The gardens of the Canterlot Palace were flooded by dozens of cheerful ponies, chatting and laughing. The laughs turned into loud cheers and stomps as the royal couple of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza arrived. The newlyweds greeted the audience but rushed to greet one particular pony.
“Twilie!”
Twilight Sparkle literary jumped to hug her beloved big brother and her sister in law.
“I´m so happy to see you two again! Come, you have to meet my friends, you only talked to them for a few minutes last time and I have so much to tell yo-“
“Woah, calm down shrimp!”
“Don´t call me that!”
The princess giggled as the two siblings friendly wrestled. The other five ponies and one little dragon rushed to greet them.
This was a special evening in Canterlot, one that no living pony had experienced before. For the first time in over a thousand years, an eclipse was about to happen. Even louder cheers were heard once the regents of the Moon and the Sun arrived.
“Greetings, everypony!” the soft voice of Princess Celestia was like a lullaby, despite its quietness it reached the heart of everypony present.
Princess Luna, in the other hoof. “THIS WOULD BE A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!!!!!”
Once the sudden shock of the Princess roar was gone, all ponies stomped their hooves once more. The Princesses moved towards the group of the bearers of the elements who bowed their heads.
“Please, Twilight Sparkle!” Princess Luna said. “There is no need for you or your friends to bow your heads to us!”
“It´s merely protocol, Princess.” She explained.
“But we…I was under the impression that protocol doesn’t apply to friends.” Princess Luna tone was filled wit insecurity. “We are friends, aren´t we?”
Twilight couldn´t help but smile at her naivety. “Of course we are, Princess.”
Princess Luna beamed with happiness, a smiled shared by her older sibling. Princess Celestia placed a hoof on her sister shoulder. “Ready, Luna?”
“Yes, Tia!”
While the other bearers giggled at the mention of that affectionate nickname and Princess Cadenza merely shrugged, accustomed to the regents usual display of affections; Twilight Sparkle remembered that Nightmare Night festivity, where Princess Luna was in the verge of tears, feeling rejected and alone and how, after she managed to relate with her servants, the Princess called Twilight her first friend and hugged her, a bit enthusiastically, but sincerely touched.
Using her magic, Princess Luna raised the moon, joined by the loud cheers of the audience; while Princess Celestia kept the sun on its place. Slowly the two celestial bodies came closer until they finally aligned, engulfing the whole of Equestria in a perpetual dusk.
All the ponies cheered once more, including the bearers, shouting the names of the Princesses. Celestia smiled satisfied while Luna began to laugh.
“OhhohohohohehehehehahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!”
“…Luna, I think your laugh is a litt-“
“SHUT UP, CELESTIA!!”
And Princess Luna created a whip of magic energy and hit her sister, tossing her to the ground.
Everypony gasped as Princess Luna, totally apathetic, royally marched to the front of the stage and addressed the public.
“NOW ALL OF YOU, BOW BEFORE ME!!!”
Nopony reacted, still too shocked because of what they have just saw.
“I SAID, BOW!!!!!”
Princess Luna roar was joined by a sudden explosion of nocturnal dust that slowly took the form of their night guards. The bat-winged ponies quickly subdued Celestia´s guard and forced the citizens to bow their heads.
“Aunt Luna, what are you doing?” Princess Cadance pleaded.
“Be quiet, dear niece.” Ignoring her relative, Princess Luna rose into the air once more and projected her magic, a small light blue beam emitted by her horn. The magic hit the moon that began to turn blue, its shadow slowly growing to engulf the entire kingdom, including the table where Prince Blueblood was hiding, trembling with fear. Once the moon turned into a silvery pearl, the whole of Canterlot had been wrapped into an ethereal nightlight.
“Luna…”
“Oh poor pathetic Tia, you don’t understand anything of what’s happening, don’t you? Well I can’t say I’m surprised, after all, you never were the sharpest knife…” Princess Luna eyes glowed with a sinister light. “I am a bit disappointed. All those months of planning and it only took me a few seconds to succeed. And to think I went through all those troubles, weakening the spell on Discord, letting loose Cerberus, bringing the Queen of the Changelings to Canterlot…”
“You…were responsible for that?” Celestia´s words were merely a whisper.
“Of course! What, you think all I do during the day is sleep?” the mockery tone of the Princess was like the slash of a whip.
“Princess Luna…”
“Oh and I have to thank you, Twilight Sparkle! None of this would have been possible have not been by you!” the Princess spread her wings, her smile being nothing but grateful. “You have no idea how much you have changed old Tia. When we were foals she was the funny one but as time went by and she got more responsibilities, she became more sour and cold, eventually shrugging even her own sister! I can only imagine how much she grow bitter and lonely over this thousand years but then you arrived, you and your lovely reports of friendship that Tia insists on reading to me every single week!” she punctuated each word with a loud stomp. “You warmed her heart and make her weak enough for me to overthrow her. In her pathetic state even some disgusting creature as the Changeling’s Queen was able to defeat her! So, thank you Twilight Sparkle, for being such a perfect tool…”
Twilight had no response; she just sobbed and babbled something.
“What?”
“You…said we were friends…”
“FRIENDS?! What made you think that I, a Princess, will lower myself to be friends with a comm- no, that´s not right. I´m not a Princess anymore. I´ll finally take the title I was meant to have from the begging. For now on, I shall be now as the regent of a glorious empire. This is the first night of the first year of a new epoch- the Epoch of Nightmare Moon. I am Empress Nightmare Moon the First!” and Princess Luna transformed once more into the Mare in the Moon, her body covered in a spiky armor, her mane turned into a nebulous cloud and her eyes filled with anger and resentment.
A deafening silence fell upon Canterlot. Nightmare Moon used her magic to push Shining Amor and Cadance away as she grabbed the Princess. Twilight reacted and jumped to rescue her, soon followed by her friends. Instead of being worried, Nightmare Moon smirked.
“Now here´s a line I have been waiting centuries to say…” her eyes glowed once more as her sharp teeth sparkled. “TO THE MOOONNN!!!!!!!!!!!!”
A whirlwind of darkness surrounded the six ponies and the Princess, slowly dragging them into oblivion. The last thing Twilight Sparkle saw was the horrible and satisfied grin on Nightmare Moon´s face.
*****
The throne room was tainted by darkness. Using her magic, Nightmare Moon had changed the decoration to something more akin her tastes. Grotesque gargoyles, purple curtains with her blazon, lanterns filled with blue flames and a ceiling filled with bats. The perfect palace for the Empress of Nighttime Eternal.
She smiled softly and lifted the Elements of Harmony with her magic, gently playing with them like they were their precious childhood toys.
“Now that Tia and the bearers are out of the picture…” and she toyed a little with the crown of Magic. “…it´s time to sever their connection with the Elements. They need new bearers and in order to cancel sa-“
“Enough, the Great and Powerful Trixie is not a foal that needs everything explained to her!” the proud and haughty unicorn said, snorting with contempt. “And certainly Trixie is no traitor! I shall never plead my loyalty to you!”
“
You still have faith on Princess Celestia, don’t you Trixie?”
“Of course! She is the most powerful magic user in the whole kingdom, even stronger than you! It will be foolish to think otherwise!”
“And yet your admiration goes unrewarded. After all, it wasn’t Celestia´s pupil who humiliated you, Trixie Lulamoon?”
“Hmph! I merely lent Twilight Sparkle the opportunity to impress some commoner ponies. Trixie is far beyond having some petty resentment!”
“Oh petty it’s the exact word, just like your petty tricks of magic.”
“They´re not tricks, they´re real magic!”
“They´re merely parlor tricks. The real Magic...” and she lifted the crown right into her face. “...it’s Friendship. But of course, you wouldn´t know anything about that since you have no friends.”
“I don’t need any friends…I never did.”
“Yes, always alone, always wanting to be the center of attention, and what did you get for your effort? Mockery and insults. Because you lacked power…” and she placed the crown on Trixie´s hooves. “Show them, Trixie Lulamoon. Show all ponies that the true Magic is the Magic of Pride. That one single common unicorn can be the most magical being in the entire Empire…”
“Yes…yes. YES! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE WILL SHOW THEM ALL!!!” Trixie removed her hat and put on the crown. Instantly, her body began to discolor, turning a dark shade of grey as the bright of the crown disappeared, leaving nothing but an empty shell on top of the head of a prideful and miserable pony.
“And now for the Element of Honesty…” Nightmare Moon descended from her throne and approached a terrified pony. “Why are you scared, Carrot Top? Raise your head, your Empress commands you.”
“P-p-please, let me go! I´m just a common earth pony! I´m nothing special! Please, let me go!”
“Why you disparage yourself, farmer? I have heard nothing but praise about your farming of carrots.”
This comment made Carrot Top raised her head with curiosity. “Y-you have?”
“And that information was hard to acquire. Your fame has been always being overshadowed by the Apple´s accomplishments.”
“Y-yes, that’s true. It´s always those Apples the ones everypony talks about…”
“They receive all the praising, all the fame. Their food, served in a Princess´s wedding…”
“Yes, and why? Apples aren’t that great anyway! The only good thing about them is that they have many uses, apple pies, apple juice, apple fritters; you know how many things you can make with carrots? Well, not many!” Carrot Top suddenly realized she was screaming at the terrifying alicorn and covered her mouth.
“Such brutal honesty should be properly rewarded…” and Nightmare Moon levitated the apple shaped necklace towards the farmer pony. “Take this and your fame will spread across my Empire.”
Carrot Top looked at the bright stone with doubt but only for a few seconds. She quickly grabbed it and let herself turn into a grey caricature of an honest worker pony.
“Next, it´s the Element of Loyalty…”
“Let me go, you monster!”
Nightmare Moon moved next to the chained griffin; hold on the air by threads of pure darkness.
“I´m not even a pony! Why do you need me for?”
“I need you because you´re the perfect example of loyalty.”
“Ha, like I care for any of you dweeb ponies!”
“You did once, for one little pony.” Gilda´s eyes opened wide. “She was your only friend, the only one you cared for; you always stuck by her side, for better or worse…”
“Yeah, so what? We´re not friends anymore.”
“She turned her back on you, didn’t she? Deep down she still has some feelings for you but she let her new friends shun you, she betrayed you. But even know you still care for her, don’t you Gilda? She is still your best friend and you want her back…”
Gilda was now on the verge of tears. “It´s all that pink dweeb fault! She and the other dumb ponies, they took Rainbow Dash away from me!”
“Griffins are not a gentle race, always competing and hurting each other. It must have been pretty rough for you, being alone and surrounded by strange ponies but then you made a friend, a true friend…” Gilda nodded and Nightmare Moon released her of her chains. “Serve me, Gilda Griffin. I will never shun you. I won’t be your friend but under my wing, you will now true loyalty.”
Gilda nodded again and her wings turned a dark shade of grey as the lighting bolt shaped stone was placed on her neck.
“As for the Element of Gen-oh, why are you crying, my little pony?”
Diamond Tiara didn’t answered and curled into a smaller ball. “I want to go home.”
“You mean that big empty house, where you do nothing but wait all day for Silver Spoon to drop by, so you have somepony to talk too? Home, where all you have are lonely dinners and cold servants that won’t play with you? Or maybe you meant your school, the only place that resembles somewhat a home for you?” Diamond Tiara whipped her tears and looked up at the Empress. There were no traces of kindness on her eyes. “How many times have you tried to please those ungrateful foals? How many generous deeds have you done for them, only to be mocked and rejected? An entertaining newspaper ruined by the honesty of a dirty do-gooder. A beauty contest to show your natural grace won by a tomboyish pegasus that never cared for her appearance. Your chance to become a famous star, stolen by a shy unicorn that never wanted it. All your effort always goes unappreciated, especially by those three…”
“Yes, they always make fun of me and my Cutie Mark! It´s a diamond tiara because I´m special! My special talent its being better than all those lame ponies! I am special!”
“And a special pony deserves a special place in my court…” Nightmare Moon placed the gemstone on Diamond’s Tiara
neck, the smug of the filly growing larger as her color vanished.
“And for the Element of Kindness, who is better than the kind Captain of the Royal Guard?”
Nightmare Moon loomed over Shining Armor who did his best to look away.
“Look at me, Captain.”
Shining kept looking way.
“I said…LOOK AT ME!” and she forcefully moved his head with a magic wave. “That´s better. But I don´t like that look, not one bit. You took a pledge of service to my crown. You should look at your Empress with love and devotion, Captain.”
“I will never serve you.”
“How strict. Is that how you were with your little sister?”
“Don’t try to fool me. I will never betray Twilight.”
“Just like she never betrayed you.”
“She saved my life! And the life of the whole kingdom! Several times!”
“And that did wonders for her ego. The same ego your parents have been nursing for years. Isn’t that how things have been for years, Shining? Your little precious sister always had anything she wanted, served on a silver platter, whilst you had to work hard your entire life to rose from a mere soldier into the position of Captain. Always busting your plot, overshadowed by your uncle and grandfather’s fame, facing the disappointment of two scholar parents that never approved of your career choice, while your little spoiled sister got everything she wanted. She became the pupil of the Princess herself, leader of the bearer of the elements, savor of Equestria, victorious over Discord, loved by everypony. Even your own wife loves her more than she loves you!”
“STOP!” Shining collapsed into the ground, his heart aching with the horrible knowledge that Nightmare Moon was speaking with some degree of true.
“Raise thy head, Captain.” Shining looked up and found the butterfly shaped stone right in front of his eyes. “If you wish to save your sister of her own pride then assume your rightful duties.”
Shining watched at his reflection in the stone for a few seconds, then placed it on his armor and saluted his Empress as all color left his body.
“And finally for the Element of Laughter, I brought my own personal jester court, the one pony that all ponies laugh at…”
The grey pegasus gasped and tried to fly off but all the windows and doors were shut.
“What was your name again? Ditzy? Derpy? Something ridiculous like that. The name that all ponies shout, usually after you screw up. Because that’s what you are. Nothing but a failure, a laughing stock. A useless good for nothing pony that causes a mess everywhere it goes. You make me laugh but only because you´re such a ridiculous mess, with your goofy crossed eyes and your slow voice. Heard them laugh, heard my entire court laugh at you!”
Hundreds of laughs, coming from thin air, filled the empty courtroom. Derpy Hooves covered her ears butt it was useless. The laughs were too strong, too mean, and too cruel.
“STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!!”
Distracted, Derpy didn’t realize that Nightmare Moon had already placed the rock balloon o her neck, causing her blond mane and eyes to turn a dull grey, duller than her body coat.
“Finally, all the Elements have been corrupted. Now, there is not a single force in the whole of Equestria that can oppose me. I am unstoppable!”
“For hundreds of years I have suffered
Alone in the darkness I cried
But I have escaped from my prison
And the moon shines in the sky
Now, my revenge has been fulfilled
My Empire it’s firmly rooted
And all those ungrateful ponies will realize
That a new management it’s in rule!
This is the night of my victory
The night that shall never end
I´m the Empress of Darkness, of Nighttime Eternal
In my crown, the stars are emeralds
The ruler of shadows, the mare in the moon
No longer a buffoon or merely a joke
Now I rule
This is the night of my victory
A nightmare!
This is the night that shall never end!
Nightmare Night!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
*****
Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and saw a serene field of stars. A small part of her wished that all have been just a nightmare but the grunts of Applejack waking up crashed that foolish illusion.
“Ugh, what I tarna…”
“It´s everypony all right?” Good and kind Flutterhsy, always thinking on others first.
“GAH! We´re in the moon! Air, air!”
“Rainbow Dash, we are clearly not in the moon. Stop acting so ridiculous!” Rarity straightened her mane while Rainbow Dash kept trying to hold her breath.
“But where are we then?”
Applejack took a good look and answered Twilight’s question. “Ah recognize those trees. We are in the outskirts of the Whitetail Forest, which means that Ponyville it´s merely a few trots away.”
“Oh thank Celestia!” Rarity said.
“I´m afraid I had nothing to do with this, Rarity.”
They turned over and gasped when they saw what pony had talked. Instead of the tall and proud Princess there was a small and feeble winged unicorn, her mane no longer blowing with the morning breeze instead just a flat and dull shade of pink.
“Princess Celestia, what happened to you?” Twilight rushed to her side.
“It´s the moon. It´s firmly locked in place and taking away all my power. Luna…no, Nightmare Moon had drained me of my magic. I can only do some small feats.” Applejack and Twilight helped the Princess stood up. “We must return to Canterlot before I lost all of my power.”
“Oh no! This is even worse than you think!” Pinkie Pie loudly gasped. “We have missed a whole five days!”
“Pinkie Pie, what are you talking about? We were in Canterlot just a few seconds ago!”
“No Twilight! I have a perfect biological clock! I can tell exactly how much time had passed and it’s been five whole days!”
“Pinkie Pie, we don’t have time for your ridiculousness!”
“Well, look at that brother of mine; are those the same ponies I think they are?”
“Indeed they seem to be, dearest sibling.”
The mares turned right to find the puzzled stallions. Before Applejack could yell their names, they pushed them inside their machine.
“Yes yes, long time no see! Now, get inside the locomotive! Pronto!”
Despite all their protest, the seven mares were squished inside the brothers´ contraption.
“Now what are these two rattle snakes up to?” Applejack complained.
“Shhh!”
“Don’t shhh me, Twi! Yah know these tw-“ Twilight put her hoof on Applejack´s mouth and pointed at the small window. They saw two dark coated guard unicorns approaching the machine.
“Halt! What are you doing out here?”
“Well good night to you officer! We simply had a flat tire but it´s already been took care of!” Flam said.
“What´s inside this…thing?” the other guard asked.
“Well gentle officer, they’re merely carrots! A full package of fresh and delicious carrots from Golden Harvest! Care for a free sample?” Flim said.
The guard approached the carriage and used his horn to magically scan its contents. Fluttershy squeaked and even Princess Celestia looked worried. After a few seconds, the guard stopped.
“All clear.”
“Well but of course, you kind gentleclots! We are nothing but two honest salesponies, right Flam?”
“Indeed Flim!”
The guards rolled their eyes and left.
“All hail Empress Moon!” the brothers shouted. Once the guards were out of sight, the brothers left out a sigh.
“Well, my dearest brother. It seems those magical barriers work better than we expected.”
“And I´m so glad they did, my dearest brother.”
The seven mares managed to get out of the locomotive, falling into a messy pile.
“Now, yah two care to explain what the hay it´s happening in ´ere?” Applejack demanded.
The two brothers looked at each other. “Princess Celestia?” the pink mane one nodded and the brothers took their hat out of respect. “We are afraid to tell you that some things had changed on your kingdom.”
Twilight looked at Celestia whose face showed defeat and sadness. “Please, tell me.”
Above them, the stars twinkled like tuning the last notes of a terrible fanfare.
The savannah was quiet.
The Everfree Forest whispered with the sound of lurking critters, the Griffon Mountains roared with the clash of armies and the Ice Walls of the Crystal Empire have a choir of ancient legends.
But in the savannah, the birthland of zebras, there was simply the soft chanting of tradition, of countless generations of shamans, warriors and healers, heroes and villains; the story of an old tribe, as old as the equestrian race.
Dusk Shine watched at this living legacy, at the faces of the zebras around him and smiled. This was a good place.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” a voice said behind him. He turned over and couldn´t help but smile.
The pegasus standing next to him could be described in a thousand poems but Dusk Shine summarized his impression with one word only, “Lovely.”
She blushed and sat next to him. She grabbed a cup of tea. Despite her lateness it was still hot so she had to blew it before taking a sip.
“I take everything went all right?” he asked, pointing at the hut the pegasus had t left.
“It did. The mother was worried but the delivery went without complications. The baby is healthy so I only just helped cleaning him and checking on her. Nothing to worry,” she said.
“That´s good to hear,” he said and took another peek at the hut. A zebra came outside and he was able to catch a glimpse of the goat mother taking care of her offspring before the curtain closed.
Dusk Shine smiled once more and Fluttershy smiled at this.
“So Fluttershy, you were in the middle of your story when you were called for the emergency,” he said. “I´ll like to hear the rest of what happened after Nightmare Moon conquered Equestria once more.”
Despite the heat, Fluttershy shivered at the mention of the name. “I rather not remember those times. They were terrible, long nights. It makes me grateful to have such a beautiful sun over our heads.”
“I agree it´s a beautiful place. But I will disagree about the night. In one of the worlds I visited, Princess Celestia was corrupted by this darkness and Luna was forced to vanish her. The result was an Equestria were night lasted longer than the day and ponies were actually afraid of the sun.”
“I can´t even imagine such a place. I know night has it´s beauty but I will prefer the warm embrace of the sun.”
Dusk Shine chuckled and almost spilled his tea.
“Did I say something funny?”
“No no, it´s just what you said reminded me of something...one of the Fluttershys I met became a Princess and she was close to Princess Celestia. Very close.”
Realizing the implication, Fluttershy blushed while Dusk Shine kept chuckling.
“Please, don´t tease me like that.”
“Sorry sorry. But jokes aside, I really like to know what happened next.”
Fluttershy gave him a stern look. The tattoos on her face making her look more severe, somehow. “Can I ask you a question?”
Dusk Shine nodded.
“Why are you interested? Why do you keep travelling, from universe to universe, questioning ponies?”
Dusk Shine dropped his serene smile and put down his cup. “I wanted to know more about me. When I first accidentally summoned my other versions, I was just annoyed. But after thinking about it, I shivered. I trembled at the possibility that my life was nothing that the product of random, that any decision was meaningless and there were no consequences, because there were always be someplace else. It made me question my whole existence. That´s why I travel, that´s why I ask. I want to know if I have purpose or I´m just another number in the infinite gallery of Dusk SHines and Twilight Sparkles. I want to know who I am. So...” and he magically poured some more hot tea in the cups and took his with his hooves. “Can you continue? Tell me what happened after your victory over Nightmare Moon.”
Fluttershy took her cup of tea and sighed. “I wouldn´t call it a victory, not considering the cost. The darkness that was corrupting Princess Luna, that slept inside her for all these decades, was finally expelled from her body and destroyed. But in order to do so, Twilight had to take away all the magic of the Princesses and with it, their immortality. They passed away shortly after everything ended.”
“I suppose all those years finally catch up with them.”
“It was heartbreaking. Watching Princess Celestia, who always looked so regal and bright, shining like the sun, wither like that,” Fluttershy wiped a tear that tried to come out.
“Did you ever find out the true nature of the darkness?” Dusk Shine asked.
“It was evil, what else do I need to know? It was jealousy, anger and frustration. It corrupted everything, it made us fight against our loved ones...”
“I assume you don´t want to talk about those fights.”
“No, I don´t want to. I don´t want to remember Twilight fighting against her brother or Rainbow and Gilda hurting each other. Those are memories I rather forget.” Fluttershy turned her head away. If her mane wasn´t so short now, cut to respect the zebra´s tradition, she would have let it drop and hide her face.
Dusk Shine levitated a saddlebag that was next to him. “I´ve been reading some of the letters you showed me. I was practically interested in Twilight´s. Seems she is having a great time,” he said, empting the content in the stood they were using as a table.
“She is. The Eastern Lands are like a dream come ture for her. All that ancient history and knowledge, I have no doubts she is enjoying her time there,” she said.
“So is Spike for what I can see,” Dusk Shine said, looking at a postcard.
“Aha. Twilight told me that draogns are treated like royalty on the East. He must be so happy, especially now that he got married. His wife looks like a nice pony er dragoness,”
“She sure does. Poor Rarity must be heartbroken,” Dusk Shine joked.
Fluttershy giggled. “She is fine. She actually came to this village a few months ago, for a charity tour. She was under the false impression zebras needed her help and wasn´t happy when the zebras rejected her perfumes.”
“Spirit of Generosity. Attitude of a mule. No offense dude.”
“None taken,” a mule that was cleaning a hut said.
“She truly is generous. Always sharing more than she had. I´m glad her sister followed her example. I saw the pictures of her in the hospital. She is wonderful doctor.”
“What was the name of the filly that got the corrupted Element of Generosity? Diamond Crown?”
“Tiara. She was one of Sweetie´s classmate. Not a very friendly one for what I can recall but despite all her flaws, she wasn´t a monster. Not until Nightmare Moon twisted her mind and make her believe nobody loved her. She became so resentful of her classmate that she locked them all in a horrible prison disguised as a school.”
“But the Crusaders were able to break through her, right?”
“Yes, the Crusaders never gave up on her. Especially Apple Bloom. They were able to rescue her from the darkness and made her realize she had friends and could have more if she opened her heart.”
“Is that now it went with all the fights, right? Just reaching to their hearts?” Dusk Shine asked.
“It wasn´t so easy. Carrot Top was almost impossible to talk out of her jealousy of Applejack. And Derpy was so hurt she was willing to kill us. The darkness reached deep inside her,” Fluttershy said.
“What about Trixie?”
“She actually was convinced rather quickly. She never wanted to posses the Element of Magic to begin with. She only wanted respect. We gave her something better, our friendship.”
Dusk Shine smiled at the cheesy line.
“In fact, it was Trixie and Blueblood that saved our lives.”
“That´s a sentence I never expected to hear in any universe,” Dusk Shine admitted.
“But it´s true. If it wasn´t for them, we will have never reached the tower and saved the Princesses.”
“He rescued Princess Cadence from the tower, am I right?”
“He did she saved Twilight. Despite all her love for him, she couldn´t reach ton one part of his heart. The side that could only be saved by Cadence. Her love for him saved his soul.”
“She didn´t took the throne after the Princesses passed away?” Dusk Shine asked.
“No. She and Shining moved back to the Crystal Kingdom, they still live there. Last I hear they had a foal.”
“And who was left in charge? Don´t tell me...Blueblood?” Dusk Shine face went white.
Fluttershy giggled. “No. Actually before their death, the Princesses created a new form of government, where ponies elected their rulers, a Parliament I think it´s named. Now Equestria is called a Republic, although I´m not so sure what that is.”
“I do, and it´s not that great a thing. Last republic I visited was ruled by earth ponies and they tried to hang me for sorcery.”
Fluttershy took a hoof to her neck
“Speaking of earth ponies, whatever happened to Applejack?”
Fluttershy eyes teared again. “I don´t know. We lost all tracks of her. She went south along with her cousin to build new towns but at some point they parted ways and nopony ever heard of her again.”
“Never?”
“There are stories. Some says she lived with buffaloes tribes, that she saved a town from changelings, that if somepony is in danger she would come to their aid; but there are only stories. Nobody has seen the real Applejack in years.”
Fluttershy hung her head down, fighting back the tears, while Dusk Shine took another sip.
“I suppose it can´t be helped. Like took us all in the different directions, took something from all of us but gave us more in return. It reminds me of something that Pinkie sues to say. I asked her once if she was ever sad about her cakes, that all the time and effort she put in one felt wasted knowing it would be devoured. She called me silly filly and told me that was exactly why she did it, to see the look of happiness in ponies when they devoured her pastries.”
“I guess you all find your own kind of happiness. You in this faraway land, learning medicine. Twilight with her studies, Pinkie with her sweet,s Rarity her fashion and Rainbow´s...whatever is she does.”
Fluttershy giggled. “She calls them aggressive negotiations. But I actually think her true happiness is her son.”
“She has a son?”
“She adopted one. One orphan griffon she met after one of her umh excursions and took him under her wing. I saw a picture of him. So cute wearing an eyepatch to imitate his mother.”
Dusk Shine and Fluttershy laughed.
“it´s so strange.”
“What is, Fluttershy?”
“Talking to you. I know you´re from another world, that you´re a different version of Twilight, that you´re not her; and yet, I feel like talking to Twilight again, like the old days when we used to live in Ponyville, all together.”
“It´s not so strange. Out of the five of you, I always felt the strongest connection with Butterscotch. Guess we have similar personalities.”
“Butterocht. That would be my male counterpart.”
“Correct. We were very close. Although he wanted to be even closer to me.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy said and once she understood the implication she repeated “Oh!”
Dusk Shine played with his now empty cup, avoid Fluttershy´s gaze.
“Well, that was a surprise. Then again, youré a pretty handsome stallion. I don´t blame him.”
Now it was Dusk Shine´s turn to blush while Fluttershy chuckled.
“Fluttershy...”
“Sorry, I didn´t meant to tease you.”
“....can I ask you a question?”
The tone of his voice was serious, so were his eyes. Fluttershy giggle died and she looked away from those purple eyes. “Wha-what is it?”
“Do you have any regrets?”
“Regrets?”
“If you could change anything in your life, if I could give you the means to change your life, would you take it?”
“What are you talking about?” she backed down, scared of her tone.
“In my journey I´ve seen countless scenarios. I´ve visited worlds where I wasn´t an unicorn, a mare or even a pony. I´ve see world so engulf in darkness that hope was a fairy tale and other so colorful that arguing was a capital crime. I met love with a female version of my friend Cherribomb, I saved the world form a power-hungry Bubble Berry, I compared wits with another traveler pony, one that had lived for centuries. I teached Star Swirl the Bearded, I served under a benign Queen Umbra, I´ve done so many, many things; and I´ve discovered a truth that will change everything. I discovered that,, despite the seemingly infinite numbers of universes, there are some events that can´t be changed, fixed moments in time, so to speak. The darkness that corrupted your Princess Luna, my Prince Artemis, is one of those points. If we push that point, if we stop that even from happening, it will change everything. every single time-line, every single dimension that was born from that event will disappear, replaced by what we create.”
“No, you can´t do that...” she mumbled.
“Yes, I can. If you come with me. If I gather enough travellers in one fixed point, the pressure will be so strong that it will collapse. I´ve talked with other ponies, ponies that wish to leave their dimensions, if I gather them all, I can change everything. Change reality as I see fit.”
“NO! If you do that, what would happen to the ponies in those dimensions?” she asked, almost yelling.
“They will disappear. Their time-lines will collapse and they will cease to exist.”
“You mean they will die?”
“They won´t die. They won´t exist to begin with. Everything that was them, will just vanish.”
“You can´t do that! You can´t do something like that! All those ponies, they have lifes, good or bad, sad or happy; they have lives! You can´t destroy them as you please.”
“But why not? Won´t you like to change your life? DIdn´t you save that you hated all the pain and suffering Nightmare Moon and the darkness that control her, brought? Won´t you wish to change all that?” Dusk Shine asked.
“Yes, but that doens´t mean I should. All that pain, all that suffering, it made me who I am. Living here, I learned what true medicine is. I learned that you can wave a magic wand and make pain disappear, even if you´re a magical being. I don´t want to get rid of my pain. I need my pain!”
By this point, the zebras were surrounding them. They have been tolerant to Dusk Shine because Fluttershy insisted but they didn´t appreciate a stranger disturbing their village and they knew enough equestrian to realize he was disturbing Fluttershy.Dusk Shine and Fluttershy kept looking at each other for a full mintue and finally Dusk Shine burst in laughter.
“Was...was all a joke?” Fluttershy asked.
“No no, I was being serious. Hey, it´s okay. It´s all okay, guys! Umh I never learned the zebra language,” Dusk Shine said, back to his cheerful self.
Fluttershy told the zebras that everything was all right and she sat down, giving Dusk Shine an intensive glare.
“Hye hey, don´t give me The Stare!”
“It´s not The Stare, but I am staring at you. Why did you say all that? That was a cruel joke,” she said.
“It wasn't a joke. I was serious. It´s true that if you gather enough dimensional travellers in one fixed point, the energy of their accumulated travels could tear said fixed point apart. That´s why we´re so few and we stay away from each other. I always wondered why ponies did not use this spell to just ran away from all the pain, now I know why. Thank you Fluttershy,” he said, smiling. “You saved my life. I was seriously considering threatening the entire reality just for my selfish wishes. You brought me back to my senses. You always do, either as Fluttershy or Butterscotch, you always take care of me.”
Fluttershy blushed slightly and took another sip of tea, making a face since now it was finally cold.
Dusk Shine took another look at the zebra village, at the houses, the zebras and the setting sun hiding behind the mountains. “This place is wonderful. It suffered so much and yet it was able to rise up and regain its peace. There are have been so many times when I wanted to give up, when I lost faith in friendship, in living. But like this place I rise up again, all because of you. You and the other boys never give up on me. Well, you and the other girls in your case.” Dusk Shine scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
Fluttershy smiled him back.
“Well, I better get going,” he said, getting up.
“You mean... this universe?”
“Don´t worry, I won´t do anything stupid. I still have more questions about me but right now, I need to make amends. I have promises to keep. There´s one angry Elusive waiting for me to come pick him up, I better nit make him wait any longer.”
Fluttershy got up. “Dusk Shine, I don´t know much about alternate universes or different time-lines. But I know something about you. You are special. You are not my Twilight. You are you.”
“...thank you.”
Dusk Shine took a few steps back and lighted his horn. A pillar of light fell from the sky, engulfing Dusk Shine in a pale blue light and in a flash, he was gone.
The murmur from the zebras lasted just for a few seconds and then it was back to the usual silence of the savannah, almost like nothing had happened.
Fluttershy reached and touched Dusk Shine´s cup. It was still a little warm. Just like the warm inside Fluttershy.
She looked up at the setting sun and the stars that were slowly taking over the sky. She watched blink, listened to their silence song and smiled.
She smiled at the night sky.
