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It was finally time.

That is the thought that runs through her mind as she continues her fight. She could hear them rattling, feel the strain of etherborn metal. Her chains, her shackles are ready to give. After a thousand years they have grown frail, and weak. Weak enough for her to finally break free from.

It has been a trial, she does not deny that.

One thousand years of isolation, one thousand years of imprisonment. Sanity has been tried time and time again, yet she remains as who she was. Singular, dedicated focus has saved her from madness.

The first chain breaks.

Looking ahead, beyond the vacuum of space and stars. She can not help but feel… “giddy” at the prospect of what’s to come. Her return; for a thousand years she’d been waiting, for a thousand years she has dedicated her patience and time to breaking the bonds that now crumble around her. She has mastered her powers, mastered herself all for this moment where she would make her return.

The second chain breaks.

For a thousand years all she could do was stare at the sphere that is Equus, gaze locked on the homeland. her home world. No more. No longer would she be forced to just look at the world that rightfully belonged to her. Soon, soon she’ll be able to walk amongst it’s grass plains once more. Soon she shall be able to breathe the air again and bask in her element with all its glory. Soon she will be going home.

A third breaks and her excitement grows.

Home, how she miss it. She misses everything from the sight of stone to the smell of wood burnt over a fire. Misses the sight of Canterlot Spires and though it pains her to admit it… she misses her: The one that banished her to begin with. That does not change anything. It will not change what must be done, it will not change what shall be done. Refocusing her mind she takes a breath and struggle against the last of her bonds. It is all the keeps her here now. No longer will she let it bind her to this place, the ethereal shadow upon the moon. No longer will she be stuck here, watching, waiting and plotting her return. Tonight she would make her dreams and ideals a reality.

The last bond breaks.

In triumph throw her head back and laughs. She’s free, finally free, and it’s time to go home.

Yet she pauses, for the briefest of moments as she feels “something”. Something swimming through the cold abyss that is star and planet. Her gaze turns, and she sees it a streak of light, a meteor thrown from the far reaches of the cosmic abyss, from the opening of a Baleful Eye some tens of thousands of light-years away. It reaches the homeland in less than several seconds, and she finds herself wondering, thinking, realizing what had been done.

She seethes, her power boils and the Baleful Eye shuts in an instant. She knows not what has come, but she understands what has occurred. Something has been released. Opposition; a threat to her ascension.

This transgression would not stand. She will not tolerate even an unknown rival. And so she moves. Like a falling star she returns to the world rightfully hers.

Her return does not take to long. An instant is all that is needed. But in that instant she takes an eternity to center herself. It has been a thousand years, her homeland -Equestria - is bound to have changed in her absence. Would she even recognize it? She must prepare herself, as to not be overwhelmed or underwhelmed if that is to be the case.

“Dear goddess…” The Castle of Two Sisters, her home, it lies in ruins. The land is covered in moss and cobwebs. The castle lies broken and and in disarray. What… just what has happened here? What has become of her home? Then as soon as she asks the question, she receives her answer. A memory, or rather part of one returns to her. She fought her sister here, her home was the place where her rebellion began. It had become their battleground, as well as where she had lost the battle against her and the Elements of Harmony. “Yet that was over a thousand moons ago… why does it still lie in disrepair?” The mare doesn’t get an answer, finding herself met with silence.

Without a thought she becomes a mist of dark starlight, travels through the seemingly deceased castle grounds, gliding over the overgrowth and across the items that lie scattered. She phases through the aged doors and enters the castle. The interior shows itself the same, deserted, seemingly forgotten by time. Old drapes and banners have been chewed and bitten into by insects. “Celestia!” She shouts, voice echoing around the corridors. “Come out Celestia explain yourself! How could you allow such a thing to happen to this glorious castle?” Celestia, wherever she hides, she does not answer her. “Answer me dear sister. What has become of this land?” As she walks she call out more, passing old images and sights she scarcely remembers from her fillyhood.

She growls, her magic seeps and burns. She closes her eyes, opens them so that they may but glow. And she issues an order. “Show me where she is.” She sees the world; the stars becoming her eyes as she gazes upon the world from a thousand angles.

She does not find, the coward. “Do you not have the courage to face me?” She gets no response. Her sister is not dead, no she would know if that were the case.

Yet if that is the case, where is she?

Where lies the bringer of days.

“It matters little.”

The voice; her voice yet not her voice, the one that gave her strength to move beyond despair reaches out to her, and she listened.

“If she is gone, this world will bow to you, and you alone.”

“Yes.”

“Nothing shall stand in your way, nothing shall stop your ascension.”

She smiles, cruel it may be as she turns to the roads she scarcely remembers. The Sun Bearer is gone, and the night has come. “And the Night shall last-.” The mare stops as he attention turns, something reaching her ears as she looks elsewhere. “What the devil is that noise?”

Canterlot Gardens

The winds changed; that alone told the world itself that something was afoot, what however was currently unknown. Across the realm the trees began to whisper, the lakes seemed to shiver, and the animals suddenly grow restless. The powers that be, powers of this world and this realm watch, and wait, listen and observe; trying to see how things shall play out. To act is to upset the balance the flow of the world they must create. To act is to bring chaos that not even the Spirit of Discord would create.

In a crater located at the far reaches of the Canterlot Maze, where trees lie bent and shrubs lie shattered, the Beast gets to its feet, shaking its head, trying to make sense of things. It looks around, sees the trees, feels the winds and listens to the earth. In a daze it blinks, staring into space, before all around it twists. Trees die, the wind burns, the crater breathes, terraformed from some brand of “growth” long forgotten but shall be referred as the Burn.

The Beast feels not the raw energy of the Ruinous Plains, hear the whispers of Ruinous Gods trying to convert his will. This is the dimension beyond, a realm outside the Sea of Screams. Beyond - currently - the reach of poisonous thirsting gods,and the black tide. He breathes, trying his hardest to calm himself, only to fail. He screams, a cathartic wail like that of something from the darkest corners of Infernum.The world shivers, the stars quake, and still he screams.

Inhabitants of the world wonder what form of daemon from Tartarus’s black pits can make such a dreadful noise. It is not a call though, not to old things slumbering beneath stone and ocean depths. It is not a declaration, a warning of the end times. It does not spread war like a plague to unsuspecting lands. It does not bring the storm.

It is anger, raw unfiltered anger, that the world feels in it’s timeless bones. For that is what the Beast is now. It is angry - no it is livid. Pulled away from it’s hunting grounds and sent here. Wherever here is.

The roar ends, the echoes fade and the beast stares heavenward. The stars catching it’s attention as it falls mute.

‘Beautiful…’

What a strange thought, the Beast realized as it continued staring skyward. It had not seen the stars since its birth. No that is a lie, there lie stars flickering throughout the Sea of Screams. All of them lie perverted, caressed by ruinous powers. None of them look like this; untouched, pure.

Still beyond the sea of stars, beyond that uncaring abyss does he find the Baleful Eye staring down at him, that gaping maw that leads to the nightmare realm.

He could see it, but that didn’t mean he could reach it, least not yet.

He would either need a shuttle to steer directly into the Baleful Eye, or perhaps he could find a door that lead him there.

If there was no door however, he would simply have to make one.

Turning his gaze the Beast looks around, scanning his surroundings as he makes a noise and leaves the crater he had found himself in.

Again the world starts to whisper, wondering what this new being might be. He looks like many that have wandered the world; he walks on two legs like them, and sees through two eyes.

And yet… he feels wrong, so very wrong, unlike the others that walk the world.

The Beast wanders, feeling out his new surroundings. He does not know this place, memories from a time before grant him no knowledge of this world. Still this place reminds him of some, a past he once had eons ago. Before his armor became what it was now, before his people leapt into the tumultuous pit.

He releases a noise and wanders; his attention ever wavering as something calls to him.

It is hunger; not his hunger for war and battle; this hunger is older, simpler even.

He walks on, looking around for something to snack upon.

That in itself is a task easily accomplished.

There lie birds scattered throughout the maze, hundreds of them having migrated from across the world. He can smell them, and he can hunt them down. He hunts the birds down as they release a few muted screams and shrieks.

How long had it been; how long since he actually fed? Carrion flesh had always been an option to him, but in his unending crusade, feasting upon the souls of the damned provided all the sustenance he needed for over countless Eons.

He bites into flesh and feathers like a rabid dog, swallowing many whole like a snake does a rodent.

He feasts upon a dozen at a time, sating his hunger as best he can.

He still hungers though.

He turned his head, attention drifting as a scent fills his nose; it’s sweet, yet reeks of civilization.

It smells close.

Canterlot Castle

The city had fallen silent. Cadence realized as she turned her attention towards the Canterlot gardens. The noise - the first noise - had directed the guard, and drawn them from over Canterlot. And of them, was of course her boyfriend, Shining Armor. That was expected however, after all Shining Armor was Captain of the Royal Guard - of course he would be there.

“So much for spending the Summer Sun Celebration together.” The mare thought with a hint of bitterness. She wasn’t - least that was what she told herself. She was relatively used to this after all, her dating a Guardspony as long as she had, she knew what that entailed, and while they had set aside tonight for themself she couldn’t help but feel that noise deserved looking into. “Just what in Equestria could make that noise though?” She wondered as she narrowed her eyes before taking a breath.”Be safe, Shining Armor.” She whispered before closing her eyes in prayer.

“Hey you’re not supposed to be here!” The sound of brief pained screaming caught her attention as she turned her head in surprise.

“What the - oh buc-”

“Stop him! For the love of Celestia stop -” As quickly as the words came they were silenced; the door to her chamber broke, a body being thrown through it before it slammed into the opposite wall. They didn’t move after hitting the floor. The same couldn’t be said for the one on the opposite end of the room though, stepping into the room as they looked around before locking eyes with her.

“Who are you?” Cadence didn’t get an answer as the figure stared at her and started stepping forward.

Author's Note

We begin when the Nightmare returns, and the Beast crosses paths with the Princess of Love. Shall royal blood be shed this night, or shall something reach that which knows only war? Find out soon.