Luna's Secret World Redux

Chapters

Prologue
Caves and Arachnids
Understanding and Realization
Interlude 1: Two Weeks Back Home
Poison, the Past and a Close encounter
Parents and a dangerous ambush
Awakened and Awakening
New recruit, New tech, New fight
The Garrison and Uninvited Guests
Battle Of Teren Pace
Acceptance Planning and Action

Prologue

Luna’s Secret World
Chapter 1
By: AzureKaRyu
August 12, 1008 PN

“Get AWAY!” Luna screams, risking one last glance behind her before reaching her destination, a very brief clearing in the forest, allowing her to jump into the air and take flight. As she takes her first few flaps a searing pain shoots through her right wing.

Torn? I tore it. Fuck!

The terrifying shadow being caught her by surprise and cut her side all the way up to the wing. She could feel that the tear was not caused by the cut itself, but rather the panic that ensued shortly after as she flared her wings and flapped the both of them much to powerfully. This is the most common cause of injuries like this for Alicorns like Luna, or even some very strong Pegasi like Rainbow Dash or Spitfire.

Biting her lip she continued to fly as fast as she could away from the monster chasing her. Luna snuck a peek back, looking into the clearing and was able to see something that frightened even the mare of Nightmares herself.

The monster that was chasing her did not try and continue its pursuit, as it was most likely unable to fly. It stared at her with blank, crimson eyes and its body was mostly a wispy grey shadow, its arms completely exposed with an interesting lack of skin, the muscle tissue a mix of crimson and grey. Attached to its muscular arms were two metallic devices which harbored one retractable blade each. The blade was very long, probably a foot and a half and while very thin, had a fairly large width, 4 or 5 inches, that is.

The design of the blade was very elegant, reminiscent of a crescent moon with ancient designs engraved into the steel. The monster wore a mask of navy blue colored steel shaped like a very small kite, it comes up from its chin like a v and curves inwards when it reaches its nose, covering the bridge of the abominations nose, and leaving its horrifying crimson eyes uncovered to strike fear into the unlucky few that run into it.

Luna turned away from the monster, unable to stare any longer. She flew as fast as she could, sprinting in the air, towards Canterlot seeking asylum from one of the few terror's she could not control. It quickly became apparent however that she was going to be absolutely unable to continue uninterrupted all the way to her home due to the torn muscle in her right wing. She had to land, and she had to do it soon or the injuries would escalate to possibly irreparable states. Well, that's not entirely true given that it is almost impossible to cripple alicorns, the reason being their innate earth pony magic.

Luna was going to be able to fly safely for a max of two minutes before injuries could get out of hand. Scanning the forest ahead of her, she is able to spot another clearing, this time much larger than the previous one. Flying towards it, Luna gets about 300 meters out from it before she starts to slow down and descend into the patch of openness.

She lands perfectly even in her state, and she takes some time to examine her wounds more carefully. It became a sudden concern when Luna realized she was bleeding a lot more from the cut on her side than she had previously thought. “Damnit! Such a pain.” Luna cursed as she prepared an extremely painful, but necessary spell to stop the bleeding. Charging her horn with a purple-black color, different from her usual dark blue. She was channeling a spell to cauterize her wound, as she judged that if she did not she may lose a significant amount of blood. Yes, it was going to be painful, and yes, it was most certainly going to scar.

A Small black flame appeared in the air in front of Luna. She carefully maneuvered the flame to the bottom of her wound. Before applying the flame to the wound, she brought her hoof up to her mouth and gently bit down, preparing to endure the extreme pain that this black flame would bring. The reason she had to use this special black ember instead of a regular one was simply because Luna had absolutely no ability to use the magic of the light, scientifically known as white magic. Luna was only capable of using dark magic while her sister, Celestia, could only use white magic.

Just as she was about to apply the flame to the wound, she got a sudden feeling she was being watched. Immediately Luna’s, for the most part, calm composure started to break. She felt terrified.

Oh faust oh faust, please!

Luna slowly turned her head to the left, and she caught something reflecting light. She swung around very quickly and less than thirty feet away from her was the same monster she had been running from, staring at her with cold murderous eyes, lurking in the shadows underneath a tree.

The monster screamed a bloodcurdling scream and charged towards Luna, flying as forwards. Luna was frozen in place, unable to do anything. The monster got within striking distance in only a little over a second, and prepared to swing its blade straight through Luna. The monster swung and Luna prepared for the worst.

~~~~~~~

Luna shot up from her bed, hyperventilating. She threw the covers off of her and jumped out of bed, charging magic into her horn. She quickly realized she was in her room in the Lunar wing of Canterlot Castle. Luckily she hadn’t charged much magic into her horn and she was able to just let it dissipate into the air instead of causing an explosion which happens when mass amounts of magic is gathered into the horn and then suddenly released.

Quickly checking the time, Luna found that she had greatly overslept. It was 7 P.M. and tonight she had to help her sister by setting the night as she lowered the sun in less than an hour at a quarter to eight. She wouldn't even have time for breakfast! She had to prepare immediately.

~~~~~~~

Luna slowly lowered herself to the floor of her balcony after finishing the intense spell channeling involved in moving the moon and stars. She opened her eyes and looked up to observe her work. Of course, she already had an image in her mind but it was nice to see it with her eyes. She saw something irregular, her stars this night had formed a constellation that was not normally there, a six pointed star. The first thing that popped up in her head was why the stars had formed like that, but her second thought was Twilight Sparkle, Luna's most recent student of some of the less popular arts like how to wield spell swords or spell gauntlets, two ancient weapons last used by the military in the discordian time and during The Nightmare Rebellion just over a thousand years ago.

I rather like that mare.

Luna had thought that after all the time that had passed those sacred arts would have been forgotten, but Twilight approached her after the Changeling invasion and asked Luna to train her to use each one proficiently. When Luna asked why Twilight responded "I was always interested in how it worked and given the events these past couple of years I think its time to learn a real way to fight if the elements are not a viable option. I want to protect my friends."

Luna could not refuse. It was not very often, never even, that somepony would request to be taught such an old, unique, and dangerous art. They began training immediately and Twilight of course picked it up with flying colors and was one of the best ponies Luna had ever trained.
Luna felt a quick jolt of pain shoot through her horn, derailing her train of thought. She quickly spun around and observed her room. This was a unique pain. A pain that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. A signaling pain. She was being sent a message. But from what?
The dark alicorn looked around, even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to see the origin of the magical spark. Or at least she thought.

Then she looked up. The odd six pointed star pattern had now gained another star, this one at the center of the formation. Behind it was another star, and behind that, another.
The starbridge was forming. The starbridge was something that didn’t even exist in legends. No living being knew it existed or had even heard rumors of it. Not even Celestia.
Luna was the creator of this amazing phenomenon. The starbridge allowed her to expend massive amounts of her magic to travel to worlds billions of miles away. There was one world in particular, named Vineral, that Luna had made frequent visits to. It was a world where lts land masses took up a total of approximately 28% of the massive planet’s surface area. The rest of the planet was water, with some small islands in random areas usually not far off the shores of the larger continents.

What was more amazing about this place was it’s inhabitants. Yes, like Equestria, the largest species and most advanced species were ponies. But these ponies were different. They sported the elements of both unicorns and earth ponies, but could not fly like the pegasi. Their magic limited too and they had no horn to channel spells through. Instead they used their front hooves, which was substantially less effective than a horn would be. It was still magic however, and could be used in many ways.

Another interesting thing was that this species was a lot less advanced than Equestria was. They had few organized empires, the largest spanning across a quarter of the coldest continent, which Luna had named Iarna, which stood for winter in the ancient magi’s language. It also seemed that they loved war. It was constantly just battles and battles, huge armies clashing against each other in horrifically bloody battles, and occasionally some smaller city-states skirmishing against one another. This made it hard for technology to advance if it did not have anything to do with war. Because of this, if somehow this race were to suddenly show up on their planet, Equis, the entire population of Equestria would be wiped out by a group even a fourth the size of their nation.

It was impossible of course, Luna was the only living being who knew about the spell to enable such a long range teleportation. It was the most complicated spell in the history of magic. Previously, or rather, Currently the most complex known spell to unicorns across the world was a sixteen point spell named Ascension lock.

A sixteen point spell has never been successfully attempted by a single unicorn or even massive groups of unicorns, and the spell that the Lunar princess had to use to teleport such a huge distance was at least three times as difficult. It drained the alicorn of exactly 93% of her magic reserves, which is nearing the levels that would put a unicorn into an aetherhagic shock, which occurs somewhere around 95% of aether, or magic, loss. It is of course different for every unicorn, but that was a solid average.

Now, Luna had some very tough decisions to make.
She had never let her sister know when she performed this, just telling her that she was taking a week off of her duties, which was no problem for her sister.

Also, the alignment of the stars was set to allow the teleportation for 10 days, which was more than enough time for Luna to safely recover all of her magic. This event only occurred once every seven years, and she hasn't visited the world for a little over a thousand years now.
Luna needed a vacation as well. Her recent nightmares have only been getting worse, Maybe this will help me calm down the beautiful mare thought

In the end, her positives outweighed her negatives and she decided she had to do this, for if she didn't her curiosity would be a very heavy weight to bear. There was no reason for her to wait an extra decade if she didn't have too.

Luna cracked open her door and told one of the guards “Awaken my sister, and inform her I will be visiting her in a few minutes.”

The bat winged pegasus saluted and walked down the halls to the other wing of the castle.
Luna went back inside and muttered to herself, “Well, looks like I have some work to do.”

******

Twilight yawned, looking up from her book and turning towards the clock. What? It’s already midnight? She grabbed a bookmark off of the desk next to her using her magic. Digging the bookmark into its place, she levitated the book onto her nightstand.

Getting off of the floor, Twilight started towards her bed. It had been a long day of reading and her sheets and blankets were just calling for her. The lavender unicorn gently got into bed and began to pull the blankets over her body. Unfortunately for her, right as she was pulling back the sheets of the bed, an intense pain shot through her horn, starting at the tip and ending at the base of her skull “AHHH” Twilight fell on the oakwood floor and her hoofs shot up to her horn, but as quick as it came, the pain disappeared like it had never existed in the first place.

It was obvious what this was, it was a magical surge that occur whenever massive amounts of aether is released from a single point. Twilight had to pinpoint the location of this phenomena and inspect the scene.

Immediately Twilight got to work. Pulling herself from the floor, she started scanning the town for massive amounts of magical residue. Very few unicorns were capable of detecting these intense surges and those that were able to were most likely sleeping, and normally would not awake because of a surge. Obviously, Twilight was one of such unicorns gifted enough to feel these surges, and she felt as though she had a duty to ensure it was safe.

After a couple of minutes of strenuous searching, Twilight still had not found the source of the surge inside the town, so she was forced to expand her search to the outer parts of the Everfree not far from the town. A few minutes later she expanded her search once more, and the origin of the massive release of energy became apparent. About six miles into the Everfree, a spell of unimaginable power was being channeled, and from the looks of it would take a considerable amount of time to complete.The origin of the spell was about five and a half miles into the Everfree very near the current location of residue, so Twilight went up to her bed and cast a spell. Suddenly a piece of the floorboard said to the side and a chest slowly rose from the mahogany floor. In the chest lay three items. The first item was a sheathed spellsword, a special sword given only to the most talented swordsmen and mages. A spellsword was made with runes carved into the blade of the sword which allowed talented unicorns like herself channel spells through the sword to make it more adaptable and deadly. This was given to her by Luna shortly after she completed a special course after the changeling invasion.

The sword was made out of a special material called fachium, a very, very rare metal that is almost as hard as diamond and one of the few metals that can conduct magic.
The hilt of the sword was purple and the blade itself was silver with an velvet streak in an erratic pattern running from base to tip.

The next item was simply a dark blue cloak, also given to her by the Princess of the Night, simply made to conceal her identity if need be.

The third and final item is known as a spell gauntlet. This very special item was created for very powerful mages such as herself give an extra point to channel their magic through
Twilight never, ever, with absolutely no exceptions, used any of these things unless she was alone and going into an area of high risk, such as the unknown of the Everfree. After the Changeling invasion, Twilight had braced herself with the fact that sometimes she would have to take violent action to protect herself and her friends, and sometimes she would have to do unspeakable actions, but she would only ever even consider if there was no other option.
Donning her gear, Twilight ran outside her home and inscribed a tiny teleportation rune into the ground to assist her in her fairly long distance travel.

Channeling magic into the rune, Twilight's vision flashed purple and she reappeared at her target location, a clearing in the forest of the Everfree. She had been aiming for this clearing for no other reason than it was the closest place to the magical surge than anywhere else she knew of.

Scanning once more to see if the aether residue had moved, Twilight was pleased to note that not only had it stayed in the same spot, but she only had to walk a mile and a half to come upon the energy’s location.

Twilight started her trek. It would not be a long journey, the lavender unicorn was capable of traveling a mile in around 8-9 minutes at a quick pace, and she was extremely eager to see what she was going to discover.

Twilight tilted her head upward, looking at the stars. Such a beautiful night sky she thought, Luna really does do a wonderful job, painting the sky every night.

As the mare gazed onward, she noticed a very peculiar pattern with the stars tonight. There seemed to be a group of stars forming a constellation she had never seen before it. It kind of looked like… well she couldn’t tell, but it kind of looked like a star.

The lavender colored mare looked back down and noticed a faint blue glow in the distance. I must be getting close Twilight thought to herself, she noted the odd constellation and would be sure to check it out when she got back home.

Twilight picked up her pace to a light jog for the rest of the way. It was only a matter of minutes before the mare reached the edge of the glow. What she saw was absolutely amazing.

There was a massive clearing, most likely a mile in diameter and completely circular. Inside the circle was a six-pointed star with edges expanding to the corner of the clearing and met with trees. The trees had massive arcanic inscriptions that now sported a blue hue, and inside the six pointed star were dozens upon dozens of magic circles and inscriptions.

By Celestia… this is the creation of a goddess

Twilight was wrong in her assumption, but not too far off. In the center, she finally
noticed a dark blue unicorn… no, Alicorn standing in the center with an intense brightness surrounding her horn. Twilight could do nothing but stand in awe as the magic circles and inscriptions flashed blue, and she had somewhere in her mind realized Luna must have been casting a spell of proportions never seen by the eyes of any living unicorn.

Twilight had no option other than to watch. Her flanks fell down to the ground and her jaw dropped, just watching the Alicorn do her work.

Luna was surrounded by magic circles, and floating around her were many small runes. Her eyes were closed and she was obviously in intense focus. Her hair flowed quicker than normal and seemed to glow the same color as everything else.

She’s beautiful… Twilight couldn’t help but to stare. The alicorn truly was something amazing. There was not a more beautiful being on the planet and at this particular moment, Twilight's heart fluttered, not just at the gorgeousness of the mare herself, but also the unimaginable act of power she was showing.

And then, everything pulsed outward.

There was an explosion of energy, and the six pointed star that had been previously trapped by the edges of the clearing had expanded outward destroying all vegetation in its path and was now encompassing Twilight.

The magical prodigy panicked and shot up from the ground, but quickly relaxed when nothing else happened. Right as Twilight let her guard down however, her vision flashed blue and she was pulled into something she had never imagined before.

She was pulled into the matrix of an unclassified level spell that required more power than Celestia had at her command.

Now Twilight started really panicking.

Oh god oh god what do I do?

This was a very dangerous situation for Twilight. She knew that if she tried interrupting or leaving the matrix, she could cause the spell to fail and collapse which would, with this much power, most likely destroy a majority of the everfree forest and all of Ponyville.

Twilight could always do nothing, but that would be dangerous as well. Now she was pulled into the matrix that another pony had started, so Luna would have to pour more of her power into the spell to make sure that whatever she was doing would allow for both of them.

Thats impossible. She thought immediately. There is no way that Luna will be able to complete this monstrosity of a spell now that i’ve been an idiot and been sucked into this.

So, Twilight could not sit and do nothing, but she couldn’t leave the spell either. This left her with only one option. She had to analyze the spell, and she had pour her energy into the spell to assist Luna, and she had to do it quickly, before the spell collapsed.

Immediately starting from the center and moving out, Twilight discovered the meaning and purpose behind each rune and inscription, each magic circle and in the end the star itself.
This was a teleportation spell that the world has never seen before. It was designed to transport a pony millions of miles.

Twilight had no time to sit in awe, her life and Luna’s as well was at stake. She focused magic into her horn, and a magenta glow blended with the already existing blue. That on its own was one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life, but now she had to hold it there for however long the spell would take to complete.

Luckily and also unluckily for Twilight, it didn’t take very long for Luna to finalize the spell. With the brightest flash of light the mare would probably ever witness, she lost consciousness, and she would not like waking up in the morning.

Caves and Arachnids

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 2: Caves and Arachnids

By: Azurekaryu

August 17, 1008 PN

“AHHH” Twilight quickly jumped up from the ground she lay on, throwing off the blanket that had been trapping precious warmth in her body. She had just woken up from a horrible nightmare, one she had experienced a few times in the past. The contents of the nightmare weren’t all that important, they included many of her fears jumbled together in a random fashion.

Twilight was able to gather her bearing quickly, noticing that it was decently cold now that she had abandoned the blanket, especially with nothing else covering her body. Suddenly jolted awake she wasn’t all that drowsy, and took an opportunity to look around the room she resided in, observing the details.

Is this….. a cave?

Twilight quickly realized that the room of which she was a guest was made purely of stone with rounded, jagged walls on all sides. The cave's ceiling was a good twenty feet, maybe more, from the mare's head. Noticing that she could see, the next objective was to find the source of light. Twilight quickly turned around and regretted it immediately and was forced to swing her head away from the intense light and cover her eyes with a hoof.

She became acclimated to the light in a few seconds and slowly moved her head back to observe the source of the blinding light. The first thing she noticed was that this was obviously the entrance and exit to the cave she was in, so the outside world was the source of light. The next thing she noticed was that it was snowing.

It’s snowing? Where could I be that it’s snowing this time of year?

On Equis, the winter season would have never started this early, or at least not on equestrian lands. It was a solid two months from winter, if not more. This was the first thing brought up some thoughts of panic. Twilight was able to keep it down, and walked forward to the edge of the cave to further observe the properties of.. wherever she was and try to get some sort of idea of her location.

The lavender mare took one final step to get to the edge of the cave exit and looked out at the land before her. It was a forest of pines, the trees covered in fresh snow with small branches of green contrasting the bright white light reflecting off of the snow. As far as the eye could see it was just forest, with a few small clearings here and there, but those were very hard to notice among the trees.

It’s beautiful, Twilight thought to herself. It was truly the most amazing scene she had ever encountered, the virgin snow and untouched forest of pines just created a near perfect image. The unicorn continued to stare in awe for a minute or two before the biting cold got to her and she was forced to retreat back into the relative safety of the cave.

The cave was not much warmer, but every little bit helped. Twilight wandered back to where she had awoken and searched for the blanket that provided her shelter from the harsh temperature. It didn’t take long and once she did find it, Twilight levitated the blanket and wrapped it around her figure. During this action, she noticed two things. One, levitating that blanket was much harder than it should have been, and two, this was no ordinary cloth. It felt silky, but it the material was a dark blue with what looked like stars twinkling in the cloth. Aether blanket, She quickly realized what the material was. It was a cloth imitation made of pure magic, otherwise known as aether cloth.

She recognized how it got there too, from the use of the spell known as Aether Creation, a difficult spell to learn and master, herself learning a couple years ago after numerous weeks spent taming it. How did this get here? Was Twilight’s immediate thought after the realization. While some unicorns could unconsciously cast spells in their sleep, there was no way she could have called upon magic this powerful.

There had to be somebody else here with her. It was the only explanation. More cautiously now, Twilight observed her surroundings and started a slow walk deeper into the cave, each step echoing more and more. She didn’t very far before noticed fairly large cobwebs in corners and covering holes that led to an unknown somewhere inside the cave. The webs were beautifully manufactured, most of them being what would be considered a “perfect” web. They were nearly perfect circles with a diameters ranging from a few feet to upwards of fourteen or fifteen feet. The webs were thick at the outer rings and got thinner as you went inward, like a normal web would be like. This was a clear giveaway of some form of arachnid and from the size of the webs, some pretty large ones too.

Luckily, Twilight wasn’t all that scared of spiders. She continued and It was getting darker the farther she went into the cave. Twilight channeled magic through her horn, casting a magenta glow that illuminated the cave around her. She continued walking and the farther she went the more holes and cobwebs appeared around her.

Twilight started to get a bad feeling that she was not welcome where she was. Following her instincts, the unicorn turned around and started walking back, keeping her head on a swivel for any of the inhabitants of the foreign cave. Unfortunately for the mare, there were quite a few rocks on the ground that seemed to have a set mission to trip her, and they finally succeeded as she falls to the ground face first.

Twilight removes herself from the dirt ridden floor of the cave and brushes herself off. She feels a trickle of liquid just above her left eye accompanied by a moderate, sharp pain. She moves a foreleg up to the wound and winces as she removes the blood, but it was futile as the wound quickly replaced the vacant space with more blood. The mare sighed. It wasn’t particularly painful or dangerous, but certainly annoying. Twilight readied and casted a spell that would help the blood clot up and stop the bleeding.

After she cast the spell she continued moving down the jagged corridors of the cave. Already having a bad day, Twilight heard something that made her reconsider her fears. There was a skittering behind. A lot of skittering behind her. Twilight quickly jumped forward and spun around to observe what was behind her. As she spun, the mare shot a quick beam of light down the narrow cave, and saw a terrifying sight.

Spiders.

A lot of spiders. The arachnids were stunning creatures, bodies jet black with the tips of each of their legs a deep red and hostile eyes looking for the prey that had disrupted them.

Twilight’s eyes went as wide as baseballs and she started running in the opposite direction. Luckily the mare had only ventured into the cave for five minutes, so she wasn’t that far in. Unluckily, the spiders were much faster than she was and some of them were slightly larger than she was too.

I have to teleport! Was Twilight's immediate thought. Quickly, as she starting amassing as much magic as she would need, the lavender mare imagined the only place she could, the edge of the cave where she saw the beautiful pine forest covered with freshly fallen snow. Now with the spell ready and location in mind, she cast the teleportation spell. Or rather, she tried too.

She didn’t have enough magic left in her reserve to teleport that far, and that wasn't even that far away. Oh no oh no oh no Now Twilight was panicking. The spiders were gaining on her rather quick, and the mare wished she had her weapons, the blade and gauntlet. WAIT, where are they!? Twilight remembered that before she ended up here she had them on her person, but there was no sight of them when she woke up. It was clear in her head now that she was in the everfree forest with her weapons, but why she was not certain.

The skittering behind her knocked her off her train of thought, and she could come back to the location of her missing items later. The mare realized she was close to where she had awaken, but wasn’t going to make it unless she was able to get away from the monstrous things that were chasing her. Shield! Twilight immediately thought of an alternate to the teleportation spell that would save her. She spun around and channeled magic through her horn, summoning a bright purple colored shield and the creatures ran into it, stunning most of them. The spiders had never seen or come across something like this, and the shield was serving its purpose of trapping the arachnids in the cave.

Twilight collapsed and tried to normalize her breathing. “That was way too close... “ She thought aloud. The lavender mare took a deep breath, finally realizing the extent of her exhaustion, both magically and physically. But just when she thought she was safe, she saw a crack form on the shield she put up. Her eyes widened to twice their normal size and she shot up from the ground immediately. Run, I have to run. She had not been expecting her shield to break that quickly. She must have had much less magic in reserve than she had thought. Quickly, the mare exhaustedly stumbled to where she had left the Aether blanket and picked it up with her magic, wrapping it around herself. She chanced a glance back only to see the crack enlarged and spreading quickly from its origin to the edges of the shield, and it was apparent that it would only hold for a few more seconds. Those damn spiders are strong. What are they? The scientist part of her mind shines through for a fraction of a second before she regains her senses and runs to the only safe place, the outside cold.

Twilight got to the edge and realizes something pretty big that she should of saw earlier. As she looked around at the mouth of the cave, all the mare could see was a very steep mountain side, absolutely impassable. Her first thought was teleportation, but she was she had so little magic left at her disposal it would have been impossible. Now she was scared. She had no options left, the only chance she really had for living was to fight, and while the mare was very proficient in all magic, she was only really good at fighting with her weapons, which had somehow vanished. Twilight swung her body around and planted her feet into the ground just to see the shield shatter within fifty feet of her. The red legged arachnids wasted no time in rushing toward her.

Quickly the mare lit her horn, but it didn’t deter the foes she faced from running at her, so the mare ripped a few hairs from her foreleg to use as a focal point for summoning a ball of fire that expanded to the size of a basketball in only a second. The spiders that were approaching her halted immediately and some of the closer ones backed off. When Twilight saw this she exhaled quite powerfully and continued hyperventilating with a panicked look on her face. She took an uncontrollable step backwards and watched as the spiders moved around her, trying to surround her. Twilight pulled a few more hairs and lit another fireball and moved them to opposite sides of her body, lighting a third to put in front. Even though this was a very simple spell, it was very taxing on the mare’s tired body and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. While she had her back to the vast cold world outside the cave. The hairs on the back of her legs stood, not because of the fear, but because of the harsh temperatures outside. That brought another problem. Even if she did get out of the cave, how would she survive out there?

That wasn’t the main concern at the moment however. The spiders had finally surrounded her on every side, and some of them were climbing the walls of the cave, trying to get directly above her. Twilight had no choice but to summon more of the fireballs she had been using to ward off the spiders. She now had seven all around her, and some spaces still allowed entry, so in order to close them off without expending much more of her precious magic, Twilight spun the balls around her in a way that covered all of the open areas and so quickly that there wasn’t a single opening. She was drained almost entirely of magic however and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long and there was nothing she could do to lash out at the arachnids with the balls of flame. She would only be safe for a matter of seconds.

The mare shut her eyes not only to protect them from the intense light coming the flame that was surrounding her, but to try and concentrate at keeping up the flame. She felt herself reaching critical levels of magical exhaustion, not very far past it at the time she had awoken anyway. Twilight was not going to be able to keep up the spell for much longer before risking serious damage to her body. She was scared to death of what exactly would happen once she had to drop the burning hot flame that protected her from the spiders on the other side, and tears actively dripped from her eyes.

Sweat dripped from her brow as she concentrated intently on conserving magic but keeping up the flames. She felt herself starting to falter and one of the balls poofed from existence, opening a gap where the mare, should she open her eyes, would be able to see the vicious creatures staring at her waiting for the rest to falter.

After a few more seconds of terrifying focus, Twilight realized she couldn’t hold it up any longer, and in a final desperate attempt to save herself she shot every single one of the balls of fire in a different direction to try and maim or kill the spiders trying to do the same to her. After that burst of magic the unicorn collapsed exhausted and afraid, and opened her eyes to see what damage she had done.

Nothing. Not one of the arachnids was harmed. They all rushed to her at once, the ones on the roof of the cave dropping down to land on top of her. She didn’t have the energy to yell, but if she could have she would have without a doubt. Instead she just slammed her eyes shut and turned her head away waiting for the worst.

*SCHING*

Twilight’s demise never came. There was no pain and no horrible bite from the arachnid. No being dragged into the cave covered in web. No, instead she was alive. And when she looked up, The spider that had dropped from the ceiling was cut in half and flying away from the cave exit. Alongside the spider was a very dark figure covered by a cloak moving very fast, but Twilight was seeing in slow motion. The figure flew past the mare at what seemed like the speed of sound and quickly cut through a few more of the arachnids before turning quickly towards her. She got a quick look at the face of her saviour, and she saw a dark mare with dark cyan eyes.

Twilight looked ahead in awe, but shortly after getting a split second look at the beautiful eyes and coat of the mare that saved her, she was roughly grabbed and pulled underneath the wing of the pony, knocking the wind out of her as well as knocking off the magic blanket she had wrapped around herself. The pair rocketed out of the cave at extreme speeds and immediately took a sharp turn upward. Twilight looked down, the arachnids disappeared from her sight and she observed the beautiful snow laden pine forest she was flying above. Exhaustion took hold of her body and she reached a hoof out trying to grab at the forest below her. She heard a murmur before her vision went dark and she was carried to somewhere unknown by an unknown someone.

Understanding and Realization

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 3

Understanding and realizations

Written by: Azurekaryu

August 17, 1008 PN

Twilight shot up in an instant, quickly observing her surroundings. She remembered what had happened to her earlier that day, the spiders, the cave, the cold. Everything.

She noticed immediately that she was in a cave, with noticeable differences distinguishing this one from the last. This narrow cave was much smaller than the previous in width, probably only able to accommodate five or six ponies lined shoulder to shoulder. Immediately after the recognition of the cave, the unicorn realized she had thrown off another Aether blanket when she shot up from the rough, freezing cave floor. This one was bigger than the last, and as she finished observing that she noticed the mare on the other side of the room sleeping peacefully.

The mare was slightly larger than herself, and was covered by a navy blue cloak. Twilight was unable to observe any details of the mare other than the color of her coat, a slightly lighter shade of blue when compared to the cloak concealing a majority of her body. Even with the cloak covering the body of the mare, Twilight was clearly able to see that she possessed a very slim, toned body that exuberated beauty. Twilight maneuvered to the side to get a glimpse at the mare’s face to try and Identify the mare. As she moved, she noticed the cloak, a simple dark blue, looked a lot like her own did, and the first thing that Twilight noticed as she came to face the mare was the dark blue mane with sparkling stars inside the larger part of her mane, which was surrounded by a lighter and slightly transparent blue.

Wait...

“Princess Luna!” The lavender mare yelled in surprise. As soon as she saw the mane she was absolutely certain of the identity of the mystery mare that saved her life. Luna jumped up from her resting position in surprise and quickly drew the blade that was previously sheathed underneath the robe covering her middle, and immediately pointed it towards the only other living thing in the room. The tip of the blade fell only inches from Twilight’s face and she gasped in surprise, taking a defensive step back.

Twilight remembered. Now everything came flashing back. She went into the everfree, armed with her two weapons and the cloak that currently resided on the pony… no Princess before her. She was wandering in to investigate an extremely powerful magical surge that the mare in front of her had been the source of. Twilight was sucked into the spell and forced to perform the extremely complex spell matrix, using what she guessed was most of the magic she had available and the weapon currently being pointed at her was indeed her own. The runes carved into the silver-looking Fachium blade with the velvety red streak erratically forged down the center of the blade. Twilight also noticed that Luna had, attached to her left foreleg, the Fachium crafted gauntlet with runes inscribed all over the cylindrical object that also belonged to her.

Well, now that I’m safe and with Luna, we should be able to get back home tonight. Twilight thought to herself.

Luna quickly gathered her bearing and noticed the being she was pointing her spellsword at was actually the owner of the weapon, and she lowered it immediately, concerned for the well being of the mare both mentally and physically.“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry Twilight, It was a natural reaction, are you hurt at all!?” The navy blue alicorn asked, genuinely concerned. Twilight's eyes were wide and mouth slightly agape, both from the surprise of who shared her presence and fear of the sudden jump at her with a blade near her face, but she recovered quickly,

“Yes yes! I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t know you would be here with me, please forgive me!” Twilight responds, bowing down to the princess.

Luna blushes at the gesture and quickly says.”Please Twilight, do not bow for me, nor call me Princess, I wish that you would think of me as a friend and not a ruler.”

Twilight jumps back up and responds “Yes of course Luna, my apologies. It has been a while since we last spoke.”

“Yes it has, too long if you ask me. I was not expecting you to be awake so soon after the… events earlier today.” This line caused a miniature flashback in Twilight’s mind of the red legged arachnids surrounding her, even from above. This quickly brought up another thought in her head, remembering that when Luna had saved her from the spiders, she flew upwards into a different cave, and not another mountain. This gives her the fear that the vicious things could still be a threat to herself and the princess, and sparked a bit of fear, causing her to look deeper into the cave.

“Do not fret my dear, the Red Legs will not bother us up here so long as we don’t provoke them. They reside within the hearts of mountains like these, why they attacked you I’m unsure. Those creatures do not hunt for anything during the day, you must have alerted them to your presence somehow.” Thinking back, Twilight realized the only time she could have possibly provoked them was when she tripped.

She blushed and said quietly, “I tripped…”

Twilight’s ears flattened, feeling like the princess was disappointed in her.

“Do not fret Twilight, it was my fault for not being with you when you awoke.”

Twilight looked up and realized it was about time for her to say thanks. “Thank you, Luna, for saving me. I didn’t think I was going to make it out of there. I was terrified.”

The dark blue mare nods in response, a slight smile on her face turning to a more serious frown. “So, Twilight. I’m sure you’re questioning where we are and why you woke up in a cave in the side of a mountain located in the middle of a pine forest covered in snow at this time of year.”

Speaking of snow, Twilight was getting quite cold. She looked around the cave to locate the sparkling aether blanket. She found it and levitated it around herself, warming up almost instantly.

To be honest, while it was extremely weird and kind of worrying, she hadn’t thought about it that much. Being chased by what Luna called the Red legs was what she had been focusing on. But now that she had brought it up, she was very curious and thirsty for answers. Not only about their location, but also why the alicorn was wielding the weapons and cloak that Luna had given her. “Now that you say it, yes I am very curious to know where we could possibly be. Also, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you carrying the weapons you gave me?”

“You have a right to ask Twilight, these are yours after all.” The Alicorn proceeded to take off the sword and gauntlet with her magic, leaving the cloak on for now. “I will get to that soon, however it would be best to go through the story first.” Luna levitated the sword and gauntlet to Twilight's hooves.

Twilight took it as incentive to pick it up and put it on. She put the sheath and blade on her her right side and cast a very simple spell to keep it there. Normally, the cloak would do it for her, but Luna was still wearing it, probably to keep her warm. The pause in conversation was reaching an awkward point, so Twilight took the initiative. “So where are we anyway, and how did we get here? It’s way too early in the year to be snowing, I’ve never heard of a place that started this early.”

Instead of answering any of her questions, the alicorn asked one back. “Tell me Twilight, what do you remember before waking up in that cave?”

“I remember that I was investigating a very strong magical surge that originated in the everfree. It was close to midnight so I decided to bring along with me the equipment you had given me. I had to walk quite a ways to locate the source of the extreme magic buildup but after a while I found a clearing with massive arcane circles engulfing the whole thing, and you were at the center of it. I presume you were casting a very powerful spell so I did not want to interrupt, so I sat and watched in awe. Then the runes and arcane circles lit up very bright near the end of the spell and I was somehow… sucked into the spell. I had no choice but to put all my magic into keeping it going, and I thought I was going to fail and kill us both if the spell failed… but from what I saw of the inner workings of the spell it was a teleportation spell, but I’ve never seen a teleportation spell so complex and power draining. I assume that’s what has happened now. We teleported very far away, perhaps even the other side of the continent?”

Luna listened intently, and now that she had her suspicions confirmed, she replied to Twi, much more serious than earlier. “Yes Twilight. That was indeed a form of teleportation, and I’m so sorry that you were sucked into this and since you are here there are many complications.”

Complications? Twilight thought to herself. She was both confused and a little bit worried. Had she messed up really badly by investigating the burst of magic? Was the princess mad at her? Disappointed?

“What do you mean by complications pr-Luna?

“We have gone much much farther than you think my dear. I’m so sorry once again. I should have been more cautious.”

“Luna, how much farther could we have gone? Perhaps to another continent? The other side of the planet?”

“No, Twilight. We have gone to a different world entirely.”

What does she mean a different world? literally, that isn’t even possible. There is no way that we could be living and breathing on a world other than our own. It’s impossible, and there’s no spell in existence that can teleport you such a distance! Twilight refused to believe that was possible.

“A… different world? As in not Equis?”

Luna tilted her head slightly towards the ground. She didn’t want to tell the mare opposite of her the truth, but she knew she had no choice. They were going to need to get to know each other pretty well.

“Yes Twilight. I know it may be hard to believe but let me explain to you what the spell we cast did exactly.” Twilight was a little panicked now, but was still mostly rejecting the idea of a possibility of teleporting to a different planet. Her mind was running wild with questions and theories, but she thought it best to let the princess talk.

“The spell that I had set down was one that no living being has knowledge of. Not even my sister. It was a large scale teleportation spell that drains me of most of my magic. It consists of two parts, the setup phase and the execution phase. The setup phase consists of me completing what is called a star bridge. I’m sure you have heard of these in the myths of mine and Celestia’s origin?”

As soon as Twilight heard starbridge what she thought was impossible suddenly became a bit more plausible. She was too stunned to talk, but she nodded in recognition.

“I have to complete the aligning of the stars, and after that is when you were sucked in. Two minutes of straight channeling magic into the runes to start the teleport sequence across the galaxy. Twilight, you were sucked into it unbeknownst by me and dragged through the starbridge onto a planet nopony was meant to know of but me. You came with me to my own secret world and I’m so sorry it had to be you. I should have taken more caution.”

Twilight was able to comprehend the information she was getting, but why Luna seemed so sad and foretelling was unknown. “Well, if we could get here, than we can get back too, right?” Twilight was ninety nine percent sure that this was a yes, after all, if it worked the first time it should the second.

“I’m sorry.” Were the only two words that came out of her mouth. By now her head was entirely pointed to the ground, unable to continue with words for the moment. I really messed up. I don’t know how she is going to handle this. I don’t know what’s going to happen to her mentally and especially down on Equis. My sister and Twilight's friends will panic surely. They will look for months. Luna had already accepted the fact and understood why they wouldn’t be able to make it back.

Twilight on the other hand had her thoughts shattered and worries expanded with just two words. I can’t get back? What about spike. What about my friends? Celestia? Ponyville? What about the elements of harmony? Will they be an option if they are needed to repel evil again? New questions entered her mind as panic took over. They won’t even know where I’ve gone. They’ll think I’ve left them! They will hate me forever for disappearing!”

“You’re kidding right princess? Of course we can go back. WE got here after all.” Twilight’s state of mind deteriorated quickly from only slightly worried to very panicked. She was breaking down. She couldn’t believe what she was being told, but she knew the princess would not lie to her. This made it much harder to cope with and tears formed at the corner of her eye. She knew that star bridges were only open for a short amount of time and only lined up after many years, sometimes decades.

“Twilight. This is going to be very hard on you, but it is not going to be possible for us to make it back. Neither of us have the magic available to us to teleport back by the time the bridge closes?”

“Why? HOW COULD IT NOT BE POSSIBLE TO DO WHAT WE’VE ALREADY DONE ONCE?” Twilight started yelling loudly. Why she wasn’t sure, it seemed like the right thing to do. She didn’t really know what she was feeling. This has to be a dream.

Luna’s eyes widened slightly and she quickly responded to the shouts. “Twilight don’t yell! The arachnids could hear!” Luna said in a loud voice but hushed tone. She took a couple of steps towards the panicked mare and kept alert, listening for any noises other than those of the two mares.

Twilight was sobbing profusely at this point. The information hit her hard and very quickly. Her hind legs collapsed and her flanks fell to the floor, hitting the freezing cold stone hard enough for her to feel it, but she didn’t really notice. All her pain was in her head at the moment. After only a few moments her forelegs fell too, and she was able to catch her head by crossing her two front legs before they hit the ground. She lay there and sobbed.

After a few moments Luna was convinced nothing heard the yells from the poor mare in front of her. Luna walked over to Twilight lay down next to her, extending a wing underneath the cloak she adorned to wrap around the crying mare. She took it much harder than I expected. It was a lot quicker than I thought. “Shh, it will be alright Twilight. We are safe and that is what is important right now. Shhh”

Twilight felt the wing wrap around her even through the magical cloth currently wrapped around her. She was still weeping and not thinking clearly, but the warmth from the mare next to her gave her something to latch on to. She leaned closer to the mare and sobbed into Luna’s coat, wetting it at the sides.

Luna allowed the mare to do so was happy to lay there with her. It went on for a few minutes before the sounds of sniffling and crying halted into a smooth and regular breathing, alerting her that Twi had fallen asleep. Good. It is best that she let it out now, when we are safe than later. She will be calmer the next time she wakes up and we will be able to talk.

Luna was by no means happy. The mare had a lot to think about. She herself would probably recuperate in time to make it across the starbridge, but was certain Twilight wouldn’t. It had already been five days, so Celestia and Twilight's friends would be looking, at least for Twilight. Celestia knew that Luna was going to be gone for a couple more days, but with the disappearance of both of them suspicions would rise and the guard was probably searching for her as well.

I don’t know how well Celly will cope if both myself and her student disappear like this.. Luna knew that the mare was already stressed especially with dealing with the tensions between them and the griffons. There was a chance that if herself and Twilight didn’t make it back that Celestia would panic and shut down too. She had already lost Luna once, and again, but this time because of an unknown, might be too much. Especially since now Twilight was gone with herself.

Luna had two options. The first was that she stay here with Twilight. Enjoy the rest of her ‘vacation’ and realize that there was nothing they could do to get back to Equis. If she did this, she would certainly need to find a civilized place. Perhaps one of the pony kingdoms on this continent had become stronger since her last visit and they could stay with them. Luna hoped legends of her still existed within the pony cultures today from her last visit more than a thousand years ago. It would give her power and insurance of her and Twilight’s safety.

There was another option however. This was the cold hearted, but more responsible option.

Luna was certain that her magic would be powerful enough to make it through the bridge before the ten days it was open would be over. That would mean leaving Twilight her in a world she had never seen or heard of before with no knowledge of how to survive of what to do. Twilight would certainly be killed within a few days of Luna abandoning her.

Luna would be able to play off her disappearance as unrelated to her ‘vacation’ and get back to ruling with her sister and helping her and Twilight’s friends cope with the loss. Luna looked down to the mare she was thinking of abandoning and thought instantly.

No. I can’t.

The mare was pushed up against Luna, and even thinking of leaving this incredible mare alone hurt her heart. She would never forgive herself and would not be able to live with the grief of letting one of her greatest, most caring friends die because of a stupid mistake she made herself.

Even thinking about Twilight alone in a cave like this, on a freezing continent during winter brought very strong emotions to bear. Her eyes wet slightly, but she didn’t get farther than that.

I’m going to stay here. With Twilight. We are going to stay here together. We can make it through the seven years we need to get another opportunity to go home.

That was it. Luna had decided she was going to live the next seven and a half years of her life with the mare that was frightened and confused, laying right next to her. They would become amazing friends, and Luna bet that Twilight would get to know more about her than even her sister, and the same goes for Luna knowing about Twi. Luna would be able to stay with and teach her previous student even more, perhaps even with magic’s that Celestia had never even mentioned to her before. Luna would help her with her blade and gauntlet as well. She would have a student again, and for the first time in a very long time, a very good friend as well.

That doesn’t sound half bad.

Interlude 1: Two Weeks Back Home

Luna’s Secret World

Interlude One

Two weeks back home

By: Azurekaryu

*DISCLAIMER, SLIGHT USE OF STRONG LANGUAGE*

August 26,1008 PN

“Enter,” The captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, Prince Shining Armor replied to the knock that disturbed his thoughts.

The enchanted oakwood door protecting the prince’s office creaked open and a grey mare sporting a slightly lighter mane walked into his office with a stoic face.

Oh brother. This girl again.

“Hello Captain. How have you been these past few days? I know it must’ve been terribly stressful for you.”

“Yeah well, I’m as good as I can dealing with my missing sister, and Princess Luna as well,” Shining was already annoyed, he was too busy to deal with this, “I assume you aren’t here for the small talk, Chancellor.”

The mare let a small smile show through, “I’m afraid not Captain. You are aware of Princess Celestia’s… neurasthenia, correct?”

The stallion interest was piqued, “Yes. What about it. Has something happened?”

“Yes and no… the good news is that our Princess has not gotten much worse, but she is still greatly upset. There have been reports from some of your guards that they hear sobs from her chambers, but we cannot confirm the truthfulness of these reports.. Unfortunately, the council has met and given the disappearances and the griffon aggression has called for a National state of emergency..”

The prince raised a brow. A state of emergency had not been declared for hundreds of years, “Has it really gotten that serious?”

The mare’s face fell to the stoicism she wore before, “I’m afraid so. But there is more, The princess sent us a letter that helped us, the council, make decisions to help this nation.”

“And what exactly are these resolutions of yours? Unless you can find my sister I’m not particularly interested.” The Captain was annoyed with the mare. He could be using this time to go over the reports from his intelligence team and try and secure the borders of their land, but instead he was listening to the Chancellor of the Equestrian Council spout nonsense that he most likely did not need to know.

“I promise you, these will change your life and your wife’s as well. Spark, please bring in the papers.” Shining was worried as her wife was brought into this. What could any of this have to do with Cadence?

An orange pegasus trotted into the room with a scroll in his mouth, which the chancellor swiftly removed with her horn and proceeded to read aloud, “Due to concerns of aggression from sovereign nations, the disappearance of Princess Luna Candescent Luminas and the disappearance of Element of Magic Twilight Sparkle, the Equestrian High Council has come to a unanimous decision in accordance to Equestrian to instate a national state of emergency. , Princess Celestia Candescent Luminas has declared herself in a frame of mind unfit to rule following the disappearance of her student and sister,”

The mare stopped speaking for a second as the listener’s eyes widened significantly and his jaw dropped a little bit.

Wha-

The Chancellor continued, “As a result, Princess Celestia has agreed to turn over explicit power to the rulers of the Crystal Empire, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining armor. As of August 31 The pair will formally inherit all power and responsibility of the throne, including Day and Night Court, as well as absolute control over all military assets.” The mare took a deep breath as she finished and looked to the understandably surprised stallion in front of her.

What. It was all shining could think of. Quickly he picked his jaw off of the table, “Hold on. What.”

The Chancellor chuckled softly, closing her eyes and looking down for a moment, “Yes, Prince, you heard all of that correctly and this is not a dream. Princess Celestia is in a bad spot right now. She did not see me in person, having a letter delivered to my office instead. We must assume that if she deems herself unfit to rule it is certainly true. She will still handle the setting and raising of the celestial bodies, and will help you as much as she can, but she is doing this for a reason.”

“What if I say no?” When he said that he did not mean to imply he was going too, but it was a valid question.

“Well, we hope that you do not, but should both you and your wife refuses to take over as the temporary Rulers of Equestria, then the council will likely take control, which could be a mess and create problems.” The mare sighed at the end, she wanted more power, of course, but she knew nothing was going to get done with the mess of ponies who all wanted the best for themselves.

Shining was still horribly surprised and did not entirely agree with what he was being told, but he did not want to show it in front of this mare, “Alright. I’ll discuss with Cadence and hopefully Celestia. We will get back to you by tomorrow at the latest.”

“Take your time Prince, but not too long. Equestria needs you to be strong for them.”

The mare gathered her things and walked out of the room, her assistant on her heels. He shut the door with his magic and sat down, trying to process what had happened just then.

I couldn’t have been dreaming, right? Celestia’s breakdown is really that bad? What will Cadence thing of this?

Before he had much more time to ponder, a loud, anxious knock rung through his ears. He gathered himself as best he could, “Enter.”

“Captain!” A guard ran in quickly, saluting. He had no markings on his armor, indicating his rank.

“Yes private? Is something wrong?”

“No sir! Well… yes, Sir! Major General Swift requests to see you at your earliest availability!”

“Very well, tell him I’ll be down in a bit. Intelligence quarters, correct?”

“Yes sir!” The guard prepared to bolt back out the door, but shining stopped him.

“Wait! This wouldn’t happen to be about the griffons would it?”

“I’m afraid it is sir.”

“Alright. I’ll be down shortly.”

The guard saluted once more and ran down the hall.

Shining armor sighed. Am I going to get a break or is there more shit the world can throw at me?

***

Shining armor turned right once more and proceeded down the hall to the room the intelligence ponies would be working in. He didn’t even have to open the secure metal door to hear the commotion inside.

“Somebody get me the damn troop maps!”

“Where is the rest of second brigade?”

Shining armor opened the door with his magic, and walked into the steel walled room without be noticed until he reached the center of the room.

“CAPTAIN ON DECK!” The room immediately ceased all action and conversation as all the ponies jumped to attention.

“Where is General Swift?”

“Right here sir.” The blue maned pegasus quickly responded, walking towards the Captain.

“I understand you wanted to see me?”

“Yes sir.”

“All right, At ease everypony, continue with what you were doing.”

Immediately the commotion started up again.

“Follow me if you would, sir.” The general walked towards a door near the corner of the busy room. Shining looked around, noticing all the maps pinned up on the walls, most of them of western equestria and the border between the griffons and their own nation. The maps varied from physical geographies to troop positioning, some even recording information on the griffons troop movement.

Once they entered the room the dark blue pegasus was leading him too, Shining wanted to get along with business. “What is it you wanted to see me about.”

“Captain, within the last hour we have received reports from three scouts, one from first brigade, one from second, and the other one from fourth,” The turquoise coated stallion paused, pointing to the massive map that covered the entirety of one of the sections of the wall. It was similar to those in the other room, but this one showed both the northern and western border between the griffons and themselves. Several large circles with numbers next to them were spaced apart all near the border, each of them representing a city. The two farthest south, labeled one and two, had blue question marks over them and a few red X’s around the outside, all facing the border. Another city, this time the far northeast of the border, had a massive X over it with arrows pointing west, this one marked with a 4.

“As you can see from this, our scouts have told us that all three of these towns were suddenly attacked, almost simultaneously. According to first and second scouts, the two brigades responsible for the southern cities of Phillydelphia and Trotsen, have surely fallen to the mass number of griffon forces. Damage is unknown and we are preparing the wonderbolts to assess the situation. Northeast of those two cities, Stalliongrad was also attacked. The fourth brigade pony that made it back to us told us that the city was lost very quickly. He was banged up and pretty spooked and said that the brigade had retreated to the west to hopefully meet up with sixth.”

“So what you’re telling me is that the griffons have launched a full force invasion?” Shining held a straight face, but the worry and anger was building up inside him.

“We aren’t sure of it quite yet sir, but from what the messengers told us, we need to be prepared for anything.”

Shining grit his teeth and punched the wall next to him, “Damnit! Why does this have to fucking happen now of all times!”

Major general Swift had worry obvious on his face, but did not say anything. Shining collected himself quickly, “Have you sent out any messengers with orders for sixth, seventh, and third?”

“No sir, we wanted to wait for your orders on that.”

This situation might still be salvageable. If I can get sixth to regroup with fourth and hold Marestogne, I can send up ninth to stop the griffon’s from advancing further south. Seventh and Third can help first and second maintain control of their respective cities.

“Alright, good. Here’s what I want you to do. Send ponies to Third and Seventh, have third regroup with first and try to secure Phillydelphia, and Seventh with second and have them secure Trotsen. I want sixth to regroup with fourth and hold the fort at Marestogne. Prepare Ninth brigade to push north and stop any advance the griffons try to make south, and I want eight and ten to go replace the posts Third and Seventh were holding. The entirety of the fifty third airborne division will serve as a support asset to all forces on the border to be used as needed.”

“Yes sir, and shall we still send the wonderbolts?”

“Yes. I want info on those cities ASAP. Let’s make sure our ponies are safe.”

“Yes sir, I’ll get it done.”

“Good. I’m counting on you, General.”

Damn griffons, why can’t you wait a few more months before doing this crap?

“Oh, and send those three scouts to my office when you get a chance!” The captain walked out of the office as Swift got busy organizing everything. Walking through the commotion of the busy intelligence workers, Shining armor quickly removed himself and instead of walking teleported himself to his office.

This is going to be one hell of a month.

Poison, the Past and a Close encounter

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 5

Poison, the Past, and a Close Encounter

By: Azurekaryu

August 26, 1008 P.N

A soft *poof* behind her tempted Luna to turn back and she chuckled at what she saw.

“Hey!” Twilight blushed, removing the snow from her muzzle.

“I apologize dear Twilight, T’was not my intention to embarrass you,” Luna reversed her path and offered the cloaked mare a hoof.

Twilight muttered her thanks and gratefully accepted the hoof, “It was, you’re slipping into your old habits again, Luna.”

Luna huffed, producing a pseudo pout on her face, “Well you are literally slipping!”

Twilight sighed, ignoring the comment.

“I jest Twilight, thank you for correcting me, it would be a shame to reverse all of that progress. I must say, you do look quite adorable half covered in snow,” Luna teased the mare.

Though the blush had dissipated it came back full force, burning the mares cold cheeks. Adorable?

Luna smiled at the mare, turning around to continue walking. As she was turning however, she heard the gentle compacting of snow from a creature that was not either of the mares, but somewhere in the near vicinity of the two.

“Shh!” Luna quickly halted any chance of a response from Twilight and crouched into an alert position. Luna scanned the area with her eyes and magic, but couldn't find anything suspicious.

Confused, Twilight tries to get some information, “Lun-”

“SHH!” Luna shushes her companion once more, trying to iterate that silence was necessary

“Twilight, get on my back,” Luna whispers softly, she still hasn’t found the source of the noise, but the same sound appears from a different direction now. Snapping her head around, she lowers herself closer to the ground.

We’re being surrounded. Winter wolves? No, not at this time of day. Ponies? Possibly. They probably silenced their hoofsteps, maybe I should call out to them?

Twilight was confused and rightfully so, “Luna what's going o- OW!” Twilight felt a very sharp pinch on the right side of her rump, causing her to jump a little and then collapse, her back muscles giving out.

“Dammit, come on!” Luna notices the mare fall, and noticing another projectile whizzing through the air. She quickly ducks to the right, dodging it and closing some distance between herself and Twilight. Using her horn, the mare quickly lifts Twi onto her back, “Hold on!” she yells as she bursts off the ground with the help of her legs.

Twilight barely has time to grab a steady hold around her carriers neck. The speed at which they were flying was unreal to her, she was struggling to avoid falling off. Testing her hind leg, she immediately regretted her decision when she felt a burning pain shoot up her leg. She winced and tested the other leg with similar results.

“Luna! What happened right there!” Twilight was forced to yell, the wind blowing by deafening the both of them.

Hearing the muffled words from behind her, Luna slowed down a little to hold a conversation with the mare, “What was that Twilight?”

“I asked what happened, and what did I get hit with?” Repeating her question and adding another, Twilight is starting to feel concerned about the dull throbbing pain around her thighs and rump.

“Twilight, I’m bringing us to a nearby cave where we will be safe, I’ll explain it all there, alright?”

Instead of responding, Twilight nods into Luna’s fur just, above the plated armor protecting most of her neck, and they sped up heading for the mountains.

***

A few minutes later, the pair arrived at the cave. Setting the mare down, she quickly got to work, knowing that time was important now. “Twilight, you said you got hit by a dart right?”

The pain had spread now to encase the entirety of her hind legs and the lower part of her midsection. It was a dull pain and not all that worrying, but Twilight was unable to move without extreme pain shooting through her body. “Yeah, something hit me, here,” Pulling up her cloak she pointed at the small still bleeding wound on her rump, “My legs kind of hurt, a dull pain. Whenever I move either of them it hurts a lot.”

Luna’s expression changed from stoic to noticeably sorrowful, “Twilight, I’m so sorry,” Luna moved around the side of her to examine the wound.

“Sorry? Why, what’s wrong Luna? Am I going to be alright?” Twilight was starting to panic a little bit, the sorrowful expression on Luna’s face and worried tone scared her.

If she is worried about it, what’s wrong with me?

“I promise you Twilight that you will be fine, I will not let you die from this despicable toxin. I’ll do anything to make sure of it.”

Toxin!?

“Luna, I’m scared, what happened? What do you mean Toxin?” Luna’s words were not making her feel any better. I could die from this?

“Twilight, I have to say again I’m so sorry. I should’ve taken extra measures to protect us from an attack like that. We were surrounded by the ponies of this world, a scouting party probably, and they use those darts to capture or kill, depending on the situation. The darts inject a venom from the red legged arachnids you encountered a week and a half ago. At least I know they are still using some of the same methods from the previous millennium.”

Twilight’s eyes opened as Luna paused. Those things? How do they even harvest that! It must be incredibly dangerous to do so, the venom must be worth it. “Am I going to be ok? Is there an antivenom?” Twilight noticed the pain spreading further throughout her body, her veins pulsing with a dull pain now, starting to consume her chest. It still wasn’t very powerful, but noticeable for sure.

“Yes there is an antivenom that the ponies usually keep in abundance, but there is no way I can transport you there safely. I cannot create it either, and the fatality rate without an antivenom is near 95%. It is similar to the venom produced by the black widow spider that exists sparsely in equestria, but much much stronger.”

Wait.. the black widow usually causes extreme pain and muscle spasms along with nerve damage... “But the black widow has a venom that kills nerves and causes excruciating pain, I’m not in unbearable pain and I’m pretty sure I have no nerve damage.”

Luna smiled lightly, but it was clear she was masking sorrow, “Yes my little pony, it isn’t quite the same, but it once the venom overtakes your immune system it will be something that will change your view of pain. I’m so sorry.”

Twilight hadn’t noticed until now but one of Luna’s hoof guards was glowing, runes lighting up from the bottom to the tip of the spike about a quarter of the way up her left foreleg.

“What do you me-” Then Twilight suddenly lost control of her words, instead transitioning into an involuntary scream. The dull pain she felt pulsing in her veins and muscles transitioned to an extremely sharp fiery pain. It was as if somepony had jabbed dozens of white-hot blades into her body at the same time. Her eyes widened, and jaw dropped, a hoof suddenly coming down on her neck. The pain of the impact was so minimal when compared to the sensation shooting through her body she barely noticed.

The screaming stopped, unable to form sounds anymore and Twilight heard one more thing whispered into her ear, “I’m sorry, Twilight.” The voice belonged to Luna, but sounded.. wrong somehow. Even if she had time to contemplate the voice, the pain would’ve stopped coherent thoughts, but alas she didn’t have the time as two small needle-like objects pierced through her neck, knocking her unconscious.

***

March 17, 1789 BN

“LUNA! THROW DOWN ARMS AND ORDER YOUR ARMIES TO SURRENDER, THIS IS OVER, NO MORE BLOOD NEEDS TO BE SHED.”

Twilight’s eyes opened and the mare removed herself from the cold grass and dirt, moving into a sitting position trying to take in her surroundings. She was in a very large, flat grassy field. It was dark, probably just past midnight judging on the moon’s position.

Twilight looked to locate the source of the voice that had awoken her from slumber. Tracing sound for a moment, she saw floating in the air thirty feet above her a very large majestic looking mare in complete armor with a billowing multicolored mane. Celestia!? Shocked by her discovery, the mare quickly shouted her name but received no response. Further observing her surroundings, she noticed behind and below the royal mare was an army. A huge army. There had to be at least 100,000 ponies in formation, all wearing golden armor and wielding spears and bows.

“WHY, MY DEAR SISTER YOU SHOULD AT LEAST ADDRESS ME PROPERLY BEFORE YOUR DOWNFALL.”

Looking to her right to find the source of the voice, she noticed a small cloaked figure hundreds of feet from herself and celestia was floating in front of a high walled city with thousands of ponies lined along the walls, and what could only be much smaller numbers just outside the gate.

Luna..? But how? What is this?

It was obvious Luna was just acting tough. Her numbers were crushingly smaller than Celestia’s, there was no way she could win this.

“Luna!” Twilight yelled as loud as she could in order to get the mare’s attention, but it didn’t work. Once more she called to Celestia, asking what was going on, but once again she got no response. Twilight got up from her rump and ran towards Luna and the town.

In only seconds Twilight suddenly appeared in front of Luna and her smaller army. “Luna!” she yelled once more, but to no avail. What is this? Is this a dream? It has to be.

“VERY WELL SISTER. YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE”

Twilight turned back to see celestia charging her horn and her army charging, shaking the ground as they moved en masse

Twilight turned in time to see Luna landing and talking to what Twi guessed were her generals. After an exchange of a few words and an interesting salute, Luna took flight again and intercepted a beam of light that Celestia had shot from her horn.

Twilight ran towards the fighting pair, yelling at them to stop, there wasn’t much she could do and she knew it was a dream but it still tore her apart to watch. As she was running she suddenly teleported up into the air, following the pair as they deftly dodged each others bursts of magic.

“Luna! It is not too late to stop this! We can end this bloodshed!” Celestia tried once more to reason with her sister as their armies clashed below.

Wait a minute. I know what this is!

“I will not dear sister, You’ve taken their affection long enough!”

This has to be back during the Lunar Rebellions, there's no other possibility!

“Very well!” Celestia shot a very powerful blast of magic at Luna, and Luna drew her blade and blocked it, the runes on the side lighting up as they absorbed the powerful magic. The blade had a purple hilt, with an erratic velvet red pattern running up the foot and a half long blade.

Wait. That looks a lot like mine.

Luna quickly charged at her sister with a push from her wings, propelling herself forward at near supersonic speeds. Celestia dove to the right, dodging the blade for the most part. A cut appeared on her cheek, blood quickly seeping from it. Before she had time to react, Celestia had been hit in the back with a beam of magic and plummeted straight into the castle at the center of the city.

That's the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters! This must be one of Luna’s memories.

Twilight was still floating, and looked down below her too see a gruesome sight. The armies clashing below her were almost impossible to see due to the hail of arrows the two sides were exchanging, but whenever there was a break it was clear that it was not much of a fight. Although Luna’s ponies seemed more skilled, there just was not enough of them and they were being slaughtered quickly.

Turning around, Twilight saw Luna chase after her sister into the castle through the hole in the room her body created.

Before Luna got there, Twilight popped into the castle and saw Celestia had already recovered and had a glow on her horn. “Oh sister. Why do you leave me no other options?”

The tile behind her lit up and removed itself from the floor, a statue of a tree slowly rising with five gems on the outside and one in the center.

The elements of harmony! It was easy to recognize the familiar objects. Luna landed softly behind Celestia and yelled at her, “What do you think you’re doing, sister?”

Celestia was forced to turn around, hearing the cloaked mare dash off of the tile, her blade in front ready to slice through her. Celestia brought up her left forehoof and projected a shield in front of her leg guard, hardening it to the point where it could take the impact. Luna’s blade bounced harmlessly off of the metal protector and shocked her, leaving her open to a blast of magic that burned through her cloak and fur, scorching her belly.

“LUNA!” Twilight rushed towards the fallen mare, jumping over her body and in between the fallen nightmare and her mentor. She tried to protect the mare, but she remembered once again. It’s just a dream Twilight. Calm down. Let it play out, this isn’t real. But it did feel real, and it looked real too. It was becoming difficult for Twilight to control her emotions

“I’m so sorry Luna,” The last words Celestia said to her sister before powering the artifacts behind her.

Luna’s memories! Twilight realized exactly what this was, a fragment of her friend’s past. Why am I seeing this? Why is Luna losing this fight, she’s never fought so badly when she taught me.

The gems circling Celestia furiously soon turning into the all familiar rainbow swirl. Nightmare Moon looked up from the ground, raising her sword, a final, futile attempt to protect herself.

Twilight looked at the mare on the ground behind her, her cheeks becoming wet from the tears that appeared when she saw the panic behind the draconic pupils, but the emotion on her face showing nothing of her weakness.

“No!” The corrupted Luna yelled once more as the swirl of powerful magic hit her full force, prompting a loud blood curdling shriek from the mare.

“I’m sorry,” the voice was clouded and unidentifiable, and the world around her faded to black.

***

August 27, 1008 PN

“Luna!” Twilight gasped as she shot up from a sleeping position, her eyes watering. The room around her was dark, and there was a stiffness in her neck preventing her from turning it completely.

“It’s okay Twilight, I’m right here,” Luna’s voice pierced the darkness and brought a light to which Twilight could cling too, and she quickly turned her body, jumping at the mare's voice.

She effectively tackled Luna with a hug, knocking the wind out of the surprisingly unarmored alicorn.

“OOF!” Luna coughed a little, eventually replacing the lost air in her lungs, “It’s alright Twilight, you’re safe, you’re going to be fine. I removed most of the poison and gave you the means to survive it. You’re with me, we are in a cave miles from the other ponies,” Luna returned the mare’s embrace, trying to comfort her.

Twilight sniffled, trying futilely to stop tears from rolling down her cheek, “I sa-saw your memory o-of the last day of the wars” Twilight was able to stop herself from weeping uncontrollably, at least saving some dignity.

What will she think of me, crying like this? Faust I’m too weak! It was only a bloody dream!

Luna’s expression darkened, thankfully covered by the blanket of night.

Damn. I thought I would’ve been able to do it without giving her that fucking curse.

“It’s okay Twilight. That’s the past, it’s over now,” Luna ran her hoof through Twilight’s hair, trying to calm her down. “The nightmare is gone,” Luna lied, concerned about the lavender mare.

Twilight’s tense muscles relaxed, allowing herself to relax and sink deeper into the warm coat of the mare she resided on top of. The feel of Luna’s hoof running through her mane was incredibly calming, and the sniffling stopped soon after.

Luna’s expression softened at the cease of tears. She continued to stroke Twilight’s mane and moved her other foreleg down to her back, loosening the tension and contently closing her eyes.

I’m sorry Twilight, that I’ve trapped you here and for the curse I’ve given you. But right now, nothing can be as great as this moment. You’ve been the best friend I’ve ever had, and now it’s my turn to return the favor.

Soon a gentle monotonous beat made it’s way into Twilight’s ear, and after a second she realized it was the quick heartbeat belonging to the wonderful mare below her. The sound gave her an anchor, something she could connect to and knew wouldn’t ever leave her mind. Twilight lost herself in the calming sound, her worries floating away, dissipated by Luna’s embrace and calming words.

Twilighted lifter her head from Luna’s chest and noticed that she could see the sparkling maned alicorn clearly, almost as if it were day. Her lips were curved upwards at the edges to form a small smile, eyes shut and a large tuft of hair covering the majority of the right one.

*Thu-thump*

The night had suddenly become silent, even the wind dying down.

*Thu-thump*

Her heartbeat was getting faster as she stared at the mare, the alicorn’s face exuding beauty. Twilight’s face unconsciously got closer, as if to further observe the flawless perfection of the mare close to her.

*Thu-thump*

Luna’s eyes open slowly, alerted by the breath’s of the unicorn above her. To her surprise, the bright purple eyes she was staring into were only inches from her own. Twilight’s eyes had black bags underneath them and were very slightly bloodshot from the small amount of tears she shed. Her mouth was slightly open, edges pointed to form a smile similar to her own.

The mare's eyes locked for a few more moments, and when Twilight got ever closer Luna’s heartbeat sped up drastically and her eyes widened a little bit more.

Is this really going to happen ? Excited, this brought forth new emotions from the Alicorn. She is pretty, and incredibly smart. A great friend who will always be there. Luna had felt the pain and pleasure of love, the pain of abandonment and the pleasure of companionship. Every time though, even if she hurt and grieved, it had always been worth it. Sure it was a quick start to something like this, but it was worth it.

Twilight was lost in a cloud of emotions, on one hand the mare merely inches from her was one of her best friends in the world, and she would be spending a hefty amount of time with her over the next few years, but on the other Twilight had come to realize over the last week she had a hardcore crush on the princess who was way too good for her and probably doesn’t share an iota of the interest Twilight has.

*Thu-thump*

This was her chance though, this could make or break everything. What if she doesn’t want something like this? What if this is too quick? She will probably hate me forever if it isn’t right. Is it really worth the risk?

A final breath escaped Twilight’s muzzle and the smile from Luna dropped to a flat line, her muzzle also opening just a tiny bit, as if inviting her in.

*Thu-Thump*

Screw it

And in the cold, silent night of a full moon, on a planet millions of miles away from home, in a cave on the side of a mountain, a new relationship between a scholar and a princess was born with a kiss.

Or it would have, if it weren't for a pain that suddenly shot through Twilight’s neck, the same side that was pierced the previous day. “AGHHHHH!” Twilight quickly shot backwards and rolled around on the ground grabbing at the left side of her neck, pain similar to what she had felt as the venom took hold of her body but concentrated on one area.

It felt like a magical fire had seared the hairs off her coat and destroyed the skin that lay under it, burning freely and passionately spreading from her neck throughout her entire body. Like something was consuming her, something that would only cause pain.

“Twilight!” Luna jumped up and towards the mare, noticing the strong pink glow of the seal Luna had been forced to place on her neck. In order to treat the mare to help her survive the poison, she had been forced to give Twilight some of her magic. Alicorn magic. Something that her body shouldn’t have been able to handle, something that would’ve killed anypony if not for this seal.

The seal had activated, destroying itself in an attempt to save Twilight’s body from the nightmare that infected the magic that had been placed into her body.

At least she won't have to deal with what Celestia and I do. Hopefully the breaking seal should destroy the magic and the damned nightmare inside of it.

There was nothing Luna could do but watch the mare writhe in pain, and quickly realizing where they were, she had to get both of them out of the cave immediately or risk another unwanted arachnid encounter.

“I’m so sorry I had to do that to you Twilight,” a tear fell from her eye as Twilight stopped Twitching and screaming, finally falling unconscious from the pain. Thankfully, there should be no significant changes to Twilight because of the magic. The seal broke and that should be the end of it, whether it eradicated the magic and the Nightmare inside of it was uncertain, but hopefully this event can be forgotten

Luna lifted the mare onto her back and cast a summoning spell to retrieve a blanket to wrap around Twilight before jumping off into the black.

Parents and a dangerous ambush

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 6

Roots, Wolves, and Ponies

By: Azurekaryu

Edited by: Tripy988 and Flameswordedlink

Unknown

“Luna, wake up!” A sharp high pitched voice called out, awaking her from her peaceful slumber.

“Ughhh five more minutes,” Luna took the pillow she was sleeping on and shoved it over her head, blocking out all disturbances.

“No, Mom is taking us to the theater today, remember? We have to go soon, get up!”

Luna groaned once more and pulled the blanket covering her further over her head in a final attempt to peacefully get back to sleep. Luna was the exact opposite of what many would call a ‘morning pony’. The night was her sanctuary.

A pink glow enveloped the blanket that hid her from the troubles of the outside world, and it was suddenly ripped off of her, exposing the young pegasus to the open air of her household.

The filly gasped and covered her eyes with a hoof, trying to protect herself from the harsh light of the morning sun.

“Tia! You wretched creature, how dare you do this to me!” Luna cursed at her sister, jumping at the blanket the unicorn held in her magical grasp.

Celestia carefully maneuvered the blanket so as to keep it out of her sisters reach, but trying not to knock anything fragile off of the bookcases covering the large, grey painted room.

Luna jumped to the edge of her bedside, hitting the wooden guard at the foot of her bed. When she missed, she redirected to her left and jumped once more after the blanket.

Unfortunately, that was off the bed and onto the floor.

“OOF” Luna gasped as she knocked the wind out of herself, turning to land on her back. She coughed, recovering quickly at the sound of laughter from her sister.

“Fine! I’m up!” The pegasus rolled over onto her hooves, sprung up, and proceeded to lose all of her adrenaline fueled energy, eyes closing to a half lidded posture.

“Good,” Celestia said with a smile on her face, “I’m sorry for that, but I wouldn’t have had to if you just got up!”

“Whatever,” Luna replied, still annoyed at the filly above her. Her sister’s flowing pink hair covered one of her slightly darker eyes, and she sported a small smile on her face. “It’s too early to be awake,” She grumbled once more, looking away and picking herself up from the floor.

“Luna, It’s almost noon for faust’s sake, get your lazy butt dressed, we have to leave soon!”

“Celestia, watch your language!” A feminine voice called from the first floor of their residence.

“Sorry mother!”

Luna snickered at her sister`s misfortune. It was rare that their mother could hear them from the opposite side of the house.

“Hey! At least I can wake up at a decent time,” Celestia stuck her tongue out, taunting her little sister.

It wasn’t so much the not-very-good insult that set her off, but rather when she stuck her tongue out. Luna hated that. She made a very unpleasant face and chased after her sister, who quickly bolted out the door.

Luna ran outside of her mid-sized, book filled room and chased her down the oakwood hall, passing door after door until they reached the thirteen step staircase leading to the main living room.

She was right on her sister’s tail before Celestia tripped halfway down the staircase, eliciting a gasp from Luna as she quickly stopped herself, using her half grown wings to help grind her momentum to a halt.

Celestia hit the stairs with her face first, flipping on her side and turning uncontrollably in the air, hitting the stairs a few times, a bang accompanying each collision with the hardwood, before finally landing on the soft carpet.

Their parents came rushing in through the maple door, contrasting from the plain white walls of the room, “Celestia! Are you alright?” The tall, white coated unicorn mare kneeled over her, rubbing her back with a hoof.

Celestia lifter her head and her mother gasped raising a hoof to her daughter's cheek. Her eyes holding back tears and her face sporting a couple actively bleeding cuts, nothing serious, but obviously painful.

“Luna, are you fine? Anything happen to you?” A masculine voice appeared from behind her mother.

Luna’s eyes averted from Celestia to her father, sporting a dark blue mane and a darker coat, accented by lightly colored eyes and wings on his sides, “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Luna automatically responded.

“It’s fine sweetheart, you had nothing to do with this I presume?”

“No *Sniffle* she didn’t,” Celestia responded, wiping her eyes. She sniffled once more, “I taunted her and she chased me.”

“Dear, you shouldn’t do that to your sister. Hold tight, I’ll fix you right up!” Their mother lit her horn, a golden glow overtaking it. The glow spread to her sister’s face and surrounded the cuts for a few seconds before rushing into the wound, sealing it quickly.

“Thank you,” Celestia said in response to the very difficult healing magic.

“Phew, that’s getting a lot harder as I get older! I can’t believe you managed to do that at such a young age Celly, very impressive.”

Celestia blushed at the compliment before her mother continued, “Well, you better get ready if you want to get to that play on time! Luna dear, I know you don’t like these most of the time, so your father and I have decided you are old enough to stay home by yourself for a little while, if you don’t want to go.”

Luna perked up hearing these words, “Really? I’d love to stay home! I promise I won’t do anything stupid while you’re gone,” by now Luna had reached the bottom of the staircase, stopping next to her father who dwarfed her in size.

Her father patted her head, “We trust you Luna, at thirteen years old you should be able take care of yourself.”

Luna looked up to the smiling pegasus, “Thank you soooo much!”

“Of course,” Her father responded, “Well, Celestia you only have ten minutes before we have to leave, or we are going to be late!”

“Oh shoot!” Celestia hurried up the stairs to her room, getting ready, and Luna followed her at a walking pace.

She got to the top of the stairs, uninterrupted by her parents and walked to Celestia’s room, stepping into the open doorway. Ew. Too much pink. Luna never liked her sister’s room. It was far too girly for her, the excessive amount of pink being the main factor. Pink walls, pink bed, pink books. Too much pink.

“Hey, Tia,” Luna managed to get the attention of the young filly who was throwing clothes about her room, trying to find a special dress.

“Yes sister?” Celestia turned, giving her full attention to her sister.

“I’m sorry for chasing you, I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

Celestia smiled at Luna and walked towards her, putting a hoof on her shoulder, “It’s alright, I know you didn’t. It’s my fault anyway, so don’t be putting the blame on yourself!”

“Are you sure?” Luna responded, unsure of her sister’s kindness.

“Absolutely, now I gotta get ready for that play!” Celestia pulled Luna into a quick hug before releasing her and running back to her closet, “Now where is that dress?”

Luna smiled and left, returning to her room. She grabbed a book off of her bookshelf titled Creatures of the Twilight Forest and jumped on her bed, opening it to the first page. She still hadn’t gotten around to reading it, and now was as good a time as ever to start.

After only a few minutes, Luna heard her parents yell their goodbyes and she replied with the same. She was stuck with her nose in the book, learning tons about some creatures she hadn’t heard of before, like Timberwolves and this rare astral animal known as an Ursa Major.

Luna continued to read for another half hour before she heard a frantic knock on her front door. Already? Those plays are always longer than this.

The pegasus put down her book, leaving it open so she could return to it. As she walked down the stairs, the knocking returned, louder and faster this time, “Hold on I’m comin’, sheesh.”

Luna got to the door and unlocked the bolt with her hoof, which was thrown open almost immediately after. Celestia ran inside and slammed the door shut with her magic and immediately locked the bolt.

“Wha-” Luna paused at the sound of sobs from her sister. She turned to look at the filly that sprinted past her, “Tia, what's wr-” Luna paused and gasped as she saw her sister's face.

The pristine white coat was stained in many places with blood that dripped from cut wounds similar to the ones she received falling down the stairs, but now a couple visible black and blue bruises accompanied them. Tears consumed her eyes, reddening them and causing tears to crawl down her cheeks.

“Celestia are you alright!? What happened? Where are Mom and Dad?”

Celestia jumped at her sister, hugging her quickly before releasing her, “The- they,” Celestia paused, her sobs cutting off her sentence, “The guard-guards came an-and took them. They told me to run to get you and take us both f-far away!” Her sobs were almost impossible to control, but she did it.

Luna didn’t quite believe her words, but her face told her the story she knew could only be true, “Are they okay?” Luna asked, worried about her parents.

“T-they had to fight them off, for me to get away. They said s-sorry to me before I ran, that w-w-we were special,” Celestia’s tears overtook her now, “They couldn’t get away from t-the gua-guards.”

A sudden knock on the door interrupted her, “No no no!” We have to go Luna! I’ll teleport us!”

Luna was still utterly confused, but now she was terrified. Where are Mom and Dad!? What do the guards want with us? How are we special? Luna saw her sister run out of the living room out to a hallway where the carpet turned to wood, and Celestia summoned a knife out of thin air and started carving runes and repeating a chant she couldn’t understand.

Luna ran over to her sister to join her, “Wait! I’ll be right back!”

“Luna!” her sister yelled at her, the arcane circle she was writing almost finished. The circle was just big enough to fit the two of them, and had symbols and letters written on the outside of the circle.

Luna ran to the end of the hallway, passing two doors before reaching her destination, a large oakwood door on her right. She ran inside to her parents room, which sported a king size bed and many closets and bookshelves. The pegasus was not concerned with anything except what was hidden under the bed.

She quickly dropped to the ground, pulling out a wooden chest that she quickly unlocked and opened. Inside the chest were a pair of saddlebags that held her father’s old weapons from when he fought in the first gryphon war.

She grabbed the heavy saddlebags with her teeth and threw them onto her back, her legs locking up at the sudden addition of weight. She ran out of her parents room and quickly returned to her sister, who was standing at the center of the runic circle which was glowing a bright yellow, mirroring her sister’s horn glow.

“I’m ready!”

Celestia did not respond verbally and instead channeled more magic into her horn and the arcane circle. The knocks on the door became extremely loud and unnerving, “Hurry Tia, they might get in!” Luna still didn’t know who exactly ‘they’ were, but it was clear they weren’t ponies she wanted to be around.

The door suddenly shot off it’s hinges, flying into the living room, and grey ponies with dark purple body armor came rushing in, towards the two fillies. They wielded spears and swords, some pegasi and some unicorns, “Halt! Stop your teleport!” The guard at the front yelled, still charging towards them. The guard jumped and thrust the spear on his shoulder towards the pair, but by the time it reached their position, Luna’s world had turned a bright white, and suddenly the pair was gone.

***

August 27, 1008 PN

Twilight’s eyes opened peacefully, a welcome change compared to the days before.

A sharp chill quickly made it’s presence known, a quick chilling wind adding to the cold air. The lavender mare saw nothing around her except the violet glow portraying itself on the clouds above. The beautiful light portrayed from the rising sun was the first clue of many that she wasn’t where she expected to be.

And then she looked down, and she saw what she was expecting, the ground, but it was a lot farther away from her than she recognized as normal.

“AHHH!” Twilight screamed, instinctively springing up only to find there was nothing to spring off of. Immediately a light blue aura surrounded her.

“Twilight, stay calm!” A voice slightly ahead of her shouted. Quickly, Twilight realized she was flying, not falling, and her heart rate started its quick recovery

“Oh my gosh, Luna! That was a horrifying way to wake up! Why are we up here!?” Shouting was the only way to get the message across in flight this fast.

“I was trying to keep us moving while you were unconscious, but I am glad to see you awake. My wings are getting tired,” Twilight maneuvered her head to look up at the Alicorn who also turned her head back, trying not to yell.

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the other mares right eye, the only one of the two she could see.

The normally cerulean eye was discolored to a much, much darker blue, on the verge of a dark purple. Twilight also bore witness to an ominous, dark blue magic-like substance that exuded from her eye. Her pupils looked draconian, similar in shape to those of Nightmare Moon but below her eye, a red slash presented itself to the world. The cut was fairly deep, but no longer bleeding.

Luna quickly turned her head wishing to avoid further scrutiny from the mare on her back, the last thing she wanted was the unicorn to worry.

“Lu-”

The armored mare cut off her cloaked counterpart before another word could be spoken, “The caves are unsafe. We are going to have to continue walking. We should be able to find civilization soon, we should have no more worries of hostile parties, I will be much more aware of our surroundings.”

I guess that explains the cut on her face, but what about her eye? Is she going to be alright? Through her worry Luna's voice was serious and laced with bits of malice. She seemed frustrated at the situation, more so now that she had turned her head.

Before Twilight got another chance to ask, the dark blue mare spoke “I’ll explain my.. situation to you in a little bit, Twilight. I am alright, I promise you that.”

Relieved to that, the unicorn used her magic to tightly secure the cloak to her body and wrapped her hooves around Luna’s neck tightly. Twilight made note of the jolt of pain that shot through her when she used the small scale levitation spell, “Alright Luna. Are we going land soon?”

“Yes, as soon as I can find a clearing. We are at the most northern part of the forest now, which is also the thickest, as I’m sure you can see yourself.”

Luna wasn’t kidding, when Twilight looked down she wasn’t able to see much of the ground below her, instead the white pine trees were visible below her, albeit barely. They had to be a few hundred feet up, the fall would be absolutely fatal. This gave Twilight more motivation to clutch tighter to Luna.

Twilight spotted a small, tiny patch of clear ground, “Luna! To our left, three hundred feet!”

Luna turned her head, allowing Twilight to get another peak, this time at the left side of her face.

Hmm. This eye is normal, cut on her muzzle, no bruises. Twilight’s analytical side kicked into gear.

What could be causing the sudden change in iris color and pupil formation. It looks like the Nightmare’s, but that surely can’t be. Her cuts are obviously from a fight with something, but what? What happened after I passed out? Why did I pass out in the first place? And why the hell am I seeing Luna’s memories in my dreams? That was the first time Twilight acknowledged her strange dream.

She didn’t have more time to look back on it, “Hold on tight!” Luna shouted and angled into a steep dive, aiming straight for the small clearing.

Twilight shrieked and shut her eyes.

Imgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodie

“Twilight?” Luna pulled at the fore legs wrapped around her neck with a hoof, “You’re just about choking me.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and she looked around her and saw the ground only a foot or so from her hooves. She was holding Luna rather tightly and quickly let go and jumped off of her back, blushing at the same time. “Hehehe... sorry about that, that was terrifying,” Twilight scratched the back of her head with a hoof.

“It is quite alright dear. We best be moving. You were out for a long time, does your neck feel alright?”

Twilight tilted her head left and right, twisting both ways to test. She remembered now, that was the reason she was out in the first place. A fiery pain had shot through her neck before she went out, but now she felt as good as new, “No, I don’t feel a thing, should I?”

Luna smiled, “Not necessarily, but it would not be a surprise if you were to start experiencing slight discomfort, and I am going to have to recommend that you do not try to use your magic very much if you can help it.”

Twilight looked up, straight at Luna. Now that they were face to face, she could fully observe the mare’s features.

Her right eye was much darker than normal, with the draconian slits a prevalent feature surrounded by the discolored iris. The medium sized cut below her eye was not all that bad. It would not have caused much damage other than slight discomfort and scarring later on. The left eye was totally normal, a curious anomaly. She had another small cut on the left side of her muzzle, matting much of her coat down with the now dry blood.

Then Twilight looked up again, at her forehead and gasped, covering her mouth with a hoof.

There was a massive gash, angled slightly starting at her right eyebrow and leaving ripped tissue all the way to her hairline above the opposite eye. The wound must’ve bled horribly, and was obviously cleaned earlier. The injury would most definitely scar, and looked horribly painful even now.

Luna’s mane was no longer dark and sparkly, instead it was a lighter shade of blue and hanging freely from her head. It covered her shoulders and occasionally fell in front of her eye, “Yes Twilight? I know you have questions. Ask away, we can talk as we walk. If it’s still in the same spot it should only be a couple of hours before we reach the nearest city,”

Twilight noticed she was staring and quickly turned her head, her cheeks heating once more, “Um... what happened to you. Are you alright? It really looks like you got hurt,” Concern was the dominant emotion in her voice, “Are you not able to heal your wounds?”

Luna closed her eyes, the sides of her lips tilting up to form a small smile once again, “I am alright Twilight. As for my wounds, let us just say the caves are no longer safe. I had to relocate you and I eight times before I gave up and flew away for good.”

“Eight!? How did the spiders keep finding you?”

“The arachnids are not the only creatures that reside in these mountains, I’m afraid. There are creatures worse than them, like the yellow scorpions, which inflicted this beauty,” Luna lifted a hoof and pointed to her forehead, “and no, I cannot heal this. I’m not sure if my sister made you aware, but she is bound to the lighter side of magic and I’m bound to the darker side. Needless to say, I have no way of doing it myself. I cauterized and sterilized the wounds but that is as much as I can do.”

Twilight took a couple steps toward the now sitting mare, and lifted a hoof brushing her forehead lightly. Luna winced, but didn’t pull back, “Luna, let me heal this. We can't let it get infected, even if you did already sterilize it it’s still a risk,” Twilight was eager to help the mare in front of her.

“No. It is a very bad idea for you to use magic after what happened. There could be some unwanted side effects.”

“Please, Luna. You’ve done so much for me, protected me so much and saved my life countless times. Just let me do this at least. Please,” Twilight had moved her hoof to Luna’s shoulder and stared into her eyes pleadingly.

Luna grabbed the unicorn’s hoof with her own, bringing it off of her shoulder, “Twilight, I appreciate your conce-”

“No, Luna, It can’t be that bad. Please, just let me help you for once,” Twilight was using her entire face to try and convince her, head tilted down slightly and eyebrows up, a miniscule smile sprouting from her lips.

“Twilight, we cannot do this here, but I promise we will once we reach the city. We should only be a couple of hours out. I’ll let you do this when we get there, or if we don’t find the city alright?” Luna insisted. This wasn’t the time or place for such things.

“Fine. Let’s get moving then, I don’t want that wound to get infected.”

Luna chuckled softly, the cut on her cheek scrunching up and stretching with the movement of her lips, “That shouldn’t be a concern of yours, I am keeping the wound clean.”

“Alright, let's get moving then! I’m excited to meet these ponies.”

“Oh! Before we get to that, do you remember the language spell I taught you?”

“Yes I do, but how is that going to help me, I don’t know what language the inhabitants of this world speak,” Twilight’s interest had been piqued. Will I be able to talk to them?

“Well, actually, you do know… most of the language. They speak a slightly modified version of our old language. What many call now as the language of the ancient magi,” Luna’s voice gave away no clues to what she was thinking, but exhaustion was present.

Twilight on the other hand was jumping with joy. I can talk to them!?

Luna’s voice quickly shifted, and her lips curved downwards to form a frown, breathing harder than normal between words. “Unfortunately, culture changes over the course of a millennium, so we will have the joy of being integrated into that together.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Twilight’s head unconsciously tilted to the side as she asked.

“Well, no, but from my recollection they are a very… crude and straightforward people. All of the nations are fairly similar with regards to social and political structure, ruled by whoever is best at fighting, known as Sefulul in their language.”

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad, after all wasn’t Equestria somewhat similar before you and your sister gained power?”

“Yes, it was, but not quite to the intensity that these city states fight. If it is still the same however, this city we are headed to, is fairly peaceful unless given a reason not to be. Very powerful and good fighters, with modest leadership. They were the ones I trusted the most, although I did deal with most of the larger states.”

Twilight was eager to learn more about these mysterious ponies, ponies that could apparently channel magic through their hooves and focused their culture and society entirely on war, it seemed like an interesting breed.

“Do you think we could get caught in a scuff between two of these states?” Twilight had a good question, and while she didn’t want to ever have to fight and hurt others, she understood it was a possibility and quite realistically a problem they would have to face in the future.

“Unfortunately that is a possibility. Once we enter this town, if it is the same, very few nations would dare to attack and we should be safe. Another option we have is leaving the group we are staying with if a fight does break out, but I presume that won’t be the best option. These ponies are good at fighting. Hell, I’ve seen one pony caught in a fight with ten enemies and come out unscathed.”

“What happened to the ones that lost?”

“Well lets just say they became a statistic,” Luna was not wishing to waste much more of her little remaining energy on conversation. In all honesty, she would have preferred to rest before continuing.

Twilight had a myriad of questions running through her mind but no matter how much she wanted to have the information immediately she was limited to one question at a time, “How do the ponies here fight? Is it anything like you taught me?”

Luna on the other hand was exhausted. She had been awake constantly since the seal had broken, the magic contained within it dispersing throughout Twilight’s body trying to control the contaminated alicorn magic that Luna was forced to inject into the young mare’s body. “It is not similar at all, almost all of their weapons are blades that extend from some sort of mechanism from their forelegs. Enough about that though. Let's get walking.”

Luna turned around, pushing off and starting the multi mile trek to where she thought the nearest city was. Twilight followed right behind, only a step or two away from her, this time alert of her surroundings.

For Luna, this three or four hour walk would be a big blow. She had almost no energy and hadn’t slept in well over eighteen hours. Her magic was drained, having to fight away a multitude of creatures to protect Twilight. All of which she kept hidden of course. She would have loved to fly them the rest of the way, but she was about ready to collapse.

Sure, she had fought constantly for longer periods of time, but what she had to sacrifice to save Twilight was huge. The transfer had drained her of a good portion of magic, and the near constant action made it impossible to recover. She wasn’t going very far with another mare on her back.

“Twilight, I’m going to need you to pay attention to our surroundings, I don’t know if I will be able to do much if we run into trouble. Recent events have taken a toll on me.”

Twilight showed concern for the mare, but didn’t question her words, instead opting to give her a little bit of a pep talk, “Alright Luna. Thank you for saving me and caring for me. You really are an amazing pony, something that many don’t recognize and we will get through this together. I need you, after all, and it seems like you need a good,” Partner, significant other, marefriend, “friend.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I do appreciate the time I’ve been able to spend with you this trip, even though we must worry about our accomplices back home you are able to help me dull the horrible feeling,” Luna smiled, turning back to face Twilight, who was able to stop the princess and pull her into a hug. Her armor creaked when Luna returned the hug shortly after, now thinking of the previous night.

Am I ready for such a thing? So soon?

The lavender unicorn was also tangled with emotions,

Did I really do that?

A blush appeared on her face and she was thankful that Luna couldn’t see her. The two separated and Luna smiled before continuing to walk towards their destination.

I almost kissed her didn’t I? I’m absolutely crazy! How could somepony as stupid as that become the prized student of Celestia? I almost kissed the Princess of the moon, sovereign of the night, legendary warrior, the Mare of Blades. How insane am I!?

Twilight hoped that didn’t change Luna’s opinion of her, but she knew there was no way it would be the same. There was no way Luna didn’t know what she was doing, but she hadn’t brought it up or shown any signs she recognized the event.

Hmm. She has been acting a little weird, but that's probably just exhaustion.

“OOF” Twilight hit a soft mass in front of her, quickly falling backwards onto her rump. Her cloak protected her from the soft, cold snow and she rubbed her nose with a hoof, “Lu-”

A sob stopped her word in her throat, a sob coming from ahead of her. From the exhausted Alicorn leading them through the forest... Twilight jumped onto her hooves, trying to sidestep her way around the armored princess to see her face. Before she got there, another set of words escaped her lips, “Why won’t you just leave us alone!”

“Luna what's wron-” Twilight heard a growl from her left, behind Luna. To the right another one, and another one. Another one. One more. A final fierce howl as white wooled wolves approached the couple from every angle. They were huge. The smallest one the size of an elderly Timberwolf.

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly, panic and fear taking over a little bit.

“Twilight, you... you have to fight these things... there is no running from them,” Luna used what little magic she had left to open a portal to the aether, pulling a blade from its storage. Longer and thinner than her own, this sword immediately changed the mood around her. She felt an odd feeling, invigorated but cautious. The blue accents running up the middle of the blade glowed magically pulsing calmly every second, as if it was breathing, “Use... this blade… it is special.”

She must keep all of my stuff in there.

Twilight grasped the thin agile blade, the magenta glow from her horn discolored to be a dark purple or blue, similar to the main color of her striped mane. The use of magic was discomforting, even painful.

Luna was out of energy. She wasn’t this bad before, it was the wolves. They had a special magic to them, “The wolves… the-they… steal energy, be... careful. On-only use t-the bla...blade if y-you… must,” Luna was on the ground now, all of her legs in the snow. The magic she was supplying to keep her cuts clean dissipated and her vision was blackening

Twilight, they aren’t that bad compared to what we may face, be strong. Her final thoughts before falling into a forced slumber.

Twilight’s eyes were wide open, and terror struck her,”Luna!” She was now alone against a pack of giant wolves, some twice the size of herself, and wolves that apparently possessed some magic capacity to suck away the energy of other beings. The blade pulsed in the strong grip of aether like it had a beating heart of its own.

Twilight turned her back to the princess and trembled. Her eyes went from wolf to wolf before meeting the gaze of what was obviously the Alpha, the most forward and largest one. The pack circled the pair... They could smell her fear, and wanted to exploit this weakness as much as possible. A scared enemy is as good as a dead one after all.

Okay Twilight, you need to stay calm. Remember your lessons. She took a deep breath, not once pulling her eyes away from those of the largest wolf. There is no way you will be able to use the enhancements in your state, you will need to use incantations to help you. Her inner voice was giving her advice, lessons she had already learned. A gentle pulsing in her head warned her of lower than acceptable levels of magic, especially for combat.

It's okay. You’ve trained for this. Calm yourself Twilight. Another deep breath and the shaking stopped, her heart rate returning to just above normal levels and her eyelids coming down, glowering at the wolves. Twilight’s face became static and unreadable. Not even the best psychic would be able to read her.

The alpha stopped and gave a look of confusion. Never before had its prey recovered from a shaken state. He growled and stopped circling, the pack following his example. He howled once more and time slowed down as a wolf in her peripheral vision to the left leaped at her.

Twilight dug her back legs in and swung around to face it. She had two options, find a way to deal with more than one of her foes at once, or take her chances one on one.

“sol.”

The rapier burst into flames, the runes on the blade changing from blue to red in an instant. The angry flames screamed in the air, and Twilight swung the blade in a sweeping motion from right to left, a wall of fire pushing outwards, knocking back the wolf mid air and melting all of the snow underneath, revealing bright green grass somehow unharmed by the intense heat. The wolf she hit was not going to be able to fight, and the ones behind it all on that side of the ambush were left incapable, their coats scorched off in many areas and lacerations covered their bare, unconscious bodies

She didn’t intend to kill any of the creatures and the power of her spell reflected that, only serving to maim and wound.

Unfortunately, that spell, even with the help of the incantation, took a massive toll on her body. She coughed and fell onto a knee. Magic exhaustion, but how? I haven’t done a thing other than this!

She didn’t have much time to recover however as another couple of wolves leapt at her from the opposite side.

Shit! Twilight swore in her mind, something she rarely did and almost never out loud. She wasn’t going to be able to do much with her magic, but at least she was able to drastically decrease the number disadvantage. With not much of an option, she quickly tore a tiny hair from her coat and levitated it behind her before, using the hair as a focal point for a powerful barrier that quickly spread outward.

The wolves jumped straight into it and immediately hit the ground, dazed by the sudden impact. Twilight bit her lip in pain, this wasn’t magic exhaustion, it was something else. Suddenly, Twilight’s eyes burst white in a magical surge, yet she still felt incapable and nearly completely void of magic.

The metallic taste of blood graced her tongue as she prepared to incapacitate the other wolves. The flames had continued blazing, to Twilight’s surprise, but she had no intention of using the same fiery spell again. She couldn’t risk hurting Luna, and had to be more precise than that.

“lumina.”

The flames surrounding the weapon previously exploded in a bright light, and a beam of magic shot from the sword that she now had facing the dazed wolves. The light exploded outward in a sphere, covering Twilight and expanded in a flash to consume a large area.

The light left the wolves blinded and Twilight unfazed. She was pushing herself way too far. This was a dangerous game, one wrong move and she could cause her own demise. The adrenaline however was a great pain reliever and she was able to ignore most of the internal shocks and pulses.

As the wolves yelped in surprise and some in pain, Twilight had one more spell she thought of using.

Remember. Don’t kill, limit it’s power.

Twilight used her magic to lift the weapon directly above her, the blade and her pure white eyes pointing directly to the sky.

“fulger”

The final incantation bellowed as the now snow cleared soil around her began to shake, some of it lifting into the air, defying gravity itself. The runes on her blade lighting a bright white, almost completely covering the blade. Suddenly, a streak of lightning hit her blade, arcs of electricity shooting off of it.

That was not the only bolt of superhot energy bursting from the sky, many, many more came down striking the ground near her. She was very careful to miss Luna, a blow like this could cause serious harm even with her empowered suit of armor.

The lightning left craters in the ground, destroying the landscape. Some hit trees, knocking them over but failing to create a fire. The destruction around her would be heard for miles, the thunderous booms resonating and shaking her to her core.

The unicorn couldn’t see the damage her legendary spell had caused, but from the sound of it, it was quite serious. Almost as quickly as it started, a few seconds later the lightning died out and with it her eyes returned to normal, and she fell a couple of inches, just now realizing that she was floating in the air. The sword dropped from her grip and into the destroyed soil.

The unicorn’s legs locked up under the pressure, all of her energy leaving her as the adrenaline wore off. The gently ringing of silence consumed her senses, not a single sound being made except the sizzling of the lightning.

The ground around her had been completely cleared of snow, and trees were felled everywhere. The soil had been disrupted by massive craters that now littered the field of the short and challenging battle.

Twilight had collapsed next to Luna, and with a quick look confirmed her well being. Her chest rose and fell at a normal pace and she was in a deep sleep. Continuing to look around her, Twilight searched for the wolves. It seems many of them had run off, escaping the catastrophe of a hunt.

Others, however, were not so lucky and as soon as Twilight realized this, her eyes widened with fear and her jaw dropped open ever so slightly.

A few of the wolves lay still, unmoving, and smoke still sizzling off of their bodies. They had been the ones directly hit by the lightning, and there was no doubt they were dead.

How!? I thought I was able to control the power!

Twilight then noticed an anomaly. The craters were deep. Very deep. She had never been so destructive in her use of the spell. Forcing herself onto her legs, the mare stumbled towards the deepest crater, one she couldn’t see inside. The exhausted unicorn had to force her legs to take every step closer, fearing what she would see inside.

As she reached the edge, the largest of the pack, the alpha, lay still inside. It’s eyes were closed, but Twilight was relieved to see the gentle rise of its chest. Fur was not present around the majority of the wolf’s right side, and serious burns were present.

The alpha’s eyes slowly opened, and it whimpered as it saw the mare. The large wolf tried to stand on its legs, but yelped and fell back to the ground, one or more of them obviously broken.

“It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Twilight intended to undo some of the damage she had caused. The wolf was powerless and afraid, so the mare was in no danger. The lavender tried to light her horn, but the action sent a jolt of pain throughout her entire body and she broke into a coughing fit.

The taste of blood once again entered her mouth as she coughed up her precious life blood. It further dirtied the once white coat of the alpha wolf’s coat, now speckled with red.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so much harm.”

The wolf whimpered in response, and gave up all attempts to run. The wolf’s breathing slowed as if it had given up. Twilight maneuvered her hoof to the creature's head, stroking it gently, “I wish I could help, but something is wrong with my magic.”

A tear fell from Twilight’s eye, followed by a gentle flow. She was horrified of what she had done, only meaning to disable and incapacitate, the powerful unicorn accidentally killed four or five of her aggressors. The wolf's eyes closed in defeat. It’s life was ending.

Twilight now fully embraced the wolf and cried silently. The wolf let out a few more breaths before a final, deep breath brought it into the unknown world beyond this one.

The alicorn magic imbued mare lay there holding the limp body of the Alpha male before silently getting up and walking to the only mare that could comfort her.

I had to do it… right? I had to protect Luna. I couldn’t let her get hurt. I’d do anything to ensure her safety.

Twilight stepped directly beside the princess, who was on one of the few undamaged spots in the area, “I did the right thing.. right Luna? You gave me the power to do that,” Twilight collapsed right next to her, and threw her arms around her, quiet sobs coming back to her, “I only did it because I had too… I had to protect you.”

Yes, you did have to protect her. You couldn’t let harm come to her. The voice repeated itself in her head, but.. it was weird. Different. Dark. The unicorn had never experienced something so similar.

Twilight stared at the peacefully sleeping mare. Her now light blue mane fell around her shoulders, leaving her face open to observation. Her wounds were bleeding again, although not anywhere near dangerous levels. Her eyes were shut and her breaths short and monotonous.

“I.. I lo-”

The pounding of hooves interrupted her, not like it mattered anyway. Twilight looked up too see a group of five ponies, all with coats different shades of gray and manes to match, running towards them. The ponies were yelling things at each other, and their faces exposed an emotion not of anger or anything malicious, but a mask of concern instead.

The words they spoke were impossible to understand, and Twilight had no energy left to reply, or even attempt to fight or run. She simply let a final tear drop and whisper, “We can never get a break,” with a small, gloomy chuckle the mare fell into the dirt pushed up against the pony she wished to spend her life with.

No, you cannot.

Awakened and Awakening

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 7

Awakened and Awakening

By: Azurekaryu

Edited by: Tripy988 and Flameswordedlink

August 29, 1008 PN

Her body shook as her eyelids parted, dispelling the darkness that filled her dreamless sleep.

“Twilight!” The voice was no louder than a whisper, familiar and soft, “Twilight, I pray you wake, we must speak while others cannot listen.”

“Luna?” Twilight mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. She lay upon a very comfortable surface, light cloth and blankets covering the majority of her body.

“Shh! We mustn't awake the guards.”

Guards? Twilight quickly remembered where she had been, and shot up in the bed quickly, blowing the sheets completely off of her. She quickly spun her head around and tried to gather information.

Twilight could tell it was night, but she could see fairly well. The walls around her were built of stone, a single window next to her bed and the size of her bedroom in the library, this place seemed like something a princess would be stuck inside of in a fairy tale.

“Where are we?” Twilight turned to Luna who sat just right of the bed. Her eye, it’s normal, and her mane too

“We are in the city I told you of, they call it Teren Pace, apparently this is one of the major cities on the edge of one of the major empires on the continent. They are trying to unite the people, and stop the wars.”

Remembering the battle before she passed out, she remembered the group of ponies running toward her and Luna, “Did they bring us here after the fight?”

“Yes they did. They…” Luna paused, looking down as if she had something horrible to tell her.

Worried, Twilight spoke up, “Luna?” She shifted closer to the princess, who was completely naked except for the natural coat her fur provided, and rested a hoof on her shoulder, “Is something wrong? You can tell me anything?”

Luna smiled, “No, Twilight, I’m sorry. Nothing is wrong, but the ponies were terrified of you. When I woke yesterday, you were in chains deep below the city surface. I was able to convince them to let you out.”

Twilight noticed Luna’s cuts were healing rather quick. They had closed a little bit more than previously, and what had already healed had left scars. The smallest cut, the one on her muzzle, was already completely gone. It was replaced by a tissue lighter than her fur that stood out considerably.

“I was in chains? Why?” Twilight was surprised, but she didn’t remember anything past the attack.

“You had used magic they had never even dreamed of, Twilight. When they found you, they said you looked like a ‘pony straight from a nightmare’.”

Twilight rose an eyebrow in question, “Did I really look that bad?”

Luna laughed and Twilight chuckled a little bit after, lightening the mood a little bit, “No, Twilight, you don’t ever look bad my dear, but you should see yourself right now. They do have a valid reason to feel the way they do about you...”

The purple mare blushed, “What do you mean? Is something wrong with me?”

“No, it is just a side effect of your magics mixing together. While it isn’t a normal part of life that most ponies go through, it is not dangerous. Here.”

Twilight was very confused. Magics? Two? Multiple? Mixing together? What does she mean? A bending of light constructed a mirror out of thin air, appearing directly in front of Luna and allowing the mare to look at herself. Twilight removed herself from the bed and stood on the hard stone floor to get a better look at herself.

Her eyes widened and jaw dropped open a little when she saw herself. My... my eyes! They were a brighter pink, similar to the color of her coat, instead of the normal purple. The biggest change was the shape of her pupil. It wasn’t entirely slitted like Luna’s was, but it was much more narrow than normal. Another shock was the large gash on her left cheek that was glowing a dark blue with tiny specks of purple. That wasn’t the only one however. Many of them covered her body, the most notable one was a large wound on her right foreleg near the hoof, covering three or four inches vertically. Another one was on her shoulder, and another on her left flank just above her cutie mark.

The weirdest thing was that she could feel none of them. Nothing, the wounds were not sore. She slowly lifted a hoof to the one on her cheek, and as she made contact she hissed as the magic covered wound burned her hoof and the sensation continued through her leg before dissipating at the knee. An identical burn also consumed the wound.

“Luna. What’s wrong with me? What’s happening? Be honest with me.” Twilight was serious now, very worried for her own well being. What is this?

The pseudo mirror disappeared and the light returned to normal, and Luna had a sad look on her face, a drastic difference compared to the lighthearted smile she wore earlier, “Twilight. This is my doing, and I’m so sorry for what I had to put you through, and what you are going to have to bear with in the near future and for the rest of your life. I wish there was another thing I could do, but I had no choice.”

Confusion filled Twilight's mind as she recalled having a conversation similar to this before, but then Luna had failed to elaborate further. The princess away from home wouldn’t be able to dodge the question this time though, “Luna, no more jumping away from this. No matter what you have done, I will not be angry at you, but I need to know. This is important I can tell. What are these marks? What happened to my eyes?” Twilight tried to channel magic just as a test, and as she expected it was very difficult to even illuminate the shaded room, “And why the hell is it so hard to use my magic!”

Luna still had the sad, serious look on her face, “Alright Twilight. When we were attacked by the group of ponies in the forest, I was forced to do something that is now completely forbidden and censored in modern Equestria. I had no other option, and I know I can never ask you to forgive me.” A tear was shed, silently it made its way down Luna’s cheek. What I have done to you my dear is something I will never forgive myself for.

Twilight wiped the tear off of her opposites cheek, and pulled her into a quick hug, “Luna. It is okay. I will forgive you no matter what, I owe so much to you. But you need to tell me what happened.”

“I... I had to… inject my magic into your body, for lack of a better term.”

Magic injection! I’ve heard of this, it’s been illegal in Equestria for centuries now!

“What is the problem with that Luna?”

“If I were just another normal unicorn there would not be much of a problem, hell even If I were a normal alicorn it wouldn’t be a problem. But I am not, Twilight. I am something much worse. My magic is not wholly my own anymore. It carries remnants of a dark time in my past.”

Twilight caught the gist of what she was saying instantly. Her eyes widened and a scared look appeared on her face.

“My magic is mixed with yours now. It cannot be controlled or contained. It will alter the magic in your well, and reproduction of your normal magic will stop. This does not mean you will be restricted to what I can do, not being able to use light magic for example. Your magic will change mine as much as mine changes yours. You will be powerful. Very powerful.”

Twilight was scared. I... I won’t be me anymore. Magic is everything to a unicorn. Their magic is more important than their blood. The energy of the aether resonated through the mind and heart, each pony’s magic unique to themselves and that was a defining factor in personality. Many ponies were known to go insane when their magic was tampered with.

A little sob escaped Luna as she saw the expression on the mare across from her. What have I done?… It’s all my fault we are in this situation in the first place.

“Twilight… you will not be the same pony, ...but there is a way you can avoid massive personality changes, and there is another problem that my magic brings you…”

Twilight recovered physically. She removed the scared look on her face and replaced it with compassion, although her heart beated much faster than normal and her mind was terrified, “Luna. It’s alright. Please tell me.” Twilight went in for another hug. She had never seen a princess in such anguish. Although her face showed little, her cracked voice and quiet tears let out more than enough information.

“Twilight… My magic is infected. It is infected with another’s magic. A persona that you ponies have come to know as Nightmare Moon. She was something that I created after a series of magical treatments I was subjected to. Another personality. One that I let get the best of me. This thing is much more powerful than myself, and I have learned to control it to my benefit now, which explains the phenomenon you witnessed with my eye and mane, …but you will need to learn to do the same or you might suffer the same fate I did a millennium ago.”

Nightmare Moon... is inside of me? Twilight came to a shocking realization. The voices! That’s what they are!

She tried her best to talk to the mare in her mind, Are you there!? Come out and speak to me? How does this thing work…

When she got no response she shifted gears again, “Luna... how can I destroy her? Can I?”

Luna, still encompassed in the hug, squeezed her counterpart for a split second before releasing her, “No, Twilight. You cannot. But you can control her, and stop her from grasping control of your mind. If you can learn to control the Nightmare it can be a huge asset, it is essentially its own person inside of you and when you let her magic mingle with your own it can become much, much more potent.”

Twilight was still trying to grasp onto the concept of different magic interchanging with her own. Normally when magic mixes the effects are seen within hours... why hasn’t it drastically changed me?

“Luna, why hasn’t this ‘infected’ magic already changed me so much like the recordings of magic treatment show?”

Luna had something to smile about finally and her lips lifted, “I put a curse on you. A curse that does the opposite of the name.”

Twilight tilted her head, “Huh?”

“I’m certain you remember the night that… hm… Well, the night you passed out because of an excruciating pain?” Luna avoided other descriptions, trying to avoid awkwardness. I still can’t believe that almost happened.Luna had mixed feelings, but she didn’t have much time to ponder her thoughts.

“Which one?”

Oh. Right, that happened more than once. Poor filly.

“The night after we were attacked by the ponies.”

“Oh, yes, of course I do. It was my neck, it felt like an inferno just popped up from nothing and spread throughout my body. One of the worst things I’ve ever felt,” Twilight shivered at the memory, she was good at dealing with pain but that was something else.

Twilight’s mind also wandered to the events just before. We have to talk about that. I can’t live with that being the end of something. Twilight was not afraid of what she had done, mainly because of how Luna reacted at the time. She allowed it to happen and it was obvious she knew what Twilight was doing. She must feel the same… right? Even though she didn’t regret the moment, she had doubts.

“That means it worked. I had to use rather unsavory methods, but I was able to create a restricting arcanic seal and place it on your neck. That was also the moment I mixed our magics, and the night that you passed out was the next day. The seal had broke, which was able to greatly restrict the amount of magic that you could make use of, which by proxy, greatly decreases the flow of magic through your head. That is the reason you have felt minimal effects of the infusion. It is only a temporary solution though, and you need to do the rest to secure your mind.”

Suddenly it made sense. That’s why I can’t use magic! That also does explain the lack of personality changes, but I get that voice every now and then… there must be a minimal amount of the infected magic getting through. What else can I do to stop it though?

As if Luna had read her mind, she gave a solution with a very serious look on her face, “Your magic’s probably still have not completely mixed. We should do this now. Locate your aether well and isolate the three different magics you will find, that is, your magic, my magic, and our magic’s mixed together.”

Twilight nodded, closing her eyes and finding the intangible well. She had done this hundreds of times before, it was like second nature to unicorns. Their second heart. It’s… huge!? Twilight’s well had increased in size massively, and although it wasn’t measurable by normal means, it had effectively doubled… no, tripled in size.

The well was a mess. Colors mixed all together, a murky brown the predominant color before separation. In a split second her original magenta colored magic wisped over to the left side of her well, the ethereal substance swishing around like a liquid. The color of the substance got darker, more like a black now. She tried to concentrate.

Pure. Find something pure. Purple, no it’s blue. Lighter blue. Got it! Left... No no no! The other left!

With a great deal of concentration, Twilight was able to move the lighter blue substance away from the murky compound and the other side of her well. With nothing else to mix into it, the compound quickly went from a dark brown to a royal purple, leaving only the already mixed magics behind.

There was a surprisingly small amount of her pure magic left, probably only a fifth of what her well currently possessed. A bead of sweat wet her brow. Now what? I can’t hold this very long!

“Alright, Luna. I’ve done it! It’s a lot harder than I thought!”

Luna quickly moved over to assist Twilight, “It is just as easy as using your magic normally if you get enough practice, but for now sit down, there is no reason to be standing. It is only a waste of energy,” She quickly put a hoof on the small of her back and pushed downwards, eliciting a light blush from Twilight. The unicorn sat down with the assistance of Luna’s hoof and refocused on the task at hand.

“Twilight, I know, this is hard, but you can do it. I need you to locate the magic circle limiting your flow of magic.”

Twilight initiated a search for anything emitting even the slightest trace of magic, and found it in a fairly simple three ring arcane circle, “Found it! What do I do now?” Twilight was trying her best to control her voice, but subtlety had already been thrown to the wind with her previous screams.

“Destroy it, and directly after that I want you to build up all of your magic and channel your magic through your mind. Encompass as much of your brain as possible, this will minimize the effects that my magic will have on your personality. There will of course be slight changes, but nothing major if you can do this.”

Twilight nodded. She took a deep breath, and with a great deal of concentration was able to move only her own magic to the seal. She channeled the pure magenta aether through each of the three rings, starting with the largest outer one and going to the two smaller inner circles, the tiny inscriptions engraved into the rune also lighting up. Hopefully the changes will be for the better then, right?

Her magic pulsed and the seal shattered, and Twilight wasted not a single second channeling the magic through her body. She directed it straight through her chest, leaving a trace of magic behind at her heart and the rest of it enveloped her mind. A tingle followed the mass move of magic and the other two isolated magics raced after it, coursing through her blood everywhere around her body. Her eyes shot open along with her mouth, and the sudden magic shock forced open Twilight’s eyes and a gasp escaped her lips. Her eyes lit an ethereal white, and the bright glow spread from her room into the hallway and forced Luna to cover her eyes with a hoof.

Despite the huge surge of aether coursing through her body, it was a rather calming experience. Her wounds healed immediately, the gashes on her body closing and her bruises repairing themselves and a warm tingling sensation overtook her. I feel so much stronger! Have I always had this much power or did her magic make me that much more powerful?

Twilight lifted a hoof, and she saw a thin blue aura emanating from it, and as she observed her others it was the same. She let it rest and observed the room, but not paying much attention to detail. She felt surreal. Everything around her seemed fake, like she was dreaming. She felt like she was floating, but the phenomenon was not meant to last. Her vision returned to normal and the glow emanating from her hooves dissipated and the surreal feeling left her body.

Twilight smiled and looked at her friend, who had a smile on her face and her eyes wet, “You did it Twilight. You did in seconds what took me years and years to figure out.”

Luna reached toward Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“What did I do exactly?” The mare was still a little bit dizzy from the experience.

“You sealed off your mind to the influence of my magic. If only others could do such a thing this method of treatment would not be forbidden.”

To the mare in the spotlight, the world was spinning, but she was doing everything she could not to pass out. I’ve been unconscious WAY too much, don’t you dare pass out again!

She grabbed Luna’s hoof and pulled herself into the alicorn, squeezing hard. It seems her efforts proved successful, the dizziness stopped prompting her to pull away from the mare. Luna hadn’t let a tear fall, but whatever she was contemplating must have brought back bad emotions. She still wore a smile though, “Luna, what's wrong?”

At the question the alicorn wiped her eyes, “Nothing, I’m just glad that I didn’t mess you up too much. I’m happy you could do that, but we need to worry about the guards now. They probably heard the ruckus.”

Oh yeah. That’s right, we are on a different planet.

“Crap! I forgot about that I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright Twilight, but I’m going to recommend the translation spell right about now, remember, it’s similar to the language of the magi. Let me do the talking though.”

Twilight nodded in confirmation and sure enough frantic hoofsteps could be heard making their way towards the room. The unicorn mare took a deep breath and channeled magic through her horn. Her eyes flashed a golden yellow as she cast the relatively simple spell.

Wow, it feels so good to have my magic back.

She felt so much stronger. Her energy levels were high too, the restoration of her magic really having beneficial effects on her all around well being.

“Get the door open, quick! That monster is probably-”

The lock clicked as a key turned inside the doorknob and the oakwood door flung open, revealing two gray, extremely masculine stallions wearing red armor with black accents and scary looks on their faces. The one on the left had a lighter shaded coat, while the one on the right was closer to a charred black color. The guard on the left also happened to be the one that spoke up.

“What’s going on here!”

“Sorry sorry, this mare had a bit of a magical incident. It’s all fine, and as you can see her wounds have healed well.” Luna resonated calmness, and the tensed guards loosened up and a stoic look appeared in place of the previous one.

“Very well. I’m glad that you’re doing well miss. Please try and keep the noise down, we wouldn’t want you to wake up the rest of the castle,” The guards had no indication of rank on their armor, but the one speaking gave off an air of experience, “Sefulu Jaeger will be here by tomorrow’s end to speak with you.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. We will have a guard posted outside your room. If you need anything, ask him,” The guard turned to leave the room, but a sudden illumination made him pause. The dark room and hallway suddenly lit with a faint orange glow, “Huh?” He turned around, and so did the two mares.

Outside the window, a large fiery ball flew at them from above.

What is that?

Twilight was tackled to the ground by Luna, and now the alicorn stood above her with her wings unfurled protectively and a tense look on her face. It wasn’t long before a loud bang deafened all in the room and a blazing heat rushed through the air. Twilight coughed, her ears ringing. She saw flames burning the rug near the window and a massive hole in the stone wall. The bookshelves had fallen over, destroyed and burning. Another shake and bang brought her back to reality where she saw Luna above her with a pained look on her face.

A cough from the mare on top spilled a small amount of blood onto Twilight’s side. Her eyes widened and worry filled but before she had a chance to voice her concern Luna made a demand, “Twilight, get up,” Luna moved herself so she wasn’t restricting the mare from getting up. Her voice was weak, but she moved fluently.

Twilight listened, coughing as she stood. They quickly moved to the door, “Hurry, hurry! We have to get to the inner walls!”

Luna hastened Twilight out of the room, “What’s going on?”

“We are under attack, from whom I’m not sure!”

The guard quickly guided the pair through the halls, the other one nowhere to be found. Twilight coughed more, the dust in the air getting to her. The trio ran through the narrow stone hallways to a set of stairs spiraling down five floors. Shakes and bangs accompanied every other hoof step as more objects impacted the castle.

Ponies ran about the halls, some even going up the stairs towards the damage. Most of them were mares and children, all of the males in armor and preparing to fight. Eventually the three ponies got to the bottom and ran out of the, wide open wooden doors.

“Where is my damn armor?!”

“Somebody call General Couteau!”

“It’s the Solari!”

The trio wrestled their way through the crowd. They passed dozens of stone buildings before reaching one at the end of the street, with barred windows and a metal door. “In here!” The guard paused in front of the door, lifting his hoof. His hoof started giving off a unique grey aura before he slammed it into the door, which went flying open accompanied by a loud bang.

“Hurry, get inside!” The light grey guard ordered, and the two promptly followed, entering the large stone building...

Inside is what Twilight and Luna discover to be an armory with a plethora of weapons. Most of them were hoof guards with a mechanism on the top of them which presumably controlled the two blades on top of each guard. Armor was racked along the left wall and the weapons on the right. The wall in front of them was barren excluding the door that led further into the building.

“This way.”

Bangs could be heard, but the walls muffled the noises considerably. The guard pushed through the door on the opposite side of the wall, leading to a room covered with maps. Luna entered first allowing Twilight a look at the mare’s back. What happened to her!? There were hundreds of tiny red cuts. None of them bled, and nothing was serious. Wait. That’s why she was over me, she was protecting me from the spray of shrapnel.

Twilight followed into the planning room, desks all over the side.

This looks rather like the planning room we have in the basement of the castle.

Twilight had of course seen every room in the Canterlot Castle after getting full security clearance a few years ago. An older stallion sat in the center of the room, ponies frantically working around him, wearing red armor with yellow accents on the side.

“Captain,” The stallion started, “What are our two guests doing here?” His voice was very deep and he was calm despite the chaos around him.

“Sir, I didn’t know what else to do with them. There is no other safe place to take them, and I wasn’t sure if you had something in mind.” Lightning had one hoof near his chest in what seemed to be a show of respect.

“At ease, I’m glad you brought them here actually. You two,” The general turned his attention towards the two mares, “Normally, we wouldn’t let mares fight, but my men have told me the things that you did to those wolves. I want to ask your assistance. I’m sorry that you have not had much time to become acquainted with myself or our people, and that your wounds have not healed, but we are in a bit of a tight spot.”

Why can’t mares fight?

Luna did the talking of course, “What did you have in mind?”

The stallion smiled, “You see, we do not have much of an army here, but we should be able to hold out for perhaps twelve hours. I cannot ask you to fight, but if you are willing to do us a favor, a few hours run to the east is a garrison located with a large enough fighting force to help us out.”

“Who ever said we can’t fight?” Twilight blurted out, somewhat offended.

Luna looked over at her, She’s rather forward about that opinion. “I apologize for the outburst, but she is right, we are capable of fighting. Do you not have any other messengers?”

The stallion raised an eyebrow, “We do, but it seems it would’ve been a bit quicker because of your flying abilities. From what we have seen, you have tremendous fighting capabilities, and if you would rather do that I will not stop you, but I thought you would be cautious to fight alongside those you just met.”

Luna contemplated for a second, “Twilight. What do you want to do?”

The question caught her off guard, she didn’t expect Luna to actually include her in the decision making, assuming that she knew what was best.

“Sorry hehe... I think we should probably deliver the message. He is right, we can get there faster than any of their messengers could by hoof.”

I don’t think I’m ready to fight other ponies seriously too… From what I hear there is no giving up, they will fight to the death and I’m not ready to kill.

What do you mean? You killed those wolves, remember? A voice not belonging to herself entered her mind, a whisper barely audible in the workings of her head.

I didn’t mean to kill them! Who are you and how are you in my head? Were you the one talking to me during the fight?

A few seconds passed, and no response from the mysterious voice, “Alright then, is there something we should know to get the message across?”

“Ah! Yes, there is, one moment.” The stallion lifted his hoof and a deep red aura spread out in all directions, “You will need to provide proof that I sent you. If you would please give me your right foreleg for a moment,” His words were directed at Luna, and she listened without hesitation, “This might burn a little bit, but no harm will be done.”

He held her foreleg in one hoof and pressed the other to her skin. A sizzling sound was heard and coincided with a wince from Luna. The hair had been burnt away in an interesting pattern. Four lines at the bottom spread out to be many branches of a tree.

I know that, what is that from?

“You too, miss, just in case.”

Twilight nodded and raised her foreleg to his hoof, where he grabbed onto it to support it and firmly pressed his hoof to her foreleg. Twilight bit her lip in anticipation of a burning sensation, and it came. She felt her hairs being burned away and very minor injuries forming on her skin, but in the blink of an eye the process was done, and she took some time to inspect the strangely familiar symbol.

“Thank you both for doing this. It is dangerous for my men to leave the city at this point, I imagine they are doing their best to surround and siege us. If you go directly east from here you can’t miss the camp.”

“Of course, you saved us after all.” Luna was still doing most of the talking, and it did only make sense, she at least had an idea of what these ponies are like, but so far it seemed that they weren't much different than the ones back home.

The officer nodded, “Captain, will you please see them out? I would offer you two some protection, but I’m afraid we do not have any armor fitted for your body types.”

“It is quite alright, we have our own.”

With that, the pair followed the guard that originally led them in. They passed through both rooms quickly to the smoke filled air of the outside world. Around them fires blazed, but the blitzkrieg of a siege slowed its pace, the projectiles only impacting once every few minutes now.

“Good luck, you two. Thank you for doing this,” The captain turned back toward the building, presumably to plan defence.

“East is this way, right?” Twilight said, pointing the opposite way of the castle they came from. Less damage had been done to the east side of the town, giving away that the city was either not surrounded or they had just set up positions there.

Luna smiled at Twilight, “That would be correct, but first I think we should don our clothing.”

“I don’t have any armor like you do, unfortunately.”

“That may be true, but the cloak I gave you will offer protection from small projectiles, and I imagine those are the only danger we face exiting the city.”

Luna’s horn lit a vibrant blue and a blinding light forced Twilight’s eyes away, like it did the first time she summoned her armor. The fachium plated armor shone brilliantly on the mare, the silver color a great contrast to the alicorn’s dark blue coat. Her billowing mane flew freely and she bore a content look in her eyes.

Those cuts do add personality to her face, to be honest.

Luna looked to the mare caught staring, and quickly Twilight averted her eyes, her cheeks heating up.

“Are you ready?”

“Um... I don’t know how to summon mine.”

“Oh, right, sorry about that. One moment,” Luna closed her eyes and her horn lit once again, a tear in space opening up just in front of the two. From the aether Luna pulled Twilight’s cloak and weapons, which Twilight quickly donned.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

Luna kneeled down in a jesting manner, “Well then fine princess, shall we be off?”

Twilight giggled and hopped onto Luna’s back. She had gotten rather good at getting on and off of the mare’s back throughout the couple of weeks they had been here. Twilight returned the jest, “Yes, we should get moving, my sweet,” and Luna leapt off of the ground, propelling the pair into the air and leaving the half destroyed city behind them.

New recruit, New tech, New fight

Luna’s Secret World

Interlude 2

New recruit, New tech, New fight

By: Azurekaryu

Edited by: Tripy988 and Flameswordedlink

September 14, 1008 PN

“Prince Armor, the guests are ready to see you,” an armored pegasus proclaimed.

The tired prince had rings around his eyes. His armor had lost the shine he was always so proud of. He currently sat upon a simple elevated platform in the main meeting hall, where court was often held. Of course, day and night court had been put on an indefinite hiatus so all efforts could be focused towards the war.

“Send them in.”

The pegasus nodded and the large wooden doors were enveloped in a golden glow and slowly pulled open.

As the doors opened two pegasi made their way into the courtroom, a signature rainbow maned mare looking rather unhappy and the one next to her, the famed captain of the Wonderbolts, was also not in the best mood.

“This better be important,” The annoyed Rainbow Dash said.

This, of course, tested the patience of the newly coronated prince. His general mood had deteriorated immensely. The constant pressure of the advancing griffon armies, and the further deterioration of Celestia’s state of mind, leaving him and his wife in more and more control and stress. That’s without mentioning the disappearance of his sister.

“You know I wouldn’t call you in here if it weren't important, so please Rainbow, let us get on with this.”

“Fine.”

The remaining Elements of Harmony had been relocated to Canterlot once the griffons made their first offensive. In that offensive, they had managed to capture three cities, and the remainder of the surviving troops had been forced to hold Marestone, a city located in the middle of the three that had been captured. At this moment they were surrounded and besieged. Scouts were able to occasionally make it in and out of the city.

The griffons had not made any more advances further south, but they had Manehatten in their sights, the largest city between the griffons and Canterlot.

“First off, you two,” Shining said to the guards at the door, “I ask that you leave the room, this is meant to be private.” The two guards left the room without a word, closing the door behind them, leaving the two pegasi and the unicorn alone in the courtroom, “Alright, so, as both of you know, this war hasn’t been going so well. The griffons have made strong advances, morale is low with the recent disappearance of Celestia, and we do not have many experienced fighters available for us to use at our disposal.”

“Yeah, we already know this, and I’m still amazed you haven’t sent the Wonderbolts out to do anything.” This time Spitfire spoke up, “We are absolutely prepared and trained. We can go and fight.”

“I’m getting there, Captain, please let me continue. Rainbow Dash, I understand you have had previous training with the wonderbolts, correct?”

Rainbow dash rose an eyebrow, “Yeah, that’s right, what about it?”

The new ruler of Equestria took a deep breath, “Alright, I’m going to cut to the chase. Spitfire, I want you to take Rainbow Dash under your wing and have her participate in important Wonderbolt missions that I’m going to start giving to you. At the same time, I want you to increase the size of the Wonderbolts from the current one hundred and ten ponies to three hundred. I have already ordered for a new training center to be built and it should be done in a few days time.”

“What!? I can’t just train two hundred recruits to the level we need Wonderbolts to be at!” Spitfire was more appalled at the size increase than taking the mare next to her under her wing, she really didn’t have much of a problem with that.

“Hold on Captain, I’m not finished yet. Once Rainbow Dash has enough experience, she is going to split off from the wonderbolts and take a portion of the new recruits with her. I want her to create a new special forces unit composed entirely of Pegasi. They-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second here, do I get a say in any of this?” Rainbow was surprised at all the sudden information. It wasn’t like she was dreading her future now put forth by the Prince, but she was ticked that other ponies were ordering her around and forming her future without her opinion.

“Well, Rainbow Dash, of course we cannot force you to agree to this, so before we continue, do you want to take on the responsibility and danger of the task and position we are offering of you?”

Well, she didn’t even need to think for a second. She wanted revenge. She wanted to give the griffons a good firm ass whooping. Even though she hadn’t been directly affected by the war, she felt horrible standing on the sidelines and watching others get killed, “Of course I do, you idiot!”

The Prince smiled at her brash response. Just like her. I’m glad to see Twilight’s disappearance isn't crushing her.

“Good. Now then, as I was saying, once you have enough experience, we will create a new unit composed of pegasi, under the role of what we call a Surgical Strike Team.”

“Sounds cool. What do they do?

“The main purposes of this is to create a unit that is able to fluently get behind enemy lines and attack key enemy positions or targets, often following or during a major battle. The unit will also serve as an aggressive reconnaissance and a sophisticated SAR team, that is, Search and Rescue.”

Rainbow was getting excited. That sounds so badass! I get to lead my own team of special ops ponies! COOOOOOOOOOOOL!

She hid her excitement on the outside though, maintaining an air of professionalism.

The Prince spoke up again when he heard no complaints from either of the ponies, “Any complaints, questions, suggestions?”

“So, when you say you want me to take her under my wing, does that mean she will be with me during our missions?”

“Yes, she needs combat time. Also, we have new, sophisticated technology in its prototype stage that I want you to give to a select few. We have sixteen in all, obviously one goes to both of you, so you have 14 to give out to members you select.”

“What are these items you speak of?”

“Oh, you’ll see. It’s really wonderful technology,” The prince beckoned forth the pegasus from earlier, “Go down to the lab and tell Spark I want two copies of the XJ11 technology at the courtroom pronto.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” That was one thing Shining hadn’t got used to and never would. “Your Highness” is something many ponies referred to him as, and it was not what he wanted. Even though he was royalty before, ponies only referred to Celestia and Luna as “Your Highness.”

He waited for the pegasus to exit the room before continuing, “Rainbow, you need to understand the realism of what you are accepting to do before we finalize this.”

“What do you mean?”

The former captain had a serious look on his face, and that was mimicked by Rainbow, “This is a war. You will see things that you haven’t ever thought of before, horrible things. You will have to do bad things too, things that I know you wouldn’t want to ever do.”

“Yeah. I know, I understand that, but the griffons have already crossed the line and killed a lot of ponies, I know that I will probably have to get my hooves dirty too. I know that I will almost certainly have to take the life of another living being, and that I will probably end up losing friends in this war.”

“Wow… that was really mature of you Dashie, didn’t know you had that in you,” Spitfire proclaimed.

“Yeah, she’s right, and I’m glad you know that and accept it as well, you really are more than that brash childish girl on the inside it seems.”

“Hey! I am not childish, I’m just… fun!” Nevertheless, the mare blushed at the attention.

The other two ponies in the room laughed, deepening Rainbow’s blush, “Shutup!”

As if it was planned, a knock on the door halted all sound from the three ponies, “Enter.”

“Why hello there Prince Armor, I hear you were looking for these wonderful things!” A cheery blue unicorn wearing a lab coat walked in, two necklaces in his magical grip.

“Ah, yes. Thank you for bringing them up. Are they stable?”

“I am glad you asked! We have finally figured out how to stabilize the glucinian-197 isotope and that makes these bad boys completely safe and effective!” The chemist was excited, practically jumping up and down.

“Whoa there, calm down. So, would you mind explaining to these two how exactly this will help them?”

“But of course!” He trotted forward happily, getting closer to the two mares, “Now then, you two need to be very careful about this, and it would be preferable if information of this wonderful product were not to reach curious ears.”

Both of them nodded as he approached within two feet of the mares standing next to each other, “This is a product we have been researching for over a decade. I finally figured out how to stabilize this wonderful element in its aether form.”

He levitated one of the necklaces around both of the mare’s necks, and following that both of the mares grabbed it with a hoof and brought it into eyesight. It was a dark , slightly transparent crystal with what seemed to be a gaseous substance flowing inside of its container. The two colors inside refused to mix with each other and instead remained an independent black with crimson red flowing around with it.

“Whoa.” Rainbow Dash plainly awed at the epic sight.

“‘Whoa’ is right, my dear. This necklace is essentially, in terms you will understand, mobile magic that you can make available to yourself.”

“There isn’t a lot in here though, would it even be useful for anything?”

The question excited the scientist even more, “Aha! That would be where you are wrong. You see, while it may not seem like a lot, the element produces usable magic at a rate so quick it would be almost impossible for you to use it all up.”

“Sounds pretty awesome, but how do we use it?”

“That is where things get slightly complicated. You cannot see them right now, but there are tiny, empty runes inscribed on the sides of the crystal that can only be activated through what’s called a blood ritual.”

“Like, what cultists do?”

“Rainbow, you should know that cultists don’t actually do that kind of stuff now, but kind of. A drop of blood must be spilled onto each side of the device and the runes will activate, syncing with your magic wells, yes, pegasi do have magic wells before you ask. They are just rather small. This means that you will be the only one able to use this instrument ever.”

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about this falling into enemy hands.” Spitfire’s first thought came through her muzzle.

“Precisely, but seriously, don’t lose these, they are very very expensive to manufacture.”

“We aren’t going to lose them, Spark.” Spitfire said in response.

“I would certainly hope not. Now then, if you two are interested we can begin the binding process now, it is a little bit more complicated than I made it sound earlier.”

“Umm… before we do that, do we actually get to know what these will do for us?” An inquisition from the Wonderbolt.

The stallion deflated a little, “If you really want to take the boring route, then yes. The magic is designed to interact with your thoughts. It will form itself throughout the natural magic veins located in the pegasus body and will be externalized through the same method as a unicorn, just without the horn. You will be able to materialize items made of pure magic, such as armor or weapons, on the outside of your body. This will be useful because it allows the use of weapons mounted on the forelegs that can be removed and replaced in less than a microsecond, thus removing the danger of the weapons colliding with the environment.”

“Alright, hold on. I followed you up until you started talking about these complicated magic terms.”

Spark rolled his eyes, “Of course, my apologies. In simpler terms, it means you will be able to create any weapon, or armor, of your choice, made up of solid magic stronger than most steel. So, for example, if you are flying away from a scene of battle and being bombarded by archers you could create a full covering suit of weightless armor that would deflect all of the projectiles. Or, if you wanted, you could summon two… daggers if you will, on the tips of your hooves or on your forelegs that are automatically made to dissipate if it comes in contact with the ground and rematerialize when your hoof leaves the ground again.”

“Wow. That sounds pretty awesome actually, could I perhaps shoot anything using this?”

“No, I’m afraid that isn’t a possibility at the moment, but we are working on it!”

“Aw, bummer.” The orange maned mare replied.

“Alright then, shall we begin?”

“One more thing Spark, I want Rainbow to take the oath before we do anything here,” Shining Armor stated.

“Oh very well, be quick though, I’m excited to see my tech in action!”

Rainbow nodded and turned to face the Prince.

“Rainbow Dash, put your hoof over your heart and repeat after me.”

Rainbow followed his command, raising her right foreleg and placing her hoof just over her quick beating heart, Man, I’m really about to do this aren’t I? It’s worth it. I’ll fight in your place since you can’t, Twilight. The thought of her now gone friend ruining her mood a little bit.

“I, Rainbow Danger Dash.”

“I, Rainbow Dang- Huh?” A multitude of high pitched whistles interrupted the first line of the oath.

“Fuck! Already? How are they here?” The captain cursed, and Spitfire’s eyes widened as well.

“Alright, Rainbow, we don’t have time for this. Stay with Spitfire, Spark, take the necklaces to the the lab and lock yourself in there with them.”

“Wait! This is a perfect test opportunity! The binding process doesn’t take very long, we can just do it now.” Spark insisted.

“Spark, this isn’t a joke. This is real, we don’t have time for this!” Shining insisted.

The large wooden doors quickly flung open and two unicorn guards walked in and bowed, “Sir! The griffons have sent a small group to scout or harass around ponyville and Canterlot.”

“How many exactly?” The former captain questioned.

“Approximately one platoon, around 28-32 griffons. We couldn’t gather an exact number that far out.”

“Of course, Prince Armor.” The guards left the room, closing the door after them.

“You got lucky Spark, let’s make this quick. I don’t think we should waste precious time with the oath, I want Spitfire and Rainbow to be with the squad of Wonderbolts. We can do the formalities later.”

The unicorn jumped, giddy with excitement. “Oh joy! Alright then, would each of you please lift a hoof? We will draw blood from there!”

The two mares looked at eachother, Rainbow had one eyebrow raised, waiting for Spitfire’s move. She nodded and looked back towards the somewhat unstable scientist, and at the same time he used his magic to remove the necklaces from the two and placed them on the ground.

“One moment,” The scientist closed his eyes in focus and his horn glowed a bright blue color, the marble floor being ingrained with magical circles, dozens of tiny symbols filling the inside and outside ring of the arcane circle. A final flash among the circle indicated the chemist was finished, and he quickly looked back up to the mares, “Alright. Each of you, lift a foreleg over the necklaces, I am going to use my magic to make a small incision, it won’t hurt… very much.”

Each of them nodded, and lifted a foreleg, Rainbow used her right while Spitfire her left.

His horn glew and a sudden sharp pain caused Rainbow to wince, similar to the pinch of a needle except along a line instead of a single point, swiped across each of their foreleg. Both of them bled quickly, although not excessively.

A drop of crimson fell into the circle, filling it but stopping at the edges, refusing to spill over. A bright light dimmed by the thick blood shone, a reaction was happening.

“Alright! One more thing to do, you will feel a sudden burn and then euphoria, it is all natural and not dangerous!”

And then it came, a really intense flame like feeling at the location of the laceration, shooting from her hoof to her chest and causing a sudden difficulty in breathing, and shortly after it began the burning stopped. Rainbow was seeing stars, What’s happening? Dizziness took over, and then a sudden surreal feeling took over. She saw herself, head straight ahead and eyes closed, Spitfire was next to her, doing the same, and the scientist laughed silently. Shining Armor watched, now sitting back down in front of the throne.

Then she returned back to her body. Her cyan colored eyes shot open and she looked around frantically. A wonderful feeling was rushing through her feeling and her pulse was fast. What is this power? She could feel herself becoming stronger, not just magically, but it felt like she could pull off a dozen rainbooms in ten minutes.

“How do you feel?” The scientist was asking Rainbow specifically.

“I feel… so strong! This is awesome!” Rainbow responded enthusiastically.

“Great! Now then, try and imagine something on you, start with your right foreleg, it seems to be the easiest place to start for Pegasi.”

Rainbow nodded and shut her eyes. Alright. First thing first, what do I want? What looks the most awesome? Oh! I know! How about a sword? A sword that goes all the way up to my knee, so I can block attacks and fight as if I had nothing there!

“Whoa! That was quick, good job Rainbow,” Spark said.

“Huh?” Then Rainbow opened her eyes and on her raised foreleg was a pitch black blade on the right side of her right foreleg. It was so dark it was as if the magic was swallowing all light touching it.

“Yes, I know what you are wondering, these items were made to assist with stealth movement, particularly during the night. You will be almost invisible if you cover yourself with armor.”

She swung her foreleg around, careful not to get near any of the other ponies. She noticed that the necklace had already been removed from the ground and hung around her neck. She felt no extra weight as she moved her foreleg about and a gentle swoosh followed her movements.

“This. Is. So. AWESOMEEEE!” Rainbow giggled.

“Whoa now. You still have a job to do,” Shining said to her.

Rainbow’s mood became more serious now, “Yeah. This is so quick though, I mean, I’m not even legally a part of the guard.”

Shining rose an eye, “You’re going to let that stop you? That doesn’t seem like you.”

“Of course not! Just saying though.”

Spitfire spoke up this time, “Well, looks like we will get practice here. Let's go kick some griffon butt!”

“Haha, yeah!” Rainbow responded.

“Gather a group of however many you want and find those griffons and drive them away.” Shining ordered, a grin on his face.

“Yes sir!” Spitfire saluted and Rainbow just stood there, awkwardly.

She dropped the salute, “Well Rainbow. Time for your first sight of real fighting. Are you sure you’re ready?”

Rainbow smirked, “You bet I am, boss.”

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

The Garrison and Uninvited Guests

Author's Note

Okay here is the first chapter that I wrote, I hope it lives up to expectations.
*Nervous writer noises*

The Garrison and Uninvited Guests

Luna’s Secret World Redux

By: Neokiva

Edited by:

August 29, 1008 PN

It had been a few hours since they had left the besieged city on their mission to retrieve reinforcements from the the nearby garrison. Their flight hadn’t had any interruptions so far and so Twilight had leaned into Luna’s neck so that she didn’t cause her to lose her balance, this is the excuse she told herself and Luna. However, this wasn’t the real reason for her decision to lean close to the mare she was riding.

The real reason, she had wanted to stay as close to Luna as she could.

Unbeknownst to the mare riding her back, Luna was fully aware of what Twilight was doing and had a large blush covering her cheeks since Twilight had started. What had first clued her into what Twilight was really doing was when the mare in question started nuzzling into the nape of her neck.

How I wish I could return the favor, Luna thought to herself as she enjoyed the closeness and sensations spreading from her nape. Luna pouted as she spotted the garrison in the distance and she sighed, “Twilight! We’re almost there!” Twilight flinched and sat up, Luna bet that if she turned to face her, the mare’s face would be covered in crimson, It was nice while it lasted, Luna groused internally.

“O-okay, how are you holding up? You must be tired.” Twilight stuttered out. Luna chuckled at the mental image she was presented with.

“Do not worry Princess, your steed has stamina for days,” Luna continuing the earlier joke and turned to face the mare on her back.

“Stamina for days?” Twilight questioned and with a nod Luna replied,

“Stamina for days!” her lips cracked into a large grin. Twilight smiled in response. Luna’s smile is so beautiful, I wish she’d smile more, Twilight thought to herself.

As they came in for landing they were surrounded by the soldiers that had been occupying the garrison, weapons pointed at Twilight and Luna as Twilight gently dismounted from Luna’s back, still aware of the wounds on her back.

“Who are you?!” And what is your business here?!”

Luna remained silent as she removed her leg armor piece covering her mark and presented it to the soldier. The soldier leaned in to look at the mark and after a moment his eyes widened.

“Get the Commander out here!” The same soldier barked, his face set in a grim expression.

A draft stallion that dwarfed Twilight hurried out to greet her and Luna. Twilight--paying attention to what was happening--couldn’t help but notice his mane and tail cut accordingly to regulation… before shivering a little as she observed how his right eye had a long scar over it, matching the many smaller ones on his body.

“I am Commander Ironhide, what news do you have from the city?!” he near bellowed, Luna’s eye twitched but kept her stoic expression.

“The city is under siege, the Captain wants you to return and reinforce the city.” Luna responded calmly, and the Commander paled as he turned to his troops.

“Everypony get your flanks in gear! We have a city to defend!” Commander Ironhide ordered in the same bellowing voice, before turning back to Twilight and Luna.

“Thank you two for informing us, it must have been difficult for a couple of mares to come here. Come inside, it’ll take a while before we can move out.”

Another one?! Twilight thought in rage, her eyes widened and pupils shrunk, Luna noticed Twilight’s expression and placed her right hoof on her shoulder. Twilight quickly turned her head to see who had dared touch her, her rage sputtered out and her expression softened when she saw it was Luna, who shook her head gently.

Luna leant in and whispered in her ear, “Twilight? Please bear with it--mares here aren’t as strong as stallions or even mares back home and as such are treated with more care here, especially when everypony here is constantly at war... they can’t afford to let mares fight.”

Twilight sighed as she quietly nodded.

I don’t like it but I can understand their reasons, I’ll just have to bite my tongue. Twilight thought unhappily.

Luna pulled Twilight in close with her right wing. As the two of them entered the camp some stallions started cat calling at them.

“Hey sweet flanks, how about a real stallion show you what you’re missing out on!” one called out.

“Can you two handle this?” another called.

“Hey can you two make out?!” yet another called out in between whoops and wolf whistles.

The last one caused the two mares to blush deeply, Luna’s wing tightly grasped Twilight, causing the already blushing mare to blush harder.

The Commander turned to see what was the origin of the cat-calling… and upon seeing Luna’s tail flicking left and right, her puffed up chest and her position relative to Twilight… he made a choice.

“Oi! You maggots, if you’ve got time to ogle these mares--then you have time you could be using to work harder!”

Ironhide turned to face Twilight and Luna, ears lowered a little as he apologized, “I am sorry about those horny colts, you two,” before he added with a derisive snort, “they mean well but their brains reside in their hind quarters around mares.”

Ironhide ducked into a large canvas tent as his two guests did the same, and offered them a seat by the fire.

Taking the invite, they sat close together causing the Commander to sigh. “Once we make our way out to the city, return to the Captain for further orders. Eat while you can,” he said offering them broth he ladled from a cauldron, “I will leave you two alone for now, while I go check on the troopsmen,” Ironhide remarked as he left the tent.

Luna released the tension in her muscles, of which she had been unaware were tense. They began to eat as they leaned close together. Luna released the grip her wing had on Twilight but kept it draped over her. Luna’s ears perked up when she heard a whistling sound, her eyes widened as she picked up Twilight--who squeaked in surprise at the rough treatment--and bolted out of the tent before a flaming boulder slammed into the Commander’s tent.

“My tent!!!” The Commander cried out before growling, “Everypony out of camp! Take what weapons and armor you can carry and prepare for battle.”

“Twilight! Take your gear” Luna called to Twilight as she pulled them from the pocket dimension and put the wide eyed mare down. Twilight caught both in her magic, putting on her sword and gauntlet. Luna drew her sword and beckoned Twilight to follow her.

They ran out of the camp and came face to face with an army standing outside the camp facing the front entrance and several hundred meters away with two trebuchets and catapults. Luna paused for a beat before pulling Twilight onto her back.

“Twilight! We need to destroy those siege engines--otherwise this garrison is finished!” Luna shouted as she ran before she took off.

“When we are in range do not hold back! Destroy those things!” with wind blasting past her ears Twilight barely heard Luna but complied anyway.

As they reached the first trebuchet, Luna banked to let Twilight have a better shot.

“Sol!” Twilight called out as she pointed to her target, fire wreathing up the blade into a massive ball of fire that launched at the construct.

“Well done Twilight!” Luna cheered until she shielded them from a hail of arrows and bolts, wincing at the sudden impact.

“Luna are you okay!?” Twilight asked in concern.

“I will be fine, Twilight! So don’t worry! Just focus on the siege engines!” Luna replied as reassuringly as she could. She flew in between each siege engine as Twilight frowned, but concentrated on launching more fireball’s at the wooden weapons. As they weaved through each siege engine more Sols hit their targets-- Twilight could hear the ponies cry out in pain from the exploding siege machines.

A stray arrow hit Luna in the side causing her to cry out in pain.
“Luna!!!” Twilight screamed as more arrows struck Luna. Losing strength, Luna and Twilight crashed into the enemy army--where they were surrounded.

Twilight had just enough time to process the bleeding wounds with arrows sticking out of it... before gritting her teeth and letting out a scream of rage--her slit pupils dilated further as she roared in fury, “How dare you!”

Yes! How dare they harm your mare! Teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget! They. Must. Pay!

Twilight agreed with the voice, they dared to harm my Luna!? I’ll make them rue this day! She thought to herself.

Pointing her spellsword above her head she let out one word that echoed through the valley, “Fulger!” she growled out.

Unlike with the wolves Twilight did not hold back, this slight demanded her full power to rectify.

A bolt of lightning struck her sword as dark clouds swirled around her, her eyes glowing white as the ponies closest to their position backed away in fear at the sight.

Twilight was sure one of them was going to shout, “run!” but it was too late as hundreds of bolts of lightning struck the enemy forces--electricity engulfing thousands of stallions as bolts arced between armored ponies.

More bolts of rage-fueled lightning struck the army, further decimating them… As screams and cries of lamentations filled the air with each pony struck, they were felled by the magical lightning conjured by Twilight’s wrath.

As the lightning dissipated, nearly the entirety of army had been eliminated--the smell of cooked flesh assaulting Twilight’s nose as she gagged with her eyes wide at the sight around her.

The remainder of the forces were mopped up by the garrison soldiers--and when they reached Twilight, they stood silently in awe of the mare. Twilight thought that they were judging her, so ducking her head in shame she crawled over to Luna to pull out the arrows and heal up the wounds she had sustained.

With the arrow shafts sticking out of Luna’s side, Twilight wrapped around with her magic each one of the shafts, pulling them out one by one as she healed each puncture wound so Luna wouldn’t go into shock. As she went through each arrow, she heard Luna cry out in pain... before the latter looked up at Twilight with a weak but grateful smile as the young mare started healing her.

Luna tried to get a better look at their situation wincing as she did so, as they hadn't been captured yet, The garrison must have arrived on time she assumed.

“How goes the battle?” Luna asked Twilight weakly

“we won,” Twilight mumbled half heartedly

The silence stretched for a while until Luna let out a surprised squeak as she felt a tongue on her wounds. Refocusing on the mare doing so Luna's face turned neon pink from the intimate action of Twilight cleaning her body with her tongue.

Luna relaxed again, simply enjoying the sensations spreading from the points of contact of Twilight’s tongue. If Twilight was doing that then we must definitely be safe.

I am glad Twilight is here, I don’t want to keep cauterizing my wounds with my magic like before, Luna sighed exaggeratedly, catching Twilight’s attention although she did not add anything in response. I am also glad Twilight’s here with me I get so lonely back home... Sometimes, I really hate that my magic makes me unable to use spells that are for healing wounds - I could have helped Twilight, without having to give her that damnable curse. And that kiss might have actually happened without interruption,

This train of thought in turn caused Luna to blush harder unbeknownst to the mare treating her.

Luna then started daydreaming of her future with Twilight, she was in a kitchen and cooking, two foals a filly and a colt ran in and up to her legs “Mom~ Nebula is being mean to me!” the filly complained

“am not! Lumina is lying to get me in trouble again!” Nebula responded

Luna stared sternly, “Nebula Sparkle, were you being mean to Lumina?” Nebula wilted under Luna’s gaze his ears folding back.

“maybe…” Nebula said looking at the floor scuffing his right hoof.
Lumina stuck her tongue out at Nebula

“just wait till your mother hears about this,” Luna reprimanded

“No~! She’ll lecture me on Harmony and demand I write an five hundred word essay on it!” Nebula complained

“Honey, I'm home!” Twilight called out as she entered the kitchen and kissed Luna on the lips, Luna sighed wistfully.

Shaking her head to clear the pleasant fantasy Luna turned to face Twilight again… only for her expression to morph into a frown, as she saw Twilight’s grief stricken face, tears trailing down her cheeks.

“Twilight? What’s wrong?” Luna asked in concern.

Twilight muttered something but Luna couldn’t hear her.

“Pardon?” Luna enquired further, causing Twilight to turn to face her and shout in grief, “I am a monster!” causing Luna to flinch from the volume of her voice.

Twilight wilted when she saw Luna flinching at her. “I’m sorry I shouted at you, it’s not your fault,” Twilight added quietly as her ears splayed on her head.

Luna’s frown deepened and finally took in the surrounding battlefield--having been distracted by the pain in her side and her fantasy, she hadn’t had a chance to look. What she saw gave her great pause.

Wow, I knew she’d be powerful, but not to this extent. Luna thought before frowning, Great Luna you gave your best friend and possible marefriend PTSD!

What will she think of me for killing so many ponies? Twilight thought as fresh tears stained her face further. She saw Luna looking at the devastation. Twilight hung her head in shame as Luna turned back to her, who had a frown on her face.

Great! Luna hates me now! What if she abandons me or I lose her as a friend! Twilight thought to herself, and now I have no chance to be with her!

Luna for her part noticed the sorrowful shame-faced Twilight and her eyes widened, she got up quickly--wincing as she did so. She pulled the younger mare into a hug, causing Twilight to stiffen in surprise.

“It’s okay Twilight, I am here.” Luna said and that was all it took for Twilight to burst into tears as Luna comforted the mare in her forelegs, rocking her back and forth as Twilight’s sobbing increased in volume.

Commander Ironhide moved up through his men and down to where they laid together. “Her first battle with ponies?” he asked Luna with a surprising amount of compassion in his voice. Luna nodded as she stroked Twilight’s mane.

“Hey! Kid.” Twilight turned to look at the Commander, her eyes bloodshot. “You did good, you helped save my men from an out and out massacre. If you two hadn’t come we would have been as good as dead.” Twilight looked at him in confusion, which brought a smirk to his lips.

“Stallions!!! Show them how grateful you are!!!” Ironhide shouted out loudly, causing Twilight’s ears to flatten against her head on reflex. The garrison cheered loudly which only served to confuse the distraught mare even further.

Luna chuckled at her expression and hugged her tighter.

“Twilight, you’re a heroine. You need not feel shame for defending your friends or those who need help.”

“But I…” Twilight’s response was cut off by Luna’s hoof.

“We shall talk about it in depth later Twilight, for now just relax. I am afraid this won’t be the last time that you will be forced to take other ponies’ lives.” Luna added solemnly. “Now if you would be so kind to help this mare up to her hooves,” Luna smiled as Twilight scrambled to help her up.

When we have time I would think it best to talk to her properly. It isn’t easy taking a life, but the death toll here numbers in the hundreds easily, Luna sighed, poor filly.

“Alright Stallions! It's time we finish preparing and retrieving our stuff….” He paused, then his eye twitched as he remembered the fate of his gear, “my tent!” he cried out running off to his flattened home away from home.

Twilight had to stifle a giggle as she watched the scarred stallion rush back to the camp, her tears slowing down, when she felt Luna lean against her and sigh. Twilight blushed at the closeness, but helped her hobble back to camp.

“Looks like your adventuring days are over,” one of the soldiers said with faux concern.

“Why would you think that?” Luna asked warily turning her head to the stallion who had started speaking.

“Well because you took an arrow to the…..” he was interrupted by Luna who had grabbed the stallion in her magic and pulled him close,

“if you finish that joke, I’ll have to beat you senseless on principle!” Luna glared at the stallion.

After he furiously nodded Luna pushed the soldier away, while the other soldiers laughed at his misfortune.

Twilight grunted as she struggled to aid Luna, “you know what? I wish I had earth pony strength!” as soon as the words left her mouth Luna laughed, Twilight's side and face was assaulted by the vibrations caused by Luna’s laughter at Twilight’s complaint.

“How about asking the soldiers to help you?” Luna enquired thoughtfully

“If you need help We’d be happy to oblige!” one of the soldiers exclaim to unanimous agreement.

“nope, no thank you I can do this! Especially not after you’ve been carrying me both metaphorically and literally since we got here! I feel like I'm not carrying my half of the workload, it's unbalanced.” Twilight explained between grunts of effort.

Luna’s left eyebrow arched and she gained an expression of wry amusement, “Twilight, I do not expect you to carry the burden of an alicorn.”

“you don't, but I do, I refuse to be deadweight!” Twilight retorted.

Luna chuckled, “at the moment I appear to be the deadweight” she added self deprecating.

“you’re not deadweight Luna, I would never think that!” Twilight replied looking straight at her.

Luna blinked owlishly, before smiling and letting out another laugh, “and I would not consider you as such either Twilight, but if you insist, just don't hurt or strain yourself on my account.” Luna replied warmly.

Her laugh is like music to my ears, Twilight thought to herself. My crush is getting really severe, thinking back to her thoughts, when Luna was hurt. Should I just get on with it and confess my feelings for her?

Luna’s thoughts were similarly occupied by the moment she was hit and crashed in the middle of the enemy army, did she really say “her Luna,” it was muttered and normally no pony could hear, but as an alicorn she was able to but she still had her doubts. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part. And if I act on it, would it alienate the only friend who understands me, is it worth it? What if I am wrong about the signals?

Luna’s mind went back to the cave when the seal had first broken and blushed. Would we have kissed had it not been for the pain Twilight felt interrupting? Should I kiss her? Luna shook her head, no, not now after what she has had to deal with. She is vulnerable and I fear that would end in an unhealthy relationship. Her thoughts were pierced by Twilight’s voice.

“Luna are you okay?”

“Oh, yes I am fine. I was just figuring out our next move.” Luna partially lied.

“Oh, what are we doing then?” Twilight replied sincerely.

“Oh! Once we get back, we shall aid in the defence! Then, once the fight is over, we shall see about accommodations and food--we shall also tend to our wounds!” Luna replied hurriedly to her, as it was only through her combined experience that she managed to make up something halfway decent.

“Oh, that sounds good,” Twilight perked up and smiled radiantly at the older mare making her feel guilty for lying, even if it was only a partial lie.

Her guilty introspection was shattered when Twilight had moved under Luna's barrel and slid her head between her forelegs, to make it easier for herself to hold Luna up. Twilight was the perfect size to fit under Luna and it took quite a bit of Luna’s considerable willpower not to sink her teeth into Twilight’s virgin neck or nibble her ears, and then have her way with the mare.

Calm down she's only helping you walk! Luna berated herself internally despite this her instincts continued to scream at her especially because she could feel Twilight's muscles under her as they moved. This is going to be a long march Luna groused internally shoring up her self control for the surely self control sapping journey.

Battle Of Teren Pace

By the time that the city Teren Pace was fully in view, ponies were fighting and flames were reaching the sky. Luna had recovered enough that she could stand on her own thankfully for her fraying self control. Twilight stood beside her watching her to make sure she didn’t fall, her concern is heartwarming but I am not going to keel over. Luna grumbled internally, suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by Ironhide.

“Charge!” Ironhide shouted as he joined Twilight and Luna on the hill, “I can’t ask you to fight anymore, but we need every able pony to help if they can, so will you join the fight?” he asked watching them for their answer.

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed before charging off, Luna sighed, “I guess that answered your question commander,”

“Yeah it did,” Ironhide chuckled ruefully. Luna kept an eye on Twilight with worry.
Twilight was flanking and cutting down ponies.

“I best join her before we get separated.” Luna said hurriedly leaving Ironhide to himself.

Ironhide drew his sword, best not let these mares out do me eh? He thought to himself, before charging into the fray.

Luna had caught up to Twilight as a soldier was behind her, incensed Luna charged the stallion and stabbed him through the chest and kicked him off her sword. Looking for possible attacks, she turned back to Twilight,

“Twilight don’t forget to watch your flank, I won’t always be able to save you.” Luna chided her.

“Sorry I forgot, it won't happen again,” Twilight responded slicing through the neck off another, wincing as blood struck her. As Luna snapped the neck of another she grunted. To those observing the two fight from a distance it was as if two nightmares had descended upon the battlefield, their dark beauty ensnared them as more corpses piled up and blood erupted from every felled stallion.

The sight of their comrades falling rattled the Solari forces, from the initial siege and the subsequent reinforcements flanking them, the effect combined and many of the Solari stallions routed and began running away, many were cut down as they fled and others shut down as hope left them. A large stallion that could have dwarfed Ironhide charged, calling for his stallions to mop up the fleeing Solari forces. Twilight assumed that it was General Couteau who they had heard about in the chaos leading up to their departure.

The defenders of Teren Pace roared with triumph and relief. Twilight and Luna found themselves picked up and carried into the city proper. The citizens were either cleaning up debris or carousing in the taverns they passed. Once they had reached the keep they met Jaeger Sefulul, a tall white coated draft pony. He had a short and neat black mane and tail, and had the chiseled features of a hero straight out of a fairy tale, his brown eyes were filled with kindness and warmth.

“Welcome, I hear from my Captain that you two are responsible for bringing reinforcements and turning the tide in battle!” Jaeger begun before holding his right hoof over his chest and giving Twilight and Luna a respectful bow. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping my ponies in their time of need when you had no need to do so.”

“You’re most welcome Jaeger, we couldn’t let ponies suffer in front of us.” Luna responded warmly

“As a reward, I would love to invite you and your…. Companion as guests of honour to the feast that I hear is being made as we speak,” Jaeger responded causing both mares to blush at the inadvertent insinuation.

Jaeger chuckled at their embarrassment and grinned widely, “Come now heroines, we shall see if you can hold your ale as well as you fell your enemies.” Jaeger added with yet another loud boisterous chuckle.

Twilight and Luna followed Jaeger as he took them through hallways and corridors, eventually passing through a large set of ornate pine doors. They were greeted by a large hall filled with three long tables with benches on either side of each table, The tables were filled with meats and various vegetables and potatoes. At the top of the room were three ornate high backed chairs, two of which were shorter than the third and turned so that the ends faced the left and right walls.

As they entered stallions shuffled through the doors, as Jaeger lead them to the far table where he sat in the chair with the highest back in the center. To his left sat General Couteau, Captain Lightning and Commander Ironhide.The General favoured the two mares with a nod, while the Captain, Sefulul, and Commander all beamed at the two of them as they sat to the right of Jaeger.

Once everypony was seated they all began to eat and everypony began shoveling food on their plates. Twilight and Luna took in the various cooked meats before them, Luna was taking some meat as she watched Twilight surreptitiously, who suddenly began taking various meats to her plate and once full she took a test bite of the food before her, her eyes widened in surprise before she began digging in with gusto, eating too fast. Twilight grabbed hold of the horned cup and downed the contents, Luna watched with wry amusement as she ate her own food. A serving maid filled her cup again, and Twilight downed the drink again with a gasp of air, “what is this?” Twilight asked the maid,

“It’s mead my Lady,” she responded, Luna’s eyes twinkled with mirth having sipped her own beverage. Luna had also noticed that their host was already buzzed before he stood up. Jaeger stood lifting up his drinking horn and said, “A toast to the great stallions who fought for our home and died, may their legends live forever in the halls of Mag Mell, and also to the heroines who brought our reinforcements and fought by our side when they did not need to! I wish them great honour, and may their deeds be sung from here to Mag Mell!” Jaeger finished with a cheering roar, followed by the others in the room, even General Couteau, who raised his cup and cheered and drank deeply.

“You honour us, Sefulul Jaeger!” Luna exclaimed with a growing smirk on her lips. She was distracted by a hoof tapping her withers, turning around she found a severely blushing Twilight swaying with a large smile on her lips.

“Heh, her first battle and now her first mead, if this keeps up she’ll run out of firsts,” Ironhide chuckled with Jaeger joining in.

“L-L-Luna, thou art a most beautiful mare hic, and I wouldst not be averse to thou bedding me and letting thou taketh mine virtue hic,” Twilight proclaimed with half lidded eyes, Luna froze and had become vaguely aware of the attention boring into her back, distracted as she was she was unable to prevent Twilight’s surprise advance. When their lips locked Luna melted and pulled Twilight in a closer embrace as the hall filled with cheering and wolf whistles.

Once the kiss was broken Twilight nuzzled into Luna’s chest as the latter remained a little off balance due to Twilight’s sudden forwardness as the mare in question got closer. For Luna’s part her face and ears where now covered in a deep blush, she turned around as she tried to process the turn of events.

Part of me is thrilled that she kissed me and that there is some attraction, another part is not so much am I ready to have a relationship with the best friend I have ever had? She snorted internally, ‘Tia would say best friends make the best lovers, but all she ever did was hop from one bed to the next. As she thought this she idly began eating as Twilight had permanently attached to her side like a limpet. That didn’t stop Twilight eating as she hummed happily.

Honestly this closeness is something I have longed for, her thoughts were then interrupted.

“You know, I have a room ready for you, perhaps you need some privacy,” Sefulul Jaeger clopped his hooves together to summon a guard, “guard! Guide our heroines to their bed chamber” Jaeger ordered, a nearby guard saluted and moved over to Twilight and Luna.

“Follow me,” he said as he began to move. Luna and Twilight left their seats and followed the guard’s path. The room they were brought into was simple yet refined and lavish. Golds and reds filled their vision.
Twilight went straight for the four poster bed as Luna noted on the nearby table a letter and
Pile of the local currency Luna sighed and it went in her pocket dimension for safe keeping.

The letter had little written except for, “enjoy the room and reward,” -Sefulul Jaeger. Sighing again Luna placed the letter back on the table. As she did so she let out a cute squeak “Eep,” as she found herself in Twilight’s magic who lifted her up and removed her clothes and armor before Twilight’s waiting legs accepted her body and wrapped them around her barrel. Twilight leant up to Luna’s ear and whispered hotly “Take me Luna,” Twilight purred.

Next morning Twilight groaned as she awoke to a throbbing headache, “I am never drinking again,” she complained looking around to discern her location, when her eyes finally fell upon the sleeping naked Luna. Twilight felt awash with guilt at seeing the princess in such a state of undress, this feels so wrong, but I can’t help but stare, she looks so peaceful and cute when she’s asleep.

Twilight then began to have flashes of memories from last night. Her face developed a huge blush as the last thing she remembered was her asking Luna to “take her” her blush extended to her ears as she realized the implications.

Oh my Celestia, I… We… did that, I could just die, she now looked down at her sleeping partner in a new light She didn’t hate Luna for doing that with her while she was drunk, more herself for being so easy, even if she was drunk she was better than a two bit whorse, and then one salient thought ripped its way through her mind. I just defiled Princess Luna! Oh no, Celestia is going to banish me, and put me in a dungeon in the place that she banishes me to.

Meanwhile as Twilight began panicking, she didn’t see that Princess Luna had awoken, that Twilight was still there brought a smile to her lips. However this bliss was short lived as she noticed that Twilight was freaking out.

Luna frowned, Just what crazy scenarios is my dear Twilight imagining.

Princess Luna then smirked an idea popped into her head, a way to stop Twilight’s descent into less constructive delusions. She leant over, wrapped her forelegs over Twilight’s withers and kissed her. Twilight froze in place like a gear had slipped and now she was fully aware of the soft feminine lips that had captured hers. Her wide eyes focused on Luna and once Luna had stopped and pulled back she playfully booped Twilight’s snout.

Forget gears slipping, the whole clockwork fell to pieces as Luna giggled at her expression.
Once Twilight had fully recovered from the shock, Luna turned serious,

“Twilight, I believe we need to talk,” Luna said seriously with Twilight only nodding slowly in response.

They repositioned so that they could comfortable face each other on the bed,

“Twilight, I am going to be honest, I like you. I like you a lot. You saved me from myself, you helped give me friends again, you accepted me and even asked to be my student in a lost art. You saved me yet again from the Tantabus and then again during our battles here. You have done more for me than anypony save my sister and finally you're my best friend. If I were to give my heart and body to anypony it would be to you, I can’t say that I love you as that comes in time, but I am willing to try, if you are as well. I guess what I am asking is will you be my marefriend,”

Twilight sat they speechless as tears formed in her eyes, Nopony had really shown interest in me except as a power play in the great game, Luna is beautiful, strong, kind, intelligent, artistic, interesting, passionate and kept me safe, honestly I already had a full grown crush on her for years. I still do, but what will happen when I die, sure I may have a few hundred years in me left especially after the magic transfusion. But I will still die of old age, I don’t want to put her through that kind of pain. I know! In those hundreds of years I must dedicate myself to finding a way to become immortal so I can be with her always.

But I also know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t do this, so as Twilight looked up from her thoughts she saw Luna sitting there, her ears splayed back and tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Why does she hesitate, is it because of my age? Or is it something more mundane or silly like she thinks she’s unworthy. As I just told her she is more worthy than anypony. I need to fix this Twilight is far too humble for her own good. Tears began to form in Luna’s eyes as she hated seeing Twilight doubting herself.

Twilight felt a stab of pain in her heart at Luna’s hurt expression, Twilight launched forward embracing her and pulling her into another kiss.

This caused Luna to yelp in surprise. Drawing back Luna’s ears stood at attention and her tail flicked about as a huge grin formed on her lips.

“Yes Luna, I will be your marefriend, if you’ll be mine,” Twilight replied bashfully and Luna pulled her in for another kiss which lead to another and another as their tongues wrestled each other trying to hold on to each other.

After an unknown amount of time since then Luna pulled back a string of saliva connecting their tongues as they panted heavily.

“Twilight you needn’t even ask.” Luna smiled radiantly as she held Twilight to her chest and wrapped her wings around her. Twilight nuzzled against Luna as the pair officially became lovers.

“I have but one request Twilight even if this doesn’t work out please still be my friend, I would hate to lose your friendship over this. Promise me!” Luna begged her.

“Ofcourse Luna you don’t have to worry, I wont stop being your friend,”

Acceptance Planning and Action

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 4

Acceptance, Planning, and Action

By: Azurekaryu

August 18, 1008 PN

For the first time in a while, Twilight’s eyes opened in a peaceful manner, slowly adjusting to the light that shone through the entrance of the cave that was situated twenty feet from herself. As her eyes adjusted quickly to the light, she felt a very warm object sticking to her left side and something wrapped around her, keeping her warm where the magic cloth she fell asleep wearing could not.

She looked left to observe the source of warmth and noticed the navy blue, sparkling mane covering the face of the pony clearly emitting warmth. She realized the object wrapped around her body on top of the blanket was the wing of the mare lying next to her, and that the owner of the wing was Luna, who had allowed Twilight to cry herself to sleep pressed up against Luna. Twilight blushed, realizing that she both broke down in front of the Princess and they both fell asleep pressed up together. While it wasn’t a big deal, the unicorn was not used to such close contact with other ponies.

Twilight also discovered a predicament, she was trapped underneath Luna’s wing with no safe way of removing herself without waking the sleeping mare next to her. Twilight tried to wiggle her way out but the wing wasn’t just draped over her, it had a little bit of a grip on her side pulling her close to the mare. Twilight still had a blush on her face, but even if somebody was awake to see it her fur would hide it fairly well.

It was understandable that the Princess did not move after Twi had fallen asleep. She was comforting the mare after all, and may have thought staying with her was the best option. Also, it is absolutely freezing outside so the extra warmth from the body adjacent to her must have been nice. To be honest, Twilight was glad that the mare had stayed by her side. She felt calmed with such a powerful and beautiful mare right next to her, in the same situation as she was in but able to control herself.

Twilight watched intently as the cloaked mare rose and fell softly as she slept. Luna had her head in her hooves and the hood of the dark blue cloak covering most of her head. Twilight tentatively pulled the hood back to observe the alicorn’s face.

The mare in front of her really was beautiful. Twilight was mere inches away from the alicorn’s face and had a very nice sight at the excellence she exuded. Her face was what many would define as perfection down to the detail, and her mane was a feature that could only be mirrored by her sister, but Celestia radiated regality and power while the younger alicorn showed a true beauty and serenity, very fitting for the domains that each of them controlled. Celestia also had a much larger figure, making her fairly intimidating and difficult to feel comfortable around. Luna was smaller and while this didn’t mean anything about her power, it made her more enjoyable to be around and easier to talk too, even though she often had a colder expression than Celestia did in public.

Luna had always been nice to her when they talked in private, she gave the impression that Twilight was one of the few ponies that the princess could have some relatability to, given Twilight’s fascination with the night and stars, as well as Twi’s interest in learning about Luna’s history, and learning the arts and magic of the older ages.

That was how they first really connected, when Luna agreed to teach Twilight the art of wielding a spellsword and gauntlet, very ancient weapons that no longer had a use in the military or existed in current Equestrian culture. It was a long process of learning and training, but through that Twilight became good friends with Luna. Unfortunately, shortly after she had mastered the weapons and received her own, Luna had duties to tend to mostly concerning international relations with the Griffons. They had been quite aggressive and unkind, as well as stubborn when regarding the Equestrian kingdom.

Twilight also did not keep up with the practice, and has not touched the weapons gifted to her in well over a year.

I wonder if I’m still any good at using these, was a thought she had, and as she was thinking about it, the mare she had been staring at for the past few minutes slowly arose from her slumber. The mare’s eyes fluttered halfway open and she turned her head immediately to face Twilight, sensing her warmth. Twilight was already only a few inches from the opposite mare’s face, but when she turned her head the tips of their noses had close to no space between them. Twilight blushed much harder than she was before, able now to feel Luna’s soft breaths, and Luna finally realized the situation and jumped up and away from Twilight, yelling “Wuaaah!” as she went up. Twilight stood up reflexively, looking at the princess now a few feet from herself.

The princess had a blush on her face, discoloring her cheeks. She quickly initiated a conversation,”I’m sorry Twilight, I did not mean to come so close to you.”

“No no! It’s totally alright Princess! I’m at fault for falling asleep in such a position!”

“Twilight my dear, there is no need for such apologies, I was the one who intruded on your personal space!”

Twilight did not respond and instead both mares looked to the ground and away from each other. A silence held only for a handful of seconds before Luna started again, the blush now fading from her face. “How do you feel, Twilight?” The mood of the two mares in the cave dropped to a serious atmosphere.

“I’m sorry I broke down like that in front of you prin- Luna.” Was Twilight’s response. Twilight had not thought about their situation since she had woken up, but now the gears in her head were turning.

“Do not be sorry. It is perfectly understandable. I may not show it, but this is a very horrible situation for me as well.”

Twilight had not thought about this from Luna’s perspective, she was much more important than herself after all. It must be hard on Celestia too, not only did she lose the only other ruler Equestria had to help her out, but her beloved sister as well, and not for the first time. Beyond that, since Twi was here with Luna, now Celestia had lost her student and one of her very few friends.

“This is bad, I must say. I am not going to hide anything from you, Twilight. We are going to be stuck together for a very long time, and it is best that you are able to fully trust me, and for me to fully be able to trust you.”

Twilight was humbled, but a few questions sprung up in her head. “Of course Luna, you can always count on me no matter what. We’re friends, and I know that I can trust you.” Twilight trotted up to Luna and put a hoof on her shoulder as further clarification of their bond.

Luna nodded in response, waiting for Twilight to continue.”What do you mean by we are going to be stuck together for a very long time exactly?”

Luna took this as the opportunity to start explaining in detail their current predicament.”Twilight, you are aware of how the mythical ‘Star-bridges’ work, correct?

Twi nodded, “Yes of course, every few years a starbridge will form which allows extremely long ranged teleportations. If I recall correctly, Celestia forced a starbridge to form as she expelled… you, to the moon.” Twilight was reluctant to bring it up, but ultimately decided it would be good to show she understood how they worked.

Luna winced at the reminder, the memory still painful more than a thousand years later.”That is correct Twilight. What you saw me performing in the forest was a spell to stabilize and use a particular starbridge that I had discovered decades before my banishment.”

Twilight was astonished that the mare in front of her was capable of such an incredible feat.“I thought that was impossible without the use of external forces like the elements of harmony!”

“That is where the legends stray from truth. Yes, it is extremely difficult and the amount of magic required to complete the spell is absurd, but there are a few individuals, like myself and my sister, that are capable.” Luna explained to Twilight.

“Thats amazing, but how did I get sucked in with you? And why were you coming here anyways? Speaking of that. Where are we?” Twilight's inquisitive nature shone through, curious but still concerned.

Luna was a little overwhelmed by the questions, but started from the first to work her way down the list. “The only thing that I can think is that you had a hoof inside the area of the massive arcane circle that I had carved. That teleportation spell sucks everything within the area of the circle to its destination. The fact that you had enough magic to successfully provide the extra power needed is absolutely astonishing, there is no doubt that you really do represent the element of magic.” Twilight blushed once more at the comment, but Luna continued.”As for why I was coming here in the first place, it has been over a thousand years since my last visit, and the creatures that live here are interesting to observe. I was also rather stressed, coming home after months of dealing with the rude, stubborn Griffons, and decided I could use a vacation. I told my sister I was going to take a week off and disappear for that time, so she knows that I am gone. It has not been a week yet, so they will not be looking for me, but you have suddenly disappeared and not shown up for five days.”

Luna paused and Twilight acknowledged the new information. “I’m worried about my friends Luna, and Celestia too. They must be worried sick.”

Luna nodded, “Yes, I’m sure they are and once Celestia is aware that I am missing as well, I fear her reaction.” Luna said solemnly

“What do you mean Luna?”

“My sister already has so much stress to deal with, ruling the country mostly on her own, and now that she has lost one of her only friends, she must be in a state of great despair, and I bet she is wishing that I did not go on vacation. I worry when she finds that she has lost her sister as well she will start to mentally fracture, and they will waste resources searching for us for months.”

Luna made a lot of very good points and it made Twilight worry more about the effect her absence would have, but a question popped up in her mind. “You said your sister was expecting you to be gone a week right?” Twilight paused and waited for a confirmation

“That is correct.” Luna responded.

“Then that must mean you planned on getting back to Equestria two days from now, which would mean the bridge is still operational right? Couldn’t we just use the spell again with our combined power to teleport back?”

“Your analyzation skills are incredible, but while the star bridge is still available for use, have you checked your reserve of magic recently?”

She had not. Quickly closing her eyes she focused and looked inside herself to find that her pool of magic was significantly lower than she thought, around thirty percent of her magical reserve was filled. “Oh.. but if the spell is this draining how did you get back all the times you came here?”

“Twilight, you are most likely the most magically powerful pony alive other than me, my sister, even surpassing Cadence, but you do not possess the alicorn magic that the three of us have. We replenish our magic at an incredible rate, for example right now I am at the levels of magic I would normally be at.”

Twilight was honored to be recognized that highly by the Princess that controlled the night. “Then you would be able to get back right?”

Honestly, Luna was hoping that Twi wouldn’t ask that question, it brought her back to the tough decision she had made before she fell asleep. “Yes, that is exactly what it means, but you would not be able to come with me. I am not going to leave you here Twilight, I would not be able to live with myself should I do something so horrible.”

Twilight’s mood immediately dropped, now she knew that she was going to hold Luna back from potentially controlling a bad situation down on Equestria. “Luna you can’t do that, I don’t matter. I am not important, but you are a Princess, a ruler of equestria. Your sister needs you to be with her, to help her and relieve some stress. If what you are saying is true, If you stay here with me Celestia could end up falling apart and what would happen to Equestria then? The smart and best thing for you to do for yourself, Equestria, and your sister is to go back to them.” Twilight felt very bad that Luna was planning on staying here on this unknown planet with her just because she wasn’t strong enough.

Luna acknowledged Twilight’s points, but she had already decided and wanted to make that clear. “Twilight, It may be the right thing to do as a ruler, but I cannot and will not leave you here on this planet. I do not mean to offend you, but you would not survive here alone for more than a day. I need to be here with you to teach you about this place.” Luna paused, staring at Twilight. Luna was getting more passionate about this conversation, she was determined to let Twilight know she was going to stay “And you lie to yourself when you say you are not important. You are the centerpiece for the elements of harmony. You are the most powerful unicorn alive. Not only that, but you are the one who Celestia considers to be her only friend. Not even the other elements are under that category. You are important to me, the only pony that understands me even a little bit. You came to me to learn about the past and the magic’s that are now forgotten or forbidden. You are the greatest friend I have ever had, even if we haven’t seen each other for so long.” At the end of her speech Luna had stood up and was looking down at Twilight with a light smile on her lips. The entire time Luna had been running through a scenario in her head where she did leave Twilight, and the simulation forced moisture to her eyes. Luna blinked it away and looked down at the lavender mare in front of her. Luna rarely ever got so emotional around other people, or even by herself.

This is odd, I am normally not like this. Luna thought to herself.

Does she really mean all of this? Where the thoughts of her counterpart. Twilight was opposite of Luna, she often became emotional and cried in front of others, and as such a tear rolled down her cheek, thinking of the consequences that would affect Equestria and Luna’s kind words. “Thank you Luna, really. I know what would happen to me but I’m much more worried about what could happen to my friends and the rest of our country if you stay up here with me.”

“Do not worry Twilight, my decision is made and I am not leaving. Whatever happens down there my sister will be strong enough to hold it together. We will not be gone forever, and will make it back to them so do not fret, you will be able to see your friends and family again.”

Twilight was not going to be able to push the worry out of her head, but Luna was certainly helping. The unicorn took a step forward, already close to the alicorn and wrapped her hooves around the neck of the other mare, the blanket covering Twilight slightly restricting her movement. Luna returned the hug and the two sat down near each other. Twilight continued the conversation. “How long will it be until we are able to go back?”

Luna knew the answer down to the dot. “Well, the bridge will be active for another four days, but luckily this is one of the shortest cycles for the stars to align. It should be, if I remember correctly, seven years and nine weeks before we have another chance.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped a little bit. “That's the shortest cycle!?!?”

“Yes, one of them. As I said, we are going to be here for a while.”

Twilight picked up her jaw from the ground and shook her head. “Well at least I’m here with such a wonderful pony that knows a lot about this place. It certainly will be an adventure.” Twilight smiled, trying her best to stop thinking about the negatives and more about the positives.

Luna had another odd experience that was unnatural for herself, a light blush appeared on her cheeks, unnoticeable unless somepony was looking for it however. “Thank you, and yes I do know quite a lot about this place. I believe you were asking where we were earlier. To answer your question, the ponies that live on this land, yes, ponies, call this planet Vineral, and the continent we are situated on Iarna.” Luna got up and walked to the entrance of the cave, standing on the edge and looking out at the snow covered pine forest. Twilight followed and stood next to her, wrapping the Aether blanket tighter around herself with her magic.

Twilight recognized the word Iarna, thinking she had heard it before. “I recognize the word Iarna, does it mean something in particular?”

“Ah yes, I’m glad you asked. The ponies that live here speak the language myself and my sister created when our race was being born, known as now as the Ancient Magi language. Iarna is the word for winter, and I’m sure you can tell why this place has it’s name.” Luna chuckled softly, followed by Twilight’s own laugh.

“Yeah I guess that does make sense. It is beautiful though, this forest. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Twilight admired the astonishing sight before her eyes. It was windy outside, probably because they were very high up on a mountain, but Twilight looked over and saw the sparkling blue mane flowing in the wind with the hood of the cloak down.

She’s so beautiful… was all Twilight could think.

She was caught staring by Luna’s cerulean eyes and quickly looked away blushing. She shook her head and the alicorn started to speak. “Yes it truly is a sight to behold. We have nothing like this in Equestria, but if you were to visit the Griffon kingdom, they do have a few beautiful places similar to this.”

“Really? I have never been there so I wouldn’t know.”

“Such a shame. Perhaps when we get back I’ll take you on a trip to see the land there. It really is a must.”

“I’d like that.”

The breeze quickly got to Twilight and she started shivering and shaking. Luna noticed and removed the cloak from herself and wrapped it around Twilight, magically securing it. “I’m sorry, I do believe that belongs to you.” Immediately, the lavender mare felt warmer, making it clear that luna had enhanced the cloak with magic. The aether blanket that had been wrapped around her disappeared as Luna saw there was no need to keep the spell powered anymore.

“Aren’t you cold now Luna?” Twilight asked, luna had just given up the cloak that was likely keeping her warm.

“One moment.” Luna shut her eyes and her horn lit up with a blue glow. It got brighter and brighter until Twilight was forced to look the other way. The light exploded in intensity for a microsecond before disappearing like it was never there. Twilight turned back to the mare to see that now Luna was wearing some armor covered by a cloak the same color as her own.

Luna was wearing a silver colored chestpiece and hoof guards, with a sword slightly larger than the one Twilight was wearing sheathed on her right side. Twilight guessed the sword was made of the same material as her own and made for conducting magic. Twilight looked but did not notice any gauntlets like the ones she wore. She couldn’t see her back legs however, as they were covered by the cloak she sported. The armor she wore was plated, and was probably very effective and enchanted with magic or had the ability to be.

“Wow, you look amazing!” Twilight quickly said in response to the incredible armor that the mare adorned.

“Thank you, I haven’t worn this in millenia. I keep it stored in a void space that I can put objects into and out of at my will. It is quite a useful spell, perhaps I will teach it to you once your magic recovers.”

“That would be amazing! Such a spell would have so many uses.”

“Yes it is pretty useful, but let us discuss plans for the future. We cannot stay here forever. We have no food and water, and that needs to be our first priority.”

Now that Luna had mentioned it, Twilight was pretty hungry. She had not eaten in days. “Yeah, but first, how long did I sleep when we got here?”

“Ah yes, when we got here we were in a clearing, you were out cold and I was near that state as well. I carried you up to the cave you woke up in and you were asleep for five days. This is the sixth day since we teleported.”

I was asleep for five days!?! She certainly was shocked, but it did make sense considering how much magic she had used up.

Luna started up the conversation again. “Nevermind that. I know of a few pony civilizations fairly close to here. If I remember this forest is known as Padurea Piens Albe, which roughly translates to Forest of White pines. It should take us a week or two to make it from here to the nearest civilization, less if those settlements have grown in the last thousand years. In their culture, I am probably just a legend now, similar to how Nightmare moon was a legend to you.” Twilight nodded listening intently to Luna talk. She was interested in the language and promised herself that she would learn it when she got the chance.

“Our best bet is to leave now, I will carry you down to the bottom of the mountain and we will follow the mountain range north, that should lead us out of here and whenever it gets dark I’ll take us both back up to a cave like the one we are standing in. Almost everything in the forest is edible, but tell me before you do eat anything just to make sure.”

Twilight listened as the mare beside her planned. Twilight wasn’t really given a chance to input anything, but she really didn’t mind. She trusted Luna, and had no information about this place. Luna looked at Twilight as if asking for confirmation from the unicorn. “That sounds good to me, you’re the expert here Luna, not me.”

“Your opinion is still valued, and you will learn a lot about this place quickly.”

“I think your plan is perfect. When do we leave?”

“Now.” Luna moved a little bit closer to the other mare and kneeled down, using her magic to help Twilight onto her back. “You ready?” Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Luna’s neck and clung to her tightly.

“Yes, whenever you are.”

“Alright, off we go!” Luna responded, excited to start this adventure. Twilight felt the same way, but before she could ponder further, Luna burst out of the cave and flew off into the cold air.