The Return Of Raven Queen

by Lucius-Nomicon

Rating: teen
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 7386

Raven Queen is your average pony.Except that she is an alicorn. And a "traitor" trying to overthrow Celestia .Is she the bad guy? Quite the opposite. Follow her as she seeks for those destined for power. But beware: Twilight and Dawn won't be pleased

Twilight finds herself in the middle of a conflict that involves Celestia , Breaking Dawn , Sunset Shimmer, a young nopony and a mare who declares that the sun princess is a tyrant and claims to know the truth about who should rule Equestria. The destiny of this magical land is up to them to decide. But which side to join?

Set after Vengeance of Dawn by Scipio Smith , follow a mare who knows the truth and won't hide it , who can and will unleash all her magic to give the power to those destined for it, even if it implies getting her hooves dirty first and who will never forget the one who wronged her.

Published 2015-01-16 14:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-23 18:18:59 UTC

As It Began

Author's Note

As I stated before, this is a sequel to Scipio Smith's Vengeance of Dawn (aproved by him). This is alternative to Comes The Sunset. I hope you enjoy it! :pinkiehappy:

As It Began

The Return Of Raven Queen- Chapter one: As it began

Twilight Sparkle sat at the library in her castle, clutching a black book, nearly finishing it . The room was lit by the moonlight, all the reading material neatly ordered and not a soul around but the princess, who was silent as a corpse .She was fighting off sleep, forcing her eyes open in an attempt to finish the chapter she was reading, well aware of how late it was when a swift swirling sound emanated from the mirror near her. As she focused on it, she saw an amber unicorn walking from the glass . Blinking rapidly, she recognized her as her friend from the human world, Sunset Shimmer. Sunset opened her eyes and glanced towards Twilight, a smile across her face.

"Sunset?" The princess asked startled." What are you doing here? why didn't you write saying you were coming?" Tiredness and surprise were present in her voice.

"Twilight, thank goodness you are alright. Today something completely offbeat happened: I found a letter telling me to come here without warning you, from somepony named ´The Raven Queen´. I was afraid you might be in trouble"

"What? No, i'm… i'm fine . And how could you use the portal, it wasn't activated..." she questioned while she approached the unicorn.

"I don't know… I just went through it without any problem. This is really crazy." The unicorn looked at the princess " Can I spend the night here? Maybe tomorrow we can talk to princess Celestia." she inquired, exhaustion clear in her tone and her cyan eyes.

" Yes. Yes, you can stay here for the night." Abruptly,Twilight grabbed the book, which she had dropped when she saw her friend arrive." Wait a second...You said the Raven Queen wrote you that letter? "

"Yes, I found it this morning inside my locker. It said I should come immediately, and tell no one about it . "

"I found something this morning too...this book here, Modern History Of Equestria, has a whole chapter about The Raven Queen. It is some sort of nickname several art criminals used through a period of five hundred years to steal paintings. Whoever was behind that name, they did an exceptional job. Every hundred years ´The Raven Queen´ would steal a piece of art leaving no clue behind but a signature. " The princess explained, concern in her eyes.

"How could a bunch of art thieves know- " Sunset´s question was cut off by a cracking sound and a flash of midnight blue light as a third pony appeared into the room. A golden unicorn, with a mane of red and white, stumbled around and dropped to the floor. The two present mares recognized her as Breaking Dawn, a former student of Celestia who had some months ago plotted against Twilight.

Twilight looked at her awestruck. What in equestria is going on? She was nearly dead! And that wasn't even her magic!!

"The...Raven Queen... " She took a long, painful breath before looking at twilight in the eye and adding " wants you… princess " she spat the last word and fainted.

Earlier, at Canterlot...

The Cactus juice bar was the place of trend at upper Canterlot . Anypony who was anypony went there, it´s enormous room filled with eccentric decorations and bizarre combinations of colours gave it an air of craziness and unusualness. In the center of a great room, lit by rainbow-coloured reflectors lied the dance floor, surrounded by a circle of curiously shaped tables and chairs. The place was filled with tens of wealthy young ponies, most of them either dancing the night away or enjoying odd drinks.

Nighttime Glow sat, sipping from her glass of ice tea as she stared at a young, white unicorn mare, making no effort to conceal it . The mare in question was mindlessly dancing at the rectangular dance floor, shaking her yellow mane with orange stripes and waving her hooves like she was on fire. She looked completely opposite to Nighttime, who was dark purple with a mane of dim violet adorned with black, while the dancing mare was all light coloured and shiny, like the sun at midday.

A waitress approached Nighttime, eager to take her order, but before she could ask, the older mare spoke " I will have nothing, but take that mare over there a glass of your most expensive drink " Her deep magenta eyes never left the dancing unicorn.

The waitress nodded, and headed towards the kitchen . A few moments later she emerged , holding a glass filled with a lime green coloured liquid, which bubbled wildly . The barmaid gave the white unicorn the drink and pointed towards Nighttime, who had never lifted her gaze from the mare . Red eyes met Nighttime´s stare as she nodded and approached the dark unicorn, her expression between awkward and uncomfortable.

"Don't blow it. " a voice not her own whispered inside her head
" I won't, now keep silent, I need to focus " she interjected
" As you wish, mistress." The voice answered mockingly.
" Thanks, but I'm not interested in a date or anything like that right now, sorry " she uttered, looking at her hooves .

" No, no, you misinterpreted me . I just want to talk with you, nothing more " Nighttime said with a reassuring smile.

" Well, it´s the least I could do", The shining white mare stated. " What would you like to talk about ? " she asked uncomfortably, trying her best to ignore how peculiar this situation was .

" We should start by introducing ourselves, shouldn't we? " The mysterious unicorn suggested " I am Nighttime Glow , and you must be Shining Noon"

Shining Noon gaped in surprise and blinked rapidly, but quickly hid it " How do you know my name ?"

" I know lots of things..." She hissed slyly, cocking her head " Well , back to the main topic . I called you attention in order to tell you a story . Would you like me to continue?"

Filled with curiosity, shining noon nodded . She knows my name ... who is this mare? Why talk to me? This place is weird…But I guess I will just go with it… after all , what's the worst that could happen?...

" Okay, this story begins a little bit more than a thousand years ago , in the Castle of the Two Sisters . There lived Celestia", she pronounced the name with contempt, " and Luna, the land was at peace and prosperity . The youngest of the princesses had taken upon herself a student, a young, very promising unicorn, named Raven Queen . This mare, not older than fourteen years old, could be considered a prodigy, and was very fond of her teacher . The feeling was mutual, her presence made Luna spark with happiness .The princess taught her student how to travel into the realm of dreams and how to raise the moon (though she would never allow her to do it ). Everything seemed perfect, they were like mother and daughter, until during one faithless day, the young unicorn did something that she was forbidden to do. You see, Raven was a very curious pony, very curious indeed, and her curiosity drove her to poke her nose in a place where she shouldn't : Celestia´s room. Here, the prodigy found ancient books, pieces of parchment about to turn to dust and scrolls of knowledge long forgotten. But what interested her most was a journal, with a strange shape and a number one on the cover. She opened it, and found out it was titled "The Monarchy Of Equestria". At first she thought it was some sort of guidebook for the princesses. But inside she read things that nopony had heard before , things like ´ The two original alicorns, Luna and Celestia , are to find the five chosen mares, turn them into alicorns and yield the power to the five princesses´ and two spells of incredible complexity : One to locate the five princesses-to-be and one to turn them into alicorns . Further she read, forgetting where she was, driven by curiosity and a pinch of desire . She then dropped the book, cleared her mind and pasted the first spell upon herself, filled with nervousness . As you can imagine, the result was that Raven was indeed destined to be one of the five princesses . Succumbing to her excitement, she cast the second spell. This was difficult, and nearly drained her from all her energy, but when she finished, she was engulfed by light and a pair of majestic wings adorned her sides: she was an alicorn. Just then she realized she wasn't alone . Celestia looked at her with both rage and fear, and started to attack her "

Nighttime paused her narration, sipped from her glassed and gave her one-pony audience time to take in everything she had said. She shifted her eyes towards the dancing young ponies, living without a single preoccupation, unaware of her story .After a few minutes, Noon gave her an inquiring look and the dark unicorn continued her tale .

"Of course, the new alicorn had a considerable power, so she was an opponent to the the aged princess . Nonetheless, our protagonist was unable to stop Celestia from conjuring a strong glamour on her wings, making them invisible, thus making her look like a unicorn again. Then the sun princess tried to modify her memories . Raven was able to deflect it, but knowing the her only hope for salvation was to escape, she tried her best to fake a memory loss, and surprisingly managed to fool Celestia.The shimmering princess, believing she had succeeded, teleported the mare to the nearby woodland and abandoned her, leaving a tracing spell. Celestia then claimed that the mare had gone missing, sending a search party to a different forest. The young alicorn knew that faking her death was the best way to put Celestia at ease. And so she did . The corpse was found a few weeks later, sending princess Luna into a deep depression , which later made it easier for celestia to turn into her Nightmare Moon. Yes, Celestia betrayed even her own sister to achieve supreme power, turning her into a monster so she could be a hero. Raven was soon forgotten, and disappeared into time itself . But of course, we know she didn't die . She was immortal, after all . Having faked her death, her only option was to wait . Wait until she found the other four princesses. Once she had achieved that goal, she would overthrow Celestia and give the power to the rightful owners."

The storytelling unicorn took a deep breath and asked Noon if she had liked the story
.
"Liked it ?" Noon asked shocked " You just told me how Celestia is a corrupt liar, that there is a secret alicorn out there and that there are four more to come! That story was ... incredible. I'm glad you offered me that drink" She replied with a smile.I know it now...her story is true...she is Raven Queen…

The purple unicorn cocked an eyebrow " That´s quite an unusual answer"

" Well, I´m quite an unusual pony. I do have one question, though . Have you found any of the four princesses yet?I hope my gut is telling me the truth.

Nighttime smirked . I´m glad I bought her that drink . " So, you believe I am Raven Queen?" She asked, faking surprise and making an exaggerated gesture with her hoof.

The younger unicorn smiled " Of course I believe you are her. I don't know why, but everything seems so... true. Like I already knew it, deep inside . So tell me, Raven, why would you tell me this secret? Is it, perhaps, because you, i don't know, believe I might have anything to do with your search ?" she asked, her eyes glimmering with hope.

She is quite smart . "You guess...right. You are destined to be a princess and rule equestria with me. And I will turn you into the alicorn you are destined to be, but first we have to find the other three and tell them the truth, no matter what they want to do with it. I know for a fact that some of them won't like it."

"You do know who they are?" Noon inquired, excitement clear in her voice.

"Yes: Sunset Shimmer, Breaking Dawn and Twilight Sparkle . The first one is at another world, the second is mortally wounded and currently turned into a statue and the third one is loyal to Celestia"

"I'm gonna guess and hope you have a plan" The young one´s expression was always steady, always calm, like she was discussing the weather with an old friend instead of how to overthrow the government with somepony she had just met.

" I do, indeed.But we will discuss it at my place, this isn't the right place ." Suddenly , the hidden alicorn realized how crowded and uncomfortably late it was.

"Ok , where is this place of yours?"

"The castle of the two sisters, in the everfree forest. But first I've gotta take care of a couple errands. I will meet you at the train station in half an hour. Gather your things, we are leaving to ponyville"

Nighttime Glow stalked around Canterlot. She loved the night, how darkness took over all the sky, how the moon shone and how the stars dotted the void above them. Canterlot was certainly a place for a tale of princess, its royal air, magnificent colours and the detailed architecture that adorned the whole city. As our protagonist approached the outskirts of the city, she noticed how a delicate mist began to emerge. I couldn't be luckier, nopony will see me with this fog she thought with a grin .After a few minutes of walking and admiring the city, the alicorn reached Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and when she was sure nopony was around, she flew over the fence and into the garden, walking towards the recently added statue. The statue of a valiant unicorn mare, standing like a hero, was indeed none other than Breaking Dawn, though only a hoofful of ponies knew it .She looked beautiful , like a bold goddess embracing her destiny . The moonlight was strong enough for her to find it with no difficulty, and once she reached, she began to whisper to it.
"Hello there , miss. I'm sorry to interrupt your slumber , but you are awfully necessary for my plans , princess of the rising sun. I will break you out and heal you, and then i'm gonna send you to your favourite pony in the world." She announced sarcastically, dancing around the statue with a smile on her face.
Her horn was engulfed by a midnight blue hue and the stone around Dawn melted and the unicorn stumbled around, half conscious. Bleeding furiously, Dawn started gasping for air. Nighttime looked at the spear wound on Dawn´s chest muttering unusual words under her breath, making the blood that had been spreading around the dazed unicorn magically return into the mare´s body. Once she was healed, still not completely aware of everything around her, Dawn tried to focus her eyes on the other mare.
"Hello Dawn. I am The Raven Queen. I saved you.Tell princess Twilight I crave her. Goodbye"
And with two flashes of the deep blue magic, now with a faint trace of lime green, they disappeared into the night .

The Secret In Her Eyes

The Return Of Raven Queen- Chapter two: The secret in her eyes .

With a loud crack and a flash of midnight blue light, Nighttime Glow appeared a few steps away from the canterlot train station, where Shining Noon was waiting for her. She approached her newfound companion, her hooves making a soft thud upon the wooden floor.
The alicorn in disguise smiled at her, and spoke in a soft voice.“Do you have out tickets?”

“The train leaves in five minutes,” Noon declared with a smile. “Can I know what you were up to?” She added, a fake look of innocence plastered on her young face.

“Nothing important, really. I just went looking for a friend of mine, to say hi. She works at night.” Nighttime said lightly.

Noon nodded. She felt a strange sensation, like she was overlooking something, but she quickly dismissed it, unlike she usually did. Generally, she would try her best at being watchful and never letting something slip from her whenever she talked with somepony .This time, though, she decided to focus on the weird feeling she had in her gut, like a faint realization that everything was somehow all right.

They waited for everything to be ready, and when they could, they boarded the train in silence. They walked around looking for an empty compartment, which wasn't actually hard to find given that a scarce number of ponies traveled at that point of the night, well past twelve. The room they entered was dimly lit and had two rows of seats, facing each other. They sat, each of them silently minding their own business. Nighttime looked out of the window, into the night. After a thousand years, she still found the indescribable colors of the sky mysteriously appealing. She pressed her hoof against the cold glass and drawed a small circle, thinking of the success of that night.

After planning and preparing for hours, she was confident it would turn out the way she wanted. Still, she felt grateful for her own small victory in her path towards revolution, despite the fact that it had just began.

In front of her, Noon still kept feeling this sensation in her body, like something was out of its place, but still, everything was alright. Too right for her. Noon didn't understand why, but she didn't have to, right? After all, everything was indeed alright, or so her gut was telling her somehow. She tried to think about her parents, about her friends which she suddenly got convinced she had, but couldn't remember. That was weird. She tried harder to imagine their faces or their names, but she couldn't. Almost as if something prevented her from thinking about them.It’s probably nothing, she reassured herself. Nighttime glow, her best friend from her whole life would probably know how to fix this.

And that is when it hit her. Her red eyes opened wide as the sun as she realized that everything wasn’t alright, quite the opposite. She barely knew Nighttime Glow. She didn't have an idea why she was going to ponyville. Ponyville! Where was she going to go dancing in ponyville? But most importantly, she knew she had been lied to, at least once. That’s what that feeling came from...She must have slipped something in my drink to get me all stupid and friendly, that why I overlooked her lie!

She looked at the purple mare in front of her, gaze lost in the void. Noon remembered her story, but wasn't sure if she believed it. It could have been the drink...or maybe she was actually honest. She her breath started to quicken, and her hooves began to tremble. No, don't freak out, keep it cool. She breathed heavily and looked at her companion, who was fixated on the moon, ignoring Noon.

The white mare cleared her throat and, with her best attempt at a calm voice, excused herself to the bathroom. Nighttime answered with a nod, her eyes still on the sun of night.

Noon opened the door and walked away, and at the moment she was out of sight, ran towards the restroom. Once she was inside, she refreshed her face and looked at the mirror, directly into her own eyes. The deep red orbs stared back at her, and she knew they were her best weapon, apart from her horn. She shifted her gaze towards the reflection of her mane. Noon sighed happily. She usually didn't mention it, but she found herself to be a very beautiful pony. Her short and stylish mane, of orange and yellow, always had been her favourite feature.

She shook her head. ‘’Focus, you idiot! We are in a rather bad situation here’’. She scolded herself.

‘’Well, it is not my fault that I’m gorgeous!’’. She shot back.

‘’You can't seriously just start to think about your looks when you are being kidnapped!’’ she responded to herself ‘’ You are incredible.’’ Noon let out a deep sigh ‘’You know, it is not normal to talk to yourself. You should see a psychologist.’’

‘’ I am a psychologist’’

‘’We will talk about this later! Now think...what should we do?’’

She considered her options. She could either stay with Nighttime, or leave. The second included teleporting out of a speeding train, so she opted for the former. Stay. And what would she do after that? Noon was lost. And she laughed about it. Not a heavy laugh but a soundless laugh. She was lost. It was something, wasn't it? At last something interesting was going on. She was lost in a train with a possible traitor. That was certainly something.

Sighing heavily, she decided that her best opportunity was to stay with Nighttime, maybe talk to her about the fact that she had kidnapped her and escape when she got the chance.

Noon opened the door to the compartment, and met purple eyes staring directly at her.

‘’The effect of the drink has probably ended, hasn't it?’’ Nighttime asked.

‘’It has’’ Noon answered, her tone turning aggressive as she spoke ‘’ Why give it to me in the first place?’’ She tried to appear angry, but deep inside she found the whole situation rather interesting.

‘’ You know, Noon, time is a funny thing. When you don't need it, you have it in excess, but when you need it, it is nowhere to be found’’ She smiled ‘’ I required an environment in which we could talk and you would stay to hear me. I couldn't risk you leaving. It was necessary for me to tell you what I told you . I believe that now you will have enough time to decide whether you want to stay with me or not. I will allow both.’’

‘’Okay’’ Noon was reassured by the fact that she wasn't lying, so she decided to ask further ‘’ Was you story true?’’

‘’Yes’’

Truth again ‘’But you lied about something, didn't you? Before we took the train, there was something you said...’’ She tried to recall, but she could only think about the feeling of all-rightness she had had.

‘’I didn't’’ Nighttime quickly said, shifting her look towards the window again.

At last, Noon felt it. Lies. ‘’Raven...you lied’’

‘’How could you know?’’ Nighttime asked intrigued. She considered herself a good liar, after all, you don't survive a thousand years without the need to slightly modify the truth.

Noon sat in front of her and began to talk ‘’ I have a special ability that makes me different from anypony else. I can passively channel my magic into my eyes, making me able to detect even the slightest movement. With this, I can read any pony's body language, thus knowing when they are lying or not.’’ She paused a second to look directly at Nighttime, and gave her a smile. ‘Interested, aren't you? This ability, this power, is by far one of the best tools there is. I hate being lied to, and because of this power, I know who to trust. It has costed me many friends, it has driven me away from my parents, but I don't mind. They were all a bunch of liars.What I’m trying to say is that you can't lie to me, Nighttime. Now, can you swear that all you said about Celestia, you, the past, and specially about my future, is true?’’

‘’ It is, princess of the Noon. You are destined to rule equestria.’’

Noon was silent, because what Nighttime said was true. And now she had the opportunity to fully realize what was coming. A revolution, a war most probably, but afterwards, a crown and wings. An it didn't annoy her that she was almost kidnapped, that she had been drugged. At first she considered it an adventure, but now she had the certainty that it was more than that. It was her dream. It was power and greatness and respect and meaning. A lot of meaning. She thought about her life. Her empty and meaningless life, going from club to club, studying to be a boring psychologist, living alone, away from her stupid family and apart from her nonexistent friends. The only pony she had had in the last few years was that golden unicorn, who worked as a clerk at a clothes shop. She blushed at the memories of her going there with the pretext to buy clothes just to steal a glimpse at the beautiful mare. But even that had left her. No friends, no family, no crush. Her life wasn't painful, she always had abundant food, fancy clothes and a nice house, but it was dull, worthless and lonely. And now she had a promise of everything she hadn't realized she desired, but knew she wanted more than anything.

While Noon thought, Nighttime again looked towards the stars.She couldn't help it. The alicorn had been away, far away, for so many years. She hadn't seen this sky for far too long. She remembered the mirror, and Sunset. Oh, Sunset. Her eyes and her mane and her everything.She was exquisite, apart from talented and smart. It sent shivers down Nighttime’s spine. She absolutely adored that feeling.The human world was polluted, the night sky barely visible. Here, at a train at 2 in the morning, speeding towards a small town in the world of ponies and magic, she could watch in awe the moon that had served as the prison to somepony she had once loved.

They hadn't realized it, but their absorption into their own minds had created a serene silence. Only the faint sound of the train hurrying on the tracks, advancing into the night.

Even though she was tired and inside her bed, Princess Twilight Sparkle couldn't sleep. This was due to the fact that not only had her friend who lived in another world just arrived without warning but also a mare who had just months before plotted to take her out of the power and then saved her life, who was nearly dead, just appeared in her library. One could say this wasn't a relaxing situation. Add the fact that they both were linked to an art thief from hundreds of years ago, and you get a really nice situation. A few moments before, with the help of Sunset, she had tucked Dawn in. They had agreed that it was far too late to contact the princesses, believing that there wasn't any imminent threat.

Twilight was already getting used to her new home, but still felt the difference between sleeping inside a wooden tree and sleeping inside a crystal tree. For instance, it was way colder, and had a clean smell, nothing like the strong scent from her library. She had a charming view of the hills, the grasslands, the mountains and on top of it the moon. She looked straight at it, and felt a shiver down her spine. She quickly put it down to the low temperature.

She recalled the events regarding Dawn. How the golden unicorn had purged her of the dark magic inside of her, or how Dawn had jumped in front of her and thus taking a deadly wound intended for Twilight. But she also remembered with bitterness how she had framed her brother, how she had put Twilight against her own friends, and most importantly what Dawn had done to princess Cadence. The sleepless alicorn struggled to decide what would be of Dawn, now that she was somehow healed, but she decided that Celestia, in all of her wisdom, would come up with solution

The young mare decided that in the morning, everything would be better. It’s probably just a huge misunderstanding. I’m sure somepony pulled a prank or something. It probably isn't even Dawn. Somehow, she found that very hard to believe, but after a few minutes she succumbed to tiredness and dazed off into the realm of dreams.

‘’ Are you there yet?’’ The second voice murmured inside her head.
‘’ We are close. Prepare the house for two.’’ Nighttime replied to the voice only she could hear.
‘’Done. Also, the princess received your less-than-friendly message and hasn't contacted Celestia yet.’’ The voice was musical and slow, every word lingering on Nighttime’s mind.
‘’Thanks, Sin.’’

Noon stared at her partner, and couldn't believe that she was a thousand years old. Her glowing pink eyes where the only source of light apart from the moon and the stars. She didn't find Nighttime beautiful, but Noon had to agree that she had a certain classiness that easily covered the little flaws here and there. The way she moved with practiced ease and the way she kept herself straight gave her a look worthy of the princess she was destined to be.

A deafening shriek broke the silence as the train pull into the station. In unison, both mares stood up a walked towards the station. The winter night was cold in Noons skin, but didn't bother her companion. The lights of the station were the only ones in ponyville, a town that seemed dead in the night. Together they strolled through the streets, illuminated only by the moonlight. Noon wasn't a fan of completely depending on Nighttime to get to their destination, but it was inevitable. She had never before being in ponyville, or any similar town. Frankly, to her it all seemed either too rustic or too old, nothing to her taste. The gigantic tree-castle that stood in the outskirts of the place did catch her eye, but only slightly. Noon really enjoyed the silence, thou. It was pure and calm, unlike the ‘’silence’’ in canterlot.

Together they walked across the whole town. The passed sugarcube corner, the turned near Carousel Boutique, and past the place where the Golden Oaks library once stood. They kept on going until they reached the borders of the everfree forest, where a moist path lead towards the blackness.

‘’Light up your horn, we are going in’’ Nighttime declared, stepping into the road.

Noon nodded , unable to speak, and followed oblivious to the creatures that slumbered in the depths of the woods. Her steps were misplaced, driving her towards the borders of the road and back to the middle. She almost fell a couple time, but was intercepted by Nighttime. Their faces distorted by the shadows of the faint glow of their magic gave them an almost unnatural look. The combination of midnight blue and pale yellow created a greenish hue.They kept on walking, getting their hooves splattered with mud until they were standing in front of a run down castle.

The white unicorn looked at her companion, then incredulously at the castle. The gates where rusty, there were parts of the towers lying around and shattered glass of different colours.

‘’The castle of the two sisters. Impressive, isn't it?’’ Nighttime had missed it. The stone walls, the ancient decorations, it was all exactly as she liked it.
‘’Would you be a good assistant and open the gates, Sin?’’

‘’But of course’’ Sin answered with a laugh ‘’There is nothing I love more than helping you, mistress’’ her melodic voice tinted with sarcasm.

After a few minutes, the great doors opened with a creak, and a crow the size of a baby dragon flew towards them. It bowed, and then looked directly at Noon, who in her state of being half asleep and half stupid thinking of crowns and castles had a vacant expression, her eyes wandering around her. Her hair had gotten disheveled and her hooved where all muddy, making her look out of place next to her fancy-looking friend.

‘’I was expecting something more.... elegant.’’ The bird declared with her distinctive musical voice.

Noon looked at the alicorn, then at the crow, and then at the alicorn again. She had heard the bird speak. Usually birds did not speak. But given what she had heard that night, it didn't seem so far-fetched.She ignored the comment, not really caring what a talking bird thought about her.

‘’And I was expecting a good assistant, but that is how life works’’ Nighttime answered with a grin. ‘’ Its been years’’ She approached Sin and embraced her in tight hug.‘’Noon, this is Sin, my assistant.’’ Nighttime introduced. ‘’Sin, this is princess Shining Noon. Be respectful for once, would you?’’

‘’I will try my best’’ Sin declared, smiling to herself.

Once inside the castle, Noon enjoyed a small dinner consisting of fruits and bread while Nighttime ranted about the disorder in her castle.

‘’...I don't care that they did it, all I care about is that this is in chaos and you should have at least tried to order it! You know I can't stand this mess!’’

Nighttime began to curse under her breath as the books, painting and pieces of armour were engulfed in a deep blue aura and began to dance around, looking for their original place and, once they found it, resting again. Sin let out a laugh, only to receive angry looks from her mistress and a few books ‘’accidentally’’ falling on her head.

A few moments later, Nighttime showed Noon to the guest room. The room in question was probably the only one in the whole castle that wasn't half destroyed, and that was because it served both as guest room and as cellar. It’ furniture consisted in an ancient and enormous bed, an ebony nightstand and a few barrels and crates. Noon didn't think twice before launching herself towards the bed, not even uttering a ‘’good night’’.

The evening sun shone upon a silent Canterlot as Breaking Dawn opened her eyes. She was standing in the main street, alone. A sharp and pained shriek echoed from behind her. When the golden unicorn turned around, her knees lost their power and she almost collapsed as she screamed. Before her, princess Celestia was lying in the floor, blood pouring from her opened chest. Dawn noticed the warmth on her hands, and when she looked at them she saw they they were soaked in a red substance. Dawn’s head started to spin and she fell to the ground, closing her eyes. She tried to get up, she wanted to. She couldn't leave celestia there.

‘’Why,Dawn. Why did you kill me?’’ Celestia’s voice was agonized.

‘’P-Princess! I didn't kill you! You aren't going to die!’’ Dawn panicked as she forced her eyes open and crawled towards her beloved princess. This wasn't her fault. She was sure of it. But still…the blood in her hooves pointed otherwise.

‘’Dawn, you stabbed me. You betrayed me. I gave you a second chance and you ruined it. Twilight was a better princess than you, a better pony.’’

Dawn realized she had wings, but she didn't care. All she cared about was the princess dying in front of her. She couldn't recall doing what she was accused to have done, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Dawn looked around, but there was nopony there, just a purple silhouette.

‘’Hey! You!’’ Dawn yelled at the shape, anger in her voice. ‘’You did this, didn't you? I'm going to make you regret it!’’ With the power of her rage, the golden mare managed to stand up.

‘’I did nothing. You brought this on yourself.’’ The shape whispered.Then it disappeared.

Dawn looked at the dying alicorn, but it was too late. When Celestia’s eyes dazed of, her expression turning vacant, Breaking Dawn began to cry.

She cried for hours, for days, but the sun stood still, nopony to lower it. Her weeping was interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps approaching her. When Dawn turned around, tears rolling over her cheeks, her green eyes met a very familiar set of eyes.

‘’You betrayed us, Dawny.’’

‘’No...Razor, you have to believe me! This isn't my fault! Please...’’ Dawn’s voice was cut out by a big group of hoofsteps. All around her, the mares she called friends gathered, anger and emptiness in their eyes.
‘’You aren't a good friend’’
‘’You took advantage of us’’
‘’You are a liar’’
Hardy, Cherry, Laurel and Candy. They were all there, all mad at Dawn, and she didn't know why. They kept telling her awful things, and she was petrified, because she would have expected them from anypony rather than from them. She loved them, but they did not love her.

Dawn covered her ears, but the voices kept talking inside of her head. Some were whispering, some were screaming. She couldn't take it anymore. She closed her eyes, unable to see the hatred in her friends eyes. She couldn't think, her head overflowing with the voices. Her head was aching, her body burning, but the worst pain came from hearing her friends telling her what she feared was true.

And then, at the peak of it all, there was silence. Dawn opened her eyes, and found out she was inside a bed. She looked around, filling in with every detail of the room she was in. She tried to recall where she was, but all she remembered was being turned to stone by the princess, then some purple blur and something about some raven . And she remembered Twilight Sparkle. She remembered talking to her.

The gifted unicron didn't know where she was, or why she was alive. She was certain of something, though: the mare she had been in her dream, the mare that had cried
and failed to act, wasn't her. She was strong, she was confident, and she would never hurt Celestia and even less her friends.

The sun began to rise and light filled her room, which was rather spacious given that is was barely furnished. Breaking Dawn stepped out of her bed, ready to get some answers.

Noon was awakened by a feeling of energy running through her whole body. She sprung up and blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness around her. She was perfectly conscious of her situation, completely aware of where she was. Still…

Still, it took her some time to fully remember what had happened hours before. The idea of the promise made her shiver in anticipation. She twisted and turned inside her beds, making a mess with the blankets and covers. Unable to close her eyes for more than a couple seconds, Noon decided she would explore the castle.

The door squeaked as Noon opened it, its hinges decayed and brown with oxide. She wandered around the vast rooms, most of them missing a portion of the roof or a wall. She was impressed by the tapestries and decorations, antique paintings and ample tomes of knowledge long forgotten. By far her favourite room had been the ballroom, decorated with golden banner representing the sun. The broad, wooden floor invited her to dance a little. While she spun in circles, nothing really in her mind, her eyes caught a glimpse of light coming from the moon in a hole in the ceiling. She stopped her mindless waltz and decided to search for her friend.

As she roamed around the castle, she felt a strange smell. The smell of something burning, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on what it was. Letting her nostrils guide her, she followed the smell, which led her to a balcony that overlooked all Everfree forest, Ponyville and a spot that was Canterlot. And in the railing, leaning in a way that couldn't be considered safe, Nighttime Glow smoked a cigarette, her eyes fixed at the castle at the other end of ponyville.

Noon approached her new friend, surprise in her big, red eyes. ‘Aren't those ilegal? Apart from, you know, really unhealthy.’’ She asked, pointing her hoof towards the cigarette.

‘’ So is stealing and plotting against the government.’’ Nighttime let out a sincere laugh ‘’I don't mind to break the law if it is written with the only purpose of making society the way Celestia wants it’’

‘’But aren't you afraid to get ill?’’ Noon insisted, looking apprehensively at the smoking cigarette.

‘’Noon, do you believe in destiny? I do. And I am destined to rule equestria. I have faith in that because I'm certain that's the way it is going to be. I spent a thousand years doing things that might have killed me. I won't die, not until my destiny is fulfilled.’’

Noon knew that Nighttime truly believed in every word she had just said.Still, she wasn't satisfied.And curiosity aroused inside of her head as she looked at the alicorn’s glowing eyes, deciding to ask a few questions. They spent the whole night talking, looking at the stars and the moon. Nighttime told her how in a thousand years, she had had hundreds of identities, lived hundreds of lives. She had been a doctor, a soldier, a thief, a teacher and countless more. The alicorn had invented the shot Noon had drunk hours earlier. Noon listened carefully at every anecdote the purple mare told her, and Nighttime smoked at her hearts desire. Eventually, the conversation shifted towards Celestia.

‘’What will be of her, once we win? Don't tell me you are going to kill her’’ The white unicorn asked, not knowing what to expect.

‘’Kill her? Please...I don't hate her, if that seemed to be implied. I hate many things and many ponies, but not her.At leats not for what she had done to me. Somethings she has done to other...those deserve hatred.’’ Nighttime made a pause to look at the tiny spot of light in the mountains she knew was Canterlot ‘’ I guess she would go to prison, but it will be decided in the future.’’

‘’How come you don't hate her? She lied to you, tried to kill you...I would hate her, if that stuff had happened to me.’’

‘’The only pony to blame for what happened back then in me and only me. You see, Noon, in all my years of life, I realized something: Power corrupts. It always does, it is inevitable. And probably, hundreds of years ago, Celestia was an alicorn just like me, a good pony, with her soul in the right place. It is not her fault what happened, to her and to me. I told you it was my fault because if I could, I would stop my past self from opening that book. I would prevent myself from knowing what Celestia had turned into a secret. Because since that day, I have been tied to a destiny I did not ask for. I never had a say in what would become of me. Maybe I would have chosen to be a villain, but now I’m destined to become a hero.’’ Nighttime took a deep breath and let silence linger on as she took a few puffs from her abandoned cigarette. ‘’I guess what I’m trying to say is that I never desire to become a princess myself, but life is like this, we don't have a saying on how it goes.’’

Noon was awestruck, because in that tale of regret, there was not a single lie. Her gaze moved towards the breaking dawn and, smiling, she asked ‘’ What’s the plan for today?’’

Twilight Sparkle was woken up by a violent shake. Her eyes fluttered open and met a green stare.

‘’You’ve got some explaining to do, princess’’