Few families were as openly accepting as the Dash’s, and I owe much to them for everything they’ve done. Those first few months of exile were the most terrifying in my life, being alone in what seemed like endless darkness. Even if I would have found anypony, they would’ve run at first sight of me like they do every wolf. Than I meet them, Mr. and Ms. Dash and their daughter… their poor daughter. All three of them accepted me into their home, saying I could stay for as long as I wish. It was a generous offer, and one that I took so I wouldn’t ever have to worry about my dad’s amulet breaking on me.

Of course, every beautiful garden has one wilting flower, or a sadness in other terms. The Dash’s, no matter how much they smiled or told me everything is fine, was troubled. Denial, it was what most who lived inside the three great cities of Equestria practice. Denial of hardship, the tragedy outside the city walls, and the horrors of the darkness. To deny something so heartbreaking outside of there seemed almost impossible for me to believe, but I guess even these poor ponies have some regrets. All I could think when I learned what happened to Rainbow Dash, was why we wolves hadn’t done anything to destroy the creatures of the darkness.

It was cemented on that day, the day I met Luminous, that I learned who the real evil of this dark world really was.

--------

“Thank you so much for letting me stay here without notice,” Silvia asked the two pegasi in front of her, bowing in respect. “I would have sent word but everything has happened so quickly I forgot.”

“You have no need to send such things dear, you always welcome in our house,” Miss Dash said as she kissed the wolf affectionately on the cheek, giving Silvia a small smile. She then turned to Ralf, who immediately looked away upon eye contact “Now, the fact that your brother was coming along, I would have prepared the second bed upstairs if I had.”

This was the first time Ralf had seen a real smile on his sister’s face since he first met her. She always seemed angry, upset, or even scared whenever he managed to catch any facial expression on her. However, for a wolf who barely showed any save for certain exceptions, this was the first time he had seen a smile. It was happy to see for once, and to see it lasting for such a long time made him even happier. That only continued as Mr Dash, who was standing beside his wife, gave the wolf a warm hug.

As soon as they arrived Silvia had removed the necklace around her neck, Miss Dash opened up happy to see the wolf before hugging her, and than rushing upstairs to put it in her room. The Dash’s weren’t very fond of her being a paradox hunter, and though her father's amulet never was a symbol of that Silvia felt better without it around them. She did her best to avoid any possible conversations that could involve her job or pack, though didn’t hide anything about her father. This place in absolutely every way was her second home, the Dash’s her second family. Silvia like that, though a troubled heart always kept her slightly distant.

“Don’t worry about preparing another bed. I prefer the wooden floor believe it or not,” Ralf said as he turned back to Miss Dash, wave a paw frantically in front of him. “Still, it’s nice to see that the ponies who have been keeping my sister safe all these years.”

“Ah, I understand,” Mr Dash then spoke as everyone took a seat at a wooden table in the dining room. “Just wondering, how did you two happen to meet up. Your sister has been in exile for more than ten years now, and you said the two of you have never met?”

“I ran away from the pack,” Ralf explained as he rested his head on the table, “Didn’t need those kind of wolves around me. Other than my father there was no one there that really seemed to care about… anything,” He looked to Silvia as he said this next part. “Truthfully I met her running through the darkness. It’s rather hard to explain, but eventually we found out that our mother and father were the same and… yeah.”

Silvia rolled her eyes, the smile only seeming to grow on her face as her brother tried to explain their meeting. She couldn’t have explained it better herself, but there had to be something she could’ve done to make it easier. As a cup of cocoa was placed in front of her by Miss Dash, she felt a tear suddenly go down her face. No one saw it, but Silvia definitely felt it as it went down her cheek. This was always how she felt when she was around this place, which she had come to call her second home. She did her best to avoid showing how watery her eyes had become, and started drinking the cocoa in front of her.

“Rainbow will be happy to learn you are home too,” Mr Dash said, almost immediately causing Silvia to put down her cup. She opened her muzzle to speak but Mr Dash responded first. “Don’t worry, she’s fine. Rainbow seems to always be happier when you come over, or when anyone comes over honestly.”

Silvia calmed down upon hearing this, breathing a sigh of relief. She continued to have the cocoa set in front of her before something knocked hard on the front door. She truly had no idea what time it was at the current moment, but it felt too late for any normal traveler. The next time a knock came, it sounded considerably softer than the first time, a sigh escaping Silvia’s lips as she got up. She knew that whoever this was wasn’t about to go away.

“I’ll get the door,” She told the others around as she got up.

Luminous, Rarity, and the rest of their company had arrived in Ponyville just a few minutes beforehand. Topaz had remained quiet, or stunned as Sweetie Belle knew it, about what she had shown the dragoness. Her mouth hung slightly open trying to find any possible explanation for what she might have possibly been the most terrifying thing in her life. Beyond that, she also missed Princess Luna, who had been by her side ever since the two met all those years ago.

While Rarity, Sweetie, and Arcane search for a place that would house at the very least the princess (Arcane having said he and Rarity, even though she hated it, would sleep on the carriage) for a single night. In that time, Luminous had decided to grab something at a local pub to eat, Soarin and Topaz following suit. Though she felt it unnecessary, the former captain had agreed to wear the cloak Rarity had made her, which gave her some rather curious glances as they walked in. As the the three eat, Luminous felt uncomfortable at how silent everything had been between both of her “
allies.

“Soarin, Topaz?” She called out, finding out that they weren’t currently next to her.

Looking around, she facehoofed as she found the two placing a wooden bucket that she could only assume was filled with water. When Topaz had gotten out of her dumbstruck state she didn’t know, but it was clear she was back to her normal self. The dragoness had told her about many of the pranks they had planned on the Celestia and the royal guard, most being rather childish. Seeing the former assistant of Luna stoop this low with her jokes really made Luminous wonder if the princess just wanted him gone.

“Oh sweet moon why,” Luminous swore under her breath. Reluctantly Luminous got up from her seat and walked over to the pranker and recruit. “What in Luna’s name are you doing?”

Topaz looked to Luminous before looking back to the bucket of water that they were trying to keep balanced on the door. “Um… pranking the next person who comes through that door.” The dragoness explained, pointing at said bucket.

“Just let her do it,” Luminous was caught slightly off guard as she heard Soarin whispering in her ear. Turning to face her fellow pegasus, she tilted her head in intrigue. “I’m doing this to help her feel better after seeing the state of Sweetie Belle’s real body.”

“What do you mean ‘real body’?” Luminous whispered back, knowing full well she would regret asking. “I thought they never found her body.”

“Do you really want to know?” Was the response she got from the recruit. “I don’t know but seeing the state it was in I don’t want to know what these creatures did to her.”

Luminous looked up to the dragoness, than to the bucket she was trying to make stand on the door and it’s frame. She didn’t like the idea of someone getting soaked just for the amusement of another, but she felt this was slightly different. It was rather obvious something had been bothering Topaz a lot since they had left Arcane. She didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of this raising her spirit, but if it made the dragoness happy then what else could they do. Besides, she had a better idea.

“Bet ya ten bits you soak Rarity,” She said as she helped Topaz finally balance the bucket on both door and doorframe. “And another five if she has another freak out.”

Soarin and Topaz smiled as the latter fell to the floor. “You're on!” The dragoness exclaimed.

Rarity and Arcane weren’t having the best of luck finding a temporary housing for Luminous. Most of the ponies they came across were too afraid to of outsiders to even talk with them, and it didn’t help that Arcane had an everlasting grimace. After twenty minutes they came to a small house near the ‘center’ of town. The former tyrant was more than fed up with the way these ponies were treating them. He continued to voice his complaints to Rarity over and over to the point where even she was on the brink of annoyance, though for different reasons.

“Arcane darling, I know interacted with ‘lower society’ isn’t your thing but I’m simply trying to do you some good,” She told him, her company only half listening to her. “Were already here, so why don’t we ask them.”

Arcane gritted his teeth for reasons that Rarity could only assume was him being ordered around. Though she had succeed in making him less dangerous to talk to, his tone towards things hadn’t changed one bit. He could care less about what happens to others, and despite his promise of protection the same went for Luminous. Nonetheless he listened to Rarity and, seeming like he wanted to break the door and, banged his hoof against it hard. Almost immediately Rarity flipped out.

“What are you doing?!” She screamed into his ear, causing him to growl in annoyance.

“For goodness sake, I don’t see what I did wrong!” He yelled back at Rarity. “Didn’t I do exactly as you asked?”

“I said knock on the door, not try to break it in half!” She pushed him to the side as she talked. “This is how you knock on someone's door the proper way.”

Rarity proceeded to gently tap her hoof against the door three times, standing in front of the door waiting for someone to respond. Arcane stood unconvinced that she had knocked on the door to softly for anyone to here before the door opened. What they had expected to be a pony instead turned out to be a creature they had both never seen before. It was covered in a thick layer of grey fur, with small paws that Arcane was convince looked too small to carry such a tall creature. It was almost twice as tall as Rarity and at least an inch taller than Arcane, staring at both of them with blue eyes. The two ponies took a step back, feeling as if they had made a grand mistake in the long run.

“Good evening, can I help you two,” The creature said, catching the two of guard at how relaxed and feminine she looked compared to her appearance. When neither responded, the creature let out a sigh. “Look, I’m having dinner with the owner's right now so if you could please stop staring at me I would like to know why you knocked.”

“O-oh, sorry,” Rarity said, immediately realizing how unlady like she was being. “We just arrived in town today and have somepony of high status traveling with us. We were wondering if the owners had some room for her to stay. We’ve tried some other ponies in town but-”

“They were too scared to let anyone in for one reason or another,” She said, turning to Arcane as she spoke. “Well in that case I’m not the one you should be speaking to. Mister and Misses Dash are the two you should ask, so why don’t you come inside.”

“Of course, and sorry for the sudden intrusion,” Rarity said with a bow as she went inside.

Though he knew he was suppose to follow her, his eyes locked on the creature before him. Both of them looked at each other in bitter hate, Arcane doing so not because the creature looked intimidating but rather due to the aura. Being an umbrum he could sense the aura of every living thing around him, and this creature’s aura was beyond tainted with dark magic. He had only ever seen this amount resonate off his own body, and to see the same thing on another creature that seemed at all sane scared him. It was a threat to his own power, one that if Rarity wasn’t around he would have immediately tried to destroy.

“Sombra, correct?” the creature asked, though they knew they were correct before even having to ask. Her lips slid back to reveal the sharp teeth that adorned her muzzle. “I will warn you right now, you hurt any of these ponies and I, Silvia, will end you.”

“You really think you could take me on? That’s cute,” He teased, a cruel smile shaping on his face. “You may be as powerful as I am but I didn’t earn the title of emperor for no reason. However, I have promised to stay on my best behavior for her highness so you should have no reason to worry about me.”

Silvia looked at Arcane unsure of whether he was playing with her or not. In the end she motioned for him to head inside, keeping a strong eye on him as she entered after him. Looking to the dining room the wolf found Rarity was already talking with the Dashes. Though she knew it would do her no good, Silvia couldn’t help but wonder who this ‘pony of high status’ was that they had mentioned. Seeing as they had just arrived in town, she didn’t want to come off suspicious that one of the ponies with them was a paradox.

There was a real possibility this might be the case, seeing as she new of only two paradoxes outside of city boundaries at the current moment. She had a feeling in her gut that she was right about this, but immediately realized that she could be wrong. Her use of dark magic had made it all but impossible to see aura without her father's amulet, and as she was currently in the Dashes house she knew better than to grab it. In the end she would have to wait and see, but there was something about thinking about this pony as a paradox that hurt her.

“Thank you so much!” Silvia’s thoughts were cut off as she looked to see Rarity having finished talking to Mister and Misses Dash. “Sorry we had to interrupt your dinner time for this but I see it as unfit for Princess Luminous to have to sleep outside when she has another option.”

“Princess Luminous?” Silvia asked, getting everyone's attention.

“Oh Silvia, I thought they had told you,” Misses Dash said as she rushed to the wolf. “They were asking if a member of the Canterlot royal family could stay here. Of course are answer was yes, don’t want to upset her highness,” Silvia’s curiosity only grew bigger and bigger as she was told about what was going on. “They are heading to the Lunar Republic, though I wasn’t told for what reason. Anyways I was hoping if you could head with them to greet her on behalf of our family. I’m sure the princess will be very interested in meeting someone such as yourself.”

Silvia’s tail started to wag in excitement, though she did her best keep as composed as possible. She had never seen royalty before as wolves like herself weren't allowed in the three great cities. Wolves were told that cities would bring doom, as they housed paradoxes where they couldn't be dealt with, but Silvia had little care about that. This might be her one opportunity to meet royalty of any kind, a privilege that anyone in the countryside might only see once in a lifetime.

“Of course I will,” Silvia responded, looking to Rarity. “Let's go right now, to make sure her highness is happy.”

“I can't believe they are still out looking,” Topaz said, growling in annoyance as she continued to look at the bucket of water standing over the doorway. “You think that ponies out here would want to take have the company of royalty. Why would they be scared?”

“You don't have the same experience as many ponies do Topaz,” Soarin replied, getting a hard glare from Topaz. He gulped, waving his front hooves in front of him as he backpedaled. “I-I didn't mean it in that way. I mean that you lived in a time where you didn’t have to worry every moment of your life whether a monster would come through your window and carry you away. Not only that but ponies out here have so little to began with out here, do you think any of them could support an extra mouth?”

“You act as if famine wasn’t a problem when the sun was around,” Topaz argued, slamming a fist into the table. “Do any of you know how Equestria was formed? Because pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns were starving because of the windigos,” Topaz leaned over the table, her snout touching Soarin’s muzzle as she looked with rage into his eyes. “The first twenty years of the country's existence was us trying to revive three broken societies and turn them into one. You want to know what it’s like working with Luna when as a ruler when all three side not only hated each other, but were starving and too stubborn to accept anything that wasn’t from there own race.”

Luminous had stopped listening, too tired of waiting to listen to the fifth argument between the recruit and dragon. She wondered if her sister missed her, remembering how she had left without even seeing Neon that entire day. She would be worried sick, or perhaps she wouldn’t. How much control Swift Spell had on Neon she didn’t know, but she felt there was two possible things. Either Swift Spell told Neon that she had disappeared without any idea of were it she had gone, which Luminous regretfully knew was her actual course of action, or that she… Luminous didn’t want to think Swift Spell was that cruel but he couldn’t stop thinking of the possibility. Neon could possibly believe she was dead right now, without any idea of knowing what really happened.

However, the increase of noise between the two companions next to her kept her from staying on thought. They continued to get louder and louder, yelling about how the other was wrong and they were right. Trying to mute the sound, the lunar string blocked her ears, but it didn’t change anything. Even with her ears plugged Luminous could hear the two louder and clear, and it was driving her up the walls. She’s argued with her sister before, but this was more than she had ever had to deal with. It only took a matter of minutes before she finally snapped.

“Shut up!” She yelled at both of them, the lunar string covering the mouths of Soarin and Topaz without her even thinking. “I don’t care which one of you are right or wrong but please stop yelling. Ponies are trying to eat,” The lunar string slowly started to retract, seeming to prepare itself in case the two started back up again. “Topaz, as much as I understand everything wasn’t rainbows and sunshine in your time either, you don’t know anything about what we have to deal with here.”

“You have no right to talk about how dangerous the world is,” Topaz spat back, catching Luminous off guard as the dragoness started to berate the ex-captain. “I’ve manage to stay calm and give you a chance for the past few days to prove to me that you were fit to be her chosen descendant. That’s right, chosen! You don’t really have her blood in you, that was just something she made up to get you to go on this stupid journey,” Topaz didn’t bother to pay attention to Luminous’ facial expression, as it turned from surprise to teary-eye. The rulers face was started to overflow with tears as she heard how angry Topaz was at her. “I don’t care what Luna thinks of you, or if you are some royal highness. I’ve seen things you’ve never seen, stuck in a castle all your life. You may be the face of Canterlot, but you're nothing more than that. You may be smart, you may be courageous, you may by the leader of the military, but you are not-”

“I’m not smart.”

Topaz was left silent as those words came out of Luminous’ muzzle. The dragoness had been expecting her to yell back, but instead her ally was crying. Both couldn’t believe the site before them, especially to Soarin as trainee. However, despite the tears, Luminous’ lips weren’t quivering. It was as if none of this had come as a shook to her, and instead of leaning over the table she looked Topaz straight in the eyes. Her eyes were watering, but they were stern and serious. In her shock Topaz wasn’t prepared as the lunar string slapped her hard on the left side of the face.

“I’m not smart, but I’m not an idiot,” Luminous retorted, her voice steady despite the tears. “I knew Luna was lying, not because of a book but because of how you. You pulled her to the side in the Farplane after she told me I was her descendent. Did you not think someone would grow suspicious of that action.”

“Than why did you go along? I leader would have said-”

“I’m not a leader,” There was something about Luminous’ voice that seemed different when she was sad, almost childlike. “I came along because I wanted to do something right, because I wanted to be a hero. I was the first child, but I wasn’t the smart one. I was no straight A student or whatever. That was my sister, the one in charge of everything. She was smart, she is a better leader than I could be, and I gave her the role because of that reason. I joined the military because I wanted to protect her, because of my status as royalty I was put in charge! The only reason that Canterlot’s military is strong is because of Thunder Shield, and if I had a choice than I would put her in charge. I couldn’t even save my own mother, when she fell off the southern tower and died!”

The pub fell silent, the bartender looking at the three as Luminous’ argument came to a close. Topaz was silent, the last sentence striking her in a way that she never had imagined. The dragoness was unable to believe what she had heard, and looking into the tear-covered face of Luminous she knew what she did was wrong. Not that she cared, it only meant that Luminous was less fit for this journey.

“We’re back!” Rarity’s voice immediately the three’s attention, watching as the door slowly started to push open. “Sorry it took so long. It took us forever to find someone that was willing to let you sleep at their house. Anyways I would like to-”

A loud splash sounded from behind Rarity, drawing Topaz’s attention away from Luminous. Both of them watched as Silvia stood there, soaked to the bone with a bucket on her head. Topaz snickered at the sight, not paying attention as Luminous willingly let the Lunar String take the dragoness’ ear and slam her into her seat. Silvia on the other hand fumbled to shake the bucket off her head, and as it finally fell to the floor everyone could see how sour she was about it. Shaking off she looked to Luminous, and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes laid on the Lunar String.

“Luminous darling, is everything alright?” Rarity asked, watching with discomfort as Luminous continued to let the Lunar String tug on Topaz’s ear. It was only when she looked to see everyone in the pub staring at her that she stopped.

“It’s nothing, I just wanna get outta here,” She said. Stepping over Soarin, Luminous only looked back briefly to give a stern glare to the now wincing dragon. “You can say everything you want about me not being fit for this. You can say all you want about how I shouldn’t have left the castle, but don’t ever call me perfect, smart, or anything close to that again. I’m not princess Luna, and I will never be her.”

Rarity didn’t hear the extent of what Luminous had said, but Silvia had heard everything and was caught off guard. It was obvious who the princess Rarity had mentioned was, but hearing said princess talk about Luna like she knew them was strange. The Lunar String only made her more curious, having never seen anything like it and having the feeling it was it’s only entity. Her fear that this princess might be some paradox came back into her head, but she never wanted to believe that was the case. She couldn’t even tell without her amulet, so she pushed it past her as Luminous came up to her.

“Um… what are you?” The ex-captain asked, tilting her head as she looked over the still wet canine.

“Oh, right. City pony,” Silvia mumbled to herself before introducing herself. “My name is Silvia Holfheart, a… traveler who protects ponies from the horrors of the darkness and other monsters. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance my lady.”

Silvia knew she had to be cautious about what she said, knowing that Luminous had no idea what wolves were. Even if she didn’t know about her kind, she could still know about the paradoxes. If Silvia was to reveal such a thing it would put her in terms she didn’t want. She wanted the Canterlot royalty on her side, not against her. Hoping that she hadn’t made a mistake already, Silvia read the expression on Luminous face, finding one of wonder and amazement.

“That’s awesome!” Luminous shouted, not watching as the bartender sighed and shook his head. “Could you tell me about it on the way to your place? I’d rather get out of here as soon as possible.”

Though her glance at Topaz after finishing was a subconscious action, Silvia was paying full attention to how her body was acting. It was clear to her that, compared to how everypony outside the cities had trained themselves to hide their emotions and lay lies on their expressions, Luminous was not trained to hide her words meanings. Silvia couldn’t think of what would drive a princess to come out here with someone she hated. She decided to leave it for now, but would ask later once the Dash’s had gone to bed.

“Well allow me to show to my home than,” Silvia replied with a bow. As they made their way, Silvia could hear a harsh remark from the dragoness that Luminous had been holding down.

“You’ve made a mistake,” Topaz said. “You’ve made a terrible mistake, and now we’re trust an idiot of a power she can’t even control.”

Ralf had excused himself from dinner not long after Rarity and Luminous had left the Dash’s. Without her it had become disturbingly quiet, and he had decided to head to the room that he and his sister were sharing. As he made his way onto the bed he spotted a bag lying on a nightstand, looking as if it was about to burst. Without even think he opened it dumping the contents out onto the bed. At first nothing came out, but after a few minutes Ralf yelped in surprise as a large book landed on the covers, followed by the amulet that his father had supposedly given to Silvia.

“You don’t want to look at that.”

Ralf looked up to see a mare he hadn’t seen earlier in front of him. Her coat was a cyan or light blue, Ralf was unable to tell due to the low lighting. Her mane and tail was the colors of the rainbow, incredibly messy from a lack of brushing. Overall she looked rather normal, but Ralf could spot the strange lack of a horn or wings. She was an earth pony, but she couldn’t be a paradox due to there being no glow coming from the amulet. This was the first natural earth pony Ralf had ever seen, but he knew that something about this wasn’t right.

“Who… who are you?” Ralf asked, hoping the answer would give him an answer.

“... Rainbow,” The mare said, looking away from the wolf in shame. The turning of her head revealed a lack of hair on her upper back, which gave Ralf more of an answer than her words did. “As I said you shouldn’t be touching that book. It doesn’t belong to you.” She looked back seeing that Ralf had come up to her side and was inspecting the small square areas that had no hair on them. Rainbow proceeded to freak out at this shoving the wolf away. “D-don’t touch it!”

Ralf only stumbled for a few seconds before finding his balance. “The wound seems old by the smell yet it’s still fresh at the touch,” He said aloud, his words disturbing Rainbow slightly. “You're Mister and Misses Dash’s daughter right?”

“Yeah, why do you care?”

He didn’t even hesitate to respond. “What happened to your wings?”

Author's Note

This was one heck of a chapter, not because of what happened in it because of how damn long it took me to get it out. That said, I'm happy to finally have something out after not uploading the entire summer. Sorry for that by the way.

Anyways, if you enjoy please leave a like and comment, and follow if you want to as well.