Author's Note

Sorry for the super long delay but I have been on and off with being sick as of late. Now that my waning health is finally starting to turn around after visiting the doctors several times, I'm finally able to get back to writing again and finishing up where I last left off.

War in Equestria is Silly!

Deep within the caverns of Neo Canterlot, a powerful waterfall could be heard. While not natural in its creation, it still somehow retains the beauty of the crystals around it as they all seem to sparkle and glisten from the excess water splashed across them from the change in nature. The earth beneath the ceiling has been carved to form a river of nourishment that leads back to the ever-blossoming unofficial capital of ponydom.

While water has not been an issue of late, there has always been an ever lingering thought of the ever-shrinking reservoirs of water beneath the mountain. What would have been an easy fix under a pony-controlled weather system has now become a liability. While large and pure in its own right, with the ever-increasing number of tunnels being made to allow safe passage of various goods, trades, and ponies, more and more water has begun being drained from it to allow more ease for digging through the harder and more condensed portions of the earth.

This formation of a pony-made river system from the various above-ground streams and rivers has been a celestial send for three key reasons. The first is the increase in the yield of crops and the expansion of farmlands. With softer soil now flowing with magic and nutrient from the crystal growing above, the size of said crops have increased and have allowed more land to be used to farm food for those within Neo-Canterlot's region. This has also caused new crops unheard or seen before to appear as well.

Rare and unheard of plants can be seen growing along the newly created river bed. The ones that catch the most eyes are the luminescent ones that seem to have the ability to trap magic within their fruits. A sort of magic blackberry and raspberry has quickly become the favorite amongst the children and the bane to adults due to how energetic the fillies and colts become after consuming.

Shopkeepers of both pastries and candies have begun the process of figuring out how best to include these new fruits into their foods without losing those magical properties. While the testing and tasing has been underway in the new development of life for the main populace, those within the branches of the military or higher form of work have begun researching possibly drawbacks and benefits from these blackberries and raspberries.

Some have begun to call them the magic berry.

The second advantage this river has brought unto the ponies is that of hope unlike any other. Even when their world has been torn from their teeth and hoof, they have managed to find a way to make life livable. The aura of peace that they have long sought after has yet to return, but a glimpse of what it could entail could easily be seen from the increasing changes of the world around them.

Not only has the river brought forth hope, but the innovation of inventions that cater towards the betterment of pony life. The first water wheel to allow faster production of energy and crushed grains. A source of entertainment for the fillies and colts that have been recently born or were of the world from before. And the empowerment that ponies can once again feel as if they have their lives in their own hooves.

The third is the need course of progression with this new source of water. The naturally made caverns are only so numerous and once they had reached the end of them, hard and unforgiving walls made sure that progression further could be halted. Twilight's strength along could pile through some of the solid slabs of rocks, slate, and crystals, but the process still remained slow.

Thus water was used to try and dampen much of the none support walling to achieve progression through the stone roadblocks. The thought once caused distress, but now only the thought of what more could they do with this endless supply of water.

Yet there is one whose thoughts are not of water and the ever progression of pony-kind. No, she currently finds herself beneath the crashing waves of the waterfall once again to alleviate the constant migraine and to meditate on her predicament. The creature in question is none other than a nude Twilight Sparkle who has grown quite fit in her line of work.

Off the side of the riverbank lies her clothes dirtied, torn, and otherwise unkempt from weeks of work. And weeks of sleepless nights brimmed with both energy and thoughts.

Meditating beneath the crashing waves has been the only way of relief to her thus far. This is why the owner of the clothes seems to be oblivious of the world around her and that of the pressure of the falling water against her form. The waterfall could be compared to that of rainfall for all she could care. Her body had grown stronger while her mind weaker from the exertion.

She hadn't known it. And if she would have before, she might have attempted to stop herself. Or mitigate the damage sharing a mindscape would have on her. For just as much as she took, she also gave. To have control of the body meant losing one's mind.

Is the price worth it? Perhaps. But the ever-constant fighting. Celestia was once silent and seemed to just float in the background. Twilight had never once given thought to her past mentor, till the aggression started.

Till she started agreeing with things she wouldn't have. The slight whispering of what she thought were her own thoughts. When she would reach out to Celestia about these, she would not reply or simply ignore her. Twilight has forgotten how old Celestia was. How used to she might be at playing the long.

A master of chess.

This is why despite the aura of lavender floating amongst her body, Yellow and white could be seen nipping away at edges of weak points of her magical hold of the body. She had thought Celestia was repressed, but no.

She was simply biding her time.

The same could be said for another. Despite being lost in the mindscape of a conjoined mind, the host, the original owner of the body, could be felt drifting with purpose through memories and images of life events of her own. Even now, Twilight could feel her being intertwined with that of the body's true owner.

And she could feel her stirring ever more and more. Communication with her had been cut off due to her former teacher's meddling, but she hoped the pulses of magical reassurance were reaching her. Because she knows that Celestia can most likely feel it too.

Something was getting ready to happen. Whether it be the true return of the owner or perhaps a metamorphosis. Either way, something was about to go down. Which made it ever the more serious for Twilight to help speed things up before Celestia could ruin it.

For now, Twilight can only wonder how much she has changed from the Twilight she knew. She also wonders what the original owner would think of all of this. she had brief conversations with the woman before, but she never got a complete read on her personality. As far as she knows, she's just a timid and fragile creature. But she had thought of that herself once upon a time before the war came.

The body that they share was once pudgy but now has become toned and athletic. Something Rainbowdash would most likely appreciate more than anything. As for Twilight, she has mixed feelings about it seeing as the effort wasn't in her mind entirely for doing this. Perhaps some hidden desire by the host, or another strategy employed by her former mentor.

Twilight sighs as she slowly floats down towards the bed of the waterfall and river. She sits there no longer meditating but enjoy the wash of water and the coolness it brings. After this, she knows there are multiple locations that she wishes to visit before heading back up to the surface. There are a few places she would like to go in order to get things back on track for herself. Since she stills has some of Celestia's magical signature, there are probably enchanted areas throughout the castle that she'll be able to get into now that she wasn't before.

Perhaps even find some of Celestia's personal storages or labs. An interesting prospect for sure. A decision a certain somepony would most likely be against. But she could care less what she thinks or want.

She rises from the river and makes her way for her clothes drying herself off with magic once out of the water. Once redressed within her baggy long pants and lavender t-shirt, she pulls a note out of her pocket and re-read it for the hundredth time this day alone.

Dear Twilight,

Our runners have found a town that had recently managed to get in contact with a spy upon the nearby Gryphon army. It seems that they're planning something big and are amassing quite a few fighters from the nearby encampments. They also seem to be slaughtering every pony they come across instead of enslaving them meaning that this is now due or die time. We request your presence in the war room to discuss further planning.

A hastily written note. Twilight had been making plans of her own, but her new friends and family needed her here and now. Looting the castle would have to come later. Hopefully not much later, but later. Closer to soon would be reasonable.

So now she makes her way through the epicenter of Neo-Canterlot greeting everypony as she goes. From the workers to the shoppers and the owners. She grew to know just about everypony's name that is within this town. Twilight can't help but chuckle to herself at how much she's become so much of all her friends. Especially Pinkie in remembering the names of everypony she meets, Rarity at making sure those around her have encouragement and something to look for, Fluttershy in showing kindness to both her enemies and those not as fortunate as her, Rainbowdash and her ego-boosting and pridefulness as well as her extreme loyalty to all those she cares for, and Applejack and her stubbornness to do as she pleases and being honest through both her words and actions. Thanks to them, she was no longer the same Twilight. She was something greater than the old Twilight. Then even her Alicorn formed Twilight.

Maybe she was just becoming too self-conceited. She's had to recharge all the mana fields many times to even keep close to the mana flow and output that she's been going at. She has also figured out a way to make a portable mana charge for herself through some of the more magically inclined crystals, but that only provides her with a temporary buff instead of a constant like being on home turf.

But she digresses. Right now, she has something else to worry about instead of her own powers and mental state. She has to figure out what to do about the immediate threat of Griffs without endangering the Ponies that are all left. As much as she wishes she could simply take care of their enemies without worry, she knows that even she has her limits. While empowered at first against the threat when she first arrived on the scene, she knows that the magical high is gone now and she has to be more aware of her state of being. Especially with the threat of Celestia having the opportunity to take over.

A migraine. A sigh. If only she would be more cooperative. Then they wouldn't have such a large problem at hand in regards to the body's state.

"Hey there Twilight!" A jubilant voice calls out as she rounds the corner headed for the cut-off section of rock meant to look like a mine but acting as a cover for the third war room, "I'm guessing you getting called off for some important business?"

The speaker a dulled shade of turquoise Pegasus with yellow and white mane and tail. She calls herself Rain Shine and works in town as the local mail delivery service. While not as good as a certain crossed-eyed pegasus she used to know, she certainly doesn't slouch when it comes to making sure everything is delivered on time. Not only is she's good at her job, but she does well as a friend on top of it.

"Sure have. Just between me and you, " Twilight moves in closer to her, "I'm sure they want me to lead the troops into battle as a morale boost."

Rain nods her head understandingly. It makes sense in all honesty. Who else to lead the groups than the one that has inspired them to do better and has brought oh so much joy into our lives. I think you would do a fantastic job as a leader for our troops against the horde and Gryphs that plague our lands! If you couldn't do it then then, gosh, I don't think anypony would be able to!"

"I guess that's one of the main reasons huh? I'm not really a pony anymore. I may be one on the inside, but I'm not on the outside anymore. I'm different, but I'm okay with that more than ever before. I want to embrace my uniqueness just like everypony else. I want everybody, not just pony, to fully understand my teachings of the past and of the present. This is why I need to get into the castle more than ever to uncover more of the truth behind everything." Twilight says the passion in her voice gradually gaining.

Rain frowns a bit, "Just don't let it consume you okay? If something were to happen to you again, well. I don't think Ponies would be able to recover anymore."

Twilight nods her head solemnly completely agreeing with the statement. Ponies do not have the best track record in regards to keeping themselves together without an authority figure around to do it for them. After learning this fact, Twilight almost pitied Celestia after Luna's banishment.

Almost being the keyword.

After her own experience with isolation from the outside world aside from her manipulation of mana around her, she doesn't blame Nightmare moon as much as she once did. Something about being lost to time and space really wears away at your mind. But the real kicker was constantly looking at her crippled, beaten, torn, and raped body.

At the start, she was wondering whether or not all of that was a nightmare. That she was waiting for Luna to wake her up from a powerful realistic nightmare. But she never woke up. Well, not in the same sense of a dream. When she had awoken from her death, she had simply thought she was waking up from a nightmare that she had. A long terrible nightmare.

"...Twilight?"

Startled from her memories she glances towards Rain who seems to be looking at her with concern as well as a few other ponies that are standing around now. She might have been lost in the moment of her memories, but that should cause them to suddenly look at her estranged-like.

"Please forgive me my little pony. I had simply-" Twilight's hand slaps across her mouth as the words leave her.

It was her voice, but those weren't the words she was saying.

"Hey, Twilight? Why did you sound like-"

Twilight dashes off with a quick flash of magic gathering around her body. She re-appears a moment later outside of the designated meeting area. Another spell summons forth a magic mirror before her. Half of her hair has turned a mix of blonde and lavender while her eyes are that of Celestia. And the smirk upon her face. She punches the mirror shattering the imaginary glass and causing it to disappear.

A mass amount of magic suppresses the rise of Celestia's magic that had gone unnoticed while she had distracted herself in her memories. The slightest slip of concentration had almost undone her. Of course, Celestia was good at playing the long game. This proves that more than anything else. She shouldn't be so surprised but.

"Damnit!" She says turning and punching the hardened wall next to her, "Just leave it alone you bitch! Your time has come and gone and I do not need you trying to mess with these ponies any more than you already have! Do you really think fighting against the change coming forth is going to be good for them or us!? What will you do at the end of all of this! Think Celestia think!

"You have had almost all of eternity to set us up for success, but what did you do! You fucked it all up because you didn't want to be overbearing! You wanted to be seen as malevolent and yet you've fucked things up more than anypony else! Do you know how long you've kept everypony around you in your shadow? Me, Luna, Cadence, Chrysalis, your own children?

"Yeah! That's right! I found out! I bet you didn't know that one did you? That you and Luna both have your own secret line of children that never once became Alicorns. But all these other ponies outside of your own family line have. You don't think I don't see the jealousy in your eyes when you gaze at me or Cadance? You say you're proud of us, but is that really true?

"I hate you, Celestia. I honestly never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth, but I slowly came to realize how true that is over the many months and years that I've been dead and the course of the war. Even when you first came to me in the hallway of accession, you hardly would look at me. You were more concerned about what was around me. As if you wanted to learn the secret to how I managed to get there.

"Tell me something, Celestia. If you could do it all over again, would you change the way you live? We are timeless. Even in death, we never die. So when all of this is dust, and everypony you've ever known is dead, and all of the world's kingdom has fallen into despair and have parted this mortal coil, what will you have in the end?

"Nothing lasts forever. I and you both know this. Yet you treat it as all of this is your plaything. As if the world is your toy box and every broken toy can easily be replaced. But you're a captive to your own amalgamation. And now that you have the freedom away from all of it, now that you have seen the other side, that you have finally come down from your golden throne to see the world has fallen around you, now. Only now. Do. You. Act.

"So what is that you want at the end of it huh? Answer me that Celestia."

Twilight stands there breathing heavily. She had yelled so much at herself. She had a lot to get off her chest. And there is still more that she wants to yell, but for now, this would do.

Death. I will have death. Yours, mine, everything. You are right about many things, but my motives you were always wrong about. Till recently I thought I could control the world. That I could shape it in the way that I wanted to be through both my actions and inactions. Then, I learned that it was all too easy. That I no longer had a challenge.

Do you want to know why I do this, Twilight? It is because I have a true challenge now. To wipe the world clean. To start is anew. To erase everything and possibly rewrite everything in the way I see fit. To have a clean slate.

And this time, I would not make the same mistakes as I did before.

"... So you wish to play god? Or I guess goddess in your account. Heh..." Twilight could only shake her head and try to stifle the laughter rising in her chest. Twilight was expecting many things, silence being the first one that comes to mind, but not this. Though she supposes it makes sense.

"You wish to see the end of it all huh? Meanwhile, I want to see the rebirth of it all. I wish to give them real hope. To give them a reason to live. I've never been truly at odds with you Celestia, but now. I really have to be. I hope you never see the light of day again."

When the time comes Twilight, you will not.

Twilight grits her teeth before turning and making her way into the meeting area. She would have to apologize to Rain later.