavan and an unharmed and unconscious Twilight. They brought her back to her castle and when a few days had passed and she still hadn’t awoken, they called in a royal doctor…who called in more doctors. No one knew what was wrong until a specialist in magical conditions was called in. His diagnosis was that something must’ve backfired when they called upon the power of harmony, for the magic had locked her in a state similar to suspended animation. The doctor couldn’t give an estimate on when she’d wake up, so they called Cadence and Shining Armor in to rule Equestria in her stead.

It was a lot for Twilight to swallow and it still hadn’t answered every question Twilight had.

“But, what happened to Ponyville? How long was I out?”

Dash sighed, glancing out toward the ruins of Ponyville. “A war is what happened here. After we blasted him, Lavan kinda disappeared for a bit, but after a while he returned and things went to Tartarus. Ponies…gryphons…dragons…all kind of creatures turned on their own kind. Twilight, you…” Her friend paused, her mouth opening and closing multiple time, as if trying to decide what to say.

“Twilight, you’ve been in a coma for something around twenty years.” She finally managed to say.

Twilight felt the world come to a speeding halt. She became oblivious to everything around her as that last sentence echoed through her head. Twilight didn’t even realize she was beginning to hyperventilate until a sharp pain in her right cheek registered in her shocked mind, snapping her back to reality.

She came face-to-face with a Rainbow who was firmly gripping her shoulders. Though at first her expression was one of concern, Rainbow flashed an apologetic smile and pulled away.

“Sorry, Twilight but you weren’t responding to anything else.”

It took Twilight a solid thirty seconds to regain her train of thought, another half-minute to register that her friend had just slapped her, and another minute to come up with a response.

“So…twenty years?”

Rainbow just nodded. “Yeah.”

Twilight nodded along too, trying to decide on what to discuss next. What do you say when something like this has been dropped on you? Which of the million questions do you ask when your mind is chock full of them?

“What’s with the armor?”

Apparently, that was the question that decided to sneak its way out. It must’ve been one Dash liked as she stood a little taller and presented a proud smirk as she answered.

“You are looking at the Commander of the Rainbow Friendship Kingdom’s air squadron!”

Twilight tilted her head. “My kingdom?”

“Well, kinda!” Dash responded with a laugh. “We named our group after your kingdom in your honor.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile bashfully at that. “What of Spike and the other girls?”

“They’re all leaders in the Kingdom as well. Actually,” Rainbow glanced skyward. “I should start heading back to camp. I’m already way late and I don’t want them to start worrying.”

Dash picked up her helmet and brushed the dirt off of it, placing it back on her head when its cleanliness was deemed acceptable.

Spreading her wings, she prepared to take off but not before turning back to Twilight. “Come on, Twi. I’m sure the girls are going to be excited to see you again!”

The pegasus took off into the sky and Twilight soon joined her friend.

Twilight was anxious and excited to see the rest of her friends. There were many a fears and concerns about what may great her when they arrive, for who knows about what might've occurred in her absence. In addition to that, who knows what sort of mysteries and challenges the future may bring but if there's one thing she's learned over the years, it's that friendship always prevails and when armed with that magic, they can overcome any obstacle thrown their way.

However, throughout the day’s events, there was one thing that Twilight had failed to notice about her friend: despite the twenty-so years which have passed and behind the scars and dirt and dust that clung to her fur, Rainbow Dash did not appear to be a single day past the age when Twilight last saw her.

Author's Note

I'll hopefully have the next chapter penned up by the end of next week. But after that, the chapters will be slower coming with the semester starting up.

Anyway, again, if you guys see anything that could be approved upon please let me know! I'm still trying to get used to writing fiction.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter Two

The sun was just beginning to set by the time they finally saw their destination. The camp was nestled in the valley between two mountains and held the appearance of another abandoned small town, hidden by the forest of the valley. Twilight, with her heightened senses as an alicorn, could detect a strong magical signature resonating from the town even from the air.

They had flown low as they neared the valley and touched down about two miles from the town, walking the rest of the distance. Twilight assumed this was to keep up appearances as she was clothed in a ragged old black cloak Dash had picked from an abandoned town on one of their many pit stops during their three hour flight (Twilight still couldn’t fly for very long before growing winded). While on the ground, the cloak was long enough to mask most of her appearance, especially when the cape’s hood was up. Dash insisted that hiding her wings were a must, for an unfamiliar alicorn might startle ponies and bring about premature attention.

As they neared the town’s outskirts, two earth ponies, both clad in black armor and armed with short swords, appeared from separate seemingly-abandoned alleyways and approached them.

“Who goes there?” one of them called, stopping about ten feet away and blocking their path on the road.

“Who do you think? Come on, you guys see me pretty much every day.” Dash called back, sneering at them.

Both guards sheathed their weapons before the same guard spoke up again, “Sorry Commander Dash, it’s just protocol. General Armor would have our necks if he found out otherwise.”

Armor? The name caught Twilight’s attention however, before she could give it much thought, the second guard gained her attention.

“Who’s the unicorn in the hood?” The pony’s gaze had never left Twilight.

Dash briefly glanced at Twilight before looking back at the guards. “She’s just a pony I found wandering around out there. She was in one of those refugee groups but they left her behind for some reason…you know how they are.”

The guards just nodded, accepting the lie.

“Don’t cause any trouble and you’ll be fine.” The first one warned Twilight before addressing Dash again, “Miss Rarity has been looking for you.”

Dash groaned in response and dismissed the guards, who saluted before retreating back to their respective hiding spots.

Once the guards were out of hearing range, Twilight decided it was safe to speak up. “What was that about?”

“Just a routine check. They guard the entrance to the Kingdom.” She responded with a shrug.

Twilight glanced ahead further down the road, but failed to see any other hint of civilization. The rest of the area, in fact everything she could see, appeared to be an abandoned town completely devoid of any life…just like all the others she’s seen so far.

“But…where is it?” the alicorn asked.

Dash just laughed and without another word, continued down the street. Twilight, although baffled by the strange reaction, followed. When they got about twenty yards past where the guards had stood, Dash unexpectedly sprinted ahead. Caught off guard, Twilight barely had a chance to get to a full sprint before the most unusual sight occurred.

Rainbow Dash, who was about ten yards ahead of Twilight, vanished in a blink of an eye.

Twilight attempted to come to halt, but instead found herself tripping over her own hooves and stumbling forward in an attempt to regain balance.

Before she knew it, a strong sensation of magic passed through her and a pair of hooves caught her before she had a chance to tumble to the ground.

When her heart calmed down, Twilight heard hearty laughter from the pony holding her stable. “That was awesome!”

Twilight pulled out of Dash’s hold and stood back to glare at the laughing pony.

Though that glare soon turned to amazement as she beheld what lay beyond Dash. The street, which was barren mere seconds ago, was littered with tents and ponies ambled about. Many of the buildings that had been abandoned and held no signs of life, were occupied…or at least the still stable buildings were. In addition to ponies, Twilight even spotted several of the less common Equestrian species, such as gryphons and zebras, as well.

A black-clad hoof waving in front of her face brought her back to reality and she found Dash giving her a bemused look.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Dash asked.

Twilight stole a glance behind her and saw the same street from before but lightly distorted by a slight shimmer.

“A cloaking spell?” the alicorn inquired, quirking an eyebrow and turning back to Dash.

“Yep!” the pegasus replied, turning to continue through the town, beckoning Twilight to follow.

Twilight’s magical senses told her that the spell was incredibly strong and curiosity got the best of her as she lit her horn to quickly analyze the atmosphere around the town. The spell was indeed strong, and was almost dome-shaped, surrounding the town in all directions. It actually bore a striking similarity to her brother’s shield spell in several aspects; however if its signature was any indication, the spell had a significantly more complex structure than her brother’s spell. To top it all off, the spell was masterfully woven, holding next to no flaws in its structure. This all meant that the caster was not only extremely powerful, but also extremely talented.

She could think of only a few ponies who would be powerful enough to cast such a spell. Two of those ponies have been confirmed to still be missing, which left only her and two other ponies. Even though she loved her brother and sister-in-law dearly and both of them were powerful in their own right, neither of them had the knowledge or skill necessary to craft and cast such a complex spell. So…with her out of the picture, who else was cable of casting it?

“Who’s the caster? Do I know them?” Twilight asked, joining Dash on the trek through the town.
Dash gave a slight chuckle at the question. “That’d be Archmage Skyla and no, you don’t know her. Not yet anyway.”

“Huh…a unicorn of this much power had to have drawn attention and I don’t remember hearing of a unicorn named Skyla attending Celestia’s school.” Twilight wondered.

“That’s because she’s only 17.”

“What?!” Twilight came to an abrupt halt. “An archmage at 17?!”

“Yep!” Dash laughed. Seeing that Dash hadn’t stopped with her, Twilight trotted to catch up to her.

Waiting until her friend was back at her side, Dash continued, “Is it really that surprising? I mean you ascended and became a princess at only a few years older.”

Twilight blushed. “Well…yeah…”

“We also don’t have nearly as many mages nowadays. Most of unicorns are either too afraid to fight or just aren’t strong enough. So when a pony like Skyla appears, we offer them the chance to improve their skill. Once you meet her, you’ll see that it’s not surprising that she’s come this far.

“Besides, it’s really not that surprising considering who her family is.” Dash half-muttered under her breath.

“So she comes from a family of archmages then?” Twilight asked, her interest peaked.

Dash’s startled reaction made it obvious that she thought Twilight hadn’t heard her. “Well…uh…no, not exactly.”

“Not exactly? So…just a family of powerful unicorns then?”

“Yeah…?”

“Must be one of prestige if she can climb the ranks so quickly. Is it a noble family?”

“Uhhhh…” Twilight didn’t notice Rainbow starting to panic.

“Wonder which one it could be…there’s not that many noble unicorn families who are known for their mages or scholars. A majority are known mostly for their wealth or influence. But a few minor nobles have prestigious mages in their families like the Shimmers and Trotters.

Then again, I’m just thinking of Canterlot. Maybe she’s from one of the noble families in Manehattan, Baltimare, or some other city. Or maybe….”

“We’re here!”

Dash cry cut off Twilight mid-thought and she found that Dash had lead them to one of the larger buildings that was still standing.
Analyzing the building, Twilight found that it appeared to at one time have been a town hall, judging by its grandeur architecture. Although it was not without its signs of age, the sturdy brick foundation had obviously been strong enough to stand the test of time and looked as if it would last for decades more even in its current state.

As they entered the building, Twilight could tell that this was obviously the Kingdom’s center of operation as ponies and creatures of all types moved about the main lobby. Most were clothed in some type of armor, be it light or heavy, and carried some form of weapon. Some ponies were situated around desks littered with paperwork, while a few hefted large crates from one room to another.

Dash led them off to the right and down a hallway. This hallway was noticeably less crowded compared to the lobby, but with significantly more guards. Each guard Twilight passed seemed to be glaring at her, which made her feel as if she wasn’t supposed to be there, causing her to draw closer to Dash.

The hallway ended in a set of double doors which Dash halted just shy of before leaning in to whisper to Twilight.

“Keep your hood up and just follow my lead. Don’t say anything till I give the signal.”

“Wait, what sig-“ Twilight whispered back, but was cut short as Dash pushed open the doors and entered the room. Twilight let out a frustrated snort and followed shortly after.

The room itself was rather large and roomy and featured a large table as the focus. The room must have at one point served as a conference room and still served a similar purpose even now as a group of ponies crowded around the table, surveying what appeared to be a series of maps laid out across the table.

“…eyes on this ‘Alliance’, Pinkie?”

A group of very familiar ponies.

“Yep! I’ve got my best ponies on the job!”

In addition to the pink pony, Rarity was present as well, along with a few acquaintances and unfamiliar faces: yellow Pegasus stallion with a spikey blue mane, a balding brown earth pony stallion in a black business suit, a female gryphon, and a dark brown earth pony in a green vest. At the head of the table, however, running the show, stood two ponies in particular. Two who Twilight fought the urge to run towards and embrace.

Her brother and his wife.

To her, it was just the other day that she had last seen her friends and family; but to them, it was a whole lot longer than that and for all they knew, she was still sealed away in her castle. Comatose and all but dead to the world. She can see now why Rainbow had wanted her to keep her identity hidden. They might react the same way Dash had.

“Dashie!” A pink blur knocking Rainbow to the ground drew Twilight from her thoughts, to find that they had garnered the attention of everyone in the room.

“Pinkie,” Dash choked out, struggling to break free of the pink pony’s bear hug. “I’ve missed you too. But…please let me…go.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” The pink pony hoped off the pegasus and grinned innocently.

Rainbow gave Pinkie a short glare as she stood up and dusted herself off, before turning towards the rest of the ponies in the room and clearing her throat. “Gilda, Flash, Coltson, Arrow. Could you give us a few?”

The gryphon sneered, “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of us too, Dash.”

Rainbow sighed, and when she responded, her voice was pleading. “Please, Gilda. There’s something important I need to talk to them about. Something personal.”

The gryphon seemed determined to remain seated.

“Gilda, come on. Give them their space.” The pony in the suit urged, standing behind her with a gentle hoof on her shoulder. The others addressed had already left the room.

With a snort, Gilda brushed off his hoof and stood up. Muttering a disgruntled “whatever” as she marched past Dash. Followed shortly by the suited pony.

An awkward silence filled the room afterward.

Dash shifted uncomfortably. “Soooo….”

“Who’s your friend, Dashie?” came a loud, chipper voice right in Twilight’s ear.

Twilight let out a yelp. She hadn’t noticed Pinkie standing beside her.

“Yes, darling. Please enlighten us on who this hooded pony is.” Rarity spoke up, moving around the table to come closer.

“…and why you felt inclined to kick out half of the Counsel but let them stay.” Shining Armor added, him and Cadance mimicking Rarity’s movements.

“Yeah…you see, she’s actually who I want to talk about.” Dash replied.

Shining Armor eyed Twilight briefly. “New arrivals are processed in the main lobby, you know this.”

"Why did you bring her here, Rainbow Dash?" Cadance asked.

“Well…” Rainbow was visibly sweating. “Man, this was so much easier in my head."

She took a deep breath before continuing, “Okay, promise me you won’t freak out, alright?”

That earned a couple of curious looks, but they all nodded.

“Okay, you guys know where my patrol route takes me each day, right?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, dear, we know. It’s why you chose that route, after all.”

“Well, you wouldn’t believe who I found wandering Ponyville!”

At that, Shining Armor sighed and Rarity rolled her eyes. Pinkie, however, was busy scrutinizing Twilight’s hooves that peaked out from under the cape.

Shining Armor cupped the bridge of his muzzle. “Who is it this time, Dash? A long lost Wonderbolt? Someone who claims they’re a noble?”

Twilight jumped as she felt something brush against her hoof, and she looked down to see Pinkie Pie on the ground, peaking underneath her cape.

“She’s purple!!” Pinkie shouted victoriously as she jumped back up.

Cadance quirked an eyebrow. “Purple?”

Dash looked frantically between the ponies in the room. “Pinkie!”

Pinkie bounced happily in spot. “Oooooo! I wonder who it is! Let me think...purple, purple, purple…”

Twilight started to back away from the hyperactive pony.

“Oh, I give up!” and with that, Pinkie flung herself forward, face first into Twilight’s hood.

No more than a second passed before Pinkie started backing up slowly, all glee drained from her expression. Instead, she looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

“T-Twilight?”

Author's Note

I'm so sorry guys, this chapter is months later than I promised. Between school, work, and other commitments, live gets crazy, you know? I've never had a more hectic and stressful semester than the one that just ended. Thankfully it's one of my last so I should hopefully have a lot more free time now to work on this story, especially come August!

For all of you who've read and liked this story and will still follow it. Y'all are amazing.