Crystal Heart

by Luna Nightshade

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Princess Luna, Original Character, King Sombra, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 30066

Harmonys magic can be said to have one big strength, which can also be its one big flaw: It gives another chance. Not only to ponies and creatures, but also to feelings ...

Harmonys magic can be said to have one big strength, which can also be its one big flaw: It gives another chance. Not only to ponies and creatures, but also to feelings. The negativity that fled from all ponies minds after the "birth" of the tree of Harmony, coalesced at one point, forming the body of a pony. A black stallion that once before hat been the shadow on many ponies' hearts ...

This will be another try to tell more of Equestria's History - from a time we do not know much about.
I will try to keep it as close to canon as possible - but there probably will be a time when this story and canon diverge ...

Cover Art adapted from http://serenawyr.deviantart.com/art/Tree-of-Harmony-416113622

Published 2016-07-19 18:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-08-14 19:01:40 UTC

Prologue - Tree of Memory

Pale silvery moonlight filtered through the stained glass windows of her study. The colors of the picture, pieced together by a myriad of glass shards, were washed out, almost gray. It depicted the Tree of Harmony, and although the work of the master craftsponies was a sight to behold, it was no comparison to the beauty of the real one. It was a fairly old image, probably done after Celestia’s descriptions of the real one.

Luna had stared at the picture for a long time, but her thoughts had fled the room a long time ago. Somehow the past night had been extremely peaceful and her dreams had been as serene as the moon herself. It was strange not to sleep having a nightmare every night. A few years had been enough to become used to them. Now the peaceful sleep felt wrong to her, too relaxing. She always woke after a few hours. Usually she spent those hours visiting other ponies’ dreams and dispelling their nightmares. But this night … there wasn’t any distress in the dreamscape. All was peaceful.

Her eyes took in the Tree of Harmony before her. The Tree was the source of all the peace she knew at that moment. As if a long plan had finally come to fruition. The Elements of Harmony had come from it. They had allowed Celestia and her to turn discord into stone all those years ago … Then later her sister … had to … because …

It was only a thousand years later … that the shadow was finally dispelled from her heart. She was glad to be back, to be reunited with her sister. But the memory still hurt. She remembered her own wrath, how she had felt so little in comparison to her sister. She had tried her best to make everypony comfortable at night. She even went so far to help them sleep peacefully. And yet they all feared the night, feared her creation.

Although it was all in the past, she still felt the pain from it, the pain that had fueled her jealousy. She closed her eyes and felt a tear drop down her muzzle. There was no point on dwelling on feelings from a thousand years past. Still, there was something about her memories. Something that was fuzzy. She clearly remembered her thoughts and the pain they brought, but there was something missing. There were so many memories of when she felt the pain, when she saw her sister being complimented on the work she did. She even remembered herself fighting against Nightmares … but afterward, her memories always became fuzzy. She had a hard time remembering things other than her working hard and being ignored for what she did. There were a few fun moments with her sister, but that seemed to be from far before the founding of Equestria.

She kept her eyes closed as her horn flared to life. She improvised a spell, a variation on her dream walking ability. She wanted to explore her own memories in her mindscape. It had to be different than just remembering. She wanted to see what she had experienced in the past.

Luna stood within a field of stars. From here she usually went into dreams of other ponies, but before her was another door, crafted of blue mahogany wood, inlaid with silver emblems, showing the moon in all its different phases. There was no handle to it, but she never needed one, her magic opened the doorway for her just as well.

The road of stars continued on the other side of the door, walls of concrete lining the corridor at some distance, while a deep dark pool of water filled the space far below the bridge of stars. The sky above was a dark blue, just before the stars and the moon would become visible.

She trotted forward, going along the stars, watching the water below as memories from her recent past floated by in the stream below. They were warm memories, memories of her time with her sister, with her friends. From when she accepted her own darkness and forgave herself. The memories of helping the cutie mark crusaders and other fillies to overcome their own nightmares. Her first Nightmare Night after her return and her waking after the Nightmare had been dispelled from her body. Her memories from her time as Nightmare Moon came up, and with them, steam rose from the water below. It started to obscure the pictures that showed what she did in her dark form, and she was grateful for it. But the further she went, the thicker the mist got, and soon she couldn’t see or hear anything from her memories below. She could barely see the road of stars below her hooves. What would happen if she fell from the bridge? Would she drown in her own memories? Would they overcome her and make her into the dark mare once more? She shuddered at the thought and stopped.

She was happy now. Should she really risk going forward? She turned her head and looked back. The mist had already engulfed her; All she could see was endless gray and the faint twinkling of stars below.

Luna sighed and looked forward. She could always just wake herself and escape this place … her mindscape was hers to command. Going forward she willed the mist aside. After a few steps she had to blink. The mist didn’t heed her will, and the stars below hadn’t changed their position at all. She made another few steps and was certain now that she didn’t get any further. Something was blocking her, refusing her to access her own memories.

Her horn flared again as she fought against the invisible barrier before her. She would not be denied her own memories! Not now, not ever! She pressed on, digging her hooves into the ground, displacing some of the stars. She pushed forward with all her strength: Her hooves, her wings, and her magic. A headache started to form, her surroundings flickering with the increase of pain, her concentration started to falter, the dream, her mindscape started to fall apart. Stars winked out below her hooves. The mist disappeared and reappeared like a flickering candle flame, the walls showing cracks.

“I am Luna, the Princess of the Night”, she asserted herself, using her magic to keep her dreamscape together as she pushed even harder. Pain exploded in her mind as she stumbled forward, pushing past the barrier. The mist fell away as she heard the walls around her crumble before she could even see them.

The walls to the side of the corridor crumbled, stones fell away into the water below without rippling the calm surface. She could see the remains of a wall behind her, one she had just pushed through, made entirely of mist. As she faced forward again, she gaped in awe at another humongous wall.

It was made of hexagonal shapes, like a honeycombs. Many of the hexagons looked like broken glass, and some were oozing a dark black substance, while others shone as bright as the sun. Others yet again showed the pale silvery glow of moonlight. Interspersed between all was a rainbow-colored lattice that gave all those windows their shape.

Luna stepped carefully closer to one of the black shapes, and looked directly into the blackness beyond.

Her father stood before her, hoof raised, telling her to gallop away. She shivered. It was one of those intense memories that made her feel so jealous of her sister. She approached another and looked into the blackness. There was an empty field before her. She had just raised the moon, panted at the exhaustion, but feelt proud of herself. She looked around and saw that everypony had left already. She knew that they would be hiding in their homes until her sister would raise the sun again, although the stars in the sky sparkled beautifully and the pale light of the full moon illuminated the field. They hid from her creation although there was nothing to fear. Maybe they feared her as well? The thought brought tears to her eyes.

Luna stumbled backwards, feeling the pain in her heart as if she had just been on that field herself. She gulped and trotted slowly to the next black hexagon, steeling her resolve.

“Night mare, night mare”, the fillies and colts around her chanted. She pressed her hooves to her ears, trying to drown out the noise.

Luna shivered. All those dark hexagons held dark memories … and she remembered all of them clearly. She felt all the hurt those situations had left. Her heart was weeping and the black ooze stained the stars below her hooves. Tears stung in her eyes. Had ponykind really been that cruel in the past? Was it because all of that that she had broken? She shook her head. There had to be more. There couldn’t only be bad memories.

She gulped and trotted to a glowing hexagon. She hoped that she was right and that those would show her some good memories. She stared into the light.

Celestia sat next to her, struggling with her hooves to break up a zap apple. After it broke in half, she gave one to her. She knew that this small meal was a treasure, but she dug in regardless. The flavor that assaulted her tongue was overwhelming. She never had had such a good apple before …

She smiled and trotted to the next glowing hexagon. The light from that memory alone seemed to mend her heart.

A group of Zebras stood before her, staring in disbelief. After a moment they dropped to their knees. “We welcome you to the land of zebra kind”, the one in front said, “and we hope that we have no gifts you do not mind.”

All her old memories, good and bad, gleamed behind that wall. But there were still a few memories that she hadn’t seen, memories she hadn’t access to. The ones glowing with pale silver moonlight were still intact. She wondered what was behind those. And why they were blocking some of her past?

With an uneasy feeling in her heart, she approached one of the silvery shining hexagons. She charged her horn, the blue glow reflecting of the silvery surface. The magical bolt of power hit home and with it her head started to ring out in pain. Pain that was much worse than the one she had braced before.

As she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor of her study once more. She stared at the roots of the tree shown in the window. The rest was hidden by her desk. What was with those walls in her mind? Why would they want to block her from reaching those memories? Had she done this to herself? Was this a ploy from someone else? Maybe even Discord? She slowly got to her hooves. This wasn’t something that would stop her. She would break through that barrier, and she would find the truth in those memories she has been denied.

Invoking her first spell once again, she found herself in front of the wall once more. Breaking the first wall of resistance had transformed her whole mindscape. She wondered what would happen if she broke the second wall.

She strode deliberately along the wall, searching for the tile she had attacked. She knew that it would break, if she managed to attack the same spot over and over again. Hopefully the whole wall would fall with it.

She looked into another hexagon, hoping that it was a familiar memory that would help her orient herself.

She sat in front of a large lake, staring on the reflection of the moon. She couldn’t sleep at night. She tried, but dreams or rest wouldn’t come for a long time. It had earned her the title of ‘night mare’ with the other foals … the name of a demon …

She shook her head, her fur standing on edge. It felt like this memory was connected to the one with the foals chanting “night mare”. She hoped that connected memories weren’t far apart.

Her father was frowning on her. He rose his voice: “I told you never to do that. You could have hurt somepony! You could have hurt yourself! Do you think I would want to come back to a hurt daughter, when she could have prevented this by not using magic in this way?”

She blinked. Somehow this memory was tinted dark, but … she understood what her father meant as he said that. As she smiled on the memory, the oozing suddenly stopped and she saw a bit of light shining through the otherwise still dark tile.

Her father … what happened to him? She has these memories of him – and then suddenly nothing. Nothing at all! These memories had to be locked behind the wall. She galloped along the wall, now only glimpsing into the memories every now and then. Suddenly she found a familiar memory. The zapapple. She took a step backwards and examined the wall. It had to be here, somewhere. She hoped it was here, hoped that it showed any sign of her having attacked it before.

Then she saw the hexagon with the chipped surface, a fine web of cracks radiating out from it. The cracks seemed to glow with a multi-hued light – and the cracks were closing. No, she wouldn’t let this wall best her! Her horn glowed a bright blue as she got hold of the tiles with her arcane grip; Her magic seeped into the cracks, pulled on them. Her head started to hurt once more, the stronger she pulled the stronger her headache became. Stars from the surface below blinked out, the cool blue of the sky above her flashed red, changing its hue to lighter shades of blue, and the hexagon lattice glowed in incandescent red, as if a mastersmithpony had heated metal to work on it.

Luna clenched her teeth, splitting her attention on keeping her mindscape together and pulling on the cracks of the tile. She gathered her power and gave a strong pull.

Something screamed within her head. Pain flared as her vision went white. Her concentration lost she screamed and then, suddenly, the pain was gone.

As the white of her vision began to fade, she saw the wall crumble before her. The hexagons fell to the ground as if they were simple shards of glass only, falling through the stars and into the water below, images of her memories flashed in the calm surface of the ocean below.

As the tiles in front of her eyes fell down, she could see beyond the wall, see the Tree of Harmony standing proud and tall within her mindscape. She remembered it well from when she was young. But why was it hidden in her mind behind a wall of other memories? She trotted forward and stopped. There was something else. Something that looked like it was an exact copy of the Tree of Harmony. It grew below the layer of stars, and instead of boasting all the colors of the rainbow, it looked black and gray. There were more subtle differences that told her that this wasn’t a mirror image of the tree standing before her. Instead it looked as if it had died a long time ago.

She approached the Tree, wary of the dark tree below, deliberately setting one hoof in front of the other, hoping that there wasn’t a third wall or some other thing that would stop her from reaching the tree within her mind. She stopped right in front of it. She could see her Cutie Mark on the crystal bark of the tree. But this one wasn’t showing both hers and her sisters – it only sported her crescent moon.

“Why have you been hidden inside my mind?” She asked and raised a hoof to touch the tree. She hesitated but then touched the moon.

Memories started to flow into her. Memories of times long past, of Harmony and their journey toward the Everfree Forest, of her father, of her meeting her sister. They filled all those gaps in her recollection of the past.

Tears started to run down her muzzle. "How could I have forgotten thee?" Her voice was barely a whisper. She remembered the pony that was more than just a friend, the pony that was like a second sister, the one that had sacrificed herself for them, leaving behind only that tree … and removing herself from the memories of everypony.

The image fell away, replaced by the stained glass version of the tree. It was all that was left of her, all she could be remembered by. But she had decided to vanish completely from the face of Equus. Luna felt that this cruelty was too much. Why did she have to punish herself like that?

She turned and galloped away, ignoring the sunlight filtering through the window. She knew that she had to lower the moon, that it was her duty, but at this moment, this duty wasn’t what was important. She quickly found the next open balcony door and jumped, unfolding her wings. She quickly headed south west, toward the Everfree Forest. Toward the home of what was left of Harmony.

[ + ] -

Celestia trotted along the marble corridors of Canterlot Castle. She was worried about her sister – Luna never forgot to lower the moon. Something must have happened. She didn’t think that she could have fallen again. No. She had friends now, friends that showed her that she was appreciated. It had to be something else. Maybe it was another villain that had returned after a thousand years – many seemed to think that right now would be a good time for an evil reunion party.

No, that wasn’t it either. Any of those would always target both of them; and those that Celestia had stood up against alone, wouldn’t dare to get close to two alicorns. At least she hoped. It probably was on a much more personal level. Could it be …?

Celestia stopped as Luna galloped past her. She could see tears streaming from her sister’s eyes. She quickly turned and tried to catch up, tried to call after her, but her sister didn’t hear anything. In one quick motion she ran onto the balcony in Celestia’s bedroom, jumped and flew off, toward the south west.

“Then you know”, she whispered more to herself than to Luna. “Dear sister, I will join you shortly”, she said and closed her eyes in concentration. Her magic quickly connected to the moon, lowering it in her sister’s stead. It took her a bit longer than Luna, the celestial body following her guidance reluctantly.

As she opened her eyes, a white unicorn mare with a dark brown mane and tail approached her. She looked at Celestia with curious brown eyes that were framed with large glasses. A stack of papers floated next to her as well as a quill. “Princess? Has something happened?”

Celestia shook her head.

“Good.” She took the topmost paper. “You are late for breakfast.” She remarked casually and corrected the position of her glasses on her snout. “Today there is morning court, as always; and Golden Ruler has requested another personal audience. Then you have the meeting with the maretonian dignitaries in the afternoon.”

“You know”, Celestia stopped her, “actually, something has happened.” Celestia grabbed a blank scroll and a quill from the mare and wrote a few lines. “Morning court will begin late and I am calling in a substitute.” Her horn flared with light, green fire consumed the scroll.

“A… a substitute? Will Princess Luna …?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle shall be my substitute for morning court.”

“Princess Twilight? But she has never …”

“I have utmost confidence in her skill. I am sure she will rule in Equestria’s best interest.” She spread her wings and went toward the balcony. Ignoring the mare behind her, she flapped hard, and gained altitude fast. She then followed her sister toward the Everfree Forest.

Chapter 1 - Dark Tree

Twilight scratched the last words on the parchment with her quill. With a small smile on the lips she blew gently on the ink to help it dry. Despite Celestia’s wishes, she had begun to write down what she had seen and experienced in her talk with Celestia. Especially the later parts were what had fascinated her the most.

There was also no harm in writing this down so she could remember it more clearly later on, when she had gotten a much better understanding on what could have happened when Harmony turned into the Tree. She would just keep it a private and personal journal. This wouldn’t harm Luna’s feelings in any way – the princess would not read her private notes, would she? No. After all she had no reason to, and Twilight needed those notes.

What she had witnessed explained not only the connection of the tree to the elements, but also why the elements were connected to them, as well as the connection to the map and the strange will to spread more harmony and friendship - not limited to Equestria alone. It had also given them the power to defeat Tirek, when he had been at his strongest. She had to wonder if the chest had just been a strange test, or what was needed to further increase the magic of friendship? Was it that the tree had foreseen all of this, staging the events that led to them realizing more about their own element? She would give anything, if she could interview the Tree of Harmony itself.

A familiar sound ended her thoughts. “Twilight, you have a letter from Princess Celestia!”, Spike called from his own room, his feet patting on the crystal floor, as he made his way to her.

Twilight levitated a book from one of her shelves, quickly hiding the forbidden scripture. Did the Princess know? And would she tell her to burn it immediately? “W… what does it say, Spike?” She asked, gulping.

Spike unrolled the scroll. “I hope this is important, I almost burned my comics over this”, Spike grumbled. “Let’s see … hmm … hmm … it seems that she wants you to … preside … over court this morning.” He held out the message to her.

Twilight grabbed it in her magic, and read aloud:

Dear Princess Twilight,

something rather urgent has come up and I have to leave Canterlot for a few hours. Since I cannot cancel Morning Court on such short notice, I would like you to preside over it in my stead.

I have the utmost confidence in your ability to give fair judgments on any case presented. My trusted aide Raven will accompany you in court and will help you, should you be in need of advice.

Please make haste, as Morning Court usually starts about one hour after sunrise.

Thank you in advance, truly yours,

Princess Celestia

Twilight reread the letter once more, and then a third time. Princess Celestia wanted her to preside over Morning Court. Her. Not Luna. Her. The Princess of Friendship. Who has never been to court herself! Let alone to give judgment. She could understand why the Princess didn’t ask Cadance, but why hadn’t she just asked Luna? The Moon Princess surely would have more experience in dealing with court matters than her!

Maybe she had taken Luna to that urgent … thing. That was a possibility. But that didn’t end her dilemma! She could screw up badly. One wrong decision! What should she do then? What would happen if she made a mistake? In the worst case she could ruin all of Equestria!

“Twilight.”

Equestria had been peaceful for over a thousand years, and all that could be ruined by her!

“Twilight!”

That would be the end of the Princess of Friendship. No one would heed her anymore. No one would trust her!

“TWILIGHT!” Spike’s shout snapped her out of it. She found herself hovering close to the ceiling. “You really need to stop doing that when you freak out”, he said and eyed her. “Why are you even freaking out?”

“Presiding over court is a big responsibility, Spike”, Twilight answered matter-of-factly, and descended slowly. “I can mess up really bad!”

“You don’t have anything to worry about”, Spike said with a grin. “You’ll not only have Celestia’s number one assistant, but also your own”, with that he pointed a claw proudly to himself, a proud smile on his lips, and his eyes closed.

Twilight had to smile. Although Spike had no idea what court was about, he could help her keep calm, just by stating the truth. And the truth was, that she would have Raven at her side.

“Shouldn’t we hurry though?” Spike had raised an eyebrow and eyed her from the side. “We only have less than an hour to get to Canterlot, and to find Raven.”

Twilight gulped, if she was late to this, she would have made her first blunder already, and there was no time to take the train! Her magic grabbed Spike, several books, a few scrolls of parchment, ink, and quills. Putting all of that – besides Spike of course – into saddlebags, she hurried out of her home and took to the air, her wings beating fast, trailing Spike and her bags in lavender clouds of magic behind her, she flew toward Equestria’s capital city.

[ § ] -

A wing touched her sides, and pulled her gently against a warm body. Luna woke from her stupor, and looked away from the Tree of Harmony and toward the white shape that was her sister. She felt the crusty spots on her cheek left by the salt contained in her tears. Some of those tears still remained fresh within her fur. She hadn’t even recognized the moment her tears had stopped flowing.

Celestia used her other wing to wipe some of Luna’s tears away. “I see that you have found those memories”, she stated with her gentle voice.

“Indeed”, Luna answered and let out a sigh. “Tis was an ordeal, and as soon as I succeeded, they just … overwhelmed me.” She shook her head and kept staring at the tree. “I am so sorry that I forgot you.” Luna then turned to her sister. “And forgive me for not lowering the moon.”

Celestia shook her head slowly. “About eight hundred years ago, when I found those memories, I forgot to lower the sun and raise the moon, as well. My court sent the whole royal guard to find me, and when I got to my senses, I had to find and collect them all, because nopony thought to search here.” Her gaze rested on the tree. “I had to apologize to half the court, and even though nothing bad had come from it, they still wanted to establish a special division that never left my side.”

Luna had to smile as a memory stirred within her. “Like Strong Lance?”

Celestia giggled slightly. “I probably would have done the same to them as I did to him.”

“Those poor stallions.” Luna rested against her sister, and closed her eyes for a moment. “Thank you. For taking care of the moon.” It was not only this time, but the whole millennium she had been away. Celestia had tended to the moon, and in a way, to her as well.

“Don’t worry about it”, her sister answered, leaning down to let her head rest on Luna’s. It had been years since they had shared such a sisterly moment, and the moon princess smiled. It was a serene moment that reminded her of peaceful times long gone. Times when neither of them had been a princess, when neither of them had any obligations but to themselves, and when even the question of how to survive was easily answered by meadows of green grass.

After a long while her sister stirred. “Luna, there is something I am curious about.” She sat upright, addressing her while still staring at the tree. “Why did you seek them, and how did you find them?”

Luna sat upright as well, and turned to Celestia. “Them?”

“These memories”, Celestia clarified. “It had taken me centuries to even wonder what had happened between my memories of mother and those of suddenly being with you. There were gaps … and the more I tried to remember, tried to fill them, the harder it got. I even lost a few nights sleep over this problem.”

“Tis was not so different from my experiences”, Luna replied. “I tried to remember my past, to see which of my decisions led to the path of my downfall. I tried to explore my memories to the fullest. But there were always times when my memories lost sharpness, where they weren’t tangible anymore.

“So I altered my dream-walk-spell and entered mine own memoryscape. I had to break two barriers, and then I stood before the Tree of Harmony in mine own mind. That unlocked my memories. But there was something different about the tree compared to its real counterpart.”

“Maybe she tried to leave something of herself with us”, Celestia mused. “Knowing you, you will be able to show me.”

Luna nodded. There was no harm in showing her, and maybe she had an idea about what those differences were. “Close your eyes”, she said softly. As soon as Celesita closed her eyes, Luna’s horn lit up, and a thin line of power started to rise on the ridge of her horn, forming a connection toward her sister’s mind, plunging them into the sea of stars that was Luna’s memoryscape.

Neither the fog nor the wall had returned. The image of the Tree of Harmony in her mind was crystal clear, the field of stars they stood upon was as solid as the marble halls of Canterlot Castle. Far below them was the ocean of memories and right below the Tree, growing downward, was an almost identical, but black version of it.

Celestia looked around, her eyes betraying some sense of wonder within her older sister. “It reminds me of the astral plane”, she said, and trotted toward the tree.

“I believe that the astral plane, ponies’ dreams, and even our memories are connected somehow. After all, they do manifest in a similar state whenever we visit them”, Luna explained and trotted next to her sister. “Still, I never expected to find such a tree within my memories.”

“Nopony would expect to find the Tree of Harmony within their memories, dear sister. Not like this.” Celestia made a few steps toward the tree. “Yet it is here.” She turned her head, facing Luna with a smile. “Maybe she tried to watch over us, or maybe it is just a remnant of her power, that kept her spell alive all this time … But I would like to think it is the former.”

“If either is true, then one such tree should be within thy memories as well.”

Celestia nodded, turned her head back to the tree, and after a long while, below it. “Maybe her spell consisted of two parts”, she wondered aloud, “But what else would she need to hide?”

“I do not know”, answered Luna truthfully. “Maybe the black tree just represents my darker memories, or maybe it even is an avatar of my past actions …” She felt a shiver run over her spine. It could very well be the reminder of her deeds that the Tantabus was meant to be.

“Can you bring us to the other side?”

Luna nodded and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed in a subtle silvery-blue aura as both of them sank into the ground, only to rise out of the ground on the other side. Although their position had flipped, neither of them felt any change in inertia or gravity. They simply stood upside-down on the stars as if it was solid ground. Far above them was the sea of memories, while below them was now the original tree.

Her spell completed, Luna opened her eyes, and stared at the dark tree. What she felt was not only a cold shiver, it was a deep uncomfortable cold that paralyzed her. It felt as if some oppressing mist was all around her, like a dark shadow. Something that was nurturing the tree, and was being emanated from it. A self-sustaining, evil presence.

Celestia made a step forward then another, raising a hoof to touch the crystal bark of the black tree. Couldn’t she feel the evil emanating from it? Shouldn’t she be more careful? Luna tried to overcome her paralysis, and finally shouted at the top of her lungs “don’t touch it!”

It was too late. Black lightning struck from the tree trunk, scorching her sister’s hoof.

“Are you all right?” Luna asked, and approached Celestia, careful not to come too close to the tree. She still felt the oppressive aura from the it all around her, and the danger it represented. Why was it within her memories? How dangerous was it?

“Yes, I am fine, sister”, Celesta answered gently and lowered her hoof. “I am more startled than hurt.”

“I am sorry”, Luna sighed. She should have said something earlier.

“Don’t worry, sister. I am fine and I am sure that you did everything you could to protect me”, Celestia answered and took a few steps backwards. All she could do was shout - and even that had been too late, because she felt paralyzed. These diplomatic answers were vexing. Why couldn’t she become angry with her even once? Like her father had? “But I fear that tree poses danger to you. We should examine it more closely, determine its origins and, if possible, remove it as fast as we can.”

Luna nodded and gulped. She wasn’t sure how they would be able to safely examine this tree. Especially since her memoryscape was very similar to the astral plane, which meant that it could change and hurt a pony. Even the dreamscape allowed for these effects. It was no wonder that she feared the prospect of examining the tree. “I think that it must be an amalgamation of memories”, Luna observed. At least it would make sense. Everything within her memoryscape was made of memories. But it was also more, as the bolt had clearly demonstrated. “I … may be able to unravel, and at the same time remove it, but … I fear doing this will be dangerous. Especially should you be within my memoryscape at the time.”

Celestia nodded. “I trust your judgment”, a smile appeared on her lips, “which is why I think that we should prepare for this.”

Luna shook her head. “I think it is better, if I were to do this alone.”

“No!” It had been a while since she had heard such a commanding tone from her sister, especially directed at her. “I wasn’t there for you a thousand years ago”, she continued much friendlier, determination showing on her muzzle, “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

Luna opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything. Her heart felt curiously warm, and tears started to form in her eyes; she even felt the hint of a smile on her lips. She trotted toward Celestia and leaned into her, one wing wrapping around her neck, hugging her close, hiding her face in her sister’s fur. “Thank you.”

[ * ] -

"I'm totally not ready for this!" Twilight trotted up and down in the hallway, in front of the door that lead to the court. "No, no, no. I am sure the princess could have selected somepony more suited ..."

"You realize that you are also a princess?" Spike stood in front of the door and followed Twilights movements with his head.

"So what?” Twilight snapped, “I have never been in such a situation before! It doesn’t matter if I am a princess or not! I don’t have the experience or knowledge to rule!” Her voice got steadily louder as panic settled into her like a comfortable freeloading friend. “Celestia has done this for more than a thousand years! I am not even alive for a fiftieth of that time!"

"But you successfully organized a big event", countered Spike.

"It is not the same, Spike. There are magnitudes in scale! One wrong word and we could have a war on our hooves! Twilight Sparkle – The Princess of Friendship and Starter of Wars!"

"You do remember the yaks, right?"

"I almost failed that one." Her wings stood on edge. Her eye twitched. At least she hadn’t started to subconsciously fly again.

"But you didn't." Spike’s voice was echoed by another. Twilight turned around in time to see a white unicorn mare with a black mane trotting toward her. She held a clipboard within her magenta colored magical aura. Her cutie mark was that of a pen on top of an inkwell.

“The princess has tasked you with residing over day court, because she believes you capable of handling it, Princess Sparkle.” She stopped right in front of her and smiled. “Besides, most of court is really just about organization. That and keeping your decisions to the laws, and Princess Celestia assured me that you know them as well as any magic book in the royal library, which probably makes you the foremost expert on laws after the princess herself.” She raised an eyebrow in question, the smile still on her muzzle.

“R… Raven?” Twilight asked, while Spike mumbled something about ‘Egghead’ and ‘Helpless Bookworm’.

“Correct, I am Raven, and I am Princess Celestia’s personal aide.” She extended a hoof.

“N… nice to meet you.” Twilight grinned nervously and extended her hoof as well. Raven had an unusually firm hoofshake for a unicorn.

“I have to apologize for being late, Princess, but I needed some time to make a few arrangements before court starts. Now for the procedure. I trust you have been to court before, so I will keep it short: We have about thirty petitioners in line outside, which means that every one of them will have about five minutes to state their case and also for you to give your judgment.”

“F… five minutes?”

“We always have a lot of petitioners, Princess Sparkle”, Raven started to explain, “And there are a lot of other things the princess needs to manage, so we have to cut the number of ponies and the time they have short.” She turned toward the doors.

“Is it even possible to detail the problem in this short amount of time?”

“It has to suffice and it is possible. They just have to be precise and need to concentrate on the key points.” Raven led her toward the door. “Sometimes the princess takes more time to answer, in order to investigate more complex matters personally. But usually it is only once a week.” She cleared her throat and waited in front of the door. “Anyways, you need to take your place on the throne as naturally as you can. You need to show the petitioners that this is your rightful place. We can’t have them question your every decision!”

Great. There was no pressure involved, no pressure at all. “You can do it”, Spike whispered and drew himself up as much as he could. He managed to seem calm and pride, as if this were natural. Twilight gulped, shook her head, and flared her wings. She just had to look as regal as Princess Celestia when she made public appearances. As if she could! She felt herself shivering all over, up to the tips of her wing-feathers, and her horn. Still, she stepped forward as Raven opened the door.

Just as she made her first step through the door, a guard announced in a too loud voice “Her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle!” She managed to keep going without stumbling over her own hooves.

She could hear murmurs in the crowd. Some ponies wondered what had happened, others just expressed their surprise. There were also a few hushed voices that suggested she had no business there and others whispered she might easily be exploited. Reading in the relative quiet left her with very good ears. Still she didn’t look around to try and locate them, but kept approaching the throne instead. Twilight hesitated only a short moment before folding her wings and sitting down on the throne. Raven took a place next to her, shuffled through some papers and smiled. “Good work”, she whispered as the murmurs of the crowd began to die down. Spike took the other side and winked.

“Announcing Lord High Tower”, one of the guards shouted and the first unicorn pony stepped forward, beginning Twilights newest trial …

[ + ] -

Celestia returned from Luna’s memoryscape slowly, as if waking from a particular short sleep. Her vision was slightly hazy and for a moment it was as if she stood in front of the Tree of Harmony alone. But this tree wasn’t in a cave beneath their old castle. It was on a floating green island, surrounded by small flowers; a gentle breeze moved the crystal vines hanging down the trees branches, and the light of her sun was refracted in the facets of the tree. One of these vines sported something that looked like a brightly glowing crystal fruit. She blinked once and found herself before the original Tree of Harmony once more. There was no green, no light, and certainly no crystal fruit.

She slowly shook her head, trying to clear it from the vision she had just seen.

“How do you propose we prepare for this endeavor?” Luna asked next to her.

“I already have a few ideas, but I will need to do some research. Just give me a few hours.” Celestia asked, putting that strange experience aside.

Luna nodded. “Very well.”

Celestia went toward the cave’s entrance, spread her wings and took to the air, her destination: Canterlot Castle.

Her thoughts went back to what had happened in Luna’s memoryscape. She had seen the tree, had touched it, and had felt its bite. In that moment she had recognized the magic, the presence. This tree had been the source of what had transformed her sister into Nightmare Moon; She was sure of it. This darkness had been the real culprit. And now there was the possibility for history to repeat itself. What had begun that long ago, still wasn’t over. But this time, she would prepare properly.

There were a few questions she had to answer: How had that tree formed? Was it just her sister’s jealousy? Or had it come from somewhere else? There was a familiarity to it that she attributed to Nightmare Moon’s presence. But there had to be something more. At least she hoped.

There were some methods she could use to safely handle that darkness. A long time ago she had dabbled into dark magic, had learned it in hopes she could help her sister. She had learned that it was hard to control, much harder than normal magic, as if it had a mind of its own. She almost failed once, got almost overwhelmed, and stopped researching it. Still, with her sister’s help, she should be able to control the memory of it. She should be able to contain it. What she wouldn’t, and shouldn’t do was trying to contain all of that within herself. That was just too risky. There had to be another method, something she could use.

There had been one stallion that had managed to master dark magic, and he had used crystals in order to contain and direct it. A smile started to form on her muzzle as a plan began to shape. Crystals. She could use Crystals to contain this dark magic and seal it away. She just needed to combine a few spells from the Crystal Empire with some of Starswirl the Bearded and give them all a twist to make them compatible for dark magic!

“Is something the matter?” Luna asked, beating her wings slowly. “Were you able to formulate a plan?”

“I have a vague idea on how to proceed. I will need some more time for preparation, though.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. It was an unspoken question, one that Celestia did not answer. She usually kept many details of her plans secret. It was oftentimes unfair toward her sister, but she always had had a good reason. And this time, if she were to tell Luna that there was a possibility of turning into Nightmare Moon again … No this had to stay a secret.

“Can you do me a favor?” She asked, and turned her head toward Luna. “Would you help Twilight presiding over day court until I am done with the necessary research?”

“Day court is today?” Luna asked, her voice a bit higher with every word. “And you let Twilight Sparkle handle it all on her own?” She immediately accelerated.

Celestia smiled. That distraction would help her keep this secret. She flapped her wings, determined, accelerating as well. She would help her little sister. No matter the cost.

[ * ] -

“… and that is why the taxes of entrepreneurs like us need to be lowered!” The copper unicorn stallion with black mane and tail finished his plea. The silver highlights in his mane and tail gave him an aura of experience. Three interconnected gears showed his special talent for machinery. Twilight would have loved to talk to him about all that he had achieved, on how his machines worked, but no, she had to talk about taxes with him. She closed her eyes a bit more forcefully than necessary, suppressing a small sigh. He could probably get a scholarship if he wanted to build a new machine. There was no need to come here time and again to try and get taxes lowered. Raven had already whispered into her ear that this would be the fourteenth time. And every time he brought a slightly different argument.

“Gilded Gear”, Twilight raised her voice. “I can and will not lower taxes for any entrepreneurs.” She immediately held up a hoof to forestall anything he might want to say, laying down her argument. “Equestria is dependent on those Taxes. You are not the only one employing ponies of several different talents and I hazard to say, that the princesses are a far bigger employer than you are. Now you stand before me and basically demand that I should trade the safety of every pony in the princesses’ employment against the safety of the relatively few ponies in your employment.” She lowered her hoof and looked into his eyes. “If you do not like my judgment, or reasoning, then you may come back the next time one of the princesses is holding court. Maybe Princess Luna will be open to your arguments.” She saw him gulp. Luna was the least sympathetic to such proposals.

Gilded Gear took a moment to compose himself and then left the room with his head held high, his Horn almost pointing upright. He certainly wasn’t happy with her decision. Maybe he had thought that she would be far easier to convince than Celestia had been all those thirteen times before.

Spike scribbled on a scroll next to her, keeping a record of everything that transpired in court. Celestia could review every decision Twilight made, minimizing the danger of a wrong decision. The little dragon still found the time to flash her a smile and give her a “thumbs up”. Sometimes she wondered what she would do without him.

“Princess Celestia was right to appoint you as her substitute”, Raven commented almost at the same time.

“I don’t know, making all these decisions … in this short amount of time … I am afraid I have made a few mistakes … and I feel a headache coming on.” Twilight rubbed her temples with her hooves, while she complained.

“Don’t worry, you have done admirably”, Raven shuffled through her papers with magic, while using a firm hoof to get Twilight to lower hers “not in front of the petitioners”, she murmured, while her magic exchanged the paper from the top to the back of her stack. “Just a little more, princess, you are half-way through.”

“Only half?” Twilight exclaimed and slumped her shoulders. This was more tedious than she had imagined it to be. How did Celestia manage this on a daily basis?

Spike smiled in her direction, flexed his claws and was ready to write again. Twilight had inadvertently trained his claw well for this task.

“Next is Lord Golden Gamble”, Raven said, “it is his first time coming to court.”

Another noble. So far the greater number of petitioners had been nobles – and half of those came with proposals suggesting that they had too much free time. And too little money, despite having more than most of the population. She idly wondered what his proposal could be.

“His Lordship Golden Gamble”, the Guard announced as another unicorn stepped forward.

“Esteemed Princess Sparkle”, he began, flourishing a leg while bowing. He was sturdily built, had a brown coat and a blond, almost golden mane and tail. His voice was deep, rich, and charismatic. A black mustache completed the picture of nobility. “I think it would be a good idea, if the crown were to start something that I would like to call the Harmony Lottery.”

“Harmony Lottery?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Would you care to elaborate?”

“Maybe the ‘Equestrian Lottery’ is a better name, or we could start the ‘Solar Lottery’ and the ‘Lunar lottery’ for two events in a week”, he threw his hooves to the side and smiled. “And yes, I would like to elaborate on this opportunity.” Setting his hooves to the ground once more, he cleared his throat, and started to explain: “The idea is fairly simple: Anypony shall have their weekly pick of six numbers out of a pool of 49 numbers. They can register this selection of numbers for a small fee. Then, once a week, one of the princesses will draw randomly the six harmony numbers. The one pony who’s registered numbers match the ones drawn will win one million bits!” He grinned widely, flinging his forelegs wide once more.

Twilight ignored his grand gestures, while she calculated in her head. The odds of getting all six numbers correct were astronomically small. Who in their right mind would bet on such small odds in hopes of getting a million bits? And even if you had a million bits, what would you do with all that money?

“It gets even better”, the unicorn intoned in a near whisper. “Should you endorse my idea and create this crown lottery, then the crown would earn a lot of extra bits every week, which can be spend in other projects.” He smiled, raising an eyebrow conspiratorially.

Twilight opened her mouth and closed it once more. There were a lot of details missing. She didn’t know the state of the royal treasury. What would happen, if a pony won on the first draw? Would it really be a good thing to those not used to having a lot of money? And there was one more point to consider … “What would you gain out of this?”

“Oh, a small percentage of the what the crown makes from this lottery every year”, he said with a smile, sat back on his haunches and polished his hoof on his fur. “Just think about it. This is a win-win-win idea!” He grinned, looking at his hoof. “The ponies that participate in the lottery can win so many bits that they do not have to work, the treasury will get a boost every week, and I have to admit, that I will benefit from this idea, as well! We could set a fixed amount of bits every week as licensing fee. That way the crown will profit even more from this!” He got back to his hooves, taking a wide open stance. “There is absolutely no way you can deny this proposal!”

Twilight blinked. There was merit to this system of his. Maybe they could lower the taxes of the whole population, freeing up some more money to be used in this lottery. Since no one would be forced to participate in this lottery, those trying their luck would help bolster the treasury. There were a few things to consider, but if she would allow him to conduct an experiment for a year, to see if there were any negative effects to such a lottery …

“Maybe she may not find a way to decline thee, but I certainly will!” A familiar voice interrupted Twilights thoughts. Princess Luna trotted slowly into the audience chamber, her wings flared, her head held high. She radiated a regal posture Twilight could only dream of. Her stern gaze demanded obedience. The Princess climbed the dais while the crowd whispered their theories why the princess of the night came into morning court, and not her sister. Princess Luna stood next to Twilight and addressed Golden Gamble once more: “We will not allow few ponies to profit on the base of hundreds of ponies due to a promise whose odds are astronomically low. Our society has been built on equality, and such a system would upset this equality. We have a duty to everypony. We are here to protect them, not to plunder their earnings!” She let her words sink in. When Golden Gamble didn’t answer, she added: “That’s all! Thou art dismissed.”

Just as Twilight wanted to get up to make space for Princess Luna, the alicorn gestured with a wing that she should stay where she is. “Do not worry Twilight Sparkle”, she said with a soft voice as Golden Gamble left, “I shall help you with your decisions.” She glanced at Celestia’s aide and then added “But Raven tells me that you have performed well thus far.”

Twilight nodded slightly and grinned nervously. “Thank you”, she whispered. She didn’t know what the ponies would think with her making the decisions and Princess Luna just standing at her side. Still, the presence of her eased Twilight’s headache. Maybe the latter half of morning court wouldn’t prove as stressful as the first one had.

[ + ] -

Celestia strode along the countless shelves that were filled with even more scrolls than any library had the right to have. But this were the Canterlot Archives, if no other library had the right, hers had. She had to grin at that thought, and returned her attention to searching. She had a rough idea of what she was looking for, but not so much where to look for it. Somepony had neglected to catalog this particular wing of the archives. That somepony was her, as access to this wing had been denied to anyone but the princesses themselves.

She pulled a few scrolls out of the shelves with her magic, and glanced quickly on the inscribed cutiemark. Many of them showed the mark of Starswirl. After noticing that some of his discoveries could have very adverse effects, he requested them to stay secret. He didn’t destroy them outright, because they also contained the necessary countermeasures.

What Celestia was searching for was a different scroll, one that bore her own mark. It contained the secret on conjuring and her attempts at controlling a lot of dark magic. Something she had worked on after she had had to banish her sister to the moon. Dark Magic Control had adverse effects on a pony’s mind, some broke beneath it, some turned completely to the dark arts. It could have such a corrupting influence that she had been hesitant to show only a fraction to Twilight. Her former student was probably immune to the effects because she stood under the protection of the Elements of Harmony. They had been the key to cleansing her sister after her return. But they hadn’t completely removed the dark presence from within Luna’s memories.

Celestia briefly wondered why, but quickly returned to searching. She feared that they had little time to set this right.

The spells she had prepared a hundred years ago, meticulously copying Starswirl’s notes, modifying them, developing theories on his findings, and finally creating her new spells. All meant to work with dark magic. Dark magic she had to seal into a suitable receptacle. She couldn’t use a pony to hold all this dark magic. Not even herself would be safe from its corrupting essence should she take it all into herself. That was much too risky. Banishing it to the moon or the sun wouldn’t work either. She wouldn’t have the power of the Elements of Harmony on her side – and there could be adverse effects on either celestial body. She had seen the effects it had on just a few crystals. They started to grow like weeds until they had incorporated all the magical energy directed at them.

Still, if she were to do it carefully, shouldn’t it then be able to hold it all? Couldn’t she just pour all this darkness into one little crystal and then have it stored in one of the castles vaults? This one crystal of the Crystal Empire that she possessed, one of the purest crystals in existence … It had been a gift to her and she had cherished it all this time. But to safe her sister, it would have to suffice. Considering its origins, it was probably the best receptacle she could find.

Finding the scrolls was just a matter of time. Speaking of which, there was one spell of Starswirl she could use, should her plan backfire. She went on searching that one was well. There should be an advanced copy in this section of the castle …

[ § ] -

After the last pony left the room, Luna turned slightly away from Twilight, stifling a yawn with her wing. “It seems that day court is as tedious as ever”, she said. How did Celestia survive that all this time? Maybe she secretly sneaks in a cupboard cutout, and uses magic to project her denials into court …

“I wouldn’t have thought that so many ponies of the nobility are such … short sighted … creatures”, Twilight exclaimed.

“Maybe they all just need a free prescription of new glasses”, Spike said, rolled the last scroll up and put it on the heap of scrolls he had written today. He shook his claw, which was slightly swollen.

Raven snickered at Spike’s comment, then cleared her throat and added her bits: “Celestia once told me that they are so far disconnected from the normal pony that they can’t see that their problems are not real problems at all. Still they fight their problems as much as anypony would, just with more fervor, because they have the resources to do so. Some even forget the true meaning of their special talent.” She checked the last of her papers and let them float next to her. “Celestia deals with this on a weekly, if not daily basis, and every so often throws them a bone, since they have the power to stop Equestria in its tracks. Though many fear what Celestia could do, if they angered her.” Raven pointed a hoof at Luna. “Believe it or not, but you set a fine example, that allowed Celestia a lot more leeway a thousand years ago than she normally would have.”

Luna blinked a few times. She had never thought that anything good come out of her ordeal. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the nobility won’t change.” Luna turned toward Twilight. “Long ago they already thought that they are entitled to being our equal. One even demanded from us that we should grant them alicornhood.” She snorted. “They already had a ruler. They just ‘appreciated’ that we took the burden of rising sun and moon.”

“Wow, no wonder that the Princess needed some time off,” Spike said.

“Oh Spike”, Twilight laughed a bit, “Celestia wouldn’t take some time off in this manner.” She stood up and shook her hind legs. “Speaking of her”, she turned to Luna, “what was the emergency she had to get to?”

Luna stared at Twilight. Of course she would ask. She should have known, should have prepared a proper story. Celestia had known, as well. Maybe she even intended this to happen. Should she involve the young alicorn in her matters once more? She settled on an answer that should be perfectly neutral. She wouldn’t lie, just leave parts of the truth unspoken. “I was the emergency. I have discovered some disturbing, but private memories about the Tree of Harmony.”

“Disturbing memories … Tree of Harmony …” Twilight looked half in thought, half as if asking a question – then her facial expression changed suddenly into a large grin. “So you remember it as well?” It was such a display of joy, that she almost feared Twilight would turn into Pinkie Pie in front of her eyes. Gone was the display of a weary alicorn that just sat through morning court. “That means that I can finally write it down and publish my theories!” She clapped her forehooves together in joy.

Luna tried to keep her facial expression neutral. Twilight’s words echoed in her mind. How did she know? How could she know? Had the Tree of Harmony revealed itself to her? Had Harmony’s spirit awakened? Could she dare hope to once more talk to the pony that saved her life? No, that couldn’t be it. There had to be a simpler explanation, and the only simpler explanation that came to mind was that Celestia had told her.

“Tell me, Twilight Sparkle: For how long have thee known?” Her emotions were in turmoil. Why had Cilista told Twilight, but not her?

Twilight stopped clapping, and her smile disappeared. “I … I’m sorry princess”, she answered. “I didn’t mean to …”

Luna closed her eyes and sighed. Once more she directed her anger at the wrong target. “I am the one that should be sorry. My emotions got the better of me. Still, I would like to know, when it was that my sister told you.”

“It was about half a year ago. She even told me to keep it secret, because she feared the memory might hurt you.”

Luna sighed again and looked to one of the stained glass windows. Celestia always kept secrets. And all of them were sold as trying to protect her. She shook her head.

“Your Highnesses?” Raven cleared her throat, making a display of ordering the papers in her magical grasp. “It is time for lunch. And then there is the issue with the maretonian delegates in the afternoon.”

“Lunch? Awesome, I’m starving”, Spike ran eagerly toward the doors.

Luna rolled her eyes. The maretonian delegates. Again. Equestria’s diplomatic relationship with Maretonia was … difficult to say the least. Especially since the maretonian duke didn’t take changes in the status quo lightly. The sudden rise of Twilight into the rank of a princess had caused problems already. Celestia had told her that it was the same when Cadence rose into alicornhood. Then there was Cadance becoming the appointed ruler of the Crystal Empire.

Maretonia feared a concentration of power in Equestria, feared that they would become conquerors as they might need a kingdom for every princess that arose. It was a silly notion. Maybe he wanted alicornhood as well. Just to be on the safe side. But there were rules to the process. And the way he acted … there was no chance in Tartarus.

“What do they want?” Luna asked as she followed Raven and Spike to the dining hall.

“Sorry, but I don’t know. They keep the details secret, as usual”, Raven answered and shrugged.

Luna let out a long sigh. She really disliked these meetings. She could only hope that Celestia would be done with her research before they had to meet. The duke might even see it as an insult, if Celestia didn’t appear. One problem never came alone …

[ + ] -

Celestia joined Luna and Twilight in the Dining Hall. They already sat concentrated at Luna’s end of the large dining table. A few dishes with assorted fruits, sliced up for easy chewing, salads, and daisy sandwiches were waiting on the table. The cooks had outdone themselves. Normally she would have made a few pancakes, but that had to wait.

Twilight was talking, while gesturing wildly with her hooves. She was so immersed in her topic of conversation, that her food was still untouched. Celestia had to smile as she remembered her student forgetting to eat time and again.

Spike sat to the side and had a small bowl of gemstones, bakes into biscuits, in front of him. He seemed to savor every one, his attention focused on the bowl. The cooks had prepared a plate for her as well. She smiled, sat down next to Luna and Twilight, and floated her plate over to them. “It seems as if this will be a very eventful day”, she said and took one of the sandwiches in her magic grasp.

“Indeed it is.” Luna turned toward her. “Twilight Sparkle has told me her theories on what Harmony may have done as she turned into a tree.”

Celestia flinched inside. That was Luna’s way of telling her that she was ‘very displeased’ about her actions. Although she kept calm enough on the outside, maintaining her mask and smiling her usual smile, Luna had noticed that her comment had struck home. It was noticeable in the way she smiled.

Twilight grinned nervously, very nervously. “W… well, Princess Luna mentioned her memories, and then I figured that she had remembered, and that I don’t need to keep it secret anymore, and …”

“It’s fine Twilight.” Celestia closed her eyes for the moment, shook her head, and looked at her former student. “In fact, I expected this to happen.” That was a lie, and yet it helped her maintain the image of being in control.

Twilight let out a sigh and smiled. “Thank you.”

“There is no need to thank me, Twilight. I am the one that needs to apologize.” Celestia’s gaze found her sister. “I am sorry, Luna. I should have told you, but I feared that you wouldn’t believe me, or if you would …” She put a hoof toward her own heart. “I remember my own pain as I unlocked these memories. It was nothing I wished upon you.”

“I surmised as much”, Luna answered, her eyes looked somewhere else. She was probably grappling with her emotions. Luna finally closed her eyes, dipped her head, let out a sigh, and, after a moment, started to smile. “You are forgiven.” It was a genuine smile, and she was looking at her. It warmed her heart.

“Thank you, dear sister”, Celestia answered with a smile of her own. She would be her sister’s anchor through what was to come, she would show her the compassion she needed. This time Luna wouldn’t turn into a Nightmare! Not while she still breathed.

Celestia looked at Twilight and suddenly another puzzle piece of her half-formed plan fell into place. “Luna, I think it might be a good idea if Twilight were to accompany us.”

Luna closed her eyes and sighed. “Did you plan this already, when you called Twilight in to be your replacement in court this morning?” As she opened her eyes again she looked straight at Celestia. This time she had no problem to maintain her impassive gaze that imparted no information.

“Accompany you?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Where to? Should I get my friends? Is Equestria in danger?”

Celestia chuckled. “It is far less severe than you think”, she answered and turned to Luna. “No, it is something that fell into place, without me actively manipulating things”, she admitted.

“It is very convenient, how these things always fall into place, after you have meddled with your hooves in the matter.” Luna closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. “Tell me, sister, how is Twilight Sparkle’s involvement in this a good idea?”

“Twilight is bound to the Element of Magic, and from what I know, Harmony favors her. I am sure that, should something go wrong, Twilight will find a solution to it; and maybe Harmony still has a hoof in things.”

“What … are you talking about?” Twilight looked from one alicorn to the other, Spike shrugged and took another treat out of his bowl. Celestia ignored them both, her attention was fully on her sister.

“You do know what this thing might be? What danger it may pose?” Luna leaned forward, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Yes, I know. And that is exactly why I want her to accompany us.” Celestia kept calm. She was certain that this was the right course of action.

“Would anypony please tell me what is going on!?” Twilight shouted.

Luna glowered at her. “Very well, if you insist.” She then turned to Twilight. “We did find something disturbing within my memories. A dark and fearsome presence.”

“It is a magic construct”, Celestia supplied, “and its essence is almost identical to that of Nightmare Moon. I believe that it has been dormant since you cleansed Luna with the Elements of Harmony.”

“You are not going to be Nightmare Moon again, right?” Spike pointed with a glittering gem at Luna. That dragon sometimes had the uncanny ability to hit too close to the truth.

“We do fear that it might cause problems in the future”, Luna answered. “Which is why we are planning to remove its influence.”

“If it is just a memory, shouldn’t it be harmless?” Spike interjected.

“It is not that easy. Our memories shape who we are. We change with our memories, as our memories change with us. I can only speculate on how this … memory … has been planted within me, but I fear that it may have contributed to me acting the way I did.”

Celestia closed her eyes. They knew so little about the dark tree’s origins. It might have grown with Luna’s jealousy, it might have grown in the thousand years she was imprisoned on the moon, or within the short moment when the Elements had been used against Nightmare Moon. It may even have come from a totally different source. Celestia just couldn’t dismiss the possibility that it had been planted in her sister well before all of that, but … she couldn’t remember any incident that could have caused it.

“Luna, please don’t dwell on the past. You are back now and that is all that matters.” Celestia smiled at her sibling. “We will get through this together, as we have in the past.” Her sister smiled at this and nodded.

“Twilight, I have a favor to ask of you”, Celestia turned to her former pupil.

“W… what is it?” Twilight was excited and nervous at the same time.

“Since you will be part of this little adventure, I think you should check my spellwork”, Celestia chuckled at Twilights face. It was full of wonder, awe, respect, and this nervousness she always had when they tackled a new magical subject.

“D… do you think …”

“Who else but you?” Celestia smiled. “You are the Princess of Friendship, and the Princess of Magic. The only other pony I would trust with this would be Starswirl the Bearded, and he isn’t around anymore. I am sure you are the best pony qualified for this task.” Twilights eyes practically glowed at this comparison with one of her idols. She would probably have enough time to check everything, since she had to meet the maretonian delegation. Sometimes the duties of a princess were just tedious. But then she always allowed herself an additional helping of pancakes afterward. Or one of the delicious treats her chefs made once in a while …

[ * ] -

Twilight had been examining everything in the small chamber Celestia had prepared. The plan and spells were laid out on a small table, including the clear crystal from the Crystal Empire Celestia had used to show her the effects of magic on the empire and on the world itself. In addition to that, she had laid out her own scrolls, scribbled formulas, checked math, runes, and angles for the diagrams.

There were wards and spells set on the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room, wards that would keep any spell cast and any magic arising locked in this room. Celestia had also modified the wards on the ceiling to vent excess magic into a short lived illusory spell somewhere far above the castle. The magical equivalent of fireworks.

The design of Celestia’s spells was simple, yet elegant. They would channel the targeted magic through a stream directly into the crystal. The patterns used were modified for the use with dark magic, and although Twilight wasn’t experienced with dark magic, she thought that they looked safe and sound. Especially since these runes were, at the same time, powered by Celestia’s normal magic, and not by dark magic itself.

Twilight scratched her head with a hoof. The biggest problem was that Celestia had to maintain two completely different, separate spells, that worked on different principles. That was magic only a very advanced unicorn could muster. If it wasn’t even far above an advanced unicorn. Then there was a second problem with the spell, but Twilight didn’t see any other way around this limitation. For Celestia to be able to remove this stream of dark magic from Luna’s memoryscape, one pony had to become a conduit, connecting the two different planes. A pony had to act as a gate into the real world. This was a third spell, and then there was probably a fourth that should protect that pony - most likely Celestia herself - from the ill effects of the dark magic.

All the spells Celestia had prepared were marvelous work, and Twilight did not know any way to improve on them, and Celestia was the most experienced spell caster in the whole of equestria, if not even on the whole world. If anypony was able to do this, it was her.

Twilight smiled, and sat back on her haunches. They had to take it slow, and steady. But time shouldn’t be a problem, Spike could read all the comics he wanted at the canterlot comic store.

She rolled up her own parchments and stuffed them in her saddlebags. This was exciting. Just from examining Celestia’s spells, she had learned so much. She could probably write a paper on the proper handling of dark magic!

Celestia opened the door and walked in, just as Twilight finished packing her stuff. The princess smiled, but looked a bit weary around her eyes, somehow … older. Luna didn’t look much better. What were those meetings with the maretonian delegation all about anyways? They were always held in secret, only Cadence was included last time, and when the meeting ended, they didn’t look as weary as they looked now.

“Were you able to check everything?” Celestia asked, a smile on her lips that seemed slightly forced. Twilight probably wouldn’t have noticed, if she hadn’t been her personal student for years.

“Yes”, Twilight replied, “the way you constructed those shields, using higher order dynamics, and five dimensional harmonics … It’s a marvelous piece of work.”

Celestia chuckled slightly. “I shall take that as confirmation.”

Luna sighed, a smile on her lips. “Good. I think it is time for us to begin?”

“Shouldn’t you rest first?” Twilight interjected.

Celestia shook her head. “We think that this is very important, and should be resolved as soon as possible.” She stepped onto the magic circle that was drawn on the floor and settled down, her horn started to glow with the telltale signs of magic being cast. The crystal on the table reacted, and lit up, Celestia’s magic aura appearing around it.

“Please, get into position, Twilight.” Luna stepped closer, and took position on the magic circle as well.

Twilight got into position in the circle, her body forming an equilateral triangle with those of the other princesses. “W… what should I do?”

“For now, observe. I trust you to do the right thing, should something go wrong.” Celestia smiled.

Luna nodded. “Thank you, Twilight”, she said and took a deep breath. “Please close your eyes, I will pull you through the dreamscape, and into my memories …”

Twilight closed her eyes just as Luna’s horn began to glow with her silvery white magic aura. She soon felt the familiar pull of sleep dragging her down …

[ § ] -

Luna stood once more before the dark tree. She could feel the wrongness in the space around her. The hairs of her coat stood on end, and a shiver run down her spine. She tried to ignore the instinct to flee right away. The Princess of the Night was afraid. This tree scared her, more than everything she had faced in her life.

She closed her eyes and reached out into the dreamscape; she opened the doors for her sister and Twilight. The young alicorn was the first to join her. Twilight’s ears laid back, her eyes had gotten smaller. “This is really creepy”, she said and forced a laugh. It showed how uncomfortable she was in the tree’s presence.

Celestia joined them only a moment later, her horn still glowing, her magic connected this realm with the real world. “I am ready?” She announced. Twilight nodded slightly.

Luna took a deep breath. “I am prepared.”

“Then begin”, Celestia said, the glow of her horn became brighter.

Luna reached out with her magic, a thin stream formed, connected to the center of the tree. Where the element of magic would be on the original. Black mist formed where the stream hit the center, spiraled around Luna’s silvery band of magic, and toward her. Before it could reach her horn, the black mist was intercepted by Celestia’s magic, pulling the blackness toward her. It touched Celestia’s horn, followed the ridges and then disappeared in the princess’ head.

“It seems to be working”, Twilight whispered.

Luna watched, as the tree’s branches slowly receded, and the tree in whole, began to shrink. It was a slow process, and it would probably take hours to complete. Hours in which neither her, nor her sister could let their concentration falter for just a moment.

Time passed slowly while she deconstructed the memory. She saw bits and pieces of her old self float past; the faint memories of her time as Nightmare Moon assaulted her, but were drawn away before they could do any real harm. Her eyes teared over, and she closed them for just a moment. Luna just didn’t want to witness her own deeds once more.

“Stop!” Twilight shouted.

Luna opened her eyes. One of the dark “Elements” fell like an overripe fruit. She managed to tie off the stream she had created in the nick of time before it hit the ground. The “Element” evaporated into a vast cloud of dark smoke. She started to cough, her lungs burned. There was no way she could keep her concentration up. A strong headache prevented her from casting a protective shield. She fell to her knees, breathed in more of the black smoke. It invaded her whole body, her every sense. She felt as if she were burning, felt as if she would freeze over. The darkness was everywhere …

Author's Note

Trust me, do not play poker with Celestia. Her experience and her ability to bluff far outweighs that of anypony. She even won against Street Flush – even if barely. He was pale grey for a few days after his special talent had been defeated …

Chapter 2 - His Shadow

Everything felt strange. She felt strange. She couldn’t feel her body, couldn’t see, feel nor smell. She didn’t know where she was. It was just as if her mind, her spirit, wasn’t bound to a body anymore, as if she wasn’t bound to any place. Had she died? Had the Nightmare taken her body again? No, this was different … There was something … but this couldn’t be right. She felt like she was everywhere, stretched over all of Equestria, like a blanket of snow in winter. She was free and trapped at the same time. Free for how she was everywhere, trapped for how much she could move. Memories came to her, unbidden. Memories of the time she was banished to the moon. There she had been stretched as wide, had been trapped; had been lonely. The Nightmare had been her only companion; And she whispered lies. So many hurtful lies.

There were no whispers now, only the vague presence of others. Trapped. Just as she was. Something about them was familiar; It terrified her, and yet it brought solace to her as well. But there was more. There were ponies. Hundreds. Thousands. More. She could hear their thoughts; their anger, greed, cruelty, lies, betrayals, and their crushing despair. She would have shivered, had she been able to.

A sudden burst of magic filled her awareness. It was so bright, so powerful. It permeated everything, everywhere. It tore her from the land, freed her from the shackles that bound her. All the colors of the rainbow, and more, washed over her, over the land, over the ponies. It was subtle, yet powerful. It rooted itself everywhere, now bound to the land like she had been. The process took only a very short moment, but she felt as if it had been an eternity.

Freed from the ground she floated over the earth. She could feel the sun rising over the horizon. Her being began to coalesce. At first she was stretched over several hundred acres, then only a few, then down to square miles, then feet. What she had only felt vaguely before became a clear and strong feeling, and soon other senses joined her perception. She could see, hear, smell, and taste.

There was black mist all around her; black mist that was her. Or … was it? The mist seemed to have a consciousness of its own; its movements detached from her thoughts. It shrunk into the form of a pony, and the pony looked left and right on its own accord. Still, she felt as if it were herself standing there. She was a unicorn pony in that moment, a stallion, and yet she wasn’t. It was an unfamiliar feeling, caused by the difference in body height and composition. She felt how his hooves touched the ground, its hardness. She felt the wind playing with his horn, mane and tail. His mane and tail were shorter than hers, and they were a lot more susceptible to gusts than her own hair.

What had happened? Had something banished her from her own body, and trapped her in this new one? But why wasn’t she able to control it, then? And there was the matter about the others she sensed. It was as if there was a veil over her memories, something she couldn’t quite remember. Something she knew was important.

The pony looked up into the sky, and watched the clouds speed by overhead. The sun on the horizon climbed further into the sky, as if on fast forward. Her sister never raised the sun that fast … She almost missed the rainbow that was there one moment, then gone the next. The sky turned gray as clouds gathered overhead. Time slowed down, and she sensed something new.

“Who am I?” The voice of the stallion sounded rough, but gentle, and pleasing to her. A new, vague presence was with them now. "Where am I?” She knew that voice from somewhere, but she just couldn’t pinpoint it at the moment.

The stallion’s question remained unanswered. Luna wouldn’t have known the answer. Even if she knew, she couldn’t answer him. Neither the sky nor the ground gave him a reply. He looked down to his own hooves, lifted a leg, and set it back down. “Pony”, he muttered to himself. Somehow he recognized what he was, at least. He looked behind him, saw his black tail with the blue streak. His mane would look similar – a thought. Luna was startled, she could hear the pony’s thoughts as clearly as she could hear her own.

Cold wind ruffled his fur; the stallion shivered. He looked around. The ground consisted of brown soil, devoid of plants. Not a single green shoot could be seen anywhere in the dirt or rocks. Nothing moved besides wisps of sand, disturbed by the wind. There was no pony, animal or bug. He couldn’t have been born just to be all alone, could he? Born from nothing, and fully grown. No, that should be impossible. And yet, he was … alone. Alone … He was … all alone … all alone … lonely. So … lonely.

Luna recognized those thoughts, felt the pain in her thoughts, felt the shiver down her spine, as much as he felt both of this.

His fur stood on edge. No, he couldn’t stay alone; he wouldn’t stay alone. He had to find someone, somepony. Ponies were supposed to be together, not alone!

He started moving, walking at first, then trotting, then running. The exercise would keep him warm, and it would bring him faster to somepony. He hoped.

Everything around him … her … blurred and shifted. Vertigo assaulted her, and she felt like passing out.

The feeling subsided as quickly as it had come, and then she noticed … There was a sharp pain in his stomach. Hunger. His stomach rumbled. He ignored the noise, the almost unbearable feeling. He stared at the pair of earth pony stallions before him. They were staring at him while their muzzles contorted into a snarl. Aggravated. They were aggravated. Angry. “Do we have food? Who do you unicorns think you are? You already took half our harvest for the ‘service of raising sun and moon’.” One sat on his haunches and painted the quotation marks with his hooves.

The other one stepped forward. “And now you come along, demanding even more!”

“And then the pegasi will come, for ‘weather services’, and we won’t have anything to feed ourselves!”

“Now scram, before there will be an incident!” The stallion kicked the air behind him, snorting menacingly.

He shivered. Those were some very strong hooves. If those were to hit him … he took a step back. What was happening? Why were those ponies so angry? Shouldn’t ponies look out for one another? He only wanted something to ease the pain in his stomach.

The stallions stepped toward him, and he made another step back. Why was this world so cold? He literally felt as if his fur was freezing over from their reaction.

The two earth ponies felt something, too. They stopped and looked up. “Those damned pegasi. Half our crop is still on the fields!” They turned and galloped away. One stopped for a moment, pointed a hoof at him, and called “don’t follow us!” He kicked the air for emphasis, and ran off.

Dejected, he turned away. Maybe a pegasus, or a unicorn would be more forthcoming. He was a unicorn. He belonged to them. They should be the ones he could trust the most, right? But where could he find unicorns? He looked around, and noticed a few snowflakes hovering toward the earth. It started to get cold. He could only hope to find a unicorn soon, or somepony that would give him either directions, something to eat, or shelter …

As the stallion’s thoughts faded, Luna’s own awareness returned. She hadn’t even noticed that she had lost it. Far worse was the realization that she was forced to relive this pony’s memories. They appeared to be dark ones, and she certainly didn’t like the notion of it. Nor did she know any magic that could do this.

The landscape blurred, the colors blended with one another, and the accompanying vertigo stopped her thought in its track.

Trees lined the path the stallion was walking, and although their leaves were green, a few snowflakes drifted from the sky. His stomach rumbled and ached still, a constant reminder of his hunger. He desperately looked for patches of grass, only to be disappointed by the bare ground. He gazed up toward the leaves, wondering if those were edible. That was when he saw them: Two pegasi were flying low over the canopy of the trees.

They wore armor, and short spears were strapped to their sides. Nevertheless, he tried his luck, and called out to them: “Excuse me, sirs? Can you tell me the way to the next unicorn settlement?”

Both ponies stopped in midair, and looked around until they found him. They exchanged a few softly spoken words, and laughed after a moment. They nodded to one another and glided down, landing in front of him. He smiled. They seemed friendly enough – at least friendlier than those two earth ponies he met before.

“A high and mighty unicorn got lost”, one of them said, chuckling and poking him with the blunt end of his spear.

“Do you think we should help him?” the other one asked, a sparkle in his eye.

“I think we can make an exception, but only if he agrees to deliver a message for us”, the first said, grinning.

“Now, that is a good idea”, the second one grinned as well. “A favor for a favor.”

He narrowed his eyes. Maybe they weren’t as friendly as he thought? “What kind of favor?”

“Like we said”, the first one replied, and spoke very slowly. “We want you. To deliver. A message for us. Or is this beneath you?”

“We pegasi are warriors of honor. We won’t ask for more than we need. Unlike. Certain. Other. Tribes!” The second one added, and the smiles on their muzzles vanished.

He gulped and nodded. Delivering a message for them wasn’t that big a deal. He certainly didn’t want to aggravate them further.

“Good. Now listen closely.” The stallion removed a letter from the saddlebag he was carrying. “This letter is for Princess Platinum. Don’t let it become dirty in any way, or worse lose it. If it doesn’t reach its destination - and trust us, we will know - then we’ll hunt you down. Got it?”

He offered his hooves to take it, but they tore the letter away. “Use your magic to carry it. Hooves will get it dirty. And taking it in your mouth is even worse. Or have you lost your magic?” He snorted.

“We can still fasten it to his horn then”, the other said, grinning.

Magic? Yes, he should be able to do magic. He was a unicorn after all. At least that was something simple. Or was it? Was levitation simple? He tried, hoping that he could do it. Somehow. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, and followed his intuition. Somewhere inside him was the knowledge. He hoped. It took him a few precious moments, but he managed to somehow feel the letter, without touching it. A bit more effort, and he was able to grab, and lift it. As he opened his eyes, there was a green aura surrounding the letter, holding it in midair. The glow flickered slightly, but he was able to sustain the simple spell. For now.

“I am not sure if I can trust you.” The pegasus that gave him the letter narrowed his eyes.

“It seems we have to trust him”, the other one said and pointed to the sky with one wing. The unicorn followed their gazes, and saw dark clouds gathering at the horizon. “We will be needed to deal with that.”

“Ancestors mercy”, the first pegasus spat. “I thought the weather is supposed to be inert. Why does it suddenly have a will of its own?” He looked down. “You should hurry. The unicorn capital is in that direction”, he pointed a wing to where both of them had flown before. Then, with a strong downward stroke of his wings, he was in the air. The other pegasus followed in the same matter, backtracking on their former path.

He gulped, and his stomach rumbled, making his magic flicker more strongly. He had to hurry or that snow storm, or whatever it was, would catch up to him. He set to a fast canter … hopefully that wasn’t as straining as a full on gallop …

These were ancient memories, of … somepony from long ago. But how? Why? She dimly remembered working with memories. It had been something important. Something that somehow had to do with these memories, and yet not at all. As if these memories were an unbidden guest at the gala. She had to be careful, she almost lost herself within these memories.

‘… this must be from when the hearths warming stories originated!’ Another distinct set of thoughts existed next to her own. It was a bit like speech, as if somepony stood next to, and talked to her. It was clearly separate from the memories she had witnessed. Could it be …?

‘Twilight Sparkle? Is it … are you … ?’ Luna tried to vocalize her own thoughts.

‘Princess Luna!’ There was recognition in those thoughts. ‘What happened?’

‘I am not sure’, she answered, struggling with her own recollection of the events.

‘These memories might have come from the Dark Tree’, another thought interjected. They felt very familiar. They could only be from her sister. The Dark Tree … Luna remembered the black version of the Tree of Harmony within her memorysape. Was it just the representation of foreign memories then? No, the presence it exuded was far worse. It was –

Her thoughts were interrupted by a quick shift. The trees blurred into a city wall and the dirt road into a snow-covered pathway. Before him floated the letter, somehow untouched by the falling snow; his magic held and sheltered it like a precious child. His breath was shallow, his hooves cold, his mind on the edge of breaking. At least the pain of hunger had subsided somewhere on the way.

Two unicorn stallions, stood guard in front of the city walls; one had a brown coat, the other blended almost completely into the snow. They wore makeshift armor, and held spears in their magic; the white one’s aura sky blue, the other a pale yellow.

The brown stallion stepped forward. “Who are you and where do you come from?”

“I am …” He started to reply, but he hadn’t found an answer, yet. “I … don’t know”, he conceded, his stomach remembered that it wanted food at the same time. “I have a … message …” He started, the pain in his stomach almost overwhelming his senses. His vision started to blur, and he collapsed to his knees.

“A message? For whom?” The guard demanded.

His green magic flickered. “The … princess”, he breathed, just before his magic gave out.

He could see the guards looking at each other. They nodded at each other; one of them took the letter and ran off. “H… hey …” The other guard came closer. “Will you be alright?”

The stallion’s vision faded completely, and he fell to his side. That had to be answer enough.

‘I wonder who he might be.’ Twilight’s thoughts reached them shortly after everything went black.

‘He seems to be have some sort of connection to that Dark Tree.’ Luna tried to collect her scattered thoughts. There was a reason they were experiencing these memories now. The question she needed to answer was, whether or not experiencing these memories could be harmful. Considering the nature of the tree, it was probably dangerous in some way. She almost lost who she was, in the beginning.

‘I have a suspicion’, Celestia thought to them. ‘If he is, who I think he is, then it might explain all of this.’

‘And who –‘ Twilight couldn’t finish her question, as the darkness of the stallion started to fade, and with it, Luna’s thoughts faded as well. The memory superseded all of her, and she was reduced to an unwilling witness.

The stallion groaned, as he opened his eyes; the cold and snow had been replaced by something warm. The orange light of candles flickered. He was on his bed, on a comfortable surface. A blanket covered his body, and the warmth made way for uncomfortable heat. Only the area around his horn was kept somewhat cool by a damp cloth.

He had to smile, despite the weakness and the burning fire in his veins. Somepony had taken him in, had been caring for him. Finding unicorns had been the right choice. Maybe he belonged her, alongside these unicorns. Then he could, in time, solve the riddle of who he was.

“I think he is awake.” A brown unicorn mare was next to him. Her mane had light brown strands, with streaks of green-brown and grass-green. As she turned, he could see a picture on her flank, a four-leafed clover. She smiled as her horn glowed a light yellow, and her magic replaced the cloth on his forehead.

“Good.” A stallion answered. “I very much hope that he can answer a few questions.” A gray stallion came into view. His mane and tail were a different, lighter shade of gray; His intense yellow eyes mustered the stallion. The gray unicorn wore a blue cape with embroidered yellow stars, and a strange hat of the same fabric with bells hanging from it, covered his head. The most striking feature though, was a beard that adorned his muzzle.

“Greetings, young colt”, the stallion said as he came closer. “I would like to ask you some questions.”

“Some … questions?” His own voice sounded raspy, and he suddenly noticed how thirsty he was.

“First of all: Where did you get that letter?”

“Two … pegasi …” He answered. “When … I asked … for … directions …”

The stallion nodded, looking down. “Pegasopolis … I feared as much.” He shook his head. “I don’t believe that these growing tensions between our tribes will make the situation any better.” He turned, walking up and down the room. “No … that will probably just make things worse …” He followed the gray pony with his eyes while he was monologuing. “But then they might realize that bickering won’t help and then … they’ll finally figure this out. But if not … well, there might be an alternative …” Finally he stopped, nodding to himself. “Yes. That’s a plan. I’ll make the arrangements.”

Starswirl turned toward the stallion once more. “Now, you on the other hand are quite the bigger puzzle”, he said. “Why have you left your home town in this weather? Has it something to do with you still missing your mark?”

“My … mark?”

The gray unicorn pointed on the mare’s flank. There she wore a picture of a four-leaved clover. It didn’t seem to be paint, but more like a natural discoloration of her coat. “That mark. Everypony past childhood has one.”

“I … came to … somewhere … with no life.”

“Maybe some stallion has hit him on the head? I heard that can cause ponies to lose their memories”, the mare suggested.

Starswirl looked him over. “It’s possible. Maybe he will … remember something … when he gets better.”

The mare nodded and her horn started to glow. A bowl with some good smelling liquid floated over. She helped him drink the soup, alleviating some pain in his stomach that he didn’t remember he had. After a few gulps he felt weak once more. Was eating always this … taxing? Maybe he could ask … after some sleep …

‘Starswirl the Bearded, and Clover the Clever!’ Luna could feel Twilight’s excitement as if it were her own. ‘I need to make notes! Is there a way to make notes?!’

Luna tried to pull herself together. Every time this happened it was like all of them blended together. Twilight’s excitement still affected her. They could lose their individuality, should they stay. All three of them a carbon copy of a strange mixture between three princesses and this unknown stallion. They couldn’t stay. They needed to leave. But how? Maybe if she tried to channel her magic …

‘This is revolutionary! The applications of this magic! What we could learn! What everypony could learn! History! Magic! Anything!’

‘This … is … really … dangerous … Twilight.’ Luna tried time and again to access her magic. It didn’t seem to work. Something was blocking her. Was she even still within her own body? Maybe she needed to try something else. Maybe she needed to connect to her body first and th-

He stood in front of a shelf full of books and scrolls. The subtle green glow of his horn was visible just at the top edge of his vision. Several books were soon encased in the same aura, and started to float out of the shelf. It didn’t cost him much effort to keep the dozen books afloat. He could even open a few of them to a page he wanted, while he made others flap around like bats. Despite all that, he was unable to read the books; the glyphs, although vaguely familiar, didn’t held any meaning to him.

“Impressive!” Starswirl’s voice praised him. The gray stallion walked next to him, a smile on his lips. “You seem to have a lot of fine control with your magic.”

His magic closed the books, and then put them back to their respective places on the bookshelf. “Yes, it seems to be that way.”

“Maybe you even have a talent for magic. Those are rare, even amongst us unicorns.” Starswirl turned and walked to the next window.

He followed the older pony to the window, and looked outside. Snow was still piling up on the streets and a few unicorns put effort in removing the snow or melting it.

“If you really are a magic talent, then there is something you could help us with”, Starswirl looked at him without turning his head. “It will help you test your power, and might even allow you to find your talent.”

He nodded, copying the stallion’s behavior.

“As you might know, we unicorns are responsible for raising and lowering both sun and moon.” He closed his eyes and sighed.

“I got to know this, yes”, he answered.

Starswirl nodded and looked toward the horizon. “It takes a lot of power, and even a group of unicorns is struggling to complete the task. Many of us are left so weak that they can’t even levitate a feather, and we are still waiting on them to recover.” He turned toward him. “It seems that magic talents have it easier, both during the task, and during the recovery, but even then …” He looked aside. “We are ‘burning through’ unicorns much faster than we can recover. We are, in fact, running low on capable unicorns …”

“Are you asking me to put my magic on the line, setting the sun?” He stared at Starswirl. Such a request after just getting well enough to use magic at all?

“I wouldn’t ask, weren’t the situation this dire.” He shook his head. “Currently we are already one unicorn short, and although I am sure that we are able to set the sun this evening, I am also sure that we won’t be able to raise it the next day.”

“Why set the sun at all?” he asked, pointing at the snow with a hoof. “Shouldn’t it melt the snow, if it stays up longer?”

“Strangely enough, it doesn’t”, Starswirl shook his head. “The duration of the sun being up doesn’t influence the temperature at all, in fact, the less rest we ponies get, the colder it gets. We need to keep the cycle going, or we will all be encased in ice.”

He looked to the shelf. “A magic talent …” He looked to his flank briefly and closed his eyes. That mark could help him getting closer to who he was. All this time he spent recovering, he didn’t recover any of his memories. “I will consider it.”

“That is all I can ask.” Starswirl smiled, then slowly walked away, leaving the stallion to his thoughts.

‘This. Is. Amazing!’ Twilight’s thoughts developed into a cacophony of different thoughts at once, almost drowning out all other thoughts. ‘This is valuable material!’, ‘This answers so many questions.’, ‘We can fill in the holes in history!’, ‘I wish I could experience the princesses’ memories like this, too!’

Twilight was drowning all of them out with her excitement. Now she even wanted to see their … Maybe … Twilight’s excitement might have been the key to getting them out! This place was all about memories. Even if she couldn’t get her thoughts to supersede everything, she might be able to bring out her memories. They should be in control in these memories and not … whoever this was.

In dreams this was easy. Her presence alone changed the dream so that it would listen to her. But here? Maybe if she tried to recall a really strong, a really important memory … maybe then she could … bring it to life?

The only problem was that the strongest memory she had, was at the same time one she wanted to forget, desperately. And yet she had reminded herself it time and again, so she wouldn’t do the same mistake twice. She had no choice. She had to recall it once more. She could almost feel the tears welling up in her mind as she went back to that time, as she forced her memory to the surface. The events played in her mind, the jealousy she felt. The resentment. The pain. The moment she changed, she felt as if something died within her. With a mental cry she pulled at the scene, tried to push it outward, out into the open. It had to become one with herself, with her horn; With her magic. It was as if she fought against a river, against an unmoving mountain. She felt as if she was wrestling a full grown dragon …

Small spheres of light played in the darkness. The memory of the stallion started to fade, being quickly replaced by … a cave? This wasn’t the memory Luna had tried to conjure. Did she fail? The image she had conjured pulled her in and …

Luna laid in front of the Tree of Harmony, shivering despite the warmth it emanated, and despite the wing her sister had folded over her. Her stomach rumbled, and she winced with the sharp pain of hunger that accompanied it.

“I … I am hungry”, she whispered, almost too ashamed to ask for something to eat. They had been in this cave for quite some time, and food has become scarce. She missed her father, she didn’t even know how she got there.

The older filly looked down on her and stroked her back with her wing. There was a distinct rumbling from next to her, too. “I suppose we can have one”, Celestia said. Luna shivered even more as the wing was removed from her back, and the white filly got up to walk to the saddlebags in the back of the cave. It was a bit colder back there, and although the darkness loomed, it was still the best place to keep their little supplies.

The cave with the tree had become their home. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was way better than being outside. Luna missed having a real home, back with her father … but her father had passed on. That much she knew. She couldn’t remember how it had happened, she only remembered the suffocating pain of loss.

“I hope the weather will change soon”, Celestia said on her way back. Luna turned her head to the cave entrance, and saw the snow piling up outside the cave. Winter had come unexpectedly, and they were lucky that Celestia had found something edible in the Everfree Forest. Her sister settled down next to her, replaced the wing for warmth and comfort, and held a one rainbow-striped apple afloat within her magic. She closed her eyes for a moment. The apple shook before neatly breaking into two equal halves. Luna took one of them out of her sister’s magic, the golden glow holding it replaced by her silvery-blue.

With the first bite, flavor exploded in her mouth, and Luna had to control herself, so she wouldn’t just gobble her half down. They didn’t know when the snow would stop, and, if it was like any previous winter, then they had to hold out on their provisions for three whole months, maybe more. Especially since the Everfree Forest didn’t provide much food for them. At least that half apple took the edge off of her hunger.

Luna leaned into Celestia. She was glad that she had found her sister, that she had found a part of her family. At least she wasn’t alone …

The scene burned away like paper in a dragon’s flame, bits and pieces were blown away by an unfelt wind. Only to make place for more falling snowflakes. Snowflakes that quickly formed into a snow-covered town.

She had only enough time to wonder why she hadn’t had any control in her own memory.

“Thank you for deciding to help us”, Starswirl said. They walked through the falling snow, only a few ways were kept clean by diligent unicorns. The rest of the town had disappeared knee-deep within the cold white powder. At the end of the way was a small stage in what could have once been a marketplace. The stage itself was kept clean of snow by a makeshift roof. Masses of snow had piled upon it. But not as much as on some of the floor. Every once in a while the unicorns freed their houses from too much snow.

“The process itself is very simple”, Starswirl explained, “just face in the direction everypony else faces. The sun should set in that direction.”

He nodded his acknowledgment.

“We reach out with our magic and then use a simple spell, akin to telekinesis, to set the sun.” He stopped next to the group and took a deep breath. “The actual spell is far more complex than that, but telekinesis is enough for any newcomer. I will be coordinating the magic, making the actual connection. Just follow everypony else’s lead.”

He nodded and joined the small group of ponies.

His companion walked to the front of the now six unicorns. “It is time”, Starswirl intoned, his horn started to glow with a white aura. The ponies next to him closed their eyes and their horns started to glow as well, the colors of their magic akin to an incomplete and randomized rainbow.

He followed their lead closing his eyes. Then he opened his magical senses. The magic of the ponies was all around him, the glow of their horns, reached him through tis sense, but there was more. It was as if the shadows of their bodies were there as well. It was odd, worth to investigate on a later date. Instead he concentrated on the levitation spell, reaching out for the sun. He stretched his senses further, past where he could have seen with his eyes open. All around were more and more shadows of ponies. Shadows that had different forms and sizes. Some smaller than foals, others bigger than full-grown stallions. He ignored them. The sun had to be further out, still. The only thing he found were shadows on the ground, and some up in the clouds. The sun had to be up there, but no matter how far he stretched, he just couldn’t find it.

‘Try to follow everypony else’s lead’, Starswirl said to him. He relaxed his senses and concentrated on the ponies around him. The glow of magic greeted him, some of them strong, some weak, put it was magic nonetheless. Magic that stretched upward. It was a very thin stream. A stream that was mixed with shadows. Shadows that stemmed from everypony around him. Shadows that everypony had. Some were as big as the pony themselves, especially on the ones with the weaker stream, and others were really small. One was smaller than a mouse, and a wide big stream shot straight up into the air. That was probably Starswirl’s. He joined his magic to the stream, and followed that glowing road upwards. Riding a wave of magic, he left the ground, and the shadows behind. It seemed to go on for minutes, if not an eternity, until he noticed the bright glow in the distance. A bright fiery magic that could probably burn other magic it touched. It had to be the sun. He was reluctant to touch it with his magic, but the ponies around him needed his assistance. He gulped, and let his magic gr-

Static.

Pain.

A bright flash.

The scene burned. Everything burned.

Celestia stood before the saddlebags that held the rest of their provisions. A dozen rainbow colored apples were left. She hadn’t had the opportunity to collect many of those. It had been little more than two dozen. Then the wolves had come. Wolves made out of wood and underbrush. A shiver ran over her back as she remembered them. Blasting them didn’t work for long. They just … reassembled. Somehow she had lost them in the woods. It was somehow a miracle that she hadn’t gotten a scratch, and neither her saddlebags had. She tried again the next day, but the trees had disappeared.

She looked to the tree and the sleeping form of her little sister. Luna trembled occasionally. She couldn’t let the last of her family starve to death. She had to find something to eat. Out there. In the snow. When trees could disappear from one day to the next, maybe they also could appear that fast. It was the only hope she had: That the Forest would defy nature, snow and cold in a way that would allow them to survive.

“I am going out”, she whispered, knowing that Luna wouldn’t hear her. She still had to say it. It would have felt wrong otherwise. Out there the snow had at least stopped falling. It might be the best chance she would have in days. Maybe she even made it back before her sister woke. She walked quietly to the cave’s entrance and then fought through the knee-deep snow. Hopefully there were no mo-

An invisible force threw him out of the group and into the snow. His head hurt. His horn burned as if someone set it aflame. His heart pounded. He shivered. What was this feeling? Fear?

If this cold continues …

We are almost out of food …

What should I do if he doesn’t recover?

Why did she have to die? I can’t raise this foal alone …

The world has been rejecting us … and the sun rejects us, too!

The sun had rejected him. But … Those many of them weren’t his own thoughts; couldn’t be his own thoughts. But if they were not his, then … who’s? He forced his eyes open. Shadows were writhing above everypony, and the magic around their horns flickered. He flinched and closed his eyes. His horn felt as if it were melting. Don’t look. Then the pain was bearable. But what were these shadows, that he could now see everywhere? And these thoughts … could it be …

“Fear not!” Starswirl raised his voice. It was firm and full of authority. His horn was glowing so bright that he could see it rhough his closed eyes. “You need conviction. You need courage. Don’t let fear control you!” His own horn seemed to shine even brighter. What raw power that stallion had. He opened his eyes and stared only at Starswirl. There was no shadow in him. Sweat glistened on his brow and coat, but something was happening. Far above them the sun had begun to move. The stallion alone was able to move the sun. “We won’t shy back from our responsibility! We’ll keep the cycle going! We must! We can!”

The pain in his horn subsided more and more, and he noticed how the shadows of everypony else started to shrink. They managed to control their fear; the glow of their horns brightening once more, and the sun moved steadier and steadier with every moment, until it disappeared beyond the horizon. The shadows grew weaker by the minute, and his horn cooled, and the intense pain faded. All that was left was a cool, numb feeling, as if it burned off. Shakily he felt with his hoof for it. It was still there, but totally numb.

While everypony else celebrated their success, he got to his hooves and walked back to Starswirl’s home. The sun had rejected him. The fear had burned his horn. Nothing of this made sense …

‘That was … odd’, Twilight thought. The young alicorn seemed to regain her … senses? first. ‘First there is a memory of Luna, then him, then Celestia, and them him again …’

‘I tried to force one of my memories on top of this one’, Luna explained. ‘I wanted to gain control of this memory, in order to get us out.’ But Twilight was right. That Celestia’s memories showed up in the moment he tried to connect to the sun, was more than odd. Had her sister tried the same?

‘As … he … tried to reach the sun, I felt a strong headache’, Celestia thought, her ‘voice’ sounding … strained. ‘It was as if he pulled that memory straight out of my head.’

‘Are you all right, sister?’

‘Yes … I am fine. The shields held … mostly. Still, it has gotten dangerous. We need to get out of here. Now!’

‘Twilight’, Luna thought. ‘The memory I tried to summon was changed into another. Taking control from me once more. You need to summon a memory.’

‘I? I don’t even know how …’

‘Tis fairly easy. You just n-‘

The scene melted and dissolved into the warm interior of Starswirl’s home. The stallion stood in front of the shelf, and picked another book. He couldn’t read them at all, but maybe some of the illustrations could hint on whether or not those shadows had been fear. He also needed to know why his horn had felt as if it would burn. Being unable to read didn’t help at all. He needed somepony to teach him how to read. Keeping a tight lid on his frustration, he put the book back into the shelf. Still, he would’ve liked to throw something into the wall.

“What are you saying?” Clover’s voice reached his ears. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it was enough for his ears to catch one side of the conversation. He took a deep breath, put his frustration aside, and stepped closer as quietly as he could. She was probably talking to Starswirl about something important. Something he wasn’t meant to overhear. “You can’t just leave and appoint me as the queen’s new adviser!”

Starswirl would be leaving? For what? He strained his ears, trying to hear more of the conversation, but he didn’t actually want to go into the next room.

“Find somepony more suitable for what? Do you plan-” Clover was cut off by something Starswirl said. “Fine, I will trust you”, Clover grumbled.

What was that all about? Was Starswirl going to stage a coup? No, not that old geezer. He could have a lot of authority with the people, but he wasn’t the type that wanted to rule. No, from what he has seen, Starswirl would take action to keep everypony safe, but he was more than happy to just tend to his own studies otherwise.

“One more thing, before you leave”, Clover whispered, she tried to keep quiet, but her voice carried better than Starswirl’s. “We need to do something about … him.”

Was she talking about him now? If she was, then it couldn’t be good, could it?

“The whole city has begun accusing him of being the problem”, Clover explained. “They say the snow started when he showed up, he has no name and no mark. Then he tried to lower the sun with everypony, and is somehow thrown out of the circle, leaving the burden to everypony else. He isn’t carrying his weight, and … more and more of the town agree that they won’t want to feed him anymore.”

He felt his ire rising. The frustration boiled over, and became anger. He had a hard time keeping the lid on it. They made him into the scapegoat for the bad weather. He had tried to help them with the stupid sun. He got hurt by this. But no, they felt like he was the root of all evil.

“I … understand. It won’t be easy, but I will try”, Clover said with a sigh.

He took a deep breath and stepped back into the room. If they wanted to be rid of him, If he wasn’t welcome here, then he would be leaving. He snorted. He didn’t need them, and they, obviously, didn’t need him! But he wouldn’t be leaving unprepared. The weather outside was still hostile, but it was at least more honest than these ponies …

The shelves turned into black mist, making the books crash onto the ground. They dissolved as well. Everything around them dissolved into black mist, and finally, the mist dispersed.

Stars became visible once more, the strange ground of her memoryscape. The sea of memories hovered far above her, the memories of that stallion integrated into hers. They swam on the surface, as unwanted as flotsam on a clear lake.

Celestia and Twilight stood next to what remained of the dark tree. One of the branches had broken off, and disappeared, together with the dark element it held. The tree had gotten smaller, less looming, but it was still terrifying. There were still dark Elements of Harmony left on the tree. Did they all hold another part of this stallion’s memory? Or was there something more to it?

Luna ignored the tree for now, looking at Twilight and Celestia instead. “A… art thou all right?”

“Yes. Yes I am”, Twilight said.

“I am good”, Celestia answered, her expression hidden behind her usual mask. Her horn glowed, and she seemed fine. Did she manage to keep her spell running through all of this? “What about you, Luna?”

Luna blinked and considered herself. She lifted a hoof, and inspected her wings. She didn’t feel any different from before, and there were no patches of black on her coat of fur. Her heart was racing, but that only showed how disturbing this experience had been. “I am fine”, she answered. In fact, she felt relief. They had made it through the experience, unharmed, and the nightmarish pressure from the dark tree had lessened somewhat.

“Good. But it would be best, if we stopped here, for today”, Celestia sighed. “All the preparation in the world can’t prepare you for the real thing. And this … thing had a few surprises up it’s … bark.”

Luna nodded. “Indeed.” She channeled her magic, casting the necessary spell that would wake them. The stars slowly faded to black. The trees and the sea of memories faded into the ensuing darkness. Luna herself was the last that faded from this realm.

She opened her eyes to Twilight pacing through the room; Quill and scroll held in her purple magic, scribbling furiously.

Celestia had left her place to stare at the crystal. She smiled despite the crystal’s color changing to black. It had even grown a few small crystals on it’s otherwise smooth surface. It was disturbing to look at, and yet her sister smiled.

“At least this went according to plan”, Celestia finally said. “But we should put a few more safeguards into place, when we attempt to remove the rest of that tree.”

“Indeed”, Luna answered. She didn’t like the notion at all, but all of this made her uncomfortable to leave it there. “We don’t even know whether something could, or even did happen while we were … out.” She walked to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Maybe it would be best if I teach Twilight some of my dream and memory magic.”

Twilight looked up, her quill stopped mid-sentence. “That would be a good idea”, she answered. “Maybe I can analyze what has happened and derive a counter-measure from that.” The young alicorn looked to Twilight. “You had a suspicion on who this pony is?”

“Yes”, she admitted. “It is all just speculation, but wouldn’t it make sense, if … that pony is … Sombra?”

Luna blinked, then nodded slowly. “If it is some remnant magic of his, then we need to be extra careful. He was a master in laying traps.”

“Very well, let us all prepare and meet here, again”, Celestia said.

“I concur.” Luna turned to the door and walked next to Twilight. She lowered her voice and whispered: “I shall meet you in your dreams. The sooner you practice these spells, the better.”

“Yes”, Twilight sighed. “I hope I can find some sleep after all of this.” She returned to her scroll and continued scribbling … The unsettling nature of the experience put aside; It was an interesting take on ancient history …

Chapter 3 - Waking Memories

Celestia fought her way through the snow, down the slippery steps, and toward the cave she and her sister had for a home. She had tried to find more food in the Everfree Forest. The rainbow colored apples hadn’t returned, and other magical food hadn’t appeared either. At least those wolves hadn’t appeared either.

She sighed, and shook off the snow from her mane and legs before entering the cave. It was unusually warm compared to all the snow outside, and any snow that was left in her coat melted quickly. The source of that warmth was the big crystal tree that stood just in the center of the cave. It kept the bitter cold at bay. Five crystals were attached to its branches, like fruits. Inedible fruits. The trunk of the tree was marked with a sun and a moon.

Celestia walked to her sister, who was soundly asleep at the base of the tree. The blue filly, seemed to have a restful sleep for once. Celestia smiled and let her sleep. Instead she slowly went to the saddle bags that contained the little food they had. The few rainbow colored apples she had managed to harvest before the sudden snow had turned the forest into a white winter wonderland. A land where she had to wonder how to get food. They might have to leave the forest and dig for some grass outside.

Celestia blinked. Had these bags always been this askew? She opened one of the flaps and counted. There were seven apples left. That was very meager. They could get by two or maybe three more days without being hungry. Maybe more, if they allowed a little hunger to torment them.

Seven … didn’t they have an even number of apples? Had her sister woken and taken an apple? Celestia’s stomach rumbled. Being very hungry and having overly delicious food didn’t mix well. She hadn’t eaten for quite some time. One more apple wouldn’t hurt …It would hurt, but she had been out foraging for supplies, and she needed some strength. She walked back to her sister, and settled down next to her. The warmth radiating from the tree managed to banish the cold from her bones. Celestia carefully extended a wing over her sister’s body, careful not to wake her. She was rewarded with a smile from the blue filly. The rainbow apple kept floating next to her. She fought with herself, whether or not she should eat it now. They were so short on supplies, but she needed strength, especially if she needed to go even further to find new food. Something about this sudden winter just felt wrong, really wrong.

Celestia didn’t know how long she just sat there, staring at the apple, but at some point, Luna stirred. The little filly stretched hooves and wings, so that Celestia had to retract hers. “Good morning, Lu”, she said, and smiled.

“Morning, Tia”, the filly answered and snuggled into Celestia’s fur. “Is it time for breakfast?”

She smiled. Her little sister had developed an affinity for sleeping through the day; whether she slept through the night as well, was on a different hoof. As she woke particularly early, she had found Luna at the cave entrance, gazing at the stars, but that had been one of the few days when there was no snow.

“We need to save as much of our food as possible”, she explained her. “No midnight snacks, and no midday snacks, understood?”

Luna nodded. “I haven’t touched the bags”, she answered.

“Then one of the apples must’ve gotten away while you slept.”

“They can do that?” Luna sounded genuinely surprised.

“Apparently they can”, Celestia answered, and split the apple. “Can you stand guard while I sleep?”

“Of course, sister”, Luna said, and she seemed proud have been asked. When food was as scarce as it was, it easily became a very precious resource.

“Good”, she said and hoofed Luna the apple. Maybe she just miscounted before. Or could the filly be so proficient at lying? She didn’t want to think so, not when it was crucial that they could count on each other. She bit into the apple and looked to the tree, hoping that it could answer her plight.

The apple’s taste was as crisp, sweet, and full of flavor as she remembered; It was as if someone had combined all her favorite fruits into one perfect blend. The taste chased any doubt she had about Luna away. She looked at the little filly, noticing only moments later, that her sister had vanished. But her sister wasn’t the only thing that had vanished. The stone floor of the cave had been replaced by lush, green grass. The cave had made place for a beautiful blue summer sky. The only things that remained was the Tree of Harmony, and her. Could it be that she was dreaming?

She had been here before. At least once. The tree bore something akin to a crystal fruit, that looked red, and ripe for the taking. It was attached to the countless crystal “vines” that hung from its branches. She got up, much taller now than in the other part of the dream. She extended her wings and started to flap them gently, but rhythmically. She was on one level with the “fruit” in front of her. Never before had she seen the tree bear fruit in such a fashion. She stared into the red, and felt as if she was drawn in …

There was a big hole in the ceiling, probably caused by magic. Stones at fallen and broken on the marble floor. Many runes had been painted on the walls, and they were magically active. Or were. Now they only flickered with the glow of magic. Their spell had been broken by the blast that left the hole in the ceiling. It was the room she had prepared. The room where they had started to remove the nightmarish presence from Luna’s memoryscape. But if everything was in this state … No! This couldn’t be! They couldn’t fail. She couldn’t fail her sister! What had gone wrong? She looked around. A black crystal lay where the crystal they had channeled the darkness into used to be. Shattered. Three pieces, enveloped in a dark aura. How could this be? Was this really too much for this one crystal?

“Celestia, show yourself!” The angry voice from outside sent a shiver down her spine. This wasn’t a memory. This was too real. Why? Why hadn’t she been able to save her? Why had history this need to repeat itself?

“The crystal! We should get the crystal!” another voice added. Was that Twilight? Was she working with the Nightmare? How could this project have gone this wrong? Her magic aura wrapped around the three pieces of crystal. Although it was broken, it was still filled with dark magic. Dark magic that the Nightmare couldn’t be allowed to have. She galloped to the door, opened it, and everything shifted. She felt as if she needed to puke, only to look into the eyes of her sister, and Twilight. Or more the nightmare versions of them. Twilight’s fur was dark purple, her eyes discolored and slitted.

“Dear Princess Celestia”, she intoned as if she would write her a letter, her voice slowly slipping from a friendly tone into a threatening one. “It is time for you to die!”

Everything around her exploded all at once, pieces of crystal flew everywhere, for a moment she saw the fruit hanging on the Tree of Harmony, black, as if it had become foul. It grew into Nightmare Moon, and her teeth snapped at Celestia’s throat.

She woke, panting heavily. She shivered despite the warmth of her bed … It had all the makings of a vision, but it was far more disturbing. If it was true, then this project would be going to hell one way or another. She needed to keep the one crystal filled with darkness safe. And then … Then she needed to make sure that her vision wouldn’t be coming true.

[ § ] -

Luna walked along a path made of countless stars within her dreams- There were many doors to the left and the right that would lead to other ponies’ dreams. This night she wasn’t looking for a pony that was plagued by a nightmare. This time she was looking for a very particular door. A door made of a big book. If everything went according to plan, then Twilight was home now, and already within the realm of sleep. The doors were never at the same place, but they always had the same look, their design connected to the interests and the special talent of that pony. It took her quite a while to arrive at the book that represented Twilight’s dreams. She probably had had trouble falling asleep. Luna opened the book-door - it only allowed to be opened to a particular page - and stepped into the page that represented the doorway into Twilight’s dreams.

Luna, of course, stepped into a library. Books were flying around, some came out of their shelves, others flew back to them, resting once more on the wooden boards. This library was alive, maybe even organizing itself. In midst all of this sat a single pony on a single desk, reading a book, and scratching notes with a quill on a scroll next to her.

As soon as Twilight would become aware of Luna, she would become a lucid dreamer. A few ponies had trouble staying in that state for long, but she had confidence, that Twilight would be able to go through a few lessons with her. There was no need to make a flashy entrance, no need to create a doorway - the book she had come through was neatly tucked in a corner - and thankfully there was no nightmare to battle. Some part of Twilight expected Luna to show up, which allowed her much easier access to the dream than she would have had otherwise.

“Greetings, Twilight, and sweet dreams”, Luna said.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight closed her book and scrambled to her hooves. “What are you doing in … my … home … oh …”

“I guess you didn’t fall asleep in bed?”

“I … wanted to, but I wanted to write a few things down first, and then … you appeared.” She blinked. “Do I drool when I sleep? Please tell me I do not drool!” Twilight almost shook Luna.

“I don’t know”, Luna sighed. “And it doesn’t matter.” She cast a spell, taking control of Twilight’s dream world. One of the books fluttered close, started to grow, and open its pages. It stopped growing as it was a bit larger than Luna. The page showed a drawing of a door, and the page beside it read gibberish. Luna reached for the door’s handle, and pulled it open. “Follow me”, she said to the young princess.

“Are spells in the dream world really that different from the ones cast in the waking world?” Twilight followed Luna to the book.

“Spells cast within the dream world are essentially different from those cast in the waking world, as my sister has now power in the dream world. And both magics are different from that of the astral. You should be able to cast spells there, since you became a princess, but usually no unicorn, pegasus, nor earth pony can use any magic in the astral.”

They stepped onto another floor made of stars. It was similar to the plane that allowed her access to the dreams of everypony.

“I remember this place”, Twilight said. “This is where I landed when I fixed Starswirl’s spell.”

“Welcome to the astral plane”, Luna said. “Only very few ponies have made it here, even less with their own body. It is far easier to reach with just your mind: Being here with your physical body can result in a … transformative experience.” Luna pointed to Twilight’s wings with her own.

“Didn’t you want to teach me about dream magic?”

“Yes, and no”, Luna answered. “Dreams are a part of our mind, as are memories. We are dealing with memories, which means that we need to learn how to handle those. I brought you here, because it should allow us to enter your memoryscape.”

“MY memoryscape?”

Luna nodded. “I will not risk bringing you into mine. It is far too dangerous. The only other place we can use, is your memoryscape. Practicing there will also allow you to conjure your memories far easier.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

“Good. Let me teach you how to summon your memoryscape. Close your eyes.”

The young mare closed her eyes. It wasn’t a necessary step, but closing her eyes would help her to concentrate on the memories she needed to call up. Now she could see whether or not Twilight was as much of a prodigy in magic, as Celestia claimed.

“Focus on an important event of your past. It can be anything, but it should be something that has left a strong impact on your memories, something you can call up as cleanly and easily as a levitation spell. Take the first that comes to your mind.”

“I have one”, Twilight said.

“You need to imagine it as clearly as possible, try to feel it, try to see it, try to smell and taste it. Then basically cast a teleportation spell. It should allow us to jump into that memory.”

“Give … me … a … moment …” Twilight concentrated, and her horn began to glow. It was a subtle light at first, but it got stronger with every word she uttered.

There was a brilliant flash, and Luna had to close her eyes for a moment. Twilight was panting as Luna opened her eyes. She was clearly exhausted, which was expected after casting such a spell in the astral plane for the first time.

For Luna it seemed as if they hadn’t moved at all, but something had appeared. Twilight hadn’t brought them into her memory, she had brought something here. There were pictures floating, pictures showing Twilight and her friends walking through the Everfree Forest.

“This almost looks like the moment I became an alicorn”, Twilight said, walking next to Luna. “But Celestia had showed me different pictures than these.”

“Was your ascension what you focused upon?” Luna asked.

“No”, Twilight answered. “It was the moment when I realized that the others were my friends …”

Luna walked past the image. “Summoning the memory in this way isn’t enough, apparently.” She stopped at the picture where Twilight confronted Luna’s dark self. “We need to enter the memory directly.” Luna touched the picture with her hoof. She wanted to desperately erase this part of her past. This and everything that led up to it. How much would she give to change her feelings back then …

“I can try again”, Twilight offered, “but I need some time. Casting that spell took a lot out of me. I thought this was just a dream!”

“The things we do in dreams, or in the astral, still have impacts on our body. Although you didn’t cast the spell in the real world, you still cast it.” Luna turned away from the scene … or she wanted to. Something was wrong. Her hoof was stuck to the surface of the picture. No, it wasn’t just stuck, it was sucked in. Slowly at first, but the deeper it got, the stronger the pull became. She stemmed her remaining hooves into the starlit ground, and tried to dislodge herself.

“What is happening?” Twilight was at her side and tried to help her. She pushed and pull despite her own weakness, she set her hind hooves against the picture and pushed. But instead of coming lose, they were now both pulled into the picture. “Luna?” Twilight asked just before both of them disappeared in the strange phenomenon.

They were thrown on the hard stone floor of Celestia’s and Luna’s old castle. She quickly scrambled to her hooves. This hadn’t been her plan at all, and even for the realms of dreams, memories, and the astral, it just seemed off.

What was standing in front of Luna was a bad trip down memory lane. Nightmare Moon stared at them. She was neither a portrait nor a simple statue. This was who she had been.

Twilight was still struggling to get to her hooves. “You’re kidding. You are kidding, right?” the Nightmare asked. This was wrong. Twilight hadn’t been like this - without wings, struggling to stand.

“How fortunate”, the Nightmare suddenly said. The memory was reacting to them. That shouldn’t be possible. “Let me remind you why you became … ME.” The Nightmare stormed at Luna, her dark magic blazing. She had just enough time to jump out of the way.

“I have the resolve to do the things you can’t do!” The Nightmare turned and looked to Luna. All these ponies need to be taught a lesson!” The Nightmare went slowly closer to Luna. “Tell me: Have things really improved? Doesn’t everypony still look to your sister, instead of you?”

“They respect me”, Luna shouted. “This is nothing like the past!”

“Is it now?” The Nightmare smiled, showing her sharp teeth. “You put your life, your sanity on the line every night, and your sister? She just negotiates with those ponies. She just talks. And yet she is far more respected than you are.”

“That’s not true”, Luna answered, a bit less certain than she wanted to be.

“You know that you want me back. Even if you don’t want to fight your sister, you appreciate my strength, my resolve to deal with any problem in a more permanent matter … The Tantabus is proof!”

“The Tantabus was a mistake”, Luna spat back.

“You won’t convince her”, Twilight said, finally standing on her hooves once more. “Everypony in ponyville respects and love her!”

“Ah, yes. Equestria’s newest princess … although you are old news.” The Nightmare turned to her. “I have to thank you. You’re keeping my memory alive. Quite literally, if I might add.”

“Why are you here?” Twilight grit her teeth.

“Ah yes. The core of the matter. The rotten core of the apple …” She walked a bit closer to Twilight. “Tell me, why should I give that information? What’s in it for me?”

“You are not even real”, Luna said.

“Am I not? Are we not talking? Are you not wondering how I … can be?” The Nightmare shook her head. “You know nothing. Nothing about me, and nothing about what will happen!”

“But you do?” Twilight asked mockingly.

The Nightmare grinned.

“Twilight, we should leave”, Luna said.

“Very well. Go on. Leave me here.” The Nightmare waved with a wing. “I don’t need either of you meddling in my affairs.”

“Is it safe?” Twilight wondered.

“Yes, Luna. Tell her. Is it safe?” The Nightmare’s grin grew, showing even more teeth.

“Neither option is safe. But in here … we are powerless.”

The Nightmare kept quiet. Which meant that leaving was probably the best idea.

“How … do we leave?” Twilight asked.

“Leave that to me”, Luna answered and walked over to Twilight.

“Good bye”, the Nightmare said, far to pleasantly. “I am sure we’ll see each other, soon.”

Luna teleported both of them into one of her memories.

As she opened her eyes, somepony tugged at her mane. “Uhh, Princess Luna. I know there’s not gonna be anymore Nightmare Night”, a young white colt with brown splotches in his fur said. “But do you suppose, maybe, you could come back next year, and scare us again, anyway?”

Luna smiled at the memory, then dismissed it, bringing both of them back to the Astral Plane. “Twilight”, she turned to the other princess, putting a hoof to her chest. She retracted it before Twilight could notice that it was shaking. “I am sorry for what has happened.” She sighed, putting the hoof on the ground. “We need to get the Nightmare out of your memoryscape, somehow.” The Nightmare could be a parasite. A parasite that infected one’s memoryscape, and blocked access to certain memories, allowing her to take over.

“I think I know how”, Twilight said. “I’ve studied Celestia’s spells. I should be able to remove her.”

“You need a crystal for this to work”, Luna cautioned.

“I know where to get a crystal”, Twilight smiled. “Rarity collects thousands of them. She should be able to give me one that is suitable to hold the Nightmare.”

“Good”, Luna took a deep breath. “Time is of the essence.” And getting a suitable crystal from the Crystal Empire would take days. If not more. “How long do you think this will take?”

“I believe I’ll be done in about two hours.”

“I will meet you in two hours time, then”, Luna answered. “I would bring Celestia, but she has duties to perform.”

Twilight nodded. “Don’t worry. I should be able to cast the necessary spells.”

Luna inclined her head. “I believe you, Twilight. You should go now. There is no time to waste.” She cast a spell that connected the Astral Plane back to Twilight’s dream. They stepped through the doorway, out of the book, and back into the dream library.

“Good Luck”, Luna said, before leaving Twilight’s dream. She turned into several books that flew off, like a flock of bats fleeing from an intruder.

Luna awoke in her bed, panting heavily. Her room was still dark, and the shadows seemed to move.

“You know that you want me back.” The Nightmare’s voice echoed in her mind. Or was it one of the shadows in her room? Luna used her magic to open the curtains, allowing the morning sunlight into her room. It banished the deepest shadows, calming her heart. Only then did she realize that she was afraid of the dark. The Princess of the Night was afraid of the dark …

[ * ] -

Twilight felt stiff all over as she woke. Her desk was littered with scrolls and blotches of ink from a fallen quill. Her notes were safe. Although she drooled, her spit had somehow avoided her scribblings. She had managed to record most of Sombra’s memories. It was just too bad that she couldn’t read the scripts Sombra held in his magic. That would have been invaluable.

She got to her hooves, and stretched. She needed to write these things down, properly. She just had to go and buy new scrolls. And maybe quills. Wasn’t there something else that she needed to get? There was something about last night … She looked back to her scrolls, hoping that they would help her remember.

Yesterday she had accompanied Celestia and Luna into the Moon Princess’ memoryscape, where they unwillingly witnessed another set of memories. Those were the ones she had tried to write down. Then Luna told her that they would meet in their dreams. They did meet, but they also met somepony unexpected. Well, half unexpected. She remembered clearly how the Nightmare spoke to Luna. But was that in her dreams? Or her memories? No, it wasn’t her dreams, they had left those to venture into her memoryscape. Then it was in her memories. But that didn’t make any sense. She remembered going into the castle of the two sisters in search for the Elements of Harmony, but then she only recalled how the Nightmare spoke to Luna. But Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna were the same pony. The only logical conclusion was that her memories had been altered. Or something like that.

At the end of this, she had promised Luna something. She wanted to prepare … and remove the Nightmare from her memories. But wouldn’t she then forget the Nightmare completely? Something just didn’t add up.

She had to restore her memories. But would removing the Nightmare do the trick? Could she trust Luna’s judgement? Could she trust Luna at all? She shook her head. Of course she could trust her, she was … reformed? She couldn’t remember her being reformed. She could remember her coming back from the Moon as Nightmare Moon. She could remember that she was able to shift back and forth between her current look and that of the Nightmare. She could also remember how she created the Tantabus to … to what? To escape the realm of dreams and plunge Equestria into Chaos … ?

She had to remove the Nightmare from her memories first, then she could work on restoring them, and then she could see the truth about Princess Luna. But to be safe, she would have to do this alone. But how? From what she remembered of Celestia’s spell, she would need a crystal. Then she could seal the Nightmare in the crystal. But she couldn’t just capture the Nightmare, create a stream through herself, and shield her thoughts at the same time. Even Celestia managed only two of these spells at the same time.

Too bad she couldn’t just bring the crystal into the memoryscape with her … or could she? She needed a point of reference on both sides, connect them using a similar method she used on the magic mirror, and she would have a portal. Which meant that she needed another magic mirror, and a crystal.

First things first: Get a mirror. Then, go to Rarity and get a flawless crystal. She should also get the necessary spells from the “Starswirl the Bearded”-wing of the Canterlot Archive. With that she could get to her own memoryscape and seal the Nightmare. After that she could go back to Rarity, and have her use the memory restoration spell on Twilight. She took a scroll and quickly pinned down what she wanted to do. It always helped to have a To-Do-List. Especially if you just couldn’t trust your own memories …

[ + ] -

Celestia walked down the corridor, Kibitz at her side. Her magic was busy at work, raising the sun. Her mind was at work on how to solve Luna’s problem. Kibitz was at work telling her about today’s schedule. She didn’t listen. Usually it wasn’t necessary because he reminded her before every appointment once again; but sometimes she had to make mental notes about certain … dignitaries. This time Luna was much more important. She wouldn’t lose her again. She had seen the vision. A vision that spelled doom for her, and for Equestria. She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t let that happen.

But what could’ve been the problem? Did the crystal break before or after her sister would turn into Nightmare Moon again? It doesn’t matter. She could store this crystal away and use a new one for the next bit of darkness. That way she could minimize the risk.

“Kibitz?”

“Y… yes your majesty?” The stallion was startled slightly at her sudden request.

“Would you please order new flawless crystals from the Crystal Empire? First Grade. And by Courier.”

“Very well, I’ll put out the order as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Kibitz.” Both he and Raven were her most trusted aides. They got the job done, and they didn’t ask unnecessary questions.

Her mind wandered back to the vision. The wards on the wall hadn’t been able to contain the Nightmare, and she would corner her. That much was clear. There had been no clues as to why Luna would fall again. Maybe it was because it was already set into motion? She had shielded her mind from the effects of the dark energy, but neither Luna nor Twilight had been shielded.

She would need to keep an eye on them. But what should she do, if either of them showed signs of falling to the darkness? Maybe she could do something preemptively? They were already deep within Luna’s mind, and she just couldn’t probe any deeper. The real problem was Twilight -

“Your majesty!?” Kibitz raised his voice.

“Sorry, Kibitz. What is the matter?”

“You seem very absent minded today”, he said. “Maybe you’d like me to cancel Morning Court?”

Celestia sighed. As much as she wanted to … “No, I can’t be absent from court again, after yesterday”, she answered. She somehow had to balance all her problems. She made a mental note to speak to Twilight about these problems.

“Very well”, he said, and continued. “As I said, there are a few ponies that were dissatisfied with yesterday’s rulings.”

“They are always dissatisfied. I trust that neither Twilight nor Luna would have ruled any differently than I. Tell me, are these dissatisfied ponies part of the nobility?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then their dissatisfaction tells me that everything is alright.”

“I shall inform them that these rulings were in your spirit.”

“Thank you”, she said, and entered the throne room. There were a lot of familiar faces. Probably the usual ponies with their usual requests. Which allowed her to concentrate more at the problem at hoof.

She had to put some safeguards in place, should worse come to the worst. She had no access to the Elements of Harmony, but maybe she could still seal the Nightmare with enough time to prepare. She even had a rough estimate on where she would emerge. This would allow her to create a banishment sphere by strategically placing a few enchanted objects within the castle.

“Silver Tongue.” The guard announced the first petitioner. The name was unfamiliar to her.

"We now live in modern times", the gray stallion began. "The world opens to us, and we're opening to the world. Many ponies I know want to visit faraway lands like Saddle Arabia. Or Yak Yakistan. But they can't. They are financially bound, and even if they were to work more, it doesn't become viable." He walked a bit closer and levitated a scroll in his silver glowing magic. "I propose that taxes should be lowered for those that choose to work more. It won't generate more income for the crown, but there also won't be less. But it will enable ponies to realize their dreams."

Celestia took the scroll in her magic. "I will look at it", she said. "And if there aren't any problems, consider it accepted."

"Thank you, your majesty."

She nodded in acknowledgment and turned her thoughts once more to the problem at hoof. She needed even more crystals, maybe even a big one, and she would need to plant the objects in strategic locations, one of which was Luna’s room. Redecorating her room without permission was probably the trickiest part about the spell.

“Please include two crystals in the size of a pony in the order to the crystal empire”, she whispered to Kibitz as the guard announced the next petitioner. As for Luna … she would need to get her something she always wanted. Then she’d get away with a little redecorating.

She could only hope that she wouldn’t need to use that spell.

Please, sister. Endure. I don’t want to lose you again!

[ § ] -

Luna paced inn her room. Two hours. Why had she agreed to meet in two hours? Why not right away? How much damage could the Nightmare do in two hours? She couldn't remember how her memories faded or whether they faded at all.

What should she do, if Twilight suddenly became ... Midnight Sparkle? Or however she would call herself then? Maybe she should ask Celestia ... No she couldn't just disturb Morning Court.

But maybe she could meet Twilight earlier. And then? Remind her constantly that she had a Nightmare in her memories? But maybe that would even allow the Nightmare to destroy her memories more easily ... Or it could hamper the progress.

She just couldn't stand around and do nothing.

Luna left the castle on the shortest way possible, while she pictured the sky above Ponyville in her mind. As soon as she had left the castle, and had a clear picture in her mind, she extended her magic, charged her horn, and pulled herself through. She didn’t even notice the sounds of magic and displaced air, while Canterlot around her was replaced by the air above Ponyville.

Twilight's crystal castle stood at the edge of the town. Luna didn't bother to land, she just flew to the balcony and stormed through the doors.

"Twilight? Twilight Sparkle? I've come to assist thee!"

"Twilight left some time ago. She was in a hurry", a young male voice answered. Spike answered from some room in the castle. He came out, carrying some books. "Do you want to leave her a message?"

"Do you know where she's gone?"

He shrugged. "Beats me. But I guess she has gone to order a mirror, as she wanted me to free some space for a new one."

Luna turned and jumped off the balcony, letting her wings catch air. Why would Twilight want a mirror? This wasn't the time to redecorate her castle! Luna needed to find her. She had to search for the mare.

But where in Ponyville would she get a mirror?

[ * ] -

"Hello, Darling", Rarity greeted her. "So nice dor you to stop by."

"Hello Rarity", Twilight said. "Do you have a few moments?"

"Of course, dear. Do you need a new dress for some royal business?"

"I have a favor to ask of you. Actually two, but the first is much more pressing."

"Of course, Twilight. What is it?"

"I need a flawless crystal."

"That's no problem. But what for?"

"I need it to sort out a few memories", Twilight answered. "Which is also why you need to perform the same memory spell on me that I used when we first met Discord."

"I'm not very sure about this. Wouldn't it be better to ask somepony else?"

"We need similar memories for it to work. It's basically just a forceful reminder of what happened."

"I see", Rarity nodded. "I will try, but I won't make any promises. But Twilight ..." She touched Twilights shoulder with her hoof. "May I ask why?"

"I'm not quite sure. Ask me again, when I've sorted this all out?"

"Very well. But promise me to come to me when there is the slightest problem."

Twilight nodded. "I promise." This made Rarity smile.

"Now then, let's find you the perfect crystal." She walked to one of the chests in her boutique and got a few dozens of crystals. She examined all of them fairly quickly. "No, no, not this one, maybe this", she sorted them quickly in two piles, the larger one the rejected crystals, and the smaller one the maybes. Then she did it once more before coming to Twilight. "This is as flawless as I can give you on short notice", she said.

The crystal looked amazing. It had a clear uniform blue color, had a symmetric shape, and no visible imperfections. "This one is perfect."

"The color is slightly off for a sapphire." Rarity shook her head. "I could give you the heart shaped ruby I got from Spike ..."

"No, no. I'm sure this one is fine for my purpose. Thank you, Rarity." Twilight took the gem in her magic and put it into her saddle bags.

"Don't worry about it.” Rarity waved her off with a hoof. “Now then. How do I perform this memory spell?"

"I’ll tell you later. For now I need to sort out my memories. Then we can think about restoring them."

"All right. You know these magic things better than I."

"Thanks again, Rarity. I'll come back to you." Twilight turned away and walked out. On the way she scratched the gem off of her list. The mirror was ordered, and should arrive soon enough. Next on her list were Starswirl’s spells. They were kept in the Canterlot Archives, which meant that she had to fly to Canterlot. She could only hope that she made it before her deadline. Two hours. And roughly thirty minutes had already gone by. She was on a very tight schedule.

Twilight spread her wings, and took to the skies, heading toward Canterlot.

[ § ] -

Luna sighed heavily. The shop pony didn’t even know who the Princess of Friendship was, and even Princess Twilight Sparkle only slowly ringed a bell for him. It was as if sprouting wings wasn’t enough for everypony to immediately recognize a princess. Now she at least got to know that Twilight had, indeed, ordered a large mirror, but he didn’t know where else she’d gone. That meant she had to ask the citizens of Ponyville, just to get to know where Twilight had gone.

“Hey, Luna!” A pink pony suddenly appeared in front of her. “Are you here for another Nightmare Night party?”

“Greetings, Pinkie”, she sighed. “No, I’ve -”

“Come to find Twilight, because she has a living Nightmare in her memories, and you want to make sure she gets rid of it before anything happens?”

The pink pony was sometimes really frightening. “Something like that”, she answered. “Do you know where-”

“Twilight has gone? No, beats me.”

“How can you know why I am here, and not where Twilight has gone?”

“Eh. Lucky guess”, Pinkie shrugged.

Luna blinked. How could something so specific be a lucky guess? “And if you had to guess where Twilight is right now?”

“Oh, silly”, Pinkie waved off, “it doesn’t work like that. You can’t make me tell you what you need to know.”

Luna sighed. “Thank you anyways, Pinkie.”

“Well, good luck. I’m off to get sunscreen.”

Luna shook her head. That pony was and would forever stay a mystery to her. Still, she could visit her friends and ask them. They probably were her best chance to find Twilight.

She looked around and got her bearings. The one who lived close by was Rarity, and Rarity’s boutique was … over there, with over there being on the opposite site of the town. Taking a deep breath, she spread her wings, and took the most direct route. Luna opened the doors, not caring for any formalities. She was in a hurry, and who would knock on a boutique anyway?

A bell rang, and one mare shouted from the back “one moment please.” It took about two minutes until the mare in question came to the front; an eternity in Lunar Time. Luna managed to only tap her hoof while she waited. “Oh, hello, princess”, Rarity said. “Is there something you need?”

“In fact, there is. Do you happen to know where Twilight Sparkle is?”

“Twilight? She was just here minutes ago.” Rarity came a few steps closer. “Does this, by chance, have anything to do with her needing to sort out her memories?”

“Unfortunately it does.” Luna answered truthfully. It was a good thing that Twilight was preparing, but it still didn’t answer why she ordered a mirror. “’Tis of utmost importance that I find her. Did she return to her castle?”

“She came here to get a flawless crystal, and she took off shortly after that. I think she wasn’t headed to her castle, but to Canterlot.”

Canterlot? What would Twilight want in Canterlot? Had she decided to meet her in Canterlot instead? “And I only missed her by a few minutes?”

“I think so. I just made a few stitches on that dress … attaching the sleeves, and … oh my … this might have actually been half an hour. I’m sorry Prin-”

Luna’s hastily invoked teleportation spell cut out the rest of her sentence.

She reappeared high above Canterlot Castle. After orienting herself, she dove toward one of the towers, and galloped to her room. Luna stopped in front of the guard, who tried to be as inconspicuous as always. She wasn’t sure whether they just wanted to give the appearance of being one with the background out of tradition, or because they didn’t want to be noticed, and given more work by her or her sister.

“Has Princess Twilight Sparkle been here?” she asked.

“No, ma'am.”

“Good. Let her in as soon as she arrives.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Luna nodded, and entered her room. Twilight should be here in a few minutes. She stifled a yawn, and looked to her bed. She would usually be asleep by now, she just needed to get past this dead point and she was good to go for a few more hours. Enough to sort out Twilight’s memories …

[ * ] -

Twilight counted herself lucky. The first scroll was already the one she needed. It detailed not only how to open a portal to another realm, but also how to enchant a mirror, making it a permanent, and safe gateway. It cautioned from sending any person to the dream-world. Whereas a dreamer could control it, anypony physically present couldn't. A dreamer could wake, and flee easily in this manner, the intruder couldn't. But Twilight would only pass an object into her dreams, which meant she had nothing to worry about.

There was one thing she still had to figure out: She needed to lucid dream. Luna could induce that quite easily, but she couldn't trust her. Training lucid dreaming could take weeks, or even months. She also needed a reference point in the dream or the astral realm to open a portal. Maybe ...

Twilight looked through a few more scrolls, and found the one she needed. The "Mirror Mare" spell would allow her to create an exact double of herself. The only drawback was that it cut her overall strength in more than half as long as it was actuve.

She took a few quick notes, and checked her checklist once more. The mirror should have arrived by now, she had the spells, and the necessary crystal. And she had twenty minutes to return home, and implement the plan before her deadline. Too bad she didn't quite have the power to teleport there right away. But she could, maybe, cut her flight time in half. She would be exhausted, but that would also help her to fall asleep.

"Princess Twilight", a guard stopped her as she left the archives. "Princess Luna is waiting for you in her chambers."

"I ... I'll be there. Shortly." Did Luna suspect anything? "I forgot something important at home."

"I understand, and will inform the Princess."

Twilight bit her lip, then nodded. "Do that. Tell her I'll be there in ... half an hour." She didn't wait for the guard's reply, and took off. Flying, and teleporting short distances. Time was running out. Fast.

[ § ] -

Luna walked through the darkness. She could only vaguely make out the floors and ceilings around her. Were those made of crystal? Where was she? This was neither Canterlot Castle nor their old Castle within the Everfree Forest in all its glory, as it usually manifested within her dream. This was somewhere else. She felt as if she had been here before. Had it been another dream? Or had it been in the waking world? She wasn’t sure. She felt as if she forgot something, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof to what it was.

Her heart pounded while she continued on, walking slowly through the vast halls. There was a chill in the air; in her bones. Her eyes darted from left to right, and back. The walls creaked, and her eyes, and ears, went to the source. Never finding anything. Dreading everything. She knew this feeling. She was afraid. But she couldn’t help it. She knew that this place was dangerous. Yet there was a reason to why she was here; a reason why she couldn’t leave. She just couldn’t remember what it was.

Her ears swiveled again. There was a new sound. Somepony cried quietly; She said “no” all over, and plead with … something. That pony needed her help. Luna’s pace quickened, changed from a walk to a trot, then to a canter and finally to a gallop. The sound guided her through the halls of this place. Whoever that pony was, she would be there, soon. With each corner she took, the crying got louder and clearer, the voice more familiar. Finally she arrived a large room.

A lone pony sat in front of a mirror, unmoving, and sobbing. Luna’s heart quickened its pace once more. She knew that pony: It was her sister. Celestia stared at the mirror, as if mesmerized by what she saw there. Her eyes were tinged green, tears flowed out of them, and magic leaked like dark mist from her irises. She had fallen into a trap, pleading to the mirror. “No, please … I can’t do this alone … Please … come back … This can’t be true … you can’t be …”

Luna took a deep breath, steeled herself, then walked toward Celestia. She spread her wings, and blocked the view of the mirror, pulling her sisters head to the side at the same time. She could only hope that this would break the spell.

The white alicorn looked up to her, ears pressed to her head, tears running down her muzzle. Celestia shivered, and bit her lower lip. Then the green faded from her eyes. “L… Luna”, she said, and stood up, carefully extending a hoof. Celestia touched her shoulder. “Y… you are fine.” Her older sister embraced her in a hug. “Thank goodness. I thought … I thought you were … were …”

“I am fine, sister”, she reassured her. “Nothing happened to me.”

“Oh, thank the stars. This mirror …”

“Don’t speak of it. This is all a trick.”

“Yes. It is.” She pulled back. “It’s good that you found me. Now we need to continue. I am sure that we can only defeat Sombra together.”

“Sombra …” This wasn’t a dream … not quite. It was a memory. A memory that was influencing her dreams. Yet there was still something she forgot. Something important …

“Princess?” echoed through her dream. “Princess? Princess Luna?” Something knocked on the door. Which door? Must be her door … The dream shattered into thousand pieces, and she was back in her room, looking into the brown eyes of an armored stallion. The royal guard.

“Y… yes?” She answered. She didn’t even notice that she had fallen asleep. A daydream?

“Princess Twilight said she would be here in another twenty minutes.”

Twilight! Yes, that was what she had forgotten. Usually she was up to her game, even in her dreams. But why not this time? Why had she fallen asleep in the first place? “Wait a moment! Twilight has returned home? Why?”

“She said that she forgot something important, and that she will be here in half an hour. That was ten minutes ago.”

“Thank you”, Luna nodded. But something felt off. Twilight knew that Luna was supposed to meet her in Ponyville. Why had she come here in the first place? “One more thing. Where did you find Princess Twilight?”

“She was in the Royal Canterlot Archives.” The guard supplied.

The archives? Ordering a mirror? What was she planning? Maybe it was best, if she met Twilight at home, as they had planned to. “Thank you”, she said to the guard once more, and left her room. As soon as she was in the corridor, she spread her wings. Runes stopped anypony from teleporting in or out, but nothing stopped her from flying …

[ * ] -

After Twilight landed on the balcony of her castle, she found Spike in her study, looking at himself in the newly set up mirror. He was probably imagining himself with a mustache once more.

“Hey Twilight”, he greeted her. “Luna was searching for you; Did you meet her?”

“Not yet”, she answered. “And she might show up again.” She shook her head. “I need more time, Spike. Stall her, if necessary.”

“Stall her? But how?”

“I don’t know! Talk with her about comics, if necessary!” She took the spells from the Canterlot Archive out of her saddle bags.

“Comics? Luna doesn’t strike me as one that likes comics …”

“Try it”, she said, setting up the rest of the things she needed. “You might be surprised.”

Spike shrugged. “I could get the special issue of the Power Ponies …”

“Good Idea”, Twilight closed her eyes. “I need to concentrate.” She heard Spike leave, the patter of his feet on the crystal floor becoming quieter. First step: Create a magic clone. That alone was a high level spell, and she was probably the first pony since Starswirl, and maybe the princesses, to use it.

She felt a shiver running over her whole body as the spell created her likeness, then she provided the copy with a spell that would allow it to perform the tasks she wouldn’t be able to perform. The copy wasn’t self-aware, but would just follow a preprogrammed path. She even added a few things for distracting Luna, should it become necessary.

As she opened her eyes, she looked into her likeness. “Hello Twilight”, she said, and the clone answered: “Hello Twilight.”

“You know what you have to do?” she asked.

“Yes. Enchant the mirror with a pathway to the dream realm as soon as possible, and give you the crystal.”

“Good. Now I’ll just need to fall asleep.”

The other Twilight smirked. “Just leave that to me. I know a good way.”

“Huh?” Before Twilight understood what was happening, something hit her in the back of her head, and she blacked out.

[ § ] -

Luna landed once more on the castle's balcony. She didn't bother to knock, and went straight inside.

"Hello Luna", Spike greeted her with Comic Books in claw.

"Greetings, Spike. Has Twilight returned?"

"Well, yes. But I was wondering if you read the latest issue of the Power Ponies?"

"The return of the Shadow Mare? I've not had the time." She walked by Spike, who's feet pattered on the ground while he kept up with her long strides.

"We could read it together!"

Luna stopped. There was no time for this right now. "Maybe later." She needed to see Twilight. Spike had used her moment of indecision to stand before her, holding the current issue before her eyes. On the cover the Shadow Mare was rising out of the combined Shadow of the six Power Ponies, her eyes glowing red. This sent a shiver down her spine.

Luna pushed Spike aside with a wing. "I am sorry, but this is more important. Twilight needs my help."

"I'm sorry, Princess. I put him up to this." Twilight walked toward her, a big smile on her muzzle. "Spike, it's okay. You can leave us now."

He shrugged. "Okay." He walked away, but turned again after a few steps. "By the way, Luna, the offer still stands." He waved the comic in the air, then left.

She smiled for a moment, then turned to Twilight. "Why would you make him stop me?"

"You see, I needed more time."

"Time for what?"

"With all the changes to my memories, I couldn't trust you. In fact, I still can't." She turned and led the way through the castle.

Luna gulped. "Then ... what did you do?"

"I came up with a method to fix myself." They entered the study where Spike had made space for a mirror. Luna walked toward it. There was only a faint reflection of herself, but nothing else in the room was visible in the cloudy surface.

"A portal mirror." Luna recognized it from Starswirl's experiments. "How did you ..."

"That was easier than you think. I just cloned myself, then used my own magic signature as a beacon to create the portal."

"Then this leads to ..."

"The dream world." Twilight smiled.

"This is dangerous", Luna exclaimed. "Nightmares could leave the dream world and manifest in reality!"

"Isn't that the whole point? Sealing a Nightmare in an object in reality?" Twilight walked next to her. "Only I seal it directly in my memory plane. You risked channeling it through your sister."

Luna looked at Twilight. Something was off about her. Her coat looked a lot darker.

"W... what is the matter with you?" She asked with a shaking voice.

Twilight went to the mirror. "I believe my spell is ending. But that also means that I, or rather Twilight, has accomplished her mission."

Suddenly a black crystal fell through the mirror.

"Is that ...?"

"Yes, that is your darker half from her memories sealed into a crystal." Twilight's colors faded more and more toward black. She almost looked like the Shadow Mare from Spike's comic.

"Do you know the one issue sealing anything into crystals has?"

Luna gulped, and shook her head.

Shadow Twilight took the crystal in her magic, lifted it above her head, as if inspecting it.

"Crystals can be awfully brittle", she said, and smashed the crystal against the ground.

A piece flew off, and black smoke fled from it like hot steam from a kettle. It formed into a black mare, wings spread, horn glowing, while Shadow Twilight faded behind her.

"Hello again, Luna", Nightmare Moon said.

Author's Note

Well, this has been a long time in the making ... and, as I started writing again, I went back, and revisited a lot of what I have written - I made minor changes to chapter two; changes that were necessary, as it had some logic errors.
And this one - well, a lot has changed, and yet ... it's not too bad.
Hope you don't mind that I take very long posting chapters now - and sorry, but I had something different to write inbetween ... Something non-pony.