Those Left Behind

Chapters

A Princess' Hope
A Princess' Despair
A Princess' Fear
A Princess' Confusion
A Princess' Regret
A Princess' Escape
A Princess' Magic
A Princess' Return
A Princess' Sanity
A Princess' Punishment
A Princess' Departure
A Princess' Wrath
A Princess' Dreams
A Princess' Hate
A Princess' Desperation
A Princess' Goodbye
A Princess' Isolation
A Princess' Friends
A Princess' Flight
A Princess' Rescue
A Princess Alone
A Princess' Fall
A Princess' Rebirth
A Monster's Family
A Monster's Confession
A Monster's Mentor
A Monster's End
A Princess' Discovery
A Princess' Homecoming
A Villain's Folly

A Princess' Hope

I don't know how long it took for us to calm down enough to discuss what happened due to the eclipse and lack of Stars, but eventually Cadence and I had regained our faculties... somewhat.

Cadence was a mess.

Her mane and tail were ratty and disheveled, and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot -- not that I looked much better. I could tell that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were affected too, but they had a lot more experience handling grief, as old as they were.

And so we all sat there on that deadened patch of land feeling hollow, but determined to get to the bottom of what had happened. Princess Luna cleared her throat and began.

"This... isn't any more pleasant for me to explain than it is for you to hear it, but nevertheless, you all need to hear what I have to say."

Celestia nodded solemnly while Cadence and I just waited silently for Luna to continue.

"As I am sure my sister has told you, the land surrounding us is dead. There is nothing but dry empty desert for miles and much of the environment is unrecognizable."

Luna looked to her sister and Celestia nodded once, picking up where the midnight blue alicorn left off.

"It is for this reason, that Luna and I had such a difficult time getting our bearings," she paused, "and it's also why we didn't recognize the mountain for what it was."

Another brief, but heavy, moment of silence descended over the four of us before Celestia moved on.

"Luna and I flew in opposite directions to cover more ground, and while I didn't see anything of note, Luna went to investigate the mountain."

"At first, I didn't see anything other than a nondescript mountain," Luna continued, "but upon closer inspection, I found... significant evidence of a city buried under an almost impossible amount of rubble."

Cadence began tearing up again, but I just sat there, too stunned to react. Luna seemed to be having a hard time getting her next words out -- gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut as she turned to Celestia.

"Sister... Tia, I..." she wiped her eyes and tried to set her face in a determine frown as she spoke, "...I found our castle buried at the bottom of the cliff. There's nothing left of it, or the city."

"And I assume our subjects are..." Celestia began, only for Luna to cut her off with a slow shake of her head. She cast a worried glance in mine and Cadence's direction. I tried to put on a brave face as I nodded for her to continue.

Luna gave me another worried frown before sighing and turning back to Celestia.

"I did search the rubble for survivors, but I found naught but ash."

"And you searched the entire city?" Celestia pressed. I could hear a note of desperation in her voice despite her cool demeanor, "you left no stone unturned?"

"Well no," Luna admitted, "I searched as much as I could, but some areas I couldn't reach and even with my magical strength, I would be hard pressed to move every single piece of rubble on the mountain."

"Then I will help you," Celestia declared, flaring out her wings, "if there's anypony left alive, we need to find them."

"Wait, Princess!" I called out as Celestia made to fly off, "what about us?"

Celestia's eyes widened in realization and she settled back down to the ground.

"Forgive me, Twilight," she said, looking somewhat ashamed, "I am overeager to see to the safety of... what remains of my little ponies. I failed to consider your feelings on the matter -- yours and Cadence's."

Cadence wiped her eyes and trotted closer to me, resting a hoof on my shoulder as she looked at Celestia.

"You and Aunt Luna go ahead," she said -- a bit of strength returning to her voice, "I'll stay with Twilight."

"Very well," Celestia said with a small nod, "stay safe you two. There's still so much we don't know about our current situation, and I'm still wary of whatever that beast was."

"Indeed," Luna added, taking to the sky, "it may be gone for now, but we don't know when that monstrosity will rear its head again."

Celestia spread her wings and rose to meet her sister.

"At the very least we can use the mountain as a reference point -- though I'm not sure exactly how useful it will be given the drastic change to the landscape..." she looked at the mountain with a scowl before looking down at us again, "we can't risk sending up a magic flare lest the beast see it, so for the time being we will communicate via long range Telepathy."

"It is a taxing spell if used overlong so only communicate if it is an emergency," Luna added before turning to Celestia, "If there is nothing else, sister, I will be going on ahead."

With that, the dark alicorn took off towards Mount Canterhorn. Celestia watched her go for a moment before turning back to Cadence and I.

"If you're headed anywhere, I recommend looking for Ponyville first," Celestia suggested, "I didn't see it, but like with Mount Canterhorn, I may not have recognized it even if I did."

I nodded in response.

"That was already my first destination, Princess," I replied. Before looking off in a random direction, "I just hope my friends are okay..."

Celestia gave Twilight a nod and a sad smile before flying after her sister.

"Don't worry, Twilight," Cadence said, with a reassuring smile, "I'll help you look."

I felt my heart twist itself in knots at the thought of what might have befallen the other girls and my number one assistant.

"Thanks, Cadence," I said with a sad, but grateful smile, "if anything happened to them..." I clench my eyes shut, holding back more tears, "On top of Shiny and my parents--"

"Don't," Cadence said, putting a hoof over my muzzle, "we can't give up hope yet. it's like Luna said, she hasn't searched the whole city yet and there might be survivors."

I looked at her silently for a moment before pushing her hoof aside and nodding.

"Yeah," I agreed, "Yeah, you're right, Cadence. I can't give up now -- not yet," I scanned the my surroundings, trying to find some sort of starting point, "first we need to find Ponyville and make sure my friends are alright."

"Now, that's the Twilight I know," Cadence said, poking me in the nose. I snorted and batted her hoof away before taking to the air.

"Come on Cadence, this is serious," I replied with a frown. Cadence giggled and followed after me.

"I know, Twilight," she said as she wrapped me in a hug, "I just wanted to lighten the mood a bit, that's all."

I pushed myself away with a small smile of appreciation.

"Well thanks for that then," I sighed and looked away, "I guess we could use a bit of cheer after all this."

Cadence nodded.

"Now what are you waiting for?" she asked gesturing to the skies ahead, "lead the way!"

I smiled once more before heading southward from the mountain -- or at least, what I hoped was southward.

Cadence and I flew around the empty landscape for what felt like hours, always making sure to keep what was left of Mount Canterhorn in sight. I actually found it rather hard to see what was below me and I was beginning to wish I had learned some sort of sight enhancement spell.

We flew in relative silence, both of us most likely afraid to tell one another what was on our minds.

I tried to stay positive, but that was extremely hard to do when the knowledge that everypony you loved may have been reduced to ash.

The endless dry wasteland that surrounded us everywhere we looked wasn't helping matters either.

It's almost as though we were the only survivors of some sort of apocalypse...

I tried to shake the thought -- tried to remind myself that the world was bigger than just Equestria and that the other races of Equus might've survived -- but I just couldn't. I looked behind me to see Cadence idly scanning the ground, like I should've been doing, and frowned.

There was something else that was bugging me, and after a moment's thought, I decided I had to bring it up -- no matter how much it hurt.

I needed to know.

"Hey, um... Cadence?" I called out, "can I ask you something?"

Cadence looked up and smiled.

"Of course, Twilight," she replied, "you know you can ask me anything."

We'll see about that... I thought with a grimace.

"You said that you couldn't feel any love at all," I began, "but what about me and the other Princesses? Can you not feel anything from us?"

I expected... well, I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't for Cadence to smile back at me.

"No, I can't," Cadence said with a small shake of her head, "and I know what you're thinking, Twilight."

She flew closer so that we were side by side.

"At first I was devastated -- and to tell you the truth, I still should be -- but then I started thinking the same thing you are now," she briefly glanced at Mount Canterhorn before turning her gaze back to me, "I wondered why I couldn't sense the love coming from you, Aunt Celestia, or Aunt Luna. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I had somehow lost my connection to Love Magic."

"What?!" I cried in shock, "Cadence that's terrible!"

She nodded with a solemn frown before breaking into a small smile.

"Like I said, normally I would be devastated," she continued, "but considering our current circumstances I'm actually somewhat grateful."

I did take a moment to consider her words and, after a moment, I slowly nodded in understanding.

"I get it," I replied, "because you're incapable of sensing our love, it would stand to reason that even if there were other ponies that had survived, you wouldn't be able to sense them anyway."

"Exactly," Cadence said with a nod, "I never thought I'd be relieved to know that my magic didn't work."

I chose not to respond to the comment -- mostly because it kind of disturbed me.

What does it say about our situation that the Princess of Love is glad that she isn't connected to the one thing she embodies?

"Twilight look!"

I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned to see Cadence gesturing to something below us. I followed her gaze and suddenly found myself conflicted at what I saw.

Directly below us, barely visible in the low light, was the Golden Oaks Library.

Or what I thought was the Golden Oaks Library.

Honestly it was hard to tell -- the only thing giving it away was the door shaped hole at the base of the massive blackened tree stump.

At first I was relieved to see something familiar -- but that only lasted for a second when I realized what the current state of the tree meant.

I had left Spike to take care of the library while I was in Canterlot.

Without so much as a word to Cadence, I flew down to the stump and landed just outside the doorway. I think Cadence called my name but I wasn't sure nor did I care as I ran through the empty doorway.

The only thing that mattered right then was finding my number one assistant.

"SPIIIKE!"

I only made it a few hoof-lengths into the destroyed library before I was stopped by a veritable mountain of debris.

"Spike!" I cried as I frantically tossed the rubble aside, "Spike, can you hear me? Say something, please!"

I heard Cadence slowly making her way inside, but I ignored her as I continued to search the debris.

"Twilight..."

I whipped around to face my old foalsitter, fear and panic coursing through every nerve in my body.

"Cadence! Help me move this stuff so we can find Spike!"

I didn't wait for her reply, instead opting to continue searching through the debris.

I heard Cadence sigh before a baby blue aura surrounded a pile of rubble next to me.

We spent what I felt was the better part of an hour searching for Spike in this mess. I even triple checked the debris to make sure I hadn't accidentally moved him along with everything else, but in the end, we couldn't find him anywhere.

I sat silently in front of the cleared space near the doorway.

This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

"Twilight?"

I can't lose Spike. Not Spike.

Not my number one assistant.

"Twilight, listen to me..."

I've know him all his life, and when things went to Tartarus, I wasn't there with him -- I wasn't there for him.

I'm a terrible big sister.

No...

I'm a terrible mo--

"TWILIGHT!"

I was roughly shaken out of my thoughts by a worried Cadence, and it was only then that I realize I had been openly sobbing.

I hiccuped and looked at the pink alicorn through teary eyes.

"Twilight, I know this looks bad," Cadence said, pulling me into a tight hug, "but don't lose hope just yet," she pulled away and looked me in the eye as she spoke, "ruined as it is, we still have a whole town to search. Spike and the rest of your friends might still be hiding around here somewhere."

I sniffed and wiped my tears away, trying desperately to pull myself together.

"I..." I shook my head smiled, "thank you, Cadence, and you're right. There's still a lot of other places to search."

Ponyville may have been a small town, but it wasn't that small. There were plenty of places to hide out in case of an emergency and we had only just arrived.

It was entirely possible that Spike and the others had found somewhere safe to hide.

As Cadence and I stepped outside the ruined library, I swept my gaze across the area in front of me. Several of the structures were completely gone, with only a few crumbling buildings here and there.

It wasn't much, but it was something.

I just had keep looking.

I just needed to hold on to the hope that everypony was safe and sound somewhere in all this destruction.

It was starting to look like hope was all I had left.

Author's Note

Not too much to say here, so I'll just let the story speak for itself instead.

A Princess' Despair

I was beginning to lose the one thing I had been trying so desperately to cling to.

Cadence and I searched every inch of the ruined town and after I don't even care how long anymore, we still hadn't found anything. As my worry grew, so to did my irritation.

There had been no sign of Spike or the other girls -- not mention any of the other citizens of Ponyville. What we did find only made the situation worse and alluded to things I didn't want to imagine.

A broken and nearly unrecognizable pair of violet sunglasses.

A mangled, blackened harp.

A charred mailbag that had somehow managed to remain completely intact.

We found several other things like this all over town and with every object we stumbled across I began to grow more and more worried. It got to the point where I started to snap at Cadence over minor things.

She of course had called me out on it and I'm grateful that she did.

There's no point in getting angry over what I can't control.

I didn't want to admit it, but I preferred the anger over the fear and sorrow. It wasn't fair of me to take my stress out on Cadence though, so I reined in my irritation.

There were a few landmarks left that I recognized such as the Town Hall and Sugarcube Corner -- both almost completely destroyed, but still somewhat familiar.

I used those and a few other partially intact places to navigate my way through town, but still found no sign of Spike or my friends. With a heavy heart, Cadence and I flew to the one place we had yet to check.

Sweet Apple Acres.

As we made our way to the no doubt barren farmland, my thoughts drifted to the other Princesses and I idly wondered if they had found anypony else yet. Then I remembered that they most likely would've communicated to me or Cadence if that were the case.

"Hey, Twilight?"

I turned to the pink alicorn flying next to me.

"I was just wondering," she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "why was I the only one that lost the connection to the Magic I embodied as a Princess?"

My eyes widened as I realized what she was saying.

"I mean, Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna are still connected to the Sun, Moon and Stars -- and you're still connected to Magic in general -- but why was I cut off from my Love Magic?"

I stared at Cadence as I tried to think of an answer.

"Well, I..." I bit my lip and looked away, "I don't really know, Cadence. I'm sorry."

I was lying.

I had an idea, but I didn't want to tell Cadence -- not yet.

Not while we still had some hope left.

"We can... discuss it more when we meet up with the other Princesses," I said, trying to move away from the subject, "for now let's just get to Sweet Apple Acres."

Cadence eyed me for another moment before turning away.

"Alright, Twilight," she finally replied, "we'll talk about it later then."

I winced at the tone in Cadence's voice.

She doesn't believe me.

She didn't push the issue, but I knew she didn't believe I had no idea. Again, for some reason I found myself strangely annoyed by the whole thing.

I thought she was relieved to be free of her Love Magic. Why is she wondering about it now?

I shook my head and tried to focus on the task ahead.

We flew in silence for another few minutes before I saw the broken remnants of the gate to Applejack's farm. I was surprised to see that -- while the countless trees were charred, withered, and more or less reduced to giant twigs sticking out of the ground -- every single one of them was still standing.

That alone managed to bring a small wistful smile to my face -- a smile that was quickly wiped away by what I saw next.

Unlike the trees in the fields, the barn and family house themselves weren't so resilient.

"Twilight," Cadence began, giving me look of concern.

"Come on," I interjected as I flew down to the remains of the barn, "we didn't find anything downstairs in Rarity's basement, but Applejack has a cellar. They might be hiding out down there."

"And... if there's nopony there?" Cadence asked tentatively.

I didn't answer.

We landed just outside and I lit my horn as I trotted around the perimeter of the barn. I found the door to the cellar around what I guessed was the back.

"Cadence, over here," I called out, "I found it."

She trotted over and I went to pull the cellar door open.

It didn't budge.

I felt my spirits lift a bit.

Maybe they locked the door to keep out whatever that thing was!

I immediately picked up on the error in logic and quashed the thought.

Of course they wouldn't have had the time to do that, seeing as the monster appeared and destroyed everything in a matter of seconds. Having realized that, my mind continued to piece together more painful realizations.

They wouldn't have had the time to do anything. Whatever that thing did, it happened only seconds after it appeared.

If the blast radius had reached this far out...

Nopony would've had time to do anything.

Still...

With a grunt of effort, I yanked the door open with my magic and heard the metallic snap of a lock breaking from within. I took a step back and looked inside, but all I saw was inky black darkness.

Not a good sign.

I redoubled the light at the end of my horn and motioned for Cadence to follow me down. We trotted downstairs and I had a sinking feeling we wouldn't find anypony down here.

Maybe it was the complete and utter silence of everything other than our hoofsteps on the creaky wooden stairs, or maybe it was the fact that there was no light other than the ones coming from mine and Cadence's horns.

Whatever the case, we hadn't seen anypony so far -- though I did pick up the tantalizing scent of apple cider as we descended further. We reached the bottom of the cellar soon enough and looked around.

I had never actually been down here and was surprised to see that the cellar itself was larger than I expected.

Maybe they are down here somewhere after all.

"Look at all this cider," Cadence mused aloud as she swept her gaze over the countless barrels lining the walls, "was it getting close to cider season?"

"It was," replied grimly, "not that it matters now," I trotted ahead down one of the uncluttered paths, "I'll check down this way, can you search the other path, Cadence?"

The pink alicorn nodded and trotted off in the other direction.

Though the cellar was big, it wasn't that big, and I soon came to a dead end with nothing and nopony to show for the search. After looking around for a moment more, I sighed heavily and killed the light surrounding my horn.

For the next few minutes I just sat there in the dark, ruminating on the last few hours since I had arrived in the desolate ruins formerly known as Ponyville.

From somewhere in the distance I could see the tell-tale light blue glow of Cadence's horn and my eyes settled on watching that light move about the cellar, stopping briefly every now and then before moving on.

They're not here.

They were never here to begin with. I already knew this and searching anymore would be pointless.

I snorted.

I bet Cadence knows there's nopony here either and just wants to humor me.

I shook my head and rose to my hooves.

"They're not down here," I muttered to myself, "we searched everywhere and I haven't--"

"Um... Twilight?"

My stomach turned.

I didn't like the hesitation I heard in Cadence's voice. I once again lit my horn and made my way back to where I saw Cadence's light. As I trotted closer, that feeling of dread I had manage to push down thus far had begun to resurface.

I picked up my pace, tripping over random tools left on the floor in my hurry to get to Cadence. I eventually made my way over to the pink alicorn who had her back turned to me. When she heard me arrive she looked over her shoulder and winced before turning back to whatever she was looking at.

"What is it, Cadence?" I asked, knowing full well I didn't want to know the answer, "w-what did you find?"

"Before I show you, I just want you to know that if you--"

"Just show me!"

Cadence flinched away and sighed before stepping aside.

...

"Twilight? Are you..."

"Stop."

"Twilight, please, if you just let me--"

"Cadence," I asked in a strained voice, "just... just wait for me outside, okay?"

Cadence went to speak again, but decided against it and nodded silently before trotting away.

I sat there in that spot for I don't know how long.

Just sat there.

I couldn't take my eyes away from the proof that nothing would be okay.

There was no hope left.

I couldn't find any of my friends.

None, save for one.

As I wiped away the ash from her Stetson and brought it out of the cellar, I felt myself go numb.

I didn't cry, that wouldn't have helped.

I didn't question the fact that she had been down in the cellar when the blast had hit Ponyville -- it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that she was gone, just like all the others.

Just like Spike.

Just like the other girls.

Just like Shining Armor.

Just like my parents.

"Let's go find the other Princesses."

"Twilight," Cadence whispered, pressing a hoof to her tear streak face, "I'm so sorry."

I nodded once and took off into the pitch black sky.

I didn't look back.

Author's Note

Next chapter is going to be a bit intense.

A Princess' Fear

I was not okay.

Everything around me seemed faded and I couldn't shake the numbness that had settled over me. Cadence said something, but I didn't really hear it. I think I responded, but I couldn't really seem to remember whether I actually did or not.

I just continued to fly towards the mountain.

My thoughts eventually turned to the thing that had caused all of this, and I wondered where it had gone.

Somewhere deep in the back of my mind I couldn't help but be impressed with the monster's destructive capability. It had managed to completely bypass the Everfree Forest's strange magic and raze the entire area to the ground in one fell swoop.

Oh, there were a few withered tree shaped husks left, and the old castle was still somewhat intact, but other than that, the forest was gone.

Just like Ponyville, Canterlot, and several other places I'm sure.

If there were any other ponies around, they wouldn't be anywhere near the Equestrian capital. What I had found back in that cellar had all but confirmed that for me.

Ponies weren't even safe from the blast below ground.

Cadence was saying something again, but I ignored her as I continued to ruminate on our hopeless situation.

At first, I had wondered why only the four of us were spared the destruction, but then I remembered that we weren't spared so much as we survived through the event.

I remember the white hot pain that enveloped me and the other Princesses.

It was the worst pain I had ever felt.

But we all survived it, and that alone answered the one question I had been afraid to ask Princess Celestia since my Ascension.

We were completely immortal.

We had to be -- how else could we have lived through--

Something was watching me.

My thoughts screeched to a halt.

My eyes snapped open and my wings locked up, causing me to fall out of the sky.

I couldn't scream.

I couldn't breath.

I tried to call out to Cadence, but when I turned to the pink alicorn, I saw her in the same exact predicament I was in. The utter terror on her face matched my own and together we both plummeted to the ground, unable to speak or scream for help -- not that we would've recieved any.

Just before we hit, the sudden paralysis vanished and I immediately and clumsily tried to pull myself out of freefall -- flapping my still relatively new wings for all I was worth. I idly noticed that I had dropped her hat, but at the moment there was nothing I could do.

By some miracle I had managed to correct myself, but I was losing altitude -- that is, until a pair of pink hooves wrapped themselves around my barrel and yanked me up and forward.

I turned to see Cadence gritting her teeth as she struggled to pull me up. I looked back to the ground and saw that we weren't too high up.

"Cadence!" I cried, "I think I'm okay now! You can let go!"

She nodded and released me.

I flapped my wings a few times before descending once more -- this time with a lot more control. I dropped to the ground in a clumsy attempt at a landing and Cadence landed next to me much more gracefully a moment later.

I panted heavily and didn't speak for a moment as I tried to catch my breath. I was suddenly and violently jarred out of my despair by whatever had just happened -- said despair being replaced terror and an odd revulsion.

"Twilight, what on Equus was that?" Cadence asked, her eyes wide with panic.

I shook my head and panted a few more times before answering.

"I... don't know..." I gasped, "did you... feel that?"

Cadence took a few breaths of her own before responding with a nod.

"It felt like I was being hunted," she whispered in a quivering voice, "like I was prey caught in some kind of trap."

I opened my mouth to respond when I was suddenly interrupted by another voice.

"Twilight! Cadence! Are you two okay?"

The sound of Princess Celestia's voice nearly made me jump out of my skin and Cadence's reaction was similar. I let my heart rate dropped a bit more before I replied.

"We're alright, Princess," I answered, "did you and Princess Luna feel that?"

"Indeed, my sister and I could--"

"FOUL DEMON! YOU HAVE LAIN WASTE TO OUR FAIR KINGDOM AND COMMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST OUR PRECIOUS SUBJECTS! NOW YOU DARE TO DISTURB THE SANCTITY OF MY MOON?!"

I winced at the sheer volume of Luna's mental shout.

"Princess, what--"

"Twilight, look!"

I turned to Cadence and saw her terrified gaze locked onto something above me. I followed her gaze and my body locked up at what I saw.

Luna had been wrong to call it her Moon -- we had all been wrong.

That was no Moon.

It was an eye.

What we had thought was the silhouette of another celestial body's shadow, was actually the black sclera of a massive eye -- its white iris now completely visible.

Every single instinct in my body told me to flee, but I couldn't move.

Cadence was right -- it was like I was prey caught in a trap, or the hungry gaze of a predator.

The baleful gaze it cast down on the ruined land had set me shaking uncontrollably and I didn't even have to look at Cadence to tell she felt the same.

"T-Twilight..." Cadence muttered, "w-what is that?"

I didn't answer.

I couldn't answer.

All I could do was stare at it as it stared at me.

The massive black and white eye blinked and its gaze suddenly shifted.

"Twilight! Cadence!" Celestia cried telekinetically, "you have to help me stop Luna! She's trying to--"

Her next words were drowned out by a sudden low but heavy thrum that shook the ground. It continued to grow in pitch and volume by the second. Disoriented by the sound, Cadence and I snapped out of our fear induced paralysis and took to the sky.

Before any of us could react, the sound reached its peak and the entire sky lit up as a massive pillar of white light erupted from the eye, slamming itself into Mount Canterhorn and completely obliterating what was left of the mountain.

The light from the blast burned itself into my retinas and the resulting explosion nearly deafened me.

I screamed out my former mentor's name, but that was more an agonized reflex than anything else. There was absolutely no way in Tartarus I was going to be heard over the sound of that blast.

To make matters worse, I could practically sense the massive shockwave headed in our direction.

Almost out of instinct, my horn flared to life and a large magenta colored barrier enveloped Cadence and I.

It almost wasn't enough.

The shockwave smashed into the barrier with a force unlike anything I had ever felt. It nearly shattered on impact and I grit my teeth as I tried to hold it up. I was absently aware of the blood pouring from my nose and down my muzzle, but I held on regardless -- enveloping my horn in a second layer of magic.

Several runes covered the barrier as I added more power and I nearly passed out from the strain.

Just as I was about to scream out in agony, the force of the shockwave finally began to die down. The strain gradually lessened to the point were I could release the shield and I did so at the first opportunity.

"Twilight!"

I slowly turned to the pink alicorn as I started to descend to the ground -- my wings no longer able to support me.

"C-Cadence..." I gasped, "Celestia... L-Luna... please... go make... sure th..."

That was it.

I was too spent to say anymore.

I had already been disoriented from the initial blast and had used every bit of my not insignificant amount of magic to keep the barrier active. It was only then that I remembered my connection to the ambient Magic around me. Unfortunately, it was already too late to do anything about it.

I was so drained I couldn't even make a small spark.

My vision began to fade, my wings grew limp and useless, and I fell. I heard Cadence call out to me from somewhere above, but I was already blacking out.

My gaze flickered to the giant eye just as its iris faded out and it returned to an empty black circle in the sky.

That was the last thing I saw before my vision was replaced with a dark nothingness.

There were a lot of things I didn't know.

I didn't know if Celestia and Luna were okay.

I didn't know what that thing was or why it chose to destroy everything we held dear.

I didn't know what the state of the rest of Equestria and the world beyond was.

But there were a few things I did know.

We were no match for whatever that thing was.

My friends were gone so we didn't have any access to the other Elements -- and even if we did, I doubt they would've helped.

I also knew the entire mountain was completely destroyed.

If there were any survivors left in Canterlot, they were gone now.

Goodbye mom... dad...

Shiny.

A Princess' Confusion

I awoke with a groan.

My eyes slowly opened and I blinked a few times, trying to rid myself of my blurry vision. After a moment things started to clear up and I could make out...

...Where am I?

I turned to my right and a momentary grip of panic seized me. At first I thought I had been shoved into some kind of box -- in the dark, surrounded by walls around and above me.

Then I turned to my left and I immediately breathed a small sigh of relief.

There was no wall to my left and instead I could see the smashed and charred remains of several wooden shelves backed up against a far wall. I shifted my body experimentally to see if I could move. When I didn't feel any immediate pain, I shuffled out from under wherever I was and looked around.

It turned out I was stuffed behind a counter in what appeared to be some kind of store. It was almost too dark to see, but I could just make out the interior. There were rows of shelves that were either destroyed or knocked over, and any products that once lined them were blackened and unrecognizable.

If I had to guess, I'd say they were some sort of foals toys at one point.

So... I'm in a toy store?

The building itself seemed to still be standing for the most part -- though I could see the pitch black sky through several large holes in the roof and the various other ruined buildings just outside across the street.

Wait... what?

I blinked and furrowed my brow in confusion.

I slowly trotted around the counter and over to one of the broken windows. Sure enough, there were several other buildings in varying states of destruction everywhere I looked.

I took a step back and shook my head.

Where in Tartarus... just how long was I out?

Several other questions arose in the wake of my bewilderment.

How did I get here?

Where were the others?

Were they okay?

If the sky is pitch black and there are no working lights, how am I even able to see anything?

That last one was a new thought -- not nearly as important as the other's safety, but a mystery nonetheless.

As I made my way outside the ruined toy store, I took a moment to assess my situation.

Alright, Twilight.

You appear to be in some kind of city with no idea how you got here after you passed out.

I shivered as I remembered the event prior to waking up here.

You don't know where any of the other Princesses are or if they're okay.

I swallowed hard and tried not to think about any worst case scenarios.

Just focus on taking stock of the situation.

I briefly looked myself over.

I seem to be fine physically -- a little sore, but no visible injuries that I can see.

I lit up my horn -- or tried to at any rate. The only thing that happened were a few feeble sparks and a small pop as my magic fizzled out. I cried out as the resulting feedback sent a sharp spike of pain down my horn.

Magic is still out from the barrier.

I winced as I waited for the painful throb in my horn to die down.

"Alright," I muttered to myself after a few moments, "first priority is to find out what happened to the others."

I trotted further out onto the broken empty street and looked left and right.

Nothing but endless destruction in every direction.

Wherever I had wound up, it didn't seem to have faired any better than the rest of Equestria. I continued my trot along streets, trying to find some sort of familiar landmark to tell me what city I had ended up in.

Manehattan?

Fillydelphia?

Baltimare?

Detrot?

Hoofington?

It was impossible to tell with how much damage there was to the city -- not to mention it being almost impossible to see anything clearly. From what I could see, the damage itself was horrendous.

There were entire buildings that had fallen sideways onto some of the streets, completely blocking some of the paths. The roads themselves were mangled, broken and twisted and the air was dry and dusty. There were several times where I had to fight back a coughing fit and the smell was as unnerving as it was unpleasant.

I couldn't quite place the smell, but it reminded me of burning wood, or paper, or coals.

Just... something burning.

And no matter where I went, the stench followed me.

Something else was nagging at me as well.

I couldn't put my hoof on what, but there was something... wrong.

I felt like there was something important I was overlooking, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hello?" I called out for the umpteenth time since I left the store, "Cadence? Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?"

I of course, got no response.

By this point I was little more than a whimpering mass of nerves. My gaze shifted left and right constantly and I felt as if something was waiting to jump out from the shadows.

I was beginning to hate this constant darkness.

It made it much more difficult to navigate through all the debris -- not to mention the dead silence surrounding me. The silence and darkness were enough to make me tremble in fear of... everything really.

The world had changed and I no longer knew what to expect.

There was some kind of godlike abomination watching our every move from...

It hit me like a buck to the face.

My eyes slowly widened and I turned my terrified gaze to the sky.

I finally realized what it was that had been off.

I spread my wings and flew above the destroyed city. I turned this way and that, keeping my eyes on the sky.

The eye wasn't there anymore.

Everywhere I looked, it was nothing but inky black sky.

This didn't bring me any relief -- far from it in fact.

I started to panic.

I couldn't shake the feeling that this was worse.

A lot worse.

I was so distracted by my overwhelming dread that I hadn't even registered touching down onto the streets once more. I wanted to call out for the other Princess' again, but I didn't dare speak.

I took a step back as I frantically looked around me.

Something is coming.

"No," I whimpered, my ears folding back as I took a few more steps back, "no, no, no, nononono..."

Run.

"C-Cadence? Luna? P-Princess Cele--"

RUN!!!

I turned and ran.

I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care.

My heart was beating so hard it hurt.

My panic was so all consuming it blocked out any common sense. My higher brain functions shut down and I was reduced to the base instinct of a herd animal.

Just keep running and don't look back.

My wings may as well have not even existed for all the thought I gave them.

Just keep running and don't look back.

I heard something.

Just keep running and don't look back.

Heavy erratic steps.

Just keep running and don't look back.

An inequine howl of rage.

Don't look back.

It was getting closer.

Don't look back.

Oh sweet Celestia it was getting closer.

Don't

Something grabbed me and I screamed.

I screamed and I screamed and the appendage attempting to cover my muzzle only made me scream louder.

"Calm thyself, Twilight Sparkle!" a voice hissed next to my ear, "be silent lest you get us both caught!"

It took a moment, but my screams eventually turned to muffled sobs, which then turned to small whimpers as I turned to see who my captor was.

"L-Luna?" I cried in shock and relief, "y-you're alive!"

The midnight blue alicorn shushed me and turned away to look at something else. I sniffed and tried to blink my tears away as I waited for my heart to stop pounding in my chest. I looked around and saw that we were in another ruined building somewhere. Luna had me wrapped in her hooves and we were hiding beneath a window.

I turned back to Luna just in time to see her breath a quiet sigh of relief before wincing in pain.

"Luna, are you okay," I whispered worriedly, "what's going on? What was--"

"Not now, Twilight," she whispered back, "I will explain in a moment, but first we need to move."

She released me and quietly rose to her hooves, wincing in pain once more. Before I could ask, she cut me off.

"Do not worry about me, I'll be fine in a moment," she motioned for me to follow her, "let us go before that thing finds us once more."

I remained quiet as Luna led me through one of the many holes in the building. She swept her gaze up and down the street outside before quickly trotting across and into another building on the opposite side of the street.

We repeated this a few more times -- making our way from building to building as silently as possible. She would occasionally stop and listen, her ears swiveling left and right for any sudden movements before quietly signaling me to follow her forward.

I wondered a great many things as we moved.

Chief among these thoughts were still what had happened after I fainted and how I -- we had gotten here in the first place.

If Luna is here, does that mean the others are as well?

Is she taking us to where Cadence and Princess Celestia are?

I wanted to ask, but a single thought back to whatever had been chasing me was enough to keep me silent.

I was certain that whatever that was, was the same thing that had blasted the mountain to rubble. I thought about the giant Ursa Major like monstrosity, the giant eye, and now this... I don't even know.

The giant beast had all but destroyed Equestria with one blast from the looks of it, the giant eye had enough power to destroy a mountain, and whatever this... presence was in the city seemed to invoke some kind of primal fear.

Or maybe that was just the atmosphere getting to me... I wasn't sure.

I was starting to wonder if there were different monsters roaming about, or if it was the same creature with multiple forms. I felt almost certain that it was the latter for two admittedly vague reasons.

One was the fact that there was only ever one monster that appeared at a time, and another was the scale of power each time it appeared. The first monster that appeared had enough power to wiped out everything and everypony for several miles around with a single attack.

The second was still incredibly powerful, but nowhere near as much as the first monster.

And then there was this new creature.

I wasn't sure what it was capable of, as Luna had saved me before I was caught, but I was willing to bet that it wasn't going to be as powerful as the eye. If this really was the same monster, did that mean it was getting weaker?

Did we just have to survive it's attacks until it was weak enough to destroy?

No.

I couldn't afford to make assumptions with something that was powerful enough to do so much damage in such a short amount of time.

I had to remain vigilant, wary, focused.

"It seems you've found your nerve, Twilight Sparkle."

I jumped and whipped around to face a grinning Luna. She had stopped trotting and we now appeared to be in the living room of a mostly intact house. Even the furniture was still usable -- if heavily torn and tattered in places.

I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed us enter. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly and gave her an awkward smile.

"Yeah," I replied, "I was... trying to piece together what I knew about that creature -- know your enemy and all that..."

"A wise choice," Luna replied with an approving nod, "we need as much information as we can get," she turned to face one of windows with a grim scowl, "this... wretched demon needs to be brought to justice for what it's done, and I will see to it that it gets what it deserves."

I shifted nervously and figured I would ask some of the questions that had been bugging me since I woke up.

"Um... Princess?"

"Hmm?" she replied distractedly.

"I stll have a lot of questions... about what's going on," I said furrowing my brow, "what happened? Where are we, and where are Cadence and Celestia?"

"Oh, right!" Luna flushed slightly and turned back to face me. She cleared her throat, "my apologies, Twilight. I'm sure you're no doubt confused as to what has transpired while you were... indisposed."

I nodded and waited for her to explain.

"Well, before I begin, there are some other things you need to know first," she said trotting over to one side of the room.

"Okay," I replied tentatively, "and... what's that?"

"Do not attempt to fly anywhere, it will know and it will find you and pull you out of the sky. Keep to the surrounding buildings -- the more intact the better, if you need to go outside, stay as quiet as possible and stay hidden."

I stared at her.

"If you hear that abominable howl, stay calm and find a place to hide. I'm not sure how it reacts to magic, as I haven't been able to properly use mine after what happened at Mount Canterhorn. I was able to get you out of harms way with a short range Teleportation spell, but that was the absolute last of my magic."

She tapped her horn and and flinched before turning back to me.

"What about yourself, Twilight," she asked, "can you cast anything?"

"No, I can't," I answered with a shake of my head, "I spent all my magic casting a barrier to protect Cadence and I from the explosion. I have nothing left either."

"I see..." Luna muttered, "pity."

I glanced out one of the windows with a frown before turning back to Luna.

"Where are the others?" I asked, "are they here in the city somewhere?"

"I'm afraid I do not know," she replied with a slow shake of her head, "we... were separated some time ago. I was the one that carried you here into this city," her look suddenly turned to one of guilt, "you must forgive me, Twilight Sparkle. It was my intent to keep you hidden while I left to scout the area for any sign of Cadence and my sister.

"Unfortunately I was attacked by that demon before I could get back to where you were. I eventually managed to get away, but when I returned you were already gone."

She hung her head in shame.

"If it weren't for that, you wouldn't have had to suffer such terror," she looked back to me, "I apologize for my carelessness."

"No, it's... it's fine, Princess Luna," I said with a reassuring smile, "you did save me after all, and really I'm just glad to see you're okay."

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle," she replied with a grateful smile, "that... means a lot to me," she then grimaced and looked out the window, "if I had access to my magic, that beast would be begging for mercy at my hooves..." she growled.

I eyed her worriedly for a moment before deciding to bring the conversation back on topic.

"Princess," I began tentatively, "what happened while I was unconscious?"

"Right," she replied turning back to me with a nod, "settle yourself, Twilight for this tale may take some time."

I glanced out the window one last time before moving away from it and next to Luna.

"I'm ready."

Author's Note

Inspiration struck me almost as soon as I woke up and I had to write this before it disappeared, so I'm posting this before the next chapter in The Ties that Bind.

Next chapter for that will be out later today.

A Princess' Regret

Luna was getting angry.

She and Celestia had spent the last few hours or so combing the destroyed remains of Mount Canterhorn for any survivors, but hadn't found a single one. All they had found was ruin and ash.

So much ash.

Luna had made sure to pay attention to her sister during their search, and she didn't like what she saw. On the surface it seemed as though her emotions were under control and her determination to find her little ponies was unwavering, but the midnight blue alicorn knew better.

She may have been trapped within the Moon for a thousand years, but her ability to read Celestia like a book hadn't faltered in the slightest. Through all the effort, all the sweat, and all the grim faced stoicism, Princess Celestia was hurting.

With each hour that went by -- each destroyed and empty ruin they came across -- the light in Celestia's eyes seemed to die a little more.

For some reason all that seemed to do was make Luna angry and she couldn't really explain why.

She wanted to say it was because Celestia was slowly but surely giving up and accepting the fact that her ponies were all gone -- mere ash scattered across the mountainside.

She wanted to say that she herself hadn't given up hope and was certain they'd find somepony else that had survived the destruction of Canterlot and what was most likely the rest of Equestria.

She found herself wanting to call her sister weak and pathetic for losing faith in her subjects.

But she couldn't.

Not when she was starting to feel the same.

So why all the anger then?

Was she just being stubborn?

No.

She knew what it was.

She wasn't angry at Celestia, she was angry at herself. She could feel it, plain as the dead land and crumbling mountain around her.

The helplessness.

The weakness.

The self hatred.

And these weren't even new emotions she had been dealing with. Ever since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had used the Elements of Harmony to free her from her madness, she had been quietly clinging to these emotions.

Then the beast -- no, the demon came and had lain waste to her and her sister's entire kingdom as though it was foal's play. It didn't even acknowledge any of them.

It just destroyed the capital and vanished like a breath on the wind.

She didn't show it to any of the others, but the event itself had left Luna shaken. She had never seen that kind of power before -- not in all of her several thousands of years alive on this planet.

Needless to say, it had only made the negative emotions that much worse.

So the only thing she felt she could now was mask her weakness and self-loathing with righteous anger and determination.

"Luna."

The midnight blue alicorn snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see her sister touch down next to her. She folded her wings and shook the constantly flowing prismatic mane out of her face before addressing her.

"Have you had any luck on your end?" she asked.

Luna felt a spike of irritation rise in her gut at the hopeful look her sister gave her.

"You know I haven't sister," she answered with a shake of her head, "I would've already contacted you had I found anypony else."

"Right," Celestia replied with a melancholy sigh, "forgive me, sister, I just... I don't know what to do anymore. I haven't been able to find a single living pony on this mountain... not one."

There it was.

Luna could hear it in her voice.

Her sister was breaking.

"We've searched for miles, Luna," Celestia continued, "hundreds and hundreds of miles, and the only thing we've seen is the dry dead land that used to be our vibrant, colorful home."

"I'm aware, Celestia," Luna said with a scowl, "I did conduct my own search of the land."

"Have you..." the snow white alicorn hesitated for the briefest of moments before continuing, "did you search the Realm of Dreams?"

Luna winced and turned away.

This was the one thing she had hoped her sister wouldn't ask. Luna had always counted her ability to travel the Realm of Dreams at her leisure as an honor and a blessing. Being the guardian of her subjects dreams was a duty she took great pride in as the Princess of the Night.

But now?

Now it was a curse.

Now the Dream Realm was the last place she wanted to be.

She couldn't meet Celestia eyes and she couldn't answer her question. It wasn't as though she had gone to the Realm of Dreams and hadn't found any dreams to enter.

It was more that she hadn't even bothered to check.

She had meant to the moment she realized how far the damage had reached, but she found she couldn't. The idea that she would arrive to find the Realm of Dreams completely vacant -- that she would only find an empty black void...

It absolutely terrified her.

"Luna?" Celestia pressed -- a more desperate edge in her voice, "did you search the Realm of Dreams?"

Luna bit her lip and didn't say anything.

"Luna!"

"NO I HAVEN'T!"

Celestia reeled back in surprise, but Luna ignored the action as she continued.

"I haven't searched the Dream Realm because I'm afraid of what I'll find if I do!" Luna clenched her teeth angrily before falling to her haunches and burying her face in her hooves, "I'm too afraid of what I won't find."

"Luna, I--"

"I'm nothing but a coward, Tia," Luna said in a shaky whisper, "a coward and a failure. Our precious subjects and our glorious kingdom -- ruined in an instant while we all stood by and did nothing."

Celestia's surprised gaze softened and she trotted over to her sister.

"That's not fair, Lulu," Celestia said as she sat down and wrapped a comforting wing around Luna, "there was nothing any of us could've done to stop that... abomination from destroying our city and everything around it."

Her voice hitched and she paused a moment before speaking again in a clearer tone.

"I flew and teleported as far as Equestria's borders and, while I saw only more ruin beyond, I didn't check anything past that."

She took a step back and guided her sister's face with a hoof so that they were looking into each other's eyes, "the world is a big place, Lulu. There has to be somepony else alive out there, we just have to keep looking until we find them."

Luna silently stared at her sister for a moment, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I hope you're right dear sister," Luna replied, blinking away her tears as she stood up, "I just... I'm just angry, Tia," she shook her head and scowled at her hooves, "I'm angry at myself. I had a chance to reconnect with our subjects -- to show them the true Princess of the Night."

She looked up at the eclipse and frowned.

"I had a chance to show them that I wasn't just some ponytale monster that haunted their worst nightmares, and I wasted it," she looked back to Celestia, "rather than be the Princess our subjects deserved, I hid myself away with all my fears and insecurities."

"What about your trip to Ponyville during Nightmare Night?" Celestia asked, "from what you and Twilight told me, it turned out just fine in the end and the townsponies--"

"Feared me, sister," Luna finished, "even at the end, they saw me as neither their Princess nor a friend. Just some... boogeymare meant to frighten them during Nightmare Night -- all but Twilight Sparkle."

"I'm quite sure that wasn't the case at all, sister," Celestia argued.

"Does it matter, Celestia?" Luna retorted with a snort, "the village is most likely gone and I had yet to interact with anypony else outside of that little town."

She trotted over to a nearby cliffside and sat down once again. After a minute of silence, Celestia trotted over and joined her and together stared out at the dark, empty land below. They took another few moments to reflect on their bleak situation before Luna spoke once more.

"Now that this demon has all but burned away our kingdom and its ponies, I may never get a chance to atone for what I've done."

Celestia sighed and turned to Luna with a sad frown.

"Lulu, you have to forgive yourself at some point," she said, putting a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, "you can't just..."

Something was watching them.

Luna's eyes widened in shock.

She felt her sister stiffen beside her and they both slowly turned to each other.

"Sister..." Celestia whipered, "you can feel it too, can you not?"

Luna gave a small nod but didn't respond.

She felt like some great weight was pressing down upon her and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being sized up for a meal. She suddenly found it difficult to breath and looking at her sister, she could see a hint of fear in her eyes and a nervous sweat running down her brow.

Luna had no doubt she looked much the same.

The feeling passed a minute later and the two sisters let out a gasp and panted heavily as the weight lifted from their shoulders.

"A presence... of some sort?" Luna panted, "could it be... the demon?"

"I... don't know, Luna," Celestia replied, "but we should... probably make sure... Twilight and Cadence are okay."

They both took a moment more to catch their breath before Celestia lit her horn.

"Twilight! Cadence! Are you two okay?"

Luna sighed with relief when she heard Twilight's response. She was about to speak when she felt a nagging sensation tug at the back of her neck.

Though the heavy ominous feeling had passed, it felt as though somepony was still watching her. She looked around briefly before turning her gaze to the sky -- specifically the lunar eclipse.

The building anger Celestia had managed to quell only moments ago flared back to life like her sister's burning Sun.

Only this time, it was directed at the giant black and white eye dominating the sky where the Moon was supposed to be.

"FOUL DEMON! YOU HAVE LAIN WASTE TO OUR FAIR KINGDOM AND COMMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST OUR PRECIOUS SUBJECTS! NOW YOU DARE TO DISTURB THE SANCTITY OF MY MOON?!"

In her fury, the midnight alicorn had shouted both out loud and mentally without realizing it.

"L-Luna?" Celestia cried, stumbling back in surprise, "what are you--"

Luna was already spreading her wings as she spoke.

"It won't get away this time, sister!" she growled -- her eyes burning white and her horn sparking dangerously, "I'll make sure of it!"

With that, she crouched low and shot off the mountain with the force of a cannon -- the ground beneath her shattering in the wake of her takeoff.

Celestia lifted herself off the ground and turned towards her sister, spotting the massive eye in the process.

"Sweet Mother..." she muttered in horror.

Further into the sky, the angry midnight blue alicorn rocketed towards the eye staring down at the land beneath it.

Drowning her fear in rage, Luna accelerated faster and faster -- not even stopping as it shifted its gaze in her direction. The dark blue glow of her horn intensified and she prepared to fire a blast of raw magical energy at her target.

Focused as she was, Luna didn't notice as the large eye prepared to fire its own attack at her.

"LUNA! YOU HAVE TO MOVE!" Celestia cried desperately, "THAT THING IS ABOUT TO ATTACK AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S CAPA--"

Luna's world exploded in a mass of light and pain and she was thrown backwards out of her reckless charge.

Before she could get too far, she felt a displacement of air to her left followed by a brief bout of vertigo as she was yanked through space and time. She cried out in pain as she suddenly felt herself hit the ground hard and was tossed about like a tumbleweed.

She was only vaguely aware of her surroundings -- the still building magic in her horn taking up most of her attention. Dazed, confused, and in pain, Luna did the only thing she could think of...

She cast the most powerful Static Barrier spell her magic would allow.

The barrier stopped her momentum abruptly and she grunted as she hit the dark blue wall of magical energy. She lay there, panting and gasping for breath as she felt the passive drain of her magical reserves.

She blinked rapidly and shook her head, trying to regain her faculties. It took several moments, but she began to think clearly once again. She took note of the sudden silence and tried to peer through the dark blue tinted barrier.

"What in our Mother's name happened to me?" Luna muttered as she tried to stand, "and what--"

Her barrier suddenly gave out with a loud pop and she fell back to the ground, clutching her horn in agony. It sparked and sputtered pitifully before dying completely.

She lay there on the ground for a moment, occasionally flinching from the magic feedback she was suffering. Eventually she took a deep breath and pulled herself back to her hooves. She took stock of her situation and frowned before her brow shot up in realization.

"Where's Celestia?" she asked aloud.

She turned to her right and froze.

Mount Canterhorn was gone.

It was as though somepony had gouge it out of the earth and all that was left was a massive crater.

No, not somepony.

A demon.

Luna grit her teeth as tears began to run down her face. She tried to lift herself off the ground and cried out from the attempt. She turned and saw that her wings were horribly mangled and in no shape to let her fly.

She knew from experience that it was a temporary thing and so ignored it as she half trotted, half limped over to the crater.

She needed to find her sister -- needed to make sure she was okay.

Alicorns by their very nature were biologically immortal, and while they had all managed to survive the demon's first attack, there was no telling what else that monster had up its sleeve.

She and her sister hadn't survived all these years by being careless enough to completely rely on their immortality, that's for certain.

Before she got too much farther however, she was stopped by a distant voice. Her ear twitched and she turned her gaze skyward and to her right. She could just make out a shape flying overhead in the distance, and as it got closer, her eyes widened in surprise and she smiled in relief.

She winced in pain once more before raising a hoof and waving up at the incoming pink and lavender shapes.

She couldn't see them too well and one appeared to be supporting the other, but it at least looked like they were both physically okay.

"Twilight! Cadence! Down here!"

She she lowered her hoof and her relieved smile turned to a worried frown as they fully came into view.

Something was wrong.

Author's Note

To be continued in the next chapter...

A Princess' Escape

Princess Luna backed up slightly as Candence landed in front of her.

Now that they had arrived, it was clear to see that Twilight was bruised and unconcious -- though the Lunar Princess could already see the lavender mare's wounds healing.

She looked from Twilight to Candence with a frown.

"What happened?"

"I don't know!" Cadence cried, "one minute we're talking to you and Auntie, and the next..." she looked up to sky and shivered at the sight of the blackened circle.

Luna nodded and looked away with a guilty expression.

"Forgive me, Cadence," she said quietly, "I'm afraid I've... done something rather foolish in my anger."

"...It destroyed the mountain..."

Luna looked back Cadence to see her staring at the large crater in silent horror. She slowly turned back to Luna as she spoke.

"Where's Auntie Celestia?"

"I..." Princess Luna turned to the crater, "I don't know, Cadence," she replied, "I was just about to search for her when you arrived with young Twilight in tow."

Cadence returned her gaze to the crater and slowly nodded in understanding.

"When that... attack hit Mount Canterhorn, Twilight cast a Barrier spell and from what I can see, it caused her to black out."

"I see," Luna said, eyeing Twilight, "that would explain much."

"Aunt Luna?"

"Yes, my niece?"

The pink alicorn pushed Twilight's unconcious body into Luna's hooves.

"Can you please take care of Twilight until she wakes up?"

Luna blinked and looked back to the pink alicorn. Her gaze turned somber as she watched her niece stare out at the crater with silent tears running down her face.

"I... I don't think I'm in any shape to do anything right now," Cadence whispered before trotting closer to the edge, "I just... please give me some time, Aunt Luna."

Luna frowned as she observed Cadence stare out at the wide crater before turning away with a sigh. She tried to stretch her wings once more and confirmed that they were now well enough to fly.

She took to the sky, holding the unconscious alicorn in her forelegs as she swept her gaze across the land. Celestia was nowhere to be seen as far as the Lunar Princess could tell -- not that she could see very far.

That particular limitation confused and frustrated Luna.

She was for all intents and purposes, the avatar of the Moon and Stars -- all things nocturnal and dark.

This darkness... whatever it was, it wasn't natural.

It wasn't her darkness.

She could see somewhat, but there was really nothing for light to reflect off of. The 'Moon' in the sky wasn't projecting any sort of light from what Luna could see. She had been wondering why the glow was so dim, but now realized it was because there was no real Moonlight.

So where was the little light they received coming from?

She set the thoughts aside for the moment to focus on the more important issue.

Where was her sister?

Did she get caught up in whatever attack the demon had unleashed?

Was she...

No.

Luna didn't dare entertain the thought.

Celestia had to be around here somewhere -- or maybe not. It was possible she may have Teleported to avoid the assault, but then where did she end up if that was the case?

Luna let out a grunt of frustration as she lowered herself back down to the ground. She gently set Twilight down and sighed heavily before closing her eyes.

She mentally prepared herself to do something she really didn't want to do.

She prepared to enter the Realm of Dreams.

Luna was still drained from her attempts to hold up her Static Barrier, but that didn't matter for what she was attempting to do. Entering the Realm of Dreams was an altogether different experience from casting a regular spell.

This was something far more personal -- far more innate than even her own magic.

She didn't want to do this, but with her sister missing and no real way to find her otherwise outside of possibly hours of searching, she wasn't left with a lot of other options.

Everypony was connected to the Dream Realm from the moment they were born, to the moment they died. It didn't matter whether they were dreaming or not -- their presence in the Realm of Dreams was a constant that the midnight blue alicorn could sense on a deep level.

While she couldn't travel directly to the pony using that unique connection, Princess Luna could locate virtually anypony anywhere in the world.

That's what made this such a terrifying experience.

If Celestia was alive, she would find her, but at the same time, the thought of finding no other presence aside from Celestia's, Twilight's, and Cadence's had her shaking.

Nevertheless she steeled herself and prepared to do what had to be done.

For her sister and her subjects.

She took another deep breath and called upon the 'door' to the Realm of Dreams within her mind.

Nothing happened.

Luna's eyes snapped open and she inhaled sharply.

This wasn't right.

She closed her eyes once more and tried again.

Nothing.

She ground her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.

Still no response.

Luna began to shake in earnest -- her heartbeat picking up rapidly. It was as though the connection to the Realm of Dreams wasn't even there.

She stumbled back and fell to her haunches in horrified shock.

The Lunar Princess felt as though she had lost one of her limbs -- or something just as integral if not more so -- and only just now realized it was gone. She couldn't access the Realms of Dreams anymore, and she couldn't understand why.

But she was willing to bet the demon and this unnatural darkness had something to do with it.

The alicorn's gaze slowly hardened into an icy glared that she directed at the false eclipse.

An eclipse that was no longer there.

Luna's glare changed to a bewildered frown as she scanned the sky for any sign of the demon, but she couldn't see it. Confused as to what this could mean, she turned to her niece.

"Cadence, do you..."

That thing isn't Cadence.

Luna slowly backed away from the edge of the crater and towards Twilight, refusing to take her eyes off the thing standing where Cadence was only moments ago. Several thoughts ripped through her mind at high speeds as she felt her wings quiver involuntarily -- her body ready to take flight at the sign of any sudden movement.

Where was Cadence?

What was this... thing?

Was it the demon?

It had to be.

Luna barely registered the pain in her horn as it tried in vain to cast some sort of attack or defense spell in response to her fear.

And Luna was most definitely afraid.

She couldn't wrap her head around what this thing even was. It didn't seem to have any sort of concrete form, and Luna found that she couldn't quite keep it in focus without getting a headache. She wanted to say it was a pony -- or at least somewhat pony shaped -- but that wasn't right. Not really.

Whatever it was, It made no sound.

It made no sudden movements.

it merely... existed in that one space.

Actually that wasn't quite right.

Luna continued to back away from the thing, but it didn't seem to get any closer or any farther away. It was as though it was a permanent fixture in her vision that she couldn't escape. She swallowed and flicked her gaze behind the demon to see that she was indeed moving away from the crater.

And then it screamed.

It was a high pitched, angry, tortured sound that she was certain no pony could ever replicate.

She reeled back in horror and would've taken to the sky right then and there, but instead she tripped over Twilight's prone form. She quickly scrambled to her hooves and several erratic and heavy thuds made her look up.

It was moving.

Luna couldn't make out it's features but staring at the thing brought about horrible images of gnashing dagger-like teeth, tearing flesh, and snapping bones. For a brief moment, she sat there in abject terror listening to the thing howl as it got closer.

It was with that angry, agonized howl that Luna understood. She understood the intent behind the scream -- she understood the promise of that tortured wail and the implications made the blood drain from Luna's face.

It promised Death for the Deathless.

The weakened Lunar Princess yanked Twilight from the ground and fled to the sky. She held on to the lavender alicorn for all she was worth as she pumped her wings as fast and as hard as they could go.

She didn't look back at the demon.

She didn't need to.

Luna could hear it's heavy mismatched steps beating against the ground right behind her.

Right behind her...

Luna's eyes widened as she realized she was galloping at full speed across the dry cracked land -- Twilight slumped over across her back. She had no time to question what had just happened as she could hear the off rhythm thud of the thing's heavy gait.

She tried to take to the air once more -- twisting her body so that she caught the comatose alicorn slipping off of her back -- and for a moment, she thought she had succeeded as she put on an extra burst of speed.

Then she was galloping across the empty field once again a moment later -- Twilight once again, slumped over her back.

She tried this twice more before giving up and putting all her effort into keeping Twilight one her back as she galloped away from the howling abomination.

She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was almost certain that thing was the cause.

She pushed her powerful legs to the limit -- panting and sweating heavily from the exertion. Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest and somewhere in the back of her mind she found this odd.

Her panic was beginning to give way to absolute exhaustion as she galloped onward. It was as she passed by the third fallen and crumbling building that she realized she was no longer galloping across flat, dead land.

Now she was in a ruined dead city.

Luna eyed the many destroyed structures in bewilderment as she continued her frantic gallop through the broken and empty streets of the town. It was clear that the demon's initial attack on Equestria had enough power and range to completely wipe out the city and its inhabitants.

All that remained was ruin and a warm, dry breeze that made it hard to breath without inhaling all the dust and ash being blown about.

When had she gotten here?

Just how long had that thing been chasing her?

In all honesty she had no idea.

Her sheer panic, combined with this ever-present darkness had completely robbed her any sense of passing time. At the very least, this explained why she had been feeling so exhausted.

She must've been galloping at full speed for miles to be as tired as she was. Alicorns were far more fit than the average earth pony or pegasus, but even they could only gallop at maximum speed for so long before they had to rest.

Nevertheless she continued to push herself as she made her way through the city. She took the opportunity to weave in and out of various buildings, trying to throw the thing off her trail.

It wasn't working.

She could still hear it's heavy steps and each time it got too close, fractured and broken images of a violent and brutal death would flash through her mind.

She was nearing her limit.

Keeping Twilight secured to her back was exacerbating her fatigue and she wouldn't be able to keep up the chase much longer.

And then it was gone.

The heavy erratic steps, the howling, the flashing images...

All gone in an instant.

Luna chanced a glance behind her and, sure enough, there was nothing there. She stumbled over her own hooves and fell to the ground, gasping and coughing as she tried to catch her breath. Twilight had fallen off her back and was lying a little ways away.

She knew she shouldn't have stopped, and that the thing could be anywhere or pop back up at any moment, but she didn't have the strength to even stand -- at least not yet.

Thankfully that would be remedied fairly soon.

Even by alicorn standards, Luna was nothing if not resilient. She took another few minutes to recover her stamina before rising to her hooves and placing Twilight on her back once more. She slowly and carefully made her way through the city -- trying to be as quiet as possible.

After what felt like an hour, she deduced that the thing really had vanished.

Again.

Still, she didn't allow herself to relax -- not yet. Nowhere was safe as long as that thing was alive and she wouldn't risk hers or Twilight's life by being careless.

As she roamed the city however, her thoughts inevitably began to drift towards her sister and niece.

What happened to Cadence?

She was standing right there at the edge of the crater, and Luna hadn't hear her leave or anything.

Did the demon get a hold of her?

Did it get a hold of both Cadence and Celestia?

Were they both...

No!

She was not going to entertain that thought.

They both were alive somewhere, she just had to find them. She grimaced as she realized just how incredibly difficult such a task would be without access to the Dream Realm.

She frowned and tried to cast a Long Range Telepathy spell. The magical feedback made her flinch and she sighed in frustration.

With no way to get to the Dream Realm, no magic currently at her disposal, and this unnatural darkness, she would quite literally be flying blind.

And speaking of flight...

She glance at her wings with a furrowed brow before sweeping her gaze around her surroundings. After a minute she took Twilight off of her back and into her forelegs before lifting herself into the air.

She hovered a little ways off the ground, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did for a moment, and then her ear twitched.

Thud.

Luna's eyes widened and she stumbled back a few steps. She barely managed to stifle a cry of surprise and frustration as she quickly but quietly trotted away from the noise.

Thud.

She was back on the ground and the demon was still roaming about. She frantically swept her gaze back and forth, spotting a mostly intact store to her right. She wasted no time in galloping inside.

She could still hear the thing getting closer as she scanned the interior of the store. Her eyes locked onto the sales counter near the back and she quickly made her way to and around it. There was a small space barely big enough to fit both her and Twilight.

She crouched down and deposited the unconcious mare beneath the counter before crawling next to her.

Thud.

Luna tried to calm her breathing as she lay there listening to the heavy steps pass by just outside the store. Her heart hammered against her ribs and she scowled as she willed it to slow down.

She hated this.

She didn't want to have to hide like a scared little foal. It left her feeling ashamed and humiliated.

She was Luna!

She was the Princess of the Night!

She and her sister had survived countless years together! They had survived wars, famine, and all manner of other dangerous situations throughout their lives!

They had all survived what she was beginning to think deep in the back of her mind was the end of the world.

And yet here she was, hiding behind a counter in a destroyed toy store.

She clenched her teeth.

It was absolutely mortifying, but there was nothing she could do. Her magic was still out even though she was sure it should have returned by now and she couldn't fly whenever that demon was around.

The heavy steps had passed, but she remained hidden for what felt like another half hour or so to make sure it was gone. After some time, she moved out from under the counter and scanned the area around her.

She trotted to one of the broken windows and peered out at the streets, seeing no sign of the demon. She took a step back and frowned before glancing back to the counter.

She needed to find Celestia and Cadence.

While it was a stretch that they may have ended up in the city, she had to start somewhere. As much she wanted to take Twilight with her to search the city, the smaller alicorn would just be a liability as she was now.

She thought about waiting for her to wake up, but she didn't know when that would be, and the longer they both stayed there, the more likely it would be that they'd be found by that thing.

At the very least, she could lead it away from Twilight.

She nodded to herself in satisfaction and silently trotted out the open doorway and onto the dark empty streets.

Luna hated to admit it, but she was scared.

That thing terrified her on a level she couldn't quite fathom, but she couldn't -- and wouldn't -- let that fear stop her from finding her sister and Cadence.

Besides, she had managed to avoid it so far, right?

Author's Note

This was a pain to write mainly because my TV/monitor crapped out on me twice while I was typing. So I had to rewrite a lot of the chapter.

Twice.

A Princess' Magic

Luna and I sat huddled in the dark living room of the mostly intact house.

Luna had finished explaining what had happened to her and the others -- speaking in hushed tones and pausing every once in awhile when there was a sudden noise. Now I sat quietly in a corner of the living room ruminating on everything she had told me.

Rather than shed any light on the situation, Luna's story had only raised even more questions. Things were so far out of our control that I almost couldn't help but laugh. I would've had it not been for the fact that Mount Canterhorn was now a crater, Ponyville was completely destroyed, Equestria was a wasteland in general, and everypony had been reduced to ash.

That's not even mentioning the thing that caused it all.

I couldn't even begin to sort out my emotions at this point given everything that happened. They all just seemed to coalesce into one big mass of... I don't even know.

I felt sorrow, anger, frustration, despair, grief and a whole other slew of emotions I couldn't identify at the moment. I was beginning to wish that numbness I had felt earlier would make a return, but no.

Now I sat here in this room with Luna in silence while we both hid from some abomination pulled straight out of the deepest depths of Tartarus.

Tartarus...

I wondered what happened to it.

Did it somehow suffer the same fate as Equestria?

Who knows...

The one thing I did know is that if I had to stay here another moment longer doing nothing but thinking these dark thoughts, I really would go insane.

I glanced at Luna from across the room to see her wincing in pain as she repeatedly tried to cast some kind of spell. I frowned and looked up at my own horn, debating whether or not to try casting my own spell. After a minute I decided to give it another shot and lit up my horn, attempting to cast a simple Telekinesis spell.

My horn sparked to life and an overturned chair nearby lifted into the air held aloft by a magenta colored aura. The utter relief I felt was almost enough to banish all the emotional turmoil I was feeling.

Almost.

I breathed a sigh of relief and gently set the chair down just in time to see Luna giving me an odd look.

"I guess my Magic's back," I whispered, smiling back at Luna awkwardly, "what about you? Any luck?"

"Neigh," she replied with a shake of her head, "I still have no access to my Magic," she looked up at her horn in frustration, "I'm certain it should have returned by now. I am unsure as to why it hasn't."

"I don't know, Princess," I said with an apologetic frown, "it's possible mine only returned because I'm the Element of Magic, but other than that... I have no idea."

Luna stared at the ceiling, humming to herself in thought before looking back to me with a small grin.

"This is good news, Twilight Sparkle," she whispered, "if you have access to your Magic, you can fight against the--"

"No!" I hissed, "nonononono! I don't... I can't do that, Princess -- especially after what you told me!"

My wings fidgeted and my skin crawled just thinking about confronting that thing.

"Twilight," Luna said with a small frown, "I know I'm asking much from you -- too much perhaps -- but we cannot move forward with our search for Cadence and my sister while that demon is free to roam about."

She trotted over to me and rested a hoof on my shoulder.

"I know I put you in undue danger when I left -- and again, I apologize about that -- but right now, you are the only one I can count on," she stepped back and looked towards the window as she spoke, "as much as I hate to admit it, I'm useless as I am right now. Had I the strength to stand up to the demon in your stead, I would do so in a heartbeat, believe me, Twilight Sparkle."

She turned back to me with that same odd look from earlier. She didn't say anything for a moment and her expression became unsure before hardening into a determined frown.

"Celestia told you how to access the ambient Magic around you, yes?"

I nodded, already knowing where this was going -- I had the same thought after all.

Nevertheless, I let her finish.

"It's risky, Twilight, very risky," Luna continued, "but if you draw upon enough ambient Magic, you may be able to gather enough power to end this menace once and for all."

"I thought as much myself," I admitted before giving Luna a bemused frown, "but, if I may ask, what's the risk in using ambient Magic? Princess Celestia said this kind of power in the wrong hooves could destroy Equestria, but..."

I trailed off and glanced towards the window as if to make my point.

Luna nodded with a grimace as she followed my gaze.

"You are correct, Twilight," she agreed, "I am... beginning to fear that it is much too late to worry about that now," she turned back to me and slowly shook her head, "but that is not what I was referring to when I said it would be risky."

"Then... what did you mean?" I asked in confusion, "did Princess Celestia not tell me something about harnessing ambient Magic?"

"It would appear so," Luna replied before trotting outside the view of the window and lowering herself to her haunches, "a rather foolish thing to leave out sister..." she muttered more to herself.

"Princess?" I asked in concern, "what do you mean?"

Luna didn't respond for a moment -- instead opting to silently stare at her hooves.

"Lun--"

"This may come as a surprise to you, Twilight Sparkle," the midnight blue alicorn said suddenly, "but there was once a time in which I was the one who had to stop my sister from falling to her dark desires."

"What?" I cried before covering my mouth and shooting a look at the window. When it became apparent nothing was going to happen, I turned back to Luna and spoke in a whisper, "what are you talking about? What dark desires could Princess Celestia have possibly had?"

"Power," Luna replied solemnly, "more than she already had."

To be honest, I found this very difficult to believe, even coming from Princess Luna. I'd known Princess Celestia almost my entire life, and I'd never seen her once display any inclination towards a desire for power. She was in fact, one of the most humble ponies I knew -- for a Princess anyway.

I was fully aware of how ridiculous it was to compare my life with Celestia to Luna's, but I couldn't help it. I just couldn't picture my mentor and mother figure as some kind of... would-be evil tyrant.

I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Luna must've seen the utter skepticism on my face because she actually chuckled.

"I don't blame you for doubting me in the slightest," she said with a wry smile, "but I assure you, I only speak the truth," she turned away with a wistful sigh, "there was a time when my sister wielded the Elements of Harmony much you and your friends do--"

"Did."

Luna paused and looked at me in confusion. I turned my gaze down to my hooves as a shudder passed through me.

"They're gone, Luna," I whispered, "they didn't--" my voice hitched and I tried again, "I-I know for s-sure... at... at least one of them di-didn't make it."

I suddenly found it hard to stand and fell to my haunches. I could feel myself shaking, but the tears wouldn't come.

I felt the numbness return and I welcomed it.

"Cadence and I searched all over what was left of Ponyville and even the Everfree Forest -- which itself is now nothing but more wasteland -- and we didn't find any of my friends... or Spike."

Luna grimaced at the news.

"That is... most unfortunate," Luna replied, giving me a sad look, "I am sorry to hear that, Twilight. I wish I could do something to ease the pain of your loss."

I just looked away and nodded once. Keeping my eyes trained elsewhere, I decided to get back on topic.

"So what were you saying about wielding the Elements, Princess?"

Luna looked at me with a concerned frown before continuing.

"Well, Celestia was once the sole wielder of the Elements of Harmony," Luna explained, "in terms of raw magical power I am actually much stronger than my older sister, believe it or not."

"Really?" I asked, my curiosity peaked despite my current state of mind, "Princess Celestia never mentioned that before."

"I imagine it was most likely something that wouldn't have come up in normal conversation," Luna replied knowingly.

"I guess not," I muttered, "still a surprise though."

Luna nodded and continued her explanation.

"While I may have been -- and still am -- the stronger sister naturally, the fact that Celestia wielded all six Elements made her a force to be reckoned with to all those that would threaten Equestria. Even I couldn't compare to her strength once she unleashed the full power of Harmony."

I listened to Luna's story intently, desperate for a distraction from my own sorrows.

"I will not go into too much detail as I know not how much time we have before that thing appears once more," Luna said, giving the window another glance, "so I'll just get to the point.

"When you are connected to the Element of Magic specifically, you become attuned to the ambient Magic around you," the midnight alicorn turned back to me, "you know this already."

I nodded again.

"What you do not know -- or rather what my sister did not tell you, is how addictive -- how seductive raw unfiltered ambient Magic can be to a unicorn. This is doubly true for alicorns. Normally this is not a problem because regular ponies and alicorns do not have access to ambient Magic. It is as unusable as the air is invisible."

I nodded again, now too invested to interrupt. I had already known that unicorns couldn't interact with ambient Magic directly, but I had always assumed alicorns could. Apparently that wasn't the case unless you were wielding the Element of Magic.

"The Element of Magic expands your Magic senses so that you can see, feel, and use ambient Magic," Luna continued, "or that is how my sister explained it to me at any rate."

"So basically what you're saying," I surmised, "is that I'm in danger of being corrupted by the desire to draw upon the ambient Magic around me? Is that what happened to Celestia?"

Luna nodded gravely.

"Magic is not sentient, but it... has a desire of its own. It wants to be used, Twilight, and that is why tapping into raw Magic in the atmosphere is so dangerous. My sister did not understand that when she first discovered she could use ambient Magic and... well..."

"You had to stop her." I guessed.

Luna nodded.

"It was back when we were at war with the Griffonian Kingdom," she said hesitantly. "we... my sister and I were in a very bad position due to a traitor in our midst and we were about to lose the war," she sighed heavily, "that was when my sister unleashed the full might of the Element of Magic, wiping out the entire Griffonian Army in one fell swoop."

My eyes widened in surprise and horror.

"Yes, it was just as shocking for me," Luna agreed, "but not the worst of it I'm afraid. I knew something was wrong, my sister wasn't acting like herself. She wanted... more. More power, more destruction, more chances to show her might and completely overwhelm her enemies.

"She wanted to destroy the entire griffon race."

I gaped at Luna.

"Believe me, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said with a slow shake of her head, "had I not born firsthoof witness, I would not have believed it myself."

"But... but you managed to talk her out of it... right?" I asked tentatively, "she didn't actually attempt genocide on an entire race, right?"

"No, she didn't thankfully," Luna replied, "it took time, and there was a fight between my sister and I, but I did indeed convince her to break free of her madness."

She turned her gaze towards the ceiling in contemplation.

"Celestia may have broken free of her corruption, but many died by her hoof before it passed -- both friend and foe alike. It is something that still haunts her to this day."

"I just... wow," I muttered as I stared at my hooves, completely dumbstruck by the news, "I... I thought the Elements of Harmony were a force of... well... Harmony. How could that've happened, Princess?"

"It is an unfortunate effect of wielding the Element of Magic specifically," Luna answered, "like I said, Magic -- raw Magic -- desires to be used, and it cares not whether the wielder uses it for good or ill. If used in excess, the user will become the used.

"Unfortunately, we did not discover this until after my sister had regained her senses."

I swallowed nervously.

"Has... anypony else ever used the Elements of Harmony besides Princess Celestia and... my friends and I?"

"Not that I know of," Luna answered with a shake of her head, "if there has been other users of the Elements of Harmony, the information has been lost to time. Celestia suspected that Starswirl may have been a Bearer, but we never found out for sure."

"And... you want me to tap into the ambient Magic, knowing what could happen?" I asked with a worried frown, "even knowing that I could become the... the same way Celestia did?"

Luna sighed and gave me a tired nod.

"At this point, Twilight, I don't know what else to do," she trotted over to the front door of the house and turned back to me, "in all honesty, I am hoping your natural affinity for Magic will help keep the corruption at bay."

"I... don't know, Princess," I replied uncomfortably, "I don't think I'm ready to wield a power like that."

Luna was silent.

She remained quiet for some time, looking at me with an unreadable expression. It was actually rather unsettling and I began to shift uneasily under her blank gaze. Just as I was about to comment she finally spoke up.

"I see..." she said quietly before looking away, "very well then, Twilight. We will try to find another way to proceed -- after all, it is best not to risk it if you are not confident in your own abilities."

Something about the way Luna said that caused a spark of indignation to surge through me and I found myself having to bite back a retort. Instead I just nodded and put on a forced smile as I trotted over to where she was standing.

"I fear we have stayed here overlong," Luna whispered, "we will move locations and seek another shelter. Remember to keep quiet."

I nodded and Luna gently pushed open the door.

How it was still intact I have no idea, but it didn't matter.

Luna surveyed the area before her and motioned for me to follow. As I trotted behind her, I couldn't help but think of her last comment regarding my abilities.

It almost felt as though she was trying to provoke me... but why?

Shouldn't she have been completely against this plan after what harnessing raw Magic did to Celestia?

It didn't make any sense to me, and on top of that, if even Princess Celestia couldn't resist the Magic, what made Luna think I could?

My talent?

I doubt that would've helped me in the slightest.

What cemented my doubt, was the fact that I had already almost given in to the influence of raw Magic once when I had first accessed it.

If Celestia hadn't been there to stop me when she did...

Would it have really mattered in the end?

A Princess' Return

Luna and I continued to sneak our way from building to building -- though all the scattered debris made it difficult to step quietly.

We had been moving for what I could only guess was about an hour and a half or so and hadn't seen or felt that thing once. I was beginning to relax despite myself but Luna remained alert as ever and occasionally reminded me to do the same whenever she noticed my attention had wandered.

The problem was that I didn't know how much longer I could keep up with all this constant tension. The stress of everything that was happening kept causing me to shut down emotionally and I was fairly sure that wasn't healthy.

I felt like I was just... in danger of snapping any moment.

It was strange because usually whenever I was in a high stress situation I would freak out, panic, overthink things, become incredibly irrational to the point of absurdity.

Yes I was aware of my... flaws as a pony, and I did try to fix them, but I was never sure how well I had succeeded in that. If my friends were still alive I could've asked them.

I missed my friends.

I missed Spike...

In any case, these emotional shutdowns weren't like me, and I didn't know what was causing them as opposed to my usual panic. Maybe I was just that overwhelmed with everything that was happening, which would make sense now that I thought about it.

I had never really lost anypony close to me before now. Sure there were the occasional distant relatives that I barely ever saw, but in those cases I was more sad for those who were closer to that relative.

The only death that I ever remember really hitting me emotionally was when my grandma Starshine Sparkle died and even then, it hadn't taken me very long to get over it. A few reassuring words from my mom and I was fine.

But this...

This was just too much for me.

I effectively lost everything and everypony I ever cared about save for the other Princesses. I felt like it hadn't really hit me just yet how bad this situation really was, and I had a very bad feeling something was going to happen -- something that would set me off.

And that would be it.

I would just... break.

I would completely lose it and do something... terrible. I don't know what, but the fear was beginning to eat away at me and I couldn't ignore it. I think that was the real reason I didn't want to use the ambient Magic in the first place.

In my current state of mind I couldn't be trusted to use that kind of power responsibly. But then again, what would using it responsibly entail in this situation? Wiping out the thing that wiped out Equestria?

Could I do that?

Did I want to?

Yes. Yes I did -- very much so in fact, if I was being completely honest with myself, but I didn't want to feel that way. Celestia, my parents, and my friends taught me better than that.

But they weren't here anymore.

I didn't even know where Celestia and Cadence were at the moment. For all Luna and I knew, they could've died as well. I now know alicorns are supposed to be immortal, but that thing has powers even beyond that of Celestia and Luna combined.

I may very well have to use that power, and I'm beginning to wonder if Luna was right.

Maybe it is worth the risk.

But then again, Celestia and Cadence might still be alive somewhere and I didn't want to hurt them or Luna if I ended up... losing myself in the process.

As long as they were still around I couldn't risk it -- even if we were all immortal, I didn't want to risk it. I at least wanted to try any other options available first.

Right then and there, I decide to make another list of priorities.

Find Princess Celestia and Cadence.

Find a place to hide from that thing.

Rest and recover our Magic.

Find a way to defeat the monster together.

Search Equus for survivors... which will require... a lot of time...

Rescue survivors -- assuming we find any.

In the event that we fail to defeat the monster and/or find any survivors... use the ambient Magic to put an end to that thing for good.

Alright, I had a plan of action which made me feel a bit better about the whole thing.

Now we just needed to find Cadence and Princess Cel--

"Twilight, stop."

I stumbled to a stop at Luna's urgent whisper. I hadn't been paying much attention to where we were headed and I took a second to scan our current location. Somehow I hadn't even noticed that we had left the ruined buildings behind and wound up at what I could only guess used to be some kind of pier.

The only reason I could tell was because of all the broken wood along the edge of a steep incline that dropped off into an empty expanse of dry land that sretched on as far as the eye could see. I trotted a bit closer to the incline and saw several wrecked boats lining the shore.

"We've reached the shoreline and have yet to see any sign of the demon," Luna mused quietly, "what new horrors does this thing have planned?"

"Maybe it's actually gone," I suggested, not believing my own words in the slightest, "or maybe it went after Princess Celestia or Cadence."

"While I highly doubt the demon is gone," Luna replied, "the latter is definitely a possibility."

I swallowed and looked around once more.

"Princess... Cadence..." I muttered worriedly, "where are you?" I furrowed my brow, "for that matter, where are we?"

There were three port cities in Equestria as far as I knew -- Manehattan, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia. So we had to be in one of those cities.

But wait...

Why did it even matter where we were?

Everything was a wasteland no matter where we ended up. There were no other ponies we could talk to that could lead us to where Cadence and the Princess were, and frankly there were way more important things to worry about.

Like finding out where Cadence and the Princess were.

"I don't like this," Luna announced quietly, "I shouldn't have brought us out here. We're too exposed like this... let us move on, Twilight."

She turned and began trotting back the way we'd come. I followed after her wondering just what her plan was. We couldn't just keep running and hiding from the monster like this.

"Luna?"

The larger alicorn turned to face me with a questioning gaze.

"What--"

A high pitched screech rang out from everywhere at once.

I scrambled forward towards Luna at the noise -- adrenaline flooding every nerve in my body. Luna's reaction was to try -- and fail -- to retaliate at our unseen foe with magic. She cried out and clutched her horn as the spell failed and presumably sent a wave of pain through her head.

As Luna tried to recover, I looked around in a blind panic for a good minute before realizing the noise had stopped and there was nothing but dead silence.

"W-Where is it?!" I cried frantically, "I don't see it! Luna do you--"

A pained groan to my left a little ways away caught my attention and I turn towards the noise.

"What was that?!" I yelled out in terror, "W-Who... who's there?!"

I was answered with another groan and at first, I couldn't see what had made the sound. Then I saw a dark shape slowly rise up from the ground a bit further away. I took a shaky step back and prepared a spell to defend myself.

"S... Stay back," I warned weakly, "I-I don't want... w-want to hurt you, but... I--"

"Twilight what are you doing?" Luna growled as she shook the last of her disorientation, "make haste and end the demon before it can--"

"T-Twilight? Aunt... Luna?"

Luna and I turned back to the dark shape in surprise. Upon closer inspection I could see that the silhouette was clearly a pony, and a rather large one. It swayed slightly as it stepped closer.

"W-Where..."

As it got closer we could finally make out the bright pink coat and woozy expression of Cadence.

"Cadence! You're okay!" I cried, rushing over to hug my old foalsitter, "I can't believe... I'm so glad you weren't... I was so worried!"

"Twilight, I -- ah!" she cried out and stumbled back out of the embrace, putting a hoof to her head, "I'm sorry, Twilight, my head is killing me..."

I took a step back and wiped away some stray tears that had found their way to my eyes. Luna took that opportunity to speak up as she stepped forward.

"It is good to see you alive and... mostly well, Cadence," she said with a relieved smile. She then frowned at the pink alicorn's pained grimace, "what has happened to you? The last I had seen of you, you were mourning by the side of the crater."

"I'm... I'm glad you're okay too, Aunt Luna," Cadence replied with another wince, "and... and I wish I could tell you both... what happened, but -- gah!"

She clenched her eyes shut and hunched over, grabbing at her head and crying out in pain once again. Luna and I rushed over to her side and I rested a hoof on her shoulder.

She was shaking violently.

"Cadence, what's wrong?!" I asked frantically, trying to comfort the clearly agonize mare, "did that thing do something to you?"

She suddenly stopped shaking.

Her whole body relaxed and she looked up at me in confusion.

"Thing?" she asked with a bemused frown, "what thing?"

I blinked and backed up a step, giving Cadence a bemused frown of my own. I turned to Luna who had another unreadable expression on her face as she stared at Cadence. I looked back to Cadence and furrowed my brow as I answered.

"I guess it makes sense that you wouldn't know, seeing as how you disappeared before it showed up."

"Before it showed up?" Cadence asked as she stood back up, "I disappeared? What are you talking about, Twilight?"

I shook my head in disbelief.

"Cadence," I answered in a confused but measured tone, "from what Luna told me, you just... vanished when she wasn't paying attention, and then she was attacked by some hideous thing that chased her all the way to this destroyed city. She was the one that carried me here."

I glance back at Luna who had narrowed her eyes slightly before turning to address Cadence once more.

"Are you telling me you don't remember any of what happened after you disappeared?"

Cadence sat on her haunches and scrunched up her face in thought. After a few moments her expression turned somber and she shook her head before looking back to me with tears in her eyes.

"No... I don't remember, Twilight... and for some reason, I don't think I want to."

A Princess' Sanity

Princess Celestia was content.

She had her throne, her subjects, her faithful students Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, her adorable niece Cadence, and her dearest sister Luna by her side. As she stood on the balcony overlooking the city of Canterlot, she smiled a beatific smile and waved.

Hundreds upon thousands of ponies cheered and stomped their hooves in response, absolutely ecstatic to see their Princess greet them all from on high. Each and everyone of them eager to bask in her glory and the glory of her bright and welcoming Sun.

Her kingdom was perfect.

No strife, no wars, no enemies around every corner just waiting for the chance to bring her down. Not even the stress of normal day-to-day politics could dampen her mood.

As long as she had her sister, her niece, her students, and the rest of her little ponies, she was truly happy.

Celestia lowered her hoof just as Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and Sunset stepped up next to her.

"̶̸̧͘͘S҉̴̢̀̕u̴͢͢͟͞ć̷̶̸̡h̶̶̢́ ̵̸҉͝í̸̴͟͜g҉͜n̛͢͝o̴̢͠r̴̛͝à̶͜͢ǹ̶͟͡c҉̶e̶͜͟͝͏.̧̀̀͡.̶̨.̨҉ ̡͠s҉́ù̷̡c̵͏̀h̷̕ ̀̕a̴r̀͞͠r͠͠o̵̢͏̨́g̡̡͘͟a͘͢n̴͞c̸̡͞e̴͏́͢.́͠.͏̷̧͠͝.̴̢̧̀͘"̶̵̸̵̢

Celestia's face lit up at the sound of her sister's voice. She turned to face the four ponies closest to her heart and her smile faltered for a moment. There's was something odd about them, but Celestia couldn't quite put her hoof on what it was.

She didn't dwell on it for long and soon set the thought aside as she greeted the four.

"It is good to see you all," Celestia said with a warm smile, "I hope the four of you are well this morning?"

"̷͟͡H̨́o̴͢͏͟͞w̧̧͜͠ ̵̷͠҉̷q̕͜͟u̶i͟҉c̢͞k̨̡̡͝ ͏̡́͟y̴҉̸̴o͞ú͏̢ ́͞͠a͟҉̵̴͞r̷̡̡͢͢e̶̴͞ ̛͢t͏́͟͝o̵̧̕͞ ͏́͢l̶̢̧̛o̸s̴̴͝e̢̡͜͞͠ ̧͘͠y̷҉̵̸ơ̸̕ų̨ŕ́͢͞͞śe̢͘͜͠ĺ̸̢͠f̵̕͞ ̵̷̧͘i̢͟҉̨ń̴̡̧́ ̨́͘͞͡a͏͡͞ ̸̶̧̛s̀͏̴a̶̧͠͡͞c̛͝c҉̡h̕͡͏̵͏a̵͜͝͠͡r̸̴͢͠i̵̵̢̧͢ņ̸̕͠͏e̵ ̵͞ḿ̢ę̸̀́͏m͝ơ͏̷r̵̶y͠͏ ̕͝ó͘͝f̴̶ ́͜͜ţ͜͝į́m̸̛͘͘͟è̶̕͟s̸҉̴ ̵̢͡l̴̴o҉̶̶ņ̵͟͢g̡̨̀͡ ͠͏s҉̶͟i̶̸̸͜͢n̸̕͢ç̷̵̷̧e̵̢͟͟ ̸p҉͡a̡s͟t͞͏̷̕.̨͜͟͞.̧͏̨͝.̢͝ ̴̀͝͡ţ̵̛í̴̵͘m̡͡͝e̸̡̡͜͠s̴̢̀̕͡ ̴́́͘͠t̛́̀҉h̢͟a͘͞t̸̡̧ ̸̨͜͞͞c̢̀͟o̶͜͠u҉ĺ͡d̢͢ ͜͢n̴͜͠e̶̸͞v̀͞ę͠҉͘r̡̛̀͜͜ ̢̡b̶́ę͜ ̸̛͡͡͠a̷̧g͏̡̡͘a̷͢͏͢ì̸̷̵͜n̵̷̷҉.҉̶̢̀̕.̷͝.͏͢͡"̴́́͞͞ ͟͏҉

Celestia chuckled behind one of her hooves at Twilight's enthusiastic response.

"I see, that's wonderful, Twilight," she replied before turning a curious gaze to the others, "and what about the rest of you?"

"̡̀͏̀H̴̀́͢o҉̷͢͏͜w̸̢͟͢ ̴͜é̷͘͝á̶̢͏̢g҉̛è̶̷̡̕r̵͡ ͟҉͜҉y̸̸͜͢͡ò̀ư͘͝ ̸̧a̷͘͡r̢͟͡è̷̢̧͟ ̸̡̛̛͘t̶̸͠o̡̕ ̡҉̶͡͞t̵̢̢͡ų̵́͡͠r̵̛͘͏n͏͞ ̛̀͡a̕҉̨̡w̸̸̨͜ą̧y͡҉̡̨́ ̸̛͞͠f̧̧̀̕͜ŕ̨̡͘͝o̢͘m͘͘͝ ͏͟ţ͝h̕͝͏͏̢e̷̷̵͟ ̶́̕͟t̛͝ŗ̕͞u̷̢͠t̵͝ḩ̧̨͜͡.҉͢.̡͡͠͡͝.̴͝͡"̸̵̕͟͞
҉͢͟͠
̡"̴͜͞T̀́͘͞ò̴͠ ̵̷͝ą͏̶̛b҉̵͘͘͘a̷̕͘͘n͏͞͏̷̀d̀͡ò̸͟҉n̢͜͏͞ ̷͏͢t̷̀͘h̵͡o̢s̸͘ę̛̛̛́ ̛͢ỳ̶̨ǫ̵u̸̸̡ ̵̛̀c̢̕͘͡l̷͏̸̨͜à͟͟͟i҉̵̢͠m̀͏͢ ͏t̵ơ̴̡ ̛͢͡c̵͢͡a̛̕r̢̛é̴̀͢ ̵̕͟͠s̸͘͠o̸̡͡ ̧̛̕͟m̛͜ù̀͠c̸h̢̛̕͘ ̷̷̧f̢̛͜͠͝ơ̴̕͞r͝ ̷̧̛͞ẃ̵̵̸͢ì̸̵̡͝ţ̸͟͟͠h͢͟ ̸̕s͡u̷͜c̢͡͞h̴̨̛͟ ̸̢̛͞͠e̡a̷͞͝s̷҉e̡͢͏̢.̷́͠.̴̴̡̨͠.̶͜͟͡͠"͏̵͡
̛͜͢͞͠
͠͏̶"̵͢͡҉Ý̴̧̛͞o̡̕u͘͟͝͞ ̡̀͘e̴̷̛͡q̕͟͡u͏̨̀͜͠ì̶̵̶͢n҉̴̧͜͡ȩ̷̵͝҉s͏̢̧͢ ̛͢͏́d̴͡҉̀͟i̧̕͜s̶̀͢͢͢ǵ̴u҉s̷̡͘͢t̶͏̀ ̨̀͢͠m̵̨͟͞è͠͠.̧͝͡.̧̀͘̕͡.̷͜"̴͘͜҉

"That's good to hear," Celestia answered with a nod, "it's nice to have all of you here with me for once," she turned back to the massive crowd still cheering below and began to wave once more as she spoke, "I know ruling the kingdom keeps me busy, but I really do appreciate your visits Twilight and Cadence. Sunset--"

"̨͜Ý̷͝͡o҉̷ųr҉̵͏̕ ̶̨͠͏̀ş̧͢͟͞t̸̢̛̕͟ù̀d̵̢ȩ̵͜͡n̴̢͟t̨̨̀̕ ͝҉҉͜l̢̀̀͘͢e̸̡͘͡f̀͟͜͏͟t̴̸̨̕ ̨̛̕͜y̨̕͘͜o͡҉ų́҉ ̵͞҉l̛o̴̸n̵̡̨͟͢g̨̕ ̷̢b̢e̶̛f̸̕͘o̵̷̕ŕ̷̡͠͝e͢ ̛͟͝I̢͘ ҉̶͜ę̷͝v̛́͘e̢͢ŕ̛̕͟ ̸̸͘d̴̢̧͘e̴̢̢҉͞c̶̨̛͘͢ì̕̕d̸̷̶͘͡e̷̛d̨̧ ̶̡̕͝͠ţ́o̶̷̷̕͜ ́͠ģ̶̧̀r̡͘a҉͟͟c҉̕ę̧̨͟ ̶̛͘͝҉t͞h̷́̕͞i̡̡̢̕ś҉ ̸̀͠ṕ̶á̧̕͟t́͘͝͝h̴̡͘͞e͘͝͝t͞҉̸í̵ć͘͠ ̴͢w҉́ò̀͝͞ŗ̛͠ĺ̶̨d̶͞ ̸̵̢ẁ͞i͝͠͠t̕͠h̀̕ ̡̡̨̕m͘͞͝y̵̶ ̷̡p̧̡̛r̨̕͟ę̛͠s͟͝e͏̷͡͡n̵̛͏̵ć̨ę̶̡.͟͏̶͟͡.̸̢.̷̛̕͜"̨

Celestia blinked and looked over to see Luna, Cadence, and Twilight facing her, as if waiting for her to speak. She frowned and shook her head before letting her smile return.

"I'm sorry," she continued with a small, sheepish grin, "it seems I've forgotten what I was about to say," she gave another light chuckle, "I'm sure I'll remember in a minute, just give me a few moments to make my announcement to the ponies of Canterlot."

"̶̧̛͜Ý͝o̶͢u̢'̷̴̀͘v҉́͜͞͏é͡͏͘͡ ̧͢f̢̛́͘͟a̸̕i̴̸̛͠ĺ̴̡͞e̵̡̛d̸̢͘ ̧͘҉y͜o̡͘ų̧̕r̶̨̢ ͝͞͏͞p̨͟͡ǫ̸̴̀n̶̴̡͘͜i̷̴̕͟e͢͝s͞҉,̢̕ ҉͢f͢͞͏̛҉ơ͡҉o̵͢l̡͏͢ì҉s̸̨̨̡h̸̨̨͠ ͘P̕͞҉͢͞r̢͜i̵͜͏̵n͏̢͘ć̕͡͡ȩ̴͘͠s̴҉͢s̢͘ ͜ó̵́f̶̕͡͝ ̷͘a̴̢̧̛ ̷̨͘͟͟D̶̶͞e̷҉̛ą͡d͠ ̶͘͠҉K̶̕͘͝į̷̨͝ņ̷͘ǵ̷̴͠d̕͘͟o̶̡͏m̴̛͜͜͡.̶̨̀͜.̵̶̢̢.͘͏̷͘͝ ̕͟͏͠͝ý̶̧̨ǫ̶̧͡u̢͘͏̸̶r͏ ̵̧͜͞͝l̕͢á̵̵̧͞n̡͘ḑ̶̵ ́͢͝à̡͢͞n̢̛̕d́̕ ̨̕͢͞t͏̕h͘͟͞҉è͏ ̶͘w̶̕o̧͞͞r͜͏l̡̡d̵̸̕ ̀̕̕͡͡a̴҉͢͝r̢ò̶͘ųn̸̕͢͝d̕͟͠ ̨̛́ì̶̢͘͞t̷ ̶͡h̴̷̡a͡͠ş̴̡͟ ̛͡f̛́́̕͠a̷͜͝͡l̵̢̨ĺ̶̨͟ȩ̵́͜n̕ ̸́҉̷a̶̡n̸̢͜͞d̷̨͝͝ ͡҉̨̡͝ǹ̡͘͝o̕͠t̢҉̕h̡̀͢í̢n̷̷̡ģ͟҉̵̀ ̵͘r̴̷̛͠͞e͞͠m̶̢͡a̡̡͢͝i̡̧̢͢n̴̴̷͘s̵̡̀͘͜.̢͝.̛͡.̛͜҉"̧̡

"Yes, Cadence," Celestia answered with an apologetic smile, "once I'm done here, we can all sit down and spend some time together over some tea, does that sound good?"

"̴̛͡͝.̴̡̡͜.̶̡͘̕.̸́͝͝S̨͘ò̸́͘ ̢̨͞͞y͘͟o̢҉̢̕u͏̕͞ ͞͏̧s̸̕͜͞t̷̕͟͜ì̷l̢̢͢͝l̷̶̢͢ ̵̶́͡r̶͏̵̀͢ȩ̛͜f̛͜͠͏́u̡̨͘͡͡s͏̷̕͢è͝҉͢ ̵̛͜͢t̛́̕͟o͜͏̢͢͝ ͢͏҉̡s̡̛̕͜͟e̵͡ȩ̴̵̷ ̕͢b̧̢̕e̸y͏o̕͘͡n̷̴̕͢͠ḑ̵̷́͠ ͜͞͠t̸̛̛͝h̛͏ȩ͘͢͞͠ ҉͘v̕͢͡e͡͡i̵͘͜͞l̵ ̧̧͟o̶̵̧͡f͠͡ ̛̀ḑ̛͠e҉̡̢c̷̨̛̕͝e̵҉̸̡͘i̸̡͜t̡͏̧̕͜.̢͏.̡͡͝.́͜ ̕҉I̛̕͞ ̨̧ć͢o̴̡͏͏̡n͏̴f̡̛́̕ę̴͘͟͝s̀͜s͟͡ ̛͝҉I̢̛͟ ҉̴̸̸̸t̸̨h͏̧̀͜o̴͜͢͝u̴͡͞҉ǵ̨h̴̛t̨͠ ̡̢̛͘ỳ͝o̸̶͟͜u̵̢͜͟ ̸̴s̡̡t̸̶̢̀̀ŕ̛̛̕͞o͢͝n̛͜g̡̧̧̧͜ę͝r̀̕͞ ̶̧͟͟t̸̴͞h̸͟a̕͟͝n̛̕ ̸̨̢t͟҉̕͟͞h͡͏į̸̵̨̀s̛͘,҉ ͢͜͏҉P̶̸͡r͜҉͡i̸̸͟͞n̵҉͢͠͠c̶̸͟͠͠e̸͘s̵͢͜͡s҉.̶̵͠͝.͏͝.̢́͘ ͏̴́͞Į ̴́͠a͢͡͞m͏͏͏ ̢̨̀̀͜d̴̴̢͘͟i͏͠҉s̢a̢͜͢͡͠p̡̕͘p̴̨̛͟o̧į̛n҉̕t̸̡ȩ̀͝d̨̡̢.̵.̧̀.̧͢"͏͏͠

"Excellent," Celestia replied with a satisfied nod, "now then..."

She turned to address the massive crowd of ponies below... and the words died in her throat.

They weren't cheering anymore.

She frowned in confusion and scanned the crowd -- trying to find out what had happened. Every single pony in the crowd stood stock still. They all stared up at their Princess and Celestia herself shuddered involuntarily.

Dead silence.

It pressed down on her like some great weight and she suddenly found herself unable to stop shivering. Her heart began to pound in her chest and her eyes slowly widened in horror as she back away from the railing of the balcony.

They... all of them... they...

She jumped slightly as she bumped into something solid. she whipped her head around to face her sister, niece, and student. She screamed and scrambled back from the three ponies.

All of them -- the crowd, her dearest sister, her adorable niece, her precious student.

Nothing but monsters.

Eyeless husks with mouths that whispered an endless stream of words the Princess couldn't hear.

Words the Princess knew she didn't want to hear.

"̸̵̕͝Í͡͝͏'́͢v̸̸̀͢͡e͡҉̶̢ ͟͝ģ̕҉̧r̵͝o̷̵͘w̸̡̨̕͜n̸͞ ̷̨͢͡s̴o̵̢̕͢͠ ̢͝v̷͠ę́͢͠r̨̢͟y͏̢҉ ̴̀́͜t̵̸ì̀͟͢r̸̨͜͟͝ȩ́d̴̡͘͜͡ ̵̡́͜o͝҉f͢͢ ̀͘t͝͝҉͘h̸͟i̧ş̵̶́͡ ̶̷f̷͘͝͞a͘͢҉̴̧c͏̷́á̢҉d͞҉e҉̨͝.̸̡́.̧͟͞͠.͘͟͏̵ ̴̕Ì̕҉̢̀'̡͘m̧͞ ̷̶҉͡ę̨̛͞n̡d̢í̡n҉̵͘g̢̧ ̷̡i̶̛҉͢͠t͜ ̷̛͝h̸̡͜e̡͘r̛̀͜͜e̶̕͏̸ ̨́̕͟a̸̧͟ņ͡d̸̷̛͟ ̷̨͡ń̨̧̀o̸̵̸̡͢ẃ̴̧.̶̀͡.̴̧̡͜͠.̡́͜͟͜ ̵̡͝i҉͜͡͝t̶̶̢̀ ̴̧̡̛͢i͟͡͞s̸̵̨ ̨͢t̷́͜i̶̷̷̧m̵ȩ̵̴́ ҉̡̡̡̡t̷̢̧̢͝o̵͘̕͢͠ ̧̛͏̧á̶̡̕ẃ̶͢͞a͢͏͘k̕͠ę̵̵́ņ̴̀͡ ̴̢̕f͘͡r̀͏̢͜ơ̶̡҉̛m̴̛͟ ̡͠͏y̨̕ǫ̴́̀͟ù̵͞r̵͝͡͏ ̵f̨͠͡a҉̸̡t̡u͘͝͝͝o̵̴͡͡u̢͟͢͡s͞͝͡ ̕̕d̷҉r̴̕͢͝͝e͏̶̴̀á҉m̷̛͠,̸̸͟͝͡ ̸͜͞P̴̴̛͘̕ŗ̢̀͘ì̧͘͟͠n̵̸͟c͞͝ę̀͟ś͠s̡͡͞.̷̡͟͞"͏̵̸̢͘

The words were becoming clearer.

Celestia tried to block them out, but the creatures merely stalked closer on hooves that made no sound. She tried to back away, but that only seemed to bring them closer. She didn't even notice as she hit the railing, her hooves clamped tightly over her ears and her eyes clenched shut.

And yet the words droned on -- powerful, immutable, unstoppable.

"̵̷̕͜͝Y̕͟͞o̶̵̷ù͡ ̡̡͜͜͏f̸̡̛͘a̧҉̨ì̷̡̕ļ̡̛͞e̶͘͠d̀͢͞ ̸̢̢̀͏y̡̧̧͜ǫ̵̵̛͟u̵̶̡̨͜r̵̢ ̸̨̀͞s̷̸̛͜͝u̸̶̕̕͘b̵͝j͏́͢e̶̛͜͝͡ç̶͝͞ţ̷́͠ş͡.̶̴̨͟.̶̷̵̛.̷͡͠"̛͞
̧͢͜
"N-No..."

͏́͝"̷̶̡̡́Y̶̛̛͟͝o̵̕ú̡҉̵̡ ̢̕l̛͡e̴t̷̨͠͠ ̀́͞t͏̧h̡̧̕͟͞ę̶͢͝ḿ̧ ̢̛́̀͡d̵̨̛҉í̴͡e̡̢̡.̨̕͏̧.̷́͠.̸͏͏"̷̛͜͡

"I... I didn't... I--"

"̶Yo͜͏ú͡͡ ̸͠st͏o͏̀o̸͟d҉͢ ̨b҉͡y ̀͞and̵͢ ́͘dì͡d̵̵̡ n̶͠ơt̨h͜͡i̴̡҉n̛g͟͡ ̢a̕͞s̶̡͢ ̢ỳ̨ǫ̡u͠͏̸ŗ Ki̴n̷͘͘g̷̨͡d́ơm҉ ̵̶͘bu͟r͢ņed̷̶̕.͏̛.̢.͜"͟͝͡

"That's... that's not true! It... it all happened so fast, t-there was nothing I could--"

"̧T͢h͝èr͢͏e ̸͢i̴̶͢s ̕͡ń͝҉o͘͝t̢h̷͢in͡͡g ̸͏l̡ę̶͡f̵͏̛t͏̀.̢̕.̕͠.̧̧́ ͜͠t̷͜h̶̴er̨ę̡ ͢͡i̧s̨ ̀͠͞n̵̨o̸ ҉o̷̡n̷҉e̕͜͠ ̷͡l͏́e̶̛f͢t̷͢,͏̷ ͝s̀av͡e̵ ̷t̷h̶̨ơş͜͡ę ͜҉c̨l̛͢o̸s̡͜e̷̛s͡t҉ ͏t͠o̶̕ ̶̛y̕o͏u̸r he͘a̛͝r̕͟͞t͞.̛͘.͏͞.͜"

"P-Please," Celestia whimpered as she sank to the ground, "please just... just stop."

And yet... the words droned on.

"̸Anḑ s͘oon̴ ̶enoug͢h,̡ ͢d͘èar̴ ͘Pri͟n͜cess̴.͠.̡.̸ ͟Ì wi͟ļl t̷ake ̛the̵m ̵f͏rom y̷o̡u̸.̵..̧"

The Solar Princess opened her eyes, tears of bitter defeat streaming down her face as she looked up.

The sky had gone pitch black, her glorious Sun nowhere to be seen.

But that was not important.

They were upon her.

They stood above her -- smooth flesh and fur completely obscuring their eye sockets. They couldn't see... but they could speak, and spoke they did.

"I͜ wiļl ͝l͞éave̵ y͠ou̧..͞. with͝ ͟a҉b̸s͟olu̸t͘e҉ly̴ ̕no͟tḩin̢ģ.͞..̨ a̧n̶d w̕h҉e̶n ̀y̴ou̸ ́a̧r͡e alone͏,̀ ̀b̷r̛o͘kén̨,̸ and beg̢g̢i͡ng̸ fo̧r d͠eat̀h.͞.. o͟nly t͡hén̷ wi͜l͠l ͟I̢ g̷ivę ͘i͡t̷ ̨to ͝yo̡u..͡."̀

An earth shaking boom rumbled from somewhere below the balcony.

Then another.

And another.

Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria, Sol Invictus and Eternal Goddess of the Sun, quivered and quaked like a foal as she witnessed a large, black, star covered something slither over the railing.

The false ponies standing before her blackened and melted into a viscous substance that oozed over the edge of the balcony.

"No... please... just stop," Celestia murmured in a dull voice -- her horrified eyes locked on the thing rising over the edge, "leave... leave me alone..."

Another slimy black something hit the railing and in her rapidly failing sanity, she only vaguely realized those things were appendages of some sort.

"This... is a nightmare from which you will never wake, Princess... the only release... is death..."

It rose, and Celestia's gaze rose with It, unbidden.

D͙̭͟I̶̩̤̙͚̓ͦ̇̈́̏E̻͉͚͍ͬ̒ ̧͚Ï̻͎̱̓̾͋̽͛͜N̺̤̩̣̺̼͊̄ͫ̾ͥ͊͢ͅ ̪͙͚̩̼̺̲ͯ̓̋ͩͥͤ̋V̨̦̼̤̠̻͂ͩ̇Ȧ̼͖̹͚̺̫ͤ͑̃̂I̘̖ͩ̅͒N̜͉̼̝̫̻̑͑ͅ,̺͎͚̄̀ͣ̌͗ͬ̍ ͍̞͈̙̯̖̥̄ͥͤF͢Ô͊͐͝O̱͎̣͔͑̌̐L͓͕̯̥̀̕Ḭ̜̍̆̐͗S͇̉ͫͩ͠H͕̹͙̙ͨ̌ͯ̓ͧ͆ͅ ̟̣̮̙̅̉ͥ͋ͨE̩Q͈̙̞̭̣͓̄͂̀͊̓̒U̼̮̻̦I̩̐̍ͤͣ̀͌ͭN̳̼̱͇̲ͩ̔̉͌͛͌̾E̸̟̫̞̹͉̽̇ͮ̑͆.̡̬̞̰͇̦͙̃̐ͩ.̖͈́ͥͯ̒ͤͤ͘.̦̤̞̞͕ͮͭ̋ ͍̼̯ͤ̓̽ͨD͉̖̺̊͗Ī̪̜͊̊̓̈̄ͤE͙͖̪͒͌̐͊ ͋̑̈͏͙̦͈̦K͔̣̈̍N̶͖̘͌̂̆ͭ̒̉͐Ȯ̝W͎̰ͨ̇̎͋̅͐I̤̙̳̜̻̞͎͂͊ͪ͗ͩ̚N̥̆̄̋̌̈G͔͖͇̦̝̓̔̿̋ ̎͐̏̋̑͑͏̗̺͎̩̫̟̖I̺̣͊̊̽̌ͦͪͫ ̤̘̙͓̫̼W͇̱̔̉̓̈́ͤ͌ͯI̘͜Lͦ͂͝L̮͓̘͂̇ͣ̓̌͗̚͢ ̘̻ͤ̌B̺̯͙̜̪̠͗̒͞ͅE̥̪͚̔́͗̓̆ͨ ͇͖ͭ̔̀T̝̟̝̒̍Ḣ̷̳̩̗̟̪͙̪̽̓̀̄E̯͗͡ ̻͚̟̝͇̝ͦ͟L̞̂ͥǍ̙̬̲̲͍͇̓́͂ͤ͌ͣͅS̥͖̻̳ͩ̌ͦ̍Tͤ͆͌̉̀ͅ ̯̈̃̽T̳̼̫̣̻̋̒͒͐͛ͨ͠H̤̱̺̟ͯ͒̾̀I̡̲̯̠͓̮̭̳̍͊ͮ͗̊̔̈N̪͔̯͑̏̽͛̿̂̀G̹̻ ̫̜̼ͩͩͬ̽͒̇ͩY̗̬͍̣̪͐̏ͦO̶̟͈̯͎͔̍ͦU̱̔͆̾͑ͮ̔̏͢ ͚̩͇͍̼̒̆͑W̟͙̪̰̤ͭͣ̋̈́̉̈́̕ͅĮ̻͎̮̘̹̬ͮ́̽̚L͖̥̉ͅL̴͚̱͚̞̰̦͇̊̄ͩ ̬̺͙̲͎͛͆ͯE̡̮̥̗͆Ṽ͓͖̟̟̰̙͑͐̆̐͊E̛̗͎̹̪͕̝ͣ̃̄R̸͙̘ͭͅ ͔̲̹̭̫Ş̙̘̯̬̘̈́ͭ́ͭ͊̅̚ͅẼ̮̰̳͞Ȩ͇̯̜̫̼̮̳̎̌ͨͩ.̙̹̫̻̻ͅ.̦͔̣͓̤.̔̂̌̉̀͏̬͖̖̤̪͏̻̙

Celestia made no move save for the violent shaking of her entire frame. She stared up at the unfathomable being before her -- unable to tear her teary eyes away. As she continued to stare, her bright magenta irises dulled and eventually faded to a milky white.

The world darkened to nothing around her and she finally relaxed -- a small smile of relief crossing her muzzle.

A Princess' Punishment

I don't know what had happened to Cadence, but it seems she didn't remember anything from when she disappeared.

I got the feeling that even if she did know, she wouldn't have told us anyway. Based on her reaction, whatever had happened must not have been pleasant. There was also the matter of how we found her, or how she found us.

What was that noise, and what did it mean that Cadence suddenly appeared after it?

To be fair, I couldn't really see that well so she could've been lying there the whole time for all I knew, but somehow I doubted it. Either way, Luna and I were relieved she was safe, and Cadence herself seemed happy -- well not happy. None of us were happy -- but she seemed to be feeling better now that she was back with us.

With the addition of Cadence, we resumed searching the city for any sign of Princess Celestia. We made sure to watch for the monster as well, but the longer we searched the more I began to think it had left for good.

I still didn't have a good sense of time right now, but I felt as though we had been searching the city for hours and hadn't once run into that thing since we found Cadence.

Eventually Luna decided to move on from the city and try to make our way to another waypoint via flight.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Princess?" I asked, looking around worriedly, "I know we haven't seen that thing in hours, but I'd rather not risk it showing up again."

"We'll not get anywhere at this rate, Twilight," Luna replied, turning her gaze towards the pitch black sky, "there's been absolutely no hint of its presence. If we're going to escape this city, I believe now is the best chance."

"I think Aunt Luna is right, Twilight," Cadence added, "I haven't seen this thing, but from what you two have told me about it, I don't want to be anywhere near that thing if I can help it," she shook her head, "besides, I don't think Auntie Celestia is here."

"Yeah, but--"

"If you're so worried about the consequences, why not just Teleport us all away from here?" Luna asked pointedly, "I would've done so myself long ago had I my magic to wield."

"It still hasn't returned?" I asked incredulously, "but it's been so long!"

"Indeed," Luna agreed with a grimace, "I fear something -- most likely the demon -- is interfering with my recovery somehow."

"But then..." I turned to my old foalsitter, "you still have your magic right?"

Cadence nodded.

"I still have my regular magic, although my Love Magic still isn't working," she frowned at me thoughfully, "speaking of my Love Magic not working, I think you do know why, or at least have a good guess as to why it isn't."

I winced and turned away with a guilty look.

"I... might have an idea," I admitted quietly, "I didn't want to believe that there were no ponies left, but... deep down, I think I did -- and still do. I believe that with the lack of ponies, your Love Magic weakened to almost nothing, and that combined with the despair you felt when you realized what happened to Shiny..."

"You think my sorrow is what snuffed out the last of my Love Magic," Cadence finished, with a grim frown, "I... can't say that doesn't make sense. When... when I heard about what happened to Canterlot... I was devastated. I'm still devastated."

Luna gave Cadence a sad look and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Cadence, I know that--"

"NO, YOU DON'T KNOW!"

Luna yanked her hoof away and leapt back -- her wings flaring out in alarm. My own hackles raised at the sheer amount of rage and despair in Cadence's voice. The look on her face as she rounded on her Aunt sent chills down my spine and I took several steps back from the pink alicorn.

"C-Cadence?" I whispered shakily, "y-you're scaring me..."

Cadence turned to face me and the fury on her face instantly melted away into a look of guilt and confusion.

"Oh... ohmygosh, Twilight, Aunt Luna," she began to tear up again and rushed over to hug me, "I'm... I'm so sorry! I don't... I don't know what that was, I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"It's... it's okay, Cadence," I replied weakly, patting her on the back, "I know you didn't mean it, you're just upset about everything. We all are."

I snuck a glance at Luna over Cadence's shoulder and saw her giving the pink alicorn a wary look as she slowly folded her wings once more. After a moment she addressed me, while keeping her cautious gaze on Cadence.

"Twilight, I believe we all need some time to calm down, if you could please Teleport us out of the city?"

"I... I don't know if I can," I replied hesitantly as I pulled away from Cadence, "I didn't see how we got here, and with the landscape changed so drastically, I wouldn't know what to visualize."

"Then we fly," Luna responded, spreading her wings once more, "either way we need to leave this city and search elsewhere."

"No wait!" I cried, holding out a hoof, "just... just give me a minute. I don't know what the area around Mount Canterhorn is like, but..." I sighed heavily, filled with dread and disbelief at what I was about to suggest, "if... if I make use of some of the ambient Magic in the air, I could at least get us back to what's left of Ponyville."

"Are you sure you can do it?" Cadence asked, "if it's too difficult--"

"No, it should be fine," I lied, "drawing from the ambient Magic should give me... more than enough power to get us there without any problems."

"Then by all means, please do so," Luna replied, waving a hoof in my direction, "I'd like to find my sister as soon as possible. I have a very bad feeling that I cannot seem to shake and I'm afraid it concerns Celestia."

I nodded in response and with a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes and prepare to reach out for the ambient Magic around me.

I couldn't believe I was doing this.

I didn't want to!

I made plans!

I had a list!

Now here I was, ready to toss all of that out the window along with my misgivings because the idea of running into that monster again filled me with so much cold terror that I couldn't think straight. Even just imagining it literally made me want to retch from the fear and disgust.

So I chose what I felt was the lesser of two evils.

Without further fanfare, I lit my horn and sent out a formless wave of magic, bracing myself for whatever came next. As it turned out, connecting to all the raw unfiltered Magic around me was just as intoxicating as it was before -- if not more so.

For... I don't know how long, I just sat there reveling in the nice warm feelings the Magic gave me. All of my problems and worries grew smaller -- more insignificant as I lost myself in that haze.

I heard somepony or something calling out to me from very, very far away, but I paid them no mind at first. Then I heard something about Teleportation and something in my brain clicked.

I was supposed to take Luna and Cadence... somewhere...

Right, Ponyville.

With the sheer amount of power at my disposal it was hardly a task at all. With only a sliver of thought and absolutely no effort on my part whatsoever, we were all back in front of the destroyed library.

That however, was unimportant.

What was important, was the sudden shift of Magic I felt in the atmosphere immediately upon arrival. The sheer unexpectedness of the sensation was enough to cut through the pleasant fog of Magic clouding my mind and reality came crashing back down around me as my connection to the ambient Magic was severed.

I fell to my knees, shivering uncontrollably and gasping as though I had run ten marathons in a row.

And then I threw up.

In the middle of my retching I could faintly hear Cadence yelling my name and I tried to look up, only to lower my head back to the ground again as another round of vomit erupted from my mouth.

It finally ended about half a minute later and I stumbled backwards onto my haunches. I held my hooves to my head, groaning in pain and misery as I suffered what may have been the worst migraine of my life.

My whole head throbbed painfully, all the way up to the tip of my horn, but I tried to push that aside as Cadence approached. She reached me and put a foreleg around my withers.

"Twilight!" she cried, "Twilight, are you -- well you're obviously not okay but... oh, Twilight, what happened to you?!" she held my face in her hooves and gently guided it towards her own, forcing me to look into her concerned light purple eyes, "Twilight, talk to me. How do you feel?"

"Terrible," I croaked, "why... why didn't... did Luna--" I fell into a fit of coughing that lasted a full minute before I recovered "--did Luna know about the after effects of using ambient Magic?"

"Don't ask me," Cadence replied as she continued to fret over my health, "I didn't know about any of this until Aunt Celestia explained it earlier," her eyes widened slightly and she turned away from me as she spoke, "and speaking of Aunt Celestia..."

Still rubbing my head from the migraine, I followed Cadence's gaze to the dry empty field left of the treehouse. At first I couldn't tell what was going on.

Through the darkness and a blurry vision brought on by whatever the ambient Magic had done to me, I could make out a dark frantic and angry sounding blob hovering over a stationary, quiet white blob.

"Wha..." I gently pushed past Cadence and slowly made my way over to the two shapes, "what's going on? Princess Celestia?"

As my vision began to clear, the formless shapes defined themselves and I indeed found myself looking at the Solar Princess. She was sitting relaxed on her haunches with her back towards me.

"Twilight!"

I jumped slightly and looked to my immediate right just in time to see Luna as she grabbed me by the shoulders. Her look was one of both fury and pain -- not unlike what Cadence had shown earlier. Before I could comment or protest, she pulled me closer.

"My... my sister," she growled, "that... demon did something to my sister!"

"L-Luna what are you talking about?" I cried, turning towards the white alicorn fearfully, "wh-what did it do?!"

"LOOK FOR YOURSELF!"

She pushed me in front of my former mentor and the bottom dropped out of my stomach when I saw her face. All I could do for the next few moments was sit there and stare, horrified and confused beyond belief.

The Princess, ruler of Equestria, my mentor, and long time mother figure...

...was completely blind.

Celestia started and looked down in my general direction.

One of her ears twitched.

"Twilight? Is that you?"

I didn't answer.

"I know I heard your voice, Twilight," Celestia said with a small chuckle, "you'll have to forgive me, my eyesight isn't... quite what it used to be."

As if to give credence to the fact, one of her ears gave another errant twitch.

I didn't know what to say.

I felt horrible, angry, saddened, fearful, a lot of different emotions, and none of them good. By this point it seemed to be the norm, but this... this was just wrong.

"Twilight?" the white alicorn continued with a frown, "why aren't you saying anything? Is it my eyes?"

Another twitch.

"I'd give you a hug and tell you everything is going to be okay -- that you don't need to worry about me -- but... well..." she smiled and gestured to her milky white eyes, "I'd have to find you first."

No, this was definitely wrong.

I had to fix this.

Forget my migraine, I had to do something.

"P-Princess, this isn't right," I whispered, "we... we need to... I have to..."

My horn ignited.

Celestia's ear twitched again and her unseeing eyes widened in terror.

"NO!"

She made to grab me and I gave a surprised yelp, scrambling back as my magic cut out.

"Don't!" Celestia cried, missing me completely and falling to the ground at my hooves as a result, "I k-know what you're... you're trying to do, but please... don't," she sniffed and tears began running down her cheeks as she picked herself back up, "it's... it's better this way."

"That is complete foolishness and you know it, sister!" Luna yelled, stomping up to Celestia, "I don't know where you've been or what that demon has done to you, but there is no way in Tartarus you can live like this!"

"You're wrong, sister," Celestia replied quietly, "I'd much rather see nothing than what my... our Kingdom has become. With my little ponies all dead and gone, and the land ruined and desolate, what point is there in retaining my sight? There's nothing left to see anymore."

Luna and I gaped at Celestia, completely dumbstruck by the defeatism rolling off the Princess in waves. I know I was -- and still am -- struggling with this same exact thing, but for Princess Celestia to give up so easily...

"What did that monster do to you?" Luna whispered.

"Nothing I didn't deserve, Luna," Celestia replied with a slow shake of her head and a wan smile, "I failed, and now I'm being punished for that failure."

"I won't accept that."

Luna and I turned just in time to see a bright blue wave of magic rush past us and hit Celestia square in the face. She cried out and stumbled backwards, holding her hooves to her eyes.

"NONONO! DON'T! I... I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!"

She fell over and screamed.

And screamed...

...and screamed, as she covered her eyes.

I felt sick all over again as I watched the kindest, wisest, and most mature pony I knew scream and cry and roll around in the dirt like a foal throwing a tantrum. I turned to Cadence who stared at Celestia with a grim look on her face as she stepped up next to Luna and I.

"What did you do to her?" I asked worriedly, "is she going to be okay?"

"DON'T TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME, PLEASE! THEY'RE ALL I HAVE LEFT!"

"A curative spell for her eyesight," Cadence explained, "I don't know what happened to my Aunt, but I can't bear to see her like this."

I nodded in agreement before frowning and turning back to Celestia.

She had stopped screaming.

"Did it work?" Luna asked, taking a tentative step towards the Solar Princess, "sister, are you--"

Celestia laughed.

It started out as a small chuckle and evolved into a series of giggles before turning into full blown laughter. It didn't last long, and after her laughing fit was over she rose to her hooves and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Princess?" I asked, desperately pretending the last few seconds hadn't just happened, "Do you... feel better now?"

Her ears flapped a few times and she turned towards the sound of my voice, her faded white eyes staring through, and past me.

"I feel perfectly fine, Twilight."

Author's Note

The breaking has begun...

A Princess' Departure

Things were bad... very bad.

I thought things were as bad as they were going to get.

I lost my family, my friends, my home... my son.

And now we had finally found Celestia, only to find out that the monster had done something to her... something permanent. We tried again and again to fix the Princess' eyesight.

I tried every single spell I thought would help, and even some I had only read about. Even Cadence couldn't do anything, and she had a lot more knowledge when it came to medical spells than I did.

Nothing worked.

She was just... blind now.

What tore me up about it was that she was completely okay with being crippled for the rest of... well... forever. The first few times Cadence and I had tried to help her, she screamed, and cried, and begged us to stop -- to just let her be... to leave her alone.

I couldn't bring myself to try anymore.

I hadn't accepted what had happened to her, but watching her in that state... listening to her beg me not to restore her eyesight...

What could I do?

She was genuinely happy to have lost her vision, and... was it right to take that small bit of happiness away from her? She had a point after all -- there wasn't much left to see but endless wastes and the ashes of her dead subjects scattered about the land.

Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong, but the one thing I did know for sure, was that trying to help her was only causing her more pain, and I couldn't do that to her.

So I let it be.

Cadence didn't agree with my decision, nor did Luna.

Cadence was quick to point out that when -- not if -- when we finally defeated that demon, we could travel to another land -- one untouched by the demon's all encompassing balefire. She tried to reason with her broken Aunt that if we were to find such a place, she'd want to see it with her own eyes.

She'd want to watch as we found that new untainted land where there were still ponies alive and well -- watch as we somehow rebuilt Equestria from the ground up.

She didn't outright say anything, but I could tell Luna thought that was wishful thinking. I thought the same, but I had hoped it would convince Celestia to at least consider trying to regain her sight again.

I wasn't surprised when it didn't.

Still, Cadence didn't give up.

She had stopped trying to force a cure and instead settled for an endless stream of encouraging and inspiring words that even I found rather annoying after awhile.

Luna on the other hoof, tried time and again to remind my previous mentor of her responsibilities as a Princess. She mentioned that if there was even one subject left, it was her duty to step up as a ruler and lead, and she couldn't do that properly if she was blind.

Celestia of course, didn't listen.

I had already given up on convincing the Princess.

Sure, I had made a few attempts here and there, but nothing came of it. We had tried to ask her what happened and where she had been only once more, but once had been enough. The one time we tried, she went into a series of violent shakes, nigh incoherent mutters of 'it's true, it's all true' and 'they're all I have left' among other things.

Then came the screaming.

Not even Luna had the heart to ask her again after that.

I don't know why I gave up on Celestia so easily compared to the other two. Normally I'd be right there by her side, doing what Cadence was trying and failing to do with even more zeal.

Maybe seeing what was once my personal pillar of hope, strength, and wisdom broken down so easily fractured something between Celestia and I. Maybe it was just that I was sick and tired of trying.

Maybe it was the constant emotional drain that seemed to be plaguing me lately. I don't know... my feelings about Celestia were rather... complicated at the moment.

So if I wasn't trying to help convince Celestia not to give up hope when she very clearly already had, then what was I doing?

I was focusing on completing the next part of my mental checklist.

As... strange as Cadence had been acting, and as crippled as Celestia was -- both physically and spiritually -- we still managed to reunite. That meant I could focus on finding a place to hide and bide our time until Luna's power returned.

I'd worry about what to do with Celestia when we found someplace safe.

The problem I was desperately trying to ignore, was that we didn't know where this thing would appear -- it seemed to be able to warp around to any location on a whim and somehow always knew where we were at any given time.

Eventually I acquiesced to Luna's suggestion to just keep moving and keeping track of each other. It was unanimously agreed upon that Equestria was... a lost cause. Even before I had originally woke up, both Luna and Celestia had already searched most of the land and found the same absolute destruction everywhere they went.

With the help of Cadence and I, we had searched the remaining portions of Equestria and had found nothing. Nothing but dry land, withered trees, destroyed structures, and ash.

The only real consolations we had were that our eyes -- save for Celestia's -- seemed to finally be adjusting to the constant darkness, and that we discovered we could fly again without that thing breathing down our necks.

Both these developments went a long way in helping us navigate quickly as we made our way out of Equestria and into the lands beyond. We each took turns supporting Celestia as we traveled, making sure the broken Princess didn't wander off the path we were on.

It was especially difficult during flight.

Regardless we made it work somehow, and at Cadence's suggestion we made our way north to see what remained of the Crystal Empire. As we flew across the wasteland of Equestria, I honestly thought Luna would call me out for not just Teleporting us all there, but it was actually Celestia who brought it up.

"Twilight."

I turned to the Solar Princess with a questioning look before remembering that she couldn't see me.

"Yes, Princess?" I asked instead.

"It will take us quite some time to get to the Frozen Wastes of the north," Celestia noted, "I'm not sure they're all that frozen anymore, but wouldn't it be faster to simply Teleport us all there?"

"I'm not Teleporting for the same reason I couldn't Teleport Luna, Cadence, and myself to the Canterhorn Crater before," I replied readily, "I don't know what changes -- if any -- have been made to the landscape."

We had all just decided to refer to what was once our home as the Canterhorn Crater for... obvious reasons. I wasn't happy about the decision and personally didn't really see the point in naming it. Still, if it gave the rest of them some kind of peace of mind, then I wouldn't object.

"That makes sense," Celestia replied, nodding in my direction, "but have you considered just Teleporting across the space above the Crystal Empire? There are no skybound obstacles between here and there, and I'm fairly sure you can gauge the distance well enough not to under or overshoot it."

A strange thing happened to me then.

After she had said those words, I experienced a momentary bout of... giddiness. It only lasted a second or so, and I didn't realize what it was until it had happened, but it confused me... and when I figured out why I had felt that way a moment later, it disturbed me.

The reason I refused to Teleport was, once again, because of the dangerously alluring power of ambient Magic. This time I remembered what it felt like to use it, and it made me shudder just thinking about it.

Despite what I believed were earnest efforts to separate myself from it, deep down it seems I had been looking for an excuse to use ambient Magic again, and Celestia's observation had given me just such an excuse.

I hadn't said anything about it to the others, because I was afraid of what they would've thought of me for falling under the influence of the unfiltered Magic so easily, but what Celestia had just said, and my strange reaction convinced me I had to say something.

"About that," I began hesitantly, "I... don't really think it's a good idea, Princess -- for a couple of reasons actually..."

Luna glanced in my direction, but didn't say anything.

"Very well, Twilight," Celestia replied, turning away from me and facing forward once more, "if you feel it's too much, you need not force yourself."

Whatever else I was going to say died in my throat and a slight chill ran down my spine.

It was more or less the same thing Luna had said to me back in the ruined city when she had asked me to use ambient Magic to fight the monster and I refused. Not only that, but she had said it in that same exact dismissive tone as Luna.

And it had the same exact effect on me.

Author's Note

I have a few places in mind for the remaining Princess' to visit, and I've decided to start with the Crystal Empire.

A Princess' Wrath

Power.

Emotion.

Purpose.

Without restraint, I gathered every ounce of Magic I could get my figurative hooves on in the few seconds of time I had before the ghosts were upon me. All the while these were the three things my mind locked onto as I practically inhaled the ambient Magic into my body.

I relied on the nearly limitless Power of ambient Magic to ensure the complete destruction of the things that dared to even touch the last remaining family I had in this world.

I gathered every ounce of the dark Emotions that had been building up within me to push back the haze of bliss and fulfill my Purpose of saving Cadence no matter what.

Was this it?

Was this the event to finally push me over the edge?

I didn't know, and it didn't matter anyway.

What did matter, was that Cadence was in danger and I had the power to save her.

I had more than enough power.

I could tell my body was literally blazing with it -- the immediate area around me lighting up like the Sun had finally risen once more.

It was time.

I opened my eyes and directed my gaze towards the charging wraiths before me. They all seemed to move at a snail's pace, and with a mere thought from me, they completely stopped altogether, frozen in time and space.

Leaving them where they were for the moment, I stepped past them and over to the other wraiths attacking Cadence. At this point they had stopped trying to devour my sister-in-law and focused their wispy white eyes on me.

If I had cared to guess, I would've thought they looked... unsure.

In the end they chose to attack me.

I heard rather than saw the ghost like creatures as they attempted another charge. From the ear piercing cacophony of shrieks and wails, I could tell they were trying to overwhelm me with numbers.

My eyes never left the bleeding, whimpering alicorn lying on the ground in front of me.

It didn't matter if I couldn't see them, because any thing that managed to get close enough to do any harm was wrapped in the same stasis field as the others before them.

Holding them in place for the moment, I gently wrapped a wide eyed Cadence in my magic and lifted her up into the air. I may not have known all that much about Healing Magic, but I held the very power of Equus itself inside me -- at least, that's what it felt like.

With all this raw power fueling what little healing spells I did know, combined with Cadence's own natural regenerative capabilities as an alicorn, it was a simple matter to restore her to her former health.

Once all her wounds had sealed themselves shut, I set Cadence back down. I looked her over with a concerned expression, trying to see if there was anything I had missed.

All the while, Cadence just sat there, staring at me with a mix of awe and fear. I hardly took any notice and once I was satisfied she was okay, I turned my attention back to the frozen wraiths.

Even as I raised my head, I could see more approaching from a distance. Whether they were drawn by the waves of Magic I exuded or by the commotion in general, I couldn't say, but I could see they were gathering from all over the city.

How all of us had missed them before was a mystery, but once again, none of that mattered now.

I gave the shocked pink alicorn a brief glance before spreading my wings and rocketing into the air. Once I was a good distance above the ground, I took stock of my situation.

As I swept my gaze left and right, I could see the wraiths closing in fast. Ignoring that for a moment I lowered my head and scanned the ground for any sign of Celestia and Luna.

I soon spotted them making their way towards Cadence's position, however Luna stopped suddenly, pulling Celestia back as she whipped her head this way and that. After a moment she looked up and spotted me hovering overhead.

I saw her eyes widened and a large victorious grin cross her face -- something I thought was odd and made sure to make a note of for later. Celestia looked around, clearly confused as to what was happening.

Raising my head back to the sky, I saw that the wraiths were only a few yards away. I narrowed my eyes and, with another thought, wrapped Celestia and Luna in a crackling magenta colored aura. Before they even realized what was happening, they vanished with a sound like the crack of a whip.

With another loud crack, the two reappeared right next to a startled Cadence. As soon as the three of them were together a Barrier flared to life around them, sparking and pulsing with the massive amount of Magic I had pumped into it.

With that done, I finally brought my full attention back to the wraiths who had now reached me and were opening their mouths to feed on my own flesh. I was completely surrounded on all sides by the carnivorous ghosts.

I closed my eyes.

I inhaled.

I exhaled.

I opened my eyes once more.

"Stop."

The word held Power, and the wraiths had no choice but to submit to that Power. They stopped, unable to move a single solitary inch. They may have wanted to rage and scream with fury and devour me, Magic and all...

But my will was too strong for them to overcome, my own rage burning far brighter than theirs ever could. I didn't know what these things were, and I didn't care. They had nearly taken Cadence from me -- the only family I had left in this world.

Had I not arrived when I did, Cadence would have died for sure. Immortal or no, I doubt she would've survived being torn to pieces and eaten by these wraiths. This was something I couldn't abide, not when there was nothing else left of the world I used to know.

They would all die, right along with that monster when I found it.

I slowly passed my eyes over each and every one of these creatures, taking them in, letting my fury build to a breaking point. In that single moment of quiet tension, surrounded by my imprisoned victims, I uttered only one other word.

"Burn."

And burn they did.

I watched with no small amount of relish as their already shadowy forms were blackened even further. I watched with immense satisfaction as the wave of magenta balefire spread across the city and scattered their ashes to the winds.

Whether these creatures were ghosts or not, they all died the same way...

In the fires of my anger, my grief, and my despair.

This was vengeance... but it wasn't the vengeance that I truly sought.

It was only then that I realized what Luna's true goal had been, and I was rather upset at myself for not having figured it out earlier.

When she told me that story about Celestia, her real goal wasn't to warn me against using the power, she was trying to get me to understand just how powerful Celestia had really been, to inspire me to take up the mantle when the time came.

Maybe she knew I'd eventually succumb and use this power all along, despite what she had said, and she was right. I understood perfectly the kind of power Celestia had wielded so long ago, and it truly was awe inspiring.

The story, the goading, her constantly pressing me to use the ambient Magic, and finally the victorious grin I had seen earlier... it was all leading up to this. She wanted to use me -- to use my power -- to wreak vengeance where she couldn't.

I wanted to be upset, I wanted to be angry that Luna used me like some sort of pawn... but I honestly couldn't. Deep down, I wanted to kill that thing as much as she did, and I still do.

How could I not?

That monster killed everything and everypony I ever loved, drove Celestia insane, did something to Cadence, and now there were these wraiths which I was convinced it had somehow sent after us.

If anything, I felt stupid for not listening to Luna in the first place. What was there to be afraid of with this power? I managed to wrest control of myself and destroy the ones trying to hurt me and the other three Princess' without hurting any of them in the process.

These wraiths were nothing in the face of the Magic I held within me now.

With this kind of raw power, I could've easily killed the monster and prevented Celestia from having to go through whatever it had done to her. I could've stopped that thing from doing whatever it had done to Cadence.

Regret briefly washed over me and dampened my spirit somewhat, but it quickly blazed to life once more and I felt myself grin from ear to ear at the thought of finally being able to kill the monster that destroyed Equus. It was only a matter of--

I felt it again.

I felt that strange and horrendous shift of Magic in the atmosphere, but this time it was far stronger than it had been before. The feeling rattled all of my senses and I suddenly felt the immense amount of Magic I had slip away at an alarming rate.

Something is... draining my Magic?!

I clutched my head in my hooves, clenched my eyes shut, and screamed in agony as I felt my Magic being violently ripped right out of my body. I heard a loud prolonged roar of wind in my ears and felt a sudden shift in air pressure.

That combined with the floating sensation I was feeling told me I was in freefall, but I was in too much pain at the moment to pay it any real attention. I continued to scream in pain and fear and anger as I fell, even as I felt my throat begin to turn raw.

Even as my body grew weaker.

Even as my vision began to fade.

And then, like a deep rumble from the very pits of Tartarus itself, I heard it.

"NOT ENOUGH... IT'S STILL... NOT ENOUGH... I... NEED... MORE."

I cracked a heavy eyelid open just in time to see cold grey stone rush up to meet me.

A Princess' Dreams

Luna didn't expect this to happen.

Everything was going exactly as she hoped it would, but then it came without warning. The midnight blue alicorn was fairly sure Twilight hadn't even noticed it until it was too late, and even then she still doubted the all powerful mare registered anything but the agony of having her magic ripped right out of her.

But Luna had seen it.

She and Cadence had seen everything through Twilight's powerful Barrier. The magic Luna had seen Twilight cast brought back vivid memories of her own sister's rampage, but with Twilight it was different.

The power was there, but it was controlled.

Twilight had actually managed to control herself far more than Celestia ever had. The Barrier she had erected was a clear indication that she was more self aware -- that the 'desire' of the ambient Magic hadn't clouded her mind.

At least, not completely.

Luna had seen a hint of the madness behind Twilight's eyes, even from where she had stood on the ground. Still, the mare was quite a sight, her magic aura burning as bright as her own sister's Sun and her shining white eyes ablaze with fury and purpose.

With only two words, two simple words, Twilight had managed to completely wipe out every Umbrum in the city -- and all without causing the other Princesses any harm whatsoever.

It was better than Luna could have ever dreamed.

She knew Twilight had it in her to overpower the 'desire', all she had to do was push and eventually the situation would arrive where the lavender alicorn had no choice but to act.

Luna herself didn't feel particularly good about having to manipulate Twilight like this, but in the end it would've been worth it. Twilight would kill the demon and Luna could face whatever fallout she'd have to go through with the others with the knowledge that they were all finally safe.

The Lunar Princess had the distinct feeling Cadence had somehow fallen under the influence of the demon, but even that wouldn't have mattered once Twilight had finally slain the demon, as her niece would've been freed from any demonic influence.

Luna would finally get the magic she was sure the demon had stolen away back, and then she could access the Realm of Dreams once more.

Her subjects and kingdom would finally be avenged.

Then that very demon had come and ruined everything.

At first, Luna wasn't sure what she had seen, but then it came into focus. The eldritch monstrosity faded into existence and wrapped Twilight in a cold embrace, stealing her magic away and leaving her to fall out of the sky -- weak, vulnerable, and screaming in agony.

And then it vanished once more, leaving both Cadence and Luna confused and distraught by Twilight's plight.

It was almost more than Luna could take.

She had cried out to the mare -- they all had. Celestia couldn't see what had happened, but there wasn't a chance in Tartarus that she hadn't heard her former student and daughter figure.

The instant Twilight began to fall, the Barrier vanished, and both Luna and Cadence wasted no time in charging forward to save Twilight. Celestia tried to do the same, but stumbled and hit the ground.

Luna had stopped and turned to look at her sister, a split second debate taking place in her mind. She bit her lip and looked from her recovering sister to Cadence who was getting further and further away.

With a growl of frustration, Luna doubled back to help Celestia regain her footing.

"Blind or no, I hope you can see the folly of your complacency, sister," Luna hissed as she help Celestia up, "you've become a hindrance to the ones who need you here and now. Your former student, and my only friend need you now more than ever."

"What do you want me to do, Luna?" Celestia argued back as the two of them quickly but carefully made their way towards Twilight, "whether or not I have the desire to regain my sight means nothing when nothing can be done to fix it!"

At the very least, Luna noted with some satisfaction, the situation had made her sister more lucid than she had been back in Equestria. Perhaps the wise and optimistic sister she knew was still in their somewhere after all.

"Just knowing that you yourself are willing to try would be enough to lift our spirits sister," Luna said with a sad shake of her head, "your complete and utter lack of hope and willingness to ignore the world around you is taking its toll on Twilight and our niece."

Celestia didn't say anything in response.

"She has not said as much, but I can tell," Luna continued, her unwavering gaze never leaving Celestia, "Twilight has all but lost faith in you."

Celestia winced and looked away, the words hitting her like physical blows to the heart, but nevertheless, Luna continued.

"There is also something wrong with Cadence, and I'm sure even you have noticed this."

"...In all the years I've known her, She's never displayed such... anger," Celestia admitted quietly before shaking her head and trotting forward once again, "but that's not important right now. What is important is making sure Twilight is okay."

"Tia, stop," Luna commanded in a firm voice, "Cadence is on her way to help Twilight as we speak, and that aside, she is an alicorn the same as us. A fall even from that height will not put her down for long."

"But--"

"No, sister, we need to talk," Luna interjected sternly, "it's time you pulled yourself out of this mire of despair and self-pity you have so thoroughly tried to drown yourself in," Luna took Celestia's face in her hooves and turned to her own, staring deep into her sister's white milky eyes, "we still don't know the extent of the ruin that has befallen our land, and--"

Luna suddenly gasped in shock as what felt like an electric charge shot through her body and into her horn. She quickly backed away from Celestia and grabbed at the sparking appendage with a cry of surprise and pain.

"I NEED... MORE... POWER... MORE DESPAIR... MORE OF THIS... MAGIC..."

The voice boomed within Luna's head, drowning out Celestia's shouts and her own screams. Her horn continued to spark and flash with a dark blue light, but beneath all the pain and confusion, she could feel something else.

Unlike the pain Twilight had experienced, Luna's pain originated from a massive influx of excess Magic -- as though all of Twilight's magic was being forced fed directly into her horn.

No, it wasn't Twilight's magic.

It was her own.

Some familiar feeling was welling up within her, growing stronger and stronger by the second until it pushed aside the pain. Then, unbidden, an image made itself apparent inside Luna's mind.

A set of double doors.

The dark blue doors -- tall, ornate, and imposing in their design -- called out to Luna.

She couldn't help but answer.

She'd know these doors anywhere, for beyond them was a place beholden to none but her -- a place that had been a part of her since her ascension to alicornhood many millennia ago.

Gone was the pain.

The pleas and cries of her sister went ignored.

She had all but forgotten Twilight's current predicament.

The only thing that mattered now were the doors in front of her. The only thing she could think about, despite all the pain, misery, and suffering they had all endured, was how relieved she was to have her magic back -- to be able to once again envision these doors in all their splendor.

She didn't know how or why it was suddenly possible, but in that moment, she didn't care.

She once more had access to the Realm of Dreams.

Without a thought for what might lie inside, she mentally shoved the doors open, stepping out of reality, and into the dreamscape. Now, as an ethereal construct within the Dream Realm, Luna could finally connect with all of her subjects and once again be surrounded by...

Nothing.

"NOW YOU SEE... TO HOPE... IS FUTILE... MOON PRINCESS..."

No...

Luna's eyes slowly widened in horror. She frantically looked left and right, trying to find any trace of the dream motes that normally filled the dark void like the Stars in her own night sky.

No... this cannot...

She clenched her eyes shut and concentrated, trying to draw something -- anything to where she was. She shivered and shook from both the effort of pulling forth any kind of presence and pushing back the rapidly growing despair.

It was all for naught.

Luna opened her now teary eyes to see the same empty void that had haunted her thoughts ever since she had first laid her eyes upon her and her sister's ruined kingdom.

She couldn't even see or feel Celestia, Twilight, or Cadence.

They're gone...

She fell to her haunches and stared out at the nothingness before her in shocked disbelief.

They're gone...

They're all gone...

THIS REALM... IS NO LONGER YOURS... MOON PRINCESS... I HAVE... STOLEN YOUR DREAMS... FROM YOU...

NOTHING LEFT...

ALL GONE...

ALL MINE...

Author's Note

More questions are raised, but there will be answers soon...

A Princess' Hate

By the time Cadence had reached Twilight, the lavender alicorn had already hit the ground. Cadence's eyes widened in horror at the sight before her. The anguished mare's immediate thought was that Twilight had died, despite what her alicorn physiology might've suggested otherwise.

Indeed, Twilight looked for all intents and purposes like a dead mare. Blood pooled below her and several things were bent at odd angles, including the poor alicorn's neck.

Upon reaching her location and seeing the state Twilight was in, Cadence forgot everything else and gave an agonized wail before rushing to her side. She leaned down and pulled Twilight's head into her heaving chest as continued to sob uncontrollably -- heedless of the blood covering her coat.

She had no words to say.

The only thing she could do as she looked into those cold lifeless eyes was scream her grief to the heavens. So distraught was the pink alicorn that she didn't notice the steadily strengthening heartbeat of the mare in her legs, nor did she notice the slight twitch of a lavender coated leg or the slowly returning color in Twilight's eyes.

The only thing Cadence was aware of at the moment was the all encompassing despair of losing yet another member of her only remaining family in the world.

And that was to say nothing of the building rage.

It welled up within her like boiling lava ready to erupt from the deadliest volcano at any moment. Her agonized wails soon turned to screams of fury as she leaned over Twilight's body.

She was sick of the death.

She was sick of the despair.

She didn't want to feel this constant pain and sadness anymore. Maybe Celestia had the right idea after all, maybe blissful ignorance of the world around her really was better than facing the harsh reality of their situation.

Maybe it was better to turn away from it all.

But Cadence wouldn't do that.

Instead of turning her back on what used to be the beautiful land she once knew, and the deaths of everypony she had ever known and Loved, she would fight against it -- fight against the thing that had caused her so much pain and suffering.

Celestia may have been willing to lie down and surrender, but Cadence had too much anger for that. Up until now, Cadence had never had a Hateful bone in her body.

Not even when Chrysalis invaded Canterlot and crashed her wedding did she raise a hoof in anger. On the contrary, it had been she who tried to convince Shining and the other Princess' that the changeling had only done what she did out of a desperate need to feed her many children.

She had been the one to convince Shining to let the matter go and move on.

No matter the circumstances, no matter how badly she was wronged, no matter how heinous the deed a pony committed, Cadence never once felt anger or Hate towards another -- only Love for her fellow ponies.

It was Love that made her strong, Love that carried her through hard times, Love that saved Canterlot from the Changeling Queen, Love that saved her Empire from the evil clutches of Sombra.

But then that thing came and took that Love away. It destroyed her entire life completely and utterly in a matter of mere moments. It tore her beloved Shining Armor away from her.

And now it was going to take her little sister away.

She had no connection to her Love Magic anymore, and without that, what was she? She was lost and powerless without Love to keep her strong. She couldn't protect her subjects, she couldn't be there for Shiny as he was turned to ash along with all the others, she couldn't save Twilight.

She was useless.

Without love from the ponies, without love from her Shiny, in a dead world where Love no longer existed, what was she to do?

HATE...

Like a siren's song the emotion called out to her, wrapping her in a comforting embrace. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that it was wrong -- that this wasn't her, but she didn't care... not anymore.

Not when the Hate felt so good.

HATE...

There may not have been any Love left in this ruined world, but it still had the monster who had caused it all. There was still a target for Cadence's newfound wrath.

HATE... ME...

Cadence took no notice of the changes coming over her, physical or otherwise. She had moved away from the lavender alicorn at some point, but that was irrelevant to the all consuming thought of wiping the monster from existence for what it had done.

KILL... ME... KILL... THEM...

Images flashed in Cadence's mind as she continued to howl in furious anger. Broken fractured memories of a shocked midnight blue alicorn staring at her in horror.

Images of that same mare fleeing for her life as she gave chase -- relentlessly pursuing the mare in her desire to rip and tear, to maim and crush, to destroy so utterly that nothing remained.

END THEM... CADENCE... END... THEIR MISERY... END IT ALL...

Yet more images -- more memories -- rose to the surface. Another alicorn, this one lavender, wandering lost and alone in a dark and desolate city. Then another chase -- the scent of the lavender mare's absolute, mind shattering fear thick and heady in Cadence's nostrils as she lumbered after her.

And then she was gone in a flash.

Cadence remembered nothing after that, but it didn't matter now. What mattered was the Hate, the rage, the overpowering need to end everything.

The pain.

The misery.

The suffering.

She would only be doing what was right. She would only be doing what was best for her and for those other alicorns who were still alive in a world overrun with death and destruction.

She would kill them to end their suffering, she would kill the monster for the atrocity it had committed against her and the rest of the world. Love was what had made her strong once.

Hate would make her so much stronger.

Never would she have to feel sorrow again if she held on to this Hate -- the Hate would block it out. Never again would despair take hold of her in its icy grip -- the rage would push it back. Never--

"CADENCE!"

Her furious gaze snapped to the lavender mare unsteadily rising to her hooves a little ways away. Cadence cocked her head as she looked at the mare -- her blind rage momentarily dulled by confusion.

"C-Cadence, please... listen to me," the mare said with a weak cough, "this... this isn't you... y-you're not--" the mare fell to her knees once more as a violent fit of bloody coughs wracked her body, "you're not... alone... I'm alive," more violent coughs, "I'm here for you... all of us are. Celestia, Luna... and me."

Cadence narrowed her eyes at the weak, coughing mare. She listened to the mare's words, but didn't comprehend them. What she did comprehend, was the fear and waning hope in the mare's eyes as she spoke.

The mare was clearly suffering, both physically and emotionally.

Cadence could help her.

It felt itself take a step forward.

The mare saw this and took a step back.

"Cadence... you don't need to do this... please," the mare pleaded, taking another step back as Cadence stepped forward, "look at yourself! You're not even equine anymore! That... thing turned you into something else! Something like itself! Can't you see that?"

Cadence merely continued its advance.

It didn't matter what the mare said, she was miserable and Cadence would not abide misery or suffering anymore. It would use Its hatred to snuff it out by any means necessary. The mare stopped backing away and the scent of her despair suddenly grew stronger.

The waning hope in the mare's eyes died out completely as she stared at Cadence.

"You... you can't even hear me anymore, can you?" the lavender alicorn nearly whispered, tears slipping from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, "you really are gone... aren't you?"

Cadence howled and quickened Its pace, eager to end the mare's sorrow. Rather than back away any further, the mare simply fell to her haunches and clenched her eyes shut, letting out heaving sobs.

Cadence closed in, focusing only on the mare in front of it. It was because of that single-minded focus that it didn't see the white alicorn clumsily gallop out of a nearby alleyway and towards the lavender alicorn.

"TWILIGHT!"

The smaller alicorn looked over just in time to see the larger white alicorn practically bowl her over in her haste. The midnight blue alicorn atop the white mare's back nearly slipped off, but before she could, the white mare grabbed ahold of the smaller lavender mare and they all vanished in a flash of golden light.

Cadence suddenly found itself alone.

There was nopony left to hear the scream of unbridled rage as it echoed throughout the empty city.

A Princess' Desperation

She was gone.

We lost Cadence.

I lost Cadence.

Whatever this thing was, it had taken my sister from me. I had fallen to my death and felt every bit of pain that came with such a thing, and that still didn't compare to the pain I felt when I saw what Cadence had become.

The pain that I still felt even now.

On top of that, it looked as though the monster had gotten to Luna while I was... distracted. It had done something to her -- shown her some terrible revelation, and it was fairly clear what that revelation had been.

How do I know?

I know because that revelation was the only thing Luna had been able to repeat over and over again. And it only further drove the point home for me each and every time I had to hear it.

They were all gone.

The Lunar Princess had been wide eyed and unresponsive since Celestia had... saved me from whatever Cadence had become. The only thing she would say in her catatonic state was that they were gone, and she said it with such absolute finality that she could've only meant one thing.

Celestia and I had confirmed that Luna had finally regained use of her magic somehow, and it had only been a guess at this point, but I surmised that Luna had entered the Realm of Dreams, and didn't like what she found.

Or rather, what she didn't find.

Through her connection, Luna could sense or locate not just ponies, but every creature capable of dreaming... and every sapient creature had the capability to dream in some fashion or another.

That gave Luna's repeated declaration a terrible weight, a burden that I wish she had kept to herself. We truly were alone on this desolate rock that used to be Equus, and out of the four of us, one of us may as well have been dead.

I'd rather she had died, if I'm being completely honest, but no... now she's just another monster -- just something else out to torment us... torment me.

And then there was Celestia and Luna.

I... I think I hate them both.

I didn't want to admit it to myself at first, in fact I completely rejected the very notion. Now though -- in this isolated cave in some mountains near the Badlands -- I had nothing to do but ruminate on everything that had happened to me up until this point.

All I could do was lie listlessly in my little dark corner while Celestia tried to look after her broken sister. She didn't even look all that surprised at what had happened.

She just had that same, resigned look that she had been wearing since we found her in Ponyville. She had forgone the blissful ignorance she had shown before, but her lay-down-and-die attitude still remained. I couldn't help but resent her for it, even though I couldn't really blame her anymore.

If Luna meant what I thought she meant, then we had nothing to fight for -- no better tomorrow waiting for us once this was all over. The problem was that for so many years, Celestia had been almost everything to me.

She wasn't just my mentor, she was my idol, my pillar of strength when I felt weak and incompetent, my second mother... and maybe even something more.

But like everything else, that was all gone now.

Now she was just a crippled husk of the Princess she used to be, completely ready to accept her fate at the hooves of whatever was hunting us. She was willing to turn her back on everything, and I had begun to hate her for it without even realizing it.

She was supposed to be stronger than this, yet she broke so easily. If even Princess Celestia, ruler of all Equestria for countless millennia couldn't stay strong in the face of this nightmare, then what chance did somepony like me have?

I wasn't strong like I thought Celestia was.

My friends were what kept me strong, but they were gone too... right along with the one I had realized only too late was the son I never had. Whatever hope Celestia and I had for anything getting better was completely gone now.

But then if that was the case, why did she save me and Luna?

I had spent I don't know how long trying to figure that out. I thought about asking her, but I just... couldn't for some reason. I don't think I wanted to talk to her at all.

And if Luna had been coherent enough to understand me, I honestly don't know what I would've done to the mare. Back when I thought I had the power to finally end this once and for all, I didn't blame her for what she did, but now...

Now I had lost my sister to the monster.

It had wanted me to use all that power so it could steal it away from me. Even now, my listlessness was in big part due to the severe lack of magic in my body at the moment.

Now I blamed Luna for all of it.

She had goaded me into using ambient Magic, and in doing so, she had played right into that monsters hooves. She had caused me to lose my magic and any hope of defeating that monster, she had caused me to experience what it was like to die, and it was because Cadence had thought I was dead that she turned into... that.

...No.

It wasn't Luna's fault... not really. She had wanted to kill this thing, same as I did, but was powerless to do anything about it. I was the one with all the power. I was the one who had any chance of doing something about all of this, it was me who had decided to actually use the power.

It was unfair of me to blame Luna... but I still did.

She had been unwittingly trying to set me up for a trap that would've ended up causing the same result had I listened to her earlier and used the power when she first told me to do so.

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't shake my resentment of either Celestia or Luna. It was most likely because of this that I hadn't even bothered to thank Celestia for saving me or try to find out if Luna was okay.

I knew I should've, and I probably would at some point knowing me, but right now I just couldn't.

And so I laid there in the corner, staring at Celestia and Luna on the opposite end of the cave without really seeing them. I was far too caught up in my own thoughts to notice or care what Celestia was doing.

It wasn't until I heard my name that I finally snapped out of my melancholic reverie. With a bitter frown, I refocused my attention on the white alicorn looking around for me.

"What do you want, Celestia?"

The mare winced at my tone, but sighed, turned to face my general direction, and pressed on nevertheless.

"I... if it means anything, I'm sorry, Twilight," she began morosely, "I'm sorry about... how I've been acting. With everything that's happened..." she turned away from me and her expression became pained, "with whatever happened to Cadence--"

"Stop. Just... don't, Celestia," I interjected, my voice trembling with emotion. I turned to face the wall before speaking again, "I don't want to talk about it, and you don't need to apologize. You were right after all, there's no point in fighting back against whatever that thing is."

I sniffed and wiped away some stray tears that had made it to my eyes.

"Better to just prostrate ourselves before the monster that killed our world and submit to our fate, right?"

"Twilight, I--"

"No!" I cried angrily, whipping back around to face the mare, "it's over, Celestia! There's literally nothing left for us to do! So what if we can't truly die? What does that even matter? After what that monster did to Cadence, she may as well be dead!"

"Twilight--"

"You may be blind now, but I know you heard Luna the same as I did, they're all gone! Everypony... everything is gone, and yet you..." I sniffed again, and this time I didn't bother to stop the tears from falling, "you still saved me and Luna..."

Celestia said nothing as she stared at me with sorrow in her cloudy, grey, unseeing eyes.

"Why?" I asked in a quiet, broken voice, "why did you save us? Why even bother? There's nothing left for any of us, using ambient Magic only made things worse like I knew it would, Cadence is a monster, you're crippled, I'm powerless, and Luna..."

I turned to the midnight blue alicorn who hadn't moved from where she lay. Her eyes were still wide, unfocused, and streamed constant tears. She continued to quietly mumble the same thing to herself over and over again, visibly shuddering and whimpering every so often.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, I turned away and stared at my hooves before addressing Celestia once more.

"Luna can't help us either," I looked up at Celestia with a lost and dismal expression, "so why did you even bother to save any of us? It's not like you have any hope left, so why?"

"Because somepony needs to live, Twilight."

I blinked and opened my mouth to respond, only to find out I didn't know what to say. Celestia continued on regardless.

"I don't care what that demon does to me, but as long as at least you and Luna make it out of this, that's all I need," Celestia sat on her haunches and smiled warmly at me, "your family, your friends, my subjects, and our once beautiful world might be gone now, but as long as somepony remains, that demon hasn't won."

My eyes widened at Celestia's words.

"You... you still think there's a chance?"

My rising hope crashed right back down as Celestia slowly shook her head.

"It's not about there being a 'chance', Twilight," Celestia replied, her smile dropping into a frown as she looked off in a random direction, "it's about spite more than anything. Even if we manage to put an end to this thing, there's nothing waiting for us at the end of the battle."

"But... but then why?" I asked in bewilderment, "if there's nothing left then why would you--"

"I may have accepted my fate, but that doesn't mean I don't want revenge of my own for everything this demon has done to us," Celestia looked back to me with a hard glare, "at the very least, I want you and Luna to survive long enough to see the end of this monstrosity."

She went quiet and turned to her sister. I couldn't see her expression then, but when she turned back to me, her face was set in a resigned frown, "we can't physically die, and I'm fairly sure the monster knows this... so the next time it comes for us, it may try to do to us what it did to Cadence instead."

She trotted closer and reached out a hoof, presumably to rest it on my shoulder reassuringly, but she couldn't quite get it. After a moment of hesitation, I reached out and grabbed her hoof, placing it in my own.

She smiled gratefully, but her smile didn't last and her frown returned as she spoke again.

"I... Twilight, more than anything I at least want you to survive, even if... even if Luna and I don't," she pulled away and stepped back, "Luna and I aren't in any condition to do anything, but you will be once you get your strength back."

My ears perked up at the sudden shift in Celestia's tone. Looking at her I could see several different emotions in her expression -- resignation, fear, worry, and... guilt?

"Celestia?" I asked, trying and failing to rise to my hooves, "what are you talking about? What can I do?"

"Twilight, I... I didn't want it to come to this, and I hate that I have to send you alone--"

"Send me alone?" I asked in bewilderment, "send me where? To do what?" I shook my head and took a step back, "what are you planning Celestia?"

Celestia sighed and, despite her lack of sight, somehow managed to look me straight in the eye as she explained.

"You -- and you alone -- need to make your way to Tartarus."

I gaped at the Solar Princess.

"I know how utterly insane that sounds, but--"

"Of course it's insane!" I cried, "you expect me to travel all the way to Tartarus on my own? When that... that monster is out there waiting for us?"

"Twilight, listen--"

"No, you listen, Celestia! I don't know why in all of Equus you'd want me to go to that infernal pit, but if you seriously think I'm going to even come close to--"

"WE DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER OPTIONS, TWILIGHT!"

My jaw snapped shut and my ears laid flat against my skull at the sound of Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice. I backed up another step and my eyes widened at the sight of Celestia's anguished expression.

"I wouldn't be doing this if there was any other way, and I would go in your stead if I could," Celestia continued in a quieter, but no less strained voice, "but I... Luna and I both would only slow you down at this point. You have to go without us."

"But what if that thing comes for you both while I'm gone?" I asked, a hint of desperation in my voice, "and why do I even have to go? What's in Tartarus that could possibly help me? Help us?"

"I do not know the state Tartarus is in right now, but it is a Realm set apart from Equus to some degree," Celestia explained, "so there may still be a chance that something yet lived through the destruction. You alone must travel to the deepest pit of Tartarus and retrieve the power locked away there."

"Power?" I asked, my brows furrowing in bemusement, "what power? What's down there?"

"I... cannot say," Celestia replied, looking away with a guilty expression, "but trust me when I say that once you obtain that power, that demon will not be able to stand in your way."

"There was something like that hidden in Tartarus?" I muttered to myself before glaring at Celestia, "and you didn't say anything? We could've ended this already! That would've spared us all this pain! Cadence..."

My anger petered out and I hung my head as I thought about my sister-in-law.

"There was a reason I didn't mention this until now, Twilight."

I looked back to Celestia, my glare returning in full force.

"Why, Celestia?" I practically sneered, "what possible reason could you have for keeping the one thing that could've saved my sister a secret?"

Celestia returned my glare with a grave frown.

"The power that resides within the deepest, darkest depths of Tartarus is a cursed thing, Twilight," Celestia intoned, "if you're not prepared to wield it, you may end up just as much a monster as Cadence or the thing that destroyed our world."

I sank to my haunches and stared open mouthed at the Solar Princess. Just like that, all my anger blew away like so much ash in the wind, dread rising up in its place.

She was asking me to possibly become a monster so that I could fight a monster. I didn't know what to think about this, but I could see why Celestia had held back the knowledge until now.

I wondered if I should really go along with this -- wondered what I would lose, wondered what I would gain. But most of all, I wondered if it would really be worth it in the end. It didn't take me very long to answer that question, and I gave Celestia her decision, a look of grim determination crossing my face.

"If it means I can finally kill this thing for what it's done to all of us, I'll do it, Celestia."

Author's Note

Thus begins the second and final act in the story...

A Princess' Goodbye

I had told Celestia I would take up the task of finding this cursed power in Tartarus, and I intended to do that.

As determined as I was, I still had my misgivings. Doubt welled up within me almost as soon as I agreed to do this. Did I really want to become a monster?

Would I give up my equinity so easily, like Cadence did? Should I?

Was it better to just give in and accept my fate, whatever that might've been?

No, this was the only way.

It was as Celestia had said, if that thing had its way, I'd be turned into nothing but a psychotic abomination born of madness, misery, and despair regardless.

Just like Cadence.

It couldn't kill us, so it decided to corrupt us -- break us down until there was nothing left of who we were before all this happened. Cadence had gone insane and became a literal monster, Celestia had become less than a shell of her former radiant self, and Luna?

Luna was just... broken.

I realized I was the only one left who had even a semblance of hope or drive. Even then, I wasn't completely sure I had the former, and I was quickly losing the latter.

There was nothing left to fight for -- nothing that still existed anyway. There was no real reason to hang onto who I was before, but somehow, despite everything, I still managed to hold on to at least a small piece of me.

But it was only a small piece.

Upon further reflection, I came to the realization that this had affected me more than I initially thought. The constant weight of everything had been getting to me.

There were times when I was bitter and angry, and times where I felt like the grief and despair would swallow me whole, but most of the time I just felt that soul crushing numbness -- and it had gotten worse and worse as time dragged on.

It was occasional before, but now it was a constant -- clouding my thoughts and drowning out any kind of positive emotion I could've possibly mustered.

If this went on, I don't think I'd be able to feel anything anymore.

And the worst part was that I was becoming okay with the idea.

Ambient Magic allowed me a facade of bliss and happiness, but it was just that -- a facade. The side effects weren't worth it, and if I attempted to try, odds were that the monster would find me and drain me of all that magic.

And that was something I never wanted to experience again.

Just like Celestia -- and despite the increasing numbness I felt -- there was still a nagging need I felt to get back at the monster for everything it had done.

So I agreed to Celestia's plan.

I didn't just want to stop the monster, I wanted to kill it. I wanted it dead, and I was willing to risk my equinity to make sure it happened. For me, that was the biggest indicator that I had changed from who I used to be.

I had my doubts, but as I ruminated on where all of this had taken me, how it changed me and those around me, I chose to snuff them out. I didn't have hope for the future -- there was none anymore.

I didn't believe I would succeed in my task, but I was going to do it anyway. Any confidence or righteous fury I may have had died when I was brought down like it was nothing despite having been at my most powerful.

It wasn't even really hate that drove me to want to kill the monster. After seeing what it did to Cadence, I wanted nothing to do with hate. What I wanted more than anything, above all else... was an end to all of this.

I just wanted it to end, no matter what I had to do.

Suicide literally wasn't an option, so I didn't even try. The only option left was Celestia's plan, and all of my thoughts up to this point washed away any more misgivings I had about it.

All that was left, was to say goodbye.

I had told Celestia my decision, but she had somehow sensed the hesitation under my determined tone and had told me to think on the matter, so I did.

Now it was time to stop thinking and start doing.

I took a deep breath and rose to my hooves from where I had been sitting for I don't know how long at this point. I trotted over to Celestia who was sitting on the opposite side of the cave and staring in the general direction of her muttering sister with a look of... I wasn't sure to be honest.

It had gone beyond resignation.

The sorrow was there, but there was also a sort of contentedness in the sorrow. It was like the sadness, pain, and misery had come full circle and gave way to some sort of zen state of acceptance -- like she had fully embraced the belief that to suffer was to live and vice versa.

I shuddered at the thought.

Nevertheless I pressed on, fully intent on saying what I needed to say, because when it came right down to it, I probably wouldn't see her or Luna ever again -- at least not as they were.

When... if I came back, she and Luna may very well have been nothing but monsters, driven mad by the very monster that caused all this heartache.

This may very well have been my last chance to speak to my former mentor and mother figure.

As I got closer, the white alicorn's ear twitched and she turned to face me. I hesitated for a moment before continuing on.

"Celestia?" I began, trying to sound more confident than I felt, "I've decided that you're right. This is the only way to finally end this nightmare once and for all."

Celestia nodded as if she had expected such an answer. She turned back to her sister as she addressed me.

"Even if you manage to kill the monster, the nightmare will not end, Twilight," Celestia replied calmly, "but at the very least, we may finally find some kind of peace or closure."

I chewed my lip as I thought on her words, slowly nodding after a moment. She had a point, but this was all assuming she and Luna weren't corrupted into mindless monsters when all was said and done.

"Yeah, I... I guess. I just..." I sighed and shook my head, "I don't know, Celestia. I don't know what to say, but I have to say something... I need to say something before I go."

"Then say it," Celestia replied, keeping her unseeing eyes on her sister, "I know what you're thinking, Twilight, and you're probably right," she finally turned back to me, "Luna and I most likely won't be leaving this cave as the ponies we were when we arrived."

Those words hit me harder than I expected them to.

I already knew it was probably going to be the case, but to hear Celestia say as much without even the slightest hint of worry or remorse unsettled me and I suddenly felt a strong urge to break down and cry right then and there.

I held back however.

The time for breakdowns had passed, and I had a task to fulfill. I took a deep breath and schooled my features before speaking once more.

"I'll be honest, Celestia," I started, "I... I was starting to hate you all -- hate what you had become, but..." I trailed off uncomfortably, but Celestia motioned for me to continue on, much to my surprise, so after a brief moment, I did, "...but I can't afford to hate you, not anymore."

I looked my mentor in the eye.

"You're all I have left, for however long that lasts... and I..." my voice hitched but I continued, "I might come back, a-and find out that I'm... I-I'm the only one left..." I wiped my eyes with a hoof and continued, "I d-don't want... want hate to be the last thing... I don't want y-you to think that I... I-I'm..."

I was spiraling.

I needed to keep it together.

I couldn't keep it together.

I rushed over and practically slammed into Celestia, latching onto her like my life depended on it.

"I'm s-so sorry, Princess!" I cried, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I d-didn't... I didn't mean... I'm so sorry, Celestia!"

I nuzzled my face into Celestia's warm chest as my apologies gave way to wordless sobs. I felt a wing wrap around me, but I paid it no attention, focusing only on letting out everything I had been holding back for so long.

After a moment, the wing lifted off of me and was quickly replaced with two hooves that pulled me into a tight embrace. I returned the hug, and for a moment -- just a brief moment -- I was a filly again.

There was no monster.

There was no death.

There was no destruction.

There was no eternal darkness.

There was no numbness.

There was no sadness, sorrow, despair, or misery.

There was only Celestia.

As we sat there, my heavy sobs eventually became, whimpers and soon enough I managed to slowly and reluctantly pull away from Celestia. I sniffed a few more times as I looked up into her milky white eyes and saw that she was looking back at me with a sad smile.

"We may never see each other again..." Celestia said, raising a hoof. This time I grabbed it in both mine without any hesitation, and her sad smile grew warmer as she spoke, "...but never forget that I love you, Twilight Sparkle. I've always loved you like you were my own, and I always will."

I took her hoof and held it against my face as more tears streamed silently from my closed eyes. After a few heartbeats, I released her hoof and stepped away before opening my teary eyes and giving my mentor the most sincere smile I could muster.

I knew it would most likely be the last one I would ever wear.

"Goodbye, Princess Celestia."

Though she couldn't see it, she nonetheless returned my smile with one of her own.

"Goodbye, my Faithful Student."

With that, no more words were needed.

I turned and trotted out of the cave.

A Princess' Isolation

They're all gone...

They're not... they're not coming back.. my subjects... my chance at redemption... wiped away by a wall of balefire. I'm alone... I don't want to be alone again.

One thousand years.

One thousand years I was left alone within that cold rock. I don't want to be alone again. I don't want to be alone again. I don't want to be alone again.

I don't... I don't want to be alone...

Tia...

I... I hate the Moon, Tia... it's cold... cold and unforgiving and lonely... did I ever tell you that? The Moon... it is beautiful from a distance... but I... but after a thousand years alone with nothing but the cold void and deafening silence of the night sky to keep me company, I...

I hold such a deep loathing for the Moon like you cannot believe, sister.

And then there's you...

For the longest time, I despised you for what you did to me. You ignored me, my subjects shunned me, some of them outright feared me, nopony would celebrate my Night. Night Court was a joke -- an exercise in futility.

The isolation from both you and my subjects was maddening enough... enough to allow me to fall to my darker urges.

But then you banished me to my own Moon, Tia.

I thought I knew loneliness and isolation then, but I was wrong. You may not have known it, sister... but you only made things worse for me... so much worse. And after one thousand years of torment, what do I come back to find?

Fear, disgust, anger, ponies ready to do nothing other than fight or flee. Looking back, I had not handled myself as I should have, but you cannot blame me for that... nopony could.

You hurt me, Tia.

You hurt me, and you did not even have the decency to greet me upon my return. But I know the truth of the matter... I know why you weren't there, Tia.

I know many things now.

What hurt worse than the fear or scorn, was the complete lack of recognition on anypony's face. The only one who recognized me showed the same fear and disgust as the others.

No one recognized their Princess of the Night for who she was. Cloaked in darkness and shadow as I was, I expected some fear, but mostly what I wanted, what I yearned for more than anything, was respect, sister. The respect I had as a fellow Princess so many many years ago.

The respect you stole away from me with your shining radiance.

But no, upon seeing the fear and scorn of my subjects, I became wrapped in the madness wrought by my isolation. I wanted them to feel the same as I did, I wanted them to suffer under the same cursed Moon that I had to put up with for all those years.

But then she spoke, that brave lavender mare. It was in defiance, yes, but it was recognition all the same. It was enough to break through my madness, and I regained my senses.

I almost wished I hadn't.

In the end, I was forced to put up a front and flee to the forest to hide my anguish. It was not truly anger that I felt upon my return, Tia -- at least, it didn't stay that way for long.

It was ultimately despair that overcame me.

It was despair that bid me to flee into the forest on that fateful night. It was despair that led me to try and push those mares away, keep them from finding me in the darkened forest that had once been home to the greatest city Equestria had ever seen. It was despair that led me to fight against Twilight and her friends.

It was overwhelming despair that caused me to finally submit to the 'desire' of the Elements.

The Elements...

They are a cruel thing, Celestia. You've no idea of how vile those trinkets can truly be... or maybe you do. I remember well your rampage that day. I remember how they changed you, I remember the blood of both our enemies and allies covering your hooves, I remember well the anguished tears and bitter regret.

In your desperation to rid yourself and our subjects of me, I remember how you used that same power to banish me into further isolation for one thousand years.

Yes, I remember them well, Tia.

And now I remember how they changed me.

They didn't save me, they molded me into something else -- something more... compliant. When I came back to Equestria from my long banishment, I wanted respect, I wanted recognition, I wanted the adoration of my subjects.

What I got instead was nothing but more heartache and misery.

I just wanted to be left alone again, Tia. One thousand years alone, and I wanted nothing but the same after seeing that the benevolent Princess I used to be was all but wiped from history and replaced with the monster I became.

The monster you created.

When Twilight and her friends took up the power of the Elements, I was ready to accept my fate, but then a nameless fear overcame me. I don't know what had happened, but I suddenly found myself trying to fight back against what the Elements would do to me.

When that prismatic light hit me, I heard things, Tia.

A soft whisper that resonated within my very soul, telling me everything would be okay. It told me that I wouldn't be alone anymore, that I'd regain the love and adoration of my subjects.

And all I had to do, was submit to their 'desire'.

Raw magic alone may not have true sentience or sapience, but that does not hold true for the Elements as a whole. They are wrong, sister. They control, they manipulate, they try to bend reality to fit their harmony... and they use the very Magic within and outside of us all to do it.

The worse the disharmony, the more drastic the measures they take to fix it.

How do I know this, sister?

It's quite simple.

The demon told me.

Even now, as I sit here, lost to the world and drowning in sorrow, I can hear it's voice. It tells me so many things, Celestia. It reminds me of who I was, it reminds me of what I had forgotten, it tells me of things I had never even known.

It reminded me of the hatred I felt, and still feel for my own namesake. It told me of the true nature of the Elements of Harmony and what they did to me.

It reminded me of the anger, despair, and injustice that I suffered at your hooves, Celestia.

I do not know how the demon acquired this knowledge, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that my eyes are opened to the truth, and that truth has finally set me free.

I am free, sister, and I will take vengeance for the wrongs that have been committed against me.

It was a long time before Celestia had moved from the spot she had been sitting in since Twilight left. Only once she was sure the lavender alicorn was gone did she allow herself to weep.

She fell to the floor and wailed.

She wailed for her Faithful Student, she wailed for the loss of her subjects and her kingdom, she wailed for her niece and her sister, she wailed because it was the only thing she could do now.

She had all but accepted that this was how things were meant to be. This is what her long, long life had led to, and she could no sooner do anything about it than she could about the omnipresent monstrosity that had destroyed everything she held dear and then some.

But then Twilight had apologized.

She had given Celestia the one thing she craved above all else... love and forgiveness. With that hug, with that simple act, it was like a dam had broken, and all of Celestia's regrets, fears, and guilt spilled out from her eyes in a torrent of tears.

Wracked with emotion as she was, she didn't notice the constant muttering of her sister cease entirely, nor did she notice the shadows around the dark alicorn begin to twist and warp her into something wholly inequine.

Eventually, Celestia's sobs began to die down and with one final sniff, she rose to her hooves. Despite her lack of sight, her gaze managed to find its way to the entrance of the cave and she gave a soft, sad smile.

"I wish you all the luck in the world, my Faithful Student," she said quietly, wiping a stray tear from her eye, "do what we could not, and put an end to this vile creature once and for all."

For the first time since she had woken amidst the destruction of her entire world, Celestia felt content. She may have failed to save her kingdom, but at the very least, she was able to hold on to the love and adoration of the daughter she never had.

"C-Celessstiaaaa-a-a-aaa..."

Celestia's ear twitched in response to the low guttural hiss of the voice behind her, but she made no move to turn around. She knew what would come next, and as more bitter tears rolled down her cheeks, she closed her eyes -- her smile never leaving her face.

"I suppose that's it then," Celestia muttered with a bow of her head, "I'm sorry I couldn't be as strong as you wanted me to be, Twilight... but thank you for your forgiveness all the same."

With her melancholy smile still in place and silent gratitude that she could no longer see, Celestia turned to face the thing that used to be her sister.

A Princess' Friends

I found it.

As I flew across Equestria, alone with nothing but my own grim thoughts to keep me company, I just so happened to spot something in the darkness far below. It could've just been any nondescript piece of debris, but something about it pulled at me, and I went down to take a look.

It was the only memento I had left of any of my friends.

It was the stetson I had dropped what feels like forever ago now.

It was her stetson.

I still don't know how it had survived the blast, but I wasn't about to question it, not now -- not when it was the only thing I had left of the life I once knew. I held the hat close to my chest, silent tears streaming down my face as I thought about the hardworking cowpony.

Applejack had been one of the most hospitable ponies I had ever met. Over time I began to admire the mare for her diligence and honest and open nature. Stubbornness aside, It was a refreshing change from some of the more flippant, disingenuous, and sometimes downright untrustworthy ponies in Canterlot.

She didn't deserve this.

None of us did.

With one last quiet sniff I placed the stetson atop my head and took off once more. I remembered I had dropped the hat somewhere near the ruins of Ponyville, and, against my better judgement, I paid the desolate town one last visit.

Using what little was left of the Golden Oaks Library as a waypoint, I landed and began trotting through the darkened streets of Ponyville. Unbidden, memories of the lively, friendly townsfolk came to me, dredged up from the recesses of my mind. Rather than push them back, I let the memories wash over me.

Carrot Top, the quiet and easygoing carrot farmer who was always ready to offer some friendly advice to those who needed it.

Vinyl Scratch, the rambunctious DJ who could make any pony dance their tail off with her crazy beats.

Octavia Melody, the elegant and refined musician who used her cello to captivate the heart and soul of anypony that heard her play.

Derpy Hooves, the klutzy but well meaning mailmare who always managed to brighten everypony's day with her infectiously positive attitude.

Time Turner, the eccentric and somewhat mysterious earth pony who was always tinkering with one gadget or another.

Lyra Heartstrings, Bon-Bon, the Cakes, Mayor Mare, and so many other ponies in this little village died so suddenly and needlessly. The memories continued to tear at me, but I refused to toss them aside.

The least I could do was keep them all with me in memory if nothing else.

Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice I had reached the broken remains of Sugarcube Corner until I was actually in front of the building. I stopped and looked over the crumbling ruin as I thought about Pinkie Pie and how I had met her.

I had found the pink party pony insufferable when we had first met, and I wanted nothing to do with the party that she had thrown. If I had known Pinkie like I did now, I never would've acted the way I did.

She had only wanted to see me smile, that's all she truly wanted from anypony.

As happy-go-lucky and fun loving as she was, the mare was far more sensitive than she let on, and my rejection of her party probably hurt her more than I realized at the time, but she never outwardly showed it. Thinking back on it, I never did apologize for my thoughtlessness during that party, and now I'd never get the chance.

With a melancholy sigh, I turned away from the crumbling structure and continued wandering the town. The dry winds started to pick up, causing my mane to whip about my face. I tried to ignore the constant howling in my ears and the taste of ash in my mouth as I trotted along the path strewn with random debris.

I continued sifting through the memories of my friends and as I crossed a familiar -- if heavily twisted, charred, and splintered -- bridge, I looked towards the pitch black sky. Even through all the changes the town's destruction had wrought, I recognized this spot.

I trotted a little ways past the bridge and stopped before resting on my hind legs. Searching the dry cracked ground, I spotted a familiar dip in the earth -- a dip that, long ago had been filled with mud, forming a large mud puddle.

A large mud puddle that I had been knocked into by a certain cyan pegasus with a prismatic mane and tail.

Was it odd that I remembered something so mundane and insignificant as a simple mud puddle? Probably, and normally, I probably wouldn't have remembered it had this all not happened.

But being tackled into that mundane and insignificant mud puddle was how I had met Rainbow Dash, one of the most loyal and courageous ponies I knew. She may have been cocky and more than a bit of a braggart, but when push came to shove and a friend needed help, nothing would stop her from rising to the occasion.

Even as a filly she never let setbacks stop her for long no matter how major or minor. She had even gone so far as to lose a race to save her childhood friend from a terrible fall.

Still, everything had worked out for the better, and it was thanks to the Sonic Rainboom she had managed to pull off -- with an injured wing no less -- that the rest of my friends and I came together.

More than any other pony, I owed Rainbow Dash a debt of gratitude that could never be repaid.

We all did in one way or another.

I looked up from the dip in the earth and spotted the wreckage that used to be the Town Hall further ahead. There was no entering the building as it was now, so I moved on to another part of town as I reminisced about the last two of my friends.

Fluttershy and Rarity.

Kindness and Generosity personified.

Rarity was every bit the noble, graceful, and passionate mare she made herself out to be. She had her quirks -- she could be overly dramatic and there were times when her priorities were a bit skewed -- but she had a drive to succeed that matched even Rainbow Dash, and a selfless streak a thousand miles wide.

What Fluttershy lacked in bravado, she more than made up for in sheer compassion. Her talent with animals was unmatched as far as I knew, and had it not been for her intense fear of heights that resulted from her almost fatal fall, she probably never would've chosen to live among the ground bound ponies.

She might never have eventually discovered her true calling working with and taking care of any and every critter she came across.

What many didn't know about the shy pegasus -- what I hadn't known until I had seen it for myself at the Gala we all attended -- was that she had an inner fire. The kind of fire that allowed her to accomplish great things when she put her mind to it.

Come to think of it, the rest of the girls and I had just helped Fluttershy finally get over her fear of heights before all of this started.

As I made my way back to the giant broken stump that had been my home, I thought about my life in Ponyville and how it changed me from who I used to be. I wondered what would've happened had I not been there when Nightmare Moon returned, what that would've been like.

It wasn't helping my mood.

None of these thoughts were helping me in fact.

I had hoped that coming here and basking in the memories of my friends and this town would give me some sort of closure, but all I felt was misery and an intense longing to see them all again.

And now here I was, back at the place I had stayed for so long with my number one assistant at my side. My friends would always be precious to me, and I would give anything to have them back -- see them alive, happy, and healthy again.

More than anything though -- maybe even more than my other friends -- I wanted Spike back.

I wanted my number one assistant back, I wanted my oldest friend back, I wanted my surrogate little brother back, I wanted my son back. I wanted to see him laugh and smile and tell me when I was going overboard with my studies or completely losing it over nothing.

I wanted him to tell me everything would be okay.

But no.

He was gone... they were all gone now. My friends, my family, my home, my old life...

Everything.

Everything I had experienced, everything we had all shared, the good times and the bad, were all gone -- burned away by an all consuming fire. Coming back here had only driven that home for me and I began to wonder why I had even bothered to come here at all.

I took the stetson off and looked at it with a bitter frown.

As I stared at the hat, I could feel the numbness begin to push the sorrow back. With one last sigh I trotted up to the mostly intact entrance of the library and placed the stetson on the ground in front of the doorway.

"I miss you, girls... I miss you, Spike," I sniffed and wiped away a stray tear. Taking a step back, I spread my wings, "...I love you all."

With those final words, I took off, resolving never to come back to these ruins again.

A Princess' Flight

Things had gone wrong... horribly wrong, just like I knew they would.

Now I found myself hiding behind a large boulder in a rocky desert area somewhere just south of the Frozen North. I was a shivering, panting, desperate mess and I prayed to my old mentor she couldn't hear the sound of my distress.

That loud, heavy, uneven gait and those spine chilling wails that seemed to get closer and closer told me I wasn't going to be that lucky. It was almost as though she could smell my fear and despair, and I wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if that had been the case.

It wasn't that I'd forgotten that we had left Cadence back in the Crystal Empire, it was more that the Gates of Tartarus happened to be at the far end of this desert and I hadn't expected Cadence to be this far out.

I was an idiot for thinking that way.

She wasn't a pony anymore, and I had no idea what new and horrifying abilities she'd gained -- at least, not until now. By this point I surmised that it was Cadence that had chased Luna and I to and through the city, and as I tried my best to hide from the abomination that used to be Cadence, I remembered Luna's story.

The first thing I tried to do was fly away, and that didn't work. Futile as I knew it would be, I tried to reason with her once more -- tried to reach out to the loving mare this thing used to be.

I begged.

Nothing worked, and I almost had my limbs torn off as a result. Now the only thing I could do was try to hide, as even if I was an alicorn, I doubted I had Luna's endurance when it came to long distance galloping.

Unfortunately it was quickly becoming clear that that might be my only option.

It was so unfair.

The journey to Tartarus, while unnervingly quiet, had been relatively uneventful up until this point. Sure, I had been alone with nothing but my thoughts, which wasn't a good thing, but I would've rather continued on that way than meet Cadence again.

It wasn't meant to be.

The moment I touched down in the desert she was on me like a vicious pack of timberwolves. I only managed to outrun her thus far because I had heard the howl long before I actually saw her.

I would've just flown across the desert, but whatever ability she had been using to ground me and Luna back then was back in full force, and I could do nothing but run and hide. What made the whole thing worse, and caused me to nearly break down at the thought, was that I was completely alone.

Celestia wouldn't be able to save me this time.

Luna was probably too far gone as well.

I had nothing and nopony to stand between me and my former sister-in-law. If she were to catch me, that would be it, I didn't know exactly what would happen, but I knew I would most likely suffer a fate worse than death.

So I kept moving -- galloping and teleporting away in the hopes that she wouldn't catch me.

I desperately tried to calm my frantic breathing as I prepared another teleport spell. I grit my teeth, clenched my eyes shut against the sweat pouring down my forehead, judged the distance, and lit up my horn.

With a bright magenta flash, I disappeared and reappeared behind another boulder a few dozen meters away. Another frustrated howl from somewhere further behind me told me I had successfully managed to avoid Cadence once again.

I couldn't keep this up much longer.

As it was, I had fallen to my haunches, leaning up against the large rock behind me gasping for breath. I had been galloping and teleporting for what felt like hours, and it was beginning to take its toll on both my body and my magic.

Unlike back in the destroyed city where she had suddenly vanished, here in the desert, Cadence was relentless in her pursuit. Her single minded determination to hunt me down was wearing me down mentally. I almost considered tapping into the ambient Magic just so I could have something to either fight back with or help me escape.

There were several times where I very nearly released my magic, but every time I was about to, I remembered that horrible, painful ripping sensation from when my magic was taken from me, and I held back.

Cadence wasn't the only one getting frustrated either.

Beneath the mind numbing fear and crippling exhaustion, I was also at my wit's end. It had gotten to the point that the remorse and despair I felt for what had happened to Cadence was being replaced with the desire to just end her and be done with this Celestia forsaken chase.

I would've been shocked at myself for what I was feeling, but this chase had worn away any ounce of care I had for what I was feeling for Cadence at the moment. I didn't have time to reflect on my emotions regarding the mare-turned-abomination, as the intervals between rest were growing shorter and shorter as the chase wore on.

Even now I could hear her, howling and lumbering towards my new hiding spot with increased haste. I had gotten used to the constant pounding of my heart, and I was fairly sure me being an alicorn was the only reason it hadn't exploded from sheer exhaustion.

Nevertheless, I set about casting another teleportation spell and vanished once again, this time reappearing just shy of the rock I was trying to teleport behind. For a moment I panicked and, almost of its own accord, my head whipped around to see if Cadence had spotted me.

I screamed and somehow managed to stumble backwards into a gallop, adrenaline being the only thing that saved me from Cadence's gaping maw and dagger-like teeth.

How did she get that close?!

That was the last thought I had before all other thoughts left me and I was reduced to a terror-addled automaton. My legs seemed to move without my input despite me being tired enough to fall over and die right on the spot.

I hardly paid any heed to where I was galloping, and the howling behind me only spurred me further along. My entire body screamed in agony, but I kept galloping, my heart felt like it was growing weaker and weaker, but I kept galloping, my vision was beginning to fade, but I kept galloping. I think I actually was dying again from sheer exhaustion.

But I kept galloping.

I soon resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to make it out of this situation alive. Even if I was immortal and even if I was able to come back from my supposed death, Cadence would be right there waiting for me, and then...

I couldn't stop now.

It wasn't even that I didn't want to stop, I literally couldn't stop. My fear response was far too strong to fight against and my herd instincts had completely taken over.

All I could do was gallop until I just couldn't anymore.

Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I could tell that I was getting slower, and that the howls were getting louder. With my mind so focused on escape, I didn't notice the massive mountain rising in the distance, or that I was headed straight for the wide opening in that mountain.

Eventually something in my brain clicked and I saw the mountain for what it was.

Mount Infernos.

The mountain that held the Gates of Tartarus deep within a dark cave. I was almost there, I was almost free. To my astonishment, the thought was enough to keep me going for a few more yards... but that was it.

I had reached my limit, and the cavern entrance was still several more yards away. I was going to die again, without having achieved what I set out to do and this time, Cadence would make sure I didn't get the chance to try again. I failed Celestia, I failed to avenge everything and everypony I had ever known and loved.

I failed to kill that monster, and now it was going to win.

I let out one last strangled cry of fury, despair, and hopelessness before vertigo overwhelmed me and I fell. Everything went black and I could feel my heart give out on me.

The last sensations I felt before nothingness claimed me, were the agonizing throbs of pain that wracked my entire body, and an odd tingle of magic. Then the howling stopped and everything was quiet once again.

A Princess' Rescue

I felt my heartbeat steadily regulate itself as I returned from what should've been my death for the second time.

I could tell that no matter how many times I'd have to go through this, I would never get used to it. If I had found out that I was an immortal creature who could just bounce back from true death when my friends and the rest of Equestria were still around, I would've had a terrible time of it.

I would most likely have broken down worse than I did back during the Smarty Pants incident, I would've probably been worse off than Pinkie was when she thought we were abandoning her, I would've probably tried to do something stupid and hurt somepony in the process.

I knew though, that my friends and Princess Celestia would've done something to stop me before I went too far. Sure, there had been times where I had felt like they didn't appreciate me or abandoned me, but those times were few and far between.

Now?

Now my friends were dead, my sister-in-law was a homicidal monster, and both Celestia and Luna were no doubt on their way to becoming the same. Now I had no reason to care that I was immortal save for the fact that I couldn't take the easy way out of this endless nightmare.

Still, I had made it this far, and at this point, I don't think I would've done myself in even if I could. I was alive, I had a mission to accomplish now, and as long as I still continued to draw breath, I wouldn't just roll over and die—not until that monster was dead at any rate.

With that thought in mind, I slowly opened my eyes, half expecting Cadence to bite down on my neck and tear it out. What I saw instead, was an uneven, rocky ceiling softly lit by a bright and warm orange glow.

My ear twitched at the sound of a crackling fire somewhere nearby and I turned to see not a fire, but a massive sea of lava surrounding a blackened stone pathway outside the mouth of the cave I was apparently in.

Flames did indeed lick at the edge of the pathway, and if I listened closer, I could hear the lava bubbling continuously. It was only then that I noticed how hot it was—almost unbearably so.

My mind reeled in confusion as I took in the odd sight before me. How did I get here? Where even was here? Who—

"And she lives!"

My eyes widened even further at the sound of that voice. That achingly familiar voice. For a moment I just sat there staring at the world outside, but seeing nothing as my mind went back.

Back to a time when my friends and I banded together to stop a mad villain from warping the world into his own twisted version of reality... and almost failed. Back to a time when we released that same villain only a couple of years later and taught him the magic of friendship.

Back to a time when things were so simple.

I ignored the silent tears streaming down my face as I slowly sat up from my supine position and turned in the direction of the chipper, yet oddly, weak voice. There, sitting against the wall at the far end of the cave next to an elaborately decorated ebony doorway and giving me a weak smile... was Discord.

Discord.

The draconequus was alive.

He was alive.

Somepony else was alive.

"Welcome back to what was once the land of the living, Sparklebutt."

I ignored the greeting along with everything else around in that moment—desperate for some kind of evidence that he was real and I hadn't gone insane. I hardly even noticed myself moving towards the chaotic being until I was a leg's length away from him.

He raised a bushy eyebrow at me as I sank to my haunches and tentatively—almost fearfully—reached a shaky hoof out to touch his arm. I gasped quietly as he moved his arm away, only to grab my leg in his talons and lift it up slightly.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle, I'm real and very much alive... for the time being anyway," he said with a wry grin before letting go and slumping back against the wall, "I wanted to jump out and rescue the damsel in distress like some noble hero, but I'm afraid I just... don't have it in me at the moment."

He made an odd choking noise that might've been an attempt at a chuckle. I had been standing there, leg still raised and staring at it in disbelief up until that point, but at the pitiful sound, I finally turned my full attention to Discord.

The draconequus was in terrible shape.

I wouldn't have known that by just looking at him, though. On the outside, he looked like his normal mismatched self, but there was something in the way he spoke, the way he sat slumped against the cave wall, and... there was something else.

My expression turned to one of shock and dismay when I finally figured out what it was that felt so off about Discord.

He was fading.

If I stared at him long enough, every now and then he would turn transparent—only slightly, but just enough to be barely noticeable to somepony who was paying close attention.

"D-Discord?" I said in a quiet, terrified voice as I took a step back—my silent tears from earlier falling from my eyes once more, "you... y-you're—"

"Oh, come on, don't be like that, Twilight," Discord interjected with a roll of his eyes, "I didn't pull you out of the fire and into the frying pan so you could break down on me."

"B-But... but you're fading!" I cried, taking a step forward, "Discord... are you... are you dying?!"

"Um... yes?" Discord replied with another raise of his brow, "did you not hear my ominous 'for the time being' comment earlier?"

"But... no!" I replied, growing more frantic by the second, "Discord, you can't die! Aren't you immortal, like me? Aren't you the God of Chaos? I... I just found you!" I grabbed his arm and stared into his eyes with a desperate, pleading expression, "I can't lose you! Not you too! Not... not when I finally—"

I was cut off as he put a paw against my muzzle and gently pushed me away.

"Twilight," he replied, his expression uncharacteristically solemn, "first of all, I'm the Lord of Chaos, not a god. Second of all, my immortality works a bit differently than yours or the other Princesses."

He turned away from me to look at the large and ornate black door at the back of the cave. Silence reigned for a moment as he continued to stare at the door and I continued to wait for an explanation.

"I'm much more closely tied to my aspect than you alicorns are to yours, Twilight," he finally said in a subdued tone, "it's both the boon and the curse of being who and what I am, as well as what I represent."

"W-What do you mean?" I asked, dreading the answer, "Discord, what are you talking about?"

The draconequus went quiet for another moment before letting out a weary sigh and turning back to me.

"As long as there is Order, there will always be Chaos," he finally replied, "one can't exist without the other, and since there is no one and nothing to keep Order in the world..."

"...you can't exist as the aspect of Chaos," I finished in a horrified whisper, "but... but wait," I shook my head and looked at him in confusion, "I'm still here, and Celestia and Luna... might still be here too! Doesn't that mean you can still—"

"Even if Sunbutt, Loony, and... the other alicorn whose name I didn't bother to remember, still had their faculties, all four of you together wouldn't be enough to keep me alive for very long," he snorted, "it's a miracle I've even survived this long."

"And... and there's nothing I can do?" I asked, knowing the answer all too well, "there's nothing that can save you?"

"Nope," he replied with a shrug before giving me an amused smirk, "not unless you can find a way to repopulate the planet on your own," he gave another choked laugh before wincing and fading out almost completely for a split second, "oh... well that's not good..."

"Discord?" I asked, my panic rising back up as I rushed back to his side, "Discord, please don't disappear! Not... not yet! I'm not ready, I... I... don't want to be alone again!"

"Sorry, Sparkles, but you're just gonna have to deal with it," Discord responded shakily lifting his claw, "I didn't drag my sorry carcass to Tartarus and rescue you from Little Miss Hates-a-Lot for my health and well-being, I came here to help you do what you need to do and nothing more."

Before I could question what he meant, he snapped his claw. The ground began to rumble and I turned towards the mouth of the cave just in time to see the black stone pathway rise up out of the lava on a pair of spindly black legs and position itself before the entrance to another cave much higher up on the wall opposite of where I was.

"It isn't much, but that should make it a bit easier to get where you need to go."

I turned back to Discord who—much to my horror—was now flickering in and out of existence at an alarming rate.

"Discord!" I cried, grabbing the disappearing draconequus tight around the middle, "come on, Discord, don't do this, please!"

"It's already done, Sparklebutt," Discord replied, patting me on the head and smiling ruefully, "that was all I had left. I knew Celestia would break down and either come here herself, or send one of the other Princesses down here to nab that infernal power eventually... so I came here and waited."

He gave another choked laugh and for the first time since I had known him, gave me a genuine smile free of any sarcasm, mockery, or any other kind of antagonistic emotion.

"If it's any consolation, I'm glad Sunbutt decided to send y—"

And just like that, I was grabbing at nothing but thin air.

I hit the ground and stayed there, trying and failing to process the fact that I had lost the only other living thing in existence that wasn't a monster, or about to become one.

I don't know how long I was in that cave, quiet and unwilling to move from that spot as I stared at nothing in particular. It seemed like ages, but eventually I blinked my tears away and slowly rose from the ground. I turned to face the path ahead and, doing my best to ignore the hollow feeling clawing its way into my chest, I moved forward.

I had something I needed to take care of, and nothing would stop me now.

A Princess Alone

You know... it's funny.

I have no idea how long it's been since my world was destroyed, but now, when I try to look back on what had transpired just before that abomination showed up and killed everything I loved, I can't recall what I was even doing in Canterlot.

Why did I leave Ponyville?

Why wasn't I with my friends?

Why was Cadence there and not in the Crystal Empire?

Why did it suddenly choose that moment to attack?

Why?

WhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhwhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywwhywhyWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWH—

I can't remember why.

Maybe whatever that thing was stole that memory from me along with everything else. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if that were the case. I'm still surprised I can remember anything from before all of this... it feels like ages since the end of Equus.

...Maybe it has been ages.

That unrelenting darkness outside makes it impossible to tell how long it's been. The other Princesses and I could've been wandering around for hours, days, weeks, months, years, centuries for all I knew.

Doesn't matter though.

Nothing matters except what I have to do.

Until I finish what that thing started, I can't break.

I won't break like the others.

I have to keep it together... for their sake if not my own. If I lose it here, everything will have been for naught, and that thing wins... and I get turned into a monster just like Cadence, just like Luna, just like Celestia.

Oh... right.

That's right.

I saw them again while I was here... in Tartarus.

They—it... it followed me all the way here. I don't know why it suddenly decided it wanted me now. It was pretty content to just leave me be all the way here.

But no.

I hadn't even made it a few meters past the path Discord had created and into the cave when it showed up wearing all three of the last mares alive aside from me like a second, third, and fourth skin.

I ran.

Of course I ran.

What else could I do but run, y'know? I can't fight against that... I don't have the power to fight against it, so I ran. Thankfully the narrow cave opened up into a large space with lots and lots of hidey-holes.

I managed to keep myself hidden until they all apparently gave up and left, but as it turned out, Tartarus wasn't as lifeless as I thought it would be. It turned out one of the hidey-holes I had found was home to a giant vicious spider demon I hadn't noticed in my hyster—

...In my distress.

I don't really remember what happened next other than looking down to see a spindly, sharp, and hairy black limb jutting out of my chest... and blood... lots of it.

I'm fairly sure it was all mine, but again, I can't really remember that much.

I probably died again though.

I woke up trapped in a giant web with an eight legged monstrosity looming over me. Naturally I did what any alicorn versed in the magical arts would do in that situation.

I smash a boulder into it's skull over and over again via telekinesis.

I escaped from the cave and continued on my way, sickened at what I had done, but ultimately satisfied that I wasn't eaten or drained of all my fluids. I just had to tell myself it didn't matter—that I was just doing what I had to do to survive this place.

Just keep moving and don't look back.

Nothing was going to stop me now.

That wasn't the only time I died in Tartarus though, not by a long shot.

Discord had told me the path he created would make it easier to get to where I needed to go, and he was either lying to me... or this really was the easier path—a possibility I shudder just thinking about.

I don't know how much time I've spent down here, wandering through caves, open pathways surrounded by—or hanging over—pits of lava, acid, bottomless pits that went on forever, paths leading to dead ends, demonic wildlife... and it.

I've been burned alive, impaled, torn to pieces, sliced to pieces, almost eaten on several occasions, and even crushed under some kind of titanic creature, all just to escape that horrible nightmare that stole everything from me.

It hurt.

It all hurt so much.

I thought I was going to lose my mind on more than one occasion, the pain was so bad, but like clockwork, I came back each and every time to experience it all over again.

It was only then, after all the suffering that I had been through that I realized immortality was a curse, not a blessing. I found myself wondering if Celestia and Luna already knew that, and decided not to tell me when I had first become an alicorn.

Over the course of my long trek through Tartarus, I found out just how immortal alicorns really were, and—while it did staunch my fear of death somewhat—it increased my fear of pain significantly to the point where it may as well have been a replacement for my fear of death. Knowing I could suffer all of this agony and never find any relief from it...

It made me sick to my stomach.

But you know what? It was worth it.

It would all be worth it once that monster was gone. It's like I had said before, I wasn't going to let anything stop me from killing that thing, and with each horrible death that I suffered, my hatred for that thing grew more and more.

It never got as bad as Cadence, but it was there, and it was strong. Despite what I had told myself about letting that emotion in, at this point I couldn't help it. There was only so much I could take.

That numbness that had been growing more and more prominent within me?

I hadn't felt it in I don't know how long.

The only things I had felt even now, were intense anger, overwhelming fear, abject terror, and paranoia. I was constantly on edge, jumping at every little shadow or thing that moved.

Even now I'm huddled in a small alcove shaking like a leaf and desperately trying not to make a sound as something big, scaly, horned, and full of very sharp teeth roams the area, looking for me.

I had run afoul of the thing when I tried to escape it and fell into a ravine as a result. My wings had been torn to shreds sometime beforehoof and I couldn't fly to safety, so now here I was—waiting for two broken legs to heal and shaking like a little foal.

Had I the mental clarity to just teleport away, I would've, but as it stood, my thoughts weren't even close to clear enough for me to attempt it. I was slipping when it came to remembering things. Constant adrenaline was wearing down my thought processes and making it hard to make rational decisions.

It would be alright, though.

I just had to keep telling myself that it didn't matter if I died.

As long as I could get away from that thing, it didn't matter what happened to me. Though it was lessened, the fear of death never left me completely, no matter how many times it pulled me into its cold embrace... but it didn't matter.

Nothing matters.

Just survive long enough to get to that power, kill the monster, and... and...

...And I'd worry about whatever happened after the monster was dead, after the monster was dead. That's what I lived for now... this is what my continued existence has boiled down to. I've had to flee, fight, and even kill to get to this point.

Sure, they were only the demonic wildlife that inhabited Tartarus, but death was death... or maybe it wasn't... I didn't know anymore. I just knew I hadn't seen any sapient creatures aside from myself since Discord.

That, of course, didn't matter.

Eventually the scaled, fanged beast moved on and I was able to continue on my journey. I had been hidden in that alcove for so long, that my wounds had all healed, so I flew out of the ravine and back onto the path I had been trotting before it found me.

I had to be close to whatever this power was by now.

The narrow, rocky path I had been trotting on soon gave way to another cavern—this one much darker than the others I had been in. I stopped at the entrance, wary of anything that might be hiding inside.

The last time I had blindly trotted into a cavern, I had nearly had the blood drained out of me by giant mutant bats. I would've much rather been out in the open, where I could spot any threats from far away, but, looking around me, this was the only path forward that I could see.

I had to keep moving forward.

My legs shook and my body refused to budge from that spot.

I had to keep moving forward.

A feeling of dread began to rise within me.

I had to keep moving forward.

There was something in there.

Something cold and dark and horrifying—something I didn't want to face... and it wasn't the monster.

I don't know how I knew it, but whatever was in that cavern knew I was out here... and it wanted me. It hungered for me, and I could feel its icy gaze piercing me right down to the bone.

I knew that nothing I had been through thus far could've prepared me for what was in there... but I had to keep moving forward. I stood there for another moment longer, licking my lips nervously and trying to force my legs to stop shaking long enough to take a step.

My severely disheveled mane stuck to my sweaty face, and my frazzled tail constantly twitched with nervous energy. I tried to ignore the stinging sensation in my no doubt dull and sunken amethyst eyes as I schooled my features into a determined frown.

After what felt like an eternity, I took a step.

Then another.

Then two more.

Then I was in the cavern.

As I trotted inside, I had to snap my eyes shut against a bright light that seemed to be doing everything in it's power to blind me. I shook my head and rapidly blinked again and again, trying to clear the spots out of my eyes.

Once my vision had cleared, I focused once more on my surroundings and noticed two things immediately.

The sky was bright, blue, and beautiful—the Sun casting a gentle warmth over everything it touched upon. I was standing in front of an intact and very familiar giant tree with a door and windows built right into it.

Before I could even register what I was seeing, the sound of a handle being turned and the sight of a door opening caught my attention. I looked towards the open door and—

"Oh, Twilight, you're back!"

I blinked.

Then I blinked again, still not sure of what I was looking at.

The impossibility before me furrowed its brows in confusion as it eyed me.

"Uh, Twilight? You okay?" it asked before stepping aside, "you gonna come in or what? I already made lunch, y'know. It's gonna get cold if you just stand there all day."

I said nothing.

I made no move to enter the tree.

I simply sat and stared.

"Twilight," it said after a minute, it's expression growing wary and a little nervous, "seriously, are you gonna come in? You're starting to creep me out here..."

As I watched the little impossibility shift uncomfortably from my gaze, a slow smile began to creep across my muzzle. Tears started streaming down my face, but I ignored them in favor of the chuckle bubbling its way up into my throat.

I chuckled.

Then I laughed.

There was nothing I could do... I was helpless to hold it back. The impossibility took a step back in alarm, but I ignored it as I continued to laugh at... I don't even know what anymore.

I just had to laugh.

I laughed long and hard.

I laughed even as I cried.

Author's Note

The beginning of the end is upon us...

A Princess' Fall

This.

All of this.

The grass, the trees, the Sun, the bright blue sky, my library... my son, little brother, and faithful assitant.

None of it was real.

I knew intellectually that this was an impossibility. Ponyville wasn't alive and well in Tartarus, that was absurd and made no sense whatsoever.

"Um... Twilight?"

It wasn't like I had finally lost my faculties or anything—far from it in fact. I knew where I was, and I still knew what I had to do. Winding up... wherever this was didn't change that fact.

"Twilight?"

I just had to keep telling myself none of this was real, and that I was still in Tartarus. As long as I did that, I wouldn't fall for such an obvious trap. What was even the point of such a thing anyway?

"Twilight!"

I needed to keep telling myself it wasn't real.

It isn't real, I'm still in Tartarus.

"It isn't real... I'm still in Tartarus... it... it isn't r-real... I'm.... s... s-still—"

"TWILIGHT!"

I flinched violently and snapped my gaze towards and extremely concerned looking Spike. To my horror, I only now noticed I had pulled my son into a tight embrace, stroking his spines methodically as I sat in front of the entrance to the library.

When... when did that happen?

"Twilight, can you please let me go?"

I stared at him for a moment before slowly releasing my grip and letting him step away from me. He backed up a step and eyed me critically.

"Twilight, you don't look so good," he stated with a frown, "I think you should come inside and talk to the girls. It was supposed to be a surprise party for you.. but with you like this..."

The... girls?

No.

The fact that Spike was here was already impossible, but to have the rest of my friends here? No, something was clearly wrong here, and I had to find a way to—

I slowly rose to my hooves and took a few shaky steps past the little drake—my eyes locked firmly on the slightly open door before me. My friends were waiting for me... they were right there, in the libra—

This. Isn't. Real.

I slowed to a stop just before the door.

"Twilight?"

I looked back to see Spike standing there with an expectant look.

"Aren't you gonna go inside?"

I opened my mouth... then closed it again and gave a single nod, before pushing the door open. I didn't know why I was listening to Spike, but I couldn't help it for some reason.

I knew.

I knew better, and yet I obeyed.

Something compelled me to obey, and I knew what it was. It wasn't any external force pushing me to go forward, it wasn't Spike, it wasn't even my own determination.

It was something far more primal than that.

It was the same instinct that made me literally exhaust myself to death fleeing from Cadence. It was the need to gather, to be with more of my own. It was overpowering, it was overwhelming, and I couldn't stop it.

Even knowing that they were fake, I needed to see them... no matter how much it hurt.

"SURPRI—gghak!"

I killed Pinkie Pie.

She wanted to surprise me with a party and in my surprise, I crushed her windpipe in my telekinesis. I release my hold on her throat and let her drop to the floor gasping, choking, and gagging as she failed to draw any breath into her lungs.

This isn't real, I'm still in Tartarus.

My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it beating against my ribcage.

This isn't real, I'm still in Tartarus.

She crawled towards me, weakly pawing at my legs and asking me why, not with words, but with a look. I found myself staring into those eyes with no answer to give. I watched those bright blue eyes slowly glaze over and took an involuntary step back as her head fell to the floor with a muted thud.

"T-This... isn't real... I'm..."

She didn't move.

"I'm... I-I'm..."

I heard more voices from further in the library followed by a sudden gasp.

I snapped my gaze forward and saw them all... Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

I saw the initial confusion as they took in the scene before them. I saw each of their confused looks turn to ones of shock and horror as they realized what had actually happened. One of my ears twitched as I heard a tiny quivering voice from behind me.

"T-Twilight?"

This isn't real, I'm still in Tartarus.

I turned to see Spike standing right behind me, his eyes locked on the body in front of me. After a second his gaze drifted from Pinkie to me, that same look of horror and confusion written on his face like all the others.

"Twilight... w... w-what did you do?"

"I... I didn't," I shook my head rapidly as I backed away from the purple drake, "no. No, this... this isn't my fault, it's not real—none of this... is real," I whirled around and jabbed a hoof at my horror stricken friends, "none of you are real!"

"Twilight, darling," Rarity nearly whispered in a shaky voice, "w-what are you talking about? You... you killed Pinkie, and now you're going to stand there and tell us—"

"You're. Not. Real!" I shouted frantically, "you can't be real... b-because if you are... then that means I... t-that I—gah!"

A cyan hoof caught me in the face and I fell to the floor.

"It means you just killed one of your friends!" Rainbow Dash growled, "one of our friends!"

"N-No, I didn't," I whimpered, clutching at my eye and trying to rise to my hooves, "I... she's not... she wasn't—"

"She was very real, Twilight Sparkle," came Rarity's voice, cold and hard, "as real as you and I, or any of the rest of us."

"N-No!," I cried, "this isn't Ponyville! I'm s-still in Tartarus! This—oof!"

Another hoof connected with my barrel and sent me skidding across the floor. I heard Applejack's furious voice say something, but I couldn't focus on that as I curled up on the ground in pain.

There was something building inside me.

Some kind of emotion, or feeling, or... something.

I didn't know what it was, but it scared me. It scared me so much that I tried to push the feeling down. Somewhere deep down, I think I knew what it was. I had been afraid of it ever since Luna and I had been skulking our way through the destroyed city—maybe even before then.

I knew it was coming.

I wouldn't be able to stop it.

I tried to tell myself during my nightmarish trip through Tartarus that I wouldn't—couldn't let it happen... but this was too much. It was far too much for me.

I wasn't prepared for it.

I couldn't take it.

I finally see my friends again, and I kill one of them by accident. Now the rest hate and probably fear me. I cracked a teary eye open and winced at the sight of both Rainbow Dash and Applejack standing over me with nothing but hate and malice in their eyes.

I blocked out their horrible words and looked over to where Pinkie's body was. Fluttershy was sobbing over the body and Rarity was trying to comfort Spike, who's eyes were locked on me with a look of confusion, horror... and betrayal.

This was it.

The look on Spike's face had finally done it.

I was breaking.

For the longest time I was afraid that there would be an incident that would push me over the edge, and it had happened—not when Cadence was being attacked, but now—here in this farce of a library.

That's right.

This...

None of this was real.

I shouldn't feel guilty about what I did to 'Pinkie' because it wasn't Pinkie. The anger and sorrow my 'friends' felt at what I had done didn't mean anything because they weren't real.

I could crush all their windpipes and it wouldn't mean a thing. I could tear them apart like I was torn apart time and again, and I doubt they'd feel it, I could impale them, burn them, crush them, slice them open and spill their nonexistent guts, and not have to worry because of one simple fact.

My friends and my son were already dead.

The only thing this... illusion, accomplished in the end was making me angry... very angry. It mocked me and made light of everything I had lost. It tried to dangle happiness right in front of my face, knowing I could never get back what was taken from me.

Knowing I could never be happy again.

And I hated it for that.

"You feel it, don't you?"

My attention was drawn back to Pinkie's body, still unmoving, though I swear I had heard it—

"The overwhelming desire to end that which torments you, the absolute need to make the hurt go away... I can help you, you know."

My eyes widened in fear.

Is that—

"No you silly equine, it's not that thing you've been fleeing from all this time. I'm something different... something far stronger... something that's willing to help you end that monster along with allll of your suffering."

Pinkie still hadn't moved from her prone position and yet, I knew the voice was coming from her. I really had lost it if I was hearing these kinds of things from a corpse.

"Oh, you've lost it alright, and that's exactly why I'm able to speak to you now. You've reached rock bottom, Twilight Sparkle, there's no lower point for you than this, here in this moment."

I said nothing, I paid no attention to my friends as they continued to verbally assault me, sob over Pinkie's body, or comfort each other. My mind was solely focused on this new voice and I listened with every fiber of my being, desperate to hold on for just a little longer.

"Even now, you were mere seconds away from falling to insanity and brutally slaughtering the rest of your 'friends' in a blind psychotic rage while you laughed and laughed and laughed as your mind broke down further and further... but I feel that would've been a waste, so I intervened."

"P-Please..."

"The fact of the matter is that you came here to accomplish a task, a very important task, little lady... and I can give you the means to finish it."

"Please..."

"If you want this power though, you'll have to throw everything else away... are you willing to do that, Twilight Sparkle? Are you willing to give yourself entirely to this power, knowing that you'll never truly feel again? You'd be giving up your equinity just like those other alicorns before y—"

"Please just... make the pain go away... please... I can't..."

Tears streamed down my face as I lay there on the ground, staring at the corpse of the happiest, friendliest mare I had ever met. I had stopped listening to the voice's warnings in favor of holding on to what remained of myself.

If it was offering a way out, I was going to take it, no matter what it was. The voice was silent for a long moment before speaking again, both amusement and triumph coloring its tone.

"Very well, Twilight Sparkle, if that's truly what you want, then I won't waste anymore time... Give me all of you, and I shall give you all of me..."

With a loud snap, Pinkie's head twisted all the way around to face me, her eyes completely white and a wicked smile splitting her muzzle nearly in half.

"...with these words, a contract is formed and I am finally set free!"

Its eyes flashed a bright white, and I screamed.

An explosion of agony wracked my body and everything faded until there was nothing left but a shining white light and unending pain.

Author's Note

For anyone who's curious or worried, no, this is not a possession and Twilight will remain in full control of her own body, just... well... you'll see.

A Princess' Rebirth

The pained slowly ebbed... then disappeared altogether.

My vision gradually returned, and with it came a sense that something had most definitely changed—both within and without. I didn't feel that horrible ache in my chest, I didn't feel the numbness, I didn't feel like I was going over the edge.

I didn't feel much of anything, really.

I ignored the shocked and panicking fabrications around me as I focused on myself and what had changed. If I concentrated hard enough, I could feel my emotions, but they felt... severely muted—like they were far away somewhere inside of me in a place I couldn't reach.

I also felt a refreshing sense of mental clarity that I hadn't experienced since... I couldn't even remember when. It was then that I noticed the loud roaring sound in my ears. It was something akin to the roaring wind I had heard when I fell out of the sky after it drained all my magic.

It took me another second to realize the loud roar was coming from me somehow.

As I raised a hoof to inspect it, I was intrigued to find that my flesh and fur had been replaced with a bright shining light in the shape of a hoof—tiny wisps of that same light rising from the radiant limb.

I lowered my hoof and turned to look at the rest of me, only to see much of the same. My body, my mane, my tail... everything was replaced with a brilliant white light.

Rather than shadow, I was a silhouette made of pure light, streams of it wafting off my body like steam. It was interesting to say the least, but there were other things to take note of.

Namely the effect I was having on the fabricated environment around me. Merely standing there, I lit up the entire room and every single thing in it—there was literally no shadows anywhere to be seen.

As I scanned the room, I caught sight of myself in a small mirror next to the door to the kitchen. Curious, I made my way over, once again ignoring my fabricated friends as they shuffled away and stared at me in silent horror... or awe... I wasn't sure which, and I didn't particularly care.

Far more interesting was my reflection.

As I had thought, I was pure light in pony form, with the only exception being the two smoldering red dots in place of where my amethyst eyes once were. I tilted my head in confusion and turned back to where the fabrications were cowering by the entrance.

I also noted that 'Pinkie's' body was nowhere to be seen.

That wasn't what confused me, though.

What confused me, was the sudden gnawing hunger I felt. It didn't feel like any hunger I had experienced before... there was something different about it, and I realized that hunger grew more and more the longer I looked at the fabrications.

Somehow they seemed to sense this, because they began to panic, screaming and begging and trying to run as far away from me as possible. It was a curious thing to see in all honesty, but ultimately useless as—pulling from some new instinct I had gained—I opened my mouth wide.

I opened it as wide as I could... and then I opened it wider than even that.

Then I inhaled.

The constant roar in my ears became deafening as I sucked everything into the vacuum that was my maw. The fabrications cried out in fear, each one of them desperately clinging to whatever was nailed to the floor for dear life.

This wasn't working.

I snapped my mouth shut and anything that hadn't been swallowed dropped back down to the ground, the fabrications included. With a thought, several of the wisps of light coming off of me solidified into tentacles and lashed out, wrapping around the barrels and legs of the surprised fabrications.

Each of them screamed as I pulled them into the air and brought them closer. My mouth once again opened wide and their screams were cut short, right along with their 'lives'.

I devoured each and every one of them—their fur, flesh, scales, blood, bones and organs satisfying my newfound hunger in a way I couldn't have ever properly conveyed. The only thing I knew for sure as I continued my feeding frenzy, is that the taste was unlike anything I had ever come across before.

They all tasted like darkness... and it was delicious.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike... they all became the precious resources that sustained me, and I ate without remorse or regret. I ate because it was what I was meant to do, I ate because they tasted good.

I ate until I was full.

As I finished off the last of my meal, my mouth snapped shut and the tentacles of light retracted and became the steam-like wisps wafting from my body once more. I let out what could've been a satisfied sigh and suddenly felt another change overtake me.

I was... shrinking?

I looked down at myself and realized I was beginning to change not just in size, but in color and substance as well—the light forming my body fading and becoming pink flesh and lavender fur once again.

After a few moments, I was my old alicorn self once more... yet, something still felt... off.

I turned back to the mirror I had seen earlier and blinked as I saw my reflection. My eyes were now completely white, with no pupils or irises that I could see, and I also happened to notice that my cutie mark was gone.

That was the last thing I noticed before a loud hiss caught my attention. I refocused on my surroundings and furrowed my brow as I watched the entire library disintegrate bit by bit all around me.

After several long moments, I was once again surrounded in the darkness of a normal cave... well, as normal as a cave in Tartarus can get. I stood there for a moment, trying to regain my bearings before turning around and facing the cave entrance.

Rather than leave right away, I sat down on my haunches and thought about my current predicament.

Whatever that... thing was, it had granted me some kind of new power, as promised... but I had no idea what to make of it. It was like I was the embodiment of Light, but what did that mean?

What exactly was this power and why was it hidden away in Tartarus? It was clearly sapient, and had even mentioned something about a contract... so was it some kind of demon?

Had I taken the power of some sort of... Light based demon into me?

It seemed like my mind was still my own, so I wasn't being possessed. Even when I was... whatever that thing was, I was still in control... for the most part. The urge to feed had been overwhelming, but other than that, I didn't feel like I was being controlled.

So then if this was a contract like that thing said, what did it get out of it? What even did I get out of it? Sure I had this strange ability to turn into light and... eat darkness? Maybe not literal darkness, but... Dark Magic possibly? Is that what my power was? Is that what my purpose was?

I didn't know.

I knew nothing about how my new abilities worked. Everything I had done so far up until this point was due to some strange new instinct. I didn't know the full extent of whatever this power was... but I planned to find out.

I had a feeling I'd need every ounce of it to kill that monster. I no longer had a desire for revenge, nor did I want to do it out of anger, hate, or fear—it was now merely an obligation to right a terrible wrong. Whatever that thing posing as Pinkie's corpse did to me, it locked away all of those emotions and more... for the most part.

I could still feel them there somewhere far away, but for now, this was exactly what I needed. I could now think clearly, I could accomplish what I needed to do without making rash decisions based on fear and panic, and I would exploit that advantage to its fullest.

Still, what that thing had said did fill me with some unease.

"Give me all of you... and I shall give you all of me..."

My own voice didn't sound right in my ears, but I set that aside in favor of trying to figure out exactly what that phrase meant for me. What did it mean for me to give myself to the power?

That was something I would have to ponder later, along with many other things. For now though, I needed to get out of this cave and focus on the task at hoof. I had stayed here long enough, and the darkness surrounding me was making me hungry again.

As I rose to my hooves and began my long trot back to Equestria, I wondered how I would go about finding the monster, and if I would have to fight against Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to get to it.

There was a high possibility that would be the case, and I found that I didn't mind. With this new power, I may have just found a way to finally end their pain for good. I may have been able to put them to rest in a way that Cadence couldn't, even with all the hate in the world.

I could feel my current form slipping as my hunger increased and—seeing the wisps of light rising from beneath my fur—I pushed the hunger back down, causing my fur to return to normal. At the very least, if I focused, I could keep it at bay.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder what the monster would taste like.

A Monster's Family

As I made my way back to Equestria I began to hear voices.

I didn't know what they were saying, but they would intermittently grow louder and quieter as I trotted along. Sometimes they were whispers, but other times they grew into loud shouts.

Sometimes they were just guttural noises and sometimes they were inequine shrieks of rage, pain, and despair. I could hear them everywhere i went, and I didn't know where they were coming from.

As confusing as it was, what was more confusing, was that these voices didn't bother me. In fact, it felt as though I should be hearing them—like it was my duty, my obligation to hear them.

It was difficult to put into words, really.

The trek back was surprisingly uneventful given how brutal my journey into Tartarus had been. With seemingly no threats to worry about for the moment, I took some time to try and parse what the voices were saying.

It sounded like they were coming from everywhere at once, and with them all speaking simultaneously, I couldn't make anything out. Even when I felt I was able to separate a voice, the meaning of the words escaped me.

With a small sigh, I shook my head and just let the incoherent babble wash over me. I figured if I was meant to understand the voices, then they'd make themselves clear.

With that thought in mind I continued on my way.

It wasn't until after another hour or so of trotting that I came across any of the creatures I had seen before. Even then it was only a fleeting glimpse of a massive black mantis-like creature that had fled into one of the many caves dotting the walls as soon as it saw me.

That was... interesting.

I recognized it as the same mantis that had sliced me open and left me for dead on my first trek through this place. Now that I wasn't being accosted by deadly Tartarus wildlife, I found myself wondering why the thing hadn't tried to eat me.

Whatever the case was, it seemed I was free to continue unhindered by the beasts of Tartarus. I wasn't about to complain, not that I would've if any had shown up at all.

It was just as I finished crossing the rocky bridge over the bottomless chasm that I felt something change. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but as I focused my senses, two things became apparent.

The first was that the voices as a whole seemed to be getting louder—more restless... agitated... angry. I felt their rising fury more than heard it, though it was clearly audible in my ears.

The second thing I had noticed was that I was getting hungry again. I had managed to suppress it for the last few hours or so, but it suddenly spiked to the point where it was almost unbearable.

The steamy wisps of light once again began to rise from beneath my fur and, this time I couldn't hold it back. I felt my alicorn form slipping away, and I heard the voices grow to an enraged cacophony.

Then I heard something else... something familiar. It cut through the voices and pierced right through me. The dam broke, and my alicorn body all but evaporated, replaced by the massive ethereal pony shaped silhouette of light.

All thought left me and my hunger overtook me at the sound of that wretched howl. I needed to feed, and the one thing that could sate my hunger was close.

So very close.

Up until now, I hadn't seen how Cadence was able to move around and find me no matter where I went, but now... now I was able to spot her almost as soon as she appeared.

One instant there was nothing.

The next, there was Cadence.

She stood a few yards away, her monstrous black form constantly twisting and writhing into impossible to understand shapes.

Rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth snapped and gnashed at me—her countless mouths vanishing and reappearing all over the nigh incomprehensible, yet sometimes vaguely pony shaped mass that was her body.

The voices cried out for her demise, and I was all too willing to comply.

I took a step forward.

Cadence didn't move.

I took another step.

Still no movement.

I let out a warbling, echoing screech and took a third step.

Cadence took a step back.

Somewhere beneath the mindless hunger this surprised me. Was this a case of the dark being afraid of the light? Either way I didn't stop, and I was getting impatient.

Before Cadence could make any other move, I lashed out with a tentacle, smashing it right into where her chest would've been and expanding the shining limb outwards until it completely enveloped her.

She screamed and began thrashing about as I dragged her towards my widening mouth. The voices were in a frenzy, eager to see the inevitable outcome.

"Twilight stop! Please!"

I froze.

The shock I felt was so great, it overrode the overpowering hunger. My mouth slowly closed, and almost unbidden, the tentacle wrapped around my would-be meal receded and reverted back to a wisp of light.

There, crumpled up pathetically on the ground right where the monster had been only seconds before, was Cadence.

Not the monster, but the pony.

With my tentacle no longer holding her, she had dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. After a few moments she unsteadily rose to her hooves and stumbled a bit before looking up at me.

"T-Twilight?" she asked, looking just as shocked as I felt, "w-what... what happened to you?"

I didn't answer.

The voices were quiet now. They sounded... confused. Unsure. The hunger had abated and with it gone, I once again reverted back to an alicorn—or the guise of one anyway. At this point I was fairly sure I wasn't a pony of any sort... not anymore.

"Cadence."

The pink alicorn winced at the monotonous and unnatural sound of my voice, but didn't shy away. Rather, she took a step closer, concern and bewilderment written all over her face.

"Twilight, what's going on? Why do you look like that?" she paused and looked around as if just now noticing her surroundings, "where are we?"

"This is Tartarus," I replied flatly, "I came here to find the power to destroy the monster that destroyed Equus. I believe I've found it, and I intend to finish what that monster started."

I tilted my head and stared at the shivering mare before me.

"You've been possessed by the monster, and I can no longer trust that you won't turn on me when my guard is down."

"What?!" Cadence cried taking a step back, "but, Twilight... I wouldn't—"

"I'm going to find and devour the monster," I interjected, taking a step forward, "you don't seem to have any memory of your time as its puppet, so I doubt you'll be able to tell me where it is or how it gets around."

"Twilight, please, listen to me!" Cadence pleaded, taking another step back, "I have no idea what's going on! What happened? Where's Auntie and Lu—"

"Like you, the other two Princess' have fallen to madness and corruption, becoming possessed by the monster. I am the only one left who has control over her own body and mind."

I paused a moment.

"I do need to get a handle on my... appetite," I amended, "but other than that, I'm the only one left with the power and mental clarity to oppose this monster, and I will see to its demise without fail."

Cadence took one more step back and fell to her haunches in disbelief. For several moments she just sat there and stared at me.

"It's like you're a completely different pony," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. Her gaze traveled over my body and stopped on my flank, her eyes widening in horror, "you don't even have your cutie mark anymore..."

"I'm no longer a pony, Cadence," I replied dully, "why would I have a cutie mark?"

That just made the tears come faster.

"Oh, Twilight!" she sobbed, "I'm... I-I'm so sorry... if I was stronger, I could've—"

"There was nothing you could've done, Cadence," I said, moving closer until I was standing over the crying mare, "there was nothing any of us could've done. We were all up against an unstoppable force."

"But... b-but still!" Cadence cried, her teary eyes meeting my blank white orbs, "I should've held on! Tried harder! I should've realized you weren't... w-weren't..."

"We couldn't fight it," I continued as Cadence trailed off, "we couldn't run from it, we couldn't hide from it... its victory was inevitable," I looked away, staring down the path ahead, "in the end, I broke down... I gave up just like you, Celestia, and Luna... it really did win after all."

There was a long beat of silence, and then...

"There really isn't any other way... is there?"

My ear twitched at the tone of Cadence's voice and I looked back to see her rise to her hooves. She wiped her tears away and stared back at me, a sudden spark of conviction burning in her eyes.

"It's already too late, isn't it?"

I blinked before giving a slow nod. She lowered her gaze a moment, her determined frown faltering briefly. She let out a shuddering breath before looking back to me.

"Then you need to eat me."

I tilted my head once more with a small frown and waited for an explanation.

"I may not remember what I did while I was... under that thing's control," she said, putting a hoof to her chest, "but I can still feel it. Its power is still inside me, and I can tell that it's scared... scared of whatever you are now."

I said nothing in response and she continued.

"Maybe that's why it let me go... I don't know," she said, shaking her head helplessly, "but what I do know, is that as long as the other Princesses and I are alive, you'll never be able to end it. So..."

She took another deep breath and stood as tall as she could, though I could see more tears building up in her eyes as she spoke.

"Please, Twilight," she pleaded, her voice wavering, "j-just... be quick, alright? I-I don't want Auntie and Luna to suffer anymore... I don't want to suffer anymore... and maybe... maybe you'll find a way too."

"I won't Cadence," I replied, turning to fully face my sister-in-law, "once the monster is dead, I'll remain here and alive until the very planet crumbles away, and even then I still might continue to exist."

She let out a choked sob, but quickly recovered and stepped towards me.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, before pulling me into a tight hug, "I'm... so sorry, Twilight."

I didn't say anything as she held me. The voices, which had been quiet up until now, suddenly grew louder, and my hunger began to return.

Wasting no more time, I slowly, reluctantly returned Cadence's hug as my body shifted once more. I may not have felt anything for what was to come, but I at least could've humored my sister and former foalsitter one last time.

She stepped back and watched me with a small smile, even as my open maw hovered over her.

"Sunshine... sunshine... ladybugs awa—"

Clap your hooves... and do a little shake...

A Monster's Confession

As I made my way out of the bowels of Tartarus and closer to the entrance, the constant stream of incoherent babble became somewhat more coherent.

I still couldn't understand the actual words being said—or even if they were words—but the meanings were becoming much clearer to me.

The concepts, emotions, and intent of the whispers, screams, groans, growls, and many other noises the voices conveyed reached me, and through these things, I understood what they spoke of.

The voices told me of their nightmares, their worries, their pain, their misery, their triumphs, their failures, their lives, their deaths, their friends, their allies, and most of all...

Their enemies.

They told me much of who or what had wronged them. They told me of their desire to see justice carried out, no matter how petty or insignificant the slight may have been.

They spoke, and I listened.

They didn't spur me to action exactly, but I felt... compelled to listen to their 'words'. Now more than ever, I felt an obligation to hear them out.

As I listened, I began to get an idea of just what I had become... and I found I didn't mind if my suspicions turned out to be true—on the contrary, I took an odd sort of solace in the possibility.

By the time I neared the exit of the cave leading back to the path Discord had made for me, I could pick out individual voices from the verbal static.

None of them sounded familiar... save for one.

Before I could dwell too much on the matter, the voices began to swell once more into an angry crescendo, and I picked up my pace somewhat as the hunger grew—my skin and fur peeling away to be replaced by pure light.

It was close.

I didn't know exactly where it was, but I knew I would run into it soon. The voices knew it was coming, and as I made my way down the sloped and narrowed pathway leading back to the entrance... it attacked.

The only warning I got was a guttural roar.

I didn't even have time to fully revert back to my true form before something heavy slammed into my barrel and I was thrown completely off the path and into the burning lava below.

The only sensation I felt from landing in the melted rock was some slight resistance as I sank. I felt none of the actual heat, and my form didn't appear to be affected all that much, if at all.

Rather than try to wade through the viscous substance, I chose to take to the sky. With a blinding flash of light, I vanished and reappeared high in the air above where I fell.

By this point, my transformation was complete and the wisps of light coming from my body solidified into makeshift wings that held me aloft.

I swept my gaze across the area and before I could spot what I was looking for, another roar erupted from behind and to the left of me.

I was prepared for it.

As the object from before went to lash out at me again, I whipped around, opened my jaws, and bit down on it... hard. The resulting roar was deafening, but I ignored it and yanked the thing forward.

It turned out the object was a black, star encrusted limb that had been stretched taut as I pulled. The limb ended in a gnarled, but incredibly sharp claw and it was attached to something just out of sight below the lava.

I gave a warbling roar of my own and pulled again, harder this time and with more force in my bite. Rather than pulling whatever was in the lava out, I tore the limb off and devoured it.

I didn't have time to do anything else as three more tentacle like appendages shot out of the lava and wrapped around my ethereal form, desperately trying to pull me in.

I responded in kind, using my own light born tentacles to probe the lava's surface. I felt them wrap around something and immediately began to drag it out of the molten rock.

There was a brief struggle, but eventually the monstrosity was pulled forth from the lava and, with another warbling cry, I brought the monster towards me.

It was a strange and hideous thing.

It had the body of an equine, but the body was black, smoky, and dotted with countless tiny motes of light. Its legs were overlong and spindly—flailing about in a twitchy, jerky motion as I held it in my grip.

What was most disturbing were the countless grotesque tentacle-like appendages sprouting from where its head and neck should've been, each limb ending in vicious looking black claws.

One of its claws raised and in the palm I could see a lone, slitted cerulean eye. Upon closer inspection every claw had an eye in the center.

As I took a moment to observe the thing, it tried to grab me once more. I jerked my head out of reach as it snapped a claw at me, and roared at it before using my own shining limbs to heave it into the cavern below near the entrance.

As soon as it hit the ground I blazed after it, cutting a streak of light across the darkened skies of Tartarus and smashing the monstrosity deeper into the ground as I landed atop it an instant later.

I wasn't waiting anymore.

The voices, my mission, and my hunger were in clear agreement.

It was time to do what needed to be done.

With one last warbling roar, I opened my mouth wide and prepared to feed. The instant before I brought my head down, I stopped.

Something wasn't right.

It took me a second to figure it out, but eventually I realized what was off. One of the voices—that lone, familiar voice spoke out, its tone louder and clearer than any of the others.

It screamed to be heard over the deafening sea of noise, and I heard its cry.

It cried out the innocence of the monster before me. I brought my attention back to the monster in question, only to find a wide and teary eyed midnight blue alicorn in its place.

Upon realizing the Darkness no longer held sway over the alicorn—at least for the moment—the voices begrudgingly calmed themselves and I shrunk back down into my own alicorn form, though I still stood atop the dark blue pony beneath me.

"So you've regained your senses I see," I commented with a tilt of my head, "the Darkness has receded from you, but I can still feel it through my hunger... and though the voices have quieted, they're still restless."

I leaned in close to the shocked mare, staring into her eyes.

"You're hiding something, Luna," I stated flatly, "I don't know what it is you're keeping from me, but you reek of guilt and shame."

Luna winced and looked away.

I could feel her shaking under me, her face strained with the effort of holding something back—something she desperately wanted to remain unknown to anypony.

"Please, Twilight," Luna begged in a quiet, shaky voice, "just consume me and be done with it."

My stoic expression deepened into a slight frown and I raised my head. For several moments, I didn't say or do anything.

She was guilty of something, that much I was certain of. The problem was finding out what it was she was hiding. The voice that had cried out for her innocence had gone conspicuously quiet—even more so than the rest.

It was as though they were all waiting.

With the intent of finding out what Luna knew, I raised a hoof and placed it just above her head, much to the mare's confusion and trepidation.

"Twilight?" she asked, a hint of fear lacing her voice, "w-what are you—"

The hoof lit up with a blinding light and I pressed it to Luna's forehead, just below her horn. She screamed as the hoof shrunk and twisted into a tendril of light that sunk deep into her skull.

In an instant I saw everything.

I saw a sweaty and whimpering Luna, tossing and turning in her bed as a small, formless shadow enveloped her horn and dug itself deep into her mind.

I saw Luna standing atop a cliff overlooking a burning Canterlot. I saw the horror and despair etched on her face—how she turned away from the horrible sight only to be greeted by the tall star filled silhouette of a pony, its outline constantly shifting as though it was made of Luna's very own mane.

I saw more restless nights, more terrible dreams, the lies she told her sister, myself and my friends to keep the truth hidden, and the gradual descent into depression.

I saw Luna as she stood tall next to her sister, both on a balcony overlooking hundreds of thousands of ponies cheering her name.

I saw her pure elation turn to utter horror as she witnessed the pony shaped, star speckled shadow disappear through a tear in the sky.

I watched as the Lunar Princess chased the shadow through countless dreams, desperately pursuing it even as she continued to heap lies upon those closest to her.

I watched her fail to catch the shadow time and time again. I watched as the shadow grew in strength with each dream it corrupted.

As Luna's memories flooded my mind, I began to regain my own memories.

I remembered my own restless nights full of horror and despair. I remember finding out soon after my nightmares began, that my friends had been suffering as well.

It didn't stop there.

In hardly any time at all, the entire town of Ponyville had been affected by horrible nightmares that only grew worse as time went on.

Then one night I got a summons from Celestia.

She herself, along with the rest of the citizens of Canterlot had also been plagued by terrible dreams... and yet it still didn't stop there.

As it turned out, the Nightmare Plague had all but consumed the whole of Equestria, and there were even reports of the plague in other nations across Equus.

Naturally we all turned to Luna for answers and a solution... but she had none to give. She merely told us she was taking care of it and that we shouldn't worry.

We pushed, we begged, we pleaded, but in the end... we couldn't get anything out of her. Eventually we left her alone, trusting her to take care of it.

There was really nothing else we could do, Luna alone had dominion over the Realm of Dreams.

Somewhere far away, I heard a scream... no... it was a plea.

It was Luna.

Her eyes were clenched shut, tears streaming down her face as she cried and screamed and begged me to stop—to look no further... but I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

I delved further, looked deeper into the memories she tried to keep hidden even as my own memories continued to emerge.

As the Nightmare Plague wore on, we had all decided enough was enough. At the behest of Celestia, Cadence, my brother, and I made our way to Canterlot.

As I arrived, Celestia's Sun was set to give way to Luna's Moon and Stars. I was already speaking to Celestia by the time Cadence and my brother had arrived in Canterlot.

That was when everything ended.

I had convinced Celestia to let me talk to Luna alone, and went to see her as she raised the Moon, but thanks to the Lunar alicorn's memories, I now knew the truth of what she was actually trying to do.

What she had really wrought.

As I approached Luna, I could see her eyes were closed, and her brow was matted with sweat. At first, I assumed she was having trouble raising the Moon, but the truth was far worse.

It wasn't the Moon she was struggling to raise, it was the the shadow she had finally managed to capture. It was the shadow she was trying to contain.

It was the Tantabus she was trying to seal within her very own Moon... without the Elements.

In the end, she couldn't contain it, and the Tantabus broke free. It was released into the waking world, and the resulting magical backlash from the failed sealing spell wiped out Canterlot and the entire world beyond.

And even that still wasn't the end of Luna's folly.

It was Luna that had awakened first and found the rest of us, still charred black and near dead from the initial blast. It was Luna—completely mad with guilt and despair—that wiped away her own memories of the event, trying and not entirely succeeding to do the same with the rest of us.

I still remembered going to Canterlot to talk to Luna about something, and Cadence still remembered going to Canterlot with Shining Armor for one reason or another.

I didn't know how much Celestia remembered about what happened, but it was clear she had no memory of what Luna had done either.

"They're all gone, and it's my fault."

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked down at Luna. Her face held a wretched expression of guilt and self loathing. She looked away from me as she continued speaking.

"The Tantabus, it... as it invaded my mind in that cave, it made me remember things," she looked back towards me, a lost and broken look in her eyes, "it made me remember what the Elements had done to me, what Celestia had done to me, and worst of all... what I had done."

"You let your stubbornness, fear, guilt, and shame cloud your judgment," I observed dully, causing the mare beneath me to wince and give a slow nod.

"I... had already tarnished my own name as Nightmare Moon," Luna continued, "if I were to tell my sister and the rest of you what had been happening, who knows what you would have done?"

She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head once.

"No, like a fool, I thought it best not to tell any of you what I was going through. I knew not where that shadow came from or why it had decided to invade my own dreams, but I... came to see it as a sort of punishment—a fitting punishment for all the suffering I had caused as Nightmare Moon."

"So you let it fester and grow," I surmised, "feeding it with your negative emotions until it became strong enough to eventually escape into the real world," I tilted my head and frowned, "if you had confided in me and my friends, we could've used the Elements to seal the Tantabus away like you wanted."

"I know," Luna replied, closing her eyes as more tears slipped down her cheeks, "I knew that, but... I didn't want to. The Elements, they're not as pure and innocent a force as you believe them to be, Twilight Sparkle."

"Whether that's true or not, the outcome would have been significantly better had you chosen to use them," I replied flatly, "but I suppose that doesn't matter now."

"No... I suppose it doesn't," Luna agreed, staring up at the ceiling of the cave, "once it was released, the Tantabus gained complete dominion over the Dream Realm and is now using its power to affect reality in a way I never could... or wanted to.

"The giant beast, the eye in the sky, the corruption, its omnipresence, and all of the other horrifying abilities its manifested can be traced back to the innate power of the Dream Realm..."

To my mild surprise, Luna began to chuckle, a vindictive smile playing across her muzzle.

"...but it's getting weaker."

"Weaker?" I replied, creasing my brow slightly, "weaker how?"

"It feeds off of negative emotions, and though it can feed on magic, magic alone cannot sustain it," she explained, "when the magical backlash destroyed Equus and killed off all life, it effectively cut off its source of food."

She finally turned her gaze away from the ceiling to look at me, her smile falling into a serious frown.

"My sister knows far more about what you are than I do," she said before raising her head to look at the ornate door further into the cave, "but I can tell you that you don't have the same problem as the Tantabus."

She looked back to me with pleading eyes.

"You must go, Twilight," she urged, "consume me and my sister, and the Tantabus should have no choice but to reveal itself, though I am not one hundred percent certain of that."

"...Cadence says she forgives you."

Luna blinked and gave me a confused look before realization dawned on her. She smiled and let out a bitter, broken laugh as her eyes teared up once more.

"I don't deserve forgiveness, Twilight," she said after a moment, "it was I that allowed our world to perish at the hooves of that demon, and I refuse to accept anything other than your judgment, so please..."

She trailed off and looked at me with a sad, expectant expression. I stared back at her a moment longer before shedding my alicorn form and standing tall as an ethereal being once more.

Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I know no words could ever erase the sins I've committed, but know that I am sorry, Twilight... Cadence... sister," she said in a quaking whisper, "I never meant for any of this to happen, but what's done is done, and I accept full responsibility."

Luna fell silent.

I opened my maw and descended upon the Lunar Princess.

A sickening crunch filled the air, and the Princess of the Night was no more.

Tia...

A Monster's Mentor

With another meal finished and another voice added to the chorus, I trotted the rest of the way into the cavern and towards the entrance to Tartarus.

Without preamble or hesitation I pushed the massive ornate door open and stepped through and into Equestria. Beyond the door was another cavern that led out of Mount Infernus.

The new voices hit me with an almost physical force.

So loud was the cacophony that I staggered backwards, screaming in agony under the assault of so many voices. I don't know how long I stood there, paralyzed by the pain that seemed to emanate from somewhere within.

At some point I had fallen to the ground, clenching my eyes shut and gritting my teeth as I tried to ride out the agony. It felt like an eternity, but eventually my body seemed to grow accustomed to the drastic increase in sound and I shakily rose to my hooves.

My ears twitched involuntarily a few times and I rapidly shook my head, trying to clear out the residual pain and disorientation. Once my head had cleared completely and the voices had settled back down, I looked around me.

Apparently in my agonized state, my new form had lashed out, leaving deep, still dimly glowing furrows in the ground and walls of the cave. I blinked once and turned to the mouth of the cave a few yards away.

I tilted my head and listened, picking out the almost endless new voices in my head. The majority of them I didn't recognize, but there were many that I did remember.

Among them were eight very familiar voices in particular.

Satisfied that everything was as it should be, I continued making my way out of the cave. Once I was outside, my alicorn form melted away without warning and my bright silhouette blazed like a beacon in the endless darkness.

The hunger—while controllable—was a constant presence, and the darkness surrounding me felt... distant. It was almost as if my very existence was pushing it away.

This had only confirmed my suspicions about the unnatural nature of this endless 'night'. In this form, I only ever had a 'mouth' when I was feeding, and as such, I frowned inwardly.

This would make it difficult to find my last target... unless...

I focused on the presence of the many voices within and around me, silently asking them for their assistance in locating the last obstacle in the way of my confrontation with the Tantabus.

I had no idea if it would work or not, but it seemed I had no need to find out. Returning my attention to the world outside, my burning red eyes fell upon the last mare standing in my way.

And indeed it was a mare.

Celestia sat several yards away, her once whitened, blinded eyes pitch black. A viscous black fluid fell from those eyes in a constant stream, pooling on the ground below.

Aside from that, she looked no different than she usually did. Despite her... condition, she smiled her warm, yet sad smile as she looked at me.

"So the Tantabus didn't even bother with you," I commented, taking a step forward, "is that it? Or has it become so weak that it can't affect you the way it did before?"

"A little of both, really," Celestia replied calmly, taking a step back, to match step forward, "I take it you've already spoken with my sister?"

"We've spoken," I replied, taking another step forward, "she told me several things, none of which matter in the end, at least, not anymore—though she did tell me you'd be able to explain more about what I am."

"Ah, so she's... gone then," Celestia surmised, taking another step back and hanging her head, "well... I suppose it's for the best. As for what you are—"

"Why are you edging away from me, Celestia?" I asked in slight confusion, "The others were fairly quick to meet their end, but not you?"

"Believe me, Twilight," Celestia said with a sad, slow shake of her head, "I'd love nothing more than to meet my end at your hooves, but the Tantabus... it's not quite so eager."

I stopped moving forward.

"It hasn't fully let you go," I guessed, "just like the others, you may have regained your sanity, but you're still under its influence."

"I'm afraid so," Celestia confirmed with a nod, "the Tantabus is deathly afraid of what you've become, Twilight," she paused and gave me another sad smile, "or perhaps you no longer identify as Twilight Sparkle?"

"I..."

I hadn't really considered it.

Did I still identify as Twilight Sparkle? I was no longer the pony I used to be—far from it. I no longer had anything that made me Twilight Sparkle save for my alicorn guise.

I didn't even have my cutie mark anymore. With such drastic changes, could I still call myself Twilight Sparkle? Without taking my eyes off of Celestia, I listened—focusing most of my attention inward.

The voices spoke to me.

I listened to those voices—both the ones I recognized and the ones I didn't—and they told me of who, or rather what I truly was.

No longer was I Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn Princess of Friendship. What use was there for such a Princess in a world bereft of all life? No... the Magic of Friendship was gone, and in its place I had become something else altogether.

I had become justice personified.

I had become the very embodiment of vengeance and retaliation.

I had made a pact with the one Spirit Equus had no need for—the one Aspect that had been hidden away in Tartarus, trapped by some unknown force in that cave... until I came along.

In agreeing to this pact, I had become Twilight Sparkle, the Avatar of Retribution.

"You may have lost your equinity, the same as myself, my sister, and my niece," Celestia said, bringing me back to reality. She gave me a sad, understanding smile, "...but to me, you'll always be my Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle."

I stared at the mare standing before me.

That title held a meaning to the both of us that couldn't be properly defined in mere words. It was indicative of a bond that went beyond a teacher and her student or even a mother and her daughter—at least I had always felt that way.

Now?

Now it meant nothing.

Gone were the days I could call Celestia my mentor, my mother figure, or even a close friend. Despite regaining her mental faculties, she was just another obstacle to me now—something to be removed if I was going to fulfill the task she herself had given me.

Still, the sentiment was appreciated, if entirely meaningless.

"...Do you have any last words, Celestia?" I asked, taking yet another step forward, "The others all had something to say, and I believe it's only fair I give you the same opportunity."

This time Celestia didn't move, though I could see the visible effort it took not to flinch away. She hummed in thought for a moment before speaking again.

"I suppose I could tell you a bit more about your new nature," she suggested, giving me a hopeful smile, "surely you've at least held on to your thirst for knowledge even now?"

"What would be the use?" I asked, frowning inwardly, "If I needed that information I would only have to—"

I paused as a few familiar voices spoke out amongst the chorus. I listened to their pleas and with an inward sigh, I relented.

"...Alright, Celestia," I conceded, "go on then... tell me of my true nature."

"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia replied with a grateful smile, "I know you haven't been my student in quite some time, but consider this my last lesson as your mentor."

She shuffled her wings and sat down, making herself comfortable before speaking again.

"As you've most likely already figured out, you are now the new host for the Avatar of Retribution—an old, old Spirit that's been hidden away in Tartarus since long before even I was born.

"The only reason I know of it was due to an encounter I had with an unfathomably old demon in my youth. I had been... hunting it for some time for reasons I've long since forgotten.

"Eventually I cornered it and we fought. I won the battle, but before I could finish it off, it offered me knowledge of the Spirit in exchange for its life. I agreed and banished it back to Tartarus instead, but not before hearing what it had to say.

"The demon told me that the Spirit would only accept a host that had been stripped of everything by another—and even then only if it found the host's loss significant enough to warrant its power."

Celestia scoffed and shook her head.

"It considers its own wretched power a gift, but to me, it's nothing more than a curse," she continued with a grimace, "in return for its power, it takes away the last thing one has left... their very identity.

"It takes that last shred of what makes you you, and replaces it with the Will of the Slighted," she tilted her head and gave me a level stare, "would I be correct in assuming you've been hearing many voices all at once?"

After a moment, I gave a slow nod of confirmation.

"Give me all of you, and I shall give you all of me," I reiterated, "that's what the Spirit told me before it gave me this form... it said we had formed a contract."

"In a sense, you have," Celestia replied, with a knowing nod, "as the Avatar of Retribution, you can take on any form necessary to deal with the target of your judgment, but in return for this power, you forfeit what's left of you and are compelled to listen to and carry out the Will of the Slighted."

"So... I'm a slave to this Will, then?" I surmised, "while I do feel a need to listen to their words, I have not actually been forced to obey them."

"That's because you aren't a slave to the voices—at least, not completely," Celestia corrected, "as long as you continue to carry out their Will to some extent, you will maintain your power.

"It would be more accurate to call you a sapient 'tool', rather than a slave. A living weapon to be used against ones enemies. If you choose to ignore all the voices, or find yourself in a position where you cannot act for an indefinite amount of time..."

"Then the Spirit will have no more use for me," I finished, "and what happens to me then?"

"I cannot say, Twilight," Celestia said with a single slow shake of her head, "the demon refused to speak of the fate of the host that failed in its duties."

I remained silent at that.

This had been a lot of information to take in, but take it in I did. Apparently I could change the form I had now, but I had no idea how to go about that. I could only assume the Spirit had chosen this form for me in order to deal with the Tantabus.

There was still much to learn it seemed.

"Is there anything else I should know?" I asked after a minute, "or are you ready?"

"That is all I know," Celestia replied, closing her pitch black eyes, "you'll have to figure out the rest on your own. The voices may help you, but they won't tell you everything."

"I'll take that into consideration," I replied, wrapping a light born tentacle around the white alicorn. I could feel her struggling to remain passive as I lifted her in the air and brought her closer, "If you don't have anything else to say..."

"I... have nothing... save this, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia grunted through clenched teeth. She forced one last, strained smile, "I've... said it already... but, I'll say it one last time... never forget that I love you, that Luna and Cadence love you... that your friends and family love you..."

The black ooze that poured from Celestia's eyes gave way to actual tears—her eyes brightening to the milky white they had been before as the Tantabus tried to reclaim its power before it was too late.

It was far too late.

We all love you... My Faithful Student.

A Monster's End

This was it.

The only ones left were myself... and the Tantabus.

For several heartbeats, there was nothing but complete and utter silence as I stood there in that desert clearing. The voices had fallen deathly quiet, waiting the same as I was for something—anything to happen.

Then something did happen.

My gaze snapped upwards as I heard what sounded like a muffled bang somewhere ahead of, and above me. The muffled bang came again, a bit louder this time.

Then sounded again, and again, and again in a steady rhythm, getting a little louder each and every time. Then, after a few minutes, the muffled bangs became sharper, and a sound akin to cracking glass soon accompanied it.

By this point, I could feel the ground shake with every repetition—the very air around me beginning to vibrate with the sound.

The voices began speaking to me then—one chorus repeating what I already knew.

It was coming.

The Tantabus was making itself known, and judging by the effect it was having on the atmosphere, it appeared to have more power than I initially thought.

But what was it doing?

Where would it appear from?

I soon found my answer as one particularly loud crack split the air. My eyes snapped towards the sound just in time to see a large fracture appear in the air above me.

With each successive bang the fracture split further and further.

It was trying to break its way out of... what? What was beyond the fracture? What could I expect from something like this?

It was then that the voice of the Night Princess herself whispered to me.

She told me of the monster's desperation. She told me of its attempt to force the entirety of the Dream Realm into reality.

She told me this could not happen under any circumstances, for even though the world had ended, the consequences would reach far beyond this ruined, dead planet.

She warned that the effects would be felt across space and time... and it would cause the end of all things if I failed to stop it here.

The Tantabus could not be allowed to merge the two or there'd be much more at stake than just this already dead world, and so it was I that had to enter the Dream Realm.

Still, the Tantabus' actions confounded me.

If it were to rend space and time asunder by merging the Realm of Dreams with reality, would it not suffer the same fate as everything else?

Was this its last act of spite against me?

In any case, I had no time to dwell on it, as the fracture was beginning to widen into a hole. With no idea of what to do, I let instinct take over and flew towards the massive fracture.

If I had one hope in that moment, it was that my status as the Avatar of Retribution allowed me to follow my prey anywhere and everywhere, no matter where they ran, and no matter where they hid.

As I neared the fracture, I zeroed in on a small portion of the fracture that had opened up into the Dream Realm. After that, several things began to happen at once.

My body flashed with a blindingly bright light and I felt myself slow to a crawl before I stopped completely. My vision went black and in what felt like an eternity, but was probably less than a second... I was in the Dream Realm.

As with the brief struggle I had with Luna, I was able to become a thin ray of light and enter the Dream Realm at lightspeed.

Two things I noticed immediately, were the constant low rumble that reverberated through my very being, and the absolute lack of light anywhere aside from myself.

Before I got a chance to get a proper look at my surroundings, a loud cry similar to my own rang out and I found myself seized by some great force and yanked forward.

In an instant I was face-to-face with two monstrous black and white eyes and a massive mouth three times my size. The mouth opened up and roared into my face, its gaping maw full of far too many razor sharp teeth to count.

I was pulled forth again by that invisible, yet unassailable force, and directly into the giant maw—the roar and the rumbling both cutting off as the mouth snapped shut.

For a moment, there was nothing but darkness and silence.

Then I found myself back on solid ground somewhere in the dead land of Equestria. Confusion took hold and I looked left and right, trying to find any trace of where the Tantabus had gone.

The sound of shifting coarse dirt caught my attention and I turned towards the sound. As I watched, something began to dig its way out of the ground. A few seconds later there was a high pitched shriek, then, all at once, a dark form shot out of the earth. I took a step back and tilted my head in bemusement.

It was a pony.

It looked wrong—its body tall, blackened, and almost skeletal in appearance. Its eyes were bright, glowing red orbs not unlike my own, and it trotted towards me with twitchy jerky movements.

It howled again and more ponies like itself began rising out of the ground. I swept my gaze over every single one as they emerged.

Dozens of them appeared, either rising out all at once, or pulling themselves out hooves first. The sound of inequine screams filled the air as I quickly became surrounded by the skeletal black ponies.

Somewhere within the mess of noise I heard a small voice.

It took me a second, but I was able to recognize the voice as that of a certain farm filly. She recognized these creatures and told me of where they came from.

It turned out the filly had been right all along.

Nevertheless, I didn't dwell on it as I let out a cry and charged forth. I didn't get very far before another voice shouted within me.

It was the panicked angry scream of the Night Princess.

This was a dream.

Her voice spoke of my situation and how it was merely a distraction. She didn't need to say anything else, as I knew exactly what the Tantabus was trying to distract me from.

The skeletal ponies closed in, but I ignored them entirely as I let out another cry. I took to the air and focused all my power into a single point for a few seconds before my wings flared out.

A searing wave of light burst forth, vaporizing the ghoulish ponies and everything beyond them. Somewhere in the distance I heard what sounded like a roar of frustration.

One blindingly bright flash of light later and I was once again in the pitch black void that was the Dream Realm. The Tantabus was nowhere to be seen and the constant rumble was getting worse.

I was running out of time.

With every passing moment that I was here in the Realm of Dreams, I could feel it trying to reject me. A being like me wasn't welcome in this place, and the only reason I had even been able to enter was due to reality leaking in from the fracture.

Or at least, that's what the Night Princess had whispered to me.

After a moment's thought, I decided that I needed to find the fracture on this end. If I found the fracture, I would no doubt find the Tantabus.

I had entered through the fracture, but the Tantabus' interference had caused me to lose sight of it. I closed my eyes and tried to think of where the fracture was.

An image appeared in my mind—not of the fracture, but of the Tantabus itself, in its true form. Its dark unicorn-esque shape, exactly like that of Luna's starry mane, was crouched low—though I couldn't tell if was trying to be threatening or if it was merely tired, given that it had no discernible features save for the many stars within it.

its outline flickered in and out of existence occasionally, much like with what happened to Discord. With that though, a realization hit me then.

It really was getting weaker.

The fact that it was desperately trying to break reality by unleashing the Realm of Dreams upon it, along with how it hadn't tried to trap me in another dream and now hid within my own mind was telling.

With that realization came another.

As far as I had seen, the Tantabus had only ever made three appearances in reality. The first when it had originally been released due to Luna's failed sealing spell and the second was when it was posing as the Moon.

The third and final time it had appeared was when it had drained me of my magic.

I could only surmise that it had spent too much energy and hid itself away in the Dream Realm—choosing instead to break us down and corrupt us through the manipulation of the Realm of Dreams itself.

The forms the other Princesses had taken were a result of the Tantabus' direct influence, though they had most likely been fueled by their own magic going out of control.

Over time it had lost more and more power, and eventually it got to the point that it had enough power to invade our minds and affect our magic, but not much more than that.

The Tantabus itself was on its last legs, and I intended to finish it off one way or another.

I couldn't reach the Tantabus while it hid itself in my mind, but it couldn't attack me either. I would've assumed it wouldn't be able to survive there, given what I was, but apparently that wasn't the case, and it was perfectly safe.

A minute passed as I thought, and after exhausting every option I came up with as unfeasible, I scrapped those thoughts altogether. In the end I did the one thing I knew would work for sure.

I waited.

The Tantabus couldn't break through the barrier between dreams and reality while it was hiding, and I didn't need to worry about flagging strength like the Tantabus did.

I could still feel the Dream Realm trying to force me back into reality, but even if it succeeded, I'd just bring the Tantabus with me and finish it there.

Either way, the Tantabus would eventually grow too weak to stay in my mind, and when that happened, this would all be over.

I myself didn't sit idle however. I needed to find that fracture so I could make it back to reality. As I searched, I began to realize it would actually be better to escape now, while the Tantabus was in my mind.

But what if it escaped before I could make it through? And for that matter, could it read my mind? I closed my eyes once more and, sure enough, the Tantabus was there. It didn't look like it had moved, though its form was far more faded than when I had last checked.

Then it vanished.

My burning red eyes snapped open and I quickly swept my gaze left and right. It didn't take me long to spot the Tantabus.

It wasted no time in fleeing from me, and I wasted no time in giving chase. I wondered just where it had intended to go in this endless void, but then there was a flash further up ahead and like a beacon in the darkness, the fracture appeared.

It was shrinking.

Not only that, but the loud rumbling was growing quieter. I didn't know how the Tantabus had managed to hide it from me, but it either had given up on hiding it any further, or had lost too much power to keep it hidden.

Whatever the case, it was now rushing towards the fracture with all the speed it could muster. I gave another cry and pushed myself to go faster.

It was clear, that trying to break the barrier had used up a significant amount of the Tantabus' waning power, and the only reason I could think of for it to be fleeing towards the fracture was a last ditch effort to finish what it started.

I didn't give it the chance.

With both the Tantabus and the rapidly closing fracture straight ahead, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I focused on the dark being ahead of me and, with one last cry, my body flashed and I shot forward at lightspeed.

In an instant, my jaws closed around the Tantabus and I used my remaining momentum to push myself through the small gap in the Dream Realm.

Another flash later and I was back in Equestria. I lifted my head and turned just in time to see the fracture close completely.

And that was that.

The Tantabus was no more.

The voices within gave triumphant cries, the sound of them making me reel slightly. The ones who had fallen had now been avenged, and I felt an overwhelming fullness that I had never experienced before.

The hunger had all but vanished... for now.

I returned back to my alicorn self and straightened up before looking around. I didn't know what exactly, but I was expecting something to happen.

Yet nothing did.

I looked to the sky and saw that neither the Sun, Moon, nor Stars had returned to their rightful places. The unnatural darkness still hung in the air and a bitter wind carrying the scent of ash still blew across the arid wasteland that was Equus.

Although my hunger had been sated, I could still feel the darkness around me. I frowned in confusion, puzzling over why nothing had changed upon devouring the Tantabus.

While I didn't expect the world and everypony in it to just come back to life, I did figure that at the very least, the unnatural darkness would abate with the Tantabus' defeat.

Did this mean it was coming from somewhere else? Or was it a side effect of the Dream Realm bleeding into reality?

And what about the heavenly bodies?

Where were the Sun, Moon, and Stars?

That's when a horrifying thought came to me. In eating the Princesses of the Sun and Moon, had I inadvertently done something to affect the Sun, Moon, and Stars themselves? Had I done some irreversible damage to the natural alignment of the heavenly bodies?

Was it my fault they still didn't rise?

I attempted to ask the voices, but the Princesses didn't know either. This was a mystery I had no way of solving now. If the voices didn't know, then there was nopony left to ask.

They may be able to help you, but they can't tell you everything...

I stood there, staring at the sky as I thought. I was well and truly alone now, with only the restless, jubilant voices to keep me company. While the voices bellowed their victory, I myself felt no such joy in my own accomplishment. I had a task to accomplish, and with it done, I had no more purpose.

I didn't mind though—I couldn't mind—but without anything or anypony to wreak vengeance upon, it would only be a matter of time until I met whatever fate awaited a host that couldn't fulfill its duties.

The thought didn't scare me.

If anything I was more interested as to what would happen. Would I wither away and die? Would the Spirit completely take over my body? Would the voices within consume me as I consumed others?

So many possibilities.

It seemed that even through everything I had been through—all the loss, pain, despair, misery, and the emotional purge my transformation had caused...

...there was still a little bit of the old curious Twilight Sparkle left in me.

A Princess' Discovery

Everything hurts.

My body feels like its on fire.

Am I dying?

Is this what death feels like? This constant unending agony?

Or wait...

No.

The pain is subsiding.

Yes, I can feel it slowly beginning to ebb, but I still can't see anything.

Wait, hang on...

I can hear something. It's faint but...

"..ilight!"

There it is! If I just focus on that, then...

"...light! Please! Please don't b..."

What? What are they saying?

"Auntie! I think Twilight is..."

Wait... is that... Cadence?

Why is she here? What hap--

Luna what is that thing?!

I'm not sure, Twilight, but we need to warn my sis -- TWILIGHT MOVE!

My eyes shot open and I barely managed to choke back a scream as I sat up.

"Twilight!" a voice next to me cried. Before I could register who it was, I was yanked forward into a tight embrace.

"Auntie! Twilight's awake!" the voice shouted, "She finally woke up!"

I shook my head and turned to the pink alicorn crushing me.

"C-Cadence?" I wheezed, "Cadence... please... let go... I can't..."

"Oh," Cadence released me from her iron grip and smiled apologetically, "sorry, Twilight. I'm just glad you're awake."

"Awake?" I asked, rubbing my neck, "what happened to me? How long was I out?"

I picked myself up from the ground and swept my gaze over my surroundings.

Dry cracked ground, broken and blackened tree stumps, and... not much else for what looked like miles on end. I looked up to see a black sky and...

My eyes widened in horror.

"Cadence?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the sky, "where are the Stars? And what happened to the Moon?"

Despite the lack of starlight, I could still just make out the area around me, but the Moon...

"I... don't know, Twilight," Cadence replied casting a worried glance at the same anomaly I was looking at, "it looks like some sort of... lunar eclipse."

I swallowed nervously.

"A-And... the Stars?"

"We're not certain, Twilight," came a regal voice from above, "but that monstrosity was most likely the cause of all of this."

Cadence and I looked up to see Princess Celestia descending to the ground. With a gentle flap of her wings, she landed next to me and turned her eyes to the sky with a grim scowl.

"I don't like this," she muttered more to herself than us, "I have a very bad feeling about what this could mean..."

"What do you mean, Princess?" I asked in confusion, "what monstrosity are you talking about?"

Celestia looked at me in bemusement.

"The colossal beast that appeared before you and my sister," she answered, "you were there, were you not?"

I blinked and furrowed my brow in thought.

"I... maybe?" I shook my head, "I'm sorry, Princess, my memory is a little hazy at the moment."

Celestia nodded in understanding.

"That's not surprising," she replied, "when Cadence found you, you were still unconscious."

Cadence gave a nod of her own before turning to me with a frown.

"I was actually on my way to see you and Auntie at the Castle when I heard a loud--"

--roar that nearly deafened me. Luna and I managed to get a brief look at the giant before a bright flash of light lit up the entirety of Canterlot. She tried to protect me, but it was too late -- it was as though I was hit by a solid wall of fire, and then...

...everything was pain.

"...ilight?"

I shook my head and blinked a few times before looking at Cadence. She and Celestia stared back at me with matching frowns of concern.

"Are you okay, Twilight?" Celestia asked, "you're as pale as a ghost."

"I... I remember," I whispered, "it was... some kind of giant creature made of Stars," I looked over to Celestia and I'm sure she could see the horror on my face, "like an Ursa Major, but much, much bigger."

"That is what Luna told me," Celestia said with a nod, "I never saw it myself, but I did see the light, and I'm sure we all felt what came next."

Cadence and I nodded in affirmation and for a moment, we all sat in silence -- ruminating on what had occurred. I lit up my horn to better see and looked around once more before turning to Celestia with an inquisitive frown.

"Where are we anyway, Princess?" I asked, "It looks like the Badlands, but far more... dead."

The only thing that really stood out was the massive silhouette of a mountain in the distance and -- for some reason -- just looking at it sent shivers down my spine. Celestia looked about her before turning to me with a grimace.

"I... may have an idea of where we are, Twilight," she said quietly as she looked from me to the mountain, "but I pray that I am wrong."

"What I want to know," Cadence added worriedly, "is where that giant monster went. If it appeared in the city..." she stared off into the distance -- her eyes tearing up, "Shiny..."

My eyes widened in horrified realization.

If that blast went off in the city, then my brother... and my parents...

"Stay strong, girls," Celestia said, trotting over to embrace both Cadence and I in a hug, "until we know for sure, we can't lose hope. My sister is scouting out the area as we speak and she should be back any moment with news of what's happened in the city."

Cadence sniffed and I nodded, wiping my eyes and looking up at Celestia.

"What about you?" I asked, trying to change the subject somewhat, "did you find anything?"

I wasn't certain in this darkness, but I could've sworn I saw a shadow pass over Celestia's face before she replied.

"I've found nothing so far, Twilight," she said grimly, "everywhere I've looked it's the same as what you see before you," she stepped back and flared out a wing, gesturing to her surroundings, "it's as though all life has been drained from the planet. I see no flora, no fauna, no lakes, rivers, oceans..."

She looked away -- her face and voice becoming pained.

"...or ponies."

Cadence and I stared at Celestia in shock.

After a minute, I regained my senses and looked back at the Moon.

"W-What about the Sun?" I asked, turning back to Celestia, "why haven't you--"

"I can't."

I furrowed my brow.

"...You can't?"

Celestia slowly shook her head and turned her own gaze to the Moon.

"The Sun is there, I can feel its power," she said with a frown, "but I can't move it. I believe it has something to do with this eclipse."

"Oh..."

"Well..." Cadence began tentatively, "what about Aunt Luna? Is she able to move the Moon?"

"No," Celestia replied, "my sister is having the same problem as I. She still has access to the Moon's power, but she cannot control it directly. She can also feel the Stars, but they do not obey her either," she then raised an eyebrow and looked to me, "what about you, Twilight?"

I blinked in confusion.

"What about me?" I asked in bemusement.

"You are the Princess of Friendship and, more importantly at the moment, the Element of Magic. Though Friendship is one of the strongest types of Magic, you embody all forms of it, so you should be able to feel the ambient Magic around you if you concentrate," Celestia frowned, "surely I told you of this?"

I shook my head, completely stunned.

"Ah, I see..." Celestia muttered to herself before turning back to me, "then it's my fault. I apologize, Twilight."

"It's... it's fine, Princess," I replied with an unsure smile, "but how do I, um... feel the Magic?"

"Simply close your eyes and cast your raw magic out," she explained, "it should act as a sort of beacon and the ambient Magic should responded accordingly."

"A-Alright then," I answered hesitantly, "here goes..."

I closed my eyes and concentrated.

I felt my horn flare to life and, rather than cast any sort of spell, I just let the magic run loose. After a moment my eyes snapped open and I gasped in surprise.

"Do you feel it, Twilight?" Celestia asked.

I took a moment to answer -- overwhelmed as I was by the sensation.

"It..." I shuddered, "it's incredible, Princess! Everything looks so dry and empty on the surface, but the Magic..."

I stood there letting the roiling waves of ambient Magic wash over me. I felt like I could simply grab a hold of it and twist it to my whims.

I wanted to.

It would've been so easy.

All I'd have to do is reach out and--

"TWILIGHT!"

I yelped in surprise and my magic cut out.

Blushing in embarrassment, I turned to see Princess Celestia wearing a disapproving frown.

"Twilight, such power is not something to be taken lightly," she chided, "in the wrong hooves, that much raw Magic could -- and would -- completely destroy Equestria."

I hung my head, abashed and ashamed.

"You're right," I muttered, "I'm... I'm sorry, Princess."

"As long as you understand, my former student," Celestia said with a kind smile. She frowned and turned to Cadence.

"Cadence?" she asked curiously, "you've been awfully quiet, is there something else on your mind?"

I raised an eyebrow and looked over to my old foalsitter and saw that she had her eyes closed. Her horn was glowing a soft baby blue and looked as though she was concentrating very hard on... something.

"...Cadence?" I asked worriedly, "Is something wrong?" I took a step towards her and froze when I saw tears begin to stream down her face. She slowly opened her watery eyes and looked at Celestia.

"I can't feel it, Auntie."

Celestia furrowed her brow in confusion.

"You can't feel..." her brows suddenly shot up and she took a startled step back, "you... are you saying you can't--"

"I can't feel anything!" Cadence wailed, "it's just... not there!"

She fell to the ground sobbing.

"Cadence?" I cried in alarm, "what's going on? What can't you feel?"

"SHINYYYY!"

The bottom dropped out of my stomach.

I swallowed and slowly turned to Princess Celestia.

"P-Princess," I began in a quiet shaky voice, "w-what does... she mean? What can't she feel?"

Celestia stared at the sobbing pink alicorn in mute horror.

"Princess?" I asked again -- my own eyes beginning to shine with the onset of tears, "please don't tell me she means what I--"

"She can't feel any love."

I immediately snapped my gaze to the mountain in the distance -- all but sure of what it was. My suspicions were only confirmed when I saw the shadow of a pony making its way towards us from that very direction.

I fell to my haunches, too numb to stand anymore.

No, it has to be something else.

So Cadence can't feel any love, that could mean any number of things.

It doesn't necessarily mean there's no ponies left.

I smiled.

And that could just be any random mountain in the distance!

I mean, it doesn't even look like Mount Canterhorn!

I chuckled, trying to ignore the tears running down my face.

I heard a gentle flap of wings followed by a heavy thud, signaling Luna's arrival. I didn't bother to look, finding the ground in front of my hooves much more interesting.

Luna's here!

I'm sure she was able to get my family and the rest of the citizens to safety!

I finally turned to Luna with a hopeful smile -- desperately trying to ignore the inconsolable pink alicorn curled up on the ground.

The dark blue alicorn turned to meet my gaze with an unreadable expression.

She held eye contact for a moment.

Only for a moment.

Then she turned to her sister and they held each other's gaze -- a thousand words passing between them in a matter of seconds.

Celestia nodded and slowly sat down, her own expression as unreadable as Luna's.

"Princess Luna?" I asked, my smile wavering, "you... managed to find the ponies in Canterlot... right?"

She eyed me for a moment more before looking away.

Her mask of indifference faltered and I could clearly see the pain etched into her face.

"Princess?"

"I'm sorry, Twilight."

My smile broke.

Author's Note

So this is a short story I'm putting together to celebrate hitting the 80 follower mark. I took some inspiration from a passage I wrote in my very first fic, Twilight Tries Her Hoof at Writing.

For those of you who read it, Starlight had brought forth the idea of a princess fighting against a monster born of the stars to protect her subjects.

I basically took that premise, and made it a lot more dark than was probably necessary.

There also might've been some more Nier OST influence...

I can't help it, guys! That soundtrack is a grimdark fic writer's dream come true!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :twilightsmile:

A Princess' Homecoming

The four of us realized we had reached the wastes of the north almost immediately.

Not because there was snow -- there was absolutely none to be seen anywhere, naturally. It was as dead, dry and barren as anywhere else. No, we knew -- or rather, we assumed it was the frozen wastes because the air was still cold.

Just as dry and stagnant as in Equestria, but still cold.

While it was actually a nice change of pace from the otherwise constant mild warmth that permeated the entirety of our ruined homeland, there was still no sign of life, and that put a damper on things.

It was with a large amount of self control that I decided not to Teleport the rest of the way to the Crystal Empire.

The actual amount of self control it took was worrying to say the least.

I had wanted to tell the other Princess' about my concerns regarding my use of ambient Magic, and maybe even ask Celestia about what had happened all those years ago when she had wielded the ambient Magic herself, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

What she had said to me disturbed me for reasons I didn't fully understand.

There was just something nagging at the back of my mind about both hers and Luna's words, but whenever I tried to think about what it could be, the thought always managed to slip from my grasp.

It had eventually gotten to the point where I just gave up out of sheer frustration, not that I let it show outwardly.

Another thing that bothered me was Cadence.

She hadn't had anything to say on the matter of returning to the North, in fact, she hadn't had much to say at all. With how odd she had been acting lately I was keeping a close eye on her, and I could tell Luna was doing the same.

Aside from snapping at Celestia for giving up so easily -- something Celestia herself didn't bother to deny I might add -- she hadn't really said or done much since. Cadence herself had actually finally given up on restoring the Solar Princess' sight and settled into a sort of surly, brooding silence that didn't suit the Princess of Love at all.

That was another thing.

Cadence's temper had been flaring on and off ever since she had suddenly appeared before Luna and I back in the ruined city. It was kind of disturbing to see her face twisted in anger like that.

I had never once seen Cadence truly angry in all the years I had known her, and frankly, it scared me. What I found strange was that after she lashed out, she would get this extremely confused look and apologize, saying she had no idea what had happened or why she was yelling like that.

I was starting to wonder if Cadence had actually disappeared at all.

I knew Luna had her suspicions, as did I, but my suspicions didn't just stop at what was going on with Cadence. I was also getting a bit wary of the Lunar Princess herself. On the surface, Luna seemed like her normal self -- serious and compassionate, yet with a slight air of regal aloofness.

The thing that bothered me about Luna was how... well... how suspicious she was being. There wasn't any one thing I could pin down about her -- she just seemed to give off this... feeling that she was up to something.

It might've been just me, because the others didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary about her.

It was probably just me.

This whole situation just had me paranoid I guess.

Either way I decided to set my thoughts about the other Princess' aside for now.

Once we realized where we were, it didn't take us too much longer to find what remained of the Crystal Empire.

To be honest, I was shocked at what I saw.

Unlike the giant hole in the ground that used to be Mount Canterhorn, or all of the cities in the surrounding area, a fair amount of the Crystal Empire was still intact. That's not to say there wasn't a lot of destruction left in the wake of the blast.

Even from a distance I could many of the tall, elegant spires that made up the castle were snapped off and presumably lying broken somewhere below. There was also a lot of what I saw back in the cities of Equestria.

Holes in buildings, smashed out windows, large patches of land blackened and melted. The one thing I didn't see however, was a single building that wasn't left standing to some degree.

It was most likely due to how they were built, as well as the sturdy crystalline material they were built out of, that the structures remained standing.

I have to admit, I was more than a bit envious.

It really was a strange sight to behold, seeing the empire and it's surrounding land devoid of any kind of snow whatsoever.

Rather than head directly for the castle, we all landed on the outskirts of the city and opted to slowly make our way forward as we searched for any survivors. As we trotted along, I couldn't help but notice how washed out everything looked.

The once bright and vibrant colors of the crystal structures and sculptures were now dull and lifeless, just like everything else. Still, I did feel a bit more hopeful about finding survivors here with how many of the structures were still standing.

I also took note of the lack of ash in my initial observation.

Cadence, who still hadn't said a word to any of us since we started the trip, suddenly galloped ahead of us, completely ignoring the sorry state of the city. We hurried to catch up to the pink alicorn, but soon lost her due to having to deal with Celestia's condition as we galloped.

I was beginning to feel somewhat bitter about what had happened to Celestia, and her dismissive attitude towards her blindness was starting to get to me at this point.

Not helping the matters was the building uneasiness I began to feel the further into the city we got.

"I don't like this," Luna muttered, her wary gaze shifting this way and that as she trotted along, "there's something lurking here... something dark and sinister."

"That thing isn't back is it?" I asked, my heart beginning beat a little faster at the thought, "we haven't seen it in ages, why show up now?"

"No."

Luna and I turned to Celestia to see that despite her almost blissfully oblivious demeanor from earlier, she looked solemn and even a bit pale as she spoke.

"This... sensation," she whispered, "this is something else, Twilight. Something old... something familiar."

Luna nodded in agreement and turned back to me.

"If this is what I think it is, we need to hurry and warn Cadence," she said increasing her pace, "I have no doubt she senses it too, though she may not know what it is."

"So what is it then?" I asked, looking around nervously, "what could it possibly be if it's not the monster?"

"Something that could potentially be just as bad," Luna replied, not looking back, "an evil that plagued the Crystal Empire many ages ago," she turned her head and gave me a side glance, "even with your impressive knowledge and penchant for study, I doubt you've come across them in any book you've read, isn't that right sister?"

I turned to see Celestia nod in response, looking a bit guilty for some reason.

"What's she talking about, Princess?" I asked with a slight frown of bemusement, "what's this evil that plagued the Crystal Empire? From the way you and Princess Luna are putting it, it can't be Sombra."

"Well," Celestia began hesitantly, "it isn't Sombra, no... but--"

A scream rang out from further ahead, cutting off Celestia and chilling me to the bone.

Cadence.

"Twilight, wait, don't--"

Without another word I lit up my horn and in a flash of magenta light, I vanished... and reappeared in a scenario out of my worst nightmares.

Ghosts.

That was the best way I could describe them.

They were large vaguely pony shaped wisps of darkness and shadow -- eyes white and smoldering with malice, fury, and hunger... but not like the monster. The monster had an otherworldly feel to it, like it didn't belong here. Like it was corrupting the very fabric of reality around it even as it drove you insane.

No... Celestia had been right.

These creatures felt much more familiar... too familiar in fact. I had never seen these things before, but for some reason they brought about images of a certain shadowy stallion.

Not that any of these observations mattered at the moment, considering these terrifying wraiths were tearing bloody chunks out of my screaming sister-in-law with their teeth.

Nevermind that alicorns were immortal.

Nevermind that Cadence could most likely heal from these injuries if given a chance.

Nevermind that there were dozens of these ghost like creatures swarming around us.

In that moment, the fear I felt from these things absolutely paled in comparison to the fear of losing Cadence. One of the wraiths spotted me and let out an inequine shriek that drew the attention of the other wraiths.

The ones that weren't already trying to eat Cadence turned to me and shrieked before flying towards me -- their mouths wide, jaws snapping, and teeth gnashing.

I didn't care.

I was already reaching out to the Magic around me.

A Villain's Folly

I didn't know how much more of this I could take.

Nightmarish future after nightmarish future, all because my friends and I didn't meet each other. To be honest, I couldn't blame Starlight for her complete and utter disbelief in what I had told her.

Had I not seen it firsthoof time and time again, I wouldn't have believed it myself, but it was true. My friendship with the other girls was all that was standing in the way of Equestria's downfall.

More than all of the futures I had seen so far, finding that out had scared me deeply.

Knowing that my friendships weren't a choice, but a necessity if I wanted to maintain peace, put things in a very different light for me. After this was all over, I'd need to have a talk with the girls and Princess Celestia, but for now, I couldn't let Starlight get away with this.

As the portal opened once more, I decided enough was enough. Trying to convince her to stop the normal way wasn't going to work, and she had proven to be far more adept than I had ever imagined. I needed to do something drastic.

I needed to show her just what her foolish actions would cause.

I needed to share at least a bit of the pain I was feeling—show her the toll this was taking on me, and Spike no doubt. The baby dragon tried not to show it, but I could see him shaking at the thought of going through another horrible future.

Well he wouldn't have to worry after this.

I planned to make this the last time either of us would have to go through this.

"I don't know how important other ponies friendships are to the future," I began, before shifting my weight, "but I can show you what the world is like without mine!"

Before she could react, I rushed forward and grabbed Starlight just as the portal sucked us in.

Nothing....

There was nothing left.

The land was dry, barren... dead.

It was dark—unnaturally so—and the constant smell of ash on the wind assaulted my nostrils. For a moment, I completely forgot about Starlight as I looked around in mute horror.

There were no stars in the sky, nor was there any moon or sun. I could feel an odd tingle in my horn, and it took me a moment to realize what I was feeling... was raw magic.

This... this was different from the other timelines I had been to... far different. Right then and there, I would've given up my wings to see a single living soul anywhere, villain or no... but somehow I knew I wouldn't find anything.

I took a step back and bumped into Spike.

I looked down to see the baby dragon looking around uneasily. I didn't know whether or not he could feel the utter wrongness of this place, but I certainly could, and I wanted nothing more than to leave.

"Where are we?!"

Starlight's question snapped me out of my own thoughts and I turned to face her. The question, while spoken in apparent anger, betrayed a quavering fear—the same fear I felt. That was good, it meant she could hopefully understand just what it is her meddling with time had wrought.

"The future," I replied gravely, sweeping my gaze over the barren wasteland that was once Equestria, "...or rather, the present."

"But..." she looked around her briefly before turning her disbelieving glare back to me, "there's nothing here!"

"I wish I could say I was surprised," I replied quietly, "but every world I come back to is worst than the last," I looked Starlight in the eye, hoping—praying for the mare to understand, "I don't know why my friends and I are so important to Equestria, but we are."

If these horrible futures were anything to go by, my friends and I were more or less Equestria's only line of defense against these threats. It was ridiculous to think about, and beneath all the fear and sadness... I felt... angry—indignant even.

It wasn't fair.

Where were all the other safeguards against Equestria's enemies? Why didn't Celestia or Luna step up to the challenge? Weren't they supposed to be powerful, centuries old alicorns? Why did it fall upon me and my friends to save Equestria from every single threat?

Sure, there were exceptions, but they were few and far between.

My friends and I fought against the changelings when Chrysalis invaded Canterlot during the wedding, but it was ultimately Cadence and my brother that saved the city, and it had been thanks to them and Spike that the Crystal Empire had been saved from Sombra's evil clutches... but again, what of Celestia and Luna?

I knew for a fact that they had kept Equestria safe in the past, so what happened?

"I don't believe you!"

Again I was snapped out of my thoughts by Starlight's angry, desperate denial. The mare glared at me and I slowly shook my head in response before gesturing to the endless devastation.

"Come on, Starlight, look around!" I replied, a hint of exasperation coloring my tone, "like I said, everything in the past affects the future... even the tiniest act," I gave Starlight a hard stare, though her back was turned to me, "and what you're doing leads here."

I took a step forward and hung my head, my ears flattening as I continued.

"I know I can't stop you," I admitted, "but I thought showing you this might change your mind."

"Change my mind?!" she growled, finally turning to face me, "you don't know anything about me!" she jabbed a hoof in my direction, "I was perfectly happy before—"

She froze mid rant.

My own body locked up with a sudden dread I couldn't place—a cold chill running up and down my spine. Every single one of my hairs stood on end as Starlight and I stared at each other. The horrified look on her face most likely mirrored my own, and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing.

There was something here.

"T-Twilight?"

Spike's shaky voice was enough to bring me back to reality and I pulled him close with a wing as I looked around. Starlight took a few steps back as she did the same, a small whimper escaping her mouth.

"Stay... s-stay close Spike," I muttered, "I... don't know what's going on, b-but we need to leave... now."

I turned to Starlight, intending to tell her it wasn't safe... and the words died in my throat. Starlight had already begun casting the time spell, her horn flaring to life and a panicked expression adorning her face.

"I don't know about you, Twilight Sparkle, but I'm not staying here another—"

A bright flash of light lit up the darkness, quickly followed by a loud, warbling cry that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Before I knew what was happening, something lashed out from seemingly nowhere and grabbed a screaming Starlight.

It looked like a white, shining tentacle of light had wrapped itself around Starlight's barrel and had lifted her into the air. Horrified, I followed the tentacle to its source and reeled back at what I saw.

"Twilight!" I heard Spike cry from somewhere next to me, "W-What... what is that... thing?!"

I didn't have an answer for him, not that I could speak anyway. The sight of what had grabbed ahold of Starlight had robbed me of any words. All I could do was pull the little drake closer, his small shaking form hugging against one of my own shaking legs.

Standing before me, just a yard or two away, was a creature unlike any I had ever seen before. It looked like a pony made of pure light, so much so, that it was hard to look at directly. It was easily three or four times as big as Celestia herself and had no other features save for two brightly glowing red circles for eyes.

As I watched, the creature opened a large mouth that hadn't been there a moment ago, and roared again as it drew Starlight closer and closer. The panicked mare screamed and flailed for all she was worth, her horn sparking and flickering with failing magic.

My eyes widened and—before I could stop myself—I galloped forward.

"WAIT, STOP!"

That had apparently done the trick and the gargantuan monster stopped—Starlight clenching her eyes shut and whimpering weakly as she was suspended mere inches away from its gaping maw.

The ethereal creature slowly turned and stared at me as I slowed to a stop just a few hoof-lengths away. I swallowed and took a shaky step back, hoping against hope that it didn't decide to eat me instead.

Rather than do anything however, it simply continued to stare at me. After a few heart pounding seconds, it tilted its head as though confused about something. It then turned to look at Starlight and I got an odd impression that it was thinking.

Another minute passed and just as Starlight peeked an eye open, the tentacle holding her aloft unwrapped itself and Starlight dropped to the ground.

"Starlight!" I cried, rushing over to the mare who herself was desperately scrambling away from the thing that had almost eaten her whole, "are you okay?"

She didn't answer me as she continued to stare at the creature with a terrified gaze. Just as Spike and I reached her, another flash of light made me cover my eyes. I blinked a few times, trying to get the spots out of my eyes, when I heard Spike cry out in alarm.

"T... T-Twilight," Spike exclaimed, pulling on my tail, "y-you need to see this!"

Once my vision cleared, I followed Spike's gaze and my jaw dropped open. Standing right where the monster had been was an almost exact copy of me. Everything looked the same save for two key differences.

Its eyes were completely white, and it had no cutie mark to speak of.

Without warning it began quickly trotting towards us, causing Starlight to scream out in panic and scramble away faster. Gathering up what little courage I had left, I stepped in-between it and Starlight, giving it my best glare despite my own fear and confusion.

"S-Stay back," I commanded weakly, "I don't know who, or w-what you are, but you can't just—"

It didn't stop.

I stumbled back slightly and flared out my wings in a useless attempt to intimidate it. It kept moving forward as though I wasn't even there—its face eerily blank. Thinking on my hooves, I lit up my horn, intending to push it away with telekinesis.

It blinked out of existence in a flash of light.

Another cry from both Starlight and Spike caused me to turn around. The doppleganger had reappeared behind me and was now standing over a quaking Starlight while Spike had backed away as far as he could.

"Wait!" I cried frantically, "please don't—"

"There was something Rainbow Dash told me a long time ago that neither of us really understood... until now."

I shuddered.

The copy spoke using my voice... but it was wrong. It didn't sound normal, and as she turned away from Starlight to look at me, I couldn't help but flinch at its white eyed, expressionless gaze. It spoke again in a low monotonous drone that sent more shivers down my spine.

"It was the story of how she lost a race when she was a filly because of a broken wing," she continued, turning back to Starlight, "do you want to know how the wing was broken? I'm sure if you think back, you'll figure it out."

Starlight's eyes widened in horrified realization at the same time mine did and I slowly turned to stare at the mare. It was also at this point that I realized this wasn't just some monster taking on my likeness.

This monster—this mare... was me.

I had no evidence of that aside from her looks and the words she spoke, but somehow I knew. Without a doubt, I knew this was the Twilight Sparkle from this timeline.

But what on Equus had happened to make her this way? What had happened to make Equestria this way?

"By your stunned silence I take it you've figured it out," the other Twilight continued, "just as she was set to win the race, she was blindsided by a stray blast of magic, and sent careening off course. The concussive blast hit her with enough force to break the wing and send her tumbling to the ground."

She took a step closer to Starlight and leaned in close.

"Unfortunately, the only one who saw it happen, was Rainbow Dash herself," she said, before turning to me, "and the strangest part was that she also saw a mare who bore a striking resemblance to the way I look now."

She straightened up and turned back to Starlight.

"Things worked out for the best in the end," she said, her tone somehow lighter despite the drone of her voice, "she was still able to save Fluttershy and even pull off a sonic rainboom in her state, but nopony believed her when she told them about the two mares... and now here you both are, years later and completely unchanged from Rainbow's description."

I couldn't speak.

I no longer knew how to feel about what was transpiring. What was this other me planning to do? If I didn't know any better, it almost seemed as if she was about to carry out some kind of punishment, and if Starlight's whimpering and shivering was anything to go by, she probably thought the same.

"The only conclusion I can come to is that one or both of you have been messing with time," she surmised, "and if your actions are anything to go by, I'd say it was you that initiated the change."

She raised a hoof and my heartbeat picked up. I didn't know what she planned to do, but I got the feeling it wasn't going to be anything good. I took a step forward and—

"I'm not sure why you tried to interfere with my timeline, but I intend to find out," she exclaimed, "I wonder just how many horrible futures you've created..."

I was too late.

Her hoof lit up and shrunk down into a thin tendril. Starlight's scream was quickly cut off as the other me jabbed the tendril into her forehead below the horn. Her jaw snapped shut, and her body went rigid.

I was faintly aware of something latching onto one of my legs, but I couldn't bring myself to look away from the sight. The other me stared at Starlight impassively as the tendril did... something. Starlight herself had gone slack jawed, her eyes glazing over as she stared at nothing.

A few moments passed and the tendril pulled itself out of Starlight's head. The mare shuddered violently before slumping over, her eyes cloudy and distant. I looked on in silent horror before turning back to the other me. I was alarmed to see that the other lavender mare was making a beeline right for me.

I quickly backed away, looking from her to Starlight.

"I-Is she... did... d-did you—"

"She's not dead, Twilight Sparkle," the other Twilight answered, "though I'm not sure of her mental state at the moment—nor do I care. More importantly, it seems you hold the answers to the depths of Starlight Glimmer's sins."

"S-Stay away from her!"

Spike quickly moved to stand in front of me as I tried to do with Starlight, much to my fear and dismay.

"Spike!" I cried, "what are you doing?! You need to—"

"N-Not another step!" he continued, "I-I'm warning you!"

I went to push the well intentioned little drake out of the way, but a flash of light caught my attention and I looked towards the mare that shared my likeness. It turned out that had been a mistake.

It was as though a needle had buried itself in my skull, yet I felt no immediate pain. In fact, all feeling ebbed away and I was left floating... floating in a sea of memories both mine... and not.

A dark beast of titanic proportions roared into the night sky just as a wave of magical fire washed over the land, filling every nerve in my body with intense agony. A land, rendered completely dead and barren in an instant. Friends, family, homes, entire towns and cities, everything... gone or completely destroyed.

A desperate futile search for any remaining life, only to find nothing. No... there was something... an ash covered stetson in a dark cellar. The destruction of Mount Canterhorn, a horrifying chase through a ruined city, Celestia blinded and broken, more horrible agony as newfound power was ripped away.

My death.

Cadence...

What are these images?!

I couldn't stop them!

They just kept coming, more and more and more of these horrible, tragic events flooded my mind, and I was powerless to do anything to stop them! My only remaining loved ones, falling to despair and corruption, Discord... dead.

Dead like me... again.

Death after death after death after death after death after—

"Twilight!"

—my friends!

Pinkie! Oh Sweet Celestia, Pinkie! I didn't mean it! I swear I didn't—

"Twilight!"

—so sorry! Please forgive me, all of you! I didn't... it was an accident!

"TWILIGHT"

"—don't... hate me. Please... d-don't. I'm s-so... so sorry. I didn't—"

My head jerked to the side and I blinked. I slowly brought a hoof up to my stinging cheek and discovered that the fur covering it was matted and wet. Apparently I had started crying at some point.

"It looks as though sifting through your memories had an... unintentional side effect," came my own monotone voice, "Starlight Glimmer merely broke from the shock, but with you, the process seems to have gone both ways... interesting..."

I looked up at the other Twilight as she lowered her hoof back to the ground. A sudden weight on my leg made me look down, where I saw a wide eyed, frantic looking Spike staring back at me.

"Twilight, are you okay?" he asked worriedly, before glaring at the other me, "she... she did something to you—stuck that weird tentacle thing into your head and... a-and you went all glassy eyed and... and then you start saying things that didn't make any sense, and then you started screaming and crying and... and I didn't know what to do!"

As worried as Spike was, I couldn't focus on what he was saying. All my attention was taken up by the mare before me. The mare whom I now knew had suffered... suffered so much pain.

"W-What happened to Celestia... a-and Luna, and Cadence?" I took a step towards the mare, "what happened to you? Why—"

"While I could stand here and answer your questions," the other Twilight replied, turning to the still catatonic Starlight, "I haven't eaten... in some time, and I'm rather famished."

I looked from the other me, to Starlight, and back to the other me, realization dawning on my face.

"No!" I cried, galloping over to, and standing in front of Starlight, "please don't eat her! I... I... there has to be something else we can do!"

"There's nothing else," the other Twilight replied flatly as she began trotting towards me, "I have the feeling my time is drawing near, and though I'm curious to see what happens, I'm still compelled to feed, so if you'll excuse me—"

"Wait!" I cried again, wracking my panicked brain for a solution, "just... hold on for a moment!"

There has to be something I can do... anything!

I frantically looked around me, desperate for some kind of plan. Then my eyes fell on the dilapidated table that had somehow always managed to cross over with me... and an idea hit me.

It was beyond foolish—it was downright insane, and I knew I might be putting so many others at risk... but... but I couldn't just leave her here. I decided right then and there that it didn't matter what kind of monster she was now. There was no way in Tartarus I could ever leave her here in this dead world.

Not after everything I had seen.

"W-What if you came back with me? To my own time?"

"What?!" Spike shouted in disbelief, "Twilight have you gone crazy? We can't—"

"I... I know what I'm doing, Spike," I said, knowing full well that Spike was absolutely right, "just... please trust me on this one, okay? I can't leave her here," I didn't have to fake the tears that came to my eyes as I gave Spike a pleading look, "s-she's... been through... a lot, alright? Just... please."

Spike looked at me.

He stopped and really looked at me, the same way he did every time I was about to do something stupid for the sake of somepony else. He turned away and looked back to the other Twilight, who had stopped and was watching our exchange with an unreadable expression.

Eventually he sighed and looked back towards me.

"...Alright, Twilight," he relented, "I don't like it, but if you think it's a good idea, then I won't argue."

"Thank you, Spike," I whispered as I pulled him into a tight hug, "thank you so much..."

I raised my head and looked towards the other Twilight.

"How about it?" I asked, "you spare Starlight, and all four of us can go back to my time and away from this horrible place," I set Spike down and trotted towards the other Twilight, "maybe we can get you some help, maybe Celestia—my Celestia will know what to do."

The other Twilight sat on her haunches and stared at me blankly for several long moments. It went on long enough that I began to get nervous, but just as I opened my mouth to say something else, the mare spoke.

"As I said, I am compelled to feed in this form, however, I don't believe that will be the case if I decide to follow you into your own timeline," she rose to her hooves as she spoke, "maybe your Celestia will know what to do, maybe not, but one thing is clear. Staying here will most likely result in my eventual demise."

"So... you'll come with us?" I asked with an odd mix of dread and hope, "you won't eat Starlight?"

"As long as you understand the possible consequences of your actions, then yes," the other me replied, "I won't eat Starlight Glimmer, and I will follow you into your own timeline."

Despite the extremely high risk I was taking, I still felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Flashes of what I had seen, both from this timeline and the others, still haunted me—and I had no doubt they would continue to haunt me, but I did my best to push them to the back of my mind for now.

I lit up my horn and lifted Starlight over and onto my back before turning back to the decrepit table. I trotted over to it, but was stopped by the other Twilight's voice.

"I think this might be important."

I turned to see the other mare holding a piece of parchment in a bright white aura. I had completely forgotten about Starswirl's finished spell with everything that had happened.

"Oh!" I replied sheepishly before taking the parchment into my own magic. I tried not to shudder as my magic touched hers, "thanks, yeah I... kinda need that."

I nodded my thanks and returned my attention to the table. I quickly looked over the scroll and nodded to myself before giving the mare on my back one last look. Starlight truly was a talented, and powerful unicorn in her own right... I just wish she had chosen to use her power and knowledge for something other than revenge.

Revenge never led to anything other than more pain and misery.

At least, that's what Celestia had taught me... but in the end... that's all the other Twilight had left. I shook my head and lit my horn, aiming it towards the table. I looked over to see my other self move up next to me with Spike standing on my other side.

Satisfied that everything was in order, I unleashed the spell that would take us home, back to my own time and away from this nightmare. There would be time to worry about everything I had witnessed later. Right now, there was a pony and a monster that needed my help, that needed the help of my friends, and most of all... that needed the Magic of Friendship.

And I really, really needed to talk to Celestia.

Author's Note

This was originally supposed to be a one shot to celebrate gaining 80 followers, but because I'm terrible at squeezing a full story into just one chapter, this turned into a full blown multi-chapter fic. Then it became the most popular story I've written to date, much to my surprise.

All I can say is thanks again for all the support you all have shown through this depressing thrill ride. :twilightsmile:

IT DOESN'T END THERE THOUGH!

I still feel there's a lot I can do with this story, and I have a few ideas for a sequel, so after much deliberation I'm gonna make one at some point in the future.

Will it be just as dark and depressing, or will it be more uplifting? Will it be a tale of growth and healing, or will it be a tale of death and insanity?

Who knows? I sure don't! :derpytongue2:

(Knowing me though, it'll probably be closer to the latter...)

Hope you guys look forward to it either way, and thanks again ya'll! :pinkiesmile: