A sovereign twilight

Chapters

Chapter 1: A fallen star
Chapter 2: Broken Solitude (NSFW)(Optional Chapter)
Chapter 3: Descent into darkness
Chapter 4: To begin again
Chapter 5: Horns of war

Chapter 1: A fallen star

Author's Note

WIP on this is ongoing right now, will continue as i'm writing this on the go on the website myself. I will update tags as I add things, including the possibility of going from teen to mature rating. Please forgive any sudden changes that may occur.

Chapter 1: A fallen star

It took little time, everything was upside down and the world had become dominated by more than just darkness, it reminded her every day of her own failure, the beginning of the end and yet she felt nothing, no remorse and no sorrow. Why did it hurt so much then? Every day was night and every night was a nightmare, she couldn't stand the idea of twilight everlasting yet she never felt a thing about it until now as the world become a cascade of perpetual falling. Would it ever stop or has it already stopped? The pain, the sorrow, the mystery of what had went wrong never came to light again as the ponies hunkered down for the dark night, the moon was the only naturally binding light anyone could ask for, devoid of the supposed face of an even darker pony forgotten and alone.

How did it come to this new world devoid of what seemed like hope and essence, she had to stay strong as ever now and guide the inhabitants of this world to a new era of darkness. Shadows bounced in the light from the shower of magical sparks filling the night, her long horn glowing a colorful purple filled with specks of yellow and white and icy blue. It was almost enough to stare at how beautiful her magic was while it lit her path through the dark everfree and yet it was so peaceful, animals had abandoned the woods for safer haven, not a bird chirped nor a wood pecker tapped in the darkness. Her head hung low as warm liquid drooled from the open gashes spread over her body and drizzled from the slashes and holes in her armor, barely clinging to her form by a few straps and threatened to be left behind forever.

They had lost, the princesses scattered and the world turned to darkness, a sister had won but the other was gone, trapped in a fortitude of light never to be seen again, banished to the sun for one thousand years as punishment for her own desecration of the new queen, Queen Luna, the Nightmare of Night. With every step she was reminded of her own failure to protect Equestria and the throne of the two sisters, never had such devastation been seen in the lands since the dragon wars almost twelve hundred years ago. Even she had her hand in the pot when it came to stopping Nightmare Night... Luna from taking over Equestria but how did this happen now, at the height of the kingdom's beauty and power. The elements of harmony unfounded, stored away in secret locations only Celestia knew where and the ponies supposedly tasked with finding them had failed, faltered under the weight of the responsibility and with the trickery of the new queen.

She could feel it now, the ground coming up to her face fast but it felt like eternity as her body hit the ground, tripped from a devious root or floundered by her own sheer exhaust it was undetermined, but she knew the end was coming, her weakened state made it neigh impossible to perform the required healing, broken left hind leg, multiple lacerations spread out over her body, one large stab wound on her left side just under her ribs but barely missing any vital organs, this must be it... Star Light... the Celestial Twilight of guidance, her grave would be here among the starry night, pale bluish-white light of the moon in a hostile wooded area many knew as the everfree forest and yet she didn't mind, there were worse ways to go, even the dragon inside of her could not find the beginnings of life in her deeply weakened state.

The last thing she could remember was her magic waning, flickering and slowly being swallowed by the darkness as her magic shook its own life away along with her and she was left to listen to the silent night and forest and the cracking of leaves and branches in the distance getting closer. Every motion was like an avalanche of problems so she stayed still as her consciousness flickered much like her magic, looking into the dark as a pair of hooves lay there in front of her and the echo of a voice dimmed into the darkness of her own mind. She must not dream, she cannot, it wasn't worth reliving such a painful past, nearly twelve hundred years since that time as her mind warned her not to venture too far from the path, she could only feel what was once the happiest times of her life, to live out a dream of pure wonder and beauty while her lover gave all they could for her, looking up into the green eyes of a massive, strong and otherwise dominantly powerful being. Scales flickering in the waning life of her mind as she could remember her love, oh! The love of this once powerful dragon standing above her small pony body, he laid his claws on her side and smiled, showing off those dangerous teeth before her mind snapped back, recoiling from the dragon whom slipped silently back into the darkness of her mind and tears welled up, deep inside, ever fighting for control of her emotions.

Days, weeks, months, who could tell anymore, the night never told, never showed and never cared for the days or years of the ponies, she stirred from her slumber on a softness she could only guess was a bed. She had no clue how long she had been out but it wasn't long until she began to realize she wasn't dead and nor was she necessarily safe, a banished princess in a hostile land that was Equestria now, she could only hope it was a friend that had brought her there. She cracked an eye lightly to look around, keeping her breathing slow as she examined the room around her, darkness was ever looming out of the windows but the interior was lit up nicely with lanterns and candles along with a warm and inviting fire lit to perfection where it should be. It didn't take much time for her to spot the pony that had supposedly saved her standing over by one of the various tables lining the sides of the wall filled with vials, potions, flowers and other such items used in alchemy and mixtures. This pony was hard to make out in her dazed state after waking up but it didn't take long to figure out who and what this pony was; Zecora, a zebra unlike any other, living in the everfree forest and made remedies and tending to Ponyville's many residents and their ailments. The realization she was in the care of a friend and a rather good friend made her heart flutter, she groans as she suddenly tried to stand up while her body ached all over she had never felt such pain before as stitched wounds threatened to tear open and she collapsed back to the bed.

"Z-Zecora? W-what happened.." She stammered, the pain was too much to keep normal speech possible as the zebra gasped, running over and examining her patient before giving a sigh of relief and answering.

"My Princess, your wounds were quite the issue despite most of the tissue used, rest is what you need or your countless pains will not heed. The forest almost swallowed you whole and so I must warn to not go alone." A good look at the zebra was all she needed, the pony looked exhausted, bags under her eyes had formed and bloodshot had filled much of the white and the cabin was worn down a bit, messy and littered with dead plants, broken bowls and glass vials swept under tables. The mare tended to her wounds and nearly ripped stitches, not talking much and a bit wobbly at the legs, days would pass before she was able to stand again with some pain from the damages, using her magic at times to help seal some of the wounds delivered by the halberd used by Nightmare Moon.

The poor abused body of the pony princess of the celestial twilight greeted her eyes as Zecora brought a mirror over to give her a view of her own body, one of her draconic horns were a bit chipped, scratched from the battle and part of her ear got clipped, slicing it half ways through the tip of her long ear, that would heal over. She examined her body over, a rather large alicorn princess, half dragon half pony, it's what made her so powerful, being able to wield the power and magic of not only an alicorn but the untapped power of a dragon as well. She was Princess Star Light.. At least she was, now she was just Star Light, banished princess of Equestria, and her body was sore and bloodied, much of it was staining her white coat as she looked over the damage to her belly plates, silvery and magnificent to look at on a normal day, but today they were devastated. Dirty and scarred from battle, the wound that had barely missed killing her had found its way between the plates and shoved underneath, blood stains had colored the area to see. Looking back at her tail it didn't seem to have taken much damage, some of the fur tufts were cut and frayed for sure, dirtied by her time in the forest and near-death experience but otherwise undamaged, breathing a sigh of relief as her slitted eyes, softly glowing yellow like the stars of the night, looked back to Zecora.

"Zecora, how long..." She was cut off by the sounds of wings flapping overhead, the silence of the birds was enough to heighten just about every sound in the world, a patrol she was sure, looking for her or other princesses that have yet to flee. She didn't have time, it was not on her side, she had to get out of here as every second increased the likelyhood of being spotted and caught.

"Long in the woods, I must say, nearly a week you were here my princess.. What will happen to us when you are gone, where is our trust?" The zebra looked at her with her tired eyes wide open, she was alert and scared and unsure what would happen.

"Zecora, i'm tasking you with an important job, building the resistance here against nightmare moon, she cannot have this victory so easily, you are one I can trust, your skills at woodland survival is important to the future of Equestria and you cannot fail me, the very future depends on you, when I do return I will help lead all of us back to the light and get our beloved Celestia back." The mare stood there, eyes unbroken from the princess as she listened but nodded, standing up as much as she could.

The sounds of the flight came back and the world became loud again as they both went silent, listening to the sounds of multiple wings flapping, this time however it didn't move on, it grew closer and closer until the sounds of hooves hit the ground and began moving towards the hut!

"Blast, I need to get out of here, they are coming to search the place, where can I get out?" She whispered, trying to look around for an escape and moving out of the way of the windows, she spotted some old ragged clothing probably used as a costume for Zecora during nightmare night. The zebra pointed to a small hatch behind her kitchen area, it was hidden behind the counter and under a rug, she grabbed the clothes off of the line and placed the hood over her head but she was a big pony, about the same size as Celestia and it was hard pressed to hide her bright white fur. As she slipped into the crawlspace she realized it was too small for her body to go much further, so she laid there under the hatch, looking up at the movement of the floorboards as the rug was placed back over the hatch just as there was a raspy banging on the door of a hoof.

"Zecora, we know you're in there, come out please we just want to talk in the name of Queen Luna, The nightmare." The muffled voice could be heard outside, he sounded familiar, possibly one of the royal guards once tasked with protecting Celestia? She couldn't tell what was happening only hear things and guess, the door opened and the two started talking in muffled mumbles at first before she heard Zecora raising her voice.

"There is nothing here for you good sir, please vacate my premise, the queen does not need to bother me with trifle placate! You should be ashamed, shining, what would your wife think of what has became?" This made her freeze in her thoughts, her worst fears coming to fruition as she heard the name of the one speaking to Zecora, Shining Armor, the captain of Celestia's royal guard, a traitor!? Her heart raced and she wanted nothing more than to burst out, pin the royal guard captain to the ground and break every bone in his body! But she had to stay calm, closing her eyes and trying to think of anything else but that, her heart rate slowly began to slow down to a normal pace but missing much of the conversation while focused on keeping quiet.

"Look Zecora, if you spot any princesses around, just... j-just protect yourself, don't anger the queen, we are all just trying to survive here and I know you are too, she is too powerful and we just have to do what needs to be done." Zecora huffed at this from the captain before slamming the door shut in his face and moving towards the window, watching outside while the guards get ready for flight formation. She could feel the sadness in the sound of Shining's voice, the strain and pain of having to say some of those words, it was rather clear he didn't want this but had to do it to survive, but it wasn't enough to abstain his judgement over his betrayal of the princesses, yet.

Chapter 2: Broken Solitude (NSFW)(Optional Chapter)

It wouldn't be long until Star stepped out of the basement, she was worried what was happening to the world around her, the thought of even one so loyal as Shining Armor turning on everyone else was hard to bear. She could understand the will to live, to give into the will of the power shift just to survive, she may be able to turn this to her advantage but she may need to go to great lengths to do so. Star was scared, more so than ever before, her home had turned on her, the world flipped upside down, and seemingly did another full flip again.

"Zecora... What is happening to the world we once knew?" The zebra stood at the window, silent and breathing heavily before turning to the princess, head down with the visual range of a broken pony.

"My princess, only the heavens can tell, for you are the only hope this land has to come back from such a tale." Zecora took to brewing up some tea and looked exhausted, mentally and physically. Star Needed to do something to help raise the spirits of this pony as she was as important to the future of Equestria as any other, not much she could think of would help but perhaps one thing can. She was the princess of guidance and sometimes guidance took to the more passionate side, to help those who have lost all hope find the light again and see there is still something left in the world to love and enjoy, this was one of those times. Star had plenty of fun back before Nightmare Moon's reign, it was almost common place, she may have even made Cadence blush at the mere thought of how much love she spread, it was always for a purpose though, to bring many of the ponies in Equestria seeking some sort of light, some sort of reason to keep going, she helped to guide them to a place of wonder, pleasure even, and love, something normally reserved for Cadence but she didn't have what Star had, all the goods.

Star was a hermaphrodite (futanari), a byproduct of her transformation long ago when the magic of a dragon, perhaps even their soul was imbued in her body to save her life during the great dragon wars, back then she was only a normal unicorn under the guidance of the much younger Celestia. This dragon just happened to be male and so her transformation the magic imbued into her gave her body a strange side-product, a knotted, spined stallion cock, despite still being mare everywhere else it was one of the few things her body added, the horns, fangs, slightly larger body than most mares, and a thick frame, her body was practically made for every sort of love conceived. It took her a couple hundred years to learn about her new body, to control the sudden raw power an added dragon's magic gave her horn, around the time she was finishing her studies as well was the time Nightmare Moon first came, the time all princesses knew that they had a similar side. After Nightmare Moon was defeated Princess Celestia offered her something every aspiring unicorn could ask for, a seat as a princess of Equestria, given as thanks for her hard work to secure the elements of harmony and help capture Nightmare Moon for the future.

She looked over at the mare for a moment and moved closer, her body still ached and burned from movements as many of the wounds still resided around her body, she tried to ignore every bit of the pain and pulled the zebra close, nuzzling into their mane a bit. Zecora leaned against Star, tears flowing down her face, the stress of what had happened to the world, eternal darkness, the loss of many of her friends and practical enslavement of many of the ponies she knew must have been weighting her down. It didn't take much more than that to pull the pony close and into her lap, smiling down at Zecora as the mare blushed a bit, looking up at the princess eyes watery eyes and realizing that her body was pressed against a rather massive sheath, Star smiled down to the zebra and nodded.

"I can help you Zecora, I don't want to hurt you, only help you get better and I know this will help you as much as it will help me, wha~" She was cut off as the smaller zebra grinds up against such a massive sheath, she wanted this. Or rather needed this, the mare didn't know what had come over herself but the princess was just too much to sit out on, and with being in the forest for so long her own needs were almost never taken care of, the musk or maybe the way Star cared for her it wasn't clear. Star sat back some, letting the mare do her thing as soon she could feel the wetness of the zebra's muff snuggling tight to her sheath and growing member, knotted and enough to make any mare blush and any stallion jealous until the smaller mare suddenly stopped and tried to move away.

"P-princess... F-forgive me, I know not what comes over this body," Zecora was ashamed of herself, stopping her grinding and pulling away, she felt like she was losing control but it all felt.. felt so good!

"No! Please don't stop Zecora, you did nothing wrong, you were only feeling what you needed to feel, what your body begged for, i'm certain it gets very lonely out here, especially when walking into Ponyville and watching all your friends forced into such a sad state..." Star looked down at the mare, gently rubbing her sides and rather thick flanks for such a little one, though most of the ponies looked little to such a large alicorn. The zebra stopped and looked up at the princess then back down at the swelling, thick hybrid cock, gasping at the size internally, her eyes were locked with the alicorn's member and the musk, oh did the musk beg her to return! In a moment she was grinding her whole body on the growing shaft of the alicorn, it was too much to not want, to not dream of and she had only ever dreamed of such a monster filling her folds.

The moans of the zebra filled the cabin, the silence outside didn't help to muffle their enjoyment either as Zecora opened her mouth, wrapping it around such a thick flared horse cock, grinding her needy muff against such a monster, it was like a dream come true and it was coming from the last pony she ever thought would care. Soon the knotted equine cock thickened a bit as soft spines extended out of the bottom and the top of her member just before the knot and this made the mare drool in need, she had never experienced such a thing before, it was odd at first but she wanted them inside! Zecora took a moment to stare at such a massive hybrid member before laying back, spreading her flanks and thighs for the much larger princess to mount her, she wasn't unfamiliar with breeding practices but she was out of tune. In moments the large hermaphrodite slipped over Zecora, planting that thick member into the folds of the mare and slowly spreading them around her massive, goddess-like shaft and after a howl of pleasure, Zecora flopped to the ground, heavy panting and moaning, the size alone was like nothing the mare had felt before, it easily overshadowed any stallion she had mated with and this one broke her almost the moment it slipped inside!

She clenched madly around the thick member being stuffed into her folds so deep and passionately, thrust after thrust drove it deeper, a bulge moving about in the smaller mare's belly as the monster moved about inside of the mare, every movement, every moment was like heaven! It didn't take long for the spines to drive inside, making the mare wiggle about and grind hard against every movement as the spines prodded, rubbed, expanded her lovely mare walls at every movement and was driving the mare crazy with how it felt. She couldn't take too much more as Star thrusted deep and hard, kissing that knot against her folds over and over again, signalling what was to come as pre cum drooled inside of the walls of this mare in such an amount few could fathom but the pre cum alone made her belly bulge a bit and swell despite the thick bulge of princess cock inside. Every movement drove both into a frenzy of love and lust, pleasure and deep, sweet sensations as star pulled the mare into a deep and passionate kiss, moans filling the air and lust dominating the hut deep inside of the forest, soon the rest of the world and its responsibilities would come crashing in but not for a few more moments.

Minutes later both were crying out into each other's mouth as first Zecora came, coating the mare's thick hybrid cock with sweet female honey followed by Star's own orgasm, pumping load after load into the mare and forcing the swelling knot into the mare's folds and locking both together for an hour at least, hot seed pumping into the mare's womb and sating that deep lust and need that Zecora's body complained about constantly. The mare's belly bulged as her womb filled with its first gallon of cum, then a second gallon before the flow began to slow, ending up pumping nearly 3 gallons of seed into the mare's womb, able to handle it due to being a zebra which was used to oversized loads but nothing like this still, Zecora lay there in complete bliss, unable to think and unable to function. Star lays down with the little mare and wraps her wings and hooves around Zecora and both slowly drifted to sleep, the two no longer caring about the rest of the world at this moment, just the blissful mating that was done and sleep.

In her sleep, Star Light was falling, deeper into the darkness and unlike the darkness of night, there was no light, no moon and not a single soul to share it with, above her were two purple slitted eyes, glowing softly and a somewhat twisted but familiar laugh could be heard as she fell. Every moment felt like an eternity, thoughts of pleasure and lust filled her mind, controlling the minds and lust of all ponies, she wanted more and wanted the world to be her own and every second she fell she only wanted more. She must have been tossing and turning in her sleep as Zecora could be heard yelling in her ear, then a sudden pain and jut striking her face and her eyes flung open, gasping and giving off a deep growl as she readied for a fight.

"My princess! Star Light!.. you were having a bad dream, do not fret and don't attack." Zecora was looking at Star Light with quite the concern, unsure how to feel about the mumbling, tossing and turning especially when she was still on that monstrous member which had finally sunk down into her sheath once more. Star Light panted and looked around the candle-lit room then down at Zecora and sighed, her fur was a bit matted with sweat and her mind was trying to jog what had happened but failed.

"J-Just a dream... Falling in darkness, forgive me Zecora as I did not mean to frighten you, I am fine now." Star Light slowly slipped out of bed, looking around the room and sighing, she could remember what happened the night before but this dream, it scared her. There one moment and gone another, she had no choice but to give up on trying to remember all that had happened but she felt like it wasn't just any dream at all, it was something more as if a message, desperate to warn her but being held back, stifled and hidden from the truth. Star Light took a moment to look out the window, based on the clock dial Zecora had above the fire it should be midday but it was still dark outside, however life had come back in some regards, crickets were chirping and birds were fluttering, the world almost seemed normal again; If only that were true...

Chapter 3: Descent into darkness

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Chapter 4: To begin again

Author's Note

I want to thank all of you for reading so far, it's been a treat to do so much writing I never knew I would do in a lifetime, the next chapter is on its way so please stay tuned for more and don't forget to comment with constructive criticism and rate!

Also please do note that I have went back and fixed some of the issues in this chapter, deleting mentions about Cinnamon Music being the neice of Celestia as this was false based on the owner's information about Cinnamon Music (OC owned by themselves not me)

Chapter 4: To begin again

"Welcome back Star, it's been too long truly and it felt so good to see you again." The voice was familiar yet so strange, perhaps it wasn't her it was so hard to tell, darkness shrouded her mind, thoughts of creating a new species of ponies, a dominant race of perfect creatures filled her head. What was going on, such rage and lust, she wanted no more than to impregnate every mare, make every pony into her perfect slave and create a dominant race of perfect ponies made to serve her, even Celestia and Luna would submit to her...

"No! Nnngh.. No! Get out of my head, who are you!?" She was answered with silence, nothing around her, just darkness yet it all moved like smoke, everything was distorted and a sudden wave of pain and exhaustion hit her like a train, making her gasp and wobble on her feet.

"W-what is happening!? A-answer me!" The silence was broken by foot steps, metal foot steps slowly waltzing closer all around her, surrounding her and she couldn't get out, they were getting closer and closer until all the sounds moved and focused onto one point off her left side. Taking a closer look she saw two specks of what looked like fire, purplish-red and glowing red from the center before shifting into a pair of eyes looking right at her, a slightly reflecting set of sharp teeth stared back at her from the darkness as the form slowly took shape, becoming separated from the dark clouds of smoke and black background. The deep purple form of a mare staring back at her took shape, a demonic looking mare at first yielded to a draconic mare she could barely recognize stopped just outside of the "light" she cast on the dark world.

"Don't be afraid Star Light, you're not alone after all, the world betrays you and yet you still fight, I like that in you and myself as well, they should be bowing to us and yet that usurper sits on your throne, why is that?" The voice was so familiar yet couldn't put a face to it, it sounded a bit raspy, devious and pursed with a sort of melodic tone, every vowel and movement from word to word was smooth and transitioned almost hypnotically. She couldn't find the voice to speak with, she felt almost as if she had little choice but to trust this voice as if it was the most promising thing in days she had and Zecora's betrayal only made things worse. Her life was upside-down at this point, even her dreams were filled with melancholy and deceit yet she found herself staring into the eyes of her own doppelganger. A near-spitting image but this one looked scarred, eyes as black as the night, aura as powerful as aphrodisiacs, that familiar face roused trust in her but also a deep-set fear.

She gave a growl at the being and it did not flinch, only grinned more and showed off familiar fangs and it drove Star to start to sob and lowering her head to the pitter-patter of tears on the ground. Everything was far too hard to deal with, she couldn't find the will to continue going on by herself and needed help, Star Light knew she could not defeat Nightmare Moon alone. This creature offered an easier path and the power to take back Equestria but at what cost would it take? The creature extended a hoof to the mare standing there and watching the pitiful sobbing of the once proud and strong princess wrought so low now.

"Star Light!" Came a voice, something in the distance of the darkness, it wasn't her voice or the entity's and it wasn't familiar yet it knew her name, how did it know?

"Star Light, Princess Star Light wake up, we need to leave..." the voice was drowned out by the dull throbbing of the darkness but it was enough to open her eyes, looking back at the entity made her gasp and jump back in surprise. Gone was the once scarred mare, proud yet deviously dark by feeling alone and in her place was a monster she had never witnessed, more dragon than mare now, scales and fur turned purple, eyes lit with a black-purple fire burning around the edges of her eyes. The sight of this dominance was both frightening and a powerful urge to give in, submit and to trust in this being as her power could probably be felt for miles but that devious grin turned to a frown. Then a growl escaped the entity's muzzle as her slitted blue eyes turned to anger and she tried to grab for Star Light. A sudden tugging snapped her away from the purple creature as if pulled by a string and all that was sucked away. As the darkness and the dark mare was sucked away into the distance left roaring out and trying to make chase but it was hopeless as the once bitter darkness was traded for a twilight black as what looked like the sun was rising in the far distance.

The world came back into view, a light shining over top of her from an obscured source while her vision began sifting through the light and noticed a face began to appear through it. She must have been crying as the face looked sad, a hoof touched her cheek and seemed to wipe away the tears streaming from her face. Finally the light fades and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she stared up at a purplish pony with curly locks for her mane and pointed fur- tipped ears, thin membrane wings like her own but slightly different, more bat-like than a regal draconic pony. This mare smiles down at Star Light soon and picked her up slowly with a grunt and caused pain to shoot through Star, growling as her body was forced to move after the damage it sustained in the fight with Nightmare Moon.

"W-who are you? Nnngh!" Star Light nearly collapsed right there but was caught by the mare that helped her up.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me, Princess Celestia did introduce us at the gala 4 years ago." The mare smiled and gasps as Star Light pulled away, nearly face planting into the ground again and tried to help the princess of guidance walk.

"STAR you are far too weak to try and keep up this pace, you're going to kill yourself, now I don't know what you did to yourself but you need to rest and heal up!" The mare was halfway screaming at her, it made the blood boil in her to the idea she needed another pony's help after what Zecora did but it was no use, in a matter of a few steps Star was back on the ground.

"Star Light you stingy mare you are far too hurt, please don't move while I get some of these wounds healed." The bat hybrid mare lie down over Star's damaged body and her bright lavender magic began to course through the scales and white fur matted with red, glistening blood. It was a rather painful experience feeling gaping wounds being pulled and tugged and forced to meld together and left the mare panting from the magical exertion from only a few of the major gashes.

"N-nightmare Moon... Gaa-aaahg! C-can you please be more careful!" Star cried out as the magic waned and ended up cutting one of the gashes open further.

"S-star... I'm sorry your wounds are too much for me alone... W-wait, Nightmare Moon did this to you? You're lucky to be alive after that. Look my name is Cinnamon Music, you may be in too much pain to remember me but I remember you and i'm only here to help you so please, just let me help you." Cinnamon sighed and slowly got back to her hooves, using what strength she had left to help Star Light back up, some of the healing did help to keep her on her hooves longer.

"C-Cinnamon Music... I remember you now, you left right after that gala, I never got to talk to you before you left, I-I do remember P-rincess Celestia introducing us, nngh! I-i'm so sorry I failed to save her from her fate... P-please just leave me here I have failed Equestria I-I~..!" Star Light was cut off by the hoof of this bright purple pony pressing to her lips and muzzle and forcing her to stop her speech, giving a look up at the mare and Star knew tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"Shhh... Quite down Star Light, you have done your best i'm quite certain, and based on your wounds you have given it your best, please do not beat yourself down because you are not alone in this, many of the ponies of Equestria still stand behind you and my 'Tia, and so do I." Cinnamon smiles down at Star Light and drapes a wing over the large princess, holding her close and using her magic to pull leaves and nearby bush branches over both of them to help camouflage them from any prying eyes.

Star Light didn't know where the last night ended and the new morning began anymore and she had lost track of when sleep had come over her. Exhausted from the emotional ride and the fight, something inside of her was beginning to break and something else was beginning to overtake her mind, corrupting her thoughts. She was truly scared as a dark blanket seemed to inch its way into every fault and ever crevice of her mind and body. Dreams no longer filled her sleep this night, every night and always the nightmare continued. Star woke up after what felt like days asleep covered in leaves and the mare she had seen before was gone, leaving behind hoof prints and feathered. Star Light stirred from her sleep and slowly rose from the leaves but she no longer felt soreness or pain, her body felt new and unhinged from the physical memories of the fight with Nightmare Moon

Looking around the area yielded little results to her mental inquiries, where did Cinnamon Music go now? How would she find the six ponies now and with the growing mistrust and darkness in her mind, how could she take back herself. Princess Star Light had no answers only more questions and building anxiety but she needed to move forward. Life reinvigorating her once beat and broken body and she took her first real limp-less steps since the near deathly encounter with Nightmare Moon.

The cool night air seemed to shift and move around her and kept Star Light on a constant alert, scanning the shadows and the darkness of the forest until what felt like hours and she began to lose hope of ever finding the edge of this blasted woodlands. It seemed luck was on her side though as moments after she realized the forest had suddenly and abruptly ended, in the distance was the lantern lights of what she could only assume was Ponyville and beyond that was her lost home, Canterlot. The lights of Canterlot were limited as she could imagine smoke rising from the now wasted castle, halfway destroyed from not only one but two battles waged there, one by Celestia and the other by herself, both outcomes were rather known by now and it pulled a sigh from her chest.

Turning away from the destruction and shame that washed over the disposed leader, she began to move southward towards more of the larger cities like Manehatten and Las Pegasus, it was certain that the six ponies had fled but she had to find them. Star Light's head hang low in the ever apparent shame she felt, every step tugged at her mind to turn around and try to depose Nightmare Moon, to take back Equestria once again. She needed to try but the rest of her body still felt the ghost pain of the two fights prior and was forced to keep moving forward, fighting would come soon enough. The flapping and beating of wings stopped her in her tracks suddenly, looking up and around for the owner made her gasp as Cinnamon was coming in with a blaze of glory and a lit lantern floating beside the mare.

"Star Liiiiight!" Cinnamon Music shouted out, floating from the sky and landing beside the larger pony, huffing from the exertion and adrenaline of the rush.

"W-where did you go? I was finding some food for us and I came back to find you gone but thankfully you're a rather large mare and your hoof prints dig into the ground deep, here." Cinnamon Music wasted no time to pull a fruit from her saddle pack slung behind her wings and handed one to Star while biting into the other, it was actually rather cute to watch this mare munching on what she could only distinguish was an apple or mango.

"Thank you Cinnamon Music, It looks good and I actually didn't realize until now I had not eaten much of anything in the past day or two I think, and it's even more surprising they survived this long, bat ponies usually crave these things." Star Light munched on her own fruit, it was definitely an apple and so sweet that it could only have come from Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's established business she had to abandon after Nightmare Moon vanquished Princess Celestia.

"Just Cinny is fine, it's easier to say and i'm no bat pony silly, I may resemble one but I do differ from them, I am a vampire.. err pony, most just call us Vamponies and before you ask, I am here because of family issues..." Cinny stopped munching on the apple and seemed to stare off into space after this statement and Star Light, though very curious now about the outcome of this family endeavor, did not press her luck with a mare she didn't know so well yet. There would be time for learning more about each other in the future but they needed to find a better mode of transportation before they could get to such a distant city like Manehatten far, far south.

"So what are we doing, Star Light? I heard tales about six ponies that were tasked with the recovery of magical artifacts to try and stop Nightmare Moon and failed... Or maybe request the aid of the northern tribes, dragons or even go eastward to the barrens and perhaps find help outside of the empire? Perhaps try to find Princess Cadence, she is sure to have the ability to help us?" Cinny dragged on the suggestions ranging from ponies and creatures all over the world and it even made Star Light giggle a bit when she mentioned horse pony legends from the far eastern shores before taking the apple from Cinny and putting it into the mare's mouth.

"All very fine suggestions and ones to keep in mind i'm fairly certain but Celestia chose those six you mentioned, they were destined to drive Lu... Nightmare Moon back and defeat her but they failed and I need to know why, they may know the location of those artifacts and they may be the only way to successfully defeat Nightmare Moon. So we are going to Manehatten, that is the most likely place to find at least two of the six and once we have found them our path to the last four will be much easier!." Star looked back at Cinny and both smiled at each other, It was obvious what both of them needed to do now and with a nod from the Vampony and a long journey ahead full of their own dangers and perils in the moon-lit sky. This would be a long and unknown journey, the world had changed for the worst and fear now made its ways into the ponies of this land and they needed to find their path forward from there, this was truly and only the beginning for what lay ahead no pony knew with the war brewing on the horizon of Equestria.

Chapter 5: Horns of war

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