Fallen Queendom

Chapters

1

Ruins of the Everfree Forest

The silence here is almost painful. That is the thought that runs through the mare’s mind as she stares skyward, looking out beyond the ruins of the ruined Castle of the old Everfree, her attention focused on the clear night sky just hanging just overhead, it’s moon and stars seemingly staring down at her. What they have seen in their lone illuminating lives; that is a question she is ashamed to know that goes unanswered. All she knows is that they have seen more than she could possibly begin to understand, and will see more after she has long left this world.

“It’s a nice night isn’t it?” Her counterpart asks as they step forward, walking through the rubble as she follows behind like she was their shadow.

Though the words she would prefer to be used would be bodyguard; that was more or less what she was hired for after all. Running a hand through her mane the mercenary smiles as she feels a breeze run through an opening in the wall to hit her like a shield to the face.

“Nothing like a cold summer night to stimulate the senses.” She responds before looking at her client. “And I must admit it is quite beautiful.” She states, her gaze resting upon the dark sky.

She’d never understood why the sun was seen as the greater light. It’s reach, while grand, did nothing but blind and burn those who gazed upon it. The moon though, that is where true beauty resides; it’s light bathes the world in an otherworldly glow, granting even the most plain strips of land an unnatural - almost mystical feel.

Any other night, this sight would bring the purest smile to her face, but tonight she finds little joy in the sight. With a sigh, the mare turns away, lets her gaze drift to her surroundings, before she sets a hoof upon her head and begins to mutter. The words are faint, spoken in a dead language that she doubts her counterpart understands. Still, there is a chance - however faint it may be - that they do. She pops a joint in her neck, and the noise echoes into the world around her.

“You really shouldn’t do that.” Her cloaked counterpart states as he rests his hands on the throne before her, seeming to search for something as she made a noise.

“I shouldn’t do a lot of things.” The mare remarks as she leans against the brickwork, a flask floating to her lips as she takes a drink, and leaves her hands idle. “Yet I do them anyway.” She focuses her attention on the stallion before her, watching him sit and mutter something incoherent under his breath. She looks beyond him, to the place they have come to today. This pace is hidden in the woods of the Everfree, out of sight, and out of mind. It is old, untouched by the modern world. This place is a sanctuary, stone is caressed by vines and by time. She knows of this place - more or less. It is part of a story her grandma used to tell her a filly. Stories more than half the world seems to have forgotten, unwillingly or intentionally. She remembers these stories, but never put much stock in their importance, but these old tales made a great bedtime story. The story of the Castle of Everfree. “So~” She begins. “How long will this take?”

“As long as needed.” Her counterpart mutters as he continues gliding his hands over the throne in search of… something.

“And what exactly are we doing here?”

“Searching.” The stallion states simply.

“Search for~” She trails off for a moment. “What exactly?”

“An old switch.”

“A switch?” The mare repeats as she stares at the stallion fondling the Daybringer’s old throne. “Why would there be a switch there?”

“The castle of two sisters carries a few thousand hidden doors and passages my dear.” Her counterpart states. “These switches open and close those locked and unseen doors.”

“And there's one in the chair?” The mare questions as she looks at her counterpart.

“Oh yes, it’s a very useful switch in fact.” Her counterpart admits. “Ah here we are.” He pulls something under the throne, and what sounds like the heartbeat of a giant pulses through the ruins of the castle. It shakes brickwork and makes the loose debris fall from the ceiling. The entire castle moved, and it felt like the place was going to come apart. The fact that it didn’t amazed the mare, and it was even more remarkable that it still stood as the floor started to open up.

“The switch opens the floor?”

“Yes.” The stallion stated as he watched the floor begin to open like the maw of a giant.

“What’s beneath this place, a bunker?”

“The Princess' greatest secret.” Was the response she was given as she just stared at the new path being laid out before her.

When the building stopped moving her guide stepped down, and she could do nothing but follow. She raised her hand, ready to light the path with magelight but that act was beaten by her cer counterpart who but raised a glowing stone and from it, came a light that could be mistaken for a brightly burning lantern. Her guide led her below, through a passage of old but sturdy stone that refused to bend or break despite all the centuries they had been forced to endure.

The silence is near deafening, broken only by the souls of steps being made.across forgotten stone.

“So~” The mare, a bodyguard - a mercenary begins as she continues following her charge through the depths of the old castle passage. “You said that… the Princess’s greatest secret lies down here.” The mare stated. “What exactly is that?”

“Something forgotten.” Her counterpart states. “Something… she is ashamed of.” The road leads to an end, and what rests before them is less of a door and more a slap of pure silvery metal. “Something pure.” The stallion rests a hand against the silver slab and seems to search for something, anything that can act as a switch or lever to unveil the contents hidden within.

“I’m afraid… you won’t find such a thing to open this door.”

A voice, a mare's voice called out from the other side.

“It speaks.” The mare states, gazing upon the wall.

“This wall can only be shattered by the power of an Alicorn.”

The voice continues.

“Still, I must commend you for what you have done; discovering this place must not have been an easy task.”

“It was not.” The stallion confesses. “Reaching this castle was nothing short of easy, but the journey.” He chuckles. “The journey was indeed long.” He admitted. “The Princess has done quite a bit of work in hiding this place, changing the history of this land, erasing the memories of those that would seek you out.”

The voice seemed to chuckle lightly.

“I see, dear Celie was always good at covering her tracks.”

The voice paused.

“Tell me, how long has it been?”

“One thousand, one hundred and seventeen years.” Was the stallion’s response.

“Dear oh dear, that is quite a while.”

She mused.

“How much the times must have changed.”

She wondered..

“Still you found me, and yet, I am afraid without the power of an Alicorn at your side, your journey may very well have been for nothing.”

“That.” The stallion began. “Is something soon to be rectified.” He continued. “I will journey to Canterlot City, and acquire what we need.”

“Canterlot?”

There was a question there.

“I’m afraid I know nothing of that city, is it new?”

“Not exactly.” The stallion states. “But it has been the capital of Equestria for a thousand years now.”

“Ooh? So this castle I was sealed is no more?”

“It stands but it is in ruin.”

“Shame.”

The voice states.

“But, it explains why I can not sense dear Celie nearby, she abandoned this castle, abandoned her post…”

She paused.

“She swore to remain vigilant over my cell till the end of days, but it seems that was just one of her many lies.”

The voice paused.

“Oh well.”

They said simply.

“Find what you must if you wish to free me. Or not, I can not force you to do such in my current state.”

“My Queen.” The stallion begins. “If you asked it, I would burn several thousand cities across several thousand worlds.” Was his response.

He earned a giggle of sorts.

“I will hold you to that.”

They paused again.

“But for now?

“Your freedom is my top priority.” The stallion whispered. “I can free you, and I can do it soon, but… I regret saying that, it will take a few days.” He tells whomever rests behind the walls. In three days’ time, the stars will properly align and Celestia will leave her station in Canterlot city. All so that she will deal with another that she has lied to the world about.”

A chuckle.

“Dear Celie, what are you doing?”

The figure asked.

“Regardless, I must wait a few more days, yes?”

They paused.

“I can wait that long. As they say; patience is a virtue.”

Canterlot City

Graveyard

She hadn't expected it to rain today. Princess Celestia thought as she looked outside her balcony, watched as Canterlot was cloaked under a veil of water. Heavy rain clouds hanging overhead as streaks of lightning raced across the sky. Had she turned her gaze lower the Equestrian Princess would have noticed her subjects running about town under a sea of umbrellas. Except her attention remained focused on the storm brewing above her. Celestia had lived a thousand years, seen countless rainstorms and sun-showers, but none of them had ever been like this. This storm was rare by Equestrian standards, the last time she'd seen it build like this… Biting her lips the sun princess left her chambers. Passing the royal guards positioned outside her door as she made her way down the castle halls. “Luna.”

The last time Equestria had a storm like this, her sister had brought it by accident. For reasons even she couldn't quite understand, Luna's feelings had always been intimately tied to the weather. It was something that made her particularly special, unique even by alicorn standards. Brief moments of sadness brought the rain, her anger brought thunder and lightning, her grief called the winds. If Equestria was being met with a storm like this, then something was deeply bothering her younger sister. Passing one of the local maids Celestia stopped her for a moment as she adopted her mask, letting the worried sister be hidden by the benevolent ruler that was the Sun Princess. “Your highness, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Feather Duster, have you seen my sister Luna?” For her part Feather Duster shook her head apologetically as Celestia quietly cursed to herself. Being one of the many maids that were responsible for maintaining the castle's Lunar Wing, she had crossed paths with her sister more often than any other pony.

“I'm sorry, your highness, I haven't. Is something wrong?”

Calmly shaking her head Celestia gave the maid a light smile. “No nothing's wrong, I just need to speak to her for a moment.” Starting back on her way the princess walked past the mare with an almost unnoticeable kick in her step. “Thank you for your time.”

“If I see her I promise to inform her that you're looking for her!”

“Thank you.” As soon as she rounded an empty corner Celestia dropped her mask as she picked up her pace a bit. ‘Maybe I should start by checking her room.’ Celestia thought to herself as she started thinking back. When Luna had first returned to Equestria she had spent a considerable amount of time locked away in her room. It was her haven, her sanctuary where nopony could judge her especially considering her past… accidents. If there was any place that she could release her feeling away from prying eyes, it would likely be at her room. “What's bothering you Luna?”

Canterlot Graveyard

“It really has been a long time…” Princess Luna whispered under her cloak as she stared ahead. Ignoring the building storm overhead pelting her with hail like rain, the moon alicorn kept her gaze forward to a set of tombstones as she read the names of the departed. Berry Bonette, Joking Jackal, Fruit Pie, turning her attention to the fourth grave marker, she released a small if hollow laugh as she read it. “I see Sweat Sock finally got his name changed. Always said he would.” A smile crossing her face, Luna lifted her hoof before wiping bits of mold and grime from the grave markers. In contrast to what ponies would believe, while her mane was ethereal in nature, it still clung to her when it became soaked. “I knew all of you would go before me, but not like this. It feels like yesterday since I last saw your faces.” Truth be told, for her it may very well have been yesterday. There wasn't the traditional ‘gap’ between her memories from a thousand years ago and from her return two years prior. In her mind Equestria had changed overnight, transforming into a foreign nation, one where her friends didn't exist anymore.

“I remember how Pistachio used to tease Sock about his name do you?” Beside her a shadow appeared as she sat with her counterpart. Her shadow, her sins - the Ghost of Nightmare Moon. Still there was no hostility, no sense of malice between the two at the moment as they simply sat in the rain and looked at the graves before them. For her part Luna simply nodded her head, a loose smile crossing her face as she started to think back.

“He’d always get so angry his stallion turned red.” Luna was met with silence as she wiped her eyes, blaming the rain for the moisture that was running down her cheeks. “Berry what about that you accidentally turned Puddinghead into a foal? We had to pretend we were foalsitting his nephew until we found a way to reverse the aging spell!” A series of laughs left the princess and her shadow as she fussed with her mane. “We were horrible foal sitters; any chance we had of starting a foal-sitting service disappeared in an instant.” Continuing her trip down memory lane Luna found the markers disappearing as they were replaced with phantoms of the ponies she once knew. “Those were good times.”

“Some of the best.”

It really was a strange sensation; to essentially go to sleep and awaken in a new era. To blink and discover that her closest friends and longtime companions had passed on. It didn't seem real. Her memories were frozen with the images of young vibrant stallions and mares aiming to take Equestria by the reigns. Talking about their dreams and ambitions, challenging one another to childish competitions. She couldn't picture them aged by time and lying on their deathbeds. She couldn't imagine them resting in an open casket as somepony gave them a sending to the Far Fields. She couldn't imagine it all because she hadn't been there. The price of her banishment wasn't just her tarnished reputation in the eyes of her fellow ponies, it had also cost her time. Beyond their deaths she wasn't aware of a single thing that had occurred after her imprisonment. Who did they grow into? Did they ever reach their dreams? Did they marry? There were hundreds of things she was supposed to know about her friends, but she didn't. She missed so much, all because she let herself be consumed by her jealousy and rage. “I'm so sorry… I - I miss you.” Nightmare Moon simply stayed silent as she watched her counterpart break down, figuratively returning to the small mare that she always was inside. Without a word she unfurled a pitch black wing as she enveloped the mare by her side and rested her chin on her head.

“I know, I miss them too.”

Elsewhere

“So she has the weather manipulating abilities.” Resting atop a building a cloaked mare looked to the city below as she stared at the Equestrian princess. “Now that is interesting. No pony has been born with that power for a good thousand plus years. I was beginning to think it was just a myth.” She thought aloud as she felt the rain grow stronger and pelt her coat against her form, forcing her to wear it like a second skin. A small smirk crossed her lips as she kept her gaze on the dark princess a few good stories away from her. “Well I can't risk standing here being impressed all day; still have a job to do after all." She held out a hoof watching as something crawled from under her cloak and started to twist into shape before her. "Let's see what you can do, princess.”

Graveyard

Amidst her emotional breakdown Luna felt part of her brain push it aside as found herself going rigid. Call it paranoia, call instinct, something went off inside her like a light in the darkness as she turned, unconsciously raising a shield spell as something rammed into her. She went flying over her friend's grave markers as she impacted another's. Not enough force to break it, but enough to feel that iconic sense of pain coursing through her body. "What?" Rolling to her feet she turned again as she blinked a couple of times to try clearing her eyes of tears as something impacted her shield forcing her to stumble back. The next time her magic shield was hit she struck back as she bashed it against whomever was attacking her and took the moment to wipe her eyes so she could focus. "Who's there?" The alicorn hissed as she looked around as something shifted in the rain before charging her again. Ducking low she watched as the fog passed over her before landing as she pointed her constructed shield at what ever was after her. 'What in Faust's name is that?' Whatever she was looking at, it wasn't normal. In her opinion it looked like some kind of giant worm that had grown a pair of claws. Two fin-like appendages appeared where she could only guess that the head of the creature had rows upon rows of sharp teeth that made up the creature's tunnel-like mouth. Two tendrils poked out from behind a bunch of oversized hair follicles and seemed to sway slightly from either the rain or the body's own movements. Even during the old era she'd never seen something like it before. Some kind of new mutant species maybe?

“Not certain.” Nightmare Moon muttered as she watched Luna steady herself. “But you’ll have to find that out later.” Agreeing with her shadow she raised her shield to defend herself from another charge and grit her teeth as she was pushed back. Getting an up close look at the creature she cringed at the sight of its teeth trying to bite down on her shield. "That stench is horrid…" She muttered as she turned a bit to let the creature go charging past. She didn't need this today. Some worm…thing attacking her. All she wanted to do was take care of something she'd been postponing for two whole years and pay her respects. Not disrespect the dead by fighting in front of their graves. Letting her anger spike some barely acknowledged a thunderclap behind her as she saw the creature charge again as she rushed it. Dropping low she moved her shield above her as she pushed the creature above and off balance before firing a series of magic rays at it's exposed underside. Following it with a shield bash she toppled it over before jumping over a swing from one of the creature's claws. Bringing her wings out she hovered above the ground as she fired another ray of magic as it returned to an upright position and took a swing at her. Hitting a tombstone the lunar princess grunted in pain before disappearing into a poof of magic before the claw could come at her and landed on the creature's back. She should have used another shield, or better yet a barrier she complained as she watched Gentle Feather's grave was reduced to rubble.

If dancing on graves was disrespectful, destroying one just had to be worse. Luna thought as she split her magic and used it to latch onto the worm creature's tendrils as she fired a concentrated beam of magic into the creature's backside. Trying to burn a hole through its head in an impromptu lobotomy she rode the creature as if it were a bull attempting to shake her off. Charging a nearby tree the creature rammed into it as the princess let go and jumped off before she found her vision filled with wood and shrapnel. With a quick land she molded her magic as she swiped her head at air and created a thin crescent of light blue energy. It passed through the tree with ease before continuing on and lobbed off a piece of tombstone.

Elsewhere

Elsewhere a stallion stopped as he found his umbrella covering his eye. Using his hoof he adjusted the item as it tipped over and fell to the floor, a thin clean cut splitting it in half. "Huh?"

Graveyard

Firing another thin wave of magic Luna split the tree in the opposite direction as it formed a faint x for a moment before falling to the ground. "Slippery daemon aren't you?" Luna muttered as she watched the creature crawl out from the mess of leaves that formed the fallen tree. Watching it take a moment to hiss at her she took a few precautionary looks to the side before walking to the left. Some distance between herself and the nearest tombstone she charged her magic as she charged. The creature took the moment to inhale as the princess's eyes widened and it created a sudden noise from its throat and a murky lime colored liquid was released. Cancelling her previous plan for an attack spell she shaped the magic into a shield as it was covered by the slime while some stragglers hit a few patches of grass and stone causing them to bubble and sink. "Acid?" Smashing her acid covered shield against the creature the princess pushed forward as she turned her attention to the broken tree that she had knocked down. "Well it appears charging blindly isn't your only trick." Capturing the tree with her magic she forced it to levitate as she spun it around. Smashing the bark against the creature from behind she launched it into the air before turning the tree to smash them into the ground. Turning her makeshift weapon again she stabbed it downward as the creature recovered and slipped to the side as the tree returned to an upright position. Glancing at it she saw the familiar liquid being flung at her before she adjusted her already murky shield construct to protect her. Letting the acid cloak it she dropped her shield, letting it return to magic and teleported behind the creature before firing another quick bullet of her magic to catch its attention. Hissing at the princess, the creature charged again as Luna turned, kicked off the grass and ran.

‘We haven’t played tag since the Siege of Drakenshield.’ The Nightmare muttered as Luna nodded unconsciously and ran outside the Canterlot Graveyard and ran into the city. Her creature followed close behind her as she kept an eye out for anypony that may be caught in the crossfire. Finding too many she fired her magic at the floor and she felt herself rise into the air as she jumped and landed on one of the lower buildings. Considering where she was, there were not a lot of those.

"Come worm! I'm right here!" She wasn't sure if she successfully baited it or if the creature only had eyes for her to start off with but the creature followed after her, using its two limbs to scale the building wall and chased after her. This way none of the others would be hurt in the crossfire. Dodging another burst of acid spit Luna jumped over to the next building as it hit the wall and started melting it. The creature meanwhile simply followed after her, hissing at some points as it followed the princess across the selection of building. Reaching one that she couldn't jump to because of height she spread her wings and took flight, flying up to the wall as the creature followed after her. "That's it worm, follow me."

House

"Ha ha take that Changeling! I hereby banish you to the sun!" Gum Drop yelled as he continued playing with his figuri - action figures. The foal's hooves were currently holding a tiny Princess Luna as he knocked over an organized army of even smaller changelings as well as a Queen Chrysalis. "Argh Curse you Luna! I will have my revenge!" The changeling queen was lifted as he made her talk back to the moon princess. "This is far from over! Mha ha ha!" Outside the foals room the real Moon Princess flew past before taking a quick moment to look back in curiosity, her mouth muttering something along the lines of 'is that me'. Looking behind her she fired a burst of her magic as the foal continued playing his games. "No you're wrong Changeling, it is over! You'll never lay a hoof on my land again!" Diving Luna disappeared as the creature climbed over the foal's window before turning as the moon princess somehow dropped from above and planted her hooves into its face before flying off. "Is that what you think! Hahaha! Your dear Equestria is already mine." Outside the window, a worm-like creature finished climbing onto another building as it grabbed Luna into one of it's claws as the princess took the opportunity to punch it in the face. "What do you mean by that?" Teleporting out the creature's grip and she impaled it with her horn as she blew a hole in it with her magic before backing away and rolling to avoid getting spit on. "Really Luna? You haven't noticed? The changes your beloved sister has suddenly gone through?" Gum Drop pretended to gasp as Luna grabbed onto the creature with her magic as she broke a chimney with it's head before charging it. "What? What ha-"

"Gum Drop! It's time for lunch!" From outside the door a mare's voice caught the foals attention as he looked up. Outside Luna tackled the creature over the edge of the building as they dropped into the alley below.

"Be right there!"

Alleyway

Hissing in pain Luna rolled herself off of the dumpster she had landed on - but thankfully not in and lifted a hoof to rub her back. "Oow…" She was going to be sore tomorrow. Her opponent hadn't been so lucky, face planting the ground as it struggled to compose itself. It didn't even need thirty seconds as it hissed at the mare and charged. "Resilient aren't you worm?" Glancing at the dumpster she'd just gotten off she enveloped it in her magic as she smashed it against the worm's charging face before kicking it with strength inherent to an alicorn pureblood. The dumpster raced across the alleyway as the worm crawled over it before it was embedded in the wall as it continued chasing the mare. Not a lot of room to maneuver the alicorn resumed running as they returned to playing a game of life or death tag.

She thanked Faust that the streets seemed to have cleared for her, all the ponies either just stepping through their homes or already inside them as she picked up her pace just enough to keep a bit of extra distance between her and her opponent. Hearing a bit of stone behind her getting hit by something that obviously wasn't rain she glanced back before making a quick frown. 'That better not melt through a pipeline.' The princess thought as she turned. Slipping a bit because of the wet streets she moved to one of the less industrialized parts of the city and stepped into the park. The worm followed chasing after her as she jumped over a bench which it promptly ran through. "Damages can be kept to a minimum here…" Luna muttered as she glanced back. Yes the repair company was going to have a field day with all this damage they were doing but at least she was far away from anything else that could be broken. Jumping over another bench she ran across the field as she fired blades of magic at the thing behind her before turning. Letting a glyph form under her feet the mare dashed forward, becoming a streak of light as she passed under the creature before jumping onto it’s back and smashed her hooves onto it’s back. Following it with a magic ray the mare burned a hole into it’s back before it reached the floor. Without much delay the thing reached behind it, grabbing onto the mare before throwing her through the air.

Using her wings to steady herself the mare landed with ease. Raising a barrier she protected herself from a wave of acid before throwing it away. Without much delay she fired an array of magic in it’s direction before charging forward. Dodging to the side she avoided another caw strike before creating a blade of magic that carved a well made trench through the creature’s hide. “This isn’t working.” The nightmare muttered as she looked at her counterpart. “You need more power Luna.”

“I don’t need yours.” The light half muttered as she put some distance between herself and the creature. Frowning slightly Nightmare looked at her counterpart for a moment.

“You can’t defeat it like this. Raise the moon and draw from it’s powers.”

“And cause an eclipse again? I refuse.”

“You are not strong enough Little Moon, most of your half of the power is still returning from being hit by the Elements upon your return.” Luna simply frowned as she dug her hooves into the dirt for a moment as she prepared herself. Her darker half was right, two years ago when she had been struck by the Elements she had lost much of her power. Stripped away from her along with her darker half. Or so she thought. “You can not win this battle on your own little moon. You need my help.”

“Allow me to prove you wrong.”

2

Canterlot Castle

It wasn’t uncommon to find Canterlot Castle quiet. After all, though there were days in which the castle had guests; nobility and meetings for the princesses, but discaring them, the castle was naturally quiet.

Today was no exception, although it seemed quieter than usual. Majestic halls filled with guards and the cleaning staff stood frozen as if they had been replaced by statues. The only movement they had was the faint turning that came from their heads covered with disbelief. Princess Luna ignored their shock as she walked past them, listening to the sound that came from her hooves hitting tile as the rest of her world was drenched in silence. For them her presence was always something that was simply captivating. It was much different than her sister who had created an air that alerted everypony in the room that she was filled with benevolence and the embodiment of all that was good in the world. A presence that was simply awe-inspiring.

The night princess was very different. While her presence still alerted every nearby soul that she had entered a room her aura was much stronger and pronounced, captivating yet also intimidating she radiated an air laced with raw power that was more akin to something that has been taught the secrets of Tartarus. Today it was no different, only it was even more noticeable as if she had loosened the reins on her power, and one could only guess why. Her cloak was gone, showing her traditionally neat coat was riddled with cuts and scrapes alongside bits of mud and grime. Her ethereal mane clung to her neck, snaking around her form in a wet yet shining starlit mess. A wing, her right wing to be exact had traces of some kind of burns on as well as her matching ear. One of her heels was missing while another was cracked. Her tail was no different from her mane dragging behind her like a makeshift cape as it soaked the floor while she carried what looked like her cloak bundled into a bag of sorts held within a magical grip. To them she looked like some warrior returning from some quest. Her eyes shining with the same calculated gaze that always seemed to have reminded a few of them of a huntress. She looked… breathtaking.

"Y-your highness?" A maid responded in a meek voice as they caught her attention. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"We're fine." Luna replied with an almost alluring tone as she gave the mare a slight smile as she colored. "Sorry about the floor." She told the maid as she watched her wings shoot out as she flourished. Paying it little mind the moon princess walked on as she took a calming breath. As composed as she appeared, inside she was electric. It felt as if there was a storm dancing inside her. The rush, the adrenaline, the sound of her heart in her ears ready to burst. By Faust she missed it! She missed almost getting drunk by the stimulation of her senses heightening from combat. To use her magic for something other than holding papers together and moving chairs or shutting her blinds. To feel the strain of her muscles overworking and the wind rushing by her as she danced over the razors edge. To not be a pretty princess but a warrior! Feeling her breath become a bit erratic the dark alicorn couldn't help licking her lips as she smiled lightly from the taste of her blood, unconsciously making a few other ponies color as wings shot into the air as if to salute her arrival. Not that she really cared, nor did she notice as her thoughts went into overdrive replaying her battle in her head like these moving pictures her sister had told her about.

She knew why she felt this way; a thousand moons ago she wasn't a pretty princess that sat on a throne, she was a warrior born in a young Equestria, still rich with battle and conflict. When she and her sister fought for the Crystal Empire she'd led the charge against King Sombra, fighting as though the fabled War Alicorn; Ares’ blood coursed through her veins. When Discord had tried taking control of Equestria she had held him off while her sister tried finding a solution, and it appeared that the tooth she knocked out hadn't grown back yet; but to be fair they had turned him to stone shortly after. During the dark hours of an old Equestria when her dear friend Princess Platinum had been kidnapped by a cyclops, she had been her knight, breaking into the cyclops' fortress and saving her friend. Truthfully, in every book of Equestria's old history, more than half the records of glory had been brought by her hooves, not her sister. She was one of the firsts on the battlefields and the last to leave them.

Growing up in those times had forged her like tempered steel, but it helped that she had an apparent talent for it. She chalked it up to her naturally adventurous nature like the fictional Daring Do. The desire to go out and explore. It was what she always did back then when her sister and Starswirl were busy reading like the eggheads they were. It was how she first met Melvin the Manticore and discovered that beyond the Everfree Forest lied the land of Zebras. And while she would never tell anypony- let alone her sister less she planned to give the mare a heart attack- it was also why she at a time took to exploring old tombs and locked dungeons. She knew exactly why A.K. Yearlings books were so popular; it was so much fun! Dodging the traps and searching for treasure left by lost civilizations. Such a rush! So exciting! She read the mare's tales because they reminded her so much of her earlier years.

Turning down a hall Luna dragged her tail across the floor as she started to grumble to herself. In contrast her old life; full of danger and excitement, of drinking ale with her friends and fellow warriors as they swapped tales of valor and adventure, this Equestria was so very dull! Don't get her wrong; peace was a wonderful thing, but for her - a bred warrior suddenly returning from battle and finding the world apparently at peace - it was wrong. It was plain. It was boring. The most excitement the land had were incredibly small things her sister's pupil and her companions had been tasked with taking care off. Playing Discord's game, erasing Sombra's shadow. The most she had been able to do was swat a few hundred changelings on her wall before a 'love barrier' threw all of them out of Canterlot. A total buzzkill… if she was using the words correctly.

In this era there was no real reason for her to fight, to unsheathe her weapons and get her hooves dirty. Have her blood burn as though it was lava. Even if it was horribly timed, earlier had been just what she needed; getting covered in the grime and sweat just like in the old days. Taking a 'prize' afterwards that could either be stuffed or hung on her wall. 'That might be a bad idea actually...' Luna thought as she made the contents of her bag shift a bit. Having something stuffed was fine centuries ago. Now though... something told her that would set off the wrong alarms for everypony. Especially the maids that cleaned her chambers. Sighing Luna looked elsewhere and pouted slightly. It had been reflex really, taking something after a battle with some monster. A claw, a head, maybe a tooth or the heart. Trophies as they were called in the old days, proof that a pony wasn't just blowing hot air out their muzzle trying to appear bigger than they were. Trophies that were hung proudly in either a room or down the halls. To bad everypony now was just so... squeamish.

“I stand corrected, little moon.” Nightmare Moon cut through her thoughts like a hot knife through butter as she made her reappearance. Looking down at her light half as she frowned slightly. “You were indeed strong enough to finish that insect off on your own.”

“You underestimated my power.” Luna remarked with a slight smirk. “You seem to do that quite often; first against our sister a thousand moons ago, and again once you returned.”

“We grew overconfident yes, drunk on our own power, but next time.” The darkest alicorn shrugged as she turned her attention ahead. “Next time we shall be ready.”

“You still assume there will be a next time? A time when I will require your dark magic.”

“Assume little moon? No, I do not assume anything.” Nightmare Moon didn’t turn her gaze away from what was in front of her. “I know.” Luna resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she turned away from her shadow. This had been their dynamic for a while now, since her shadow suddenly resurfaced. So confident that she would use her power some day. She could still remember the night she had returned.

Flashback

Princess Luna stepped lightly as she walked the halls of Canterlot Castle and looked about. Hooves travelled over paved marble and silk carpets as she stared at whatever drew her attention. Beyond the windows to the moonlit labyrinth, to the designs upon hanging drapes. Anything her eyes set themselves on, she studied for the faintest of moments before moving on, at least till her eyes rested on them. Memories; preserved images in decorative stained glass. Times long passed, shared with her sister. Their coronation under their mother’s watchful eyes. Their first meeting and trials alongside Starswirl the Bearded. The treaty was forged after one of the Pony-Gryphon wars. Discord’s sealing alongside many others who wished to blanket Equestria in darkness. So many memories, some good, some bad, some odd. Seeing them laid before her the nocturnal princess couldn’t help but think of days long past. Every one she looked at seemed to come alive as she remembered what occurred those days. Even the darkest of her memories; the birth of Nightmare Moon, her final day in an old Equestria.

Seeing the visage of her darker self Luna couldn’t help but feel old emotions resurface. Envy, anger, loneliness, despair… old feelings that birthed the Nightmare stirred from their slumber. Whispering words of owed retribution should she embrace them once more. “Silence.” With that single word she forced them away, back into the darkest recesses of her mind as she stared at her reflection. “It’s been over two years… we are free from you.” She spoke in a tone of authority as she narrowed her eyes. She half expected her doppelganger to laugh at her, step from it’s glass like casing but only found it staring in her direction. “We are free from you.” Luna repeated the words but a sense of emptiness greeted her in return.

“You will never be free of me Luna.” Freezing, Luna turned her head as she stepped back in surprise. Standing across from the mare was her Nightmare self. A dark yet seductive smile crossed the shadow’s face as she looked at the light of her soul. “But you know, If you want to talk to me, you needn’t speak to glass.”

“You… n-no this is impossible.” Nightmare moon raised a delicate eyebrow as she looked at her smaller self. “You are gone. We felt it! Twilight Sparkle and her friends rid us of you. You can’t be here.” Laughter filled the darker alicorn’s lungs as it echoed for a moment.

“Those foals? Get rid of me?” The dark alicorn smiled as she stepped to the side before approaching her counterpart, causing Luna to step back further. From fear or something else she didn’t exactly know. “My dear Luna I am part of you, just as you are part of me.”

“You’re lying… you are not part of us! You are a concentration of the Nightmare Force.”

“Why would I lie?” The mare questioned. “Though you are partly correct. I *was* an aspect of that parasite, but no more. Remember Luna everypony has darkness in their souls, and I am yours." Stopping Nightmare Moon turned her attention to the stained glass. A hint of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at the image it presented. “So this is to be our niece I take it; Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” Luna slowly nodded as she looked to the image of the pink alicorn. “Princess of Love, if I am correct.”

“That’s right.”

“She’s beautiful.” Luna blinked in surprise as she turned to her darker self. An approving look across her face that reminded her of how she would gaze at the world at times; like one would judge a cut diamond as they searched for any imperfections. Brushing her mane back Nightmare Moon settled her gaze on the image and nodded. “The sun princess must be proud.” It was odd Luna realized. Seeing her alter ego, appraising her niece as calmly as she was. Let alone so… calm as she was at this moment.

‘No… I won’t be tricked like this.’ Luna thought as she narrowed her eyes. Nightmare Moon was a skilled manipulator. Not on par with Discord, but she was skilled. She wanted something. “What are you doing here Nightmare Moon? Here to cause trouble once more?”

“I am here to talk.” Turning her gaze to Luna the dark alicorn gave her a playful gaze. “And to offer you my powers, just as I did all those moons ago.”

“Haven’t learned your lesson I see. Still plotting to overthrow my sister? Did failing twice teach you nothing?”

“Oh I learned dear Luna; that Equestria’s greatest weapon can be negated, that by breaking the harmony of those that carry them they will be useless. ” Luna froze at that, the realization of the Elements being powerless. Nightmare Moon shared her memories, so of course she would know about the Element’s weakness. Luna had always theorized it - that the Element’s Chosen needed to be united, and for the young mares of Lady Twilight and her friends… their bond could be temporarily broken. Discord had proven that theory true. The Nightmare needed only a moment of broken trust to sink her fangs into the youths. Nightmare Moon simply smiled at her. “That weapon can be removed - whether directly or indirectly - and with it gone I can finish what we started so long ago of course…” Luna shook her head as she found Nightmare Moon behind her, hunched over a bit to whisper in her ear. “That is, if you’ll let me.”

“No.” Luna stepped away from her counterpart and looked away. “I won’t let you. Even if the Elements of Harmony were unusable, I’ll never let you take over me again.”

“So you say.” Nightmare Moon held a knowing smile as she returned her gaze to the image of their niece. “You haven’t spent much time with her have you? Mi Amore may not be of blood but she is family. Do you not like her?” Before Luna could speak up the mare shook her head. “No I doubt that, I would *know* if you disliked the mare.”

“I have been busy, Nightmare. Shamefully so.”

“Ah yes, your nightly activities. They certainly do take up a lot of time.” The shadow mused before shrugging. “But not all. For example you are not out tonight.”

“We are not needed tonight.” Luna admitted as she looked to the side and found her counterpart lounging around a chaotic looking cloud. “We have “the night off” as they say.”

“Ah I see.” The Nightmare patted the cloud for a moment as she made some room. “Care to join me? It’s quite comfy.” All she received was a glare before Luna looked elsewhere. “Calm yourself my other half, I have not done anything to warrant such distrust.”

“Haven’t you?”

“No my dear, I haven’t. I am thou and thou art I. All I do is what we agree upon. But for now we are at an impasse so I’ll ask again; will you accept my power?” The Nightmare asked again as she looked at her counterpart.

“You have my answer Nightmare.”

“For now anyway.” The mare stated as Luna blinked only to find her counterpart directly in front of her and staring her down. “You’ll need it soon enough and once that day comes I’ll ask you again.”

“And what pray tell makes you believe that we shall accept it then?” All Nightmare Moon did was smile, leaning down as she looked her counterpart in the eyes. Feline-like pupils shrunk for a moment as she spoke.

“Because you’ll need it.”

Present

Since that day the Nightmare - her shadow had stayed with her. Keeping her company whispering the promise of power in her ears. Strangely though the latter only occurred on one occasion or the next. She did not bring up the promise of power often, rather she focused mainly on other things, letting her thoughts drift to subjects that Luna wouldn’t have thought possible for the darkness in her soul. “I wonder who was responsible for that monster attack.” The dark half of her soul muttered as she floated atop a cloud.

“You believe that beast wasn’t acting on its own accord?”

“I believe it was smuggled in, how else would something like that would be able to reside within our walls, and for who knows how long?” The Nightmare asked as Luna made a noise.

“A fair point, and one we will no doubt have to look into.”

“Privately?” Nightmare received a nod.

“Of course, if word gets out that that thing was in our walls we’d have a massive panic on our hooves.”

“A fair point, but you must still be cautious, nothing like that could sneak within our walls without somepony very high up pulling at strings.” Nightmare Moon stated as she looked at her other half. “We may have a traitor in our household.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not; regardless we will act with caution.”

“*We* my other self? Does that mean you accept my power?” At that Luna turned her head and frowned. Her attention focused on her counterpart as she stopped walking for a moment.

“No. I mean “we” as in the guard, my sister and myself. We shall stop whatever is coming.” Luna went silent for a moment as she continued walking. “I will not need your aid.”

“That is what you believe, isn’t it?” Nightmare Moon shrugged as she resumed walking with her lighter half. “But if you want to go down the other route, you will certainly have your work cut out for you. The Equestrian Guard has not had the best track record with enemies as of late - let alone the possibility of an actual war, and the guard has certainly lost it’s edge.”

“That much I can agree with. They will need to be retrained.” Luna paused for a moment as she started thinking back for a moment. Her branch of the guard was a bit ahead in that corner. Since her return she had fallen into the old habit of sparring with them in order to gauge their skills and her own. At first she hadn’t been impressed in the slightest but in time she had shaped them into a relatively decent defense force. Nothing in comparison to their past glory but something that could hold their own in a fight for a while. Granted as a side-effect she had to deal with some uncalled for rumors that claimed she still hadn’t changed and was still plotting to take over Equestria, only this time with her night guard supporting her. “Perhaps I should have my sister’s guard join us. It would be easier to train them if they are all together.

“Some mock battles won’t hurt. Give them a taste of what to expect.”

“I do not see why not.” Luna whispered before looking at her counterpart. “Wait… are you… assisting us in this endeavor?”

“Though it is not a land of eternal night, your Equestria is still my own.” The shadow stated as she stared down at her counterpart with her slitted eyes. “And I will protect what is mine.” Luna just stared at the dark alicorn for a moment as she narrowed her eyes. Making to say something the mare was cut off as something reached her ears.

"Luna!" Hearing something behind her Luna pulled to a sudden stop as she galloped. Looking behind her the Nightmare frowned as she looked at the mare trotting up to them.

“Celestia…”

"Sister?" Turning the little alicorn came face to face with her elder sister as Celestia's eyes widened. "Good evening, how are you fairing?"

It was at a time like this that the day princess discarded prestige and titles as she kicked her holy ruler image out the window and across the borders. There wasn't any need for decorum and all it entitles, her sister was a mess. Covered in mud and scrapes, her regala chipped and missing. She was a shadow of her former well maintained self - and all she had to say was good evening? Like she'd just woken up? Letting the worried sister she was out for the world to see Celestia looked over her younger sister in a panic.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Luna flinched slightly as she felt her ears ring for a moment. Luna grew up with the mare and yet it still amazed her how loud her typically soft spoken elder sister could actually get even without resorting to the Royal Canterlot Voice. "I go to your room earlier to see you but you weren't there and *this* is how I find you?" The panicked sister continued to circle her younger sister as she started applying medical spells on her to see how badly her sister was hurt. "By Faust Luna, you broke a rib! And a hoof!"

"I did?" Luna questioned as she applied her own spell and blinked. "Huh I did." The Nightmare raised an eyebrow as she looked at her counterpart.

“You truly didn’t notice that until now?” Her mark counterpart must have been high on adrenaline or something.

"I did?" Celestia repeated as she pressed her muzzle in her sister's face. "That's it? What in Equestria were you doing!? Were you attacked? Was it Queen Chrysalis?" Listing off several more old enemies that were lost to history Luna raised her hoof, her broken one and actually waved it due to some magic that she applied to realign the bones.

"No-no sister it's nothing like that." 'Kind of.' Luna secretly added as she smiled at her sister. Memories of life or death combat returning to her as she felt her heart skip a couple beats again as she tried to calm herself. There was no way she'd let her sister know she was attacked earlier by a worm… thing. She really needed to give that thing a name. That and see if anypony could dissect it to figure out what it was, maybe even add it into the regional bestiary that had been started when she was just a filly. 'Thou there is considerable doubt that the last one will actually be done… doesn't seem like the bestiary is used as often as it used to.' Luna suppressed a frown as she thought back to the corpse she had left in the plains.

"Then what were you doing?" Celestia asked as she started healing her sister. "Jumping off Canterlot?" Celestia stopped as she saw her sister's expression change ever so slightly. "By Faust you were!"

"Not exact~ly." 'I jumped off a building if that counts.’ Luna stumbled as she felt her body suddenly hurt.

“There goes your adrenaline high…” The Nightmare muttered as she shook her head.

Feeling her sister suddenly grab onto her Luna raised her hoof as if to push her away. "I - I'm alright, suddenly extremely tired that's all." Luna muttered as her sister held her regardless.

"I bet you are..." Celestia murmured as she held on to her sister. Why in Equestria would her sister be jumping off Canterlot? Unless... "Luna...are you alright?"

"I already told you I'm fine sister." Luna rolled her eyes as she tried pushing her sister away only to find her holding her tighter.

"That's not what I meant." The white alicorn whispered as Luna felt her shake a bit. It sounded like her voice was cracking. "Did you...did you...I saw the storm Luna." Celestia muttered as she shook a bit harder. "I saw it; your feelings and how they were turning. Did you...did you jump Luna?" The Nightmare blinked as he looked at the pale alicorn.

“Wow… we’re just going straight to that aren’t we?”

Eyes widening Luna felt her a bit of her strength return as she pushed her sister away. Catching the older alicorn by surprise she gripped the sides of her face and brought them down. "NO!" It was a good thing that everypony had cleared out when they heard the older alicorn suddenly yell, Luna didn't want anypony to know this was what her sister was thinking; that she hit rock bottom. "I didn't *jump* sister." Not in that sense anyway. "I slipped..." She lied but quickly continued afterwards. "I - I went to see them sister...I went to the cemetery." Feeling Celestia flinch Luna inhaled as she heard one of the clouds rumble. Lying to her sister had never been easy, especially if the lie was why she'd become upset since the skies decided to express her true feelings but decades by her counterpart had taught her how to pull it off; sprinkle a bit of truth in it. "I had been trying to work up the nerve to see them there... I believed I was ready but it appears I wasn't. Seeing the stones knowing they were really gone was harder than I thought." Pausing for both effect and to collect herself a bit the younger alicorn felt her ears drop unintentionally as she kept her thoughts on her old friends. Now that she thought about it she was going to need to fix the damage to the cemetery. The tree would be a bit hard but maybe she could just stab it into its stump and nopony would notice. "I... went around Canterlot to try clearing my head, to calm down, but when I took to one of the buildings I lost my footing. I slipped and hurt myself."

“And then you wrecked the park fighting a giant worm creature.” Nightmare Moon added with an eye roll while Luna stared at her sister’s eyes.

"But I swear on the moon I carry my sister, I didn't jump! I've no intention of going to the astral plains and abandoning you."

"I'm sorry." Celestia wiped her eyes as she repeated the words over and over again. She didn't mean to jump to conclusions, she really didn't but her sister wasn't upset. Then again she understood why; in the first few weeks of her return she would have considered it. Traumatized by what she had done as her Nightmare counterpart as well as hearing the whispers that danced around Equestria of her being a monster- not to mention a certain mental parasite she would never openly speak about residing in her dreams. She hadn't jumped then but her sister had been forced to rip a knife out of her grip and lodge it four-fifths of a way through the nearest wall. It took months of therapy for her to come back from that dark place in her mind. She'd recovered since then, but Celestia, behind her various masks and her age, the mare who was forced to see that hadn't. She'd almost lost her again, this time permanently.

"No I'm sorry." Luna muttered as she held her sister as the larger alicorn's wings enveloped around her. Squeezing her a bit tighter than she would have liked but she would bare it. "I never meant to make you worry. It is all my doing, not yours." She whispered before peaking out the corner of her eye to notice one of the castle's maids turning down the hall only to stop at the sight of the two. "I'm a horrible sister, all I do is make you worry." Giving the maid a glare that clearly spelled 'leave and never speak of this again' Luna watched her disappear faster than one of her teleportation spells.

"You're not a horrible sister. I am." Celestia countered as she finally released her younger sibling."I was blind for decades, I made terrible decisions and you were hurt because of them."

"We've both made mistakes sister." Luna admitted as she lifted a hoof and wiped a tear off her sister's face. "And we both bear scars because of it. Only those of the flesh have faded faster than the ones we carry in our hearts." An almost sage like voice left the smaller alicorn as she smiled. "I think we both just need some more time to heal." Slowly Celestia nodded as she took a moment to recompose herself at least attempt to. It was funny Luna thought that at the moment she was acting as though she was the elder of the two, consolidating her sibling because they were hurting inside. "I think you should get some rest, sister, you look exhausted."

"Me? What about you?" Celestia quietly commented as Luna looked herself over. Right, she looked like she needed a doctor, and maybe a bath too. "I should make sure you get to a doctor."

"I'll be fine, my chambers are right there after all." Luna admitted as she looked behind her. "I keep medical gauze in my room and alongside a few healing spells I should be fine after a rest." Nodding Luna started applying a healing spell to her broken limb as she winced slightly from the pain.

"Are you sure?" Dismissing the worried look on her face Luna smiled at her sister as she made a habit of waving her hoof.

"Of course. Mere scratches won't be enough to end me. I am not some dangly mare that is so easily bested." An almost cocky look left the typically calm and calculated mare as she waved her sister off. "Now go on, we both need our rest." Watching her sister yawn Luna repressed the urge to follow suit. What was it about being around somepony that was tired that was so infectious? Or maybe that was just her since all the extra energy she had finally burning out. She didn't care, it beat the alternative.

"I guess you're right. But I'll need to wake in a few hours. I still have a few more meetings to get to."

"Just cancel them." Luna muttered a bit harsher than she intended to. "They are not newborns, we mustn't hold their hooves the entire time. Equestria can manage itself for a few hours without falling apart." She shook her head as she turned back to her room and grabbed her bundled cloak. "Sister you cuddle them too much." Despite her words Celestia smiled as she covered her mouth for another yawn. "Pleasant dreams sister."

"Pleasant dreams Luna." Remaining where she stood, Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes as she looked at the pale alicorn slowly walk away.

“You’re too kind to her.”

“You shut up.”

Canterlot City Park

“Well, this place is a wreck.” The cloaked mare thought as she stepped into the park and looked at the damage done. “Nice work though, I haven’t seen a place this wrecked since my last barfight.” The mare muttered as she smiled lightly. “I wonder how Titan’s bar is still recovering.” She stated as she walked up to the beast she had called forward and ran a hoof over its face. It’s parts were scattered, it’s bones were broken, and it had lost what remained of its life long ago. “Huh, Luna stole your heart.” The mare stated as she frowned. “And to think you gave your heart to me.” Turning her direction towards Canterlot Castle she continued to pat her beasts head before breathing. ‘Still that said… you did quite well today; Princess.' She thought as she looked back to her fallen beast and started humming to it. ‘But I still got what I needed.’

“How did it go?” From behind her, her cloaked counterpart just tilted his head as she glanced back at him.

“I got it.” She muttered as pressed her hoof deeper into the creature's skin as it started to deteriorate. Breaking into a number of vapors she watched as it started to condense into a small jewel. “One sphere of condensed Alicorn magic.”

“Good.” Her counterpart states as his counterpart looks at him.

“Do you think this will be enough?”

“If not, I have a bit of extra magic to offer up.” The stallion stated as he reached under his cloak and pulled out an amulet of sorts.

“The Alicorn Amulet?” The mare blinked in surprise. “How the bloody hell did you get your hooves on that? Did you break into the Princesses Treasure trove or something?”

“Actually it was sitting in a shop, not too far from here.” The stallion shook his head in humor. “A disgrace really, a powerful magic artifact, just sitting in a shop. What has this world come to?”

“Hard to say really.” The mare admits. “Still will that be enough? To break the seal I mean.”

“The seal was forged by the power of two alicorns of old.” The stallion stated. “And the power of two alicorns can break it.” He ran a hoof onto the amulet.

“Ah~ so they didn’t just call it the Alicorn Amulet on a whim?”

“Oh course not.” The stallion started with a smile. “But the story of the Amulet is for another day. “We have what we desired.” And now we should return to Celestia’s Seal.”

“That’s a long trip.” The mare stated as she tossed the sphere of condensed magic in the air. “We better get moving.” She whistled and the sky seemed to darken above them. Her counterpart just looked up and chuckled as a new beast landed before them.

“Well well, this beast will certainly make the trip much shorter.” He states as he looks to his counterpart. “Why didn’t you call him when we were coming to Canterlot?”

The mare just smiled. “I have my reasons.” She made a gesture in the rain, a mock bow of sorts as she gestured to her winged beast. “Now… shall we return?”

“But of course.” Her counterpart admitted. “We have a seal to break.”

3

Ruins of the Castle of Two Sisters

It feels as though cobwebs were sticking to her brain. She couldn’t really come up with another way to say it. Cobwebs were in her head and cotton was clogging her throat. Guess that was to be expected, considering she was sealed away for. Still now, however she was awake, free at that and once again part of the conscious world. As she moved, the brickwork seemed to bend and whisper amongst themselves - seemingly sensing that something had changed. In a way it had, though whether that was a bad thing or not was up for debate. “Oh~” She mused, stepping forward, breaking the chains that kept her bound as though they were made out of paper and burned the seals that had kept her sealed beneath Canterlot Castle. “That is so much better.” She mused before smiling. Looking ahead to see her counterparts just waiting for her. One kneeling as the other seemed to stare and whistle. “A pleasure to finally meet you both.

“The pleasure is all ours.” The stallion stated as she looked at him.

“I’ll say.” The mare stated before looking at her employer. “You didn’t tell me she was freaking hot.” She chuckled. “Seriously, I’d come out the closet for this bombshell.”

“I thank you.” The sealed one stated as she continued to smile before looking skyward, or at least attempting to as she stared at the stone roof that was above her. “Hm~” She returned her attention to the two before. “Bit cramped down here don’t you think?”

“A bit.”

“What do you say we step out for a bit.” The sealed one asked as she walked forward, stepping by the two as she left them to follow after her. “Tell me, how exactly did you succeed in releasing me?”

“We had some help.” The stallion admits as he shows her the hollowed out amulet and a sphere of see-through crystal.

“Oh, the Alicorn Amulet.” The sealed one thought as she levitated the amulet into her grasp. “I have not seen this in so long… but the condensed mana within it is no more.” She whispers. “You must have used all of it to free me.”

“I’m afraid so.” The stallion admits. “But it served its purpose nonetheless.”

“As did the mana I took from Luna.” The mare stated as she tossed the see-through crystal into the air for a moment as the other just made a noise.

“Luna… I see.” She fell silent for a moment as she stared skyward to see the moon peeking through her sanctuary. “That name… that is a name I hadn’t heard in a long time.” She states. “I wonder how much she’s grown from the filly engraved in my memories.

“She’s become a looker.” The mare stated. “Gotta say she rocks the whole starlight mane thing.” She snickered as she gestured to her hair. “Sexy.”

“Is that so.” The Sealed one chuckled before seeming to think. “I feel… weak.” She admitted “Celestia’s seal certainly did it’s job, most of my strength is gone.”

“You’ll need to recover what you lost.” She just releases a chuckle as she hears the stallion's words.

“And I shall.” The figure mutters as she spreads her wings and hums. “Words cannot express my gratitude for freeing me, but I must go, I need to regain what I lost during my slumber.”

“Oh course, that is what we are here for.” The stallion admits with a bow as he walks up and kneels before her. “I offer my services to the True Queen; I offer my services to you.”

“I see.” The True Queen mutters as she looks to the mare. “And you as well; do you serve me?”

“I go, where the money goes.” The mare admits and gestures to her current contractor. “And he’s paying a good bit to keep me around.”

“I see, a mercenary then.” Her counterpart admits as she smiles. “Through him, you shall serve me, and my cause.” She says with that same honey like tone.

“Then what do you need me to do first?”

“As of now… nothing.” The True Queen admits. “But I do need to do some~ stretches.” She paused. “You don’t mind do you? I haven’t been moving in two thousand years it seems.” The stallion bowed.

“Please do whatever you desire.”

Canterlot Castle

Celestia woke with a start, the nightmare getting the best of her tonight. The sound that left her traveled at a volume that surpassed the Royal Canterlot Voice; shaking everything her chambers currently held. Bed, desk, mementos from this century shook from the force of the noise that left her, and continued for the next three minutes before finally coming to a stop. Gasping for breath Celestia pulled her blanket over her as she tried to calm the heart that threatened to jump out of her chest. It wasn't a nightmare, it wasn't a vision either that came to her tonight, it was a memory. One of her greatest mistakes was deciding to resurface and remind her of what she’d done. Not that it needed to, she couldn't ever forget her mistakes, they were always there, lingering in the back of her mind like some parasite and whispering in her ears like the voice of conspirators. "I need something to drink..." Trying to push the thoughts away Celestia pulled herself from her bed as she stepped to the floor, immediately she was met with what could best be described as a ripple running through it.

A precautionary spell; one of several she always set up before she went to bed. Any sound that originated from her chambers was silenced to the outside world. Otherwise every guard in the palace - perhaps Canterlot altogether - would have heard her screaming and broke her double doors down. Each of her steps was rewarded with another ripple as she deactivated the spells and glanced around, seeing which of her things had been broken before heading out. A few vases, the glass on a picture, small things that she could fix later once she had completely calmed her nerves.

Walking down the castle halls she felt the silence that her world presented and found the displeasure of her hooves echoing into the halls. Her sister's moon was hanging overhead, shining with a magic many wouldn't notice and yet one she couldn't replicate no matter how many centuries she had spent taking over her sister's position. A small tired smile crossed her lips at that thought. No matter what many believed; that she was the better and more talented sister, there were actually a number of things dear Luna could do that she'd couldn't begin to master.

Turning her attention elsewhere she returned her gaze to the empty halls as her smile faded. It was just so… barren. The halls usually filled with guards and staff were etched in silence, not all of them mind you but nearly every hall she crossed into the night patrols had finished going through, leaving her alone. She didn't like it, she didn't like the silence that told her no pony was around to catch her attention. Not to sound spoiled, but she needed the attention right now, because right now without the distraction, however small it was, she found herself thinking. Thoughts that she kept pushed back in the presence of others were crawling forward and surfaced before her. Whispering into her head like something was trying to corrupt her mind. Only these thoughts were her own and not anypony else's.

Unable to distract herself she started letting them play out, thoughts and memories of ten centuries past returning again. She remembered the days she and her sister had started drifting apart, her own flesh and blood - the one who she loved more than herself being lost in the long shadow she had unknowingly created. She could remember the pride she felt when ponies long past called her perfection, and turned her into an idol that many adored and many more wanted to be with. She remembered the parties, celebrations and events that she was invited to and how her sister struggled to gain recognition for her craft. Lowering her head Celestia found those thoughts warping into an image she longed to forget but never would, as rainbow colored light took her over and she lost her best friend.

Generations after generations viewed her as perfect, a benevolent goddess that could never do wrong. But she wasn't a goddess - not in the literal sense anyway. She lived longer than they did but she was still mortal. If she lost her balance she tripped, if she scraped her knee it hurt. She could cry from a broken heart and lose her way. She could make mistakes, and by Faust she had made mistakes. Mistakes that were lost to the abyss of time in everyponies eyes except her own. Her sister was her greatest mistake but it wasn't her only one. Pausing mid-step Celestia found herself walking by the throne room as she stared at it. Focusing her magic just enough to see through the large double doors she found her bandaged sister herself seated in her own throne.

A throne that was - regrettably - a bit smaller than her own.

She wanted it exchanged, but Luna didn't care. She was home, and they had been reunited, that was all that mattered to her. Looking at her younger sister Celestia found her in a serene state, her eyes closed and her horn radiating the faintest pulses of mystic light that was near identical to what radiated off the moon itself, all despite her obvious injuries. Her sister was dream-walking, her consciousness floating through a world Celestia could never enter and looking out for any nightmares that bothered her subjects. Walking past Celestia returned to the silence as to not interrupt her sister's concentration. Luna had been unaware of her own, but that was her doing.

One of the spells that Celestia had put in her chambers was meant to keep any outer forces from entering her thoughts. A wonderful spell to counter mind control and it seemed to also help keep her sister unaware of what was going on with her at night… Well it was that or one of the five other precautionary spells she had put up as mental barricades. There were things in her head that she didn't want her sister to know about, let alone remember. One such thing was tonight's thousand year phantom.

Shaking her head Celestia quickened her pace to the kitchen before pausing. '...idiot.' Closing her eyes she felt a sense of weightlessness as she felt the world become enveloped in light before returning. So far in her thoughts the princess forgot she could just teleport to save time. Opening one of the cabinets she pulled out a glass cup before reaching into the fridge, pulling out an extravagant pitcher of ice cold water and gave it a dead stare. "This is a waste of taxpayers money..." Putting the container back she turned her attention to the liquid in her cup and proceeded to drink. She hadn't realized how parched she was until the liquid met her throat and emptied the cup in record time. Not to leave the staff with anything extra for tomorrow she washed the item, taking slight comfort in the act as she felt the sink water and soap coat her hooves. “It's been a long time since we've washed anything by hoof isn't it.” She asked nopony in particular as she set the cup aside and proceeded to dry her hooves. "When was the last time we've actually done dishes?"

'When the Castle of Two Sisters still stood.' An old memory called out to her as Celestia met it with mixed responses. Both happiness and sadness ran through her as she remembered their old home. She remembered the two - looking much like they did now - leaned over the sink as they alternated between washing and drying the dishes. Manes pulled back as they talked about whatever they felt like while the cleaning staff had yet another miniature panic. 'Princesses shouldn't touch dirty dishes, they said.' The memory faded, replaced with a wall being destroyed by corrupted magic as Celestia froze. A moment later she moved again, tossing her paper towel into the trash and fired up her magic. 'No...' The magic dying down Celestia took a breath as she decided to walk. Rather she needed to walk, she needed to fly.

Stepping into the halls once more the princess spread her wings and took off. While she may have been the tallest pony ever recorded, half expected in her long life, Canterlot Castle was still naturally much larger than she was, and offered her plenty of room to fly around in. Half flying - half gliding over the empty halls Celestia maneuvered just enough to not bump into anything as she turned. Crossing halls far faster she could do by walking she glided over the tile and past an assortment of windows. Crossing into a better lit portion of her caste she tilted her wings slightly as she went higher and did a mid-air flip, her hooves tapping the ceiling as she did before continuing on her normal path.

This portion of the castle didn't really have a name, but she thought of it as her 'Hall of Memories'. Stained Glass covered every window, each one depicting an event that had happened in her lifetime. The coronation of the two sisters, the original reign they shared. Sombra's evil and the loss of the Crystal Empire. Tirek's imprisonment and so on. There was even an old if embarrassing moment preserved of her yelling at a great dragon holding a crystal heart. Since that day she had attempted to keep her temper in check, but that dragon had just been so incredibly rude! There were even some she couldn't accurately remember, because she only knew the smallest details about them to begin with. One such depicted Starswirl the Bearded and three half-pony half-fish creatures called the sirens being sent into a void of sorts. Passing the memories Celestia couldn't help smiling as she did saw the ones that brightened her day before flying towards a window. She didn't greet the memory preserved before her, instead simply flying through it as she used a quick spell to make her intangible. The cold air hitting her Celestia sighed in relief as she flew over Canterlot, her shadow unnoticed by all as she flew over the streets and atop houses.

"I needed this." The alicorn thought aloud as she dived off the edge of Canterlot and descended down the mountainside. Flying always made her feel better no matter how dark her thoughts became as she confronted her mistakes. It was one of the only ways she kept her sanity after her sister had been imprisoned. Otherwise she wouldn't have made it past her first half century alone. Letting a murky memory cross her Celestia spread her wings as she took flight again and let the memory play out. A battle, not the greatest of battles came to her as she remembered the queen of the Changelings. When they had lost Troy, and she had reacted quicker than any would have expected. Practically bolting out her castle as she assaulted Chrysalis faster than the Changeling horde could realize what was happening and sealed her pseudo-alicorn kin into a volcano. That was some five-six centuries ago, and she had returned the favor on her niece's wedding day. Hindsight she may have deserved it, and getting hung upside down like some trophy. After all imprisonment in a volcano and reducing her to that 'hole-y' state deserved some form of retribution. Or revenge. Even after all this time sometimes it was hard to tell which side of revenge and retribution somepony was on.

"I wonder if there's any way of making amends..." Celestia thought as she closed her eyes and turned, forming an upward spiral as she found herself bathed in her sister's light. Making amends with the changelings… was it possible? Old as their species was, with what records that they had managed to create, they were still a very alien species. Their origins unknown to even her and driven by something she wasn't certain on. Was it possible to reach out to them and apologize for the bad blood they had created? 'Equestria is a place of second chances so...maybe.' That was still a big maybe, and added with the fact they would need to meet caused another problem; she had no idea where they were. You can't propose a meeting with somepony when you can't find them.

Twisting into a barrel roll Celestia found a distant cloud and messed with it as she flew by. Decades of skill enabled her to quickly rearrange it to appear as the face of a unicorn as she did and flew around to admire her work and with it another memory chose to surface.

An old… student, one of the best she had ever taken. Much like her recent student she was intelligent, brave, and remarkably talented, perhaps even more so than her successor. Social whereas the other needed a nudge to start accepting others. A student that had fallen, her talents warping her into a shadow of her former self filled with pride and a thirst for power. Her ability to socialize being turned into a weapon she used against others and magical skill that was used to intimidate. Something she should have noticed early on with how close they once were. She should have tempered her more, humbled her so neither would have gone down the path they had created. No word or whisper of her last student had reached her ears in these past couple years and part of her feared the worst; that she had passed away. If that was the case then she would never be able to say she was sorry, she would never get to say how much she missed her.

Looking at the image of her old student Celestia felt her heart ache as she made the image disappear with a single beat of her wings. Her mistake was letting her go, letting her fall and left alone after the death of her own sister.

Sighing Celestia thought of the positive. If she was not dead, then perhaps she simply didn’t wish to return. Perhaps she had found something that caused her to stay in that world. Acceptance, love, it could have been anything really. 'Still I wonder what she looks like now…’ An off thought crossed her as Celestia messed with her hooves for a moment. While she had never been to whichever dimension her little Sunset had gone to, her youth with Starswirl had sent her to a few which had some... interesting effects on her anatomy. Like having claws, and being able to hold things without using magic or her teeth growing into fangs - why one times he even became a rather attractive stallion. 'I don’t think I ever ran from mares that often in my life...' Celestia thought as she closed her eyes. A sigh left her as she turned a bit and flew higher. Regardless her setting sun was a world away, literally and she might never see her again. 'If Sunset even wants to see me again...'

Celestia pushed the thought aside as she poked a hole through the clouds and flew toward her sister's moon. Flying higher than any natural pegasus dared she watched the clear sky grow darker as the stars began to shine with greater Radiance. Sunset wasn't the only one worlds away, there was also him, her lover bearing the face of her enemy; King Sombra.

Stopping her climb the princess she broke into a freefall. She remembered in an older era when they first met, she was young and travelling realities with Starswirl. She'd been in love, sneaking to his reality to be with him. She remembered having to leave their affair a secret, returning to her realm and silently dreading to see him again when the portal was ready. As an alicorn she had a lifespan much longer than any regular equine, and her connection to the sun would extend her life even more so. As such every time she returned to him she dreaded he had passed during her absence, and every time he didn't. He stayed no matter how long the clock kept ticking. No matter how many moons passed for him. Very few were like him, the magic inside him strong enough to extend his natural life span past regular limits. Celestia took another breath as she looked at a cloud before leveling out and flying straight. He was one of the best things that happened to her and also one of the worst.

Because she met him they had lost the Crystal Empire. She remembered their battle with the other Sombra - their Sombra. Ready to end the tyrant's reign, her will tempered like iron and her heart turned to stone. She remembered staring at his weakened form and charging her spell. The psychological trigger ready to be pulled and… she froze. She hesitated. They had the same face, they had the same voice, she just couldn't do it and he took advantage of it. That was how they lost the Crystal Empire and to this day she never told anypony, not even her sister.

Thinking of her “sister” Celestia’s thoughts suddenly shifted to her “twin”. The other Celestia, one she had met on more than one occasion after the crossing. Her twin; the one that showed such a hideous side of herself that would do seemingly anything to win. "And she's still there isn't she…” Celestia whispered as she turned, realizing she was flying over Ponyville and headed toward the Everfree Forest. That side of her, that witch wasn’t just over there - across the veil, she was also inside her. That had to be the one good thing about meeting her alternate reality counterpart; it showed her what she could be, and what parts of her were kept buried so far inside her own heart she wasn't aware of them, and that meant somewhere in this incarnation of her that witch was still alive- likely nurturing on the pain and sorrow that she repressed so far down that no pony could see - and yet that was something she could live with.

Passing over the ruins of her old castle Celestia took to flying through the wreckage as she looked it over. "Every time I've made a mistake...somepony else has paid the price for it." Her pride and ignorance had blinded her and sent sister into Nightmare Moon's clutches. Because she froze up, the Tyrant Sombra banished the entire Crystal Empire. Her ignorance had led Sunset into whatever she'd been beyond the mirror.

She left the ruins as she kept on flying.

Letting more of her mistakes return to her. If she had tried listing every mistake she had created she would probably need half the stars in her sister's sky. "Hm, a star for each of my mistakes...that sounds rather poetic." Celestia whispered as she paused for a moment, one of her senses going off without her command. It was an odd one, like something was tugging at her hair. Each tug acted to bring some form of “mental static” with it that lasted for but a moment before disappearing. Fighting it, fighting it was strange, acting like a game of tug-o-war. And each time she fought it… something crept into her mind. An anger not her own - an energy foreign to her. “What in E-”

“Oh~ that is so *much* better.”

It felt like someone ripped her face off. Celestia could do nothing but screamed, her voice carrying over the Everfree forest and waking the residents of the nearby town of Ponyville within seconds. Dropping out the sky Celestia clutched her head in pain, sanguine creeping out the grooves of her horn as she screamed, crashing through the few clouds that remained in the night sky and through the trees of the Everfree. They smashed into her, broke under her weight, cut into her fur, stopping only when she crashed into the Everfree soil.

She screamed for maybe minutes - maybe hours, clutching her skull as pain wrecked through her body. Vapors of mana pouring out her horn as she tossed and turned. When she stopped she wasn’t sure, when she did though her coat was matted with mud and grime and stained by her own blood. ‘W… what is happening?’ She hurt from her injuries, but beyond that she felt weak. Still she rose to her feet, staggering - struggling as she looked around trying to make sense of what was happening. Something was taking her power. Her mana - the vast reserves she carried after all these centuries - was leaving her. Head felt like someone was stabbing knives into it. And her ears were filled with the sound of growling.

When her vision returned however she found the reasons for that last part. Glowing yellow eyes and wooden structures. Timberwolves, she must have fallen into their den. She struggled to focus, try and prepare herself but failed. When they moved they attacked with a heightened sense of coordination that she wasn’t accustomed to. Even if she wasn’t dazed even if she wasn’t losing her magic their level of coordination was frightening to say the least. She knew they acted as a pack, she knew they were aggressive, but this - this was different, it was as if they shared a single mind, a single entity, one that wanted her dead.

Regaining strength in her wings she took flight, soaring out of the den as she punched through the trees and cut herself up a bit more. What she saw when she returned to the air though, that horrified her. “What in Equestria?” She could hear the ponies of Ponyville screaming, as the ground beneath their town shook. It wasn’t just Ponyville though, it was the entire plains, the Everfree, the mountains. All of them trembled under some unknown force as a storm greater than what her sister had brought gathered in the skies, lightning crackling and setting the plains and buildings on fire while the winds threatened to strip the feathers from her wings. “What in Equestria is going on?”

4

Ponyville

“Everypony run!” Somepony screamed as Ponyville came alive. Hundreds of different ponies taking to the streets as their homes trembled, most of them breaking apart as lightning smashed into the ground. An act that seemed more like spears than an act of nature.

“Twilight!” The purple unicorn turned her head as she lifted Spike onto her back, the drowsy dragon clutching her back so hard that it seemed that he was trying to pry it off her bones. Beside her Rarity and an equally clingy Opalescence sticking to her. “Darling what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Above Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Weather Patrol were trying to clear the skies, push the wild storm clouds away. One was rewarded for their efforts by a crack of lightning smashing into them.

“Bottle?” The scorched pony smashed into the ground, if the direct hit from lightning didn’t kill them the fall did. Fur had been burned away leaving all that remained but a smoking husk. Several ponies looked in surprise at the pony, though it quickly changed into horror as realization kicked in. “Bottle!” The screaming returned around the same time as the call went out. From the skies another pony dropped to the ground as they shook the charred pony. “Bottle, come on bro get up! Get up! We get hit by lightning all the time and we brush it off. Come on man get up! Get up!” Somepony else screamed as the skies came alike, more spears of lightning smashing into the soil and targeting airborne ponies with almost archer-like precision. If the lightning didn’t hit the soil then it was the scorched bodies of pegasi falling like pony-sized meteors.

“Everypony out of the sky!” The pegasi obeyed, willingly dropping out the sky and took to the land. They ran and hovered close to the soil, helping whomever they could as this… disaster took over.

“Twilight!” Applejack struggled to get to her friends as she fought against the winds trying to lift her into the air. “Good you girls are safe.”

“Somehow, what about you? Where’s Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie?”

“Ah saw Pinkie helping the Cakes with the youngins on my way over, as for Fluttershy I was hoping you knew where she was.”

“Fluttershy’s probably still at her cottage.” Rainbow Dash screamed as she dropped by her friends. “I’ll go check on her!”

“We’ll come with you!”

“Nuh uh, no way! Not in this weather.” Dash told them as she covered her face for a moment from the winds kicking up. “Besides you guys got to get Spike and the others to safety.”

“But -”

“Go I’ll be fine, this weather’s nothing!” Rainbow Dash muttered as she took to the air and started to fly. “I’ll be back before you know it!”

“Don’t fly too high! This lightning isn’t normal!” Twilight called out as she watched her friend disappear. “Please be safe.”

“What do we do Twilight?” Spike tightened his grip on his foster sister as he started to slip off her back.

“We get to somewhere safe! Somewhere that this weather won’t be able to reach us.”

“No offense Twilight darling but I don’t think there’s going to be any place like that left at this rate.”

“What about a cellar?” Applejack asked as she held onto her hat. “My family cellar ain’t all that, but It’s big enough to hold at least a couple ponies. It’s where my family is hiding right now.”

“Sounds like an idea.” Twilight muttered as she looked around. “It’s underground too so it should be able to -”

“Incoming!” Hearing Spike scream Twilight looked up as a spear of lightning raced towards her and her friends. Arching across the sky and aiming directly for them like some jagged spear.

Canterlot Castle

“Get up princess.” Nightmare Moon called out as Luna stood, wobbling as she returned to her feet. Vapors leaving her horn as she was left in some degree of stress and pain. Although she wasn’t certain if that was from the pain brought by her horn bleeding or her injuries acting up. She guessed it was some combination of both considering her old wounds had opened up again. “Good, are you ok?”

“Do I look ok?” Luna retaliated as she shook her head, fighting the haze that had blacked her out for a moment. “You are me, yes? Then you should know how I’m feeling.”

“Just checking, little moon.” Her darkness muttered as she turned her attention inward. “You half of our magic is being stolen.”

“Yes but who - what in Equestria has that sort of power?” Her dark half didn’t respond, instead staying silent as she turned her attention elsewhere.

“I’m afraid that doesn’t matter, it appears you’re needed.” Luna simply nodded her head as she took off, carrying her body across the throne room as she forced herself into a run.

Ponyville

It didn’t hurt like she expected it to. In fact there was no pain, there was no burning in her lungs, just blinding light. Blinding light and the sound of lightning smashing into something. Slowly however, as her eyes adjusted to the light she found a shadow over her and her friends.

“Oh my goddess…”

“What?”

Holding the strike of lightning back Celestia stood tall, a barrier of light shining around the edge of her body as it flickered in and out of vision. Still that didn’t stop the Alicorn of days, she grit her teeth, forcing her magic to hold back the lightning spear as she reflected its power in a number of directions; left, right, up, down they were all sending a portion of the lightning in a different direction.

“Princess Celestia?”

“Twilight! Rarity! Form your own barriers now!” The solar diarch order and they complied, expanding their magic to reinforce their diarch. The extra strength behind their protective shell lasted, surviving the lightning assault before a second struck their location.

“Are you kidding me?!” A third followed the words, as the trio of spellweavers were pushed back for a moment. The fourth broke the layered shield as the two unicorn’s eyes widened in surprise. The fifth? That one was just barely avoided, punching through the air by Celestia’s skull before smashing into the ground someplace behind her. “P - princess?”

“I’m fine Twilight.” Celestia whispered to her student as she looked back at her. She didn’t look fine; the Princess of Equestria was covered in blood and dirt and grime, and vapors of magic were rising out of her horn. She looked like she had just come out a battle of some sorts. “Are all of you alright?”

“Yes your highness.”

“Mighty grateful, your majesty.”

“Good.” Celestia whispered as she looked around her attention, taking in the destruction that was befalling one of her cities and it’s ponies.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight's voice pulled her out of whatever thoughts she was currently having as she looked at her student. Seeing the uncertainty, the fear on her face tore at her heart, but it couldn’t be helped. “Princess, what’s going on, what’s happening to Ponyville?”

“I’m not certain Twilight.”The sun diarch muttered as she returned her attention to the city. She really didn’t know what was going on, but to affect the world on such a scale - to cause this much blatant destruction; This was the work of incredibly powerful magic.

“Do you think it’s that ruffian Discord again?”

“No.” She knew that much. Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony or not, Discord was more of a glorified trickster than anything. He delighted in causing mischief and twisting reality to make it more “interesting”. Wanton destruction like this; no he’d never do this. “This is the work of something else.”

“Who?” Before another word could be said a new tremor ripped through Ponyville, splitting the ground open and as a fissure was born, only to be quickly filled as trees grew wild and across the gaps. Winding, twisting branches were born, knocking into one another to fuse together before separating once more.

“Run.” Celestia ordered as the fissure started to reach them. The group however didn’t need to be told twice, they moved, running with the fissure following after them.

Canterlot

The City was in an uproar. Hundreds upon hundreds of homes that once touched the sky were now burning; and with them ponies were forced to evacuate their places of residence. Some were reckless; running back into their homes as they made a vain attempt to save some of their prized valuables. Others were trying to avoid the falling debris from crumbling homes. The others still? They were trying to evacuate to the caves of Canterlot Mountain, use the dug up catacombs to try waiting out the freak weather. “Faust…” Luna muttered as she looked at the world from around her. “This is horrible.”

“I agree.” Nightmare Moon muttered as she narrowed her eyes. “Go to our ponies, they need us.” Luna simply looked at her counterpart in surprise for a moment before running off.

Canterlot City Street

“What kind of freak weather was this?” Velvet questioned as he felt the wind running against his body as he ran. His pale blue coat felt like it was about to go flying off, and his jacket provided very little protection. His hooves kicked up parts of broken debris as he ran into the city; or at least what remained of it anyway. The buildings either have holes punched through them or toppled over in a haphazard mess. Glass windows were breaking and littering the grounds like one would expect grass. Everything was a mess. Hearing what sounded as a cry the unicorn pulled to a sudden stop as he looked around before running off to one of the buildings. "Anypony here?!" Coming to a stop the colt found a foal turning to him as they tried to pull their parent out from under a bit of rubble that had trapped them.

"My mom she's stuck!"

"Back up a sec little guy." Jogging up to the mare he looked her over as he sighed in relief. Bit of blood, but she'd be alright. Igniting his horn in an aura of green magic he took hold of the debris as he struggled for a moment. He wasn't the best caster, but he wasn't a slouch either, still this much was a bit out of his league. Forcing his weight under the mess of soaked wood and brick Velvet backed up his spell with pure physical strength as the debris started to rise up. He couldn't get it that high, but he didn't need to. Lifting it up just enough for the mare to crawl out the colt promptly followed after her and dropped the mess like it was spoiled food. "Fuuu~ I need to work out more." Velvet half-joked/ half admitted as he saw the foal hugging his mother with a light smile. A smile he quickly dismissed. "Alright, you two gotta get out of here. Go to the south gate, you'll catch up with everypony else, heading to the caves ok?"

"Y-yes."

"What about you? You're coming with us right?"

Velvet simply rested a hoof on the foal’s head as he smiled slightly. "Sorry kid, I gotta help make sure everypony's out ." Glancing at the mare he crouched down to be more level with the foal in front of him. "Now can you do me a favor though? Make sure your mom gets out of here safe?"

"Yes sir."

"That a boy." Another nudge to the foal and Velvet returned to is full height. "You only get one of her, so don't lose her now." Running past the pair Velvet took off as he kept scanning the city. Magic augmented his hearing as he tried picking up the sound of any others still in the city. He may not have been a member of the guard, but he was still working civilian control today. Making certain nopony (alive) was left behind. Him and about twelve others that he'd found himself working beside. Not the biggest workforce, but they'd have to do, this was all that could be spared at the moment, or at the very least they were the ones that managed to make it in time. Not soldiers but they definitely weren't gonna sit on their asses as the storm raged either. They gathered some time when all this originally started - whatever this was anyway. The colt didn't know; he'd just been one of the few that picked up an age old torch when the minotaur’s shit started hitting the fan. “Damn it this sucks…” Velvet muttered as he glanced back, seeing another series of lightning strikes cutting through the city. Freezing though the stallion opened his mouth in pure disbelief as he watched a charred pony drop in front of him. “Shit.”

“Well shit.” From the back of her great beast the mercenary blinked in surprise as she took in the degree of destruction going on. Beside her, her client and the True Queen just watched, one in curiosity and the other with a simple light smile. “This is what happens when you stretch?.”

“Oh yes, I do apologize.” The other stated with that same smile. “I haven’t done so in a while, it appears that by doing so my control slipped a bit.”

“This is a bit?” The mercenary asked as she looked at the True Queen. “What would happen if you completely lost control?”

“The damage would be near-irreparable.”

“I see…” The stallion stated as he looked at his Queen. Outside the Castle of the Everfree he could see her better. A beautiful cocoa colored alicorn with wings and a mane and tail of gold. Her mark was curious; a shield and blade surrounded by six wings all the color of burning gold. “You are more beautiful and powerful than the old scriptures said you would be.”

“I thank you.” The alicorn mare stated as she offered him a kind smile. “But will you say the same when I return to my full power?”

Canterlot

The pony screamed as she saw the spear of lightning coming in her direction, only to have it vaporized a moment later as an arc of magic rammed into it from the side. “Are thou alright?” Princess Luna asked as she looked at the pony, her eyes looking the mare over as she got a weak nod. “Can you stand?”

“Y - yes princess.”

“Then rise, this is not the place for you to fall.” She commanded as she offered her a hoof and helped her up. “Good, now head to the mountain. It will protect you from the storm.”

“Y - yes princess!” The mare bowed quickly before running off, leaving Luna alone in the street.

“How are you holding up?” Her darkness asked as she made her reappearance. Looking her light half over before getting a deep sigh as her answer.

“We are holding it together. Though we are not certain for how long.”

“With all this running around your wounds must be killing you, not only that your magic is still leaving you.” The dark alicorn muttered as she watched her counterpart cover herself from a wave of angry winds. “All this… the timing is too close to be coincidence.”

“I agree.” The light half muttered as she broke into a pained run, trying to seek out any others that were in danger. “But who - what is the cause of this? And where is our sister?”

“Expand your senses little moon, feel her through your connection.” The dark mare muttered as Luna willingly obeyed.

“Ponyville? Why is she there?”

“No doubt trying to protect her student.” Nightmare Moon muttered as she frowned for a moment. “Strange though; does her signal seem… weaker than usual?”

“She is losing power just as we are. Damn just what is going on tonight?”

“I’m admittingly curious myself.” The dark half of Luna’s soul stated as the pair continued to move, one dodging lightning as they threatened to impale her. “But I do believe that doesn’t matter right, we need to protect the ponies of our land.”

“To hear you say such words… I admit it feels strange.”

“Why might that be, little moon? Thou art I and I am thou, your desires are my own, your wishes are mine. You wish to protect the tribes - so do I.”

“And yet you wish to rule alone.”

“I wish for us to rule, to have our night loved as equally as the day star. We carry not the lesser light, but one of equal beauty and radiance.” The Nightmare stated as Luna dodged another lightning bolt. “Regardless, that matters not right now.”

“Yes we have more important matters to attend to."

Elsewhere

In her sleep she had a premonition of sorts; one that came not from her dreaming mind, but her waking body. It came from a scar, one that ached for attention. The Oracle turned in her bed and took a breath. Her attempts at a restful sleep dashed by the persistent throbbing that came from her old wound. It was a shame, this would have been the first time she would be allowed to truly slumber in over three months. Wordlessly, and opening her eyes in more resignation than annoyance, she reached for the old scars, trying to identify exactly which one was bothering her. And when she found it, she said only one word.

“Fuck~.”

5

“Haven"

Princess Celestia sighed to herself as she listened to her gathered council. Each one giving their field reports on the condition of the other towns and cities, or rather what remained of them anyway. Fourteen days; two entire weeks. That was how long the freak weather phenomenon continued and in it’s time Equestria all but ripped itself apart. Fissures opened up and closed back together, Trees sprang up with unnatural speeds, wrapping around one another in thick and winding branches. New mountains were born and others were all but pulverized into dust. Towns were either splintered or lost as a whole. In the span of two weeks Equestria had become almost unrecognizable from the way it had once been, but Equestria was still Equestria. It was the home to the pony tribes, it was a land they had worked for centuries to build up, and would for more centuries to pass. Regardless; the land they once called their own, the land they had become the masters of - had changed almost beyond recognition.

No longer could they call Equestria a shining nation. How could they when half the nation was either cloaked in woods or halfway ground into dust? Ponies were wondering what this meant, questioning what the destruction of their nation meant for Equestria as a whole. Was this the end of Equestria? Could they rebuild from this kind of devastation? What was the cause of all this? For all three questions, Celestia couldn’t find an answer. She wasn’t sure what this meant, or what had caused this destruction. But she knew one thing, her ponies would make it through this, they would try to rebuild, though she wasn’t sure how long it would take.

Realizing her thoughts were taking her attention away from her council she focused herself, looking at the gathered as they spoke for a few more minutes. Hearing enough she dismissed them, letting them take a much needed rest from their individual journeys. In the meantime, she decided to take a walk, looking around what had all but become her place of residence since the end of the freak weather. It wasn’t much, just a makeshift village of grass and moss hidden in the now winding trees that had taken hold of Ponyville. It wasn’t Ponyville itself, no; Ponyville had all but been overrun by the trees and vines and broken by the quakes. It was not safe for anypony to return to the city; not yet anyway.

As for Canterlot; the capital? It still stood, if barely. A parade of lightning had all but atomized the great city, reducing two-thirds of it to rubble and the last of it to ruins. Worse still, the two week long bombardment had drastically destabilized the hanging capital. One wrong move felt like it would send it tumbling off the mountainside and crashing into the plains below. Evacuation had been all but mandatory after they had found out. Naturally, the nobles hadn’t been happy but they followed the command that went out. She was surprised that Canterlot’s entire civilization hadn’t split after that; half coming to this new haven, the other remaining in the mountain with all the crystal in the catacombs. Guess they hadn’t gone that deep into the mines and discovered the bounty of gems within them.

As for Luna?

Stepping into what was essentially an oversized hut Celestia turned her gaze toward her younger sister. The mare was resting on a cot of sorts, new bandages wrapping around her body as she stared off into the distance for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before frowning to herself. Moving Luna to their temporary haven, that had been a bit of an ordeal. Most of her magic had been expended and her old injuries had opened up - though part of her couldn't help but believe that some of these wounds were fresh from the storm. “Luna I’m back.”

Hearing her elder sister Luna perked up as she lost her frown and smiled. “Ah sister! Is the council meeting over already?”

“Yes, we’re done for the day.”

“Ah good.” Luna said simply

“How are you feeling? Better I hope.”

“Much dear sister. Some actual rest does wonders.” The mare stated as Celestia sighed in relief.

“That’s good to hear.”

“But…” Luna paused for a moment as she looked at her bandaged hooves and her frown returned. “Something… something has changed dear sister, I am certain you have felt it as well.” Celestia didn’t say anything, simply waiting for her sister to continue as she nodded her head. “Whatever happened all those days ago has left us weak… I can feel but a fraction of the magic I once possessed.”

“You are not the only one Luna.” Celestia muttered as she reached for her magic. “Most of our magic feels as though it was ripped from us.”

“Do you believe it is his doing?” Celestia shook her head as she thought to the mad centaur.

“No it can’t be him; he is still sealed within Tartarus remember?”

“Yes… yes you're right.” Luna muttered to herself as she slowly nodded her head. “He is gone, locked behind a cage of obsidian and watched by Cerberus.”

“Tirek.” The pale alicorn whispered the name before shaking her head. He was gone, never to hurt her ponies again, he wouldn’t cause them any trouble and he certainly wouldn’t have been able cause what had happened all those days ago.

“There’s more dear sister.” Luna spoke up as she chased away her sisters’ thoughts about the centaur locked away. “I - I am not healing sister.” Luna whispered to her sister’s shock. “No it is not that I am not healing; rather I am not healing as fast as usual.” Correcting herself the dark alicorn looked at her hooves again before frowning. “Injuries we both have sustained in the past fully healed within hours to mere days.But these wounds I carry…”

“It might be a side effect from our lost magic.” Celestia muttered. ”Our magic was so vast it permeated our bodies; speeding up our natural ability to heal. With most of it gone so must it’s benefits.”

“Ah yes… that makes sense.” Luna muttered. “But who could be strong enough to rip our magic from us and be so far away?”

“I don’t know Luna, but if such a pony is out there, we have to be careful. We don’t know what else they might be capable of now that they have the power of two alicorn mares.” Luna made a noise as she nodded her head.

“But somepony like that; I doubt we can combat somepony with that kind of power in their hooves.” Luna admitted before crossing her hooves. “Still we have to don’t we; our ponies' safety depends on it. The question is how?” Both sisters fell silent, something they seemed to settle into for a while as they searched for their answers. Twilight and her friends? No, she doubted they would be able to help them in this endeavor. With the Elements of Harmony or not, there was no telling if they could be able to face such an enemy that could warp the world to such an extent. Not only that Twilight and her friends were not battle ready. Yes they had the potential to fight - all their ponies did - but Celestia would rather not risk the lives of her subjects. They were still… children in a way. Then again to her; they really were just children.

Celestia shook her head as she pushed the thought away. Trying to focus on something else, another way to solve their problems and make it through their ordeals. ‘I wish Starswirl was here. He’d have some ideas.’ She wasn’t that lucky though was she? Starswirl was gone, all she had to remember him were his notes and everything else he had left behind. His spells, the mirror, and many things she would rather not touch upon. ‘Still, I wonder if that mirror is still safe.’ Celestia thought as she drifted off. The mirrors to other worlds - to other realities. Starswirl hadn’t just made one, he’d revealed to her long ago that he had to create a number of prototypes before he found one safe enough to operate. The most finalized one; that should still be in the archive; the one that her last student had walked into.

Another off thought came to Celestia as she frowned for a moment. Despite their many adventures across the veil of reality, she never did come to understand Starswirl’s apparent fixation with the other dimensions. After her old master had introduced her to the art she found his interest in them nearly bordered on obsession. The spells he created; the kind that connected two separate realities, the kind that could only be cast across their dimensional borders. Why did he make so many spells pertaining to it when they had been the only two that would travel through them? ‘Perhaps we weren’t the only one’s he meant to have crossed the boundary?’ If so then what was his real reason for sealing most of the portals? Was it just because Celestia had stepped through the portal one too many times? Or was there some other reason? ‘Perhaps he realized it was an endeavor that wouldn’t benefit us in the long run.’ The mare rationalized before thinking further on the subject. Her thoughts trailing off to the spells he had built for such an endeavor. Listing off his successes and theories by heart, before stopping at one in particular. “I wonder…”

“Hm what was that sister?”

“Oh nothing… I was just thinking back to a spell Starswirl made.” The elder alicorn muttered as she returned her attention to Luna. “It’s a summoning spell he developed after a while.”

“Summoning? You mean to bring forth a familiar and bind it to your will?” Luna tilted her head and drifted off for a moment. “I remember those brand of spells were common during a young Equestria. I hadn’t been aware he had been working on a new variation.”

“Yes well, Starswirl had been dabbling in quite a few subjects when he was still with us. This spell in particular wasn’t meant to summon stronger familiars, but rather summon another being from across the dimensions.”

“… what?”

“Right, you weren’t aware back then; Starswirl had been diving into rather interesting possibilities with magic; crossing the unseen veil of reality was one of them. I've seen his work on the subject and I admit it’s rather impressive.” Celestia admitted.

“He found a way… to cross the veil?”

“Yes and the spell I’m thinking about. It was one of Starswirl’s more adventurous spells though it still held many roots in Summoning Familiar magic; only it involved not summoning familiars or imps but actual ponies from beyond. Though I admit he never perfected it. He designed it so instead of going across the veil to find and speak with an individual, it was supposed to bring them to us.”

“Why would he design such a spell?” Luna questioned. “Bringing a familiar into our plane of existence is difficult enough for all but the strongest of unicorn wizards - not to mention potentially dangerous if the binding isn’t done properly, to bring another more alien existence to our own reality… that sounds incredibly dangerous.”

“I believe he began development of the spell before he found out the dangers.” Celestia admitted before frowning. “Regardless he never perfected it, and personally I’m not certain why I’m thinking about it.”

“Perhaps you believe the summoning can help us. Bring in an outside force to face the trials that need to be faced. Fight the enemy that needs to be defeated.”

“Maybe, but as I said he never perfected it, it can’t be used.”

“So you believe.” Luna muttered as she started to think. “It may have become one of his more private projects, the kind that he completed before leaving us.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Celestia admitted as she released an uncharacteristic shrug.

“If that is the case, shall we risk it? Or at least try using it?” Luna stated simply as she looked to her sister. “If we can scrounge up the mana necessary, if we can perfect the spell, perhaps we can bring outside help to our side.”

“I’m not certain that’s a safe idea.” Celestia muttered as she started thinking back to one of her last conversations with Starswirl, she remembered him sealing up the portal, him mentioning the dangers of continuous travel connecting two worlds. How the longer they stayed in one world that wasn’t their own the deeper they began to connect together. Starswirll called it the Paradox Factor, something that kicked in because only one of everything was meant to exist in their respective dimensions. When two were brought together things tended to get… odd. Sometimes; Discord-like odd.

“Sister, what is it you aren’t telling me?” Luna asked with a bit of skepticism that caused her sister to sigh in defeat, but she answered anyway. Told her sister about her and Starswirl’s adventures across reality. Told her about the Paradox Factor, told her about him. When she got to her old love she saw realization cross her sister’s face - like she just solved some ancient puzzle. In a way she did; she finally understood the loss of the Crystal Empire. She understood why she hesitated that day. Still pausing as she did; Celestia waited for something, anything from her sister as she spoke her truth. The same rage and anger that Starswirl had displayed, some form of indifference or taunting. What she received was a look of pity, and a hug from the bed-bound mare.

“You poor thing, sister. I am so sorry.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“Mad no, but I do understand now. I understand your desire to be loved as a mare and not as an icon, I understand your heart yearned for Sombra and likely still does. Had I met a stallion that loved me the way he loved you I would have done the same as you had.” Luna whispered as she pulled back for a moment. “But I also understand Starswirl’s reason, the potential of endangering two kingdoms instead of just one...and why he could not allow you to stay with your love.” She paused for a moment. “But at the same time I believe he could have found another way.” She stated to her sister’s confusion. “Starswirl was a genius caster sister, he created a way to visit foreign worlds just as you said. So surely he could have found a way to deal with the “Paradox Factor” you speak of. He could have found a way for you to be happy and protect the two worlds instead of keeping them apart.” The night princess stayed silent for a moment before frowning. “I believe we should use the spell.”

“Luna.”

“We will deal with this Paradox Factor as it comes, we will take responsibility for whatever happens to our world… we will not run from it.” Luna declared as she took a breath. “Besides… with our loss of power, I believe we will need the extra help.”

“You have a point, but Twilight and her friends -”

“Are not ready to face a being that can cause such wanton destruction. Whomever we are dealing with, they are outside the girl’s jurisdiction. We need a real warrior to help us.” She crossed her hooves again. “I would recommend the guard but~”

“Yes they are still shadows of the warriors we once had.” Celestia muttered before sighing. “We need someone that would be ready to fight whatever is coming.” The pale alicorn stayed silent for a moment before shaking her head. “We’re really going to do this aren’t we?”

“It appears so sister.”

“I’ll go through Starswirl’s notes, and start preparing the spell.” Celesta sighed. “You should continue to rest until your injuries fully heal.”

“Yes yes we know sister, now off with you.” The Night Princess commanded as she waved her hoof. “Speak with your student, she is likely worried about you.”

“You don’t want me to stay a bit longer?”

“We believe some more rest will do us good.” Luna stated as she stretched slightly. “We will join you after a quick nap.”

“Alright.” Celestia stated as she stood again, this time planting a kiss on her younger sister’s cheek before she started off. “Have a good rest Luna, I’ll see you later.” Luna just waved her elder sister off, waiting for her elder sister to wander off before sighing to herself.

“Well isn’t this curious?” Nightmare Moon made her appearance as she sat at the edge of the bed, a light in her eyes that Luna wasn’t all that sure she was comfortable with. “A warrior from another world. That’s not something we get everyday.”

“Yes well; I believe this will require such a being.”

“I as well.” Nightmare Moon made a show of looking at her hooves before frowning. “Still are we certain this is a good idea?”

“We never said that.” Luna sighed as she leaned back in the bed. “If this Paradox Factor does start to surface I have no idea how to deal with it as of yet.”

“Ah we are “grasping at straws” are we?”

“I believe so.” Luna muttered as she frowned for a moment. “But to do something like this, we will need quite a bit of magic, possibly more than me and my sister can offer at the moment.”

“Then do not do this alone.” Her darkness shrugged. “There are no longer two alicorns, are there? There are three and then we have the Element Bearers. Perhaps together enough power will be needed to pull a champion from across the veil.”

“You are not offering your power for this ordeal?”

“At the moment… no. Drawing upon my power for this ordeal would reveal me to our sister. I’d rather stay hidden from her eyes for now.”

“Really, then what makes you believe I will not simply reveal you to our sister myself?”

“Because you haven’t - or rather you can’t. You have kept my existence a secret from Celestia because you don’t want her to look at you differently. You don’t want her to question if “Luna” is still in control or if “Nightmare Moon” is returning. You don’t want to lose her faith and trust again.” Nightmare Moon smiled. “You can’t tell her without putting your sister at a tail’s length and you know this.” Luna didn’t say anything as she leered at her dark half, though Nightmare Moon ignored it. “Regardless, be ready. You will need all the strength you have in order to use this upcoming spell. Be ready, little moon.”

6

Earth

Canterlot City

It felt like he’d been walking for hours; but to be fair, he technically had been. He’d been walking since daylight broke and now, now the sun was trying to set on him. He’d have to find shelter soon. Still, stepping through the city he had come across on the road, the young man just took a minute to breathe before rubbing his sore neck and taking a drink from his water bottle. Gentle Shade sighed to himself as he pocketed the water bottle and pressed on, searching for a place where he could get some rest before the sun went down. He honestly didn’t want to sleep in a car again, but hey if he had to he would. Still glancing back at the sun for a moment, Gentle took in the city before frowning.

Canterlot city was a mess. There was no better way of saying it. A glorified gravesite of broken buildings that either towered overhead or were smashed into the ground. Streets were broken, and cars were rammed into one another; but honestly he wasn’t surprised. Getting on top of a bus gave him a good view of his city, but it was still a sight of ruins.

‘There isn’t a goddamn city that doesn’t look like this now.’ He thought before jumping off the bus and moved on.

The world had ended.

The world had fucking ended.

Not by nuclear war.

Not by global warming.

Not by heaven and hell opening their gates.

Not by some clusterfuck of “this”, “that” and a bit of “those” thrown into a blender and set to puree.

The world ended because of some kind of “Rage virus” like in 28 Days Later.

He wished he was making that kind of shit up, but he wasn’t.

He didn’t remotely know the details on how it came to be but he understood this much; everything started seven months ago.

That was when that green mist rolled in. The people of the world started fighting, and it was pure anarchy. The world governments collapsed in mere days, and he was pretty sure everything didn’t go nuclear because the people next to the button likely got put down.

After a month of pure chaos, it got worse, and without a doubt weirder. People started changing; deforming and turning into monsters of some kind.

He had no idea a virus could do that kind of stuff to people. Less tailored like certain strains of the T-Virus from Resident Evil.

On a side note, the mist started around the time a three-woman band went live on tv. A shame to, he would have been interested in hearing what they had. Plus that poofy haired chick was kind of hot.

Disregarding all that, Gentle just scratched his head and kept his eyes open, trying to make sure he couldn’t see any people still locked in a feral madness.

He was good, for now anyway.

“I still gotta get somewhere for the night.” He muttered, placing his metal bat over his shoulder. “Where to go though?” He chose the mall. It was relatively close, it was big with boarded up walls and things stacked up inside to form a makeshift barricade. Without much prompting he pushed the doors open and stepped inside, stopping the moment he found something pointed at his skull from the side. He half expected it to go like this.

“Who are you?” The teen turned slightly as he looked at an unshaven older man, one caught between hysteria and fear as he looked at the boy. “You, what do you want?” Gentle didn’t reply simply dropping his bat as he slowly raised his hands.

“God damn it don’t move yeah hear me! Don’t you fucking move!” Gentle winched slightly at the man’s raised voice. For an old guy he could get loud. Still he had no interest in picking a fight with some old man so he just stood there, doing as the old man said. Besides, his trigger finger looked super twitchy.

“Harvey!” A voice called out as Gentle turned and the man froze for a moment. A woman, real pretty one too. Also those curves couldn’t be legal. She frowned at the man. “Harvey cool it, he’s just a kid.”

“So?” Harvey grumbled. “You know the virus doesn’t discriminate just because he’s a fucking kid. He could be feral!”

“Harvey look at his eyes, they’re clear! Let him though. And god's sake put that thing away. You’re gonna hurt someone at this rate.” She ordered and Harvey froze, slowly lowering his rifle as he muttered a weak apology. “As for you.” The woman turned her attention to the teen. “Who are you? Gentle raised an eyebrow before he started to sign, grateful that Alex had gotten around to making him better at that before he went off with Dus. “You can’t talk.” Gentle pressed his index and thumb together - universal for “a little bit” before raising his free hand to his neck and showed his trademark scar.

“God that looks terrible.”

He could practically read her thoughts before shaking her head. “Either case come in, sorry we ain’t got a signer in her that can do translations for you.”She stated and Gentle followed, kicking his bat to his hands and sheathed it.

Looked like half the city was in here, burning fires for warmth and keeping themselves occupied. None really paid attention to him, but that was fine. Didn’t feel like being the center of attention anyway. “My name is Luna by the way, I guess you could say I’m in charge here - east until my sister returns..” Gentle simply nodded his head as he stepped further into the mall and followed the woman to some seats. “So what’s your name anyway?” Again Gentle didn’t answer as she scratched her head for a moment. “Right sorry forgot for a moment.” Gentle simply shrugged as he pointed at her hand before getting an eye raise. She gave it to him though and held out her palm. In turn Gentle took his index finger and glided it over her palm Spelling his name for her. Shame he had broken his phone, texting was much faster than this.

“T...y...l...e...r… your name’s Gentle?” The teen nodded as he gave the woman her hand back. “I see, well it’s nice to meet you Gentle, welcome to the Canterlot Mall. What can we do for you?” Gentle patted his belly before raising his hand to his head and leaned on it. “You’re looking for food and a bed huh. Well we don’t have much for beds at the moment, but he does have plenty of food to go around. They lie on the second floor.” She told him as he nodded and got to his feet. “Hold on I’m not done yet.” Gentle raised an eyebrow. “Sorry but I need to set some ground rules first.” Gentle made a face, his mouth opening in an ‘oh’ as he nodded his head.

This situation. He was used to it by now. Same in the past few settlements he had gone to. So as she laid down the ground rules, he listened, though most of them were exactly as he expected. The main lesson was don’t cause trouble and they were good. “And otherwise you’re free to stay as long as you like ok?” Gentle nodded his head as made a gesture, heading for the elevator as he waved her off.

It really wasn’t hard finding the food mart in this place. It was more or less as he remembered it. Though it had been cleared out a bit. Time to see what he could grab for his next travels. After that maybe some new sneakers, these pairs were more or less worn now.

God he wished he had some wheels, made moving from city to city all that easier. A motorcycle would be nice, or maybe a car. Definitely a car or one of those RVs. Not only did it get him places but it also provided shelter more or less. Maybe the cars outside had their keys and some gas still in them. Thoughts for later. Right now though…

Lifting a can of beans Gentle made a noise as he looked it over for a moment. Pinto beans. Not his favorite but they’d do in a pinch. Hell anything tastes good with the right amount of seasoning. And if there was anything that this past year had taught him it was how to cook.

And fix tech…

And drive…

And how to patch people up…

…

You desire to learn spikes up when it’s either sink or swim. Pulling out another can he looked it over for a moment before shaking his head. One can of Baked beans left it seemed. He reached for it, stopping when he felt eyes on him. He glanced behind him, instincts telling him to prepare for a fight but went ignored. It was some girl. Roughly his age with dual colored hair. She looked between him and the can he had gone for, and Gentle caught on in an instant. He reached for the can and walked over, holding out the can of beans as her eyes lit up for a moment. Obviously she wasn’t expecting it. The apocalypse had a tendency to bring out a person’s true nature. But that didn’t mean it had to bring out the worst in them. He just smiled at her as she took it.

“Th-thank you.” She colored for a moment as she took the beans. Gentle just kept his smile and returned to scavenging for his supplies. Behind him the girl shifted awkwardly as if she wasn’t too sure about what to do at the moment. “Uh…” She began as Gentle looked back at her. “Do you… wanna split these with me?” Gentle blinked a hint of surprise crossing his eyes before he nodded his head. Looked like he’d get to try baked beans after all.

Sunset Shimmer actually sighed in relief as the boy accepted the offer. It had been a while since she had shared her food with anyone, not since… those days. She looked at the can as they walked. An awkward/comfortable silence passed between them as they made to grab a few more things for their makeshift meal. Some meat would do good. Best used before they went bad or straight up disappeared. There were a lot of grabby hands here in Canterlot. That aside she was happy to have some company as she ate for once.

These past months had not been kind to her. One day she was preparing for yet another boring year in the school she had all but controlled and the next the world may as well have been ending. Green mist that drove people mad with anger, and attacking each other. She remembered seeing Celestia yell, trying to get those she could safety with “this” being her success. Didn’t matter which world she was in, Celestia remained the same; always putting others before herself… goddess she missed her old teacher.

Regardless when those she could help were safe, she went to plan B; damage control - salvaging whatever hope and light her students once had. She, the other teachers and any other adults hadn’t turned rabidly banded together somewhat, forming the group that was responsible for trying to establish some semblance of order. It was just a shame the ‘tribes’ had divided as of late…

Most of them being outside...

As for Sunset herself with the fall of the school she had lost just about all the power she had once held over the student body. Yes they still feared her somewhat, but as one had said, “there are scarier things to worry about than her”. And as much as it had pained her to admit it, they were right. Queen of Canterlot high or not, she had standards, rules she followed, rules she made everyone follow. But whatever had come over the people of Canterlot, this rage… it turned them into monsters that made even her tremble. And since they had all changed, she had been left alone after the fall of the school, no friends, with no one to support her and no one to talk to…

It's amazing how time can change a person. Forces you to see the error of your ways.

“So what’s your name anyway?” The boy didn’t say anything simply making gestures with his hand. ‘Sign language.’ She knew the language, studied it for a moment after she came to Canterlot. Helped her gain control of the mutes and the deaf.

“Gentle.”

He weaved for her, and she offered him a handshake. “I’m Sunset Shimmer. It’s good to meet you.” He gave her that smile again as he took her hand. A refined, light yet honest smile that he had given her earlier. Wasn’t the best smile but it looked good on him.

Later

“Oh goddess that smells amazing.” Gentle watched Sunset drool for a moment as he continued to cook their makeshift meals. Some meat, some beans… the basics and some seasoning. The works. Nothing to fancy, when he first got this portable stove he had made the same thing for Felicia and the others.

Man did that feel like a long time ago...

He pushed the negative thoughts away as he grabbed the pair of plastic plates he had grabbed earlier and served his guest. Or was it host? After all she was the one that offered to split the beans.

Sunset squealed as she ate and he chuckled quietly. “Oh goddess this tastes even better than it looks!”

Glad to hear it, he’d been trying to make this dish a bit better. Thought about making it his go to meal when he actually had stuff to work with. ‘Problem is meat won’t stay around forever.’ He reminded himself as he made a noise. Unlike the rest of the ingredients; meat wouldn’t be around forever, lest people started breeding animals specifically for food.

Wait technically they already did that… whatever.

He knew what he meant, that was all that mattered. ‘Gonna need to grab rations soon now that I think about it. Hear they don’t taste great but they can last a long time.’ He told himself as he continued to eat.

“So… how’d you get that scar anyway?” Trying to make smalltalk Sunset gestured to her neck as Gentle had a brief flashback. Thank god the pain didn’t flash back to him when he remembered the day it all started. Stabbing his food with a plastic fork Gentle did a one-handed sign before he returned to his food.

“Wrong place, wrong time.”

He told her.

“When the mist settled in my hometown, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Sunset muttered as they both returned to food for a moment.

“So, Sunset, you from around here?”

“No, I’m…” Sunset had brief flashbacks to her youth. Remembering a life she had left behind brought a depressed frown to her lips as she continued eating. “I’m from someplace far from here.” Was all she said as Gentle dropped the subject. Regardless of the awkwardness of their attempts to make conversations it was nice. To Gentle it was a nice reminder of times he had almost forgotten. Times before all this happened. To Sunset… it was just nice to speak with someone after so long.

“So how long have you been here in the city?”

“For about three years now.” Sunset admitted.

“That so?”

Gentle made a noise as he glanced at the girl next to him. Pretty thing, something off about though.

“Did you have a good life.”

“I guess.” Sunset shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind leaving, but I have nowhere to go.”

“What about Arcadia?” Sunset stopped eating as she turned to the youth.

“Arcadia?”

“I heard of it on a radio once. It’s some kind of haven where the virus hasn’t spread.”

“A place where the virus hasn’t reached?” Sunset just stared at the young man as she watched him toss a few beans into his mouth. “I don’t believe you.”

“Then don’t.”

Gentle reached into his pocket and pulled out a map and notebook.

“But I found these with the radio broadcast.”

Sunset just stared at the young man and then the items he set on the floor.

Later

“Are you sure about this?” Former Vice Principal Luna questioned as she looked at the former school queen and the outsider. “There's a place without infection?”

“That’s what Gentle told me.” Sunset admitted as she looked to the other teen for a moment as Gentle started signing. “The Broadcast is a couple weeks old, but I still hear it when I listen to the right frequency” She hadn’t been aware Sunset knew Sign Language.

“It that so?” Luna leaned forward on her makeshift desk and interlocked her fingers for a moment in thought. “What broadcast channel is the message on?” Gentle just turned the notebook to a page and gave her it to her.

“If they’re still broadcasting, then they’re still virus free.” Sunset went along translating. “And if so… then I’d recommend trying to head there.”

“If it’s not there?” Luna asked.

“We make an Arcadia.” Both ladies blinked as Gentle despite taking a moment to rub his sore throat, smiled. Talking obviously caused him pain, but he felt the words needed to be said personally instead of translated. There was a power in those simple words, the kind that inspired a feeling of belief and hope. And the pair picked up on that. Not sure why but they believed in the chance of him building a place where they would be safe. Maybe it was his eyes, maybe it was that smile, maybe it was that air he had. One that said that despite the hardships, they could find something - make something better in this crazy world.

Luna chuckled. “You make it sound so easy.”

“Nothing worth trying to do is ever really easy.” Luna nodded as she looked to Sunset Shimmer for a moment who just looked at Gentle with a weak smile.

“I’ll speak with my sister on this matter, then we’ll make a decision on whether to go searching for Arcadia or not.” She told the pair. “Sunset Shimmer.” Luna called out the young woman. “Can you find Gentle a place to rest for the night.”

“Sure.” Sunset muttered as she looked to Gentle and led him off.

Gentle sighed to himself as he settled into a nice corner to take a rest at. Despite half the city - really a school -being in the mall there was still plenty of room to find a spot. Trick was finding a good one. “Well I guess it’s settled then.” Sunset began as she looked at the other teen. “Once Ms. Luna talks to Celestia she’ll figure out the best time for us all to leave.” She seemed to disappear into her thoughts for a moment. “We’re going to need to do a lot of packing before though.” Gentle simply nodded his head as he settled himself down for a moment. Something seemed to be on the girls mind, especially with the way she kept turning her head to look off into the distance.

“You ok?”

Sunset blinked as she gave the teen one of her awkward smiles. “Yeah I’m fine… just thinking that’s all.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really it’s just…” She paused. “I’m thinking about home that’s all.” She settled down across from him, that same far off look crossing her face as she sighed. “The thought of moving… reminds me of when I first came here almost three years ago.” She admitted. “Home… it’s probably the safest place I could think of to ride this out.” Gentle tilted his head, interest crossing his face as he leaned forward. Another potential haven… a place where they could do more that just struggle to get by daily. “The thing is though… we can’t reach it. Not now anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

Sunset opened her mouth to talk before letting it fade. How could she tell him? Tell him about Equestria - tell him about the portal? Tell him she was from another effing world? He’d think she was crazy. “Nothing… just… forget I said anything.”She stood, giving him a more honest smile as she started walking off for a moment. “See you later.”

Gentle wouldn’t have that. Standing, the teen picked himself up as he stepped after the girl,grabbing her by the back of her rest as she froze in confusion. Trying to look back at him the transformed teen found his arms snaking around her shoulders as he held her in place. What the hell was he doing?

Why was he hugging her?

“You look like you need one.”

She shivered as that young, rough voice whispered in her ears. He didn’t have the most hypnotic voice, but still it had a warmth she wasn’t all that used to anymore. Regardless she didn’t do anything, simply standing there frozen as the boy held her in his arms.

“When you’re ready… tell me ok?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” She forced out as she lowered her head. How could he understand? Understand what she had gone through before all this happened, understand what she had done in order to get this far? Understand who - what she really was?

“I’m willing to try Sunset.”

Another whisper and she broke his hold turning to look at the strange boy as he looked down at her. Those burnt orange eyes had a hint of blue in them. She noted before she leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. This time she started a more proper hug as she wrapped her arms around his waist and he did the same. At one point he patted her head, an act that reminded her of someone else and forced a sigh to leave her. He was right she did need this.

Canterlot High Courtyard

She was taking a gamble. Sunset realized as she stared off into space, her attention focused on the dark statue that rested before her. She took a breath as she traced her hands over the base. Felt like forever since she had last been here. In truth it had only been a few months. A few long months when she had come to check on the gateway to her home dimension. Not that Gentle knew that, not yet anyway.

“Well, we’re here.” She began as she looked at the teen while rubbing her arm. “This is how I got to Canterlot City.” Gentle simply gave her a confused look as she circled around the gateway and tapped it a few times. Still offline - just like the last time she visited. Wouldn’t be activated for another year now. The last date she had missed, forcing her to remain in this world after everything had gone to shit. “This might - will sound crazy but… this statue actually acts as a portal to another world. The one that I’m from.” Gentle blinked his confusion visible as Sunset scratched her head. “You see, I’m not - well I’m not an alien but I’m not human either - I’m actually a pony, a unicorn really who came to this world after…” She fell silent as she remembered her past, sighing as she did before scratching her head again.

Well her feet were already in the water, backing out wasn’t exactly an option. So she told him. Everything. Her apprenticeship, her mentor being the almost literal goddess-princess. Her… departure. “I know how this sounds, but I’m being honest, I’m not crazy or anything I’m just… trying to be honest with you. I don’t know why but I am and.”

“You certainly sound crazy.”

Gentle sighed as he looked at the statue for a moment before looking back at Sunset.

“But I believe you.”

“You do?”

Yes he believed her. Yes she sounded crazy, but he believed her. There was enough crazy shit going around this past year so what was one more thing added on top of it? Least that was how he saw it. Still; magical talking pony from another dimension/world. That was a bit of a curve ball.

“But… isn’t it… kinda weird?”

“Definitely weird.” Gentle admitted. “But… there is a green mist that drives people mad and turns them into monsters.” He told her. “At this point you could tell me that aliens were behind the end of the world and I’d probably believe you.” He chuckled before winching, touching his neck in pain. “Still, it's a lot to take in all at once but yeah…” He trailed off. “I believe you.” Gentle stated as he reached over and patted Sunset’s head.

Sunset brightened as she looked at the boy. He believed her, he actually believed her. Did he not know how much that actually affected her? How it took a load off her shoulders?

“Thank you.” She whispered as Gentle continued to pat her head. “Thank you.”

“Awe isn’t this cute.” Both froze as they looked to hear the new voice reach them. “Hey Sunset, good to see you.” Pure venom was leaving the new figure's lips as Sunset just turned to look at him.

“Flash.”

Author's Note

From this point on is where the story starts diverging from its original. Hope any that decide to continue reading find it a nice change.
Also, feel free to take a guess as to what/who caused the destruction of Earth in this continuity. You get three guesses and the first two don't count.

8

It had been a day since Sunset Shimmer found herself pulled into the mirror. It had been a day since she stayed beside an unconscious young man who would probably have a freak out the moment he woke up. A whole day since she’d been hiding in her old room with no sign of her former mentor Celestia or her Canterlot City.

Now she got to see the latter.

“Oh my god…” Canterlot was ruined, not in the way that Earth was ruined, this was more the effects of some natural disaster than anarchy. “What happened here?”

“Something old has returned.” Pale Arts stated as Gentle stumbled to get over to the pair to take a look.

“Who, Discord?” Sunset paused. “Nightmare Moon?”

“Well, you aren’t wrong.” Pale Arts admitted. “Both have returned; yet one was sealed, and one was redeemed.” She made a noise. “But this… this is from something else.” The mare stated before making a noise. “One sealed for just as long, and perhaps more of a nightmare than anything.”

“What happened to Princess Celestia?” Pale Arts narrowed her eyes.

“She is~” She seemed to think for a moment. “She is well but but weak.” The mare admits. “Not that I care.” She stated as she looked elsewhere. “Celestia is not my concern.”

“Then what is?” Sunset narrowed her eyes as she looked at the taller mare. “Why did you bring us to Equestria?”

“Did you not want to return home?” Sunset didn’t say anything as she narrowed her eyes. “Although I’m certain you didn’t want to see it like this, young Sunset Shimmer.” She turned to Gentle. “As for you…” She searched for her words. “… I wanted to see you.” She admitted. Gentle raised an eyebrow as Sunset stood before him protectively. “Calm yourself, I’m not your enemy.” She muttered as she smiled. “But I am not Celestia’s ally.”

“Then who are you?” Sunset asked.

“Once I was a queen.” The mare’s horn lit up as she pulled something off of and stared at it. “Once I was a wife.” She muttered as she stared at the ring. “And once I was a mother.” She continued as she stared at the ring before returning it to her horn. “Now I am just a ghost.” The mare stated as she watched Gentle shake his head and rubbed it. “And that is I shall remain.” The mare smiled. “You two should rest. Seeing Equestria like this.” She made a noise. “It must be a lot to take it.”

“Kind of.” Sunset admitted, looking towards the window. “This isn’t the Equestria I remember, but it's not that different from the one you pulled us from.”

“Is that so?” Gentle’s nod made the mare frown slightly. “I am sorry.” She muttered before falling silent. A silence broken with the sound of a belly growling. Sunset grabbed her stomach as Gentle did the same, though he immediately started to stumble as he stood on three legs for a second. Pale Arts chuckled at the sight. “Hungry are you?” She turned towards the door. “What do you say we fill your bellies?”

“But the guards, and Celestia.” Neither are here now.” Pale Arts revealed as she glanced back. “Both are “elsewhere”. She chose to elaborate. “What struck Canterlot City forced them to relocate for safety reasons.”

“I see.” Sunset muttered as she stared out at Canterlot before biting her lips as Gentle put a hoof on her back to get her attention. He nodded as Sunset cracked a weak smile. “Right. I’ll show you both to the kitchen.” She moved from under Gentle's hoof as they started walking off…

And Gentle promptly fell.

“Right… let’s take a second to teach you how to walk.”

A few minutes later

‘How on Earth do they walk like this?’ The transformed teen questioned as he stumbled down the halls of Canterlot Castle. Gentle wouldn’t lie; it felt awkward walking on four limbs, and he almost rage quit on more than one occasion. Still as he told Ms. Luna; “Nothing worth trying to do is ever really easy.” So, grunting and some whining; he straightened himself out and walked forward, looking across the halls and the decor as he followed Sunset and Pale Arts.

“It’s hard to believe that Canterlot is so deserted.” Sunset muttered. “When I used to live here, I always saw ponies wandering about.”

“You used to live here?” Pale Arts asked. “Were you staff?”

“I was Princess Celestia’s student.” Sunset confessed as her ears dropped to the sides of her head. “But that was… before I… I ran away.”

“You ran?” Pale Arts turned to young mare. “Why? To be trained by the princess herself, that is a high honor.”

“It was.” The mare stated. “But it got to my head.” She confessed as she looked elsewhere. “I wanted more.”

“You got greedy.” Pale Arts muttered. “I see. You ran because she denied you what you wanted, is that it?”

“Yes.”

“And what, pray tell, was it that you wanted so badly?”

“Power…” Sunset muttered. “Respect. Admiration.” The mare continued. ”I wanted to be worthy… to be an alicorn.” Pale Rider chuckled weakly and shook her head.

“I see.” Pale Arts murmured “Power, respect, admiration… such simple things.” She made a noise. “But they must be earned.” She looked to Sunset Shimmer as the mare looked down. “But after earning them, one must be careful. Power corrupts, and respect and admiration may breed fear.” The mare continued. “You are not wrong in desiring such things. But your methods may say otherwise.”

“I know.” Sunset muttered as Gentle tried resting a hoof on her back only to stumble and lower it. Not sure what to do then, he chose to just tilt his head and nuzzle the mare affectionately, causing her to flinch and flourish slightly. “W-what are you doing?”

Pale Arts just chuckled at the sight, choosing to watch Sunset turn into a stuttering mess as the sign of blatant affection.

Affection often reserved for ones Special Somepony.

“We’re here.” She stated as she looked at the Kitchen and Sunset scurried off to get as far away from Gentle, much to his confusion. Pale Rider stepped up to the pantry seeing what remained. “Looks like they didn’t have much time to clear anything out.” She muttered. “So, what would you two like?” Sunset didn’t respond, spending too much time browsing what was available as Gentle started looking around at a more leisurely pace. Though he noticed something curious after a minute or two.

“There a meat locker?” He whispered to not strain his voice too much.

“I’m afraid not.” Sunset muttered as she came to the realization. “Fuck I’m a vegetarian again.” Gentle gave her a confused look.

“Equestria is a land for ponies.” Pale Arts stated. “And ponies consider eating meat a taboo.” Gentle looked like he died inside. “If it makes you feel better I do take in a bit of meat on the occasion.” Sunset turned to Pale Arts faster than the mare could blink as she nodded.

“You eat meat?” Pale Rider nodded. “And if you like I can spare a bit of jerky I’ve saved with you.”

“Please.” Sunset’s plea earned a chuckle as Pale Arts reached into a bag and pulled out three three strips of jerky for them to split amongst themselves. Sunset held it with her magic as Gentle set down and tried grabbing it with his hooves, failed and just stared at them like they had betrayed him in some way or form. “Oh right.” Sunset muttered. “You don’t know how to use magic.”

Pale Arts looked on in surprise. “Truly?”

“Gentle is a human, he can’t normally use magic.” Sunset explained as Gentle glared at his hooves before turning to the jerky and got an idea. It was a childish idea, but it worked. Leaning his head forward to take the jerky into his mouth and started chomping down. “He may be a unicorn here, but back ho- back on Earth he wouldn’t be able to use magic.”

“Hm… that sounds similar to…” Pale Arts grumbled before looking at Gentle and then Sunset. “What about you, were you able to use magic?”

“No, there’s no way to use magic in the other world.” Sunset explained. Pale Arts just raised an eyebrow.

"Then why was there equestrian magic in your world?” Sunset stopped eating.

“What?”

“Yes, it’s quite strange you didn’t notice it. After all you were standing across from one radiating it.” Sunset looked at Gentle for a moment in confusion before a flash of clarity crossed her face.

“Flash?” She muttered. “My ex had Equestrian Magic?” Sunset couldn’t believe it. How could Flash… it didn’t make sense Equestrian magic was on this side of the portal, not on Earth. So how could it… She thought to the physical changes Flash had gone through, the growth spurt, the red eyes a green mist he started to radiate… “The mist…” Sunset muttered as Gentle’s ears perked up. “The mist was Equestrian magic?!” Pale Arts nodded her head. “How could it have been.

“Emotion Magic.” Pale Arts stated. “Particularly hatred and rage.” The older mare stated. “Someone on your side was spreading it like a hate plague and it is no doubt the cause of whatever happened on your side of the portal.”

“But - it shouldn’t have been able to do that! Turn Flash into the hulking… thing!”

“Hatred and rage are closely associated with the Dark Arts.” Pale Arts stated. “And the Dark Arts tend to corrupt.” Sunset made to say something but stopped as she tried finding the words.

“Yes but how? How could that much Equestrian magic slip through to Earth?” Sunset paused before staring into space. “Did I…”

“Sunset…”

“Did I do it?” The mare asked. “When I first went to Earth, did I bring that with me?”

“Sunset.” The mare started to hyperventilate as she shook.

‘Did I cause a worldwide pandemic!?”

“Sunset!” The mare in question froze as Gentle grabbed her, holding her as he felt her start sobbing into his chest. “Breath.” He ordered and Sunset started doing just that.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

“Sunset.” Pale Arts stated as she joined in the hug. “Did you travel across the world?” Sunset continued to breath as she shook her head. “Then you did not do that.” The mare stated as she patted the mares head. “What happened to your world wasn’t your doing.” She stated as Gentle nodded. “It was another's… for n reasons I do not know, but do not blame yourself what has happened by their actions.”

Sunset continued to breath as she slowly nodded and Pale Arts backed away. “I’m going to prepare you two some food now, Gentle, stay with her.” Gentle nodded as he continued holding Sunset as Pale Arts stepped away. Found some food and returned to the kitchen to start cooking.

“Gentle…” Sunset spoke up after a while. “You can… you can let me go now, I’m ok.” She told him as he did so. Her eyes were a bit red, but she’d be ok. “Thanks.”

“Your welcome.” Gentle rubbed his neck as Sunset looked at the wound.

“You shouldn’t talk so much, it hurts you right?” Gentle nodded his head. “There has to be some other way for you to talk to me.” She muttered as she looked at the stallion next to her before glancing at his horn. “Maybe…” She began. “Maybe I can teach you magic.” Sunset asked as Gentle tilted his head in confusion. “Yeah, that sounds like an idea if you're up for it.” Sunset stated. “If I teach you magic, you can use it to form words, like how you did sign language.” The stallion made an oh with his mouth as Sunset just smiled. “It’ll be a way for us to talk and I could teach you basic spells too.” Gentle nodded enthusiastically as he stood across from Sunset and settled down. “You want to start now?” Another nod. “Why not, the sooner the better, right?”

Kitchen

Pale Arts hummed to herself as she continued letting her magic dance across the kitchen as it cut up vegetables and fruits without much discrimination. “This should fill up two growing ponies.” The mare admits with a light smile before taking a pause as she seemed to think. “Still…” She muttered. “It’s a shame that I brought them here at this time.” With a frown her magic started to fluctuate. “She’s come back.” The mare muttered as she glanced elsewhere. “By the Great Spirits, Celestia… how could you let your guard down enough to leave your fucking post?” She shook her head. “Fucking moron, how are you going to fix this?” She paused. “Can you even fix this?” She paused. “If not… I’m going to have to step in.”

It didn’t bother her that Gentle sucked at magic. After all, the former teen had (consciously) been a pony for less than a day. Honestly, the simple fact he could even scourge up some magic to use was impressive enough. Sure his ember aura was clunky and constantly fading in and out of view, but it was better than nothing. What was curious was that his “bubble” the aura he created looked like a hand for some reason.

‘Normally our magic just takes the form of a “bubble” but that looks like an actual hand. Wonder why.” She started to review a few old lessons in her head as Gentle lost focus and it disappeared. ‘Well, we don’t have appendages like humans so a “bubble” it’s - it’s like a subconscious thing… maybe… maybe it's the same for him to imagine it as a hand.’ Gentle focused as she watched the hand flicker back into existence as he turned it over and started twiddling the fingers to Sunset's embarrassment. He must look like a kid doing that.

“You kind of look like how I did when I first discovered my fingers.” Sunset muttered good naturedly as she tried creating a magic hand as well. It came rather simple for her. “Still, do you think you can sign with that?”

Gentle took a minute to think and the hand disappeared to his annoyance.

“I guess you need to keep your focus on making the hand to keep it formed.” Sunset muttered as she crossed her hooves, using the floating hand to scratch her head. “Well, you can make something to grip an object, that's a good start at least. We’ll just need you to think about creating a more stable hand without you having to keep all your focus on it.” Gentle nodded his head as Sunset looked at him and tried to think. “Lets see, how to go about this?”

“How bout you start with food?” Pale Arts cut in as she carried three trays of plates behind her. “You can’t do much on an empty stomach.”

“Good call.” Sunset spoke up as they all settled on the floor and started chowing down.

“Did I miss anything?”

Pale Arts asked as Sunset nodded. “I’ve been trying to help Gentle with learning to use magic.” Gentle created a magic hand and waved with it. “I gotta say, he did rather well.” Sunset paused. “Though since this is the first time he’s “accessed” magic, I wonder if he’ll get and surges.” Gentle tilted his head in confusion as he stopped eating. “Oh right. See, shortly after your born, unicorns experience random surges of magic for a while. So sometimes their magic will spike and drop out of nowhere.” Sunset explained. “You’ve never had to go through that because you were a human your entire life, but since you’re a pony now…”

“You might experience what fillies and foals do for a while.” Pale Arts added. “It might happen, it might not, we’ll have to see to find out.” Gentle made a noise as Sunset gave the mare a sceptical look.

“We?”

“Yes.” Pale Arts smirked as she bit into some food. “You didn’t think I’d summon you here to just abandon you, did you?” Sunset opened her mouth, paused and then went cautious.

“Why… did you bring us to Equestria? How did you even do that anyway, the portal was supposed to be closed until the Fall.”

“I have my reasons for bringing you here. Partly due to a whim, and partly due to blood.”

“Blood?” Sunset got a nod. “What do you mean by that.”

“Blood is sacred, blood is binding.” The mare stated as she shrugged. “We are born of the blood, made mares and stallions by the blood.” She paused. “And of course, undone by the blood.” Gentle paused as he heard the line and looked at the mare.

“Did you just quote Bloodborne?” He asked as the mare tilted her head.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of that book.”

“It’s not a book.” Gentle muttered before turning back to his food. “It’s… forget it.” He muttered before shaking his head.

“So… you’re going to be sticking with us so long as we’re here?” Sunset returned to the topic on hoof as Pale Arts looked at her.

“Of course. That is my duty.” She paused. “Besides, I can’t just leave two adolescent youths alone to do as they please, can I?”

“No I guess not…” Sunset seemed skeptical at the mare as she looked over to Gentle who was deep in thought.

“Whatever happened to Flash?” The stallion asked as Sunset blinked and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle.

“Right, Flash is still on the other side of the mirror, on Earth.”

“Can we go back there?” Gentle asked. “The others might need our help.” Sunset looked to Pale Arts who shook her head.

“The spell I used was a one way trip, you’ll have to wait until it opens again when the anointed time is present.” Gentle made a noise but said no more as he returned to eating.

“So that means it’ll open again in the Fall.” Sunset muttered as she crossed her hooves in “That’s still pretty far away.”

“Must you return?”

“It’s home.” Was all Gentle said, as Pale Arts looked at him and slowly nodded. “It’s hell, but it’s home.”

“I’d sooner trade a hell I’m familiar with than one I’m not.” Sunset muttered.

“I see. Then when the fall comes, I won’t stop you from returning.” Pale said in disappointment. “But till then, why not see what Equestria has to offer.” She stated as she gestured to the halls of Canterlot. “The nation may be in shambles, but it is still a nation of wonders in its own right.”

“I can vouch for that.” Sunset admitted as she seemed to think. “Besides, I’d like to continue teaching Gentle how to use his Magic.” The teen nodded in agreement.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Pale Arts stated as she seemed to think for a bit. “But that said you cannot stay here in Canterlot.”

“Why not?”

“The grounds are very unstable now.” Pale Arts seemed to pause. “How now of all times for that to be a problem is beyond me, who in their right mind builds a whole city all but glued to the side of a mountain?” She didn’t get an answer. “Anyway, many were evacuated to the plains below, though there are naturally those that chose to stay up here.” She watched Sunset’s expression. “Why they choose to stay is due to simple stupidity and greed.”

“Sounds about right.” Grumbling, Sunset shook her head. “What about the mirror? We can’t just leave it here if the city’s foundation is weakened.”

“I can shrink it down to fit in my bag.” Judging by Pale Art’s expression it was no big deal, judging Sunset’s it seemed that it wasn’t. “After that we can leave.”

“And go where?”

“Wherever you two desire.”

9

The trio waited a day before moving on. The mares more or less did it to give Gentle the time he needed to adjust to his new limbs; and given the small, bemused smiles and snickers they were letting out they enjoyed the sight of him tripping over his own hooves like a foal.

His response was to stick his tongue out at them. Still when the new dawn came the trio headed out. Leaving the castle to step into Canterlot City.

For Sunset, she had this look of resigned nostalgia on her face. Looking at the city she had grown up in as a filly only to find it reduced to “this”. Ruins. Streets she had once walked down, shops she had once visited, they were all ruins. Broken and haphazardly bandaged together like a toilet paper mummy costume. She sighed, taking a minute to adjust her cloak and hide face under her hood.

“Sunset.” Pale Arts looked at her, her, her attention turning away from fresh ruins as she caught a glimpse of her grief before her hood covered her eyes.

“I’m alright.” She told the older mare.

“No you're not.” Was her response. “It hurts to see your city like this.” Pale Arts muttered. “To see the city you grew up in reduced to such a state.” Gentle took a minute to rest his hoof on Sunset’s back, seeming to agree.

“How would you know?” Sunset muttered, looking at the elder mare and seemed to frown.

“I too lost the city I grew in. The city I ruled, where I sought to raise my child.” Sunset’s frown disappeared as it became one of surprise and regret.

“I’m sorry.” She muttered. “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s quite fine.” Pale admitted. “It was a long time ago, and though the wound has left a scar, it had faded in time.” She stated with a sigh. “That is what scars do. They will fade but they will never go away.” She shook her head. “But enough about that.” She turned back to Sunset. “This city is in shambles, but there is still life in it.” She stated. “Is there anyone you wish to check in on before we depart?”

Sunset went silent seeming to think for a while as her counterparts stared at her. Eventually she shook her head. She didn’t have anyone in Canterlot City, there was no one here that she loved, no one here that she could check up on to see if they were alright after whatever happened here. “The only family I had… is long dead.” Sunset whispered as Pale Arts gave her an apologetic look and nodded.

“I see.” She muttered. “Shall we visit the cemetery then?” Pale Arts asked. “So you may have a moment with them?” Sunset actually looked grateful at the words; though was a bit surprised that the elder mare was willing to take a moment to let her have that. “We’re in no rush.” Was all Pale Arts said as if that would explain everything.

And it did; they weren’t in a rush to get somewhere. They didn’t even have a real destination to be honest. So wherever they wanted to go, they would reach it when they did.

“Thank you.”

???

“Ah~” The Queen sighed in relief as she settled down in a lake, taking a moment to let the water dance around her as she started to hum. “It feels so good to have a bath after so long. She muttered as she began to wash herself. “I can just feel the dirt and grime washing away.” She mused as she dipped into the water for a moment and seemed to take in her surroundings.

Nothing but nature surrounded her. Trees and shrubs, grass and birds. Nature was as beautiful as she remembered it. “But still, there is something wrong about it.” The Queen grumbled as she started washing her mane.

There was something wrong with the world, and looking at the clear sky she saw exactly what it was.

Control.

The world was controlled. Clouds and rain came when they were told to, and everything, from the plants to the fruit they bore, and the changing of the season was all set on a schedule. Nothing was spontaneous, nothing was left to chance. Nothing was as it should be.

“The arrogance of equus is thinking nature must be our control... and not the other way around."

Said a great stallion once knew, and it was something she agreed with them on.

The illusion of control as he called it.

It was something the Tribes developed after they learned that they could move the clouds and even rearrange the stars. They began to change the world to suit their desires, but nature isn’t meant to bend to the wills of mortal beings.

Nature isn’t some toy to be played with and abused. You may cut its trees down and build cities across its soil, but in the end it will crush everything one has built; homes, cities, lives, the illusion created by the tribes.

And it can do so without mercy or a second thought.

“And Celestia dear, with what you’ve done.” The Queen began as she closed her eyes and took the time to finish her wash. “I’m going to tear your illusion down.” The forest grew still and the wildlife started to scurry away, fearful of what had suddenly overtaken the area. The Queen took a breath as she calmed herself and stepped out of the water letting the water fall from her coat before it suddenly disappeared. “And I will not do so alone.” The figure muttered as she saw one of those who now served her walk up to her.

“Mercenary.”

“Enjoy your bath?” The merc asked as she stepped up to the entity.

“Yes actually.” Gaea admitted as she braided her mane. “I miss bathing, I haven’t done so in quite a while.”

“I bet.” The mare admitted as she smiled. “So~ are you really? You know her?”

The Queen took a minute to raise an eyebrow, humor on her face as she did so. “Who exactly do you think I am?”

“You know… her.” The mare tapped a hoof on the ground.

“You mean the spirit of the world itself, true mother of all who reside upon her soil. You ask if I am Gaea?” The Queen giggled slightly.

“Yeah.”

“I am.” The Queen Gaea confessed. “And I am not.”

“What does that mean?”

“I am Gaea, but i am… here as you put it.” She tapped a hoof on the soi. “What you see, what you speak with is my Avatar. A manifestation I created so that I may interact with my children.”

“Really?” The mare asked curiously. “So~ is that how it works? You spirits make avatars to walk amongst us?”

“It is.” Gaea stated with a nod.

“So~ if you're an Avatar… if your body’s destroyed~” The mare leaned to the side looking the entity over. “What happens to you? Like you, you.”

“Nothing.” Gaea shrugged. “My true self is here.” She tapped the soil again. “And I can make a new Avatar body anyday.” She confessed.

“What about your mind?” The mercenary asked as Gaea seemed to smirk.

“My mind still exists of course, it simply returns to my true body if my Avatar is destroyed.” Her smirk twisted into a frown. “But… if I am sealed… away.” She seemed to narrow her eyes. “My mind will be sealed in the Avatar I reside in.”

“That’s how Celestia defeated you last time.” It wasn’t a question and Gaea simply nodded her head. Having no shame in admitting her loss. “She can’t permanently kill you but she can seal your consciousness away.”

“Yes.” Gaea muttered. “It is how she created this world.” She took a breath as she looked at the sky. “She sealed my kin away, and everything was thrown off balance…” She shook her head. “Sky, and earth, sun and moon, they are not meant to be controlled by mortals.”

“Why not?”

“Would you drink poison?” She asked with such indifference that it seemed like a normal question. “Drinking it is possible, but it kills you from within.” She looked at the mare. “That is what it means to take a Spirit’s power, it is possible, but in the end it will kill you.”

“Oh…” The merc muttered as she seemed to think. “That makes sense actually, I remember old stories about how five unicorns were pretty much offered to raise the sun and moon a day. They all lost their magic and of course their lives… well all except for Starswirl for some reason…” The mare muttered. “But what about Celestia, she’s been raising both sun and moon for centuries now. How can she…”

“A good question.” Gaea muttered. “And one I can not answer.” She shook her head. “Not at the moment anyway.” The two fell silent as the entity seemed to think, before her attention turned to Gaea.

“Hey, I got one more question.”

“Ask away.” The entity stated.

“Why are you so willing to answer my questions?”

“How do you expect to learn otherwise?”

Canterlot Cemetery

“So yeah, I was a bit of a bitch in the otherworld.” The Sunset stated as she stared at the tombstone and released a weak chuckle. “But… then the world ended, and I saw I just ended up pushing everyone away from me.” She muttered. “So I wound up alone, and it was by my own hands… hooves. Ugh it's gonna be hard getting used to pony-centered words again sis.” The mare released a humored smile as she stared at her hooves. “I’m gonna miss hands.” She muttered. “But I still miss you more.”

Looking on Pale Arts and Gentle simply stayed silent, staying back so Sunset could have her moment with someone she had lost.

Gentle looked at Pale and gave her this grateful smile.

“You don’t need to thank me for this.” The mare stated. “I simply do as I believe to be right.”

“Still.” Gentle croaked out. “Thank you.” The stallion got a hoof to rest on his head as Pale patted it.

“Save your words for one who deserves them.” Gentle just tilted his head curiously as Pale seemed to drift away for a moment. “I know I don’t.” Gentle returned the head pat as best he could, though given the height difference he could only pat the mare’s limb as she gave him a sad smile.

Sunset walked back to them, oddly relieved by the fact she could speak with her lost family even if it was for a moment. She looked at the pair and took a breath.

“So, where are we going?” Pale Arts simply, pulled a map out of her bag.

“Where do you want to go?”

10