Celestia looked at the lifeless body of her former student with a heartbroken expression. For everything that had passed between them, she had still loved the unicorn as the daughter she had never had. To see her like this ignited a burning rage within her, but she did not let it show. "How? Nothing could get in without someone seeing it."

Luna nodded. "No one passed us, sister. And you know I would not do this. No matter how much I feel Miss Shimmer needed to be slapped repeatedly for her insolence."

Dianathe nodded as well. "I did not like her much better. But I would not wish this on anyone."

The rest of the mane 6 shared a look. Fluttershy seemed to be on the verge of tears. This was something nopony should have happen to them, no matter how mean Sunset had been. "Does she have a family?" Applejack asked.

Celestia nodded. "Her parents still live in Canterlot. Sunset was an only child. I do not know how I will be able to explain where their daughter has been for so long." Her tears began to fall at last. "Nor do I know how I will explain that I let her die."

Hippothea placed a hand on Celestia's shoulders. "This was not your fault, Tia. You could not have known this would happen."

Celestia shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Hippothea. Her parents entrusted me to look after Sunset. Not only did I fail once when I knew full well where her path could lead her. But I let her die as well."

She looked out a nearby window. "No more. I will find the one who did this to her, and I will make them pay ten thousandfold for what they've done!"

Everyone took a step back at the Solar Monarch's anger. They had never seen such anger from the normally calm princess before. Only Luna had, and it had been many centuries since that day.

Hippothea's hand went to her sword, ready to draw it in case she needed to fulfill the oath none of her kind wanted to fulfill. Celestia saw it and immediately cooled off before she said or did something rash that would make the situation worse. "Pardon my anger. But this was not how I imagined this to go."

"What do we tell Twilight?" Spike asked. He could almost taste something in the air. It was a kind of magic, one that he didn't know of. And living with Twilight his entire life, he could taste most kinds.

Cadance shook her head. No matter how much Sunset had tormented her when they were younger, her heart was still broken to see the unicorn like this. "We don't even know what killed her. What kind of monster would do such a thing? How could they get past the Suppression Ring? I didn't think they could be broken."

Luna shook her head. "That is because they cannot be. A Ring can only be removed by the one who put it on. A unicorn cannot remove it themselves. Let alone destroy it like this."

Celestia nodded. "Because this one was made especially for me, it was never made to come off at all. If I ever lost my sanity and followed the path of darkness, this would hold me for all eternity. The more I would have fought against it, the more it would have clamped down on my magic."

Everyone shared a look. That was news to them. Only Hippothea and Dianathe had known of this before now, aside from the sisters. Even Cadance was shocked by this. "Somebody broke it," Appitrite said after a moment, poking at it. She could feel the residual magic left inside of it, and something else. "And if this was meant to keep Celestia bound for all time, then I'm not sure who or what could have done this."

Hipoothea and Dianathe shared a look. "Do you feel it as well?" Dianathe asked.

Appitrite nodded, her head falling. "But that's impossible. That magic died out ages ago. He's dead. The Great Mother killed him herself."

"Someone taught it to him, though. It is possible that whoever that was is the one who did this," Hippothea added, not liking the implications if this was true.

Rainbow threw her hooves up in exasperation. "Will you three start making sense! What are you talking about?"

The three shared a look, and something seemed to pass between them. "Sunset Shimmer had her very soul stolen. A painful and agonizing process. Whoever did this made sure that she felt every second of it," Appitrite replied.

The group gasped. "I've never heard of such magic," Rarity replied. Celestia and Luna nodded, showing that they didn't know it either.

Dianathe nodded. "You would not have. Only one being has ever used this kind of magic, and he has been dead for thousands of years. Yet our records say that he was taught it by another."

Celestia and Luna shared a look. They knew how much their guards disliked talking of their kind's past. This was something new to them. Yet they felt it was not the full story. "Then how do we fight it?" Luna asked.

Hippothea shook her head. "We don't know. Nothing we knew of could fight it. Too many of our kind died to Soul Drain. But that was only the start of a new nightmare."

Dianathe nodded. "Even when we learned magic and how to fight, we still could only just fight against it."

"So who's the Great Mare?" Pinkie asked.

Appitrite bit her lip, but a nod from her older siblings gave her confidence. "She was the one who ended the nightmare for good. She taught us everything we know. How to fight, how to cast and use magic that no other race can. She killed the Enslaver who held our kind in bondage."

"Sounds like someone we could use for this. Where is she?" Applejack asked.

Appitrite shrugged. "We don't know. She led our kind for a time after we took our freedom, and then she just vanished. No one knows where she went or why."

The group groaned. "Well that's just great," Spike grumbled. "So what are we supposed to do now? Crazy new magic we don't a lot about, and no way to fight it. Can it get it any worse?"

Celestia smiled slightly. "We look out for anything strange. I doubt whatever or whoever did this will be happy with just one. It is never that simple I'm afraid."

Luna nodded. "Princess Twilight must know of this when she returns. Her attunement to the Element of Magic may be able to help us. Until then, we must keep a constant guard, and pray that whatever did this has left the Crystal Empire."

The group nodded, heading for the Kitchen. Sleep was the last thing they needed right now.

***

From a darkened corner, a deeper shadow watched all of this with a cruel grin, before dissolving away.

Author's Note

Time for the new threat to make its move. I know who it is Equestria must face. And the nightmare to come. Anyone who watched Fantasia will know who it is when the time comes.

No spoilers though. I won't say who it is even if someone guesses it right. Where's the fun in ruining it for all? So there's your warning.