Black Sun

Canterlot Central Hospital
October 18th

The silence was unbearable, yet nopony knew what to say.

Twilight knew that it didn't matter which of her friends she was thinking about. All of them had been going through the past three days on autopilot, internally trying to process the shock. Seeing the state Rainbow Dash had been brought back in, knowing she had been in and out of surgery repeatedly ever since being admitted into hospital, barely conscious for more than a few hours at a time. On top of that, the way that Aurora had described the engagement in the mountains presented a worrying image of their latest foe. Even if Sunset Shimmer wasn't as magically adept as Princess Luna, Tantabus would know how to utilise her abilities to the fullest. They really were up against the second coming of Nightmare Moon, only this time she would be holding nothing back and have even less inhibitions about destroying anything she deemed a threat to her new order.

The only mercy so far was that the truth about what had happened had been kept contained for now. The few castle guards who had witnessed what had happened to Sunset and were still in any condition to talk had agreed to remain quiet and help prevent a panic breaking out among the general public. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the general atmosphere in Canterlot was still highly agitated. Keeping the fact a seriously injured Element of Harmony and the Prince of the Crystal Empire had both been admitted to the city's main hospital had ultimately proven impossible. Each time one of them had left the hospital, they had returned with worrying reports of how the situation was seen. Many ponies that had experienced the threats of twenty years ago had already voiced their concerns about another possible end of Equestria scenario.

The worst part was, Twilight couldn't help but silently agree with the possibility.

Right now though, her thoughts were focused on Rainbow again. It had been four hours since she'd gone in for what should be her final operation, assuming everything went well. Moondancer had assured her that by now the worst was over and in a sense that was true; Rainbow's condition had been moved away from life-threatening two days ago. Then again, this particular operation had never been openly performed before either. Even if Twilight had a better handle on her fears these days, the myriad ideas of what could go wrong were still running through her mind on top of all the plans and scenarios for how to handle this whole crisis.

She forced herself to look up from her hooves, needing to focus on something else, anything else. The hospital waiting room was too bland to work, blue-white walls and chairs against them. The rest of her friends were there at least, providing something solid to give her attention to. Applejack was pacing in front of the window to her left, her expression unreadable. Rarity sat leaned back in one of the padded chairs, fidgeting with her glasses and watching the clock over the door. Pinkie Pie was sat staring straight forward, still taking it worse than anypony. She hadn't said a word in days and looked set to break down again at a small breeze. It was bad enough that Apple Bloom had come along as well, sticking by her marefriend's side as best she could.

Fluttershy and Spike were the only ones not present, though it could be understood for both of them. Spike was in the Crystal Empire to relay news to Cadance and Shining Armor, as well as check up on Aurora after his magic had replenished and he had been allowed home. Fluttershy had said she would be there if she could but with such a young foal to look after, she couldn't reasonably expected to stay for long periods at a time. Both these facts were an extra weight on Twilight's mind, reminders both of how far the danger could reach and just how many lives would be on the line. She had to keep her focus on the now though, obsessing over the what-ifs would do more harm than good.

"How are you holding up?" She asked Apple Bloom. It came out a little louder than she had intended but anything to break the silence would do.

"Huh? What'd you mean?" The younger mare asked in surprise, the others looking over as the conversation drew each of them out of their own thoughts.

"You're not as used to these kind of things as the rest of us. It can be very testing for the unprepared."

"Ah have been around you since I was a filly," Bloom countered before sighing and moving the hoof she had around Pinkie's shoulders down a little. "But, it's actually tough. Knowing ah'm up against a god."

Twilight knew that she was taking it harder than she was letting on, seemingly unable to help the pony she loved. That was adding extra pressure to Applejack too, seeing her sister trying to handle something she was largely inexperienced in. Yet the pony who was taking it harder than anypony was still-

"I just, never expected it to happen. You know?"

Everypony paused round at Pinkie's voice. She still looked shaken and her voice was quiet but seemed to regain some of her composure in the blink of an eye. Apple Bloom hugged her a little tighter and softly nuzzled behind her ears in response.

"You mean, Rainbow Dash getting hurt so badly?" Rarity asked gently.

"I know it sounds silly but, Rainbow's thrown herself into so many dangerous situations and come out better than we could have hoped to: The Fortress of Talacon, the Abysmal Abyss, Somnambula, every major adventure we've all been on togher. I guess I thought she could handle anything the world could throw at her by now. It was a shock."

"I understand," Twilight said. "Even I was surprised she was alright after what happened at the temple of Chicomoztoc."

"Pffff!" Pinkie replied firmly, getting confused looks from everypony else. "Like any of them want to remember THAT episode."

"I don't have the foggiest idea what that means, but it's good to have ya back." Apple Bloom eventually commented.

"Thanks, Bloomie. Good to be back." Pinkie said as she snuggled into the hug more, brushing a hoof against the earth mare's neckerchief.

Although none of the others understood what that had been exactly about, it had definitely broken the ice. The tension in the waiting room steadily bled away as everypony managed to build up light conversation between themselves. Although the lingering concerns remained, nopony was actively worrying about them anymore. After roughly twenty minutes of this, the door to the wards opened and a light yellow unicorn mare stepped through. Twilight instantly fluttered over to her, her nerves flaring up again immediately.

"Moondancer. How did it go?" She asked. The others exchanged confused glances at the name. Moondancer was the head of Equestria's Institute of Development for all things technological, what was she doing involved in this?

"So far..." Moondancer exhaled slowly before lifting her goggles up, allowing herself a relieved smile. "Everything indicates the integration was a success. Rainbow Dash's vitals remained normal throughout the operation and she should be waking up soon."

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. Applejack and Rarity quickly came over, voicing their elation while Pinkie bounced clean out of her chair and did a hoof pump in mid-air, completely back to her old self even faster than she had changed before.

"So, what exactly did you do?" Applejack asked once the sounds of approval had died down.

"We just built some new wings at CIT and fitted them in place of her lost ones." Moondancer replied, as if that explained everything. When nopony commented on that for several seconds, Twilight stepped forward to explain further.

"During my time-travelling conflict with Starlight Glimmer, I was told that the Rainbow Dash in one of those alternate timelines had a metal wing that functioned exactly like a real one. As terrible as things were there, the idea that they had managed to create prosthetic limbs that were capable of something as complex as flight stuck with me. After I founded the Canterlot Institute of Development thirteen years ago, one of the first areas of research I set them to was finding a way to recreate this technology."

Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie all nodded in understanding. Apple Bloom looked halfway between quizzical and completely lost by all this, but she shook her head and motioned for them to continue.

"I like to think we went one better," Moondancer continued, sounding more excited at the prospect of getting to explain all this. Twilight hadn't heard this much enthusiasm in her voice since she'd mastered the Hayscartes technique. "Creating a false leg that was as mobile as a normal one wasn't a problem. Making one that wouldn't risk detaching and was capable of responding to its wearer's movements realistically, now THAT was a challenge."

"Oh! That explains all those signs when we visited the institute last year!" Pinkie exclaimed as she turned to Apple Bloom. "The disability studies and advanced bionics ones, you remember those, Bloomie?"

"Obviously not as well as you." Bloom replied with a small chuckle.

"You're exactly right though," Moondancer told them. "Once we switched from trying prosthetic limbs to bionic ones the breakthroughs really started coming. We've managed to develop successful prototypes to replace lost legs or wings for both mares and stallions, though horns are proving far more difficult. This is the first time we've actually attempted fitting one in a real world situation, but it went smoothly."

"So, how exactly does this bionic doohickey work?" Applejack asked. Twilight made a motion for her to stop talking, but Moondancer was talking before she could get it out.

"It's relatively straightforward. The general idea is that a set of synthetic conduits within the replacement limb are connected to surviving nerve endings at the damaged site. The electrical impulses that carry commands through nerves can travel through these conduits and also supply a small magic reserve inside the wing via the pony's latent magic. In essence it can receive the same commands as the normal limb and is naturally powered by the user's own body without any extra drain. The structure and metal 'skin' of the limb do have to be directly grafted to the damaged site and fixed in place with healing magic, something we'll need to work on. But between the streamlining of the mechanics that control movement and use of a lightweight aluminium for the skin layer the negative effects are hardly noticeable. Overall I'd say that for a first public model, these bionics will be quite effective, assuming everything goes smoothly of course."

By the time Moondancer had finished explaining, Pinkie was the only pony listening who still seemed to be fully following what was being said. Twilight blinked as she realised even she had zoned out slightly, caught out by just how much her old friend could get into her explanations of the science she worked on.

"Err, Moondancer? Maybe ease up on the technical talk when you tell all this to Rainbow. She'll have enough to process as it is."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Moondancer nodded and looked away sheepishly, adjusting her goggles with her magic.

"Right, well then, shall we go see how our friend is doing?" Rarity asked, getting everypony's attention back on point.

Twilight nodded and led the others through to the wards, Moondancer trotting alongside her. Before long they arrived at a recovery ward like many others in the hospital, half a dozen beds along each side wall, about a third of them occupied right now. Rainbow Dash's was easily located due to both the doctor checking notes at her bedside and the pair of ponies sitting at the foot of the bed. An elderly couple of pegasi, a stocky stallion with a rainbow mane and a frail looking sky blue mare. It didn't surprise anypony that Rainbow's parents had got in before any of them, even their advanced age couldn't blunt their relentless enthusiastic support of their daughter.

"Well, greetings everypony." Bow Hothoof said when he noticed the approaching group, bringing his hoof up in a quick salute.

"Mr. Hothoof, Mrs. Whistles," Twilight replied as she reached them. "Are you both alright?"

"O-of course!" Windy Whistles replied. As bad as the stammer was, it was more a symptom of her being in her sixties than anything else. "It'll t-take more than this to keep o-o-our Rainbow Dash down."

"You got that right honey," Bow added, placing a hoof on his wife's shoulder. "Our Dashie, most durable pegasus in Equestria. Am I right?"

"Right," Twilight said with a small smile, their determination bolstering her own resolve slightly. While the others joined in their support, she moved over the doctor, a silver coated and cobalt maned unicorn stallion. "If I may, is it as good as they're hoping?"

"Actually, yes," He told her as he lowed his clipboard, looking rather relaxed for the circumstances. "Despite this being a currently one-of-a-kind operation, Rainbow Dash came through it in perfectly good shape. We wont know the true extent of everything until she wakes up. With the timing of the sedatives we used, that should be any minute now."

Twilight nodded and looked down at her friend. Rainbow was laid on her front in the hospital bed, a blanket hiding the results of the operation for now. In contrast to the pained look she had been wearing the last time they had been this close, now she looked as settled as though she were merely having one of her cloud naps. If nothing else, that sight brought some extra comfort to the alicorn's mind. Her eyes wandered upward a little, only to stop as she noticed a fourth pony on the other side of the bed that had escaped her notice until now.

"Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked, noticing at the same time.

Scootaloo didn't reply with anything more than a slight snore. Her front hooves and head were rested on a beside table she was sat by, sound asleep as well. She actually looked in a worse state than Rainbow right now. Her mane unkempt, bags under her eyes and a bandage wrapped around the top of her front left leg.

"I'd let her be for now," The doctor told them. "Scootaloo has been here longer than anypony, never left Rainbow's side the whole time she's been in recovery. She even donated blood for the last operation after finding out they were a matching type."

"Oh my." Rarity commented quietly. Such a generous act, even for the other pony in a bond like Rainbow and Scootaloo's, understandably struck a chord with her.

As Pinkie opened her mouth to comment on something, a murmur from the bed drew everypony's attention. As they all watched, Rainbow began to stir, slowly lifting her head from the pillow. Her front hooves stretched out from under the blanket and a faint whirring noise became audible before the cover was pulled away by her wings stretching out. Even after the explanation they had received of what was coming, several of the group still gasped at the sight itself. Twilight's eyes widened slightly as she took in the results of a decades long project she had set in motion.

A pair of light grey wings were spread out from Rainbow's back, somewhat thicker and stiffer than the natural sky blue pair that had adorned her up until a few days day ago but still looking the part. Even as the stretch reached its full width it could be seen that each section that could be expected to move, every 'feather', did so in a surprisingly realistic way. The production effort that had gone into building the wings had been exceptionally high quality as well, with almost no rough patches and the noise coming from the mechanical components inside kept to a minimum. It was still too early to see how the ends of the wings were properly connected to Rainbow's body though, as her middle was still wrapped in bandages that hid the surgery.

Overall though, the bionic wings seemed similar in design to the ones she had seen in the alternate timeline. There was no way of telling if they were as effective yet, but if they were...Giving Rainbow her place in the skies back was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Ugghhh...Too comfy to be dead..." Rainbow groaned to herself as she slowly folded her wings back in and opened her eyes. She still looked exhausted, yet as she rolled her head to the side and her eyes met Twilight's, there was that familiar strength of will sparking within them. "T-Twilight? Where am I? What's...That whirry noise?"

"It's a long story," Twilight told her, shooting a knowing glance at Moondancer as she said it. "But right now, you're safe with friends and family."

"I am?" She asked quietly, looking to her other side and managing a small smile on seeing Scootaloo resting next to her.

"You are," Windy said as she moved up next to Twilight and gently stroked her daughter's mane. "I just k-knew my dashie w-would be alright."

"Glad I didn't let you down then," Rainbow commented as she looked up at her, smiling more. "Thanks, mom."

As Bow, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack all moved up to let Rainbow know they were there for her as well, Twilight stepped away and moved back over to Apple Bloom and Moondancer. Although outwardly happy to see her friend recovering, the fact this had happened at all was starting to weigh heavy on her mind again. Between her knowledge of their foe and the sight before her, a set of fresh truths was starting to come to the surface.

Firstly, this was a challenge too big for just her and her friends to handle alone. Secondly, whatever kind of plan she came up with would need to come fast. Time she spent without knowing how to move forward was time Tantabus would likely be using to further her plans. Whatever they were

"So, this is where you've all been hiding. Excellent. I should have known you'd stick close to home."

Tantabus drily chuckled to herself as she took in the square opening in the ground before her. It made sense that the Tomb of the Gods would have remained in the south of the land. The dark magic that still permeated this jungle was a pleasant reminder of home. Her real home, not the kingdom of failures that Vaeac and Nezzari presided over. If they had simply seen sense a thousand years ago and let her handle the running of things, Equestria would already be the heart of a new alicorn empire. Instead of a land of worthless defects who squandered what little power they understood!

Such things could be easily fixed though. At least, they would be once she had done something about this 'Sunset Shimmer' she controlled. Even if her mind had magical potential worthy of a place of honour in the old order, her feeble body could never hope to unleash its full potential. At least, not in this 'unicorn' form. Now if the true power could be tapped into, utilised to give her an alicorn body again like Vaeac had done for that Twilight girl...She had to have learned how to do it from here, from one of their lost kin that roamed within the tomb beneath her feet. The kind of magic they could have created in tens of millennia was something she had long fathomed. The fact Tantabus had a physical body right now gave her a clear advantage as well. All she had to do was go in, find a lekli that knew the secret and give herself a body befitting the imminent ruler of the world again. Maybe then she'd wipe the tomb off the map, just to be safe.

A spark of magic leapt from her horn and onto the opening, landing on an invisible barrier across it. The barrier pulsed a solid shade of dark green for several moments before fading back into nothingness.

But...If it was safe to proceed it would have gone silver. Didn't it recognise her? Another spark of magic was fired onto the safeguard, only getting the same result.

"You're kidding...You're kidding, right?" Tantabus asked nopony in disbelief. There was no way it couldn't tell she was supposed to go in, even if she was using a defect's body. She fired a proper beam at the barrier, only to be met with the same result for a third time.

A snarl of frustration escaped her and she pooled her energy into her horn. If it didn't consider the signature of her magic enough, it would have to accept the strength. A full power beam ripped into the barrier and spluttered against it, her eyes narrowing as she watched for a reaction. After several seconds of sustained fire the barrier glowed a dark blue before dispelling a blinding flash. Tantabus barely covered her eyes in time, screaming in anger to the empty jungle around her. The multitude of failsafes that protected the tomb must have triggered, teleported the entire site away and out of her grasp. Again. Tracking down such a powerful magical aura wouldn't be an issue, but it was clear that it wasn't going to let such a weak body through as it was.

"Fine...Fine!" She eventually snapped, taking several breaths to calm herself again. "Maybe you won't accept me for now, but there are other ways to gain the strength I'll need...Once I have that, and I make sure I won't be opposed by the degenerates...Then I can have my fun."