The Lunar War

Twilight and the others huddled around Apple Jack, leaving Trixie to sit by herself, as they were forcibly moved inside their cage. The white Unicorn who help them captive hadn't said a thing since the devastating blow she'd dealt to them, instead, she'd just lifted them into the air and started walking towards Canterlot...Or at least, what once was. The city of Canterlot which now lay under Luna's control, after only 3 days, was miles ahead, and no longer the gleaming star of Equestria. Instead, it was a dark city, surrounded by blue flames. The once majestic castle was now black and red. Burnt by the flames, and stained by the blood of ponies who refused to bow to Luna's whims and commands.

"Princess Luna! I have news from the ash around the Ponyville crater." Luna waved her hoof as a soldier came to deliver news to her. she sat high in her darkened throne she had crafted in place of Celestia's old one. "The Unicorn Twilight Sparkle and her friends are still alive. But a pony by the name of Trixie tricked the soldiers, allowing them to escape." The soldier finished, and bowed. He knew that most of the soldiers before him delivering news of failure had been throne from the tower, having their horns removed so they couldn't stop themselves from falling to their death.

"Well, then I guess I shall still have the honor of killing them myself. Excellent. Thank you, you may leave." She replied, catching the soldier completely off guard. He was shocked she had not thrown him from the tower, but he did not question. He left the chamber silently, going off to perform his duties. Luna stood and started to slowly trot towards the stairs leading to the top of the tower. "I had thought them dead, but now I get to hear them beg for mercy before taking their lives away. All I need now is to capture them." She started to laugh darkly as she ascended the stairs into the tower. "And then, my sister will be so destroyed and distraught that she will have to come out for she will be unable to let the atrocities I place onto them stand another second....And when she does, I shall do what she had done to me, and Banish her to her sun where she will burn for 1000 years while I keep all of Equestria in eternal night forever!"

Rainbow Dash was the only one who remained at Apple Jacks side now. The others had gone over to a different side of their cage now to move away from their once helpful and honest friend. Twilight had encased her in a shell of magic meant to freeze her body in time, to keep her from decomposing and to keep the flies out. It was taking it's toll, she could feel sleep and exhaustion clawing at her every fiber, but she couldn't sleep; she couldn't give in. She kept a careful eye on Dash, watching to see if there was any change. She started to nod off for a second, then shook her head, keeping her watch. Oh but sleep...It beckoned her....

Once again, Twilight was in the dark abyss where nothing existed. Where she was surrounded by black, with a single beam of light on her. But this time, she stood, waiting silently. Her pain from losing Apple Jack did not subside while here, it only seemed stronger. What would the celestial pony tell her this time? No doubt it would be more sad news... The light vanished from above, and a sensation of tumbling through the air overcame her. A moment later, she was in the Path of History, as Starswirl had once named it long ago. She blinked and looked around, waiting for the light to gain. As it did, she felt the pit in her stomach churn as she realized she was in a wing of the hall representing the Element of Honesty, Apple Jack. Why here? She didn't want to see this place! Even if she had been her friend, any image of her only hurt.

"Twilight Sparkle, so we meet again." the familiar voice of the pony spoke around her. But this time, the god pony did not appear.

"Why am I in this place? And why am I in this hall? I don't want to be in this place!" Twilight cried out.

"Twilight, be still, and be soundless, for I shall show you the peace that has come to your friend's soul. She lives in a Haven now. Her own personal Haven where you, and your friends are. At least, to her." An image started to form on the wall, and suddenly, it came to life. A bright, happy Equestria. One where Apple Jack was trotting to town to go see her friends, who all stood at the edge, waving to her and calling out. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy, they were all calling out. As Apple Jack got closer though, the road seemed to stretch out.

"B-but how is that a Haven?" Twilight asked looking around. She didn't understand, how could that be a Haven if Apple Jack could never reach them?

"I call it a Haven as she lives in peace now. Though she cannot reach you, no matter how much she runs, as long as you all care for her and remember her, you shall remain in her sight. She will never forget you. And when all your times come, she will be the first to meet you, having been the first to pass. And once the second one falls, they will be following behind her. And as you are thinking, I called it her Haven, but her Haven, and all of yours in the end, are the same. The one true Equestria you all know, love, and miss." The image on the wall faded, showing them no more.

"That doesn't tell me why I am here in this place again! I don't want to be here! You only ever seem to deliver news that nopony would ever wish to know!" Twilight screamed out. The light in the room changed to a light blue, a soft, comfortable lighting.

"I bring you here so you may know your friend is at peace. But know, your other friends shall not gain peace so easily, as your other friends have not, and will not have the quiet happiness she felt before dying. Would you like to know what she saw as she passed?" The being continued on. All the information the pony was telling her seemed stupid. Why would this 'god' bring her here just to tell her more things that were painful? "The thing she saw was what she hoped and longed for most. Her family. As they had all passed before her, they all came for her. She saw the pathway into the Golden Corral you ponies call heaven. And in the end, many years from now, when it comes time for you to join her, and your friends who are soon to leave you as well, you will see everyone you have ever met in your life. All the ponies who have made you better, all the ponies who you will save. Everypony in the Equestrian heavens will come to welcome you home once again for an eternity everlasting."

"How long must I wait once Equestria is saved? How long must I suffer after I have done this deed you think I can do? I'm just a unicorn who is the same as every other pony now! One who just want this madness to end and to wake up, and find it was one big nightmare crafted in my head!" Twilight cried out, breaking down on the floor, sobbing nearly uncontrollably. "I know you are supposed to be wise and all knowing, but I just don't know if I can take it! My heart has already broken at the loss of my Dragon and one of my best friends! Not to mention all those whom else I have lost and had not the time to grieve for!"

"Be patient Twilight Sparkle, for nopony should know when they themselves are to pass, for then they shall live their life in misery waiting for that day to come when they finally sleep eternally. But, I will tell you the time you have until your final meeting with the Princesses meet. Two weeks from now, all will seem lost, and in a moment of desperation, and confrontation, when you lose the final light in your path, you will know what to do." The light started to fade, and Twilight knew it was time to return to reality. Why was this pony releasing all this information to her, and her alone? Why could she not share it? Most of all....Why did it have to be her.....

Twilight awoke to screaming as the darkness from her 'vision' faded into the darkness of reality. But....who was screaming? Was the white Unicorn hurting another one of them? She jolted awake, and looked around quickly, as she did her eyes moved over the source of the sound for a brief second before shooting back to it. Rainbow Dash. But she wasn't the source of the female voice screaming though. She looked closer in the darkness, and gasped. "RAINBOW DASH NO!" She lunged forward, reaching for the rainbow pony. In the few minutes she'd been out, Dash had practically snapped, jumping at Trixie, kicking, hitting, biting. But why? As Twilight struggled with the Rainbow Mare, she started to scream.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT SHE'S GONE!" She continued to repeat it over and over, trying to kick at Trixie who now lay gasping and crying, barely able to move. Twilight finally got Rainbow Dash away from the blue mare, tying her back with magic. Trixie had already been in pain, suffering, and with Dash beating her the way she had, she had gone from bad, to much, much worse.

"Trixie...I'm so sorry..." Twilight whispered to her. She could tell just by looking at her now, she wasn't going to survive the trip. Dash had successfully snapped her horn off, as it had already been weakened. She was bleeding from her mouth and nose, a heavy gash on her face from where Dash's hoof had struck her bled profusely. "I always wished we could have been friends. That you would have changed and came back to Ponyville. I never wanted the chance of our friendship to end in despair and with you dying alone...All I can say is I am glad that you at least saved us....even if you doomed us further....At least you did something." Twilight looked down at her, she seemed nearly unresponsive, but after a moment, she turned her head slowly and looked up at Twilight, opening one eye, as the other was swollen shut now.

"All I....ever wanted was someone who cared for my....someone to call my friend....But....I guess I'll never have that now.....Will I...?" Tears started to well up in her eye.

"I'm sorry Trixie....if it counts for something, I can at least be your friend for a while, until the time passes...." Twilight said to her, sitting down. Trixie looked at her for a moment, then laid her head down.

"Trixie...I....Would like that...." The tears she had welling up started to fall as she started to shake. Nothing more was said between the two, but Twilight did her best to comfort her with magic by summoning different things. A non-existant pillow of magic, a blanket of warmth. She sat by her, and when Trixie could feel her energy starting to completely fade, she let a small weak smile cross her face. She spoke, but not to Twilight, but to someone who was not even there."Look...I made a friend in the end...Aren't you......Proud....." Trixie's eye slowly started to glaze over, and a long exhale proceeded from her. The blue Unicorn then lay completely still.

"May Celestia guide your soul in these hard times...Trixie Lulamoon...." Twilight whispered to her. She closed her eye with magic, and let the magic that held her in comfort fade. Her head fell to the base of the shield holding them. Twilight turned from her, and cast the same spell she had on Apple Jack. It wasn't a very taxing spell, which was why she could sustain Apple Jack's for so long, and she felt even Trixie deserved it now. Rainbow had stopped struggling against the spell after a short while. And when released, she glared at Twilight.

"I don't know why you think she deserves such treatment after what she did." She said scornfully.

"Everypony has lost alot, Dash. And just because her hoof was forced into capturing us doesn't mean she had to suffer and die without somepony there to be with her when she passed. Nopony should die alone. No matter what they did before all this happened...." She finished, she looked over her shoulder to the one who held them captive. "No pony should....but alot have....and will..."

"Princess Celestia! We must do something before it's too late! We cannot sit idly by while Luna destroys everything and everyponies dreams! Were we not once a land of happiness and harmony simply because you kept it so? Because that is all everypony ever dreams of now! A land that we once had! And even though it's only been what? 4 days at best? All still feel pain!" Cadence pleaded with her Aunt. She couldn't hardly stand it. They had no clue what had become of Shining Armor, for all they knew, at least, to Cadence's knowledge,Twilight and the others were all dead. But that did not mean every other pony who was caught in this hell had to stay in it forever. "Answer me!"

"Enough Cadence!" Celestia replied sharply. "You think I don't want to? You think I can't feel the land dying and the ponies hurting? I know what needs to be done! But I cannot do it without the Elements. Luna has gained much strength while I have lost mine. Without the sun, I feel my energy draining. I don't just raise the sun for the ponies, I raise it for myself as well. And with Luna having basked in the night for this time now, she has already gained more power than even I! Why do you think I had to banish her before? She had raised an eternal night for only a short time, but in that time, her power rose over mine until I used the elements."

"So what are you going to do if the Elements can't come to your aid? What if Twilight is dead? What if they are all dead? Are you just going to give up then?" Cadence asked her.

"If Twilight was dead, I would know already...I cannot say the same for the others, because I have not shared the bond I have with Twilight. She was almost like a daughter to me. And were she to die, I would feel a piece of myself die, as it were." Celestia replied.

"If any of them die, then a piece of you will die as well! You used to be connected to the Elements of Harmony! So when the ponies they are connected to die, you will feel it, won't you?" Cadence continued on.

"I don't know....When the Elements fell from my control, I lost all connection to them." She replied yet again. Cadence looked at her, tears starting to flow.

"You are not the Celestia I knew....You....You have just given up then. Instead of facing your sister, and doing everything in your power....You have hidden yourself away in a cave....The Celestia I knew....she would do everything she could....Like she used to do before Luna was ever banished...." Cadence turned and left the room, not giving Celestia another chance to speak to her. Celestia lowered her head, and locked the door with her magic. She stood up and walked over to the mirror she had in her room, and looked upon herself. Scrutinizing every inch.

"She's right....You have become weak." She spoke to herself. "You are letting your subjects die....You have failed them." She dropped her head, and for the first time in over a thousand years, since having to banish her sister, she cried...