Celestia walked across the charred wood, the sound of her hooves clacking echoing back at her. Everything was quiet, but it wasn't peaceful. It was like the quiet that comes on a battlefield after the last shot was fired. The heavy blanket of death hung over Ponyville.

What had happened? Celestia asked herself this often while wandering across this once great land. Her once great land. She tried to think about something else, and her thoughts quickly changed. Now she was thinking about a headache that hit her quickly and powerfully. She fell to her knees and blacked out quickly.
***
Celestia watched as Twilight paced nervously around her library. They both jumped as the door swung open, slamming against the wall. Twilight ran to the pony, who was wearing a large, hooded cloak.

"Celestia!" She gasped, running to the figure. She stopped short once she saw the face. "P-princess?" She whimpered, ears lowered. The figures horn ignited and picked up Twilight in its aura, who gasped and started clutching at her neck.

"Stop!" Bellowed Celestia, shooting a beam of fire from her own horn. The fire dissipated quicker than it had appeared. The hooded figure turned its neck to grin at her, showing off rows of fangs. That mare, under the hood, she knew that mare. It couldn't be. She was dead, sealed away. The mare was her. A firey mane flickered behind her as she turned back to Twilight, who soon took a last, shuddering breath and went limp. Celestia, no, just she, dropped Twilights body and walked out the door. As soon as the door slammed shut, Celestia fell backwards as blackness enveloped her.
***

Celestia didn't know how long she had been out, but when she awoke she had a terrible headache. What was that sound? It was coming from the kitchen. Celestia stood and walked shakily towards it. Inside was....

"Spike?" Croaked Celestia. The dragon turned quickly, pupil’s dialated. His eyes were puffy and red.

"Ah, aaaaah!" He screamed. Glancing around, he realized that he couldn't get away. Celestia was blocking the only entrance. "W-what do you want!? Are you here to kill me too!?"

"What!? N-no! I would never-"

"Never what? Kill me just like you did Twilight? Or Princess Cadence? Or Princess Luna!?"Shouted Spike at her. They both went quiet, and the only sound in the room was their tears hitting the floor. "Just do it then, but first tell me why you left Twilights body here, for me to find. I had to bury my own mother, because of you. Why?" He spat, fury burning in his eyes. Celestia shuddered as she cried harder. Finally, she took a deep, shuddering breath and whispered:

"I-I killed Luna?"
Spike didn't answer. "DID I KILL HER!?" Boomed Celestia in the royal Canterlot voice.

"Yes!" Cried Spike in fear.

"O-oh" said Celestia as she sank to her haunches.

"C-Celestia?" Asked Spike timidly. She glanced up, but didn't raise her head. "You really are back, aren't you?"

"Back from where?" She whispered, her voice hoarse.

"You were evil. You destroyed all of Equestria, killing anyone who stood in your way" said Spike. "But you're back, right? Please don't lie. If you're evil, than just kill me now"

"Yes, I'm back. I... it felt like I had just woken up when I, ‘came back'. It felt like I had just fallen asleep. I-I don't know what happened. Can you tell me all of what happened?" She asked, looking pleadingly at Spike.

"It's late, I'll tell you everything in the morning" he said, looking out the window, where night had fallen. Celestia sighed and lowered herself to the floor. She levitated over a pillow and laid her head on it. She opened her eye to watch him.

"You're playing guard?" she asked, trying not to sound rude.

"I don't sleep at night. You- er- Queen Ignis, destroyed all of the boundaries between the Everfree forest and populated areas. Now, any monsters can just stroll in. Luckily, they only come at night. Therefore, I sleep during the day, usually" He explained, not taking his eyes off the empty door way.

"Oh" Said Celestia dumbly. She started thinking, and lit up her horn.

"Woah woah woah! What do you think you're doing!" yelled Spike, waling his claws at her furiously.

"It's okay, trust me" said Celestia calmly.

"Trust you? After everything!? No way!"

"Please Spike, I'm just trying to restore the boundaries around the Everfree" she explained. Spike stood back, but his eyes were nervous. Just as Celestia lit her horn for a second time, a loud growling was heard from the front door. Spike instantly lunged to intercept the Timber wolf, who had launched itself at Celestia. The two collided in midair in a ball of teeth and claws. Spike bit and scratched as hard as he could, wounding it extremely. Many branches laid strewn about. Finally, the Timber wolf let out a weak whine and fell onto his side as the green glow in its eyes flickered out.

Spike stood, breathing heavily and holding his arm in the other. A deep gash could be seen in the scales, blood flowing steadily. He also had a bite mark on his thigh. He took a deep breath and blew it out, burning the wolves remains. Celestia stood and lowered her horn to his wound. He flinched, but forced himself to remain still. A light green magic flowed into the wound, which closed quickly, leaving only a dull scar. She then did the same to the bite marks.

"T-thanks" he coughed. Celestia, instead of answering, floated up into the sky, an ethereal light around her. It steadily grow brighter before flashing brightly. Celestia fell to the ground, breathing hard.

"The boundaries... are up... again" she panted before collapsing back onto her make-shift bed. Spike nodded before curling into a ball next to her and falling asleep.

Celestia watched Spike out of the corner of her eye. He looked different. He was taller now, less like a dragon and more like a... oh what were they called!? Humans! He was shaped like a human. He also had wings now, and had large muscles under his scales. Celestia finally closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Author's Note

Sorry, I know this chapter was a bit short, but I wanted to finish it early and hopefully get two chapters out by September 8th. I hope you all enjoyed, please leave a like if you did! Thanks for reading!