Sunrise, Sunset

The small voice startled me. It had been so long since I had heard another voice other than the rasping sultry voices of the demons. About a year ago, the voice in my head turned on me and has hidden away from the heat in a deep bowel of my brain. Now, the sudden notion of some other living creature here made my heart thump. I creep closer.

"Hello," I almost whisper back.

Then, a shadowy figure steps into my line of sight. It has the build of a pony but mutations of a different species set it apart. It is entirely black and it was deep pools of tar for eyes. Its body was dotted with holes and it's thin, flawed wings gave it the appearance of a bug. A changeling. My first thought was to recoil and run, for, in Equestria, Changelings were feared. But, this was no longer Equestria and here, things were different.

"How did you get to here?" I approached it with concern. I could see the fear in its buggy little eyes and it made my heart melt.

"Nightmare Moon." It said, its head facing the molten surface beneath us. I breathed a sigh of sadness.

"What did you do?" I prodded gently. It gulped. I smiled. 500 years on the sun may have tested my sanity, but my kindness would never falter.

"I was caught." It paused. "Our queen was trying to lead a rebellion against Nightmare, and I was caught in the act of poisoning her drink. Us Changelings are the mistresses servants." My smile faltered as I heard it say this.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. "Luna never was forgiving, but I never thought-" My words got caught in my throat. A conversation this special was something foreign to me after all of these years and I couldn't seem to function. I looked up to see it staring at me strangely. "What." He looked down.

"It's just, no one calls the mistress of the night Luna anymore." I hung my head.

"My sister will never be anything but Luna, no matter what kind of monster she is," I said with a heaving sob and heavy heart.

"You're her- her sister?"

I nodded.

"Princess Celestia?" It breathed in amazement. its fanged mouth opened as it took in my sparkling mane and tail, my regal build, and cutie mark. I could see it trying to bow, but I reached out a tarnished hoof and told it otherwise.

"I'm Alder." It said shyly.

"Well Alder, I haven't talked to anyone like you in 500 years." He smiled at me and then, a quiet thought slipped through my mind. I hadn't had a friend in 500 years, maybe this changeling could change that.

As the two of them walked across the lava-like dirt, Alder trembled at her side as he took in the view. She recognized the feeling. It was the same thing she had felt the first time she had come to the sun. Thankfully, she had gotten better at a repelling spell so she kept the lava demons at bay.

"How long are you here?" Celestia asked. She laughed a bit at the question. When she said it like that, it seemed like the sun was just a vacation spot. Alder gulped.

"Just a few months. Six I think. Thankfully, Chrysalis is very protective over her children so she was somehow able to avoid giving us life sentences. I was the only one caught though." He sighed. "I imagine I'm a disgrace."

"I feel the same thing," I replied with my body stooped over.

"Why?" Alder asked, "You were the epitamy of grace and glory to Equestria when you and your sister ruled in harmony."

"Yes." I sighed. "But I couldn't stop her. I was the one who lost. I led Equestria into whatever state it's in now." A single tear fell down my cheek and sizzled on the surface of the sun. I could see Alder frown.

"I understand." I smiled thankfully.

"Thank you."

"Equestria is in ruin," Alder said, his face falling. "Your sister never raises the sun. The stars never shine."

I think of the stars gossiping in the sky and mocking my defeat. How pleasant it would be to get rid of them.

"Everyone lives in fear of the iron fist of your sister. She is always watching. There are always eyes in the night, even when you think you're alone, you never really are. Everything is overgrown and desolate. There is no beauty in anything. At all." Alder's face falls and it seems as though I can see the faintest traces of sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I say with a sigh, "I'm so so sorry." My legs give out and I find myself sitting next to Alder with my 500 tallies on my left. "I just wish-"

"I'm sorry too. I'm sorry there's nothing I can do to help." We both sat there in silence.

"Maybe there is," I said, an idea dawning on me suddenly. Alder looked up at me.

"What is it?"

"When you return to Equestria, take me with you."

"What?"

"Take me with you!" I exclaimed.

"But- how?" Alder inquired.

"I know strong enough magic to return home with you! When Luna summons you back, I can use a spell to come with you!" A look of confused excitement crossed Alder's face as the words processed in his buggy head.

"You take your magic for granted," Alder said with a sad smile. "So many young unicorns in Equestria hear legends of the days when you taught fillies magic. They all wish and pray that you could teach them magic." My heart skips a beat and a tear starts to form in my eye.

"I'm so sorry." Is all I can think to say. It's all of I've ever wanted to say and in all of these 500 years, it's all that I could wish to say to the stars and have them tell all of Equestria. But now, the stars didn't shine there either.

"We can try," Alder said. and I smiled.

After 500 years, this was the most amazed I had ever felt.