Empire of the Sun

All was still, quiet and dark. No lamps in the hallway had been lit, and the doors shutting behind the two ponies gave a bang that could be heard all throughout the lifeless castle.

“This is perhaps the most unsettling situation I’ve ever been in,” Twilight Sparkle commented in pure anxiety. Luna said nothing, only looking around the main lobby. The inside looked as if it were nighttime, but the sun could clearly be seen out of some of the windows. All was abandoned except for all the ponies frozen in stone in their places. They were doing their normal things, filing, walking, talking… but stuck infinitely at one point in time, clearly unaware of what was coming for them just moments before.

“It came upon them in an instant,” Luna commented, shifting in her armor, “At least they did not watch the transformation.” Twilight couldn't help but agree.

“Let us check the throne room,” she announced, “For perhaps there we may find our answer.” The two alicorns changed their aimless walk to a course in the direction of the throne room. Lifeless gazes littered the halls, some surprising Twilight when she looked certain places. All the lamps were extinguished, making it very hard to see anything except the shape of the rooms and the sunlight outside of the dampening bubble.

“Also, Twilight Sparkle,” she started, who yelped, startled. Luna raised an eyebrow at that and the Friendship Princess Became very embarrassed,

“Sorry… you startled me.”

“Did you work on that telereceiver magic I assigned you?”

Oh yeah, that.

“Yes!”

“What was your discovery?”

She thought back, “It turns out, it allows you to zoom in on far away objects.”

“Oh?”

“For example, for the first test, I saw this star, that pulsated violently every few seconds. And a planet in orbit seemed to respond to it, somehow. It seemed to glow in response, but I don't know what that meant.”

“Interesting… have you heard of Große Teleportation?” Luna suddenly inquired.

“It sounds familiar,” Twilight thought back, “I think I remember Celestia mentioning something about it.”

“Sirius invented a way to teleport astronomical distances in one shot,” she said. Whoa.

“I guess the name makes sense, then.”

“Here…” Luna stopped walking and turned towards her, summoning a scroll, “I'm the only other pony who knows the spell besides Sirius himself; I would feel much better if the Princess of Friendship knew it as well,” Luna levitated her the scroll and Twilight accepted it.

“It's the only spell so far that I've figured out completely from his book,” she said, “and it takes a tremendous amount of power to cast.”

Twilight nodded, “I thought so, but when would I even need it? Where would I get the power to cast it, too?” Luna shook her head,

“I do not know these answers; I just know my heart is telling me that it is safer we both know.” Twilight took a quick look at the scroll to see what was written on it. It took her off guard; it was by far the most bizarre spell she had ever read. Even the unfinished Starswirl spell that had switched the Elements of Harmony couldn't come close to how… empty it was. There were no contents… just… scattered words. “Power of… Power of… Power of…” those seemed to be on separate empty looking lines.

Twilight looked up from the scroll for an instant to see that Luna’s face transformed into suspicious alarm, hushing Twilight before she even got to ask what was wrong.

She took the hint to listen intently and both mares froze, twitching their ears. There were sounds of movement coming from what seemed like the throne room, which was weird considering the silence they had been experience for a little while now.

It sounded like voices.

“You think my sister is going to just fall for that?!”

“Well… yes. That's why I'm doing it.”

Twilight flinched at the response. The first voice was clearly Celestia, sounding like she was upset. Sirius sounded different than she knew him to sound. It couldn't be heard clearly through the closed throne room doors, but there was a hint of a double voice, like Chrysalis had.

To Twilight’s surprise, Luna rolled her eyes, “Well I'm not shocked to hear that at all.”

The Princess of the Night, looking irritated, went to go push in the door.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Twilight stopped her. Luna didn't change her gaze, “He wants us to try and sneak in without us knowing he knows we’ll do that.”

Twilight shook her head, glad the solution came to her quickly, “That's exactly what he wants us to do.” Luna looked focused, though intrigued.

“Explain.”

“Why do you think we can hear him at all right now?” Twilight pushed her to think about it. Now it was Luna’s turn to be lost by Twilight’s words.

“He wants us to think he’s set a trap, which is why he said it out loud. We know now, he has no trap, so, our instinct is to just barge in… to call his bluff. That's where the trap is,” the Princess of Friendship miraculously explained, “In fact… it doesn't have to stop there.” The only way he could have possibly known to say that… or trick Celestia into exclaiming it out loud, is if—Luna finally followed along—

“He knows what we’re doing right now, and exactly where we are.”

The purple mare had been thinking it, but hearing Luna verbalize it by herself sent chills through her nervous system as she nodded weakly. Now armed with new theories and new information, Luna looked more sure of herself, but couldn't hide her embarrassment; Twilight had to save her from doing something she felt was dumb.

“What do we do?” Twilight thought out loud.

The Night mare turned away from the door and began to trot back to the stairs. “We’re leaving.”

It was that simple.

“What?” Twilight now couldn’t comprehend what she was saying.

“He knows where we are, and what we’re doing. We’re leaving.” She continued to walk down the stairs back to the ground floor, and Twilight quickly followed her, her hooves making loud noises in the empty silent hallways.

“What about Sirius and Celestia?”

“We shall come back,” Luna nodded, “When we are more prepared.” At least that made sense.

They walked in silence for a bit, but it was by no means pleasant. Shaking with anticipation and anxiety, Twilight became paranoid that Sirius was going to come up behind, chasing after them in his twisted, double voice. At any moment his shadow would appear over them with a look of outrage and his fury would be too powerful to resist.

It never came. Only the sounds of their hooves clopping on the large empty spaces in the dark hallways of the castle could be heard. They swung open the front doors and right outside the perimeter of the bubble, Twilight found her friends waiting for her.

“Twilight!” she heard Rainbow Dash’s muffled call through the bubble.

“Come quickly, darling!” followed Rarity’s.

The two alicorns didn't change their pace, instead, continued to walk calmly to the edge, both suddenly realizing how sore they were from their tightening muscles.

Before they reached the edge however, a desperate outcry from the far reaches of the castle filled the air, making Twilight’s blood freeze to a stop. It was Celestia. Luna immediately whipped her head around, glaring furiously at where her sister’s voice came from.

There was another cry— she sounded clearly distressed, sobbing from either fear or pain.

Then it dawned on Twilight.

“Luna, don't, it's a tr—” it was too late. The Princess of the Night flung out her wings and launched herself in the air, beating them like an angry eagle. Twilight leaped after her, but was blinded as the Night mare’s horn flared up, supercharged with a magnitude almost as bright as the sun.

“Sister!” Luna called out, speeding to the balcony.

“Luna! Wait!” Twilight desperately tried to catch up with her, avoiding Luna’s horn light.

The blue Alicorn crashed through the floor of the balcony and exploded through the glass doors, thundering to her place in the room to see what was happening.

Twilight flew over the balcony and landed quietly, swooping in the room just in time to see her friend take an attack pose.

Sirius was there, on the far end of the tower room and he had changed drastically.

His face had burn marks on them that were so severe, small parts of his skull were clearly revealed. His coat reflected this as well, sharing in the lethal burns, exposing select parts of his skeleton. His previously shining bright armor had faded, cracked and began to rust. His eyes had inverted: two large black concave holes on his head, with beaming small blue Suns that seemed to float in them.

The crystals, however, were now shining brighter than ever, and they flickered in their glory.

Celestia was collapsed behind him, motionless.

His double voice without the filter of the closed throne doors and the distance from those doors, sounded even more monstrous than Chrysalis. Her voice sounded like harmony: one clear and one distorted voice behind it. Sirius had no clear voice; one sounded distorted and worn, while the other behind it had a terrible scraping sound and barely produced a tone at all, as if a vocal chord had torn.

“That was a very good move, walking away like that,” he screeched, though Twilight assumed that was his normal voice, “But I'm afraid there’s something you need to see.”

Luna’s fury was burning through Twilight’s coat. It projected everywhere, making a sphere of anger that consumed and radiated.

“Luna, we have to get out of here!” Twilight tried to warn her. She had never seen her like this, and it was worrying. Sirius wanted her here, for some reason. Then, Twilight realized that her dear friend hadn't heard her at all.

“I have come here for one purpose,” Luna didn't sound like herself. In fact she sounded like somepony very familiar.

Twilight noticed that the Night Princess’ hooves were beginning to turn black, and her tail and mane were wild— shifting shapes and shades of blue, the Stars twinkling out of control.

She was that angry?

There were small and faint giggles around the room, as shadows began to appear… their eyes a bright red. They extended smiles and gazes, shifting from one wall to the other.

This wasn't anger… this was hate.

“Luna you have to stop!” Twilight now went to go tackle her, but slammed into an invisible wall. Shock rang through her body as her brain was trying to keep up with events.

Sirius apparently looked a little shocked at the shadows that appeared and seeing Twilight blocked like that.

“What?” he had surprise in his voice, “I thought Nightmar—” a very powerful blast exploded from Luna’s blackening horn with no warning or charge whatsoever, once again lighting up the room, thundering in all might. Twilight’s vision was blinded completely by white, and her ears deafened by low frequency rumbling. She told her hooves to cover her ears, for fear that they would pop completely, but couldn't tell if they listened or not, until her vision returned.

When it did, she found herself with her wings flapping, hovering, just outside the tower walls.

She didn't remember feeling like she had been thrown back, and certainly didn't tell her wings to catch her. At this realization, her wings stopped moving and she let out a small yelp as she dropped a bit, but then catching herself consciously.

“Twilight! What's happening?” she heard AJ’s tiny voice call out from below.

“Are you alright?” Pinkie Pie’s high pitched voice pierced through like a thousand bullhorns.

“Luna’s lost it!” she called down below as loud as she could, “Sirius has too!”

“I knew he was rotten!” Rarity responded. Twilight frowned at that, but her attention was quickly diverted.

There was another blast that shook the air which originated from the tower Twilight was just in. Dust puffed up everywhere, clouding the structure. Without saying anything else, she darted back into the chaos to find Luna and Sirius locking horns. Thankfully she wasn't Nightmare Moon, and the blackening of her hooves and horn had stopped.

But her form and eyes were shaking from rage, and her mane and tail were still wildly out of of control, spiking and shifting between the Nightmare and Luna blue.

Sirius on the other hand, coat scarred with searing past burns, practically a skeleton wearing a pony’s skin, was still, calm and looked unphased.

“Cease your captivity of my sister,” Luna now had a Nightmare Moon’s voice under her own, “Or my wrath will be imminent.”

Sirius’ withered jaw turned a smile,

“As you wish, your Highness.” Now his horn glowed it's brilliant blue and enveloped Celestia’s body. A split pressure of magic burst open as energy formed a small ball in the air and opened into a ellipse.

Inside its bright blue outline, lay a landscape.

It was dry, and red. The sky was red, the land was red, and the sunlight was a bright… blue. It looked barren, lifeless and abandoned except for one obvious thing. There were clearly ruins in the background.

Despite never being told, Twilight recognized it immediately.

“Halott.”

Celestia’s unconscious body was lifted into the air by his magic and tossed into the portal.

Große teleportation.

It sealed up behind her.

In an instant, Luna’s parasitic corruption shivered off of her and vanished into the air as her rage quickly turned to grief; she cried out her sister’s name in a wail that would silence all in Equestria. Their horn lock broke as Luna shrunk back. Twilight leaped to her aid, a magic blast from Sirius’ horn forced her to dodge.

The Princess of the Night was clearly crushed with disbelief, for she lay in a wide eyed heap of pony and armor, making small gasps.

Come on, snap out of it, we need you.

That hope was quickly whisked away when a black red energy ball formed from Sirius’ horn and projected to Luna, completely covering her body. It was only a few seconds before it disappeared, revealing a stone statue… the Princess herself.

Once again, shock had Twilight frozen— Luna was defeated, without so much of a scratch on Sirius!

Then a moment of absolute horror closed on her throat as he turned to her,

“And as for you…” another black red and red ball formed from his horn. In panic, a billion things ran through her mind on what to do. In a crazy moment, Sirius’ stone statue spell discharged, and her eyes got wider as it came closer, quickly.

Something grabbed her, though, and whisked her away from danger, and Twilight watched the floor jump away. The ball missed her and melded into the wall, turning it to gray stone.

She became suspended in the air, until familiar looking arms wrapped around her.

“Discord…” Sirius hissed terribly, “How’d you get in here? This is an Alicorn only club.”

The Draconequus tightened his grip on the Princess, making Twilight relax— she had never felt this safe since this whole thing began.

“Hello? Spirit of Chaos?” he teased, “I do what I want.” The diseased Alicorn stallion gave a glare,

“If you want to join them—”

There was a flash that interrupted the sentence and suddenly Twilight was face to face with Sirius.

His eyes really were just holes in his head, and two small bright blue Suns shine directly at her.

Not to mention, underneath the hairs of his fading white coat, looked to be grains of dust and sand, as if he could be blown away. His blue Cataclomn crystals glowed immensely, displaying their solar power, covering his head in their harsh blue sunlight. This ancient, torn face of alien power imprinted this horrible sight in her mind… but a yellow talon reached down and extinguished his horn magic like a candle.

The alien’s face disappeared from Twilight’s vision, and once again the two were on the opposite side of the room.

Small black crystals formed on Sirius’ horn that were nothing like the crystals on his chest plate. Those were pentagonal in shape, perfect and smooth. The black crystals looked exactly like the ones that had stopped Shining Armor from using his magic some time earlier.

“Compliments from Sombra,” Discord said, calmly, “You know they look great on you… really bring your rage.” Rage was true when Sirius found out his magic was being stuck at those black crystals.

“How can you—”

“Tah tah!” Twilight’s world whirled around as the two jumped over the edge of the balcony and began a freefall towards the ground.

“That won't hold him, won't it?” Twilight guessed as they made their escape.

“Nope!” Discord responded cheerfully.

Down below, it looked like Event Horizon and Chrysalis were waiting with her friends right outside the bubble, still. There was another pony, though, that she couldn't really see from far away.

“Hey there!” Event Horizon called, “I found this pony! Her special talent has to do with cutie marks…” his voice became a blur as Twilight suddenly slipped into an unknown state of mind.

The world sort of faded around her becoming blacker and blacker, until a single image made itself known. It was the Tree of Harmony that showed itself, each of the elements sparkling brightly.

The tree… she thought to herself, what's it trying to tell me?

Suddenly an idea sparked. The spell… the spell! With the powers of… the words were there but not clear. The power… she needed the power, and yet here was the tree. Showing itself; offering itself. The Elements of Harmony glistened in their mysterious power, calling out to her. The power… The power of the Elements! The Elements of Harmony had come to her aid once again! But how? Power of…

Power of…

Then it became clear.

With the powers of Kindness and Generosity,

I ask we make such a journey out of humility.

The two elements shined each of their respective colors on the tree.

With the powers of Honesty and Loyalty,

I ensure we reach our desired destination.

The two elements shined on the tree as well.

With the powers of Laughter and Magic,

I find we make it there joyfully and safely.

The remaining elements also shined, making the tree shine bright like six glowing Suns.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then it became clear, there was not enough power.

She found it, though, around her, everywhere.

Shapeless, shifting, spiking, without reason or pattern. It felt of… plaid?

With the power of Chaos, she continued, smiling to herself, We become successful of this crazy idea.

There still wasn't enough power. But yet… now a different one, one of blazing fire came to her; it felt of ruin, fear and greed.

With the power of Destruction, she felt the spell now beginning to activate, who can stop us, with Ruin itself on our side?

All the names she called upon responded, and when she opened her eyes, she was back to freefalling with Discord.

No longer was she shaken or afraid, but the spell beamed inside her, like a budded flower ready to burst into full bloom.

Discord’s nonsensical power was now being drawn to her, and she felt the pull of all her friends below. With confidence and grace, she was freed from his grasp and soon flying towards the ground, him following.

Her horn lit up as she sped towards the ground faster and pulled up quickly, jetting towards the group of her still friends head on.

“Where are you going?” Discord called, seeming to struggle keeping up.

Twilight felt as light as air, with momentum more powerful than all the power of all the magical creatures in Equestria.

“To Hallot!” she declared, and her form burst out of the bubble’s horizon, speeding past all her friends, nearly blowing them over.

The same portal opened up, with an image in the center beginning to swirl and form. Unbeknown to them, the five ponies and other Draconequus were pulled along with her against their wills, jetting towards the portal. They disappeared inside and it closed up behind them, leaving Chrysalis and the mare that Event Horizon brought, alone in a deserted Canterlot.

After a few seconds of processing what exactly just happened, and concluding that all the ponies had just vanished into thin air, the Changeling Queen eyed the unicorn mare.

“What did you say your special talent was?” she asked her.

She smiled and told her.

As if on cue, Sirius’ angry roar howled from the top of one of the towers, and his blistering, splintered form made itself visible, flapping his fragmented wings to keep him suspended above in the air. Though a dot in the distance, his presence was known all throughout Canterlot now. Chrysalis bellowed her own roar, and her carefully placed changeling army rose into the air at her command. She met Sirius’ outraged gaze, even though the two ponies were miles away.

“Out of my entire existence,” she muttered, “I never thought I would be defending Canterlot.” She turned her to her subjects,

“Down with the blue eyed demon!” she declared as Sirius advanced from above,

“Do not let him escape! No mercy, or forgiveness! The fate of Equestria rests upon our success!” They buzzed past her, charging head on towards him.

She turned to the unicorn mare, “Wait for my signal.”

The response was only a malicious nod.

Chrysalis had a feeling Twilight and her friends would be back… they had to, after all. In the meantime, though, it was now her place to protect Equestria, since only she was allowed to overthrow Celestia.

Her form shifted into the Sirius A they had initially met, clean, strong, powerful and calm, and the two races towards each other at sickening speed.