Harmony's End

Chapters

Ch. 01: Sunset
Ch. 02: Honesty
Ch. 03: Ever afraid
Ch. 04: Woe to the conquered
Ch. 05: Insight
Ch. 06: Love's labours lost
Ch. 07: Love's labours won
Ch. 08: Recurring nightmare
Ch. 09: Ex machina
Ch. 10: Faithful student
Ch. 11: Ultimate reward
Ch. 12: Sorrow in solitude
Ch. 13: End of harmony

Ch. 01: Sunset

“The beginning of the end”

It had been attempted time and time again. An endless cycle of trial and error. A seemingly inescapable fate deteriorating into something else altogether.

Despite the determination of fate, it had never been accomplished. By our time—my time—it did not seem likely, in fact it seemed downright impossible. No pony had ever given thought to what would happen if the worst came to pass—not even a single consideration. Equestria had been a symbol of peace and harmony for longer than even the most ancient of creatures—equine or otherwise—could remember. It really felt as though fate was in our own hooves, and we, in our boundless arrogance, let ourselves believe that it always will be.

In the end, it was that unwavering arrogance that fuelled our downfall. Why would we give notice to the warning signs that the long summer was over? Equestria, we felt, was in her prime. The evils of the world had long ago been either soundly defeated or were simply too afraid to approach our splendour. We worked together in harmony—earthers, pegasi and unicorn alike. Equestria would rise higher than ever before, shine brighter than ever before; every corner of the world would see our glory.

It was just when victory was in our grasp, just when the empire was at the very apex of her glory, that she crumbled. No pony suspected it. No pony saw it coming.

Looking back, the signs were obvious. We were blind. I was blind.

Princess Luna had long been away from the Palace of Canterlot, although her absence had not gone unnoticed. It was rumoured she was negotiating a fragile treaty of peace with none other than the changelings—our natural enemies. The celestial sisters of Equestria seemed to be growing in their strength every day, and they were determined to spread good will and peace to every part of the nation. Many marvelled that even after the events of the royal wedding, Celestia was willing to forgive, and perhaps, even forget the deeds of Queen Chrysalis and her spawn. The Elements of Harmony were also being used to their full potential, as the Sun Princess bade their carriers—my friends and I—to spread the extraordinary magic they contained to every corner of the empire.

Fluttershy—to the surprise of many, including myself—was specifically picked to be the leader of the group of diplomats sent to the Northern Crystal Mountains. They were to make an offer for the mighty dragons that resided in the deepest caves. If the proposed alliance ever came to be, no matter how fragile, the dragons of the north would provide protection, as well as assistance with tasks that are too dangerous or difficult for our kind. In return, they would be generously paid with gemstones taken directly from the Canterlot Treasury. Such an audacious plan would never have been considered in times past, but the Celestial Empire was growing by the day—and even the almighty dragons were hungry for a slither of the power Equestria was holding in her golden hooves.

The smoky mountains, far to the west, were also a place of interest in the eyes of our great leader. The ever beautiful and unflappable Rarity was sent—her diplomatic talents playing second fiddle to her extraordinary ability to find precious stones—to negotiate with the diamond dogs that inhabited the area. The shrewd dogs were, for reasons never explained to other races, fascinated and even enchanted by the abundance of gems the mountain range held. They were however, with their limited means, never exactly adept at finding them. If unicorns were allowed unlimited access to their mountains, their ability to reveal the precious rocks buried deep beneath the earth would provide more than enough gems for both parties.

Applejack had, in comparison, a much more rudimentary, but no less important task: overseeing the empire's agricultural development. Equestria thrived indeed, and with more mouths to feed each day than the last, such developments could not be forgotten or disregarded. Across the great, previously untouched fields that spanned the space between the settlements of the empire, she guided the rapid expansion of orchards and farms. Although she was less than happy to be away from her family for such long periods of time, her loyalty to the princesses and love for all the things that grew from the ground helped ease her into her new role.

Pinkamena Diane Pie, as she now preferred to be called, had been asked to be an ambassador for the Princess herself, a notion that I originally was not exactly pleased with. It wasn’t a secret that Pinkie was extraordinarily unstable, but I would never question the judgement of our ruler—lest of all to her face—for clearly she had seen something in the party-loving pony that others had overlooked. And soon I did indeed begin to understand the plan Celestia had for her. Her ability to sense the future was a magic the celestial sisters had not seen since the discovery of the elusive pony who called herself the Oracle. While that mysterious mare had eluded their searching eyes for decades, Princess Celestia was determined that the baffling magical sense of Pinkamena must be sharpened—and used.

The brave Rainbow Dash had no official royal recognition of any kind, but enjoyed the personal support of the Princess in her pursuit of excellence. To most, her life was more fiction than reality, though; she was a superficial icon of the ideal Equestrian citizen. One that the foals adored and the adults idolised—almost as if she were a living action-hero, a sort of modern day Daring Do. One that the crowd looked up to and aspired one day to be like: strong of both body and mind. She was turned, over time, into a symbol of perfection among the common folk. Her only goal—and job—was to maintain that image. Behind closed doors, I found, she was becoming more distant by the day, and I wondered if the pressure that was being exerted on her was slowly becoming too much for the pegasus to handle. Rainbow Dash laughed off my concerns however, and I chose not to take the matter further.

As for me—Princess Celestia’s prize student—I was stationed in the city that was still known affectionately as Ponyville—despite the fact that the town was well on its way to being declared a metropolis. I was the link that bound every piece of the great puzzle together; anything leaving or entering Canterlot and the Princess' doors would have to come through—and be approved—by me. I oversaw the efforts of my friends, and directed them to perfectly match Princess Celestia's plans. At first, I handled my duties using my ever loyal assistant Spike's ability to near-instantaneously exchange information in the form of letters. I eventually had to find a new method of fulfilling what was asked of me, however.

For Spike had grown up; I was there when he first spread his wings, and I can still recall the first time he had troubles getting through a door. In great grief, I had to come to terms with the fact that he would no longer fit into a world of equines. I felt that it would have been a crime to have him by my side any longer. I knew I could no longer keep him like I would some dog on a leash. He deserved so much more. He was no longer my assistant; but rather, something new, something rare. Something beautiful.

I had to let him go.

I remember the drops of tears rolling down my cheeks as I watched him fly away into the great mountains on the horizon. I knew not, then, what he would turn into. I was still firmly under the illusion that no matter what came, our bond could not be undone—and I am most grateful for my ignorance. Had I known what he would become, I dread to think what I would have done.

I knew, however, that I must not let my emotions stand in the way of my duty. Before Spike and I said our final goodbyes, I spent countless days developing a new spell. I found a way to link my mind to that of my friends, for our souls were already linked through the Elements of Harmony. With gentle tugs and pulls on the magical threads that bound us, I was able to transpose thoughts directly from my mind into theirs and, if they so willed, from theirs into mine. We were thereby drawn closer than ever before; a connection deeper than any other. Thus, we could seamlessly do what we had to do. The physical distance that separated us seemed to have lost its meaning.

Equestria was on the rise.

Little did we suspect that this was the perfect set-up for the beginning of the end. With the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony scattered on the far reaches of the empire, and the Princess of the Night gone, only the Royal Guard—led by my dear brother Shining Armor and his loving wife Princess Cadence—remained by the side of the Sun Princess.

A few simple guards, for all their strength, could do little to prevent the storm that was coming. It was when we were most distracted by our own greatness. It was when we were all the most hopeful for a bright future.

It was then that Princess Celestia was murdered.

***

“Stardust”

The news did not travel fast.

In fact, it was actually the distinct absence of any news whatsoever that began to concern me. While I could speak with my friends at any time, I still relied on the written word to receive information from the Palace of Canterlot. I was used to slight deviations from the weekly schedule, as I was fully aware that the Princess was already overwhelmed by responsibility, making sure the machine that is the empire runs as smoothly as possible. It was why she needed my services: it would have been impossible for her to keep track of everything that happens across Equestria. So I waited for the next letter. It never arrived. A day passed, and then another. No word from Canterlot. Not even a rumour or whisper—a complete blanket of silence seemed to have fallen over Canterlot.
The days turned into a full week. I was getting worried.

Did something happen? I pondered each day. Something has to be happening.

At the end of the second week of waiting after my scheduled letter was meant to arrive, I finally received a call from the Palace ordering my immediate return. In any other situation I would have been reluctant to leave my duties, but this time I knew that this was important. Moreso, perhaps, than anything I had ever been part of. I caught the first train to Canterlot. Even though my trip to the city took no longer than a few hours, it felt closer to an eternity and I found myself growing restlessly tense as the Palace of Canterlot grew larger and larger on the horizon. Thoughts were racing through my head every second of the way. Yet, even then, I did not—or perhaps, dared not—come close to imagining the harsh reality.

As I stepped out of the cabin after my journey, my jaw dropped as I set eyes upon my destination.

The Palace was on full alert.

Above the bright white walls surrounding the great city, pegasi-born guards were swarming like angry flies, nearly blocking the view of the sky. I was shocked to even see some of Princess Luna’s elite Nightguards flying with them, their large bat-like wings beating heavily in the air. The walls themselves were being patrolled by earther guards so numerous as to be nigh impossible to count. The orange light of the tired Sun setting behind the mountains in the distance was far outshined by the torches held high on every corner. The thought of the Equestrian capital sinking into such chaos was staggering in itself; whatever caused this was obviously no mere mess-up of paperwork. I had no time to allow my imagination to run riot or to figure anything out just yet though, as I was soon approached by two guards outside the gates. I listened to the duo blabber on and on about palace security and how they must be absolutely sure that I pose no threat before allowing me entry. My patience was quickly fading, and I was soon beginning to lose my temper. Ideas of blasting them both away began to take hold in my mind. I was—or rather, they were—saved by my brother. He dismissed his two minions before turning to me.

“Please excuse them, sister.” He said as he turned his head to face me. “I instructed them specifically to keep visitors away. This is a very delicate matter we're dealing with right now, you see.”

“What do you mean, 'keep visitors away'? What is it that you're hiding?” I asked in frustration. “Not even before your own wedding was there such a commotion.”

“You don’t have to remind me, Twilight. I remember.” He said as he looked into my eyes, saying nothing more. We stood there, eyeing each other up for a few moments before I finally burst.

“What is all this then? What is going on?!” I broke the silence. “Out with it, big brother, before I walk in and see for myself!” I stopped for a moment to calm my nerves. “Your guards were trying to stop me.”

“They were just doing their jobs, Twilight. You’ll understand soon.” He quickly shook his head, coming to his senses. “Please, follow me.”

I walked with him through the gate and into the heart of the city. Canterlot, normally thriving, was now empty. It would have been, that is, if it weren't for the piercing look of the guards meeting my eyes at every door and window by which we passed. It was clear that the citizens were not just being protected inside their homes for the night—they were not being allowed to leave. Only the patrols roamed the streets, on and on, ever so vigilant, searching every corner, looking in every dark alley.

With guards watching our every move at every step, much to my discomfort, we ascended the stairs before the palace and made our way to the central chamber. It was in there that Princess Celestia would give speeches and announce her royal plans. Seeing its door open once again awoke memories both terrible and pleasant, for it was here my friends and I first stood as we listened to Princess Celestia talk about the chaos-spirit Discord, and it was here that we bowed before an adoring crowd as we received our praise and reward for defeating the very same. And now I could see Princess Cadence—more beautiful than ever—standing on the podium in place of the Sun Princess. Behind her, a large, beautifully carved wooden case.

Cadence said no word. She was only staring at me with empty, blank eyes—much like my brother did before allowing me inside. My anger changed to worry. I turned to my brother, who closed his eyes and simply nodded toward the podium, urging me to walk up. As I began my walk through the long chamber towards the far end, Princess Cadence stepped aside, without a single look or a word in my direction. It was only when I finally had a good view of the case that I realised what was waiting for me inside. It was a coffin, and I already knew what I would find within. Inside the coffin adorned by carvings of the Sun and the Moon, I saw the Sun Princess, the great leader of Equestria, the one who would have brought about the golden age of the empire, lying in eternal sleep.

I cannot quite describe the surge of emotions that flooded me in that moment. Anger, hatred, fear, confusion—such simple terms are painfully insufficient to describe the sensation. To see your whole world crumble before your eyes. To see all your hopes and dreams crushed before you. My mind shut down and lit up at the same time. In the time it took me to blink once, I felt I had experienced more in that fragile moment of sanity than I had in my whole life prior. In the horrible eternity of that instant, I reassessed my entire life; things I have and things I have not done, things that I should have, and things I should not have done. I should have stayed by her side. I should never have left Canterlot. Her guards, they did not do their job. They should have protected her.

All of a sudden, the feeling of abhorrent disgust came over me just thinking of my own brother. It was his job. His only purpose. To guard the Princess of the Sun, and he had failed.

Then, from the darkest depths of my mind came indescribable fury. That animalism we all repress in front of our civilised societies. Once the metaphorical beast inside me escaped its self-imposed captivity, there was no stopping it from rampaging across my thoughts. My bones shook with anger and my eyes burned in consuming flames. Whoever did this, they would have to be found. They must be found and brought to justice. I imagined the ways I'd torture the murderer—oh, how I'd bathe in their blood as I look upon the sweet terror in their gaze! If only they were at my hooves! They would pay. It would pay.

And yet at the same time I was overwhelmed by remorse. My conscious felt no longer like a part of me, but like some foreign spirit latching onto my soul as it tore at my heart and taunted my inner monster. It whispered its questions in my ear, why were you not there? Why did you not foresee this? You should have. I should have.

The experience was nothing as simple as physical pain—indeed, it was something far worse. A sense of utter hopelessness and loss. Impotent anger.

Hunger for revenge.

I know not how long I stared at Princess Celestia. I was completely lost in my thoughts, directing my anger and resentment at anything that came to mind as I spiraled ever deeper, trying to find something—anything—to say. Something to do. But what hope had there been? The Princess was dead—and with her demise, much more than just her life was lost. All of Equestria, I feared, would die with her.

Still consumed by my thoughts, refusing to take my gaze off our beloved leader, I finally managed to utter a single question.

“When?”

“Two weeks ago,” Cadence replied, her pretty face a mask of stone. “She was found in her bed with her throat slit. She couldn't even call for help.”

Shining Armour came up at her side, his own features grim. “We haven’t got any suspects yet, but we will.” He paused for a moment. “Not a single pony was allowed to enter or leave Canterlot since—save you.” He added.

“We cleaned her and had this coffin prepared.” Cadence said. “And look at her. Even in her death, she is a miracle—not a sign of decay. One can barely tell she is not merely sleeping. She is truly the eternal ruler of Equestria.”

“And..” I finally turned my head towards the other two. “In over fourteen days, you were unable to find out a thing! Have you tried looking elsewhere than one another's lips?”

“Twilight,” Shining tried to soothe me, “The Princess was under constant guard, as always. Even the four protecting her door that night are gone. No pony could have predicted this.”

“Gone?” I cried out in fury. “What do you mean they’re 'gone'!? What if they did it? What if they saw the assassin?”

“We do not know, sister. But I promise we—”

I would not let him finish his sentence.

“How can you be sure that any of the so-called 'Royal' Guard can be trusted? You simply pick them off the fields!”

“We do not 'pick them,' Twilight.” Shining Armor explained. “We accept volunteers. Not to mention each and every single one of them has to pass a rigorous training process before being approved. Most do not even—”

“Don't you dare even try to save face after this!”

“Please, Twilight,” My barrage of words was interrupted by the Princess Cadence. “This is not getting us anywhere.”

As I stood there, looking into the eyes of my brother with burning rage, trying desperately to find the right words with which to further berate them, I heard a calling. It was not a physical voice, no simple sound echoing in the chamber. It was something ethereal; something not quite there, yet almost tangible. My expression immediately changed from furious to hopeful. It was clear from the surprised expressions of my peers, however, that they could not sense it. I was the only one to be beckoned. I knew this was not without reason—and I had to go alone.

I turned around once again. I told the other two that I wished to be alone at that moment; they complied and left the chamber. Without a moment’s hesitation, I locked the door behind them. I was, thus, alone with the Princess. This time—much to my relief—she was not my focus, but the ancient door behind. The door that guarded the Elements of Harmony, protected by a spell that none but the Sun Princess herself could break. And now it was calling to me. I closed my eyes and ordered the door to open in my mind—and so it did.

I had to close my eyes as the door opened. The beams of sunlight bathing the windowless hallway behind stabbed my unwary eyes as if they were knives. I stood there for a moment—eyes shut tight and my face covered—stunned not as much by the brightness but by the beauty of the inner sanctum. When I finally mustered the courage to look up, I began my walk to the Chamber of Harmony, where the Elements were kept. I had read of it in my books, but no amount of ink on paper can prepare one for truly gazing upon this room. One has to tread through what is referred to as the Crystal Hallway before emerging at the altar of the Elements themselves. Any pony would feel belittled by the statues lining the walls of this shining hallway: the greatest and brightest of forgotten Equestrian history were lined up, gigantic and awe-inspiring, looking down at the traveller below.

The word “hero” would do little to describe these mares and stallions; the greatest of heroes would receive a stained glass window dedicated to them somewhere inside the Castle for all to see, as it was the case with my friends and myself, the current bearers of the Elements. These ancient angels were not meant for the eyes of a tiny filly on her educational class excursion. Even I did not recognise a number of them, and my life was, for the most part, spent reading ancient tomes and lexicons.

To be immortalised in this hallway was to be elevated to the level of a forgotten god: to be so above the common crowd that they do not even acknowledge you as their superior, yet those who understand your being would immediately drop to their knees in awe and fear. Even merely walking past these cold, crude representations of the saints of ages past put a strain on my nerves. But I did not take a second look at any one of them. My destination was, slowly but surely, drawing closer. After what felt like an eternity, I reached the inner chamber.

The main chamber itself was enormous. The titanic walls were ornamented by the most beautiful gemstones of all colours. The great crystal pillars pressing with all their might against the glowing ceiling were so clear as to be entirely translucent. The Elements, aligned in the shape of a hexagram, were given their proper places atop golden pedestals, each adorned by images of battles of lost aeons. Despite the chamber's apparent lack of windows, I could still feel the warm embrace of sunlight, much like I did in the Crystal Hallway before it. I could sense the magic of the Elements twisting and whirling all around me. The Chamber of Harmony is truly a place akin to no other.

But something was wrong.

The Elements were not the beautiful jewels I remembered. Unlike the last time I had seen them, they were corrupted and foul. Merely looking at them made me feel sick to my stomach; it was as if some cherished foalhood memory was being desecrated before my eyes. Describing their exact condition would be impossible, for physically they remained intact, although the once vibrant colours that separated them had been drained—replaced by a monotonous dead grey. Inside my soul, I could feel them crying. I sat down, silently mourning for—and with—the Elements. I thought that this was the source of my calling. It was then that I heard her voice.

“You can sense it, can you not, Twilight Sparkle?” A voice spoke out behind me. “Can't you feel them?”

I looked up to see her. For a moment, I truly believed I had finally lost my mind.

“Princess?” I asked, mesmerised, as I looked upon the faint figure.

“Your eyes do not deceive you, my faithful student.” She calmed me down. “And neither does your memory. I am dead, Twilight Sparkle.”

“But then how can you—” I tried to ask, jabbering.

“I am nothing but an echo. A shadow of myself.” She interrupted me, “My spirit has been drawn and bound to the Elements. Just as you have been drawn here yourself.”

“Was it you, then, that called for me? What happened?”

“I know not the identity of my assailant, Twilight Sparkle.” The Princess replied.

“Then why have you called upon me, Princess?” I asked in confusion.

“Answer the question, my student. Can you hear them?” She asked in an almost commanding tone.

“The Elements? Of course I can!” I answered. “Why is this important?”

“This is not the first time. When I last heard them cry, a thousand years ago, my sister was taken over by darkness. They were mourning for her.”

“Why tell me this? There must be something I can do! Please, there has to be!”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle. There is something you can do. Make no mistake, however; you cannot restore my life. You can, and must, restore the Elements. They are weak, a shadow of their former glory. And if the Elements are weakened..”

“Who knows, what might happen.” I finished the sentence for her. “I understand. But how do I…?”

“The last time I was a coward.” Princess Celestia whispered. “I could not do what had to be done. I passed the curse on. I thought that, perhaps, by banishing my sister and passing the Elements further, to you and your friends, I might break the rules. That I could stop the corruption—and I believed, until now, that I succeeded.”

The Princess sighed deeply as she closed her eyes. She then turned her head down towards the floor.

“But I did not. It is happening again, and I am bound here until the Elements are restored. Only then may I find release.”

“What are you saying, Princess?”

“What are you willing to do, my student? How far will you go?” She asked, looking down at me, yet avoiding eye contact.

“I will do anything to save you!”

“I am terribly sorry.” She whispered.

“Tell me!”

Princess Celestia lifted her head and looked me straight in the eye. Inside hers, I could see a primal flame, the kind of which I could never have imagined before. Her gaze made me feel the weight of the entire palace pressing down on me. I could hardly bare to keep eye contact. The air froze. Time stopped. I dared not move. I dared not blink. This was the final moment before the fateful words, which still ring in my ears, were uttered. She finally took a deep breath and opened her mouth, ready to speak.

“The elements must be separated from their keepers. There is only one way that can be achieved.”

A pregnant pause.

“You must kill your friends, Twilight Sparkle.”

Ch. 02: Honesty

“You must kill your friends, Twilight Sparkle.”

Her words rang in my ears, entirely blocking the outside world. There was no light and no Princess. There were no Elements. And now even the echo of her command was being drowned out by the coming tide that was a single question forming at the edge of my awareness.

“Why?”

“Through my sister's madness, the Elements were tainted. And while she was saved from the corruption, the Elements were not.”

“I don't understand.”

“The Elements are magic incarnate, my student. They are eternal and forever, but alone, they are nothing. Those who wield the Elements give them purpose, and in turn, the Elements give them power. An Element and its wielder are inexplicably bound. When Luna's mind gave up, the bitterness in her heart gave way to the poison that damned her soul, and through her soul, the Elements themselves.”

“But the Night Princess was cured! My friends and I used the Elements themselves to heal her.”

“Her soul may have been saved, but the Elements were already bound to you. In them, the corruption survived and lay dormant for years. And now that it has been awakened, I can see there is no other way to vanquish it.”

“Why are the Elements so important? How could they be worth sacrificing so many lives?”

“Do you remember the last time the Elements were made inert? If the Elements remain in this state, there is no telling what horrors might enter our world. Discord is not our only enemy. And while the Elements weep, Equestria is vulnerable.”

“But murdering my own friends, Princess? How—how can you even consider it?” I asked, unbelieving. “Has death stripped you of your conscience?”

Hearing my words, her previously stern expression quickly turned into a condescending, almost disgusted look.

“Conscience?” She snarled. “I have once imprisoned the only being in this world who could truly understand me. A thousand years I have spent knowing that with each passing day my sister suffers in unimaginable agony in her Moon-prison, her soul being eaten alive by her own madness. And now, only in my death do I learn that it had all been for nothing.”

Unable to even reply, I could only listen as the Princess talked in an ever-more worrying tone.

“I built this empire! I watched it rise from the dirt into the beacon of prosperity and hope that you now live in, Twilight Sparkle. To that end I have made choices you would not believe! Only once have I let my weakness triumph over my better judgement, and behold the result: I have to ask the most gifted unicorn I have ever known to murder the very ponies that made her life as my personal student possible!”

“Princess..”

“To live for a millennium, waking up each day in the knowledge that the fate of the world rests on the advisedness of my every deed! And you dare speak to me about conscience! Only when you have felt the true gravity of choice should you question my judgement!”

“Princess Celestia, I..”

With a pained groan, she suddenly lowered her head as her expression became a distorted frown. Her lips pulled apart, I could see her teeth clenched together. Ethereal tears escaped her tightly shut eyes and rolled down on her translucent cheeks, each one disappearing in a burst of light as they reached the marble floor. She stood there like that, her whole body twitching with each tortured sob. All I could do is watch as the eternal Princess of Equestria was reduced into a helpless, crying foal.

Each deep breath she took seemed to calm her a tiny bit more. When her tears finally ceased, she prepared herself to speak again. Without even looking up, she spoke, her voice now but a dying whisper with no hint of the fury it so recently held.

“I am sorry. I am so sorry.” She took another deep breath. “But there is no other way. By killing your friends, you will release their souls from the Elements' embrace. Through their death, Equestria might live on. And only then will I find salvation.”

“But I can't!” I cried.

“And yet you must. Know this, Twilight Sparkle: if you refuse, you will damn not only your friends to the same fate that Luna suffered, you might drag the entire world down with them. Go in that knowledge.”

Overwhelmed by the revelations of the spirit, I turned my back without speaking any more. As I slowly paced down the Crystal Hallway once again, I could hear her addressing me one last time.

“My faithful student.”

***

I spent the coming week locked away in the solitude of my home, completely paralysed by the memories of my visit to Canterlot. I could barely eat and I almost did not sleep. I did not even notice the silence that had befallen my mind until several days have passed. When I finally realised that I could no longer hear my friends speak to me ever since I met with the spirit of Celestia, my fear only grew greater. “Has our link been severed?” I asked myself. “Why can I not talk to them?”

Whatever the reason for the sudden silence, I would, perhaps, soon have an answer. Applejack was making her annual return to Sweet Apple Acres. She had been appointed by Princess Celestia herself to travel the empire to oversee its agricultural development. And once a year, every year, she would return to her home—an event which has always met with great acclaim. Inside the city and on the fields which surrounded it, the townsfolk would gather, the merchants would set up their stalls and a week-long fair would begin. This is what originally made the citizens of Equestria think of Ponyville as a financial centre; this is what made its eventual rise from a sleepy little town to the buzzing and lively city possible. Throughout the week, Poneapolis once again hosted not only the finest goods from across the empire, but all kinds of festivities, outdoor circuses and so much more. I watched in both horror and anticipation as the city awakened through the days prior to Applejack's arrival. I knew I had to meet her—but I had no idea what our eventual confrontation might bring.

The first wave of guests—prey for the greedy vendors—served as a reminder of the golden age of Equestria. They knew not, yet, what horrible fate had befallen the Sun Princess. I watched as mothers bought for their foals little toys and gadgets, the salesmares descending upon their victims like vultures to talk them into buying from their 'most delicious batch of fruit'. To them, the world was still a place of opportunity and of dreams. I would have hated to shatter their illusions of a bright future. Whatever happens when the time of her return comes, it would have to be kept secret.

***

Applejack—and her escort—finally arrived long hours into the afternoon. I looked on, careful not to be noticed, from the cheering crowd celebrating the Element of Honesty's return. At first, the sight of her walking down the buzzing street filled me with doubt. I could not meet her alone as I wished, not with the townsfolk and visitors wandering about every hour of the day. I soon realised, though, her hatred of such a big city. Her uneasiness with what Ponyville had become was obvious. Although she did her best to pretend that she feels blessed to have returned, having known her for as long as I have, I could tell that it was not the case. The ever-so faint signs of sadness, and perhaps even disgust, stained her fake smile. Most unbecoming of the one mare I once thought would never tell a lie.

And so I waited patiently, hiding from her gaze, always keeping her just in sight. I watched as she reunited with her brother and sister, saw their tears being shed in joy. The touching moment would not last long, however; Applejack had much to do. She gave a speech, reminding everyone of the importance of proper nourishment and asking all those present not to go overboard with the cider during the week. She then answered questions regarding proper agriculture; a session of which even I, for all my academic knowledge regarding so many subjects, understood little.

As the hours dragged on, I could not keep the terrible thoughts out of my head. The weeping of the Elements was a testament and proof as to their corruption—and I saw first-hoof how it changed Princess Luna from a noble leader into a deranged monster. Princess Celestia told me that the same fate would await my friends if I do not act on her command. She spoke as if murder would be a mercy—and I could not help but feel that she regretted not killing her own sister when it all began a thousand years ago. If I refuse her grim order, will I become the guilt-ridden wretch that she seems to have been reduced to? Given such a choice, what was I to do?

I would never have questioned the word of the Princess in her life, yet now, before what was perhaps the most important decision I could ever make, doubt and fear clouded my mind. On one hoof, I could murder the ponies I love the most at the command of the Sun Princess, hoping that an even grander Equestria may rise from their blood. On the other hoof, I could refuse to carry out the will of a mad ghost, taking the risk of destroying the empire that has stood for a thousand years should her words turn out to be correct.

The Sun Princess has never been wrong. Ever since I was her personal student, everything I had ever done was in accordance to her will. With her guidance, my friends and I defeated evils beyond imagining. My life—our lives—have revolved around doing good for the empire for longer than any of us would care to admit. If serving Equestria now meant giving up our lives, would that make a difference?

Lost in my thoughts, I finally came to understand the plan of our Princess. For our friendship was no longer the point. In fact, it had never been. There was only one reason that had I ever met them: to provide alternate hosts to the Elements so that their corruption might be cured. That is how, and why, it began. And now I was merely finishing what was started so many years ago. Princess Celestia had already cast the die before I knew it even existed. The game was already in motion—and Princess Celestia's finishing move was me.

When the Sun was once again nearly gone from the sky, casting its last beams of red light upon the empire, I finally saw Applejack making her way out of the city, sneaking away from the crowd. I could see that all she wished for was to be alone at that point—a luxury that I would not allow her to embrace. With every pony—including her family—spending their night on the streets of Poneapolis, Applejack's place to hide from all the noise was obvious. As she wandered aimlessly between the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, I followed her, still attempting to stay out of sight.

“Twilight,” she suddenly spoke, “I know you're there.”

Surprised to hear her calling out my name, with my heart beating ever faster, I stepped out from behind one of the apple trees.

“How long have you been following me?” She asked, accompanied by a curious gaze.

“A while.” I replied in feigned playfulness. “It's been a long time, Applejack. And I notice you still retain the accent.”

“I do, don't I.” The earther chuckled as she rushed towards me with an excited smile on her face. She had no idea.

She rubbed her neck gently against mine. Once, I was ready to do anything to feel a friend's embrace. But now I could barely stand it: so close, I could feel corruption oozing from her. The very same kind of unforgettable depressing sensation that I felt inside the Chamber of Harmony. I could at once hear the crying of the Elements yet again—and I was once again reminded of Princess Celestia's words.

“What's wrong, sugarcube?” She asked. “I can tell something is wrong. Don't lie to me.” She said with a smile.

“It is..” I stopped, unable to tell her the truth about the Princess and what was asked of me. “Personal.”

“Now stop with that bitterness, Twi'. What's bothering you? You know you can tell me anything.”

“I am concerned, Applejack.”

“I'm listening.”

“Our mental link. I tried to reach you this past week but I could not. The others have fallen silent as well. Do you know anything about this?”

“Well, Twilight, I never understood how your magic worked, and with all due respect, I have been too busy these days to think about it. But now that you mention it, I did feel a bit dizzy a while ago. Sick, even. Could that have anythin' to do with your spell?”

“A while ago? When exactly?”

“I remember being ill all day, right around a week ago.”

While I came no closer to finding a real answer, the fact that her described illness coincided with my visit to Canterlot was more than suspicious.

“Come on, now,” She said, smiling. “Is that really all you wanted to discuss? Some of your magic going haywire? That happened all the time when we lived here!”

“I guess it did, yes.” I laughed, nervously. “Tell me then, Applejack, how have the past years been treating you? Whenever we talked recently, it was always just business, we never really got to catch up.”

“If by 'business' you mean 'you bossing me around,' sure.” Her hearty chuckle turned into a disappointed sigh. “Never a dull moment, Twilight. Always on the move, always something important to see to. Sometimes, I question whether there is a point to it all.”

“Is that so? I imagined you would like a travelling lifestyle. Were you not growing weary of the farm right here?”

“At first, yes.” She turned around before beginning to slowly walk away. “But now? I never see my family. I come home and it's like I don't even know them. Apple Bloom even got her cutie mark, and I wasn't there.”

“You never mentioned any of this. We were in constant connection, yet you said no word.”

“I didn't want to burden you, Twi'. Or the others. And I knew that it was for the sake of Equestria. After you agree to the Princess' request, you can't just say that you've changed your mind, can you?”

“No,” I paused for a moment. “I suppose you cannot.”

She was getting further and further away, still not looking back.

“So you were willing to throw away everything for the good of the empire, Applejack?”

“Yes.” She answered plainly, stopping to look up at the newly risen Moon above.

There she stood in the silence of the moonlight, several steps away from me with her back turned. I contemplated what to do, finally taking a deep breath.

“Princess Celestia has asked me to kill you.”

She lowered her upward gaze as she slowly turned around to look me in the eye.

“Pardon?”

“What corrupted Princess Luna a thousand years ago has returned. And now it has claimed you. I can feel it.”

“What are you talking about? Is this some sort of a joke?!”

“No, Applejack. If only it was.”

Even in the darkness I could see her gulp.

“But—but you aren't going to do it, are you?”

“Am I? Am I going to murder one of my only friends because the eternal leader of the empire commanded me to? Do you expect me to answer that question?”

“No, Twilight.” Her playful voice now quickly changed to a deep, sinister tone. “You are not going to do it.”

“Applejack?” I asked, worried.

“I told you, Twilight.” Her voice grew ever deeper to a point I did not think was possible. “You will turn around and you will leave.”

Never taking her gaze off me, she began walking around me, keeping her long distance. Unwilling to let her behind me, I started moving as well. Inside her eyes, I could see a gleaming white light and it terrified me more than anything I had ever seen before—for I recognised this glow as the very same I saw within Nightmare Moon's gaze when she stood between me and the Elements on that fateful night. It was the gaze with which she charged at me as if she were going to impale me on her monstrous horn. That glowing stare was evil given form.

Applejack and I continued our exchange as we slowly circled each other.

“Applejack, calm down. I came to you to find a solution.”

“The first time you visit me in so many years, you come to murder me.” Her deepened voice resonated with an uncanny tone. It was as if something else had taken over, and she was only a helpless host. “And then you would ask me to calm down?”

“Applejack. Please, listen to me. You are not being rational.”

“I'm not being rational? I am not the one who wants to kill her own friend!” With each spoken word, she sounded more and more out of her mind.

“I do not want to kill you.”

“Oh, but you will. You would never refuse the Princess.”

“Listen to yourself! You have completely lost it!”

The more I tried to calm her, the more furious she seemed to get. For every soothing word, she replied with a sarcastic remark. And in the end, the good mare finally snapped.

She rushed at my recklessly, turning around in the last second to deliver a kick with her hind hooves. I quickly jumped out of her path in the last moment; she ended up hitting the tree that stood behind me. I had to look on in horror as the tree was snapped in half. Her hind legs had swollen to almost twice their original size and even through her thick fur I could see veins pulsating and throbbing up and down within. This was no pony I had ever known. This was akin to nothing I had ever seen. Looking with its glowing eyes into mine, snarling with its almost fang-like teeth, panting heavily as it was preparing its horrendous hooves for its next attack, was a ferocious monster.

“Applejack?” I asked, hoping for an answer. All I received in return was a crazed gaze from her empty, white eyes.

Then, with no warning, the monster charged at me again—and this time, I was too slow to steer out of its path. The beast knocked me down and pinned me to the ground, recklessly beating away at me with her hooves. I tried to defend myself, to put my hooves up to block her kicks and punches, but to no avail. Her sheer brutality completely overpowered me. I tried to kick her off, but I could not. I screamed in pain and called for help, but no pony heard.

There I was, lying on the ground as the pony I once called my friend brutalised me. After a while, I did not even feel it. My body was completely numb, my nerves deadened by the punishment. It was in that moment, as I lingered in that fragile state of mind between consciousness and passing out, that I was struck by an idea which would save my life. I did not think about it. I did not care. Right then, I just wanted out. Out of this, out of everything.

My horn lit up with a burst of light as a burst of magical energy hit the monster, instantly sending it flying straight into an apple tree more than twenty steps away. The sheer force of the impact tore the tree itself from the ground, its roots ripping and tearing as the tree—and the monster with it—was flung backwards.

I stood up as my body shook with excitement. Only then did I realise what I had done. I was overcome by worry. Did I hurt her? Oh, stars, did I kill her?

“Are you okay?” I called out to her, squinting my eyes trying to make something out in the dark.

No response.

“Applejack!” I called her again, slowly walking toward the fallen tree. “Are you okay? Please say something!”

Silence.

The possibility of having actually killed my friend rushed in on me like I was suddenly thrown into a cold stream. I shuddered at the thought. Each step I took awakened within me an even deeper level of fear. I could not possibly have..

But the true horror came when I at last reached the torn tree. In the eerie silence of the moonlight, the stars illuminated the little clearing among the trees I made. It was then, standing there in shock, that I saw.

She was not there.

The night wind gently blew at the apple trees' leaves. At first, their faint fluttering was all that could be heard in the darkness. This undertone was then slowly blunted by the beating of my heart. With each pump, I felt my muscles tighten, my hooves pushing at the ground ever stronger, freezing me in place. I dared not turn around, or even shift my gaze. I could only look down at the fallen tree, confirming at each breath that Applejack is not there.

In the end, what made me look up was the sight of something running past the trees in the distance; a glimpse of a shadow I caught from the corner of my eye. The monster was out there, stalking me. Without even thinking, I immediately turned around and started dashing. I ran, ran for the one place I thought was safe: the Apple family barn. It was not far from me, yet each second I spent going there felt like an hour.

Behind me, I could hear the beast skulking, running and thrashing about, breaking fallen twigs and rushing between the trees to keep up with me. The sound of my heart's beating and her hooves pounding the ground came together in a terrible symphony.

Just as the horrifying pounding drew nearer, I reached the barn. I slammed myself into the large double-door without even slowing down, throwing them open as I rushed past. Once inside, I immediately shut them closed behind me.

For a brief moment, I felt relief. In there, the monster could not attack me. Yet a sudden revelation frightened me more than anything had that night. For I could no longer hear her steps, and the absence of that infernal pounding chilled me so much more than its presence had.

Managing to shake off my fear, I quickly came to my senses. I looked around the dark interior of the barn. Its small windows scarcely let the faint light of the Moon and the stars inside. Squinting my eyes, I discerned a simple oil lamp mounted on the right wall not much above eye level. A tiny spark created by my spell was enough to light it.

Carefully levitating it, I took the lamp from its place and had it float above me as I explored my surroundings. The barn was, for the most part, empty. Nothing but a few stacks of hay lay piled up by the opposite wall; apart from that, it was one large, empty room. At the very least, it only had one entrance, and as such, the monster had no way to ambush me. I sat down by the right wall, resting my tired legs and taking deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm myself. Yet the more I tried not to think about just what might await me outside, the more I found myself wondering upon just that.

What am I supposed to do? If I walk out now, Applejack—or whatever it is that became of her—is sure to kill me. Am I supposed to spend the night here? I can't possibly sleep. And what if she does not change by dawn? What if she stays this monster? Is there nothing I can do?

Such thoughts and questions raced through my head. I was far from prepared for what was about to happen.

A loud crack. My head bangs forcefully against the ground as the wooden wall that used to be behind me breaks into a thousand splinters. Suddenly, the monster is standing again above me, holding me to the ground and ready to pound my head into a pulpous mass.

My ears still ringing, I was unable to react. It was similar to what one might feel just before falling asleep: conscious, but not quite there. The world seemed distorted and time slowed down. I saw the beast lift its hooves as it readied itself for one last strike.

But it did not complete the deed. In fact, I saw a glint of fear in its eyes just before it jumped up from me and ran outside through the very hole in the wall it had made. I did not understand, at first, what happened. It was not long before I realised, however, just how bright it seemed all of a sudden. Dear Celestia!

I quickly flipped from my back and looked up. The oil lamp, the one I held before the beast's assault! I lost control over its levitation. When I was flung into the air by that terrible kick, the lamp was also sent flying—straight into the piles of hay at the far end! Now the flames could not be stopped. The fire consumed the barn, creeping up on its wooden walls with unprecedented speed. I knew I could not stay in there, and as such, I followed the monster's example and quickly made my way out. Behind me, I heard wooden beams fall and crack within the quickly spreading inferno. The madness of this hell seemed to cast the winds themselves into rage, for as I left, I could feel the wind picking up, blowing fallen leaves and dust away as it passed through the orchard—and spreading the fire ever further.

Sweet Apple Acres lay in flames. Fire danced under the pitch black night sky, illuminating the darkness with its blood-red light. The all-consuming blaze burned a path of scorched land into the ground as it spread from one tree to another. Walking along this hellish road, I kicked up a small gust of ash with each step. The monster was, however, nowhere to be seen. I wondered whether it had fled, or it was simply the sound of falling trees and crackling flames that drowned out the sounds of her movement. Trying to stay ahead of the fire, I hurried forward, deeper and deeper into the artificial forest.

Running from the flames that ate away at the trees behind me, I reached a clearing with no trees. At the very centre of that open field sat the monster of Sweet Apple Acres, gazing silently at the carnage that followed me. As I approached, it still refused to move. It only sat there, simply, quietly. As I got closer, I could see the confusion and fear in its eyes. Could it have been what was left of Applejack's mind, looking in terror upon the burning orchard which she once called her own? Or was it, perhaps, nothing more but an animal's primal fear of fire that paralysed it so? I did not know. Whatever the reason, I could not let the opportunity pass. The monster, stunned motionless in either terrible awe or fear, was an easy target for my binding spell.

Floating in the air, its legs tied by magical shackles, the beast could do little to resist. It groaned and barked as I moved her head closer to mine. I looked into its deranged eyes, trying desperately to find a semblance of the pony I used to know. Inside her eyes, however, there was only that empty white glow. No understanding. No comprehension. No shame.

With her mind clearly gone, and her body twisted and turned into such an abomination, I realised that the Princess was right; there was only one thing I could do for my friend now. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I can still hear the crack. The sound of her neck snapping signalled the beginning of my quest—she was the first to fall. As I let go of her body, I fell to the ground with it, collapsing in both physical and mental exhaustion. I lay on the ground next to her, crying and laughing at the same time.

“I did it.” I cackled. “I murdered Applejack.”

***

By the time a young Apple Bloom, first in line of the ponies putting out the flames that consumed the orchard, found the broken body of her big sister, it was charred beyond recognition. It was not long, however, until the family finally accepted the obvious—and connected Applejack's sudden disappearance to the corpse of the unidentified mare. And my heart was breaking for them.

Yet now, having committed such an atrocity, there was no turning back for me. I have stepped onto a treacherous path and fallen into a dark pit more horrible still. For me, there was no escape. All I could do is to march on, to fall further—carrying out acts the kinds of which I've never imagined in my worst nightmares. My redemption, I thought, lied in doing what Princess Celestia wanted, no matter the cost. I knew not whether this was the 'right' thing to do. All I knew is that now there was nothing else for me to do.

Beset as I was by doubt, one thing was for certain, however: I was not merely fighting my friends. The corruption was the tool with which to render the Elements useless. Whatever created it was greater and more insidious than anything Equestria had faced before.

I thought I had it all figured out. By ending the lives of the ones I loved, I thought I would bring harmony back. It seemed all too simple.

Little did I know, however, that I had been watched all along.

Ch. 03: Ever afraid

Tip. Tap.

The echo of my hooves hitting the shining floor of the Crystal Hallway were an unpleasant reminder of my encounter with Applejack. Dear stars, her neck...

Tip. Tap.

The closer I was to the far end, the louder their sound seemed to resonate within the room. It matched the overwhelming sensation of loss and loneliness. The terrible feeling of regret. It was as if the room itself was judging me. What little composure I had before I entered was all but gone long before I even reached the Chamber of Harmony.

Tip, tap.

Was this entire hallway architectured with this very purpose in mind? To evoke hidden feelings, to dig up buried memories old and new alike, to wear down and intimidate all those that dare to enter?

Yet somehow, what awoke in me an even greater fear was not the nature of my surroundings. It was that, among the ones whose deeds shall not be spoken, I felt right at home.

Tip, tap.

I dragged my aching legs along the hallway, one by one, finally reaching my destination.

“You've done well.” So greeted me the spirit of the Princess as I entered the Chamber of Harmony.

For all the things I wanted to say to her, my mouth failed me. My jaw simply hung open instead as I looked up at the spectre with teary eyes, unable to form a single word.

As if she had read my mind, the Princess pointed towards one of the pedestals around us. On top of it lay the necklace which contained the Element of Honesty. Although its surface was still engulfed in that terrible dark-grey, as I leaned closer, I swore I could hear a faint but definite sound. As if it was speaking to me, not through simple words, but by feelings given voice. It was an indescribable kind of music—a sort of harmony.

I looked back at the spirit with a newfound sense of enlightenment.

“Is this it then?” I asked. “Was this your destiny for me all along?”

“We all play the cards we have been dealt. To say that I've used you would be distorting the truth. I helped you to become something far greater than you ever could have been. You are the saviour of Equestria. ”

“How can you say that?!” I burst out at her. “I killed—I murdered my own friend! How can that possibly be justified?”

“I have been playing this game for a thousand years, Twilight Sparkle. I've had time to learn the rules.”

“You speak as if you could do no wrong! Is throwing lives away that easy for you? Is this truly nothing but a game to you?”

“I take no pleasure in what I do, my student. Neither am I proud of everything I have done. My long life has taught me well, however. I've lived more than a millennium guiding the downtrodden and guarding the weak. I've learned that, sometimes, sacrifices must be made to ensure the prosperity of us all. The empire I built, I built upon such morals.”

She drew her body up and lifted her head high, gazing into the magical light that shined above.

“It is why, when I have to give one of my subjects over to the void, I do so with a clear conscience.”

She looked at me again.

“Do not mistake me for the master of this game, Twilight Sparkle. I am nothing but a player forced into this grand scheme by something even greater. As are you. All we may do now is fight for a favourable outcome.”

“What are you talking about? What game are we playing?”

“I do not know what it is we face, Twilight Sparkle, but I know it is out there. The madness of my sister and its repercussions are but mere pieces of a grander puzzle. I can sense it: something is out there, pulling the strings and moving the puppets.” She took a deep breath. “My murder was but their latest move.”

“Is the corruption its doing, then? Is this unspoken force that which drove the Night Princess to insanity so long ago? What purpose does this all serve?”

“Whatever their ultimate goal is, the keys to their victory are the Elements. Whether through their destruction or application, I cannot say. Either way, the Elements are required for their plan, and their corruption is but the first act in their theatre of horrors.”

“But the Elements are untouchable and inherently pure.” I replied in clarity. “It is why they hunt their users. It is why this madness infected my circle of friends.”

“And they are counting on your inability to end their lives.” The Princess nodded her head. “It is what was done to me—I refused the sacrifice, unable to bring myself to murder my sister. For my weakness, all of Equestria nearly paid the price. You, my faithful student, must not let the same card be played twice.”

“And so I'm reduced to this.” I lowered my head and closed my eyes. “A murderer of innocents.”

“Are they innocent?” She asked with little compassion in her voice.

Her question pierced my heart like a knife, for I knew exactly what the answer was. I looked up at her again and took a deep breath.

“No, Princess.” I whispered, struggling to contain my tears. “Not anymore.”

A freezing sensation rushed through my entire body as the spectre placed her ethereal hoof on my forehead. She was merely trying to soothe me, yet her touch chilled me in more ways than one.

“Did she change, Twilight Sparkle? Did the corruption ravage Applejack as it did my sister?”

“She was turned into a monster, Princess. I've never seen anything like it.”

“It is relentless. You must know that a similar fate awaits the rest of your friends.” She pulled her hoof away as we looked, again, in the eyes of one another. “Do not let history repeat itself, Twilight Sparkle. You must be stronger than I was. You must end this depravity.”

“What shall I do then?”

“There is a darkness spreading across the land of the dragons. It is North you must go.”

***

My journey to the draconic mountains of the North was long and trying, although largely uneventful. The last settlement, a small village home to no more than a few hundred earthers, and whose name I could not even be bothered to learn, I had passed over ten days ago. I could not tell the precise date after I finally reached my destination from the dense forest that separated the land of Equestria and the great mountain range beyond; aside from counting the nights which I spent in shelters of my own making by a small fire, I could do little to keep track of time's passing.

All throughout, I concentrated solely on the journey itself. Rationing food, walking at a steady pace, resting at regular intervals—focusing on my carefully constructed plan of reaching my goal was, for the most part, enough to keep my mind off my real task. When the horrible truths seeped into my mind during the all-engulfing darkness of the forest nights, I emptied my head, refusing the reality of my quest. After the long days of trekking, the merciful release of sleep came easily even when I was most haunted by my waking nightmare.

All that time, the only thing I cared about was reaching the Crying Mountain—or Tiny Rock, as it was known to the dragons. When I finally did, it was as much a victory as it was a kind of damnation. Before, I could simply keep going forward, never looking back—for I dared not, out of shame. Now that I arrived, I had nowhere to run. My conscience had finally caught up with me, and it tore me apart from the inside. Yet my faith in the words of Princess Celestia had not faltered. I would continue and complete my task, by any means necessary.

Standing amidst the trees, peaking high above, the Crying Mountain was still dwarfed by the giants yet ahead. Named so long ago by ponyfolk for its rich springs, the lush streams flowing gently down the mountainside breathed life into the forest below. Its relatively small height, along with its place on the border between the colliding lands made it an ideal place for the summit to be held between the two races. This was where the delegation, led by my friend Fluttershy, was meant to negotiate for an alliance with the dragons. Somewhere on this mountain, my friend awaited.

The day was still young. After putting out the last cinders of the flame which guarded me during the night, I began my ascension. Gazing up from the bottom of the mountain, the path to the top did not seem overly tiring: no steep steps, not a single fallen rock obstructing the way to be seen. Indeed, my thoughts were revolving around what I could find when I finally come face to face with my friend.

What could I possibly say to her? Should even I say a thing? What if she is, too, disfigured? And what if she is not?

Such were the questions which I dared not find an answer for. Lost in my thoughts as I was, I walked upon the paved mountain path that led to the top. My thoughts were soon interrupted, however, by the sound of something cracking beneath my hooves. It was no sound that I recognised, yet somehow, something from the back of my head told me that I had heard something similar before.

Taking a deep breath, I looked down to behold something utterly dreadful. I found what little remained of a pegasus. The sound which I heard was apparently the charred bones of what used to be a pair of wings, snapping under the pressure of my hoof. With most of the body burned to ashes or outright gone,—eaten, perhaps—I could not even guess its gender, much less its exact identity.

Could this have been Fluttershy, dead at the hands of a dragon long before I even arrived? Or was it, perhaps, another of the diplomatic group?

Although it seemed very much like a dragon attack, such a thing still seemed unlikely. As aggressive as dragons are, they are not foolish. They had nothing to possibly gain by slaughtering those who wish to offer a helping hoof. If they decided that they did not need us, and this was their attempt at making an example, we would have heard of it. And this could not have been a mere example of the dragons' notorious territoriality; the Crying Mountain has been neutral ground for centuries. Granted, no ponies usually come this close to draconic lands, yet such an attack seemed like an anomaly. It just did not add up.

I felt that something sinister was at work here.

I continued my ascension along the mountain path. As I finally emerged from below the green foliage and onto the rocky mountainside, my enthusiasm for the gradual elevation of the road was soon gone. As I circled the mountain on my way to the top, again and again, getting ever so slightly higher and higher, even this easy walk began to wear me down. The more direct approach—taking the slopes head-on—was out of the question, however.

On my way to the top, I passed by the openings to several caves—no doubt connected in an intricate system within the depths of the mountain itself. Intriguing as that concept was, I knew that the proud dragons would never lower themselves to our level by walking so close to the ground. As such, I simply passed by each of them, giving them no more attention than the odd glance or two.

Then, however, as I was about to simply walk past the latest one, I heard something that made me stop dead in my tracks. Something that, immediately after I stopped, I tried to convince myself that I never even heard a thing. I stood there, looking straight ahead, refusing to turn my head.

“Help.”

My heart started raced. I could feel it beating with every inch of my body. I took one deep breath, and slowly turned my head towards the mouth of the cave. Squinting my eyes, I looked inside the shadowed opening, hoping that I would see nothing—that what I heard would turn out to be a joke my tired mind played on my perception.

I was not so lucky, however, for instead I saw an earther lying on the rocks within, desperately trying to shout out to me, yet nothing more came from his mouth than a few dying whispers.

“Help.” He squeezed the word out of his throat again.

As I walked inside, I laid my eyes on the unfortunate stallion. His torn coat was drenched in blood and tears. The poor pony was broken beyond redemption. As much as it pained me, I knew I could not possibly save his life. He had obviously been in there for days, cold and starving. And with one of his hind legs bending the wrong way, it was clear that these were the last hours of his life. Having not the heart to tell him that he could not be saved, all I could do is give him a few drops of the water I carried—and listen to his story as he choked out half-words through bloodied, broken teeth.

He spoke of their mission. Four earthers, a single unicorn, and the five pegasi were appointed personally by the Sun Princess herself to travel here and arrange a pact with the dragons. While he knew not how the others were convinced—or whether they needed any persuasion at all—he himself was overjoyed and accepted the request in a heartbeat. Indeed, he felt lucky to be granted such an honour. Although his family was very protective of him, and advised against it, he was determined to carry out Princess Celestia's will.

And in the beginning, it all seemed well. The dragons had always been eager to put their claws on more gems, and with the help of Fluttershy's insight into dealing with them, this alliance would soon come to be. The delegation would return to the empire as celebrated heroes—the ones that tamed the mighty dragons in the name of Equestria. Or so they thought.

Around a week before my arrival at the Crying Mountain, none other than the great Rainbow Dash unexpectedly visited them. The delegation assumed that she was sent to check up on their progress and the state of the negotiation by the Princess. Instead of calling all of them together, though, she requested to speak only with Fluttershy, leaving soon afterwards. Afterwards, all throughout that day, the yellow pegasus seemed not to be herself. Indeed, Fluttershy seemed even more meek and tremulous than she ever did before. She refused to speak with the dragons or even talk to the rest of the team. She holed herself up in the cave at the peak of the mountain. By the next morning, the unicorn that accompanied the team was gone. Not long after that, all hell broke loose.

The dragons, who were previously open and willing to negotiate, attacked them like mindless beasts. They had said no word, given no warning. Most of the team was murdered right there and then; the others were taken, captive against their will, into the dark caves within the mountain. They knew not what the dragons wanted or what the reason for their sudden aggression was. Everything they did, they did in complete silence. Over the coming days, the remaining members were taken from their makeshift prison, one by one, until only two remained. Although in their desperation the two tried to escape, neither of them got far. One lay now before me, at the end of his life—and the other did not make it off the mountain before being burned alive.

When the earther finished, blurting out his last near-inaudible words, one thing was obvious: he would not live to tell the tale to any other pony. I was therefore faced with a choice; I could either leave him there and let death take its time, or I could simply end his torment right then. As I looked into his hopeless eyes, seeing them beg me for mercy, I turned my head away, unable to bear his stare.

I put a hoof gently on his forehead.

“It will be all right. Help is on the way.”

As I was walking out, I could say only one more thing, too quiet for him to hear.

“Forgive me.”

***

The circles in which I trod were getting smaller as I came ever closer to reaching the top. As the Sun reached its zenith upon the clear sky above, more worrying than the lack of clouds was the apparent lack of dragons. If what the dying stallion told me was correct, then there should have been dozens of them soaring the above the mountain. Yet, no matter where I looked, none were to be seen.

At the end of the path, almost at the very top, was the entrance to a cave where Fluttershy had hidden from the others, according to the lone survivor, before the dragons attacked. It was at the mouth of that cave where I came to find an answer to that burning question regarding the absence of the great lizards. Lying across the entrance was a red dragon with claws the size of a pony, gnawing monstrously on a gigantic bone like a dog. It was cannibalising the remains of one of its own kin right in front of my eyes. For all their savagery, no sane dragon would ever display such degree of barbarity. It made no sense. Upon closer inspection of the beast, I saw a multitude of terrible claw-marks in its flesh, some of them still fresh. Charred scales, broken claws.

What could possibly have happened here? Has this dragon fought the others? Why? And if it was that wild, why did it seem to take no heed of the tiny unicorn standing before it?

There was only one way to find out.

“Explain yourself, monster!” I called out to it.

The dragon lifted its head and looked at me. In its eyes, I could see no understanding; all I saw was the confusion of a simple animal who was disturbed by some tweeting bird during its meal.

“Have you not heard what I said?” I yelled at it. “Explain yourself!”

The dragon only stared at me, puzzled.

“Explain yourself or step aside, dragon. I have no quarrel with you.”

The dragon roared in response. It sounded just as in pain as it sounded angry.

“Tell me, dragon, is the yellow pegasus alive? Is Fluttershy in that cave?”

For a brief moment, the lizard seemed to have regained some of its senses. It took a deep breath and grimaced, its eyes twitched and its mouth slowly moved.

“Flutter, shy?” It finally spoke, although his tone sounded every bit as much confused as he himself looked.

It then tilted its head and looked into the dark cave it was guarding. Then it turned once again towards me and struggled to form two more words.

“In there.”

Before I could respond, the dragon groaned and grabbed its own head. It then opened its eyes and looked into mine with burning fury. Without making another sound, its talons came smashing down on me. Barely eluding its attack, I jumped to the side. With the dragon's mind obviously gone, I knew that there was only one place where I could, perhaps, find enlightenment: inside the cave where Fluttershy hides. I also knew that the only way into the depths was through the dead body of the great red dragon.

Knowing that I could not keep dodging such strikes, I decided upon a most time-honoured strategy: turning my back and running as far as I could. Although I was unwilling to jump off the cliffside, I drew the dragon out into the open from the shelter of the cave. As it kept striking me, I cast several short-range blink spells to teleport around it. The constant flashes of light not only served to confuse the monster, but also gave me time to charge up other spells.

I found ensuing battle strangely energising. For all intents and purposes, I was more afraid for my life than I was at Sweet Apple Acres, yet somehow I found a kind of uncanny satisfaction infuriating the dragon. I could not explain it to myself—not that I had the time for such nonsense.

Appearing and disappearing constantly, I bombarded the beast with magical missiles from all sides, all the while avoiding its attacks. As it grew weary of my seemingly endless barrage of spells, it finally spread its ragged wings and took to the air.

Its mangled and torn wings could not keep the dragon in the air for long. They did not need to, however, for soon it came swooping down on me like a bird of prey. It crashed into the mountain with stone-shattering force. To another pony, a dragon descending with such speed would likely have been a death sentence. I, however, took advantage of the opportunity it presented. By quickly blinking forward at the right moment, I was placed right behind it as it crashed into the mountainside.

I jumped on its tail and hopped onto its back. Although the dragon was enraged and tried to shake me off, erratically flailing its tattered wings and tail, I managed to stay on. My horn glowed with green light as I jammed it into a scar left by another dragon's claws. I then released a burst of magical energy, paralysing the dragon with pain. As it suddenly wailed and wriggled in agony, I lost my balance and was, in turn, thrown off its back.

By the time I regained my strength and stoop up again, so did the dragon. I stayed my ground and watched as it slowly walked up to me. Standing high above me, it inhaled deeply, preparing to release a breath of fire with which to burn me to a crisp. It was in that moment that an idea came to me. A genius, mad idea.

Even now I can barely believe what I had done in that instant.

Instead of using my remaining strength to hop away, I blinked right into the dragon's open mouth. Standing atop its tongue, I could already feel the heat rising as a hot gust of air left its throat.

Before its maw released the flames, I cast my own spell; the following explosion of magical energy tore the dragon's neck clean open. Its head—and inside its mouth, I myself—was flung off by the sheer force of the spell as the dragon's decapitated body collapsed, its long neck spewing burning blood onto the forest below.

The beast was no more.

I forced the dragon's lifeless jaws open and stepped out into the light. Only then did I begin to understand what I had just done. Sitting down at the mouth of the cave, the dragon's body lying behind me, I wheezed and panted as the realisation came to me.

I killed a dragon. Just like that. What came over me?

It all happened so fast. I looked at my own body, noting a few patches of missing hair and a few scratches, small scars. And that's it. Without even thinking, with no plan and no weapons, all alone with no assistance, I killed a dragon.

When I finally got back on my hooves, I began slowly walking—or rather, stumbling—into the cave. As I left the burning light of the Sun behind and entered the cold, shadowy bowels of the mountain, I could not help but wonder how fitting a hiding place this was for Fluttershy. Heading ever deeper into the darkness, my eyes finally caught a glimpse of light. There she was.

In the deepest depths of the mountain, hidden at the edge of the empire, in the faint glow of a few torches nested into the stone, lay the weak and helpless Fluttershy. As I got closer, I could see just how pathetic she had become. Most unlike what it had done to Applejack, the corruption truly took its toll on this pony. Her wings were nothing more but fleshy stumps, their feathers fallen and lost long ago. Her legs were withered and shrunken, unable to support her weight. As my gaze met her eyes glowing with white light, I finally understood just what had transpired there.

“Fluttershy.” I called her name.

“Leave me.” She squirmed pitifully.

“What have you become, Fluttershy?”

“Leave me! Else I'll end you the way I ended all of them!” She whispered, covering her face with her grotesque hooves in fear.

“A predator. A scared, unwilling murderer that kills its prey by turning it on another. You stay in your cowardly shelter, you refuse to meet the eyes of whom you slay, refusing them to meet the eyes of their real murderer.”

“Just leave.” She whispered again, coming to tears. “Don't make me—”

“Too late with that, my dear friend.” I interrupted. “I have seen what you do with your stare. That terrible gaze which turns one against the other. Who am I to turn against? Who is left to make amends? I have killed your last dragon, and now there is no pony left but you and me.”

“No, Twilight, please, I didn't want to die! I don't want to die!” She moved her hooves away from her face, instead grasping towards my legs as I stood above her, looking into my eyes as she begged for her life.

“No pony wants to die, Fluttershy. Yet we all have to. Death visits all of us, and this time, I shall carry out its will.”

“Please, Twilight! When Rainbow Dash told me that you were—” Her voice broke mid-sentence. “I couldn't help myself! You have to understand!” She looked away, unable to bear my gaze.

“No, Fluttershy. You could not help yourself.” I leaned closer, only a few inches away from her face, and whispered into her ears. “But I can help you.”

Her chest split open at my horn's touch like the bark of an old tree at the head of an axe. She did not even bleed. Amidst her cowardly screams I proceeded to take my trophy: the black heart of the pegasus. With a single pull, I tore it from her body, silencing her forever. As the horrid carcass dropped to the ground, I cast a spell that would keep the heart fresh. Somehow, I felt that the Princess would have to see this.

As I looked at the corrupted heart of Fluttershy, now resting on my hoof, I felt a certain sense of victory, some sort of elation rush through my body. The pain I had previously felt, the wounds I had suffered seemed to have disappeared. The regret that came over me after the death of Applejack, all gone. I felt no more shame, or sadness. Having seen what happened to these two, I came to accept—to truly realise—that Princess Celestia was correct. They were no longer my friends. Releasing their tortured souls from their corrupted hosts was, indeed, a mercy.

Two of the five now lay dead, and soon the rest would follow. Without even sitting down to rest the slightest bit, I was ready to take on the long journey through the forest and return to Canterlot.

It was only then, right before I turned around that I saw a curious trinket attached to a thin thread around my friend's neck. It was no ordinary piece of jewellery; I could feel a strange, faint magical aura surrounding it. As I took it into my own hooves, a weak sense of vertigo and displacement came over me. More ominous than its aura was yet its form: a golden ouroboros; a snake biting its own tail. Along its side, I found a simple message inscribed into the soft metal.

“Hold on to this.”

I hoped that the Princess could shed light on the nature of the strange neckpiece. I would return, with it and the heart, to her.

Ch. 04: Woe to the conquered

“It is accomplished, Princess Celestia.”

I held the black heart of Fluttershy high for the Princess. Her reaction was different from what I had expected, however; whereas I thought that she would be delighted, she instead looked at the heart on my hoof with her eyes wide open, more perplexed than amazed.

“I have saved Fluttershy from the terrible clutches of corruption. Her soul may now rest in peace.”

The Princess finally took her eyes off my grim trophy and turned to me.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” She took one quick look at the heart. “I confess, I feared that you might not see the light, that you might refuse your task.” She sighed. “I can see now that my doubts were unfounded. You are indeed my most faithful student.”

“I did consider stopping. I did consider leaving you here, never to come back. Not any more.”

Princess Celestia stood silently before me. I could not tell whether it was pride or fear that I saw in her eyes. As I lay the heart of Fluttershy before the pedestal of the Element of Kindness, I could almost hear it thanking me, its crying subsiding.

“The path of the righteous is never easy, Twilight Sparkle. Yet you came through.”

I looked up to see Princess Celestia looking at me with that same, mysterious expression.

“Continue your quest, my faithful student, and your place in the Crystal Hallway is assured.”

I was taken aback by that statement.

“The Crystal Hallway?” I asked unbelieving. “Do you think I—that I am worthy, Princess?”

“Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

“Then I shall waste no time, Princess!” I exclaimed with a newfound sense of assurance. “I shall continue my path to purify the Elements.”

“Make no mistake, Twilight Sparkle. This is not about your personal fame or glory. Everything you are doing is for the Elements. For the empire itself.”

“Yes, Princess. I understand.”

“Then go, my student. Save another soul.”

“I shall.” I bowed deeply. “But before I leave, Princess, please, take a look at this.”

I removed Fluttershy's trinket from around my neck, levitating it in front of the eyes of the Sun Princess.

“This was hers. What do you think it is? I can not make sense of it. And its aura..”

The princess eyed the ouroboros closely, tilting her head slowly from one side to the other until her eyes suddenly lit up with revelation.

“The Oracle. It is from the Oracle.”

“With respect, Princess, that hardly seems possible. The Oracle is hardly ever seen. She even turned down the offer to be your personal, royal advisor. Why would she give one such useless trinket to Fluttershy?”

“Is it useless?”

“With all due respect, I did kill her.”

“You can never know the ways of the Oracle. Perhaps your friend could not unlock its true potential. You had better hold on to it, my student. Perhaps you will be able to.”

“Then I shall do so, Princess.”

“Are you ready to continue now, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Ready and eager, Princess.”

“Then be on your way. I will be expecting your return.”

***

After a train ride over two days long, I was finally allowed to stretch my legs on the soils of Colthagen, a quiet town home to a few thousand ponyfolk at the Western border of the empire. I decided to stay there that day, planning only to resume my journey the next morning.

I spent the evening at the local tavern. I had always been fascinated by the way the commoners had their 'fun'; talking and singing loudly into the night,—and occasionally, the next morning—toasting their friends' successes as much as their own, drinking 'till the last one of their little circle was out of their last coins. But there was none of that here. There was no singing, no dancing, no signs of the homely atmosphere that one would expect to see in such a small community. Instead of a small town's familiar hospitality, all I received were aggressive, judging stares from across the tables. Even the barkeeper refused to speak to me as he served me, and in fact, the only reason he seemed to tolerate my presence in his pub was that I obviously had more bits to spend than the rest of the guests combined.

As I sat there, sipping slowly from my cup of tea, enjoying this easy time to relax before my great journey to the rocky gem mountains to the West, I locked eyes with a few on-lookers—each of them quickly taking their gaze away, none of them daring to look me straight in the eye. The partial stories and quiet whispers my ears caught did not help to brighten the mood.

I could hear them talking behind my back about their dislike of 'the purple unicorn'—how I must have something to do with the 'recent disappearances'. At the other end of the tavern, I saw an old mare crying silently over a bowl of soup. For hours she only sat there, weeping in silence, not even touching what she ordered. And every other pony acted as if she was not even there. Something terrible was plaguing this entire community—something so horrible that they dare not even talk about it.

Sitting there, pondering, I did not even notice that every other pony had apparently left the tavern no more than a few hours into the night.

“The tavern's closing.” Came the raspy voice of the barkeep as he pointed with his hoof towards the door. “Better be on your way, stranger.”

“Not one more cup of tea for a weary traveller from distant Canterlot? I can reward you well, for I come on royal behalf.”

“I stay open for no pony in these dark times.” He once again pointed towards the door. “Things come with the night that no sane pony would welcome. You'd best lock your door, unicorn.”

I could see his insistence on making me leave, and as I wished not to have a scene, I complied. I put his fee on my table and left the building.

The inn in which I had booked a room previously that day already had its gates locked. Through excessive knocking—banging, really—I did manage get the doorkeeper to open up for me. He was obviously less than pleased to see me return 'so late'. I hurried up the stairs and spent the rest of the night sleeping in my rented bed.

***

As the sun dawned the next day, I was already out of the town and on my way to the mountains of the West. After something less than half a day's trek, I reached the spot where Rarity and her escort was meant to meet the diamond dogs that inhabited the area. Instead of a small tent or settlement, however, there stood before me a gigantic castle of gems and stone.

“No,”I thought. “This is not a castle. It's a mansion.”

All around the large building, I saw diamond dogs, big and small, digging with their bare paws in ditches of their own making. I knew them to be very territorial—yet this time, they seemed to pay no attention to the one encroaching on their land. All they seemingly cared about was digging for what I presumed were their precious gemstones.

As I got closer to the entrance of the mansion—gates wide open, as if I had been expected—I noticed that its walls were made of the same kind of greyish-blue stones that composed the mountains around. This was built from local materials, expertly crafted and beautifully architectured. And it had to be new—I recall no information of a diamond dog palace so close to Colthagen. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Was this Rarity's doing? Did she have this built? Was she controlling the dogs somehow? Normally, I would have dismissed such an outrageous claim, but after what I had seen at the Crying Mountain, this idea seemed not to be so far fetched. Before I entered the trap which had obviously been set for none other than myself, I attempted to talk to one of the dogs digging nearby.

“Speak to me, mongrel! Tell me what is going on here.”

The dog was quick to answer, although he did not even look at me.

“We must dig! Must find gems! She demands more gems!”

“Are you not the least bit concerned about my arrival?”

“Cannot stop! No concerns! Only dig.”

The dog clawed relentlessly away at the ground.

“What happens if you stop?” I inquired.

“Cannot stop! Mustn't stop! Go away!”

The dog refused to speak any more. The situation was most worrying, however. Looking around, there had to be at least twenty, perhaps even thirty dogs merely in my immediate vicinity. They should have been jumping at me left and right, eager to tear me limb from limb for entering without permission. Yet, they were completely pacific, continuing only their pursuit of colourful rocks. I took a deep breath and set my first hoof into the mansion. The rest soon followed.

A great antechamber which reached deep into the mansion was the first room I walked through. It reminded me of the Crystal Hallway, in a way, but instead of unspoken heroes of the past looking down on me, the walls were riddled on both sides with mosaics of a familiar white unicorn and made entirely of gems. The pictures came in all sizes, each having Rarity posing differently and wearing a different attire. Two things were constant across all depictions, however: a crown encompassing the full spectrum of light's colours—and a grotesquely large horn. At times, they did not even fit the whole of it onto the picture; it was so disproportionately long. Before, I'd probably have thought that this was an artistic choice, if I could call it that, but having seen first hoof what the corruption can do to a pony, I began to worry that this was, in fact, what Rarity looked like now.

I made my way forward within the labyrinthine mansion, obviously reaching deep within the depths of the mountain against which it was built. Amongst the statues small and large, famous paintings of old, halls laden with ornaments of silver and gold, a beautiful red carpet showed me the way to my destination, wherever it might be. My path twisted and snaked across chambers and rooms furnished only with the finest of decorations. Gemstones all around, the magical light that lit the windowless mansion twinkled and danced delightfully upon the walls in their reflection.

The utter luxury with which Rarity surrounded herself was more than impressive. Her wealth easily put the haughty nobles of Canterlot to shame. The fact that this vulgar display of fortune was left undisturbed by the barbaric diamond dogs was a testament to fear's dominion over greed.

In the end, I reached and extremely large, circular chamber. It was, so it seemed, dedicated solely to the past actions of the great mistress. Extremely large and detailed gem-mosaics told the dramatised tale of Rarity's cutie mark, followed by her supposed victories of the fashion world during her life in Ponyville.

The next one made me smile. It was the depiction of that fateful night when she, the others and I took up bearership of the Elements to save Equestria from eternal night; only every character—including the dreadful Nightmare Moon herself—was replaced by an image of Rarity. I was not even surprised, then, to see the same thing done on her next self-absorbed gemstone-mural, which showed our triumph over the chaotic Discord.

The next number of images really tried my sense of good taste. They were graphic depictions of Rarity lying with several stallions—and sometimes, even mares. Among the ones I recognised were the Canterlot hotshot who quite aptly calls himself 'Fancy Pants', Prince Blueblood, and even the three Princesses themselves. But my favourite of them all was yet unfinished, obviously made in a hurry in preparation for my arrival. On the wall before me was a gigantic depiction of Rarity enjoying a delightful three-way with my brother and myself. For a moment, I could not even decide whether I should rather feel disgusted or honoured.

And at the middle of the chamber was a great solid-diamond statue of the queen herself sitting on her throne as simple rock-statuettes of diamond dogs and ponies alike bowed before her and kissed her hooves.

There were several ways out of this room, and the carpet which had led me there met its end at the entrance. It was left for me to find a way to progress.

The path on the right, as it looked like, lead into the depths of the earth. Rarity's personal mine, no doubt, as evidenced by the tracks laid down suitable for a minecart. On the other side of the statue-composition, right in front of me, was a door, again wide open, waiting for me. But what piqued my interest was the door on my left. Unlike the others, it was completely plain: a simple metal door with wooden handles. More intriguing than its looks was the faint, quiet sound of sobbing that I could hear emanating from within.

I kicked the door open and entered the small room it was hiding. What I saw in there I could never forget. The images, the stench, the sounds. If I came expecting to find hell, I could safely say that I had found something far worse.

The room I had entered obviously held a multitude of purposes: the torture and execution of diamond dogs, kidnapped equines and even wild animals from the surrounding lands for the sadistic pleasure of its engineer were clearly only two of many. It was Rarity's pantry.

Blood—and other bodily fluids—were splattered on every wall and the low ceiling, and whatever covered the stone floor I dare not describe even today. Gore and viscera frosted the dirt and stone. Among the piles of fresh and old corpses alike, I found a single living captive. Like cattle awaiting slaughter, a young colt—not yet old enough to have even left school—dangled from the rusted chains wedged into iron walls.

I could almost still hear dread and agony of victims past echoing through the lethal chamber, complementing the dreadful wailing of the child. This symphony of terror and agony filled the air. Then, amidst the cacophony of screaming souls, from beyond the iron doors, I heard the perverse laughter of the mistress herself.

I know not what awaits beyond the border of death, but I do sincerely hope, with all my heart, that Rarity's twisted spirit has met with mercy on the other side. For when the time came, I showed her none.

I burst out of the horrifying chamber and ran straight for the open door behind the glorified statue.

“Call your dogs, Rarity!” My voice echoed through the mansion. “They can feast on your carcass!”

The room which I now entered was, as it turns out, her throne room. Straight in line with the statue that depicted the very same, Rarity lay carelessly across her diamond throne softened by blood-red cushions. As her mouth took the shape of a most arrogant grin, her colourful crown resting on her head, her horn—almost as long as her entire body—glowed with a blue light. Without lifting a hoof, she drew out a terrifying bladed whip.

“Oh, I am so terribly afraid, darling!” She cackled insanely. “Shall I start running now, or can it wait a bit? You know just how much love I have for soft beds!”

“I tore Fluttershy's heart from its place when she tried to resist me. If I were you, I would reconsider my attitude.”

“Oh, you are such killjooy!” She whined, drawing out that last word only to mock me.

“Tell me this before you die, demon: do you truly feel no remorse for enslaving the diamond dogs? As lowly as they are, do their lives not mean anything to you?”

“Vae victis, Twilight. They allowed themselves to be controlled. Now they're paying the price. Who knows, maybe they'll do better next time.”

“But mingling with them, Rarity? Kidnapping children? Why? How can you have become so twisted?”

“Why, you ask?” She sat up on the throne, holding her upper body with one hoof, seemingly surprised by my question. “Because I enjoy it, you silly filly!” She let out another burst of laughter as she let her head drop back onto a cushion.

Enraged beyond rational thought, I charged towards her. I had no plan, no strategy—all I knew is that I would trample her to death with my own bare hooves if I needed to. Before I could reach her, however, she jumped up in her throne, cracked her whip and released a magical shockwave which propelled me straight out of the throne room. Even as its doors closed in front of me, I could hear the maddening cackling of Rarity.

“You cannot hold me back!” I banged my hooves on the locked doors. “I will hack you from crotch to gizzard and feed what's left to your slaves!”

“And who are you,” A deep, booming voice echoed through the chamber. “That I must bow so low?”

My boiling blood instantly froze. I was not alone. I slowly turned around to find the source of the voice—but I saw nothing. The room was empty. I trotted to the door which led towards the exit of the mansion, looking left and right, but no pony was to be seen. Just as I was about to take my leave, a loud bang shook the entire building. I turned around once again—and beheld an enormous dragon. It had been waiting, hanging onto the high, arched ceiling until commanded by its cowardly master to drop down. The beast was no stranger to me, however.

“I am the one who raised you. Fed you. Taught you. I even hatched you, so many years ago. I demand that you show me the respect I deserve, Spike.”

“Twilight Sparkle. You were like a mother to me. But now your son is not with you any more, is he, Twilight? The time for me to leave the nest had arrived long ago. You are nothing to me.”

“So you left my side only to lick the hooves of the unicorn that will never love you? That is very you, Spike.”

He smashed his monstrous tail at the floor behind him, once again shaking the room to its very foundations.

“Do not speak such words in my presence, morsel.”

“Why, my little Spikey-Wikey?” I asked, not the least bit intimidated by his display of strength. “Does the truth hurt your wittle feelings?”

“You can not shake my love for her, no matter how hard you try. And one day, she will see—”

“See what, Spike? Do you believe, for a moment, that after all this time, she will somehow fall for you? She is using you, and you blindly obey.” I smirked. “I guess you have not changed that much after all.”

The dragon let loose a deafening roar. I was still unimpressed.

“I've faced dragons before.”

“You have never faced me.”

Thinking that I might repeat what I had done to the dragon of the Crying Mountain, I cast a blink spell before he could crush me. In a flash, I was behind him and already charging a missile. Before he could even turn around, I fired. When the missile, instead of exploding upon contact, bounced off his scales before crashing into a wall, I was terrified. As he turned around to face me again, I started backing away from him, constantly firing more missiles—to no effect. He did not even bother to chase me; he only sat there, seemingly enjoying my pathetic attempts at hurting him.

When a spell, randomly bouncing off my target, knocked off the head of the giant diamond-Rarity behind me, I was quick to think up a new plan. Lifting the enormous head with my magic, I launched it towards my foe. Too full of himself to even pay attention that what I was doing, the dragon did not even try to dodge the shot. For a moment, I thought that I had the upper hand. Yet all the impact did was make him angry.

He jumped at me, faster than I could have moved a muscle, and grabbed me, lifting me from the ground. He was careful not to squeeze too hard, though. Holding me in his left hand, he gently pressed his right index finger against my horn.

“Do you know how easy it would be to simply break your little trouble-maker off? What would you be without your magic, Twilight Sparkle?”

I could feel his grip strengthening. Such an unfitting ending to my story it would have been, to simply have the life squeezed out of me by what was once my little dragon. In desperation, I charged one last blink spell to hop to the other side of the door which led me to the red carpet. Then, without turning back once, I ran as far away as I could. Out of the mansion, down from the rocky hills—I did not stop until I reached Colthagen. I left Rarity behind. I knew I could not get to her—and I had not the faintest idea on how to overcome her personal bodyguard.

This was the first time.. that I had failed.

Ch. 05: Insight

The memories of my defeat at the hands of the dragon I once knew haunted me for days to come. Yet, the guilt of running away overshadowed the shame I felt for my failure to kill Rarity and her overgrown pet. Part of me believed that, perhaps, I should have stayed and fought to my last breath, that fleeing, like some frightened vermin scurrying back to the hole it crawled from, was worse than death. But no, I told myself. It had to be done. I had to escape and save myself so that Equestria itself might be saved. For I realised that my life was more important than any other—had I died fighting this corruption, the souls of my friends would be forever lost. The Elements would be forever broken, and an unseen evil would be set loose on the world. I could never allow that to happen. The darkness must be stopped before it is too late.

And so I returned to the relative sanctuary of Colthagen. Already beaten and guilt-ridden, the judging eyes of the townsfolk was only salt in the wound. They knew not why I originally came, or where I went—but the fact that they were most displeased to see me return was obvious. And now they avoided me like the plague, subconsciously—or consciously—connecting me to the murders and disappearances that befell their home in the past weeks. None of them would say it, of course, or even talk to me. Had I not bribed the keeper of the town's inn with what amounts to a small fortune, I feel that they would have had me sleeping on the streets.

It was mildly interesting, however, to see that for all their hatred and prejudice, all forgiveness took was a sum of money.

I spent the coming few days in Colthagen, waiting for the arrival of the train which would take me back to Canterlot. As my presence in town was clearly hardly tolerated, the feeling of being watched was, although most unsettling, not in the slightest surprising. But something was amiss. I expected as much as to have them avoid and keep an eye on me, but now I had the strangest feeling of being followed. That sensation, that looming presence which I sensed behind my back at every hour of the day would not leave me. I would, time and time again, turn my head upon hearing the sound of steps behind me at a dark hour of the night, only to see nothing more than an eerie shadow dancing away in the distance. When I lay in my bed late at night, I could swear that there was something just outside my window, watching me, yet when I looked, all I could see was the bright glow of the moon.

It would be needless to say that I was more than relieved to finally leave that wretched place behind. As I stepped into my private cabin on the train, I believed that the strange sensations would stop. Yet even as I looked on the town of Colthagen shrinking ever smaller before completely disappearing behind the horizon, I felt that I was not alone. Restless, and somehow, even energised by the thought of an unseen shadow following me, I refused to sleep that night.

As the moon climbed higher and higher to illuminate the black skies of the night, I sat and waited, listening to every noise seeping into the cabin. The sound of wheels rolling on metal rails, loud as it was, felt somehow calming. I could not enjoy this graceful symphony all night, however, as it was interrupted by the distinct sound of hooves banging against my door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Three knocks—then silence. I did not move a muscle. To the best of any pony's knowledge, I would have had to be sound asleep by that hour. A few moments passed, and the sound repeated.

Knock, knock, knock.

Three knocks at my door once again, and nothing more. No voice telling me to open up, no reason given to this disturbance of my would-be dreams. Nothing else, but that knocking.

Knock, knock, knock.

After the third row of knocks, I stood up silently and walked up to the closed door. The way into my room opened with a loud creak. As I peeked outside, a cold rush ran through my entire body in a medley of fright and excitement—for there was no pony standing at my door. All I could see was the empty darkness of the hallway which ran the length of the train. When the sudden shock faded, I pulled my head back inside the room and slowly closed the door, eager to return to my vigil. The greatest surprise, however, was yet to come, for as I turned my head around, I saw a shadowy figure standing at the opposite end of the room, standing completely still as if it were some eldritch statue. I did not hesitate to greet my uninvited guest.

“And so my second shadow shows itself at last. Tell me, then, who are you?”

The figure stepped forward into the faint light coming in a window to reveal an earther wearing a long hooded cloak, carelessly sown together by clearly untrained hooves from a mismatching assortment of different clothes and rugs. Yet, what really caught my eye, unusual as her attire was, was the heinous snake-mask which concealed her face, its metallic mouth open and its fangs laid bare as its hideous forked tongue thrusted forward as it shone in the moonlight. And beneath all the façade I could see a pair of blank eyes, staring right through me, as if gazing into my very soul.

“The righteous murderer is defeated.” Spoke the voice of a frail, old mare. “And the seer stands before her offering her help.”

She just kept staring, piercing my eyes with the swirling abyss of hers.

Puzzled as I was by the words of my mysterious visitor, my thoughts began racing once again. In a moment of clarity, I realised just who might be standing before me.

“There are stories of a strange mare that walks in the shadows. The mystery of your empty gaze has piqued the interest of Canterlot, and indeed, of the Princess herself. The poor talk of a lone benefactor. The downtrodden speak of you as a hero, an 'Oracle' that is the light in the darkest of times. And when your work is done, you disappear without a trace. Who are you, really? And what it is you want?”

“The seer comes to help. She always does.” She tilted her head slightly to the right, squinting one eye. “She sees the murderer in Canterlot. She hears the weeping. She sees her in Colthagen. A palace! The rattling of chains. Then it crumbles. A door slams shut and everything changes.” She paused for a brief moment, tilting her head to the other side. “A crimson-tinted crown. The murderer will bloody the crown.”

Her voice was monotone and shaky, as if she were some young filly reading her very first book. She could read history like others read letters on paper—or so the stories said. If the myths were to be trusted, I knew I should play along.

“You wish to help me then? What makes you even think that I need your assistance? Why exactly are you here?”

“Between the chains and the dust. There she finds an old friend. Two of them! The murderer did not murder. It crumbles as she runs.”

She was describing my battle with Spike, that much was obvious. She knew about my failure. If she could tell me how to overcome the dragon, I would soon learn.

“The dragon Spike I used to know. It is him who stands between me and the life of Rarity. If you are truly here to help, answer me this: how can I defeat the dragon?”

“The murderer does not kill her old friend. Not this time. Not this one.”

“Not this time? When will I, then? They must all die for the Elements to be restored, there is no other way.”

“She steps inside. The door slams shut. The murderer finds the key. The succubus dies and the murderer returns. But she is late. What she wished to save is already lost. It is hell. It all falls. It is lost.”

As I listened to the Oracle ramble on in her riddles, I was beginning to lose my temper. I stepped forward before I spoke.

“Enough of your incoherent rambling, old hag! Speak to me plainly. The dragon must die and so must his mistress. How can I accomplish that?”

“The key is found behind the great doors. It is deep inside. The murderer will take it. When the murderer takes it, she seals the fate of the empire. And everything will change.”

“Inside? Where?” I asked as I took another step.

“The murderer finds the key to end the succubus inside, behind the doors. But she will be too late. An old enemy returns. She will bring an army and she will strike. The moon has fallen. She comes by her side.”

“An army? What army? Who is coming?”

“The fallen queen wants power. The murderer has stopped her once. But she is not alone. Canterlot is in danger. But Canterlot will prepare. The murderer gives the warning. She speaks the words. When the smoke clears, everything changes.”

My blood boiled as I listened to her babbling, unwilling to hear any more of her nonsense.

“I give you one chance to speak plainly, Oracle. Tell me about this army and its leader. Tell me everything that you know, right now, lest I beat an answer from your lips.”

“The murderer warns Canterlot. They key is inside—“

Her words were interrupted by a loud thud as she collided with the opposite wall. I walked up to her as the amethyst light of my magic filled the dark room.

“Are you listening to a word I say?” I asked her. “Spare me your elaborate metaphors! Or, perhaps, do you need more persuasion in that regard?”

She stood up, casually shaking off the fall before continuing her random remarks about fire and smoke, a war with darkness, change and choice. She repeated, over and over again, that the key is inside and how the murderer gives the word. And that stare, she never stopped the staring. I finally pulled her head up close to mine, my muzzle nearly touching the tips of the snake's tongue.

“You know everything!” I yelled at her. “You knew everything! You claim you want to help! You pride yourself on being generous and benign! Yet you refuse to simply talk plainly.” I let go as my magic subsided, dropping her to the floor. “It is clear that you won't tell me anything else. And you enjoy this, I can tell. I should kill you where you stand.”

As the Oracle stood up, she did not look me in the eye again. Instead, she turned her head towards a window, looking out into the night. As she responded, her previously high-pitched, twitching voice took on a new, sinister, and indeed, almost menacing tone.

“Perhaps you should, Twilight.” She turned to face me once again. “But you don't.”

What happened afterwards I still cannot recall. My earliest memory after that ominous conversation in the night is lying in my cabin's bed the coming morning. I must have fallen asleep, I thought. Through the hazy memories of the night before, I could only imagine that the events which transpired were but a dream, a figment of a tired mind's imagination. It would have been unsurprising, considering my near-fatal confrontation with the dragon Spike, and the strain that the strange shadows following me put on my nerves throughout the next few days. Indeed, I would likely have managed to convince myself that none of that night's strange events happened, had I not found the Oracle's ouroboros—which I had previously acquired from the late Fluttershy—lying on the floor where the Oracle supposedly stood. And carved into the soft wooden door of my cabin, I saw a simple message of three words:

“Mi Amore Cadenza”

Ch. 06: Love's labours lost

The disappearance of the Oracle was, perhaps, even more puzzling than her visit at my cabin the previous night. Had she simply followed me onto the train, she would still have to be found somewhere aboard—unless, of course, she has decided to leap out a window. The latter option hardly seemed likely. I walked up and down the train, checking every room and every single nook. By using the Oracle's little trinket itself as the catalyst, I attempted to trace the magical residue that her aura would undoubtedly have left behind. Yet while my room was flooded with this eerie energy, there was not the smallest sign of her presence anywhere else. I even tried speaking with the other travellers aboard, but of course, no pony saw the strange cloaked mare.

I watched closely as ponies too many to count left the train upon our arrival in Poneapolis. If the Oracle was yet here, this would have been her final opportunity to leave before the train turns for Canterlot. Standing there, eyeing the leaving passenger, I did not even realise that, apparently, every single one of them had left. It was not long before I, too, was asked to exit the train. All passage towards Canterlot was blocked, so they told me—that bringing the train any nearer was prohibited by the Princess herself. As if; my brother and his 'Princess' were still maintaining the lies about the Sun Princess' demise. With little proof of my royal duties, I was unable to convince them to take me further. Not even the promise of wealth could change their minds; these ponies were obviously dedicated in their loyalty to Canterlot, something that I would otherwise complement, but now only served to anger me.

In the end, I agreed to leave as well. As much as I despised sitting on that abominable train, I was less than excited to walk to the capital.

***

“We are cut off from all sides! Do you get that, O, Shining Armor? Do you understand a word of that? In case of an attack, we have no backup or allies! Do I really have to go over this again? ..sir.”

“No, Rainy Day, no. I perfectly understand. But we need to find Cadence first. She will know what to do.”

“Oh, will she now? How about you pull yourself together, hmm? There is this thing called 'independent decision making'? Are you capable of that, sir husband-of-the-Princess sir?”

“If you do not stop disrespecting my authority right now, I will have to relieve you of duty and get someone else in your place. Understood?”

“Sure! Send me away and put that chickenshit Loon Moon in charge! That would indeed prove to be an excellent decision, sir I-want-my-wife sir!”

“I am not telling you again, Sergeant. Stand down.”

“Cut the tough act! You are an incompetent coward! You have always been. And I am sick of having to clean up after your mistakes over and over again! Things have not been working well lately with your pwetty-Pwincess, I get it. We all get it. But we have an empire to defend! Celestia is dead, Shining! Do you not think it is time to pull your head out of the sand?!”

“With all due respect, General Shining Armor, the lady is right. The disappearance of your beloved is indeed troubling, but the activity along the border cannot, must not, go unchecked. The changelings are on the move.”

“What if she's dead, Thunderlane? First Celestia, now Cadence.”

“It is indeed a possibility, Shining Armor. Nonetheless we must prepare, as per the sergeant's suggestion. If the changelings come in force—unlike last time—then the entire empire is truly in danger. You must understand that, General.”

I could watch these three bicker on for hours. My brother and his appointed sergeant, the unicorn called Rainy Day, have never seen eye to eye. She was put in charge for her proven abilities and capabilities under extreme situations—a prime example of a hard-working, upstanding citizen, enlisting and subsequently rising. She and Shining Armor both knew that she was the best, and this gave her the leeway to criticise my brother at every turn. She considered him to be incompetent and unfit for duty. And she hated no pony more than Princess Cadence, the one she considered personally responsible for Shining Armor's position and power. Even I had many a falling out with her in the recent years as her opposition towards my brother grew. Still, I admired her courage, for indeed, her skills on the battlefield were unmatched. Unless, of course, if we take myself into the equation—but that is never a fair thing to do.

Stuck between my brother and the hot-headed sergeant as the unfortunate middle-stallion was Flight Lieutenant Thunderlane. I knew him from my childhood when Poneapolis was still the little town Ponyville. He seemed to be nothing more than a simple delinquent, a mere troublemaker, then. But he came through; in the end, his dedication made him choose the ultimate sacrifice a pegasus can make for the empire: the transformation into a Nightguard. His now cold-blooded and calculating attitude was in stark contrast with the colt he once was. This, in turn, made him renowned, and his calm, silent demeanour gained him recognition as the one Nightguard that always gets the job done, no matter the cost. Following the yet-unresolved murder of his superior, he stepped up as the Flight Lieutenant and sole commander of the entire Nightguard Squadron.

Between the insults spewing from Rainy Day's mouth and my brother's attempts at keeping his tears at bay, I finally revealed my presence in the high tower-room by knocking my hoof at the floor. Clearly, those two were so caught up in their petty argument that only the relieved sigh leaving Thunderlane's mouth assured me that walking in on Equestria's top soldiers and commanders undetected is not as easy as it felt.

“Observant as ever, big brother.” I jested, walking up to the three. “You should be listening to these two. There is indeed trouble brewing on the horizon.”

“What are you even talking about?” Shining Armor asked. “You only come and go, leaving the Palace for days on end and return as if nothing had happened. What is it that you do in your absence, sister?” He asked again, clearly frustrated.

“I need not explain myself to you. Suffice it to say, as the personal apprentice of the Princess, I must see to it that her, shall I call it, private loose ends, are settled. I owe her as much. And you—all of you—owe her the protection of the empire. The Sun Princess may be dead, but her legacy lives on.” I quickly eyed the other two over before turning towards my brother again. “Now then. I collect that Princess Cadence is gone. Is that correct?”

“She has disappeared indeed.” Thunderlane replied “She hasn't been seen today. We have searched the Palace, and she is nowhere to be found.” He looked away and paused for a brief moment before looking me in the eye again. “Nowhere, that is, where we can look.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I am confident, Twilight Sparkle, that the Princess is inside the Chamber of Harmony. Perhaps she has found a way to open the doors, and is taking care of the Elements. Shining Armor, of course, believes otherwise.”

“She could be dead!” My brother cried out. “She could have been murdered! We must find out what exactly happened to her before we begin planning for an invasion. A most unlikely invasion, may I add.”

“Unlikely?!” Rainy Day burst. “We've received reports of changelings massing along the entire eastern border! What exactly do you think they're doing if not preparing for a full-scale attack? Are you willing to risk the empire on one pony's death?!”

“But it makes no sense! Princess Luna is there. And the changelings, they would never simply attack us head-on. If they wanted to take over, they would—”

“Go about it like last time?” Rainy Day interrupted her. “News-flash, General, their coup-attempts failed! Face it, they outnumber us a hundred to one, and it seems that their queen has finally figured that out! We need allies, and we need them right now!” She now turned to me, her eyes lit up. “The dragons! Has Fluttershy settled the deal yet? Contact her! I know you can, just—”

“They are not coming.” I shut her down. “No-one is coming to help us.” I turned towards my brother again. “And the changelings are planning an attack. You must prepare for that.”

“How would you know that, Twilight?” He asked.

“I was visited by the Oracle. She told me about a queen and her army. She spoke of fire and flames. She told me that everything would change.”

“The Oracle?! How can you—”

“I'll find your wife, don't you worry!”

I took a few steps back, along with a deep breath, before continuing.

“Shining Armor. Thunderlane. Rainy Day. Assemble all guards and soldiers. Issue a nation-wide alarm. Call all able-bodied stallions and mares. Equestria is going to war.”

***

I took one final look at the dead body of the Sun Princess as the doors of the Crystal Hallway once again opened at my will. Still as beautiful as she was when I first looked into her coffin. Still as pure as she was in her life. It felt as if everything good in this world died with her; that I was picking up the remains of a glorious future that never came to be. Cold grief filled my heart as I walked towards the Chamber of Harmony. Yet the closer I got, the terrible silence that always befell the Hallway, broken only by the sound of my hooves hitting the pristine crystal floor, was now disturbed by a strange murmur. It was a voice talking. A voice I recognised.

Precisely as Thunderlane predicted, Princess Cadence sat in the middle of the chamber with her back to the entrance. Her wings spread wide, her head lifting her closed eyes high, she seemed as though she were in a trance, swaying gently from side to side. She mumbled to herself, talking ever so silently, seemingly unaware of my presence. As I stood next to her, I could finally make out some her words.

“Yes.” She muttered. “It will be done. The stage is set.”

Looking away, I surveyed my surroundings. The spirit of Princess Celestia was nowhere to be found. I wondered whether something had happened to her in my absence or she was, perhaps, merely hiding.

“The murders are but an inconvenient consequence.” Cadence mumbled further. “Pinkamena tells me she will be dealt with in time.”

“Wake up, Cadence. Speak to me.”

The Bright Princess froze in place. Her eyes slowly opened before she stood up, turning to me.

“I presume you already know, Cadence.”

“I know more than you can fathom.” She said, her face devoid of expression. “Things that are hidden, hidden behind other things, the pages of a book, the words behind the ink, the breath behind the words, the soul behind the breath.”

“Very poetic, Princess.”

“Your breath is silent, Twilight Sparkle. Your soul hides behind it, afraid to reveal the treachery. Sin is a trembling thing, it lurks within the hearts of those who are the least suspicious.” She turned her head back, eyeing the Elements up and down. “It is no wonder that they weep as they do.”

“Are you suggesting that I am the cause of the Elements' malaise? No, Princess. I am their salvation. Only blood may wash off the filth. Now tell me, Cadence, why are you here? Who do you really serve?”

“Have you ever took the time to look around, Twilight?” She pointed towards the Crystal Hallway. “These statues and murals of those which look down from high above, their eternity stemming not of the undying vessel of a god, but the preserving stone that they are wrought into. Wrought by hooves and horn, not by nature's device, given life by the memory vividly engraved into our minds. One not born with such a gift must toil long and hard to attain it, and ultimately sacrifice himself to a cause that long outlives him, and which in turn will make him outlive himself.”

“You have a very specific imagery of 'one', it seems. Who exactly are you addressing here?”

“Your brother, Twilight. Your vigilant guardian, my sturdy shield. My Shining Armor.”

Listening to her words, it all finally fell into place. And for a while, I did not even feel anger. The revelation only left me curious.

“Your love for my brother truly is eternal—as are you yourself. But you are afraid, afraid of the time when he is no more. Hundreds and thousands of years after his death, you must still endure. And so you looked for a solution.”

“I elevated him, Twilight! He will be remembered for eternity, immortalised in the Hallway as the one who stood by my side as I ruled over the empire!”

“Elevated him? How exactly? By binding him to an empty hallway of heroes so high above as to be eternally forgotten? Time fades even legend, Cadence. Look around you and tell me, who do you see? Nothing but those faces carved in stone, never moving, never acting. A terracotta army of heroes facing a battle that will never come. Is this truly what you want for your beloved? Is this worth sacrificing everything for? Is he truly that precious to you?”

“I once swore to tear down the Sun for him if I had to. And now that I did, Twilight Sparkle, I feel no remorse. No shame. No pity.”

“What made you do it, Cadence? Why now?”

“I was asked.”

“Asked? By whom?”

“The words were spoken by a friend of yours. Pinkamena. Through her words, my mind was touched and filled with the light. I knew what I had to do.”

“What are you saying? Is Pinkamena behind all of this?”

“She is but an instrument. As am I. As are you. We are all pawns, Twilight Sparkle, and you will never find the real player.”

“You murdered Princess Celestia at the request of one you dare not even name, and after all this, you claim you did this out of love for my own brother. Your arrogance is boundless, Cadence. It is a shame it had to come to this.”

Silence once again fell upon the Chamber as we looked deep within the eyes of one another. I knew not, then, that this would be the last peaceful moment I will experience for a very long time. I wish I did; perhaps I would have cherished it more.

“So this is it, isn't it?” She asked.

“I am afraid so. I wish it did not have to end this way.”

I remember wiping a tear off my cheek before I stepped forward once. Almost at the same moment, the Bright Princess took one step backwards. She was afraid—Good, I thought. The added fear shall sweeten my revenge.

What followed in the next minute is not something that I am proud of. Not because of the blood I spilled, for I took great pleasure in every drop. No, I feel ashamed because it all transpired in the Chamber of Harmony. Amidst the torn feathers of broken wings still floating in the air around us, standing over her as I relentlessly battered her head into the pool of her own blood with my bare hooves, I realised, finally, what the Oracle's cryptic message meant. I stopped my assault and listened to the pained whining of Princess Celestia's murderer. With her ribs caved in, each breath she took sounded like coins bouncing in a tin can. The intermittent coughs amidst the rattling were music to my ears; she was still alive.

Yet more satisfying than the sounds of her suffering was the knowledge that she held the key to defeating the twisted Rarity. The Oracle said that I would find it inside behind the great doors. And so I did—inside Cadence herself. I touched my horn to hers and took what I needed.

As the tortured Cadence drew her last breath, I looked up to see the spirit of Celestia standing before me. She did not even look at me, staring instead silently at the corpse of the Bright Princess.

The guards outside dared not question the source of the blood on my hooves. I merely told them that Cadence lay dead inside the Chamber of Harmony, and left the door open for them. I would not be there when Shining Armor hears of the incident; I had another execution to see to.

Ch. 07: Love's labours won

The diamond dogs of Rarity's horrific mansion stood by the entrance of their own prison. As I approached, they slowly opened the gates before me without so much as saying a word. Rarity was daring me to cross the threshold once again. Who was I to reject such an invitation?

I entered her house of madness with newfound courage, for I knew now that the Oracle was right; I would not be the one that spells Rarity's demise today. I had a much more fitting fate in store for her.

And so I walked through the long antechamber again, my eyes set on the far end, refusing to acknowledge the gemstone-mosaics. A fiend such as her did not deserve the admiration she so desperately craved. I passed through the next set of gates and walked, once again, through the mansion following the red carpet she had so thoughtfully placed for me. In the end, I finally reached the central chamber once again.

Waiting for me behind the repaired statue of Rarity, was the dragon Spike sitting in the way of the throne room. I could almost quite see him excitedly wagging his tail in anticipation of meeting me again. He seemed determined that killing me would be what wins him the heart of his heartless unicorn mistress.

And there, lying casually on his shoulder was the monster herself. Rarity, her head still adorned by her grotesque horn and multicoloured gem-crown, looked down on me with her familiar cheeky, wicked smile. When I moved around her glorified depiction at the centre of the room, she hopped off her pet and stood defiantly before me, her head held high in arrogance, still retaining her condescending grin.

“I knew you would return, Twilight.”

“You have always been a smart pony, Rarity.”

“So tell me then, my dear friend, have you changed your mind?” She asked as she motioned toward the picture on the wall which, now completed, depicted herself, my brother and I engaging in a most tantalising act. “Is Shining Armor here?”

“I am flattered that someone of your calibre would still consider us after all we have been through.”

“I am the Element of Generosity after all, Twilight.” She laughed.

“Although, I am afraid I have to disappoint you and decline your generous offer, my friend.” I leaned closer to her. “You know why I am here. We are not done yet.”

Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes. “Why must you be such a sourpuss? You're hurting my feelings, you know.” She whined.

“You have earned it, Rarity.”

“Very well then! I have been patient! I have been gracious! And it shan't be said that I have been ungrateful. You leave me no choice, Twilight.”

Still looking at me, she let out a short whistle. In an instant, Spike stood up and made way into the throne room for Rarity. She turned her back and walked slowly between the dragon's legs.

“Remove her, Spike. I do not wish to see her ever again.”

As the throne room's doors closed behind her, Spike towered above me with a menacing look in his eyes.

“You heard her, Twilight. This time, I won't let you get away.”

“Tell me one thing before you kill me then, you overgrown romantic fool. Is this all out of your adoration of Rarity? How far will you go in the name of love?”

“As far as I have to, Twilight.”

I closed my eyes as my horn lit up with magic one again.

“You know, Spike,” I spoke without opening my eyes, concentrating on my next spell in my mind. “Sometimes, if you are at the right place at the right time, if you meet the right people, you get what you wish for.”

My eyes opened with a burst of light-red light, piercing Spike's puzzled gaze. The scent of roses filled the air as the sounds of a cozy, ethereal flame's crackling seemed to echo in the mansion. A sensation of a loving embrace crept over even me as I channelled the magic through myself. The gentle warmth slowly turned into a burning heat, and the smell of flowers became the smell of something else entirely. The love-spell of Cadence had reached the dragon's heart with unrelenting power, unshackling his deepest desires which he kept hidden and buried within.

“Tell me, Spike.” I spoke as the magic finally left me. “What do you feel?”

Spike stood motionless before me, yet I could clearly see as long-forgotten feeling gathered like a storm behind his eyes.

“You have waited long enough, Spike. The time has come. You may now claim what you have sought after for so long. Go, Spike, for there is nothing in the world that can stop you.”

He looked at me, questioning me with his gaze. I nodded towards the throne room's doors. He then turned around excitedly, effortlessly smashing the gates which separated us from Rarity. As he walked towards the throne and its queen in determination, I followed not far behind.

Rarity jumped up in her seat when the doors burst open, swiftly shifting her eyes between me and Spike, completely and utterly confused as the room shook with each of the dragon's steps. And she shook with it.

“Are you trembling, Rarity?”

“What is this?” She cried out as her pet dragon walked ever closer. “What are you doing, Spike? Explain yourself! Tell me!” She shrieked.

The dragon spoke no word.

“Stop right there! Stay where you are! Sit down! Bad dragon, bad dragon!” The more she screamed, the less he seemed to listen.

“Vae victis, Rarity.” She looked at me one final time as the dragon grabbed her with one hand, clutching his lusting claws around her body. Vae victis.

I stood and watched as it happened. I needed to make sure that the fiend is no more. Normally, what I witnessed would have appalled me so much as to make my disgust indescribable. But seeing Spike finally throw her ragged and broken body to the ground, I could only feel that this was justice. For all the suffering she has caused, for the terror in which she kept the town of Colthagen, for playing with the feelings of so many. Yet, what stayed with me even more was the dawning horror on Spike's face when the spell had faded and he saw himself covered with the blood of Rarity.

He did not look away. He did not turn to look at me. He did not say or ask a thing. He only sat there, looking down at what he had done, silently weeping over the empty halls of the abandoned mansion.. and not a soul to hear.

***

Once again, the train that would take me back to Canterlot arrived in a matter of days. I left Colthagen for the last time in the knowledge I have freed its people of the scourge that was the madness of Rarity. With Spike paralysed in his pain and remorse, and her dogs scattered back into the mountains' depths, they had nothing more to fear. Soon enough, they would realise it. And even though I knew that they will probably never find out what great service I had been to them, I was pleased to have become their unknown saviour. Thus, I boarded the train yet again, eager to return to the Princess with great news. And yet, somehow, I felt an uneasiness creep over me as I left the town behind.

I wondered whether what I had seen there was the darkest of things this world had to offer. I thought about everything Celestia had told me since my quest to restore the Elements began; was this what she had to endure all throughout her thousand years of reign? The very fact that she kept her sanity in a world beset by such madness was staggering in itself. Such power of the mind. Whatever it was that now worked against us has truly found its match in the Sun Princess.

I could then see everything from a brand new perspective; I saw just how fragile the empire was, and I began to understand the magnitude of the sacrifices she had to make in order to keep Equestria alive. For while the innocent young foals of Poneapolis laughed and played carelessly in their ignorance, the invisible war between the Princess and the darkness raged on constantly around them. Nightmare Moon, Discord and Queen Chrysalis were but few of our enemies. Such were my thoughts on the way back to Canterlot.

I was asleep when we reached Poneapolis. I remember awakening to the violent, metallic screeching that accompanied the sudden stopping of the train. Half-asleep, I almost fell out of my bed. When I realised what happened, I immediately opened my cabin's door and rushed out into the aisle to see a worried crowd of other ponies. Some mares were crying, and I saw grown stallions trembling as they covered the eyes of their foals. Before I could so much as look out a window, the train rolled over, throwing all passengers around within. As I finally came to my senses amidst the chaos, I blast the train's side open with a spell, creating a makeshift way out. With a quick jump, I swiftly left the train as the smell of smoke reached me.

Poneapolis consumed itself before my very eyes. The thick black smoke of the burning buildings filled the air as cinder and embers were blown about by the wind. All around me, I could hear the sound of screams of adults and foals alike, and no matter where I turned, the roads were all paved in blood and flesh. And tinting this morbid composition of black and red were the ever-present and unmistakable bursts of green glow; changeling magic. In my absence, the army of Queen Chrysalis marched straight into the heart of the empire. I knew that once the city falls, Canterlot would be next.

As the terrified passengers of the train fled the scene, either climbing out a window or following me through the gaping hole across the side of the train, they were all quickly picked off—and up—by the changeling swarm above. Their primary objective, clearly, was not murdering the ponies; they were harvesting us. The monsters targeted families first: mothers protecting their foals, wives and husbands running for their lives together. They were looking for love on which to feed, and as such, lone victims such as myself were spared for the time being as they focused on herding those they considered ripe for picking.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Came a familiar voice from the distance. I quickly turned my head upwards to see a small group of Nightguards in the sky, led by Thunderlane himself, fighting its way to me through the swarm. “Twilight Sparkle! Return to Canterlot immediately!”

“I demand assistance, Thunderlane!” I yelled back at him. “I am not risking fighting my way through an entire army alone!”

“I cannot spare a single soldier, Twilight Sparkle. They are all too busy evacuating civilians! You are on your own. You must waste no time! Keep a low profile and they will ignore you while they harvest groups!”

“If I do not make it to Canterlot alive, than we have already lost!”

After a brief pause, he finally nodded towards two of his men to accompany me. “Very well! Know that those lives are on your head.”

The two Nightguards descended swiftly and turned to me with eager looks. “You heard the Flight Lieutenant. We have no time to waste. I suggest you pick me up right now.”

***

The two carried me tirelessly to Canterlot. I wondered whether their extreme endurance was the product of the same magics that turned their feathery wings into leather-bound ones akin to those of bats, or merely something as pedestrian as physical training. Either way, the two done their jobs without every posing a question. They did not seem at all moved by the fact that they were this time carrying a powerful magus under their wings instead of a helpless mare or foal; this was the cold-blooded righteousness of true Nightguards. To follow orders without a shadow of doubt. Once, I would have been frightened by the concept, but considering my own recent actions, I only adored them for it.

They put me down inside the walls of Canterlot and almost immediately turned around to return to Poneapolis, stopping only to salute a posted commander who stood atop a guard tower. Thus, I made my way into the Palace itself, eager to hear what my brother has to say about the situation.

There he was, locked up in his room, my way to the door blocked by a guard. “Stop!” He yelled at me from across the hallway when I turned. “Shining Armor sees no pony. He is in mourning for the Bright Princess.”

“Oh, he'll be mourning for the empire soon.” I said as I walked up to the guard, my horn quickly lighting up. “And he'll be mourning for you even sooner if you don't get out of my way!” I shouted, throwing the poor soul away from the door like a rag doll. I had no time for my brother's games. Before the guard could stand up, I had already kicked the door open.

He sat on the ground with his back to the door in the middle of the room, by the faint light of a single candle burning on the far wall.

“Shining Armor! The empire is in flames, and you bide your time crying in this dark hole?”

“Twilight.” He spoke silently, without standing up or turning to me, as if he did not even understand what was happening.

“What is it? Do you not understand what is at stake?!”

“You know, Twilight,” He said again, still sounding ignorant of my words. “The guards told me you spent an awful lot of time in that chamber before you came out to tell them that you found Cadence inside. They spoke of blood on your hooves and mane.”

Knowing not what to say, I only stood there for a moment.

“Are you trying to imply something, brother?” I finally asked.

Shining Armor lowered his head and looked at the ground. “Nothing at all, sister.” He took a deep breath. “Nothing at all.”

He only sat there, refusing to stand up or even say one more word, no matter what I told him. After half an hour of fruitless attempts to evoke a reaction from him, I left his room and slammed the door shut behind me. I found Sergeant Rainy Day right outside. The gold-coated unicorn seemed most displeased and impatient.

“I was told I would find you here, Twilight.”

“I have already tried everything, Day. It seems he chose to sit and watch as Equestria burns instead of standing and fighting.”

“I wonder why.”

Her gaze pierced me like a knife. She knew. As much as I would have loved to discuss the specifics of Princess Cadence's death, I knew that this was not the time. “Come now, Sergeant.” I casually walked past her, flicking my tail under her nose. “There is war to be waged.”

***

By the dawn of the next day, the fires of Poneapolis could not be seen from Canterlot. The battle was over and the city was ravaged beyond repair. The Nightguards had retreated to save their numbers—and all the inhabitants of the city were either dead or have fled. A large number of them either came to Canterlot on their own, or were hastily lead here during the evacuation. As the crowd gathered on the streets, having nowhere to go, they made proper organisation of defense difficult. For by this time the black army of the changelings had massed on the mountainside leading up to the Palace, and their small scouting parties had already been seen flying around and above. Their attack would soon commence.

Shining Armor had finally came out of his dark room, but still refused to say a word. Throughout the preparation for the inevitable siege the changelings would lay on Canterlot, he stood and watched, refusing to give a single order. Organisation was thereby left to Flight Lieutenant Thunderlane, Sergeant Rainy Day, the eccentric, yet—if the others were to be believed—capable Artillery Commander Loon Moon, and myself. Thunderlane was, naturally, put in charge of aerial defense, leading pegasi and Nightguards alike. Rainy Day would control the biggest portion of our ground forces, including a large number of volunteers from the untrained Poneapolis-escapees who now had nothing to lose. At the same time, the unicorn Loon Moon would organise magical spells and barrage. I myself would lead a small team of elite soldiers composed of earthers and a few unicorns. We would become a swiftly moving wild card on the battlefield; if the changelings were able to experience fear, we would give them a reason to do so. Heh, I thought. I was to become a shock troop. How fitting, considering my recent occupation.

As dawn turned into morning, and then noon, the changelings seemed all but ready for their assault. And when they make their move, we would be ready. Amidst the increasing tension, I retreated into the relative sanctuary of my room at the Palace. I thought about everything that has happened these past weeks—how everything I had ever known was being destroyed in front of my very eyes. Everything that has happened since the death of Princess Celestia. Pacing up and down in my room, I happened to glimpse upon the Oracle's trinket, the golden ouroboros. “Hold on to this,” the inscription instructed me. Even though it was—whatever it was—originally meant for Fluttershy, in a moment of superstition, I took the trinket and, bound by a thread, placed it around my neck. Whatever its purpose could be, there would be no better time to find out.

Knowing that the siege may begin at any moment, I walked high atop a tower overlooking the main courtyard and cast a voice-enhancing spell. I would speak to the masses.

“Citizens of Equestria!” I began my speech. The noise of the crowd below quickly subsided as they looked up to see me. “Today, Canterlot witnesses the largest selection of ponyfolk it had ever seen. We have gathered here from all walks of life. Some of you might have lived here your entire lives; some of you only fled here after the last day's horrific attack on Poneapolis. Some of you have pledged your entire lives to protecting the empire; some of you have perhaps never seen violence in your lives. Some of you come from the darkest and dirtiest of streets; some of you are among the wealthiest in the land.”

I paused for just a moment.

“But no matter who or what you are; no matter where you came from or where you wanted to go, everything is decided here. If Canterlot falls, so does all of Equestria. If Canterlot falls, the changelings will show us no mercy. If Canterlot falls—a thousand years of prosperity and greatness will come to an end.”

I stopped yet again, looking over the silent gathering before me.

“Canterlot shall not fall.”

The silence was broken by a cheering loud enough to make the very mountain above us tremble.

“We will stand against the changeling horde, and we will drive them back to the very gates of Tartarus where they belong!”

They responded with another round of applause.

“Make no mistake, however. There will be casualties. Ponies will die. The changelings are relentless and outnumber us by far. But know this: if they win, you will wish you had died today.”

I stopped one last time, receiving no cheering this time, only the stern, yet determined looks of our patchwork army.

“Let us die today as heroes, lest we live tomorrow as slaves!”

The crowd responded with an outcry of praise and applause.

“For Equestria!” I yelled.

“For Equestria!” Came the unanimous roaring of the crowd below. “For Equestria!” They chanted on, pounding at the ground with their front hooves. “For Equestria!”

Canterlot shook with our fervour.

“For Equestria!”

Ch. 08: Recurring nightmare

I paced nervously back and forth in the cramped room, passing by the silent and motionless Shining Armor sitting by the door each way. Standing around the large table in the middle, shifting through the myriad papers, plans and maps, occasionally glancing up at my brother, were Sergeant Rainy Day, Artillery Commander Loon Moon and Flight Lieutenant Thunderlane.

“I honestly do not believe this is going anywhere.” Thunderlane spoke up. “He is completely denying the outside world.”

“We need that spell!” Loon Moon flicked his unkept black hair to the side with a quick motion of his head. “His shield stopped the changeling advance before, it can do so again.”

“But look at him!” Rainy Day shouted, pointing at my brother in frustration. “He's just sitting there, looking into the distance! He is completely broken. We will never get anything out of him.”

“Arhg!” I groaned, stopping in front of Shining Armor. “Equestria is on the line, brother!” I waved a hoof before his eyes. “Can you even hear me?”

Thunderlane sighed. “It is no use. Twilight Sparkle, I think it's time you do it.”

I shook my head. “Very well. Moon, are you sure you can do it?”

“I don't think we have a choice in this matter, Twilight.” He stepped forward from behind the table and walked next to me. “If we want his protection spell, there is no other way, it seems.”

“Whatever you say, commander.”

I leaned closer to my brother and touched my horn to his. He did not move a muscle, as if he were completely unaware of what was happening. After a moment, Loon Moon, too, held his horn close and closed his eyes. After a sudden flash of light, he withdrew his head.

“So?” I inquired.

“Uh.” He shivered. “Yes. I can do it.”

He paused.

“I think.” He added.

***

The clear sky cracked with a deafening sound of thunder as Loon Moon cast Shining Armor's spell from a tower above us. Soon, the sky was tinted with a light shade of purple; the protective magical sphere was forming before our eyes, much to the joy and cheer of the crowd below. As the ethereal wall made its way down, its descend gradually slowed until it came entirely to a halt. That is not right, I thought. It hasn't reached the ground. It has not reached the walls!

Looking up, I could see Loon Moon standing atop the tower with his head bowed, swaying limp from side to side. Then, in a sudden outburst, he lifted his head and cast the spell again, accompanied by a much quieter sound this time. He could not complete the spell. I wondered whether an attempt to reinforce the shield on my part would do any good—in the end, I decided not to try, as the same spell, from a different source, clashing with its counterpart might just break them both. At the very least, we had adequate protection from a full-on aerial assault. The shifting and glowing spell-shield floated elegantly above Canterlot.

This moment of relief lasted short, however, as it was soon interrupted by the alarming sound of horns and trumpets. “It's begun.”

I hurried to take my place among the hastily assembling line of unicorns atop the walls of the city. From there I had a perfect view of what is to come: the changeling swarm, completely enveloping the sky and marching ever forward on the ground. There was nothing, only black and green; as far as I could see, black and green. For whatever shimmer of hope I had held before, it now became apparent that this tide would, sooner or later, wash over the tiny pebble that was Canterlot.

The most terrifying part was their sheer recklessness. They marched toward the walls in endless waves, being picked off by the dozens by the spells of the unicorns and of mine. Their flying partners either banged themselves against the floating shield in their attempts to break it, or tried getting into the city through the tiny empty space below it and above the walls, only to be stopped by the flying divisions lead by Thunderlane. It truly made me wonder, was this suicidal fervour mere natural instinct for the changelings, or perhaps, was it all a matter of motivation?

It was not long before Loon Moon appeared next to me atop the wall in a flash of light, joining the fight with his own spells and coordinating the magical barrage of the rest personally. Yet for every one of their dead there was countless more coming to fill its place. Their bloodless corpses littered the ground before the city. Worst of all, as this almost thoughtless siege raged on, the changelings eventually began marching atop their own dead—and as their carcasses piled up at the foot of the walls, they even began to ignore trying to break through the gates themselves, climbing instead atop their killed brethren, who effectively served as a simple ramp on which to get inside.

The onslaught continued, yet no matter how many of the bugs fell, their numbers showed no signs of subsiding. And as one of them finally made it atop the wall, violently dragging a unicorn down into the swarm below, we came to admit that this position was lost.

“Fall back! Into the city!” Came the order from Loon Moon. “Into the buildings!”

As we quickly fled from the walls, the changeling army was close behind. They leapt carelessly from the wall, once again blindly throwing themselves straight into the kill zone. And they just kept on coming. Rainy Day's earth-based defence force could do little to stop the coming tide; the great gates of Canterlot burst open at the pressure of the swarm. Watching the two armies finally clash in this bloody opera of teeth and steel, I could not resist but jump into the fray. Loon Moon and his force provided backup-fire as I ran into the of the conflict. All around me, earthers wrestled three changelings at a time, while the unicorns of the front line used spears and swords on which to impale the ever-advancing enemy. I myself let loose gigantic waves of magical energy, sweeping the battlefield twenty, thirty of them at a time.

Then there were the cries and screams. I watched as they overwhelmed our ground forces, pinning them to the ground and, without even providing the courtesy of killing them outright, they simply left them there to be trampled over by their advancing forces. Blood soon soaked the dirt roads as changeling fangs pierced the throats of good mares and stallions, leaving them to bleed out on the spot.

Above us, the battle in the sky was none more hopeful; the pegasi and the Nightguards were overpowered as much as we were. Truly, this was no masterplan or some genius strategy from the changelings; it was a simple brute-force attack. For all her evil deeds, Queen Chrysalis wanted her subjects to live, and yet now she was sending them, by countless numbers, to their deaths. While this tactic was undoubtedly successful, I still questioned this decision of hers. Perhaps this war was, in fact, an act of desperation rather than confidence. Perhaps I would never know.

The assault went on for hours. Yet, ironically, the further the changeling army advanced, the more potent Loon Moon's protection spell became—for with more and more lost ground came less and less to cover.

As the battlefield shrunk slowly around us and the changelings drew ever nearer to the central Palace, our soldiers fought to their very last breath. Deep down inside, each of us knew that this was it; that we would never survive this attack. And exactly then, a timely final blow to the army's morale sealed the end. I stayed behind and watched the last moments of the battle unfold as none other than Rainy Day herself ran back to me from the front line, bleeding and wounded, barely able to speak.

“What happened? Report!”

“We saw..” She panted. “We saw Shining Armor. He just.. he just ran right into their hooves! Didn't even fight. He's dead. Torn apart!”

“What?!”

“My entire.. everypony's dead! They're breaking through!” She looked back to see the advancing wave of changelings marching towards us. “It's lost! The city is lost!”

***

Loon Moon's magical shield closed down behind the last retreating soldier, finally touching the ground. Nothing was left but the Palace, now hermetically sealed by his spell. Thus, the changelings' advance was at last halted. I watched from the outside as they rammed against the ethereal wall, wave by wave. Once again, they were so dead-set on their objective—breaking into the Palace—that they did not even notice that I was just outside its protected sanctuary, looking on from a dark alleyway. Sooner or later, they would penetrate the spell and their quest would be complete. I came up with one last plan of desperation with which to, perhaps, save Equestria.

I made my way through the narrow corridors and alleys in the lower districts of Canterlot. The changeling swarm, almost in its entirety, was concentrated on the very centre and heart of the city, the Palace, and as such, only a few stray patrols roamed these near-impassable streets. Wherever and whenever I could, I avoided direct confrontation. I watched as their small groups broke into houses and bashed in windows just to see if they can find any stray ponies there; families that instead of following the defenders' retreat chose to barricade themselves within their own homes, hoping—fruitlessly—that they would not be found. Mothers and foals were dragged away, and whoever tried to resist was murdered on the spot, left on the roads to serve as a warning and example for all to see.

And there, finally, on the open square directly past the broken gate to the city, I saw the face of Queen Chrysalis—and I have learned the fate of Princess Luna and her mission of negotiation at the same time: for there she was, her head impaled on a robust pike.

And the pike was held high, floating in the air, surrounded by the glowing-black magic of Nightmare Moon herself. Queen Chrysalis had been dead all along. So this was why the changelings seemed all too eager to die. No fervour is as strong as that which is inspired by a madmare. Yet this poignant scene raised another set of questions within me. Was it the changeling queen that caused the resurgence of Princess Luna's dark side, Chrysalis then reaping what she had sown—or did Nightmare Moon herself rise to dominion when she was presented with an army hers for the taking? The answer to such questions I would never learn.

None of that mattered. My plan remained unchanged; something so utterly outrageous, and impossible even, was our last hope for survival. In a quick blast, I swiftly cleaned a path through the army of changelings that surrounded the fallen Princess, and before they could react, I ran straight up to her.

I stood there, adamantly, her personal guards ready to pounce on me—but, as I had predicted, she raised a hoof, signalling for them to be at ease. She looked at me and grinned.

“And so we meet again, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Always a pleasure, Princess.”

“Look!” She nodded with her head towards the glowing magical dome in the distance. “Canterlot Palace. The brain and heart of your precious Solar Empire. It will be such a pleasure to see it crumble.”

“I take it, then, that Chrysalis was against this war?” I turned my head towards the decapitated head.

“Oh, alas, poor Chrysalis. I knew her well.” She, too, looked at the floating pike, pulling it closer to herself before carelessly throwing it to the ground, turning back to me. “Well, not really.” She smirked. “It is true, though. These hideous creatures, they are parasites by nature. They would never even consider an attack like this.” She looked up to see the advancing waves of flying changelings massing on the Palace. “Can you imagine?” She cackled.

“So is this all one gigantic show of strength?”

“Oh, is it not beautiful?” She chuckled to herself. “You just have to look! The great, mighty and pure Canterlot. The seat of Celestia's power. The brightest gem of her Equestria. Deemed, for so long, to be impossible to penetrate, withstanding the strife of a millennium and only rising.” Her mouth widened in an unearthly grin. “And now it has fallen in a single day. I was even being generous. I gave you time to prepare. I even waited for you to cast that pathetic excuse for a repelling spell! And yet here I am, behind the white walls!”

“You do lead an unstoppable force, this much I admit. But it is a force you stole. Just how strong are you, Nightmare Moon?”

“Oh, please! Do not make me laugh, Twilight Sparkle! You may have defeated me once, but tell me: where are your Elements now? Your friends? Your magic?”

Her mocking words echoed within me, my soul burning with passion.

“If you truly believe that you are unstoppable, then now is the time to prove it, Princess! Fight me, alone and unassisted. Then we will see if you are worthy of the power you so desperately desire to wield.”

She burst out with laughter, her eyes lighting up in the familiar white glow of the corruption which consumed her. Before I even realised what had happened, she blasted me away from herself. As I lay on the ground, I saw her changeling minions standing over me. They picked me up and tossed me back into the ring they created with their own bodies. I was surrounded on all sides, and Nightmare Moon stood at the opposite end of this makeshift arena, pounding away at the ground with a front hoof.

“You have no idea what I'm capable of, Twilight Sparkle. If you surrender now, I shall promise you an easy death.”

“I could promise you the same—but it would be a lie.”

Nightmare Moon smirked in anticipation. Her gaze was unsettling, even disturbing. As she laid her terrible fangs bare in a horrible grin, a creeping darkness seemed to envelop her. An almost tangible shadow, a pitch-black aura that was like an endless abyss staring straight into me.

“Do you remember the first time we met, Twilight Sparkle?” She asked, disappearing in the darkness that surrounded her. In a sudden flash of black light, she appeared behind me. I jumped and turned to see her towering above my tiny stature. “For the first time in a millennium, I was free! You cannot even begin to imagine the sensation!”

Before I could react, her darkness engulfed me. I could not see. There was nothing but darkness. At once, I was lying on my back and felt the strange, indescribable feeling of something sitting on my chest, weighing me down, pressing harder and harder each time I breathed out. I was being slowly suffocated. I tried to move but I could not, for my limbs were cold and numb. I tried to scream to no avail, for my mouth would not open. Then, when I was beginning to lose my mind to this madness, a light appeared above me, growing quickly and until it reached me, freeing me from my invisible chains.

“A thousand years!” I could feel her teeth at my ear as I bathed in the eerie light. “After all this time, I would retake my rightful place on the throne. My rightful place. After everything she has done, Celestia does not deserve the glory in which she basks.” The white light was suddenly tinted with the colours of a rainbow. “And then you showed up. You and your friends, so eager to believe everything she had told you. So righteous. So self-absorbed.”

“We saved you!” I shouted into the bright nothingness. “We redeemed you from your corruption. And now you've let yourself be taken over by the very same darkness again! You are destroying everything your real self ever stood for!”

“Oh, you did nothing! I was stunned. My mind was torn apart and reassembled on the spot. I only managed to recover from the shock not long ago.”

“You act as though this was your real self. It is not. You have allowed yourself to be turned into a monster. All you want is to kill and murder. You are deranged, Nightmare Moon!”

“Deranged?! Every year have I endured that insulting celebration you call Nightmare Night, living in the lie that our subjects adored me. Yet still you all worship her with religious fervour. She rules over the sun while I am cast away and forgotten in the shadows.” In an instant, the gripping blackness returned, driving out the colourful light. “All I wanted was to make her pay for her deeds.” Her voice intensified with each word. “Oh, I am sane, Twilight Sparkle. By the stars, am I now sane.”

“You arrogance has blinded you. Whatever you plan to do to Canterlot, or to me, know that you will never be the Princess that Celestia was.”

Her voice grew ever louder, echoing in the all-enveloping black abyss. “Just you wait! I shall become the one and only queen of Equestria! When I am done with you, I will march straight into her room, tear her heart out and eat it before her as she dies! It is what I have been longing for a thousand years.”

“A pity, then, that you will never get to do that.” I wondered if her mad mind would even comprehend it if I told her that the Sun Princess was already dead.

“But I will! In just a matter of minutes. My face will be the last thing she sees before she dies. This time, you see, you cannot stop me. She has sat on that throne long enough. I declare, no more!”

Suddenly, I saw the magical shield protecting the Palace from the inside, as if I had been right there, among the last of the defenders. Atop its highest tower, Loon Moon channelled, with the last of his power, the shielding spell in his final effort to keep up with the siege. From the sky, the Nightguard Thunderlane landed behind him, his eyes glowing just like those of Nightmare Moon.

“What madness is this? Is this your trap?!” I shouted once again into the nothingness around me. Yet all I heard in response was the crazy cackling of Nightmare Moon. I was forced to look on, unable to call out to them or act, as Thunderlane walked up behind Loon Moon—and grappling him, he threw him off the tower, retaining the blank and emotionless expression which he had always held.

As he fell to his death, my vision at once dissipated. I was once again back in the real world, at my senses, floating high above the battlefield of Canterlot, held in the lap of the flying Nightmare Moon. And before us, the Palace of Canterlot, besieged by her changeling army. Her eyes shined ever more brightly as dark clouds began to appear on the horizon. In but mere moments, the afternoon sun was blocked by this artificial black sky as a terrible storm fell upon the city. Amidst the terrifying lightning and thunder, the shield that protected the last remaining survivors of Equestria from the swarm was destroyed.

“Behold, Twilight Sparkle!” She whispered in my ear as I watched the changelings rush the Palace, obliterating what little resistance remained. “Witness the end of an age!”

She let go of me, laughing manically in her triumph. As I fell through the air, plummeting towards my inevitable doom, I heard the last screams of the dying ponies of Canterlot.

And then everything turned black.

Ch. 09: Ex machina

The pain never came.

Had death spared me from the torture of dying? Was this nauseating blackness I saw before my eyes that which awaits us all? I saw the world itself split open as all history bloomed and died again and again, each time taking a different curve, a path stranger still. The vast infinity which played out before me, over and over, was too much for me to contain. All I could comprehend were flashing images, abstract scenes and occasions of amazing magnitude. The fulcrums of history upon which the machinations of all destiny turn.

I could not bear it.

My mind was spared total collapse, however, as the visions slowed down. Gradually, they grew simpler. Now I saw things I recognised, forms that I understood.

A candle. The candle rests upon a wooden table. The table is simple in construction, yet ornately pulsates with some form of majesty and greatness. But it's not the table. It is the one standing by it. She is looking down at the table. But she is not eyeing the table. There are papers. Some are dry and yellow, able more to be broken than torn. Dust seems to escape the hairline cracks upon their surface. Others seem new. Fresh. Their smell, I know that smell. It is that of fresh ink. Torn pages from a book, perhaps?

No. They address the mare reading them. They are no excerpts from an arcane codex. They hold a message. A specific message to be read by one specific mare. Her sky-blue eyes move left to right, left to right as she reads the words inscribed on these peculiar letters.

A sudden pain. It hurts. And she can't see them now. Something rolls down her cheek and lands on a paper. And again. And once more. She blinks the tears away. Now her eyes are clear, yet she cannot read further. It is ruined. But she feels glad. She would not want to read on even if she could. But there's more. So many more.

Hate. Such hate. They hate her. All of them. Why do they hate her? Their hate turns into her anger. Her wings spread wide in her fury. Dark feathers fall as she flutters them in impotent frustration. The resulting gust of air blows out the candle. Now it is lit again. Her horn glows with passion. Who sends these letters?

Each one written differently. Some of them read with the precision and indifference of a scientist documenting the behaviour of a newly discovered being. Others radiate with disgust and hate, all of which is directed towards the reader. Yet others speak as if their mysterious writer was merely a messenger, relaying the words of those she met. Indeed, the author of these horrible scribblings claims to be a friend.

Her anger grows with each word she reads. Her deep blue mane is consumed by a pitch-black darkness. Her loving eyes light up with the passion of a glowing Moon. An unstable symphony of black and white. The darkness is taking over. It has been eating away at her for such a long time. It might reign victorious now. Such loneliness. Such despair. Such desperation. It will soon be over. She will no longer be despised. They shall love her. They shall adore her. They shall see her for the wonder that she is.

Each message is different. Every one of them written in another tone. Yet one thing remains constant. They are signed. All of them signed, it seems, by simple courtesy, for their creator has no intention of revealing an identity. “PDP,” reads the last line of them all. This “PDP” wants to help.

She picks up the last letter. A stabbing pain in her heart. It is the most horrific of them all.

A sudden light dispels the darkness of the room. A crashing sound signals the violent opening of its door. A white mare rushes in. The growing darkness at once recedes and returns to a pleasant dark blue of a summer night's sky.

The new arrival is worried. She asks about the latest message. Their nameless benefactor had given them a warning. This final message foretells the death of the dark mare. Murder. The letter urges her to prepare. She must live. She must reign gloriously over the Moon and night itself to gain the love of her subjects. And she would do anything to accomplish such. A bitterness once again fills her heart. She almost snaps. Her white sister breaks her out of it. She comforts her.

But it is too late. Within the mind of the young mare a wickedness spreads its roots. Destruction. Murder. An army. Eternal darkness. The fall of Canterlot. It seems inevitable.

As the white one stepped closer to the dark mare, leaning in for a soothing embrace, the scene dissolved before me. In a quick flash of light, an image of the Oracle appeared in front of me. She said no word, for her gaze spoke for her. In the blue oceans of her eyes I saw a determination of fatality. With a nod of her masked head, she herself disappeared as darkness engulfed my sight once again.

The visions were gone. I could feel a soft bed of grass pushing against my side. My head felt as if it would split apart at any moment. Clenching my teeth, I mustered the strength to open my eyes in one quick pull on my lids. The world itself seemed to spin around me. The dark green of the grass and trees at my left contrasted the starry night sky on my right.

“Arh..” I let a sound loose in a mix of a tired yawn and a pained groan.

I lifted my head from the ground and took a look around. The battlefield was gone. Canterlot was gone, replaced, it seemed, by a wide dirt road running through a forest. No, that is not right. I gazed upwards towards the stars. My suspicion was immediately confirmed: I was no longer in Canterlot.

I moved my shaky hooves carefully, one after the other, slowly standing up. I closed my eyes, trying desperately to process all that I had just seen. That strange, uncanny feeling at the back of my head, a feeling that I had felt somewhere before. It was the feeling of a dream slipping away through the cracks of one's mind after waking up. One minute one might recall a dream in its entirety, but in the next, they do not even remember the vaguest details. I could not let that happen. Whatever it was that I had seen was significant. It had to be.

Princess Luna reading letters, old and new. The letters talked of the indifference, and even hate, projected towards her by her subjects. Inside her soul, a darkness spread. I finally realised: it was the inception of her corruption. The catalyst of Nightmare Moon's birth from the pain of Princess Luna a thousand years ago. Hold on. The letters were signed. Signed by a certain—by Celestia! Could it be? Could they have been sent by Pinkamena Diane Pie? I laughed at the notion. There was no way.

As I gathered my thoughts in spite of the splitting headache I felt, I shook my head. I looked around once again in an attempt to determine where exactly I was. It was then that, looking down, I found the last piece of my personal puzzle. At my hooves lay the golden ouroboros of the Oracle. I understood, then, what her trinket was for. I understood, finally, why it failed to save the life of Fluttershy when I came for her, or, for that matter, why it remained useless all this time despite its unique magical aura. The trinket of the one who sees the future happened to find its way to me, just as it happened to be around my neck when I should have met my demise.

This sequence of coincidences was all too convenient.

Even though I admired the Oracle's creativity, I could not help but let a sprinkle of contempt stain the gratitude I felt for being saved. I picked her toy up once again, placing it around my neck one more time. Perhaps it held secrets yet to be uncovered. With the ouroboros resting again at my chest, I set my eyes on the faint light dancing above the forest in the distance. I knew it had to be the light of a settlement—a big one—and as such, I began my way there.

***

The last time I was here, there was nothing but a pitiful wooden bridge, bound by long-torn ropes, connecting one cliffside to the other. Yet now a magnificent stone bridge arched above the depths below, allowing me safe passage to the other side of this chasm. More powerful still than this sight was the that of what lay beyond: a pristine castle whose gigantic spires towered above the dark forest.

As I crossed the ornate bridge, I beheld the ancient Castle of the Twin Sisters. It was on this very ground that my fateful confrontation with Nightmare Moon took place so long ago. It was where my friends and I found the Elements of Harmony for the first time. Its ruins had been long ago defiled and abandoned, then, left to be overgrown by the wild flora of the forest. Yet now, as it stood tall above me, it was beautiful and whole. By all intents and purposes, its stones were newly crafted, its walls freshly erected, and patrolled by guards-stallions that were very much alive. Against all logic and possibility, it seemed that the main question was no longer where the Oracle's trinket had brought me—for I was clearly within what I knew as the Everfree Forest. Indeed, the question “When am I?” seemed so much more apt.

Even so, as I walked closer—astonished as I was—I could not stop myself from judging the castle's architecture. With my eyes so used to great Canterlot, the sight of the lone castle, out so far from the rest of the empire, and without an exterior set of walls guarding it, felt nothing short of strange. No wonder that Princess Celestia would one day leave this forsaken place to build her city atop the great mountains, closer to the stars.

“Halt!” A guard by the gates lifted his hoof, motioning for me to stop, as the rest raised their halberds and pointed them towards me. “Who goes there?”

Of course. If I was truly transported back in time itself, then I had not yet been born. I would not be born, in fact, for over a millennium from now. I was not—not yet—the personal student of Princess Celestia. They had no reason to allow me inside. Such a strange feeling. I cleared my throat and spoke up. “I come on a behalf of grave importance. I seek audience with the Princess of the Night.”

The guards at the back lowered their weapons. The one who stopped me bowed his head slightly before replying. “My apologies. We had to make certain that you are the one. The Princess had warned us to expect you.”

How eternally convenient. “Has she now?”

“Indeed. Please,” He stepped aside as his peers opened the gates for me. “She is eager to see you.”

Thus, my road to Princess Luna lay paved before me. The deep rumbling of the opening gates did little to distract me from the brilliance of the inner room. The last time I stepped in here, the chamber's crumbling stone pillars served only as grim reminders of a roof long caved in. Now, in their former glory, they withstood adamantly the weight of the ornamented stone-ceiling. Within the walls, great windows, once broken, now seemed not only to let in the glow of the stars and the Moon, but enhance them, bathing the room with white light. This silent solemnity was not wasted for the mere welcome of the castle's visitors, of course.

For at the centre of the room, high atop their pedestals stood and waited—as they would for another thousand years—the Elements of Harmony, still encased in their stone orb-prisons from which my friends and I would one day liberate them. Yet even now their glory was darkened by that unforgettable aura of corruption with which I was now so familiar with. Even in this time, it had already begun. According to the words of Princess Celestia, their horrible state was a direct result of the inner torment of Princess Luna. If the Elements were already tainted, then so was the Night Princess. Walking past this magnificent stone monument, guided by the pointing hooves of the guards at every corner, I continued my way to the Princess.

In the end, the guards led me to a room at the top of the tallest tower of the castle. This I recognised as the room I saw in my vision upon my arrival in this age. Behind me, the wooden door through which Princess Celestia had rushed in to see her crying sister. Pushed against the left side of the circular room was the oddly ordinary wooden table on which rested a number of papers, carefully stacked by a lone burning candle, with a single letter placed next to the collection of others, clearly somehow significant. At the far end of the room opened a balcony—and there, with her back directly toward the door, sat the Princess of the Night. She seemed to take no heed for my arrival, her gaze instead focused on the starry sky as she painted the night's horizon. A shooting star fell across the sky as I took my first step toward the Princess. The guard that had accompanied me into the room stayed by the door through which we entered.

As I walked slowly through the room, I could not resist but take a peek at the letter that rested apart from the rest. Inspecting it, I concluded that it was written not long ago, as betrayed by the unmistakable scent of fresh ink. Skimming it with a glancing look, I realised that it was a warning, written in a prophetic tone akin to that of mad doomsayers. It spoke of the nearing end to the life of Princess Luna; how she would be murdered by a certain lavender unicorn assassin as a culmination of the tension between her and her less-than loyal subjects, allowing the Princess of the Sun to reign in her place. And at the bottom of the page was the curious—and ever so familiar—signature of that PDP. Seeing the peaceful Princess Luna before me when only a few hours ago she was leading the greatest siege of history upon Canterlot, the idea that this PDP was in fact my Pinkamena Diane Pie seemed less and less outrageous. If the Oracle could help me physically arrive in the past, who was to say that Pinkamena could not have her letters appear a thousand years before her own life?

The implications of this idea were none too pleasant, either. If this was all true, and my eyes did not deceive me, then it meant that Pinkamena played pivotal role in the original corruption of the Elements—and subsequent inception and imprisonment of Nightmare Moon. For this one was only the most recent letter received by the Night Princess, and by no means the first. The stack of letters and torn papers that lay next to this one were carefully arranged: the most cracked and oldest at the bottom, newest at the top. Some of them looked years, if not even decades old, each talking about the growing contempt and hate the Equestrians felt towards the long, dark nights of Princess Luna. As evidenced by the shift in tone of the newer letters, as time progressed, the general dislike of the nights soon turned into anger felt for their creator, the one responsible for them all.

Whether these letters spoke the truth, I could not say. Their effect on the fragile psyche of the younger sister of Celestia was obvious, however. Her insecurity and inferiority complex began to spiral out of control. And now, I could sense, she was on the verge of losing her mind forever. This letter, it seemed, was the last straw. If Luna survived that night, the corruption of the Elements would become absolute—and the eventual fall and pillage of Canterlot by Nightmare Moon's unmeasurable changeling army inevitable. I understood, at that moment, what purpose the Oracle had planned for me. I had to end it all before it began.

I would murder Princess Luna.

As I turned away from the desk and walked closer to the balcony where the Night Princess was sitting, she finally turned her head to look at me. Her cold gaze made me stop dead in my tracks. She eyed me up and down, soon diverting her gaze towards the guard who guided me. “Leave us, please. Close the door behind you.”

The guard bowed and complied. With the door shut behind him, I was alone with the Princess.

“And here you are.” Still sitting with her back to me, she spoke quietly and calmly, without a hint of anger in her voice. “Just as it had been foretold.” Indeed, her tone was one of resignation.

“I see you knew I was coming.” I replied. “And, as I collect, you know what it is I am here for.”

“To end my life and nothing less. I have been warned of your arrival.”

“I am amazed by the lengths you went to in order to stop me.”

“Do not mock me, little foal!” Her voice grew stronger for a moment. “Is it not enough that you are here to murder me? Must you insult me before showing me what lies beyond?”

“I apologise, Princess. I was merely attempting to lighten the mood. Do tell me, where is Princess Celestia?”

“I asked her to leave the handling of this matter to me. She is not here.” She signed as she finally stood up before walking up to me, lifting her head above mine. Returning to her calm voice, she spoke again as she looked down on me. “I would never have thought that my death would come by the hooves of such a small creature. I wished to die with dignity, but seeing you? That might be asking too much.”

I ignored the petty insults she threw at me. “Make no mistake, Luna. One way or another, your life ends tonight. Yet I must ask, why not try to save yourself? Why have me led straight to you? The Princess I know would never roll over as such.”

“What do you know of me, tiny foal?”

“More than you could ever fathom.”

Silence befell the room for a few short minutes. We eyed one another, deducing information about the other without words.

In the end, she broke the silence. “Look at me, young one. I am despised by the very ponies I swore to protect and sustain.” She turned around, looking out to the night sky through the open balcony. “I wish they could see it the way I do. It is so beautiful.” She sighed again as she turned back toward me. “Yet they hate me. Yet they torment me. If I am to die, then at least I will face my death with dignity.” With little to no transition, her tone shifted from that of resignation to one of arrogance. “Do not think, for a moment, that I will stand and wait for death's embrace. I will fight to defend myself. I will kill you if I am given the chance. And if I fail—then I will die in the knowledge that I was not worthy of ruling over Equestria.”

“Then why have you not killed me yet? I am right here.”

“There is one thing I must know first. Are you here because you despise the night as the rest? Are you the people's messianic freedom-fighter? Or were you, perhaps, sent by the others? Is this petty revenge for my sister's past deeds? Who are you, you little lavender unicorn?”

“I know not what 'others' you speak of, and I am not a champion of your subjects. No, Princess Luna, I am here for my own reasons. And I know no pony that wants to see you dead more than I. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am here to save Equestria from you, Nightmare Moon.”

Upon hearing my last two words, she pulled a corner of her mouth up in disgust as her eyes lit up with their familiar white glow. Her dark-blue coat turned to black as her flowing mane darkened as well, becoming more similar to an ethereal mist blocking out the light of the stars and engulfing the room. The single candle which burned on the wooden table was at once extinguished as she spread her black wings.

“Very well then, Twilight Sparkle who fights for herself. Let us see what fate has in store.”

In one quick motion, she stood up on her hind legs, her front hooves immediately coming crashing down on the stone floor with the sound of thundrous lightning. The tower itself collapsed under the force, bringing the two of us—and anyone else within—down with itself.

As the dust cleared, I found myself in a dark corridor lit by a precious few torches embedded into the walls at regular intervals. All around me, I saw the rubble of the tower, its stone bricks scattered in chaotic piles. Behind me lay more debris from the fallen tower and the caved-in roof of this underground tunnel where I landed. With rubble obscuring my path to the surface, I had no choice but to follow along the straight tunnel.

As I slowly paced forward, the darkness of the place began to creep in on me. Yet more disturbing was the absence of the Princess. Considering our exchange, I knew she would not just leave me. Nonetheless, I marched on.

After countless minutes of walking along the seemingly endless tunnel, I was growing more and more nervous. One torch to the left, then one torch to the right. One to the left, one to the right. This same pattern repeated itself to infinity, both behind me and in front of me. There was simply no point. No end. I sat down to rest my hooves for a while, lowering my head as I stretched my numb legs. It was then that I heard that growl.

Before a single conscious thought ran through my head, my body had jumped forward by itself. Even so I could still feel the gust of air ruffling my mane as the monster swung its claws at me. Quickly turning around, I saw a fearsome lion with the wings of a bat and the venomous tail of a scorpion. It was a manticore just like the one my friends and I had faced—and failed to defeat—on that fateful night. The beast stood there, a good distance away from me, with a bloodthirsty look in its eyes. As it pounced at me and flailed its claws in its attempt to catch me, I was all too busy focusing on evading its attacks to even wonder as to how the gigantic beast appeared behind me in the narrow corridor through which I had just passed. Nonetheless, desperately evading its attacks, I attempted to come up with a plan to pacify the beast.

Then suddenly, I heard a quiet whimpering. The manticore stopped its assault and stood frozen in its place. From behind the monster, a familiar face stuck her head out. Although her pink hair obscured half of her face, I could still make out that the pegasus with a faded yellow coat was Fluttershy. The manticore stepped aside to make way for her as she walked towards me, silently crying.

“You—you can't be here!” I rejected what my eyes showed me.

“Am I the first ghost you've met, Twilight?” She asked without even looking me in the eye. “Can't I be here?”

“What do you want?” I asked the spirit.

“I want to help you, Twilight. Just the way I had helped us all that one time.”

“The manticore listens to you, then? Make it disappear! Tell it to go away!”

“I'd love to, Twilight. But I can't.” She leaned closer to me, whispering to me. “You see, Twilight, I'm dead.”

The manticore's roar echoed through the long tunnel as it jumped at me once again. I dodged its attack, running further along in the opposite direction, screaming to the spirit of Fluttershy to make it stop. No response. I yelled and shouted, but she was gone, having left me alone with the beast. Growing ever more tired as the monster chased me, I knew I could not keep up for long. It's strange. So many times I have found that while I was under the most pressure—usually fighting for my life—I get the brightest and craziest of ideas. This new one which came to me was also all too simple. You know what they say, I thought as I ran forward with the manticore closing in on me, the best solution to a problem is usually also the easiest one. With one powerful pull, I tore a torch from its place in the wall and pushed it against the manticore's body. Its long mane was the first thing to light up.

It no longer cared for chasing me. It no longer wanted to kill me. Instead it squirmed pitifully as the fire spread across its fur. Howling in pain, it soon succumbed to the devouring flames. I watched as they slowly consumed it, eating away first at its coat and fur, then its very flesh.

I heard, again, the soft voice of Fluttershy from behind me. “I see you found a way to solve your problem. The solution you use to solve all of your problems. You helped it the way you helped me.”

I turned around to respond to the spirit, but she was gone. Instead I saw once again the clear starry sky. In my running, it seemed, I have reached the end of the tunnel: it opened to a gentle hillside. Leaving the burned beast behind, I walked out into the night. Below the hill lay the Everfree Forest. With still no sight of Princess Luna, I somehow felt compelled to enter.

I walked slowly between the dark trees, guided more by a mysterious calling rather than rational thought. The deeper I reached within the forest, the more it seemed to warp around me. The trees seemed to bear grotesque faces, their branches growing in shapes similar to clawed hands and talons. Thinking of the time when I was frightened by these reminders of my former life made me smile. I was so foolish back then, I thought. So naïve, so secure in my ignorance of the workings of the world.

Walking around one of these peculiar trees, I reached a clearing. At the centre of that patch of grass, I found a little filly sitting and sobbing. She did not even have her cutie mark yet. Somehow, this little blonde-maned foal evoked in me a feeling I had not felt in a very long time. The feeling of empathy. I felt sorry for the frightened filly. No matter how she got here, she was now trapped by the evil trees looking at her from every direction. However long she had sat there, crying in fear, I would now show her a way outside.

She looked up at me when I extended a hoof towards her, urging her to stand up. Her pupils suddenly contracted when she saw me. She leaped away from me and immediately started running away, caring not for the trees, trying only to escape from me. I gave pursue to her.

The little drops of tears she left on the grass behind her sparkled in the moonlight. I followed this ghastly path for several minutes, the filly herself barely in sight. As we ran through the forest, I heard the insidious voice of Nightmare Moon speaking to me. “Now look what you've done,” She said. “She has never been more afraid in her life.” I paid no heed to her words.

In the end, the filly reached a river which flowed through the forest. Stopping at its bank, she could run from me no longer. I slowed my steps so as not to frighten her. “It's alright,” I tried to soothe her as I walked quietly towards her. “Where are your parents? I can take you home. Please, don't be afraid.” Yet the closer I got, the more restless the foal became. When I was only a few steps away, it could not bear it; it jumped headfirst into the river, and—unable to keep up with the rushing waves—she was quickly swallowed by the depths.

“No!” I screamed. I used my magic to lift great amount of water, throwing entire waves at out into the forest, but she was gone. “No.” I could not accept it. As I vainly thrashing my hooves at the water, the rage of the river slowly subsided. It flow slowed and its waved died down. Too late. It is all too late.

With my front hooves in the river and my eyes closed, I held my head just above the now-clear and peaceful river. I mourned for the lost filly, almost crying but not quite there as a sense of failure crept over me. As bloody as the battle for Canterlot was, losing this poor soul made me feel weaker than I had ever felt. Why did she run away? Why did she do that? The question overwhelmed me.

Then I opened my eyes. I screamed as I jumped away from the water. That could not have been me. Mustering my courage, I gazed into the river again, dreading to look at my reflection once again. But there it was: I could see my clowen hooves in the water through the translucent reflection of my deformed face. My eyes glowed a faint shade of red. My elongated and jagged horn was almost as frightening a sight as the fangs in my mouth. The strands of my torn and ripped mane dangling in front of my face did little to hide the monstrosity that I seemed to have become. I refused to accept this as the truth. There is no way. This is Nightmare Moon's trick. All of it. It has to be!

“Your visage becomes you.” Came the voice of Nightmare Moon from behind me. “It is the appropriate reflection of your soul.”

“What have you done to me, you demon?” I turned around.

“I have done nothing to you, little filly.”

In my fury, I launched a powerful magical missile towards her. She did not even try to step away; when it reached her, her form became one of dark mist and my spell passed straight through. When she regained her corporeal form, it was completely unharmed.

“This is you, Twilight Sparkle. This is all you.”

I fired a similar spell again—to identical results. And again, and again. I kept barraging her—until one time, instead of recreating her body out of the blackness, the terrible cloud flew up to me in the blink of an eye. Before I could react, I was kicked up into the air by one precise swing of her hoof aimed at my stomach. The landing was just as painful. Heaving and desperately gasping for air, I lay completely paralysed on the ground. She walked up to me, slowly and menacingly, before kicking me away again.

“Honestly, Twilight Sparkle, I must say I am disappointed in you. Are you really my prophesied killer?”

I stood up on shaking legs. “I'm sorry if I did not live up to your expectations.”

She laughed. “Expectations! Oh yes. That's the right word.” She took a quick glance around. “Looking at this landscape, I expected more. So much more. It hits quite close to home.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, of course.” She spoke in a condescending tone. “It must be hard for you, in a way. Not that it matters.”

Pushed well past my boiling point and in extreme pain, I roared with rage as I tore a tree from its place and flung it towards my enemy. Casting the spell caused a sharp, stabbing pain to run through my body from the tip of my horn to the end of my spine, yet I carried on. I tore parts of the ground itself from around me, barraging her with whatever I found close by—each one she avoided by turning into mist or simply shattering them before impact with her own magic.

“Very impressive.” She grinned. Do you want to see what I can do?

Dark clouds began blocking out the stars above us. A storm gathered with thunder and lightning. Nightmare Moon herself took on her mysterious mist form again—except this time, instead of returning to her normal form, the fog split apart into three parts, each becoming a separate image of the Night Princess: one earther, one pegasus and one unicorn. The unicorn picked me up with her magic effortlessly and pulled me close as they surrounded me.

“So useless.” The earther said.

“You've killed before. They were close to you. I can sense it.” The pegasus spoke.

“You thought yourself a queen when you are really a no-pony.” The unicorn spoke again as she threw me to the ground. “I can see who sent you know. A great white mother-figure. She's your mentor.”

“She told you to kill them.” The pegasus said.

“Yet even she is disgusted by you now.” The earther image remarked.

“She hates you. You've killed your friends and abandoned your parents for her, and even she hates you.” Her unicorn-self talked to me. “Whatever you do, you will never wash their blood off your hooves. How were you expecting to live with yourself?”

She lifted me again and passed me onto her earther-self. That one kicked me up into the air like some sort of ball. I was soon caught by her pegasus image, who brought me even higher into the sky. Then she let go, leaving me to fall towards the ground. It seems old habits die hard.

But I was caught, again, by a spell of her unicorn-self. “What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?” She laughed, as did the other two. “How does it feel to be a murderer of innocents? How does it feel to be hated so?” She asked as she dropped me to the ground.

I coughed as I tried to speak. “You tell me, dear Princess Luna.” I looked her unicorn image straight in the eye. “I think you know exactly how it feels. That's the reason you're doing this. You think you need to prove yourself to your subjects.” As I said those words, a bright beam of light shone through the black clouds in the sky. “By doing what? Killing a lone unicorn?”

“I will prove that I'm an able ruler!” Her voice shook and cracked. “With your death, my place on the throne is assured!”

“What will it prove, exactly? That you're willing to kill for power? How do you think your precious subjects will like that?”

“No!” She yelled. “They will—”

“Hate you even more so, Nightmare Moon.”

She let her teeth bare as she snarled in anger.

“You don't like that name, do you, Nightmare Moon? Well, get used to it. For a thousand years and more will you be addressed as such.” I smiled. “Trust me on this.”

“No!” She yelled again. “If they accepted my sister, they will accept me! She needs me!”

I knew not what the Princess was talking about, but it mattered precious little. “Oh, she needs you now? Do you want to know what I think? You are nothing but a pet. A token! She owns you.”

With those words spoken, brightly glowing Sun dispelled the clouds above us and drove out the Moon from the sky. As the little white dots that were the stars scattered away to beyond the horizon like nocturnal beasts running from a suddenly lit campfire's light, the mountains melted into the ground and the river swallowed the trees.

I was once again within the high tower-room of Princess Luna with the little wooden desk as a dawning Sun lit the room through the open balcony. The nightmare was over.

I found myself standing on the chest of the Princess who lay on her back underneath. My forehooves pressed adamantly down on her long, dark neck. I regained my mind just in time to see her breath give out and her eyes lose their glowing shine. Thus, the Princess of the Night lay dead at my hooves.

It felt ironic. The nightmare was of her own making, yet fed on my thoughts and memories. She tampered with my mind, and in the end, she tumbled on her own anxieties. The terrible dream turned on its mistress, thereby spelling her demise. Good riddance, I thought. She was clearly unfit to rule.

As the memories of our shared dream quickly faded from my mind—as is usually the case with dreams—I noticed the Oracle's ouroboros lying on the floor beside us. I had obviously lost it during my unconscious struggle with the Princess. I stepped off my victim—her size impressive even in death—and walked towards the golden trinket, lifting it up before my eyes with a spell. As the snake's eternal gaze met with mine, its eyes lit up with light-red light for a brief moment, as if it had blinked somehow, realising that I had fulfilled my purpose. The snake then came to life, releasing the bite of its own tail and instead resting its head next to its tip. The threads of history thus lay untangled, ready to be woven into a brighter future. Whatever game it was that Pinkamena had been playing, it no longer mattered. Her pawn has been removed from the game.

I placed the trinket once again around my neck with the string that bound it.

I closed my eyes, ready to put myself, again, into the hooves of fate.

Ch. 10: Faithful student

The magical aura of the Oracle's trinket around my neck intensified and I could feel it engulf me. A familiar sense of vertigo and displacement came over me as I was snatched out of the ancient era. It felt as if I was thrown into a cold river, submerging and emerging periodically as I came up for air. I experienced being one with time itself, and I could feel as the flow of history suddenly, for the tiniest imaginable instant, came to a halt as it met with the paradox I created by murdering the Night Princess. Yet the continuum of time was strong and resilient, and without hesitation or the smallest difficulty, it hurried to find a new path by which to avoid the obstruction.

As history deviated from its former course, carving instead a new path for itself, I, too, was taken up by the tide. Once again I saw visions, forms and shapes, unidentifiable colours in an indecipherable amalgam of strange flashes. Even though the original cause of the Elements' corruption was now gone from the world, I was overwhelmed by a certain uneasiness, and Equestria felt so much emptier.

When the visions left me, I was cast onto the bank of this river of time. Again, like last time I found myself lying, on my side with closed eyes, left only to follow the stream of history, slowly walking along its course as it marched on towards times yet to come. The cold made me shiver and even without looking I could tell that the stone floor of the castle was now replaced by a wooden one beneath my hooves. I opened my eyes and stood up carefully, observing my surroundings to learn where the ouroboros had led me. It was a dark room into which the freezing winds of the cold winter seeped through an open window at the back. At my hooves, the Oracle's trinket lay, broken and in pieces, its magical aura gone and purpose fulfilled.

Shivering from head to hoof, I walked to the window to close it while I took a peek outside. The room I stood in was some distance above the ground, and I saw a small town below. The snow which blanketed its streets and rooftops gave it a beautiful shine and sparkled like a white coat under the full Moon's light. Yet somehow, even this lovely view was strangely foreboding. While the houses were obviously occupied, as evidenced by the colourful decorations and festive gadgets hanging from or strapped onto any available surface, their windows were dark—not a single lantern lit inside, no simple light-spells cast.

Pondering on this strange locale, I looked around the room again, finally finding a number of candles standing in a splendid, branched candlestick upon a simple wooden table otherwise stacked with books. On the same table I also found a curious statuette in the shape of a unicorn's horn. Its tip was broken, yet the expert craftsmareship it showed told me that its state was not a result of clumsy handling—but artistic design.

The light the candles' small glow provided was enough to let me have a better look at the room itself as well. Even where I stood, it seemed, was decorated and ornamented. The decoration resembled those I saw on the houses through the window, and this time peculiar artefacts were close enough for me to examine. They were figures representing a winged unicorn; Princess Celestia, no doubt, as other marvellous baubles hung from the ceiling representing different stellar bodies, the most beautifully crafted of which was the Sun itself. Seeing the outside weather, I imagined that I had been taken to a Hearth's Warming Eve, Equestria's most prominent celebration during the winter months. I was soon to be proven wrong.

I turned my attention to the table again and the heavy books that rested upon it. One in particular caught my eye, for a simple red strip of wool hung from between its pages. As no other books were marked, I collected that this one was somehow significant. Opening this strange tome at the marked page, I began reading. I was not prepared for what I would find inside.

“It was during these dark times that Princess Celestia brought the Seraphim to existence. These pegasi were trained to be devoutly loyal to the Princess and to be the perfect exterminators of the unicorn menace. With the power of the Elements of Harmony at their side—all six held by Celestia herself—they were led to many victories over the magical fiends throughout the centuries that followed the creation of the order. They cleansed their souls with fire and steel, freeing Equestria from their unholy grasp.

The greatest documented witch hunt took place circa four hundred years after the inception of the Solar Empire of the lone Princess. A colony of unicorns had attempted to hide from the crusades within the bowels of the black forest that is now known as the Everfree. Living their lives in secret and in complete isolation from the outside world, they thought to escape their fate. When they were discovered, their bold plan foiled, the Seraphim were ordered to take them all alive.

Many a famous painting was inspired by the sight that could later be seen surrounding the newly built Palace of Canterlot. Hundreds upon hundreds of heads lay impaled upon the fields: the examples which Celestia made. Old tales say that the forest of spikes—the Princess' message to her subjects—could be seen from miles away. The macabre exhibition marked the end of the Age of Free Magic.”

I knew not what manner of perverted joke these passages were part of. All I could feel at that moment was a cruel jab of impotent anger. I closed the book to look at its cover. Visions of Equestria, written by a certain Pinkamena Diane—gah! I knocked the book off the table in one furious swing. Then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. When I finally felt myself ready to continue, I opened my eyes and turned around to further inspect the room, ignoring the book which now rested on the ground.

At the far end of the room there was a pair of curtains, hanging from the ceiling and gently reaching the wooden floor. Previously I assumed that they were nothing but artistic design, something with which to further decorate this place. Looking around, however, I realised that I can see no door, and as such, the way out must be behind the drawn curtains. This suspicion turned out to be correct, for as I was walking toward them, I heard a sudden outburst of clapping and cheering from beyond. The sound of hooves beating against the ground in the next room explained why the village outside seemed empty; I must have arrived at the town hall, and the citizens have gathered here for their celebration on this evening.

Slightly pushing a hanging curtain to the side, I peeked into the next room. Behind these curtains was a small balcony overlooking from the side a large indoor hall below. There, countless ponies sat—or, in the case of the less lucky ones, stood—as some sort of play seemed to be being prepared at the front on a stage. Just as I moved my gaze there, the lights in the hall were put out as one bright spotlight illuminated the stage. There stood one mare, her grey hair betraying her age. As the audience in the room calmed down, hushing away one another's words, the old mare began her speech.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” She addressed the audience.

Her tone shifted as she spoke, trying to keep in accordance with the smiling of her mouth. Yet for all her efforts, she could not perfectly disguise an underlying bitterness.

“As the mayor of our town, I am honoured to announce the beginning of this Winter Moon Commemoration.”

Silence. Members of the audience all seemed to take a deep breath, some looking down at the ground, others firmly bearing the gaze of their mayor.

“Just a few minutes ago, the Sun has once again vanished from the horizon, thus beginning this, the longest night of the year. For this occasion, the teachers of our local school generously agreed to stage a play, acted by none other than our own foals, to help us relive the events of the past, and to show our sincere sympathies to our beloved ruler.”

I could hear the faint sound of servos operating and wheels turning behind the scenes as the large red curtains behind the mayor—leaving the stage—were drawn open, exposing to the audience and myself a several fillies and little colts, costumed and dressed up in front of a decorated background. A lone earther filly, clothed in a beautifully sewn dress, stood slightly off-centre by a small table upon which lay an open book. The filly waited for the townsfolk to take in the sight before she began her narration.

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria.” Spoke the young foal in her high-pitched voice. “There were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land.”

As these words were spoken, two pegasi-born fillies flew up above the stage; one wearing a long, white dress while the other wore a dark blue one. On both of their foreheads was a replica of a unicorn's horn, held up by straps around the back of their small heads.

“To do this,”The narrating filly continued. “The eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the Sun at dawn. The younger brought out the Moon the begin the night.”

Through an elaborate contraption, the workings of which were once again hidden backstage, symbolic replicas of the Sun and the Moon were lifted above the stage on their respective cues. The lighting played as much a role in the play as the foal-actors themselves, bathing the hall in light at the Sun's rising and slowly dying away as the Moon replaced its twin.

“Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for the kingdom, and their subjects, the brave earth ponies, the soaring pegasi, and the mysterious unicorns: all the different types of ponies!”

Hearing their cue, a group of earther foals, each dressed in—somewhat exaggerated—age-appropriate clothing, walked across the stage in a show of numbers. After them, several pegasi flew around the hall, presenting their acrobatic skills to the enchanted audience. Yet, strangely, not one unicorn showed up on stage to play their part, but instead it was more earthers, each with the familiar strapped-on horn, that posed on stage.

“As time went on, the unicorns, who had before the age of the Twin Sisters governed the skies and ruled over the passing of day and night, became resentful. They relished and played in the day the elder sister brought forth—but rejected and shunned the beautiful nights that the younger one provided for them.”

As the lights softened and flickered away once again, representing nighttime, pegasi and earther foals sat in the darkness, each holding a candle, singing a short rhyme about the passage of time and its toll on us. And far to the side sat but a few fake-unicorns, blowing out their own candles one by one before leaving the stage.

“On one fateful day, the younger sister received a letter, in which stood a threat to her own life. The ominous letter spoke of the coming danger, that the Night Princess would be assassinated by a wicked mare of unbound magic: the Lavender Unicorn.”

The audible gasp of every pony present was heard echoing across the hall as coloured lights danced around the room, mimicking the red flames of a burning fire.

“The Princess of the Night was determined to live through, and to prove to the unicorns that she and her sister were more capable of ruling over the skies. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had cemented her decision. Reluctantly, she left her sister alone for the night, fearing what she would find come the next day.”

The pegasi who had previously played the part of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia now flew onto the stage, dropping gently on the wooden padding beneath. The lights flickered more in an unrelenting symphony of bright and dark, speaking for the two fillies on stage who played out an increasingly heated argument. As the fillies reached the high ceiling of the building the lights shone at their brightest for just an instant before they were abruptly shut down. Princess Celestia quickly turned around and flew away amidst played insults and offences. Thus, Princess Luna was left alone in the darkness. She slowly descended to the stage again, her head held steep down in sadness.

The Princess lay down on a bed, carefully placed below her in the darkness while the attention of the audience was drawn upwards by the arguing twins. As she lay there, her eyes closed, silently contemplating the futility of her actions, small candles began lighting up in the background. One by one, their combined lights drove out the darkness as the eerie orange glow danced on the dark mane of the sleeping princess. Suddenly, one of the candles fell from its place high atop the wall, its light dying upon reaching the floor. And then another, and another—all the rest soon followed.

When complete darkness once again gripped the stage and the hall, a powerful, coloured spotlight was shone upon the Princess-filly. In this light, the colour of dark purple, a shadow of a unicorn—cast from off-stage by an unseen actor—emerged behind her. At first, only the shadow's head could be seen rising behind the bed, but in the end, as the shadow progressively grew bigger and more menacing, it stood up on its two hind legs, her forehooves lifted high in the air above the Princess, like some beast getting ready to strike down on its victim. After a moment of suspense, the shadow swiftly collapsed onto the bed, engulfing the Princess as the red curtains were suddenly dropped, drawn to hide the coming act of murder. The audience watched in silent awe.

Within a short moment, the curtains were pulled back again to reveal the Princess Luna-filly lying on her back on the very same bed, the would-be Princess Celestia crying over the loss of her most cherished sister.

“The Princess of the Sun cried for three days and three nights in grief of her lost younger sister. So great was her sorrow that the sky itself wept with her, losing many of its stars, so great was its grief. When the Sun Princess finally emerged from her mourning, she had her sister placed in an enchanted coffin, in which—although it was moved across the empire in the millennium to come—she rests to this day, her eternal youth retained even in her death.”

The filly playing Princess Celestia flew up high again as others took up the other princess, bringing her off stage. A bright light now shone at the Sun Princess, reflecting off her elaborate white dress. Beneath her, several make-believe unicorns came on stage, looking up at their ruler.

“The elder sister, now left alone in her pain, took on responsibility of both the Sun and the Moon. Her first royal decree was that the mysterious Lavender Unicorn must be found.”

Pegasi flew about the stage, inspecting their “unicorn” friends closely.

“She organised hundreds of searches in her attempts to find the murderer. Yet it was all in vain. The Lavender Unicorn, it seemed, disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived on that fateful night, never to be seen again.”

The flying pegasi now picked up the fake-unicorns below and brought them all, one by one, off the stage.

“But the Princess was wise. She saw that the deed of the Lavender Unicorn was a testament to the dangers of magic going unchecked. She understood that mere ponies are not to be trusted with such divine powers, for they would, inevitably, grow discontent and hungry for more.”

Six lights, each coloured differently, now began to slowly circle around the floating Princess-filly.

“In her final desperation, she harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony!”

Several fake-unicorns now started running across the stage, both to the left and to the right, their mouths wide open, in soundless screams.

“Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated the unruly unicorns, and ensured that their legacy shall not be continued. Every once in a long while, a unicorn would yet be born. Their parents—no matter of what descent—would have to present their foal to the Princess herself, relinquishing raising him or her on their own. The common unicorn bloodline thus slowly trickled away—and today, no more are born, their vile magics lost to the dark ages of Equestrian history.”

The Celestia-filly descended onto the stage with a pegasus and an earther at each of her sides, bowing before their all-powerful Princess.

“Thus, with the unbound magic of the once-mighty unicorns all but abolished, and both the Sun and the Moon at the lone Princess' call, harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.”

The narrator filly closed the book and stepped quickly to the middle of the stage as all the rest of the foals also appeared. They bowed deeply before their audience, who, in turn, applauded and cheered by stomping their hooves repeatedly against the floor, clapping for the wonderful performance. Yet to myself this strange play was nothing less than disturbing. How nonchalantly they spoke of “defeating” unicorns, and what did it mean? Has Celestia, in her madness, hunted down all of my kind in search of her sister's murderer? Was this play—and this very tradition—genocide glorified?

Only now, as I pondered upon the fatality of my actions, did I realise: this was no mere little town somewhere in the empire, but the one that which I had once called my home. It was Ponyville, in a time before its rise to the great city my eyes were familiar with, for the mayor—walking onto the stage once again—I now recognised, as I did the audience. Every pony that I had previously known sat in the hall. The carrot-top Golden Harvest, the fair Bon Bon, the ever-clumsy Ditzy Doo, and so many others awaited the words of their Mayor Mare. Every pony except the unicorns that I used to know.

“And now,” The voice of the small town's mayor echoed in the hall. “It is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, who, in her great generosity, had picked our town as her location for this year's commemoration. The very pony who gives us the Sun and the Moon each and every day. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria!”

Among the growing cheering and clapping of her audience, the mayor lifted her head and pointed toward the high balcony on which I stood, still concealed by the curtains.

“Princess Celestia!” She finished.

Before I even realised what was happening, the curtains which had until then protected me from their prying eyes were at once drawn back, exposing me to a horrified crowd. Nearly blinded by the spotlight suddenly shining in my eyes, I stood there in silence contemplating what action to take. A sudden silence fell upon the hall, the ponies only looked at me, seeming all too terrified to even move a muscle. Clearly, they had been expecting someone else. Seeing that none of them dared to speak up, I took it upon myself to make the first step.

“Citizens of Ponyville! Do not be alarmed. It is I, your friend.”

“What did you do with the Princess?!” A terrified scream came from the back of the crowd. I could not see who it was that mustered the courage to speak to me, but I considered it progress.

“Does none of you recognise me? Don't you know who I am?”

Silence.

“Has none of you seen a single unicorn in their life? Are we lost to legends?” I asked, hoping for some sort of answer.

“You are indeed.” A confident voice know spoke up from the middle of the hall. The rest of the ponies quickly stepped aside, keeping a good distance from their brave peer. As the crowd slowly opened around the source of the voice, I saw not one, but two familiar faces. Or to be more precise, one face and one mask. At the centre of the room stood none other than the Oracle, her cold snake-mask still resting unmoving on her face. Standing by her was an old friend, Rainbow Dash, with a look of pure fury in her eyes. The Oracle continued her monologue.

“And those legends spoke of your return. On the longest night of the thousandth year following the blasphemous act, the murderer would return. You are the one that killed Princess Luna. You are the Lavender Unicorn.”

“It only figures that you would be the only one to remember me.” I said in barely concealed disgust. “You know exactly why I'm here, do you not?”

Without addressing me once more, she turned around and called out to the citizens of Ponyville. She spoke with a powerful, authoritative voice, telling the terrified crowd to leave the building and follow her, for she would protect them. The crowd, one tiny spark away from igniting into a total chaotic rampage, was easily manipulated by the one pony who seemed to know what to do. The Oracle left, and the others followed. Only Rainbow Dash stood in her place as the waves of ponies passed by her on their way to the exit. As the hall fell silent with every other pony gone, I cast a blink spell to teleport down from the balcony.

She only stood there, her body tense and her wings extended menacingly. Her muscles, like a compressed spring, seemed ready to burst at any moment.

“Don't you recognise me, Rainbow Dash?”

“So you know my name. I would have ended your life anyway, but you've just made this personal.”

She turned to the side and started pacing to and fro before me, her posture remaining as tense as before. Like a lioness stalking her prey; moving ever so slowly and calmly, yet ready to leap and pounce in the blink of an eye. I myself held my ground, never taking my eyes off my enemy.

“Is that so, Rainbow Dash? What makes you so eager to draw the blood of another? Such acts seem below you.”

“I think you know exactly why I do what I do.”

“She's dead, isn't she? Murdered in her sleep by Cadence herself.”

“When her soul was forced to leave its mortal shell, the Elements chose their own.”

“New bearers. At the moment of Celestia's death, the Elements latched on to the most fitting hosts they could find. And you—you were chosen to bear the Element of Loyalty, were you not?”

“How clever, Unicorn. By now, only Laughter remains. When I am through with you, I shall find Pinkamena and end her as well. Horn or no horn, such magic is not meant to be held by us. Only a Princess may command such mystical forces.”

“You are proud of your work, Dashie? You seem to enjoy killing your friends.”

“My readiness to turn against my closest friends is an eternal testament to my loyalty. Every kill is a sign of my obedience! Every corpse lying facedown in its blood is a work of my unfaltering faith, my devotion!”

“Is that all there is to it? The familiar cold-blooded righteousness of the true believer? Do you live, fight, kill and if needed die only for your Sun-goddess? Have you, yourself never wished for anything?”

“What more could I ever wish for? Celestia is God, the leader beyond reproach, and I am her obedient, her devoted servant, her one and only faithful student! Through serving her, I bask in her radiance, share her glory! And my service to her ensures my place in the Crystal Hallway! Do you not see, freak, acting in the best interest of the Princess is acting in the best interest of ourselves? Something your kind never understood.”

“Yes, now I understand. Only now.” For a moment I turned my eyes away, looking down in reflection. Rainbow Dash was not the main character in this meeting. I was, and I finally understood that now. “The promise of a place in history, the cheers of the crowd echoing in your mind. Posing as a crusader making the ultimate sacrifice, and at the end of the story going down in legends with a glorious halo around your head. Truly, enough to drive any pony to kill her friends.”

“You speak as if you had experienced it. Are you claiming that a unicorn, who only cares for herself, once served a cause greater than her own with devotion?”

“Oh but I have. I had the exact same thoughts as you do know... when I faced Princess Luna a millennium ago.”

“That so?” She asked haughtily. “You're a righteous fiend, aren't you?”

I peered into her self-righteous face, and a chill of revelation mixed with disgust shook my body.

“Apparently I am.”

“Whatever twisted delusions you hold amounts to little, fiend. For you see, you won't be leaving this room.”

“Is this really what happened to my kind, then? Hunted down and driven to extinction like mere pests?”

“Oh yes, Unicorn. Legends speak of their screams echoing throughout the empire. They say you filthy demons put up quite a fight.”

“And that's it? The earthers and you pegasi just stood back and watched as your beloved Princess purged an entire race from the face of Equestria?”

“There was collateral damage over the centuries. Some ponies tried to hide their unicorn friends. Mothers refused the royal decrees, keeping their newborn unicorn foals a secret from the Princess.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “They were punished accordingly. Over time, the subjects learned that siding with your kind brought with it nothing but the wrath of her crusaders. You beasts followed Princess Luna one by one. It's been five hundred years now since the time of the last great hunt. That makes you the last of your kind.”

In her eyes I could see the utter satisfaction it brought her to say these words. Even though everything she knows about this racial cleansing was clearly nothing more than stories passed down through generations, she seemed to experience a real emotional high just telling me about it.

“You must really hate us.”

“The Princess does. And as her faithful student, it is my duty, my sacred obligation, to kill the Lavender Unicorn.”

“Your princess had my kind eradicated, wiped from the world like excrement from a boot, and now you would expect me to die as well?”

“Yes.” She said ever-so gallantly, her head held high as she paced back and forth in front of me. “And you will, Unicorn. You will pay for what you've done.”

“I killed a princess, Rainbow Dash. What makes you think that you can defeat me?”

“Do not underestimate me, Unicorn. The last one to make that mistake had her heart torn from her chest by my very hooves.”

Copy cat.

It was as if this had all been deliberately set up only to hold a mirror to my face. For this Rainbow Dash wasn't the one I knew. This pegasus was, in fact, me. The best substitute the Princess could find, at any rate, seeing how in this timeline, I was never born. If her life was anything like mine, then she grew up under the strict guidance of Celestia herself, and as such, she respected her more than any other pony. She was her mother and her teacher—and Rainbow Dash was, over time, conditioned to do whatever the great Princess asked of her. So righteous and self-absorbed. As she boasted about her murders the evident pleasure in her voice was disturbing enough, but even more disquieting was the realisation of how much I shared her thirst for blood.

The sheer irony of this scene was almost too much to bear.

And so it was that after that short exchange I fought the brave Rainbow Dash. Her physical prowess against my magical powers. Despite all her majesty and grace in talk, without magic she could only meet me in a bloody melée. There was no creativity or finesse in her methods, but her simple brutality and physical strength made up for it. She employed no martial art, or training, but with her berserking rage, and apparent disregard for pain, she did not need any. Whether she was above or below such frivolities as elegance in combat is an open question. Amidst the punches and kicks being delivered both ways, she seemed all the more energised rather than exhausted. Indeed, it looked like she enjoyed receiving pain as much as she did inflicting it.

Her expression gave away her the sickness of her mind. In her eyes I saw a primal fury that I knew all too well, the utter fixation on the impending murder. And she grinned all throughout, her teeth and gums laid bare as she bashed away at me with her hooves. I was soon overpowered and pinned to the ground. That's when she stopped.

“It would be a shame to end you so quickly.” She spoke, her twisted grin still drawn across her face. “Is that really all you can do?”

I replied by teleporting away, appearing behind her and blasting the pegasus away before she knew what happened. As she was now lying on the ground, I stood above her, pressing a hoof beneath her chin to lift her head. “I learned not to expose my back early on in my quest. Have you not?” I gloated.

She quickly regained her senses and pushed me off before shooting up towards the high ceiling. Her ability to manoeuvre in such a confined place was, I admit, most admirable. She swooped down at me, attempting to knock me down once again. I, in turn, retaliated with firing my magical projectiles. It all seemed to be in vain, though, on both parts. As she circled above me, I could not hit her, and due to my teleporting capabilities, she could not touch me.

The hall itself seemed to pose more threat to both of us than we did to one another. It was not long before several pillars that held the building together were knocked down, windows were broken and the ceiling slowly started caving in. Looking around at the increasingly unstable structure, I knew what I'd do. I remembered how when I still lived in Ponyville, I would often catch Rainbow Dash mid-flight by her tail with a holding spell. This time, I would do something similar.

When she came swooping down at me once again—seemingly completely disregarding the state of the hall in her tunnel-vision against me—I merely stepped aside, quickly grasping one of her wings with magic as she darted past me. The opposing forces, focused on the base of the wing, were enough to break the light bones that held it in place. Her wing was, in an instant, torn from its place, causing Rainbow Dash to crash head-first into the opposite wall, unable to fly upwards with only one wing. The weak structure of the building then finally gave out as a falling beam quickly crushed her hind legs beneath itself.

There she was, one wing missing, her head drenches in blood, pinned to the ground under the weight of the wooden beam. Yet despite all the pain, she thrashed about and moved what little she could, trying desperately—and vainly—to break free. Her unending rage would simply not let her die. Standing over her amidst the falling debris, looking at how pathetically she clung to life, I could only think that her fury stemmed not from her imminent death, but from the sheer disappointment that she could not kill me before she passed. Our resemblance was more than uncanny.

“I renounce you.” I whispered to her before I drove my horn into her chest and through her swiftly beating heart. Pulling it out, I looked over her mangled body once more.

Not often does a mare see her own metaphorical corpse. It is a sobering experience.

Ch. 11: Ultimate reward

The building was barely standing as it did, completely wrecked apart by our struggle. Yet I paid no heed. I simply would not—could not—take my eyes off the ruined body of Rainbow Dash. Even though this mare I never knew, there was an eerie connection between the two of us. She was not Rainbow Dash. She has never been. The pegasus who lay in front of me was, in fact, me.

I felt a strange warmness at my hooves. I did not have to look to know what it is. The dark redness of her blood slowly fought its way through the blueish colour of the stone flooring, expanding into the sanguine pool of regret in which I now stood. My low-hanging tail was soon filled with the deathly substance, soaking up the blood of my once-friend. And I did not even care.

For worse still was my facial complexion. My decision to stab Rainbow Dash in her heart with my horn—meant only to provide a quick end to her torment—brought with it a consequence so obvious that I did not even think of it. My horn was coated with her blood, and now I could feel the drops rolling down onto my face, seeping into my hair and fur, rolling and dripping as they descended past my mouth to my chin. Such did I stand in the that empty hall, looking at my macabre piece of art, coated in blood from head to hoof.

I must have been quite a sight.

It was after several minutes of silent contemplation that I finally made my way outside, leaving the broken building behind me. Emerging from the hall at the snowy town centre glowing in the Moon's light, I began pondering upon what I should do next.

Am I to finish my task now? Am I really supposed to continue murdering in the name of a princess twice dead?

In the end, I decided to seek out the Oracle. I cared not for what manner of game she was playing—all I wanted were answers to my questions. Answers that, one way or another, she would provide. I hoped, for both our sakes, to find her in forthcoming mood.

I remembered that she spoke up for the ponies of the town back in the hall, before my battle with Rainbow Dash. The frightened crowd was asked to follow her lead outside, and so they did. It was not hard to track them down, for so many ponies in one place are bound to disturb the silence of the night. All I had to do was listen and follow the racket.

I made my way through the dark alleys and streets of the empty town, leaving a trail of red snow behind myself as I closed in on the gathering of terrified townsfolk. Yet the closer I came to them, the more the pattern of their noise worried me. It was nothing like I expected; while I thought that I would be following a disorganised cacophony of yells and screams, I instead heard a strangely orderly cycle of sounds. Brief periods of the barely audible speaking of a single mare alternated with unanimous outcries of the crowd, short yet powerful, as in response to whatever was being said.

The gathering, as I finally found, was taking place just outside the town, on a snowy plain where the Oracle stood on a small mound of earth, preaching horrible words to the gullible crowd that surrounded her. I stood back and listened to her poisonous speech. Her voice sounded nothing like I remembered from before—it was not the fragile old mare that had visited me on the train, neither was it similar to the threatening tone she took up before leaving me. Truly, the Oracle was a mare with no face and of many voices. I was eager to see what lies beneath that unholy snake-mask she so desperately clung to in all her acts.

“Do you think it is a mere coincidence that the return of the Lavender Unicorn coincides with the disappearance of the great Princess Celestia?” She asked the crowd loudly.

“No!” They responded in perfect unison.

“Then tell me: would you stand idle as parasprites destroy your crops?”

“No!” They cried out again.

“Would you let a spreading fire consume your home?”

“No!”

“Would we have been freed of the plague if even one city had gone uncleansed?”

“No!”

“Would you spare the last wolf of the pack that had devoured your foals?”

“No!”

The Oracle paused before proposing her next question. Even through her golden mask I could see a glint of satisfaction in her eyes.

“Do you believe?”

“Yes!” The crowd responded, louder than ever before.

“Will the wickedness end?”

“Yes!”

“Will the unicorns pay?”

“Yes!”

All of a sudden, the Oracle looked straight at me and lifted a hoof, directing the gaze of the rallied mob towards me.

“She is the last!”

Every single one of them turned around to look at me. In their eyes I saw as much confusion as hate. These ponies, all of whom I once knew, have probably never hurt anyone in their lives, living in the shelter and safety of their little town. Had it not been for the blood-boiling sermon of the Oracle, they would never have considered assaulting any pony. Not even me. Even like this, hyped as they were on her infuriating words, they were more afraid of me than they were angry.

The delicate balance between us hang by a thread. I was inclined to calm them down, for should a confrontation between us occur, it could only end in tragedy. A blood-drenched unicorn pushed past her breaking point against a group of simple villagers afraid for their lives. Was the outcome even a question?

“Destroy her!” The Oracle shouted from on high, demanding that the townsfolk kill me right there.

“Do not come near me.” I spoke out to them. “Step aside and you will not be harmed. I have business with the Oracle, no pony else.”

I could see some understanding looks in the crowd. Many of them longed for an excuse to stay as far away from me as possible, that much was obvious. It was only the commanding presence of the Oracle—and that of their more violent peers—that kept them from running straight home.

“Look at her!” The Oracle yelled again. “See what she has done! Rainbow Dash is gone, and it is her blood splattered on unicorn's mane!”

“Rainbow Dash made the mistake of opposing me. I had no choice but to fight her off. Stay away, and the same will not happen to you.”

The ponies in the crowd whispered quietly among themselves. For every mare backing away slowly, however, there was stallion beating his hooves against the ground in fury.

“See through her lies! Do not believe a single word she speaks! She is a unicorn, a treacherous and deceitful creature! Princess Celestia once chose to eradicate them for their very nature. Do you think that the Princess of the Sun was wrong in her decision? She must die!”

The tension in the air was nearly tangible. The crowd was drunk on the Oracle's words, and it became horrifyingly clear that I would never be able to sway them from her path. I began preparing myself to do the unspeakable—to use force to dismiss the crowd. It was just when the tension reached its peak, when the violent mob and I were about to clash, that the scene was interrupted by a strangely fortunate event.

“Aaaiiee!”

A small earther foal, a simple young colt still lacking his cutie mark rushed at me, leaving the crowd behind as he screamed at the top of his lungs. The poor thing knew not what he was doing. My heart skipped a beat as I turned my head to see the foal running at me as his terrified mother watched, undoubtedly frozen in place in shock. I realised, then, that this might be my one chance to avoid bloodshed.

With a fast spell, I lifted the colt from the ground and levitated him high in the air for all to see. The entire crowd before me took a step back and gasped in either awe or fear.

“Have you ever seen magic, citizens of Ponyville?”

I asked them, floating the terrified colt down beside me to head-level. We looked in one another's eyes. From his gaze, I could tell that he was more afraid than he's ever been. Too frightened to even scream.

“I have slain dragons and I have murdered the Princess of the Night. Have you any idea what I could do to this foal? If so much as a stray thought of hurting him crosses my mind, he is dead.”

“Let him go!” Came the terrified scream of the colt's mother as she jumped out of the crowd.

I waited before responding. I needed them to be afraid.

“Stand aside.” I commanded them coldly, ignoring the crying mare.

“Please, let him—” The mare cried out again, but I interrupted her by repeating my command.

“Stand aside.”

The mare—and all the rest—fell silent. They eyed the foal and myself up and down, frozen in their place in terror.

“I said,” I spoke again, suddenly raising my voice. “Stand aside!” I yelled powerfully, my voice bouncing off the houses behind me and the trees in the distance.

In an instant, the crowd opened up, creating a clear path to the Oracle silently watching the scene. I walked down this road they paved for me with my head held high—and the foal still floating by my side. The ponies did nothing but watch as I trotted past them.

The Oracle seemed awfully calm as well, not even trying to flee and run. She stood her ground and waited for me to walk up onto the small cliff from which she had preached. When I reached her, I pushed my nose right up against her mask. In her eyes I still saw no fear, but only a calm certainty that I had, again, done exactly as she predicted I would. Her sheer arrogance made me sick to my stomach.

“You have nowhere to run now, do you, Oracle?” I whispered.

She responded only by keeping up that satisfied gaze.

“Very well.” I tilted my head. “You will provide me with the answers I desire, one way or another.”

With that, I turned around to look at the crowd below us. I lifted the foal high again.

“Hear me, citizens.” I spoke to them. “Return to your homes. Rest easy, for I will not hurt you.”

Silence.

“And neither will I harm the foal.”

I gently put the young colt down onto the snow. Without looking back, he ran down the hill and straight into the open hooves of his mother. They came together in an unshakeable embrace, clenching each other tight as they cried in release.

“Go now, back to your village. Do not turn back.”

Thus, the crowd dispersed and the ponies scattered back into the town, returning to their homes, more than likely locking their doors behind themselves. The crisis averted, I turned back towards the Oracle. She stood still, unmoving.

“Well done, Twilie.” She said in a joking manner. “Here we, finally! I've been waiting a long time for this, you know.”

With a blast of magic, I knocked her off her hooves.

“No banter this time, Oracle.”

“Oh, here it comes!” She giggled in a foalish manner as she lay on the snow before me.

“You are such a subtle, deceitful creature. I wonder, just who are you exactly? Who lies behind that abominable mask?”

She said no word, struggling to contain her laughter, trying not to burst. I myself took a deep breath, and with a quick use of magic, I removed her mask and gazed upon the pony who wore it.

Of course.

I finally reached the punchline of the Oracle's blasphemous private joke. Oh, the delicious irony of it all!

It could not have been anyone else.

Her constantly changing moods, the madly shifting tones of her voice, the ability to see the future, appearing and disappearing at the most unlikely of times and locations. The Oracle was—and always had been—Pinkamena Diane Pie.

And I had followed her advice!

How much of my quest had been of her design? The corruption of Princess Luna, the turning of my friends and the death of Celestia. The battle of Canterlot, destined to be lost. My own trip back in time, the murder of Luna, and its horrifying results.

“If only you could see the look on your face.” She said with an innocent smile.

“Silence!” I burst out at her, delivering a powerful blow to her head.

I paused for a moment to take it all in. The pieces of the puzzle finally started falling into place. I looked at her as she still grinned in utter satisfaction.

“Yes, Pinkamena. I understand now.” I shook my head. “It was all so expertly orchestrated. You had Princess Celestia murdered, then you spread the corruption among our friends. You made sure that Canterlot will fall at the hooves of the megalomaniac Nightmare Moon and her stolen changeling army. Then you provided me with an opportunity to go back in time and murder the young Luna.”

I sighed.

“And in my wisdom, I did so.” I continued. “Except you knew exactly that by destroying that tyrant, I would only create one far worse. Princess Luna never became Nightmare Moon, dying instead a martyr at the hooves of a demonised unicorn. You created the myth of the Lavender Unicorn—the tale of my return.”

“Celestia was enraged.” She continued weaving the tale with me. “In her fury, she declared war upon the unicorns. One day, they were citizens of Equestria like any other pony—and the next, they are hunted down and murdered without question.” She smiled. “Thanks to you.”

“And thus,” I finished the story for her. “You made me become the catalyst for the extermination of my own race. Yes, Pinkie, it's all been so elegantly choreographed.”

“And you've almost got it all right, too.” She smirked. “You're wrong about one little thing, however.”

“Just what might that be?” I frowned.

“I did not spread the corruption.”

“Who did, then? Why did it happen now and not before?”

“It needed something. A nudge, if you will. Something to set it all off.”

“Go on.”

“You created a spell once. A sort of mind-link, I think you called it. It stopped working, didn't it?”

“Yes, Pinkamena. Yes it did. Ever since I visited Canterlot and saw the bound spectre of Celestia in the Chamber of Harmony, I haven't been able to use it to contact any of you. Everything fell silent.”

“Think back, Twilight! What happened before you entered the Chamber of Harmony?”

“I saw the—dear stars!” I grasped at my head in sudden revelation. “I looked upon the dead body of Celestia. That was the instant! That was when our connection was broken!”

“What did you feel, Twilie?”

“Nothing.” I paused. “Everything.”

“It's hard to put into words, isn't it? Yet its effects are clear.”

She closed her eyes and her expression became utterly plain. Under her eyelids, I saw her pupils move swiftly back and forth, up and down as if she were dreaming. Then, she started speaking quickly, so fast that I was barely able to follow.

“Twilight Sparkle is crushed and changed by the sight of her dead mentor. She does not realise it but she dies inside and she is reborn. She is no longer who she used to be. In the end the uncontrolled emotional implosion overflows and through the spell she herself created it infects all her friends connected to her mind.”

She suddenly opened her eyes, breathing in with one huge gasp. Then she looked at me and spoke again.

“I didn't spread the corruption. You did.”

I bashed at her stomach with a hoof, then proceeded to weigh down on her by standing over her body.

“Why?” I asked, leaning close to her face and looking deep into her blue eyes. “Why?” I shouted my question. “Why?!”

“It's all for you.” She replied, painfully squeezing her words out. “You are more important than you've been led to believe, Twilie. You just needed the proper, well, persuasion. To be dealt the right cards.”

“Lies!” I yelled at her, finally taking my hooves off her body, standing next to her instead. “You could not have foreseen all this!”

“Eternity is relentless, Twilie. You should know better than any other pony. You've had the opportunity to glimpse into the vast abyss of time. You saw its paths and streams trace out into the infinite!” She laid her head back onto the snow, staring up at the sky. “I can see them right now. I can always see them.”

“If that's true, how do you cope? A pony is not meant to contain such truths. Even my mind was on the brink of collapse when I gazed into the flow of history.”

“It was the generous gift of our good princess, Celestia. When she took me in, when she 'trained' me—this was what I had to endure. Over the years, my mind was, shall we say, accustomed to it. So much that I can no longer stop it.” She chuckled. “It's a mad, mad world, Twilie.”

“And so you devised this brilliant plan.” I said condescendingly. “I still don't know your reason.”

“Tell me, Twilight.” She asked innocently. “Have you ever wondered? Has it ever occurred to you that there are six Elements, but only two princesses?”

I was taken aback by the question.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Celestia is not who you think she is. She is not what you think she is.”

“Explain!” I ordered her.

“Do you remember that one time, when Discord escaped from his stone prison?” She asked nonchalantly.

“I believe I do.”

“Then can you remember what Celestia told us before we saw him? What was it that she said about the Elements?”

“That she and Luna discovered the Elements. They used them to defeat Discord. Thus, the two of them reigned over Equestria—until the corruption of Princess Luna.”

“Yes, and that is entirely true. Except she's left out a few details. Four little things, to be more exact.”

“Wait—are you implying..?”

“Yes, Twilight! Yes, she did!” She laughed. “After the six of them used the Elements and sealed Discord in stone, Celestia began her own quest. Similar to yours, in a way.”

“She killed four of the six Bearers.”

“And that's not all! She didn't just kill them, oh no. She took their Elements. You see, Twilight, she who wields all six Elements becomes the princess of both the Sun and the Moon.” She smirked. “I'll let you figure out the rest.”

I was at once reminded of my conversation with Nightmare Moon.

Were you, perhaps, sent by the others? Is this petty revenge for my sister's past deeds? Who are you, you little lavender unicorn?

So that is what she meant. Those 'others' she spoke of—they were the other four, the former comrades of Princess Luna and Celestia. The six Elements of Harmony.

“So Celestia killed the others to be able to control their Elements.” I said in understanding. “Yet even she couldn't bring herself to murder her own sister.”

“And so they agreed to rule together. 'To bring harmony to all the land,' I believe the books say.”

“The eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the Sun at dawn.” I quoted from the old tales.

“The younger brought out the Moon to begin the night.” She finished for me.

The terrible revelation rushed in on me like a gigantic tidal wave.

“Do you understand?” She asked. “Do you see it now, the monster that you serve?”

Her smug grin was wiped off her face by the impact of my hoof.

“Oh, you two are a pair!” I shouted in anger. “You and Celestia. You play with ponies' lives, their emotions, you shape them according to your design. And then you move them about like mere pawns on a board.”

“Destiny is a game, Twilie.”

“You disgust me. Both of you.”

We stared at one another for a while.

“So?” She finally asked, breaking the silence. “What now, Twilie? What now?”

“You know I'm going to kill you, Pinkie. Aren't you afraid?”

“Oh, Twilight, Twilight.” She sighed, shaking her head condescendingly. “I've seen eternity! I live and breathe in infinity! I do not fear the silence, neigh!” She chuckled at her awfully clever joke. “I welcome it. It is my ultimate reward.”

“You've always known it would end here.”

“Indeed I have. And I've made peace with the fact long ago.”

“Then tell me one more thing before I end your life. What happens afterwards? What am I to do after killing the last of my friends?”

“My death is not the end of your journey. Oh no, Twilight. Fate promises more twists before this drama unfolds completely.”

“How so?”

“My death will leave one more to take. And for that, you will go to Canterlot. You will see Celestia once more. There, in the cursed chamber of the Elements, the stage is set for the grand finale.”

“What exactly is going to happen?”

As I proposed my question, I could see the puffy tail of Pinkamena starting to bounce and twitch under the concealing rags she called clothes.

“What's that?” I asked.

“Oh, look at that!” Her face lit up in uncanny glee as she looked at it. “My tail is twitching!” She looked back at me, her face sporting a joyous smile like that of a filly before opening a birthday present. “Can you remember what that means, Twilie?”

“Humour me, Pinkie.”

“You will fall further than any pony ever has.” She grinned, her eyes bright with anticipation. She let her mouth hang open, as if she was going to laugh, yet no sound escaped her lips.

“But I already have.” I replied plainly.

With one fast pull of a spell, I tore her forked tongue from its place, leaving Pinkamena lying on her back in the snow, spewing blood around herself as she choked. Keeping her head steady—and her mouth upwards—with magic, I leaned closer to make sure she would hear me.

“As have you.”

Ch. 12: Sorrow in solitude

So it ends.

My quest has finally come to completion. All five of my friends lay dead, their blood on my hooves.

Walking back to Ponyville from the site of Pinkamena's gruesome death, my legs shaking in both inner turmoil and because of the freezing snow, I recalled my long-lost life. My former, solitary existence without friends, before I had ever met these five. Back then, too, I was alone. Yet now I felt something else. All those silly things that ponies used to say, all the foalish stories they told were now coming true. I thought I always knew the difference. Only now did I finally come to truly understand it.

I may have been alone before, but now at last I realised what it meant to be lonely.

I remember the moment, that instant of time in which everything changed. The ignition of the spark of true friendship within my heart on that fateful night. For all my self-entitled arrogance, it was that which made me grow up. The spark enabled me—all of us—to wield the Elements, and purify Nightmare Moon. Back then, I thought it was magic.

Now I see that it was only damnation.

The damnation that was the culmination of the journey Princess Celestia had prepared for me.

From the very beginning, Princess Cadence herself “foalsat” me—keeping an eye on Celestia's investment, no doubt. In this knowledge, it seems to be no coincidence that the sonic rainboom that came to unshackle my hidden magical potential occurred at the exact time it did. I am certain now, that somehow, the lives of all of my friends, as well as my own, were deliberately set up in advance to benefit the machinations of Celestia—to be pawns in her game. All along we had been ensnared by her elaborate web of lies, leading our blind and blunted lives until she pulled upon the strings, tightening the binding and drawing us, complete in our ignorance, towards one another.

My whole life, I realised, with all its hardships and lucky passes had been personally planned out by the Princess of the Sun herself. Everything that has ever happened to me served but one purpose; to further her tyrannous agenda.

By becoming her personal student, I gave up my life just to study in her shadow. I became a willing instrument. Her lonely pawn, meant one day to grow tired of this preordained solitude, to find five others to call friends—to wield the Elements of Harmony and bring Princess Luna back. To make up for her failure.

Yet even then, after such a careful construction, Celestia's plan failed. While her sister's mind may have been restored for a short time, it was the Elements themselves that needed cleansing. She had unwittingly infected my friends and myself with the same curse that Luna suffered, and so she looked for a solution. She called upon me once more, this time from beyond the grave, and asked me to do the unthinkable. And so I did—a testament to her indoctrinating influence and charisma. For all the hatred that I now felt for her, I could only admire her ingenuity.

Before her death, Pinkamena had told me that there was yet one more life to end before my task is fully done. After recounting the events that had led me to this point, I had no question as to who that pony will be.

“Citizens of Ponyville!” My voice-enhancing spell changed my tone into that of a thunderous bellow. “Hear me!”

Curtains were slowly pulled apart in the surrounding windows as frightened townsfolk peeked out from their homes. When I had a sufficient audience, I continued.

“I am to leave your town, never to return. Before I do, however, I must ask for one last favour.”

Doors opened as ponies walked outside to stand before me.

“Bring me your finest carriage, and your strongest stallions to pull it. My eyes are set on Canterlot.”

Their shaking legs took me into the sunrise.

***

The white walls of Canterlot soon blocked the horizon before us. We—the pulling stallions and I—were stopped before the gates, as I expected we would be, by the guards outside. From within the shaded interior of the carriage, I could see the earther guards question the ponies that had drawn me there, to which they replied only with tired wheezes, mumbling and gibbering from their exhaustion after the long trip. I imagine that even if they had managed to tell the truth, the guards wouldn't have been all too happy about it. To say that the Lavender Unicorn returned to visit Canterlot was, at best, a bad joke to them.

As their little talk escalated into a violent argument, I decided to help out the ones that had so generously taken me to Canterlot. As the door of the carriage slowly opened, their shouts ceased, the guards' heads turning in disbelief towards me. Their expression was, indeed, priceless. I could not savour the moment, of course, for soon they had the tips of their spears only a few inches away from my face. I rolled my eyes, immediately knocking them out of their grasp. The guards were much more open to cooperation when their own weapons were floating in the air and pointed at them.

“Let me in, would you kindly?”

I admit that throwing away some of the guards rushing at me on my way to the palace was amusing, yet I was more than relieved when—after a few broken bones—they decided to just simply let me pass. I walked along the familiar road to reach the Palace of Canterlot, inviting myself in as the guards opened its doors for me, far too afraid at that point to resist.

At least Canterlot was still standing. The knowledge that there was one thing in this world that I managed to save made me feel just a tiny bit less horrible.

Inside the main chamber of the palace, I walked by the gigantic stained glass windows which depicted great Equestrian struggles—and their victorious heroes—of the past. History, it seemed, found a way to run its course again with the smallest possible iteration. Even now, in this strange alternative timeline I saw the very same events depicted as the ones about which I learned in my youth; droughts and plagues unleashed by great evils of lost ages.

Yet something was different. Whereas before one would have seen depictions of numerous dignified ponies—unicorns, more often than not—overcoming hardships and defeating vile beasts, this time it was only one figure appearing on every window. The great white Princess Celestia, the Elements glowing around her like a glorious halo of saints. It was always her, keeping the nation safe using the power of all six Elements combined.

She was not a mere 'princess' any more. She posed as Equestria's one protector. A full-blown god.

It was not long before I reached the depictions of Celestia smiting unicorns, shown to be more like abominable demons rather than simply ponies with horns.

They never even tried to hide this fact of genocide; it was, instead, dumped into ponies' heads from their very youth, straight from the mouth of the great saint herself. Every pony, it seemed, believed with all their heart that the unicorns were nothing but a menace—an unruly and uncontrollable race that rejected the authority of the great leader before being rightfully destroyed.

And there, at the far end of the room and above all the others, greater than any other window, was the monumental depiction of the Lavender Unicorn facing a young Princess Luna. Below it, the enchanted coffins in which she, and now her sister, rested.

I was used to seeing my image exhibited, but never have I beheld myself shown in this light. The amazing window—wide enough to have at least fifteen ponies stand before it with their sides, and even taller than that in its height—was an over-dramatised account of the murder of Luna, more than likely thought up by Celestia to frighten the nation into submission.

In the left half of the window was the glowing image of Princess Luna, lifting her hooves as she opposes her attacker. All around her, black roses bloom as their gently floating petals fill the air. A full Moon glows above the scene as shooting stars fall from the night sky.

To the right is the daemonified portrayal of the Lavender Unicorn. Their rendition of me. My eyes glow in burning red light as I bring down the skies to murder the princess, grinning with my mouth filled with teeth more fitting a wolf than an equine. My sharp horn glows in a similar hellish fire as I trample upon countless skulls and bones of the dead.

This powerful image, I realised, represented not just the murderer of Princess Luna, but the unicorns as a whole. This was the depiction burned into the minds of innocent foals. This is what they are made to see before laying their heads to bed, this is what they are taught at school, and this is what embodies and exemplifies the need for Princess Celestia.

How better to make your nation agree to widespread genocide if not by making them believe that it is, in fact, absolutely necessary? That you, and no other pony, can protect them from the evils of the world that are out there to kill them?

This was not just a message about unicorns. This was righteous propaganda.

Finally taking my eyes off the window above, I looked down at the coffins before me. In one, Princess Luna rested for her thousandth year now. In the other, the freshly murdered Celestia lay in eternal sleep.

Poor Luna.

She was a victim of Celestia's game as much as I was; even her death was used as a simple marketing tool by her own sister in her quest for power.

As I opened the great doors which led to the Crystal Hallway, I entered in the knowledge that Princess Celestia had much to answer for.

Ch. 13: End of harmony

It felt strangely empty, the Crystal Hallway. I never realised just how many of the statues there represented unicorns. Seeing how few of these forgotten heroes remained now, and considering that Celestia had to wield the Elements alone all this time, it seemed like a miracle in itself that her Solar Empire stood as long as it did.

Once, I was completely crushed just by walking through this hallway. Now, I barely even noticed. My eyes were dead-set on my destination: the Chamber of Harmony opening from the far end. The place from which, by one force or another, the strings of all the puppets are pulled. In there, I would find the spirit of Celestia. In there, this terrible game of destiny would finally end.

Cough.

I cleared my throat to announce my presence to the spectre as I entered. In a flash of light, the translucent form of Celestia manifested itself before me. I saw no surprise in her eyes—much to my own.

“You've finally returned.” She spoke in her usual, soft and charming voice.

“Oh, so you remember me.” I rolled me eyes. “How eternally convenient.”

“It is something that even I do not fully understand. It is as though time itself had gone mad, twisting in ways it was never meant to. Even so, everything ends at the same place.”

“When you awoke following your murder, I assume you were in for a nasty surprise, then.” I raised an eyebrow, looking over her incorporeal form. “Beside the obvious, I mean.”

“I would have described the experience with a different selection of words.” She replied. “But yes. You are right. I was in for a nasty surprise. New memories bloomed as the recollection of my other life—the one in which I've known you—rushed in on me to fill the void I never knew existed.”

“You remember sending me on my quest then? Now that you're dead, you remember everything you've done in not one, but two millennial lifetimes?”

“Unbelievable as it, yes. I do indeed.”

“I assume you're pleased, then. I've fulfilled my task. I murdered my friends.”

A moment of silence. Just as her mouth opened to speak, I interrupted, silencing her again.

“For the good of Equestria.” I spat the words out in disgust. “Save it, Celestia. I know.”

“What—” She tried to speak, but I refused to listen, interrupting her again.

“I know what you've done to my kind, you degenerate!” I yelled at her. “You had no right!”

She took one step back, looking at me with wide eyes, as though she could not believe what I just said. Once she realised that her masquerade was over, however, she dropped the pretentious act.

“Oh, is that so?” She asked with a condescending look, drawing the words out as though she were talking to a foal. “Pray tell me, Twilight Sparkle, just how much do you know about ruling an empire for hundreds upon hundreds of years?”

She lowered her head, bringing hers straight in line with mine as she looked straight into my eyes.

“I rose up to defeat Discord and free all ponies from their torment. I saved the earthers, the pegasi and the unicorns just the same. I made all of their lives as they knew it possible.”

A smug grin took over her face.

“What I have given, I can also take, little foal.”

“Damn you, Celestia!” I burst out. “You are not God! What you've done cannot be justified! Such an act of genocide is unconscionable!”

She lifted her head again and stepped closer, trying to intimidate me by rising above me.

“Ah, conscience. There's that word again, conscience. Tell me then, champion of kindness and good will, do you have the faintest idea as to what you would have? Standing at the dawn of a new age, trying desperately to hold a failing empire together, your only companion—your other half—is murdered by something possibly more powerful and illusive than anything you have ever encountered. Your subjects panic and the fragile peace you've fought out over the past years threatens to collapse in on itself into a chaotic rampage of the masses. What do you do?”

She frowned in utter abhorrence of me.

“Can you even begin to conceive what action you would have taken in my position?”

“You are right, Celestia.” I could not deny it. “I would likely have chosen to do something utterly horrible as well.”

“Do you see? And then you dare preach to me about morality!”

“Yet you forget something, dear princess. You see, I learned everything I know from you. I was practically raised by you.”

I straightened up, allowing Celestia to take a good look at my blood-soaked mane before continuing.

“I am your faithful student. Now, as before.”

She pulled the corners of her mouth apart in disgust, separating her lips and revealing ethereal teeth.

“You criticise your own work.” I added salt to the wound. “And I know far more than just this little morsel, Celestia.”

“What might that be?” She asked, an eye twitching in barely contained fury.

“That your rise to power was not as smooth as you would have us believe.”

I smiled victoriously as Celestia's whole form shook with either anger or madness.

“It had to be done!” She yelled, finally snapping. “Six cannot rule! Equestria would have been consumed by inner conflict! There was a need for a firm hoof to guide the masses! Had it not been for my actions, Equestria would never have become the great empire that you knew!”

She huffed and panted, having completely lost control.

“Don't you understand?!” She asked, tearing up.

“Oh, I definitely understand. I understand just how much you enjoyed being the sole monarch of Equestria for a thousand years, plastering your face on every edifice you could find.”

“This is not about me!” She cried. “Or you! This is about—this is for Equestria!”

“Isn't this about me? You see, I've also come to learn of my true part in this game.”

“You—”

“Pinkamena told me. I confess, though, that I should have figured it out by myself. And I would have—long ago, in fact—had it not been for my blind ambition. My loyalty to you. Good job on that, by the way. You are an excellent manipulator.”

Celestia at once collapsed upon hearing my words, unable to bear the weight of my words. She knew I was right. Crying her glowing tears, she lay on the ground covering her face with her front hooves in shame.

“It's terrible, isn't it?” I asked, looking down at her with pitying eyes. “You didn't even get to tell me yourself. I bet you've been preparing some sort of righteous speech about it, too, all this time.”

“I—I'm so sorry!” She cried, her words barely comprehensible as she heaved and wheezed with every sound she made. “It must be done!”

“I'm not so sure it does, you know. Still, even if it is true, tell me: why do I get to do the honours?”

She responded only with pained sobs and more tears.

“Because you never had the courage to do it yourself, that's why!” I shouted at her as she wriggled uncontrollably before me. “My task is even worse than yours was, in fact! You've killed four others in cold blood to take up their Elements, yet you faltered when you had to end your sister's life. She invited the corruption into her heart, yet you couldn't do it! Had you murdered Luna then, this all might have been avoided.”

She looked up at me with a begging look, still too weak to stand up.

“What made her different, Celestia?” I asked condescendingly. “She was merely the last mare standing.”

I took my eyes off her and looked at the Element of Magic, weeping on its gilded pedestal before me.

“As am I now.”

I listened to Celestia cry and sob without even looking, contemplating what I would have to do to purify the Elements. The groans and gasps of Celestia gradually faded, however, and I soon heard a quiet but definite whisper coming from her. It was not interrupted by her own wheezing, neither was it forcibly pushed from her throat like that last one. It was only that—quiet. And, I could tell, honest.

“I'm so sorry.”

I did not look down at her, but spoke instead with my head held above.

“Oh, you're sorry now, Celestia? Just how sorry are you, I wonder? Is it the kind of sorry you were when you murdered your own friends? Or the kind of sorry you felt when you banished your sister to the Moon for a thousand years? Or is it, perhaps, the sort of 'being sorry' you exhibited when you set me on my own friends, all the while keeping me ignorant of my final destiny? Need I mention genocide? How sorry were you about that?”

I went on and on, recounting every wrongdoing, every horrible deed of hers that I knew about. How she raised me with the express purpose of using me, how she specifically pre-planned the friendships I would make to serve her own ends. When I finished, I still held my head high, waiting for the pathetic princess to start crying at my hooves again.

After receiving no response in any form, however, I finally looked down at Celestia. We locked eyes. Hers were wide open, sincere in her apology. For a moment, I could almost believe that she only wanted to do her best for the sake of her subjects. Yet that thought was quickly destroyed by my own doubt.

“Consider this more ominous ending to your game, Celestia. What if my death does not restore the Elements? What if after everything I have done—everything you have done—it is simply too late? What if they are beyond redemption? Consider that you may be bound here eternally.”

“No.” Came her tired whisper accompanied by a genuinely frightened, yet somehow defiant expression. “That's not possible. Please, Twilight, this is the only way!”

“Even if I kill myself and restore the Elements,” I went on. “What then? Until now, they had you. In our other history, there were the unicorns and their magic. Now there is nothing left. You, Luna, Cadence—all dead. The unicorns—extinct. Save for me.”

“No, Twilight! Please! You have to do this!”

And she went on, whispering to me from below. I cared not for what she had to say any more, however. Her voice was completely drowned out by my inner thoughts.

For I stand here now, with the god-princess of Equestria at my hooves and the Elements of Harmony before me. My path to this point was long and hard, beset by manipulation from all sides. Treachery and lies were, in retrospect, the only constant events in this parade of ongoing misery.

I question now, however, whether there truly was some kind of higher power behind the scenes. Could it have been nothing but the wicked manipulations of a crazed Pinkamena, driven to insanity by Celestia herself, that resulted in this world's downfall? Or was she, perhaps, guided by something that's yet to show its face? She said I was important, more than I know—for she saw exactly what I would do when I came to this point. I myself have yet to decide, however.

On one hoof, I could sacrifice myself and die a martyr for the sake of Equestria. If the Elements of Harmony are purified, they might be used for either right or wrong in a world with no leaders and no guidance. The unicorn race itself would die with me—restoring the world, perhaps. Even so, after what has transpired, never again could any pony give Equestria back her innocence.

On the other hoof, I could refuse the sacrifice and take up the Elements myself. Although Celestia is convinced that the corrupted Elements are inert and unusable, I can feel their powerful magic around me even now. If I wished to bind them to my soul, there is nothing in this world that could stop me from doing so. I could rule over both the Sun and the Moon as the solitary monarch of Equestria—and who knows, perhaps the power of the Elements would let me defy even death. I could live forever—much like Celestia meant to—and control this dying world in eternal loneliness.

Yet even then, Pinkamena had counted on my decision, and if she had truly been an agent for something greater, there is no telling what chaos I might unleash by using the corrupted Elements.

Either way, the game is rigged.

At my whim, the world may be healed—or damned.

At my whim.