Glimpses 2

by Pen Stroke

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Anthology, Twilight Sparkle, Nightmare Moon, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Other
Length: 35454

The power of "what if" tempts once again, but are the little ponies really ready for the answers?

Time marches forward in Equestria, and yet the allure of "what if?" remains. Twilight wonders about the "what ifs" as she tries to guide Equestria to a bright and prosperous future. Cadance wonders about the "what ifs" as she sees her daughter growing.

The power of "what if" tempts once again, but are the little ponies really ready for the answers?

Pre-read & Edited by: Illustrious Q & El Oso
Cover art by: SpokenMind93

Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Past Sins! Thank you all so much for letting me and my stories be part of the community!

Published 2021-09-01 00:20:08 UTC
Last updated 2021-09-07 01:34:04 UTC

Variance 1 - Depths

Based of request by Caligari87 - What if Past Sins and Into The Depths occurred in the same AU?

Winter Wisp watched as the unicorn carefully unpacked his suitcase, laying out materials in clear and concise positions upon the kitchen table. It was so strange for him to be in this position. To have to reach out and trust a total stranger with something so important and so… nerve-wracking, terrifying, personal. There were so many words and not a single one seemed capable of encapsulating the situation.

A set of neatly stacked pages tapped into perfect alignment against the table. An inkwell and quill with a pristine white feather. These items the unicorn brought were normal, but then odd things began to appear. He placed a compass, the needle jiggling and quickly aligning itself to the north. A tiny bell on a tiny stand, like something you’d purchase to go with a tiny toy town. A medallion with six tiny gems along the border and the image of a craggy tree emblazoned upon the upright face.

“Mr. Wisp,”

Winter Wisp flinched and looked up. The stallion had finished unpacking his bag, and Wisp had been so lost in examining the unicorn's strange items he hadn’t noticed. The unicorn himself was as average as any other. He was a dull red tone, like a smoldering ember in a fireplace, and was of average height and build. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hearth. Just… distracted.”

“Understandable. From your letter, it sounds like you’ve been having a difficult time recently. Please, just so I can hear it from you, can you tell me what's been happening?”

Wisp nodded, his eyes wandering once more to the little compass. It was fairly new, the exterior metal still polished and reflective. He could glimpse a bit of himself in it, his winter colors suitable for a pegasus with his name. Compared to Mr. Hearth, their colors were like fire and ice.

“An uncle of mine used to live in this home before he passed. There was a big family dispute over who would get to inherit it. My uncle’s ex-wife and her family expected to get it. When they divorced, my… aunt-in-law really tried to get more than her fair share. She succeeded too, but uncle held onto this house and swore she’d never get it. Well, he carried that threat to the grave. That was the one hard rule when distributing the will. His ex-wife and that part of the family couldn’t have this house no matter who received it.”

Wisp’s eyes wandered to the nearby window. “Eventually, it was decided I would get the house. I was ecstatic. A home like this in Canterlot? It was a dream come true for my family. My wife’s been able to get a better job. She’s a chef and is trying to work her way up on Saddle Row. And the schools here in Canterlot are so good. My little filly, Spring Step, has been doing so well. She’s made new friends and loves her teacher.”

“But…” Mr. Hearth said.

That tone… yes, Wisp knew he was beating around the bush, trying to not say what sounded so crazy. He swallowed, gathered his courage, and turned away from the window to look back at his guest. “But strange things have been occurring recently. It all started when my uncle’s ex-wife came by. She brought a housewarming gift. I was so surprised. It was a nice gesture. I thought she was trying to mend bridges.

“There was a doll in the gift basket, and Spring Step fell in love with it immediately. She named it Mrs. Teacup and started talking to it. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. All little ponies play pretend with their toys. I know I did when I was that age. She was just playing her games and everything was just… normal.”

“Until it wasn’t,” Mr. Hearth said, using his magic to write out some notes on the paper in front of him, though he never disturbed the stack. The pages remained neatly aligned.

“Suddenly, Spring Step got sent home from school for hitting another student. She’s never been like that, and it was over such a little thing. She’s been angrier and throwing tantrums. She hasn't thrown a tantrum since she was a foal. I get that things sometimes change as little fillies and colts grow up. They go through phases, but like I said in the letter, one day I’m trying to send Spring Step to her room and she just looked at me. She looked at me with eyes that felt… hollow.

“No… hollow isn’t the right word. They just… it was like someone else was looking at me, studying me. It was the way I’ve seen my wife look at tomatoes when she’s trying to pick the best one at the grocer. It was like I was below her. That I was something to be judged.

Wisp swallowed a little. The memory of that moment made him tense and relax his wings, trying to dispel the uncomfortable feeling from that situation. "After a long silence, Spring Step said ‘Mrs. Teacup is going to make you sorry.’” Wisp shuddered, repeating the words sent a chill down his spine. "It was more the way she said it, the timber in her voice. She was threatening me that her doll, the doll from her aunt, was going to make me sorry… and I believed her. I honestly felt like it was a real threat… from my little filly.”

“And then the occurrences began?”

“I just thought I was clumsy. Something fell off a counter in the kitchen. I was sure I had just not put it down right. Then my wife cut herself while cooking. As I said, she’s an experienced chef. Maybe she’d knick herself, but this was a deep gash. She’d never make that kind of mistake. She needed five stitches, a healing potion, and had to take two days off work to recover because the cut was so deep. Then the noises at night began.

“I just thought it was Spring Step going to the bathroom, but it was too loud. The hoofsteps were too heavy. I was sure someone had broken in, but my wife and I searched the whole house and couldn’t find anything. And now it’s happening once a week at least. Some nights I feel like I just have to be dreaming about it. That my brain is making things up because I'm just worried about Spring Step. But the other night the door to our room opened on its own.”

Mr. Hearth nodded, still writing notes. “And that happened after you had spoken to the police and reached out to the MBI?”

Wisp nodded firmly. “Yes yes. We spoke to the police after the first night. They looked and couldn’t find signs someone had broken in, but of course, we’re in Equestria. There’s magic and teleportation, so they told me to file a report with the Magical Bureau of Investigations. And thank you again for coming out to investigate, Mr. Hearth.”

“It’s part of the job, Sir, though I will admit, I haven’t been able to find any signs that someone has been teleporting in and out of your home. The magical field around the home is fairly stable and within expected tolerances.”

Wisp felt his heart sink. “So… you can’t do anything?”

“I didn’t say that. This situation, which I believe is caused by more eccentric magic, is well within the MBI’s jurisdiction.”

“Eccentric magic?” Wisp asked, having never heard that exact turn of phrase before. It was a phrase that seemed to only aggravate the anxiety that was gripping his heart.

“Equestrians know a great deal about unicorn magic and the sorts of relics that can be created with it. Equestria is also a frontrunner in potion magic as well. But there are many kinds of magic in the world, Sir. I do believe something is happening in your house, but I’m going to need to investigate a little more to be sure of its nature.”

“P-please, just let me know what I can do.”

Mr. Hearth jotted down a few more notes before reaching to tap his quill in the inkwell. “I don’t suppose I could see this doll, this Mrs. Teacup?”

Wisp nodded, standing up from his seat at the table. “Y-yes, of course. Just a moment.” Wisp quickly trotted out of the room and found his way upstairs. Opening the door to Spring Step’s room was easy since it didn’t have a lock. Mrs. Teacup was sitting where she always was, right in the center of Spring Step’s bed. Spring Step always placed the doll very carefully in the same spot every day before going to school.

Wisp grabbed the doll, holding it in a feathered wing as he trotted back downstairs. The doll was pretty cute, Wisp had to admit it. A little pink pony doll with yellow yarn mane and smile. It looked like something that had been hoof made, but as cute as it looked, a strange odor always hit Wisp’s nose whenever he touched it. It was like Spring Step had dropped the doll in something nasty, and the odor remained no matter how many times the toy was washed.

And that same odor just barely teased Wisp’s nose as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He moved back to the kitchen and placed the doll on the table. “Here it is,” he said as he looked up at Mr. Hearth.

Mr. Hearth nodded and silently observed the doll for a moment. Wisp saw his nose crinkle. Did he smell the same thing? Wisp was grateful to know he wasn’t the only one that could smell it. He didn’t know how his daughter never complained about it.

The unicorn stallion observed the doll a few moments more, scratching out notes that Wisp couldn’t quite read from where he was standing. Then Mr. Hearth picked up the compass and held it close to the doll. The needle of the compass continued to point north, no matter how the stallion positioned it. Was he expecting something to happen? Was he expecting there to be a magnet in the doll?

Then the stallion rang the little bell, using a hoof to gently tap it while his magic kept the compass held close to the doll. The little bell had a very pretty sound. Despite its small size, it reminded Wisp of the bells shops had above the doors sometimes. A nice, clean, sharp sound that was easy to hear.

Ring… ring… ring… Mr. Hearth rang the bell in regular intervals and did so for a good while. Wisp, without even meaning to, was starting to count how many times the bell had been rung. Eight… nine… ten… he was starting to feel anxious. This behavior was odd. What could possibly… but then his eyes saw something, a flicker of movement. Winter Wisp focused his vision and had to wonder if he was seeing things.

Every time Mr. Hearth rang the bell, the needle in the compass twitched, being pulled towards the doll briefly before point back to the north.

Finally, after ringing the bell a few dozen times, Mr. Hearth put the compass back down and scribbled out several additional notes. As he wrote, he levitated the medallion. It was attached to a thin string, and Mr. Hearth let it dangle by the string as he brought it close to the doll. The medallion spun lazily, rocking back and forth as any slight twist worked itself out of the string.

And yet, Wisp noticed that the gems on the medallion were glowing a little bit. Each one was at a slightly different intensity, except for one gem that stayed unlit. Mr. Hearth seemed to take notice of this as well, as he had doodled a diagram of the medallion in his notes and was writing details next to each of the gems in the doodle.

Mr. Hearth then took the medallion away and began to pack up his supplies, including his notes, inkwell, and quill.

Wisp glanced between the doll and Mr. Hearth a few times. “W-wait, that’s it? I mean… okay, I had my suspicions about the doll, but do you know what’s going on? Is something going on? Did somepony do something to it?”

Mr. Hearth finished packing everything into his saddlebags and placed them over his back. He then levitated and placed his hat on his head, his unicorn horn quickly finding the snug-fitting hole in the fabric. “My early indications are that something of magical nature has been done to this doll and, by extension, your daughter. And while I would normally stay and pursue this further, the early indication is that this situation will require a specialist.”

Mr. Hearth was turning to leave, and in his panic, Wisp quickly trotted after him. “B-but what about Spring Step? Will my daughter be okay?”

“I promise you, Sir, your daughter will be fine.” Mr. Hearth stopped at the door. His magic pulled on the handle and opened the door as he turned to look back at Winter Wisp. “The department will be sending someone out this evening to assist with your daughter. Expect her promptly one hour after sundown. Please let your wife know, but for your daughter, try to keep up appearances. It’s best if she believes everything is normal.”

“And this pony… they’ll be able to help?”

“If it’s who I think it will be, I promise you, Sir, she’s the best pony for the job.”

~~~

Wisp looked at the clock later that evening, watching the minute hoof crawl ever closer to the time when the MBI agent was supposed to arrive. He glanced at his wife, Green Garnish. They were sitting together on the couch. He held a book in one wing while Green Garnish, as an earth pony, held her book with her hooves. They, as a couple, would normally spend evenings talking and reading books together while Spring Step played in the living room.

Spring Step was keeping as if everything was normal. She was playing some game that involved Mrs. Teacup and a few of her other toys. From the arrangement of the toys, Wisp couldn’t be exactly sure what was going on, but Mrs. Teacup was the center focus as usual.

But while their daughter played normally, neither Wisp nor Garnish were able to keep their focus. They were barely talking. Wisp himself had been stuck on the same page for the past half hour, and he was pretty sure Garnish wasn’t doing much better.

Another glance at the clock, and the minute hoof ticked forward. It was time, and as if on cue, a polite knock came at the door.

Wisp nearly jumped out of his fur. Yes, he had been expecting it. He had been waiting anxiously for it, but the suddenness of the knock had startled him. Spring Step and Green Garnish had also been caught off guard, and now the whole family was looking at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Wisp said, trying to find his voice as he got up from the couch and used his wings to fly over to the door. He placed a hoof on the door and took a moment to steady himself. He tried to shake out his nerves, as a dog would shake off water, before he pulled open the door. He looked straight ahead.

Where he expected to see a pony’s face he instead saw a white collar and a royal purple necktie.

“Winter Wisp I presume,”

Wisp’s eyes moved upward. He had to take a step back to keep himself from craning his neck to an uncomfortable angle. The mare on his porch was as tall as a princess and black as night. Besides the collar and necktie, she was also wearing a pair of square spectacles. Her hair was tied back, and at first blush, Wisp would have believed this mare to be the princess of librarians.

And a princess was perhaps accurate. As Wisp looked at the mare longer, he saw she had both a horn and a pair of wings. This was an alicorn, one of Equestria’s six. Without introduction, Wisp knew who was standing in front of him.

“Y-yes,” he said, finally realizing that he had not responded to the mare’s question.

“Agent Sparkle, MBI. I believe you’re expecting me.”

“Y-yes,” he said again, quickly stepping back as the mare confirmed his suspicions of her identity. The tall mare had to duck to get through their door, and standing at full height, she almost scraped the ceiling with her horn. Yet she stepped gingerly as if entirely used to being in places built only for normal-sized ponies.

Wisp sensed his wife come up beside him, both of them now looking at this giant of a pony. “Sparkle… did she just say Sparkle?” Green Garnish asked in a quiet whisper. “You don’t think…”

“Who else could it be!? How many alicorns do you think there are in Equestria?” Wisp replied as they both kept their eyes on the alicorn. Nyx Sparkle, the reborn and redeemed Nightmare Moon, was in their home. They had seen in the papers that the daughter of their current ruler, Princess Twilight Sparkle, was working for the MBI instead of helping to rule the kingdom. But Wisp would have never imagined she’d be in their home.

Nyx shut the door to the home and gently removed her bags from her back. After a firm swallow, Wisp managed to find his voice again. “Can we offer you anything?”

“No, no thank you?” Nyx replied as she looked around the room and her eyes settled on Spring Step, who was looking up at her with wide eyes. “I presume this is your daughter.”

“Y-yes.”

For a moment, Nyx’s stern and serious demeanor melted away. She gently worked her way down, resting on her belly on the floor. With the length of her neck, her head was still close to Wisp and Garnish’s eye level, but she had still lowered herself as far as she could to address Spring Step.

“Hello, Spring Step. My name is Nyx.”

“You’re tall,” Spring Step said. Wisp felt a little embarrassed that his daughter had forgotten all manners, but really, he couldn’t fault her either. This was a very strange circumstance.

“Yes, I suppose I am, but I hope you don’t find me scary. Looks like you’re having a lot of fun. What are you doing?”

“Princess Teacup is ruling her kingdom and I’m helping her!” Spring Step said, proudly holding out the doll with her forehooves. Spring Step had taken after her mother and was thus an earth pony.

“Well, she seems to have many happy subjects and an impressive kingdom.” Nyx’s horn began to glow and her saddlebags shifted as one of the flaps opened. From the bag, she drew out another doll. This one looked much older and well-worn. It was patched in places, and the gray fabric of the main body looked frayed and faded. “Would Princess Teacup be willing to see a diplomatic visitor from another country, Mrs. Smarty Pants?”

“Of course!” Spring Step said only to quickly bring the doll to her ear. She nodded her head as if intently listening. Wisp watched this all unfold feeling like he was lost in a dream. An alicorn was in his living room playing dolls with his daughter? Had he hit his head earlier?

“Actually, Princess Teacup doesn’t really like Mrs. Smarty Pants,” Spring Step eventually said, moving to hug Mrs. Teacup to her chest.

“Oh, that’s a shame. I’ve always found Smarty Pants to be such a good friend,” Nyx said, looking down at Smarty Pants before focusing back on Spring Step. “Did Princess Teacup say why she doesn’t like Smarty Pants?”

“She just said she doesn’t like her. She says ‘he’s’ a liar.”

“Maybe you’d like to try and play with Smarty Pants yourself, that way you can see how friendly she is. Maybe we could trade, and I could get to know Mrs. Teacup?”

“No!”

Wisp winced, the shout was louder than he had expected to be. Nyx had just asked to see the toy, and yet Spring Step was now guarding it like it was about to be snatched away. It was an escalation that just didn’t make sense. “Spring Step, that’s not—”

Nyx cut him off. “It’s okay,” she said, a wing twitching to stop Wisp from approaching. Nyx then brought Smarty Pants up to her ear, and “listened” to her briefly before lowering her back down to the ground. “My dear Princess Teacup, I do apologize that I may have offended you, but I have come from very far to assure your safety. I have heard terrible news that you may be afflicted by a terrible disease.”

Nyx spoke in a goofy, higher pitch tone than her normal voice, and had used her magic to make Smarty Pants pose and walk on the floor as if she was a living creature. Again, Wisp wondered if he was having just some crazy dream. This couldn’t really be happening.

“No, she’s not sick!” Spring Step shouted back, her voice getting louder. She was mad, and Wisp felt his daughter was on the verge of a proper tantrum.

“Princess Spring Step, I know you care deeply and work closely with Princess Teacup, but I must express my concern,” Nyx continued, still speaking in her goofy Smarty Pants voice and making the Smarty Pants toy walk and pose as she spoke. “My friend here is a very good doll doctor. She just wants to help.”

“Nnnnnnooooo!” Spring Step screamed this, loud and painfully. Wisp had to wince and took a step forward to rush and try to stop his daughter from misbehaving. But Nyx extended a wing to stop him, even as his daughter continued to yell. As the scream went on Wisp thought he heard a small crack, but couldn’t see where it had come from.

Eventually, Spring Step ran out of air. She was forced to take a deep breath as she clung to the doll for dear life. Nyx gently drew Smarty Pants back, levitating it back into her bags before she used her magic to grip one edge of her glasses. She lifted them off her face.

The lenses were cracked in a clear spider web pattern. Winter Wisp had to wonder, had his daughter’s scream done that? He knew that some opera singers could crack the glass, but that involved holding a precise note for a long time. His daughter’s scream had in no way been that perfectly pitched.

“I ruin so many glasses this way,” Nyx said as she looked back at the couple. Wisp felt his heart skip a beat for a moment. The round pupils that the mare had when she came in the door were gone, now replaced with slitted eyes. “Is there someplace I can throw these away?”

Wisp’s brain took a moment to snap back to reality before being able to look away from those piercing eyes and point into the kitchen. “Y-yes, there’s a garbage can right there.”

Nyx didn’t even bother getting up. She just used her magic to levitate the broken glasses into the other room and deposited them in the trash. She then focused back on Spring Step. “It would seem I’m here in time. The entity is still anchored to the doll.”

Wisp glanced at Garnish, and they shared a confused look with one another before Garnish looked at Nyx and spoke. “Entity? What are you saying?”

Nyx climbed back to her hooves, once more towering over everyone and everything in the room. “I can explain more in a moment. For now, I believe you should get Spring Step tucked into bed.”

“Mrs. Teacup says that’s a good idea. She doesn’t want to be around you or your stinky old Smarty Pants,” Spring Step said firmly. she quickly scampered over to Wisp and clinging to his leg. Wisp reflexively tried to reassure her daughter. He put a hoof on her shoulder and felt how tense she was. She wasn’t scared. She wasn’t shaking. Spring Step was coiled up and anxious. She was like a snake ready to strike.

“Then… okay, let’s… get to bed, Honey.” Wisp and Garnish led Spring Step upstairs while Nyx followed a few steps behind. It was a little creepy, but Wisp couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He just went about tucking Spring Step into bed while Garnish filled a glass of water from the bathroom sink. Everything was normal. Wishes of good night and lots of kisses, but it was all awkwardly watched by Nyx, who loomed in the doorway.

Soon all that was left to do was to turn off the lamp and shut the door, but at that point, Nyx extended a wing and gently tapped Wisp on the shoulder. She gestured to him and Garnish to join her in the hallway, even as Spring Step was laying in bed and closing her eyes.

“Do not let her leave the room.”

Wisp blinked, glancing at Garnish, then to Spring Step, and then back to Nyx as he tried to process the words that had just come from her mouth. “What?”

Nyx repeated herself, her words firm, carrying with it an undeniable authority that came with her being an agent of the MBI. “I am about to help your daughter. I can help her, but only if you do not let her leave the room until I say so. You must promise me this.”

“But what are you—?”

“Promise me.”

Wisp took an anxious step back, fear stirring in the pit of his stomach. But… he glanced at Garnish, then back at Nyx. His words came out shaky, but he nodded his head. “W-we promise.”

Nyx nodded, and her horn glowed. The next few things happened in such rapid succession, it was difficult for Wisp to process it all. In a single swift movement, Nyx had reached out with her magic and grabbed Mrs. Teacup. She then pulled the doll out of the room. Spring Step was awake the moment she felt Mrs. Teacup being taken away. The small filly sat up and screamed. She was trying to scramble out of bed, trying to pursue her now stolen doll, but Nyx pulled the door to the bedroom closed firmly.

“Do not let her leave,” Nyx said again. Her magic wrapped around Garnish, bringing the sturdy earth pony mare and putting her hooves on the door handle. Already, Wisp could hear his daughter pounding on the door and pulling on the handle, trying to get out. Yet, for the moment, Nyx's magic ensured the door did not budge.

“But!?” Garnish tried to protest, but Nyx was already moving away, heading back downstairs.

“Do not let her leave!” Nyx was gone, out of sight as Wisp looked back at Garnish, who was now using her strength and weight to pull on the door handle and keep the door shut. Their daughter was screaming from the other side of the door, pounding on it and wailing. It was a full-blown tantrum.

“What is she doing!?” Garnish asked in utter bewilderment.

Wisp looked to the staircase then back to his wife. He could tell, Garnish was starting to get fed up with the situation. And honestly, Wisp was too. Did Nyx just steal their daughter’s toy!? “I… I just… I’ll go ask just… keep holding her in.”

“You’re siding with her!?”

“She has to have a reason, just give me a minute.” With that Wisp got to his wings and flew downstairs. In that short amount of time Nyx had pushed aside furniture and rugs to clear up a place on the floor, She was now drawing on the hardwood with chalk. Wisp landed, speechless for a moment as he could only watch as an alicorn was… graffiting his floor!

“You have questions, Mr. Wisp?” Nyx said, not looking up from her work but acknowledging his presence. She was continuing with her chalk drawing. It was a mixture of shapes and symbols, and she was drawing them around the doll.

Or rather the dolls. Mrs. Teacup was being kept in a chokehold by Nyx’s doll, Smarty Pants. Neither doll was moving. It was like they had been posed that way, but at the same time Wisp couldn’t understand how all-fabric dolls were able to stay posed like that.

“Several, but the first should be obvious. Why did you steal my daughter’s doll!?”

“Because it’s possessed.”

Possessed? That word gummed up Wisp’s mind for a moment. His daughter’s screams were filling the house, and his parental instincts to just snatch the dolls back were fighting with his logical brain’s desire to understand what was going on. Possessed… possessed… to hear that word in this context… his brain jumped to the only thing it could.

“What, like a ghost?”

“Perceptive of you, Mr. Wisp,” Nyx said as she continued about her work. She had finished drawing the strange doodles on the floor and had now brought from her bag wooden bowls and a corked glass bottle. She placed the bowls around the diagram and began pouring out the contents of the bottle into each bowl, which seemed to be some sort of strange, glittering powder.

“You’re saying we’re being haunted by a ghost!? Are you crazy?” He stepped forward, but he felt Nyx’s magic gently push him back.

“Do not cross the circle,” she said as a few sparks of fire leaped from her horn. The bowls of powder caught fire, glowing with blue flames that began to fill the air with pungent smoke. It smelled like a mixture of lavender and burnt hayfries. “And no, not a ghost, but by an entity.”

“A what!?”

“I shouldn’t have to remind you, Mr. Wisp, there are many magics in this world. Most of those magics come from the natural world and natural order. But some magics, which abide by their own eccentric rules, draw their power from spirits. Discord himself is a prime example. And though he is and will always be chaotically unique, he is not the only spirit capable of influencing the world in unconventional ways.”

“A thousand years ago, Princess Luna used a book to reach out to such entities to gain the power to be Nightmare Moon. Not so long ago, those entities tried not once but twice to collect on their bargain, to try and enter our world. And now we’re at war, Mr. Wisp, a silent war in the shadows and dark.”

Wisp coughed. The room was starting to get hazy with the smoke from the burning powders, but he could still see that the chalk pattern on the floor was glowing. “And I’m afraid your ex-aunt-in-law got caught up by the other side," Nyx continued. "I imagine she was so angry about this house she was willing to do just about anything to get it. Thus, here we are.”

Spring Step’s screams were getting louder and angrier. The thrashing on the door was more violent. They began to hear slams and crashes, like she was tearing up her room. Wisp could hear Garnish trying to calm their daughter, but she raised her voice to shout a moment later. “Wisp, what is going on down there!?”

“Just… keep holding the door! I’m… we’re… working on it!”

“Work faster!”

Wisp winced at the anger in his wife's voice, and he took it in and redirected to Nyx. “Are we working faster?”

“Fast as I can, Mr. Wisp. These entities abide by their own strange rules, but one of the most common and clear-cut is they must be anchored to this plane. This entity anchored itself to this doll and, in time, would have anchored itself in your daughter. I must dredge up that anchor so I can destroy it.”

The haze in the room was lifting, but only because the smoke was condensing itself into a single, thick cloud that hovered above the two dolls. Nyx then stepped forward, raised a hoof, and sank it into the cloud… and it did not pass through to the other side. Instead, her leg sank deeper and deeper into the cloud, like there was just suddenly a hole in thin air.

Wisp was so bewildered, he almost didn’t notice the house go quiet. Then… crying. He turned his head and looked to the staircase, his heart aching. It sounded like Spring Step had worn herself out and was now just begging for her toy back.

“Honey, it’s okay.” Wisp heard Garnish say from upstairs.

“Mr. Wisp, do not let her open that door!” Nyx snapped, her foreleg now sunk entirely into the cloud.

Wisp had to shake his head, brought back to the strangeness from the situation as he looked to Nyx and then back to the stairs. “W-what?”

“The entity is fighting back. It’s trying to trick your wife. Do not let her open that door!”

Wisp’s mind finally began to catch up. Spring Step stopped throwing her tantrum. She was now crying. A parent’s first instinct was to comfort a crying child. That had been his first instinct. That would be his wife’s first instinct. And if that was the case…

“Go!”

Nyx’s shout finally got Wisp to pick up his hooves. He flew back up the stairs, trying to rush to the door. He reached the top of the steps and turned to look down the hallway. Garnish had just turned the door handle and was now pushing open the door.

What erupted from that room was a roar, deep and primal. The door was yanked inward with such force that it ripped itself off its hinges. Garnish was yanked forward along with it, slamming her forehead against the door frame and left sprawling on the floor.

They had not shut off the lights in Spring Step’s room, and yet beyond the door frame was nothing but inky black. Wisp felt a shift in the air pressure. Air flowed past him, like the door to his daughter’s room was the maw of a great beast breathing in. It was a single long inhale, and as the wind whipped past him, he could smell the aroma of the burning powder.

Then it stopped. All was still for a moment. The house, the air, everything was still as the grave. Then the roar came like a chorus of animal screams. The blankness spilled out of his daughter’s room. Wisp’s mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing. It was like a torrent of water suddenly crashing towards him, yet he swore he saw the glint of teeth. It slammed into him, washing over him, yet he felt pain. He was being trampled by some carnivorous beast, being scratched by claws he could not see.

The blackness flowed over him. It tumbled down the stairs and crashed into a potted plant at the bottom. Then it gave another roar as somehow the blob of water stood up. Teeth and claws protruded from the darkness, grisly and stained. Yet, before the murderous mass could make another move, a sudden bright light came from the living room from where Wisp knew Nyx was standing.

Then came the sound of something breaking, like a pane of glass being shattered. The mass of black roared. This one was so loud and painful that Wisp was forced to shut his eyes and cover his ears. Then… it ended abruptly. It was like someone had lifted a needle off a record. The house was still, silent. All he could hear was the distinct ticking of the living room clock.

Then crying. His daughter was crying. Wisp opened his eyes and looked down the hall. He saw Garnish was picking herself off the ground, and he saw Spring Step was clinging to her mother’s neck, crying into her mane and blubbering words he couldn’t understand.

Wisp felt relief. His heart grew lighter. He clamored to his hooves and took a few steps down the stairs. He saw Nyx standing in the living room and her mane was flowing. What had once been a tight bun of purple behind her head was now a swirling mass of magic, like a dim, starry night. Nyx was putting herself back together, the mane bundling itself back into a bun behind her head before she stuck a long, silver hair needle into place. The moment the silver needle made contact, the mane once more looked like regular hair.

It was then Nyx looked up at him and gave a reassuring smile. “It’s over now.”

Wisp did not linger a moment more. He should have said thank you, but all he could do was scramble back up the stairs and quickly rush to join Garnish and Spring Step. He hugged his daughter, tears in his eyes. It was over. Whatever this was, it was over.

~~~

Nyx straightened her tie as she walked down the path that led back to the street, leaving the house behind her. As she walked, her saddlebags shifted, part of the flap lifting up before Smarty Pants poked her head out. The doll clapped her two little arms together, and a snapping sound occurred.

In a poof of magic, Discord appeared next to her in a snappy suit of his own. “That was a close one, wasn’t it?”

“Not the closest it’s been,” Nyx said as she drew out some papers from her saddlebag. “But I do wish they would listen to instructions. Could have turned into an all-out fight if I hadn’t found the anchor when I did.”

“Well, I think it’s a shame you don’t let your hair down more often,” Discord said. “Still, how did such a nasty thing get into that cute little doll?”

“Mr. Hearth confirmed our suspicions. The aunt had a copy of the Lesser Key of Harmony.”

“That makes the second this month, doesn’t it?” Discord said as they continued down the dark street. “That Spell Nexus really did cause a lot of trouble, didn’t he?”

Nyx sighed as she nodded her head. “Yes, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t possessed as well at the time.”

“You are always so quick to defend him,” Discord said with a shrug. “Then again, I know who you feel is really responsible for all this, but I know better than to beat that old horse. Instead, I’m going to pop off to bed. See you tomorrow, Partner.”

At that Discord did just that, popping like a balloon and leaving weird stringy bits of himself behind.

Nyx had to stop and stare at those bits. Whenever something involved young ponies… her mind seemed all too eager to flick back over how she found herself here. How Luna’s bargain with the entities of Tartarus a thousand years ago resulted in all this.

Equestria was being invaded by Tartarus. What had started as a few incidents, one in the old castle catacombs and another at the Canterlot Castle Nightmare Night party, was but a prelude. Once Spell Nexus found, copied, and distributed the Lesser Key of Harmony to numerous members of The Children of Nightmare, the war was started in earnest.

Now all across Equestria, creatures were tempted and whispered too. They were opening the doors. The darkness was getting in.

Nyx shivered a moment, moving her eyes from Discord’s balloon bits to the street ahead. There was a street lamp a block away, one struggling to stay lit. Nyx kept her gaze fixed on the light of that lamp, feeling something staring back from there whenever the lamp flickered out.

She didn't know if she really saw it tonight. It could have easily been her own paranoia and memories, playing back. Even if it was there, it would slip away before she could get close. Still, her mind believed what it saw, if only for a moment. An inky blackness. A thing with her stature, her eyes, and a mouth overflowing with fangs.

“I’ll get you someday Blessing,” Nyx whispered. “Only a matter of time until we pin you down. And next time, my lightning will burn all of you away.” Nyx straightened her tie once more and drew a fresh pair of square glasses from her bag. She placed them on her nose and her eyes once more became disguised as kinder, round equine eyes. She then took to her wings and flew into the night, leaving nothing but a quiet street behind her.

Author's Note

Happy Past Sins 10th Anniversary! As I mentioned in the story description, I want to say thank you to the community for everything. It's been an amazing ten years!

Also, as usual, let me know if you see typoes and I'll correct them as promptly as I can.

Variance 2 - Day

A bit of a longer forward. CMC4TW, bdrake1988, and SonicFan117Dash requested something related to Celestia/Daybreaker. Now, I’m not so sheltered or out of touch with the MLP community to be unaware of the fact that this idea has already been toyed with by other authors and artists in the community.

So rather than ignore all that, I’m going to roll with it. This variant is trying to be an amalgam of the serious and the silly. This is trying to seriously place Daybreaker into the Past Sins universe and takes points from other serious interpretations. It will, however, also take inspiration from the silly/edgy interpretations of Daybreaker being Nyx's sister.

With all that said... What if Nyx had Daybreaker as a little sister?

It was just another quiet rural community in Equestria. In many ways like Ponyville, the home she knew so well, but also entirely unique. The orchards and vegetable farms of Ponyville were replaced with rows upon rows of sugar beets. The fields were like rolling oceans of the rough, green leaves which hid away the hearty root vegetables lurking within the soft, tiled soil.

Sugar Basin, one of the biggest producers of sugar for the kingdom of Equestria, was a town Nyx had become all too familiar with over the past few years. Though she was little more than a frequent visitor, she had come to know some of the friendly faces in the community as well as the general layout of the streets and businesses.

It was so unfortunate that the most common reason she found herself visiting was to deal with a certain someone.

Banking gently to one side, Nyx began her descent. It was easy for her to zero in on the ongoing disturbance. Some of the local guards were circled around the entrance to a store, ducked behind chariots that pegasi had pulled in. Standard barricade, standard procedure, though perhaps a little sloppier than normal. It must have been the first time some of these guards had dealt with a certain someone.

Nyx landed gingerly, but even her rather graceful arrival startled some of the guards. Unicorns prepared blasts of magic and others raised hooves, ready to fight back. Yet all relaxed when they realized who it was. Truthfully, Nyx probably looked more approachable than normal. She had been relaxing at home when the scroll appeared next to her, and she hadn’t bothered to change. Her mane was in a fluffed but otherwise unstyled blob. She had on one of her favorite, cozy sweaters, and of course, she had on a pair of disguising eyeglasses.

Nyx opened her mouth to ask some usual questions. What caused it this time? Was she still inside? Reality, however, seemed all too eager to answer before any guard could. She saw a surge of fire from inside the store. The flames swirled behind the windows and billowed out the front door. It was like the store had just enjoyed a glorious dragon burp.

Sighing, Nyx glanced at the guards. “I’ll take care of it. Sorry, again. Your superiors know where to send the bill for the damages.”

With a flap of her wings, Nyx hopped over the police barricade and started heading towards the shop. It was a candy store, and the air was sickly sweet when Nyx stepped inside. A somewhat nauseating mix of melted chocolate, singed sugar, and a cascade of fruits that really didn’t mix too well together. Nyx surveyed the damage, sighing and shaking her head.

“What are you doing here?”

Nyx’s attention was drawn to the end of the aisle directly in front of her. There, a single golden, gleaming orb stared back at her. A single eye that glowed like a raging fire with a matching, flame-shaped pupil.

“What do you think? You know I’m the first one anyone calls when you throw a fit.”

The owner of the eye moved closer, eventually stepping into view. A white alicorn, perhaps a little taller than Nyx but gaunter. Her hair was composed of broiling flames and her coat a searing white, not unlike white-hot iron. The result of another cult thinking they could do successfully what Spell Nexus had failed at. A group that had been egged on by an escaped Cozy Glow who wanted to see Equestria burn at the hooves of one of their most beloved leaders. A group that stole inspiration from Starlight Glimmer, who could never forget a nightmare that had burned itself into her psyche.

Nyx’s little sister, the hothead Helia Sparkle, Daybreaker born into the real world.

“It’s fine. Everything’s under control now,” Helia hissed through gritted teeth as she glared at Nyx, both eyes intently focused.

“It certainly doesn’t look or sound under control,” Nyx said, glancing around the burnt, sugary carnage that surrounded her. “The owners called the guard.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I scare them? ‘Help, help, the big bad Daybreaker is standing there menacingly.’ They had a chance to avoid all this, but they decided to side with the witch that started it.”

“Someone else always starts it." Nyx rubbing her forehead. She could tell, having to deal with all this was starting to give her a headache. That or it was the burnt sugar irritating her sinuses. “However, they aren't the ones that cause the property damage. Now, are you ready to calm down?”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Helia hissed, her wings fidgeting. “Oh, I can tell, high and mighty Nyx is already sure that I just overreacted. 'Oh no, Helia is at it again. Nyx has to be the big sister and come in here to deal with things.' Screw that, this wasn’t my fault! I didn’t start this!”

Nyx’s own brow began to furrow. “But you finished it, which is its own problem, and then you didn’t stop. If Pinkie Pie saw this, she’d want to declare a national chocolate memorial day so we'd never forget this carnage.”

“Aren’t you even going to ask me my side of the story?”

“Not until you calm down.”

Helia growled and began marching forward. She wouldn’t even look at Nyx. Her gaze was focused on the exit door just behind Nyx. “Buck this. If you’re just going to judge and talk down to me, I don’t have to listen to this.”

Nyx extended her wing, blocking Helia’s attempt to walk by. “You can’t just storm off.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.” Helia tried to use her magic to push Nyx’s wing out of the way, but Nyx called on her own magic. For a few seconds, it was a petty magical slap fight. Helia, with her golden magic, would attempt to grab or push Nyx’s wing out of the way. Nyx’s magic, in its cooler, blue tones would rise up to block it, either disrupting the spell or forming a shield in the way. With each passing second of the impromptu magical duel, Helia’s brow furrowed deeper and her jaw clenched tighter.

Nyx didn’t see the hoof coming. Helia’s anger boiled over once more and the left uppercut came out of nowhere, striking Nyx in the head and lifting her off her hooves. She was sent toppling over the nearby counter. She clipped the cash register on the way, the heavy mechanical device ringing up some random sale and ringing its little bell just as Nyx hit the floor.

She laid there for a moment, feeling something warm and gooey. Nyx’s hooves moved to her head. Oh no, did she… nope. She wasn’t cut or anything, but she had landed in a puddle of melted chocolate. Wincing through a few spikes of pain in her shoulder and wing, Nyx got back to her hooves and glared over to Helia.

At first, Helia’s expression was one of concern, like a kid who knew they had gone too far and was in deep trouble. But then, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. She glanced away, struggling and failing to hold back a chortle. Nyx didn’t have to look in a mirror to know she was likely covered in melted chocolate and probably sprinkled with spilled candy and gunk from the floor.

Even the thought of Helia laughing at her grated on Nyx’s nerves. She quickly moved around the counter and stomped back into Helia’s face, the pair of them nose to nose. “Something funny?”

“Yeah, you,” Helia replied back, not even bothering to hide her smile or the chuckle in her voice.

“Well… you know what Mother always said. ‘I should share with my little sister.’ Guess what? There’s plenty of ‘funny” to go around.” At that Nyx turned her head and smushed the chocolate-covered side of her mane into Helia’s face. The fiery alicorn stumbled back, cursing and shaking her head. Nyx effectively smeared the melted chocolate everywhere, the brown gunk standing out much more vibrantly on Helia.

Helia’s mane flared. The temperature in the store rose a few degrees from the heat of those flames before Helia roared and pounced. She leaped at Nyx, leaving Nyx only a few precious moments to manage a magical counterattack. She stepped to one side and snagged Helia in her levitation. With a single spin in place, Nyx redirected Helia’s leap and sent her flying back towards the other end of the store.

Unfortunately, Helia was rather quick on the draw magically as well. After Nyx threw her, she felt a tug of magic on her haunches. Suddenly, she was being dragged through the air as well, the pair of them hurtling towards and crashing into a set of shelves. Jars of bulk candy tipped and fell, a cascade of different sugar treats hitting the floor as the two alicorns tumbled to the ground as well.

Nyx groaned, rolling over and getting back to her hooves. She was disoriented. Where had Helia gone?

“Hey Sis, you seemed stressed. Maybe you’d like some candy?”

Nyx looked over her shoulder, seeing Helia was now levitating a small arsenal of candy behind her. It seemed to be a variety of gumballs and other, similar, round hard candies that had been spilled to the floor moments ago. Helia smiled and began shooting the candy at Nyx. Nyx barely managed to raise a shield in time, the candy ricocheting off the surface. It sounded like a heavy hail pounding against a metal roof, but Nyx’s barrier held as the sugary assault continued.

Still, Nyx knew she couldn’t just keep using shields and barriers, and she could tell Helia was already trying to figure a way around. With a sinister smile, Helia levitated from the ground one of the biggest jawbreakers Nyx had ever seen. It was the size of a tennis ball. That jawbreaker, if launched with enough speed, might actually break through Nyx’s barrier.

That was one place where the sisters had always differed. Nyx excelled in barriers. Helia was far more talented at levitation.

Helia launched the jawbreaker, and Nyx was forced to react. With no plan or intent, she inverted her shield. Like an umbrella pushed too far, the concave barrier turned convex as Nyx tried to catch the incoming death jawbreaker.

However, the jawbreaker hit the barrier on the far side. Instead of bouncing off, the jawbreaker zipped around the shield, following the curve and eventually shooting off in another direction. That direction was straight back towards Helia.

The death jawbreaker hit Helia in the face. Out of shock and pain, Helia stumbled back. Her hoof then stepped on a gumball, and it slipped out from beneath her. She landed with a loud smack on her back, causing several of the nearby shelves to shake from the impact.

Nyx lowered her barrier and took a few rushed steps forward. Her immediate concern was that she had just seriously injured Helia. She was about to ask if Helia was okay, but her younger sister began to stir. Helia sat up, one hoof clutching the right side of her face. She looked at Nyx and then pulled her hoof away. The eye in the right socket was cracked and fractured.

To say that Helia went through greater difficulties defeating her own cult was an understatement, and the final confrontation with Cozy Glow had left its permanent scar. Helia had lost her right eye in that fight and had for years used a magically enhanced prosthetic to fill the empty socket.

A glass prosthetic eye had been cracked by a death jawbreaker.

Helia was dead silent. With some ginger magic, she removed the broken glass eye, catching the pieces in her hoof. She stared at them for a long time with her remaining good eye. Nyx was silent as well, unable to find any words. Finally, Helia looked up at Nyx, brow furrowed and teeth clenched so tight that they might crack.

Nyx flinched and stumbled back, uttering the only words that came to mind. “I’m sorry.”

~~~

“Mom is going to be so mad.”

“Yeah.”

Nyx and Helia were settled in on a cloud, a good distance above and away from the center of town. Below them, they could see the rubble that remained of the candy store. Things had escalated quickly and stayed escalated until the roof began to collapse. At that point, survival instincts kicked in and helped the mares pump the brakes on their fight. Helia was the one to teleport them away, saving them from the collapsing roof. However, that teleport left them tumbling in the air.

Nyx was thankful she was able to right herself quickly and help Helia do the same before, together, they found a cloud to land on.

They had remained on the cloud, tempers cooling as they saw the ever-growing presence of guards and now news reporters below. Nyx was procrastinating on heading back down to the store by using hunks of the cloud, and the water contained within, to try and clean off the melted chocolate from before. Her sweater, however, was going to remain stained until she got it to the cleaners. Helia had just turned up the heat on her body until everything burned off and was now sitting pretty and pristine, though the flames in her mane were much cooler and calmer now.

“So… what happened?” Nyx asked, feeling that the both of them had cooled off enough to finally discuss the situation again.

Helia, now winking constantly to keep her right eye socket shut and left eye open, glanced up at the clouds floating slightly above them. “I was just doing some shopping. I was getting those chocolate-dipped candy sticks. There were only like three boxes on the shelf so I grabbed all of them, thinking I was lucky. Apparently, I just beat this other mare to them, and she started nagging.

Helia changed the tone of her voice, knocking it up an octave and forcing the words through her nose, giving them a nasally quality. “I didn’t need all those. She needed them for her little colt. Her little colt would be so disappointed. What kind of monster would make a little colt cry." Helia let her voice return to normal. "Seriously, she was laying it on thick. But you know, we’ve dealt with royal guilt trips. This was nothing compared to what Mom can do and I told that mare to buzz off.”

“And she didn’t,” Nyx surmised. After all, if things had ended there, the guard wouldn’t have been called.

“She disappeared, I went back on with my shopping, but then here she comes with the manager. She had told him some sob story where I had stolen the candy out of her basket and then threatened her. And you know how much managers love to side with me? The manager demanded the boxes, I said no, I got them fair and square. The manager then threatened to call the guard.

Helia sighed, and slowly rolled over onto her back, still looking up at the clouds instead of down at the town and the mess the pair of them had made. “I stood down. I gave up the boxes. I tried to be the bigger mare, but then that witch decided she wanted a victory lap. ‘You made the right decision. You don’t even really need this candy. Oh, my colt will be so happy.’

“I told her that I was getting those for my fillies. She laughed at me. ‘Well, if they’re anything like you, they probably don't need it either. Monsters shouldn't get candy.’”

Nyx covered her face with her forehooves. “Oh no…”

“Oh yes. That witch dug her grave real deep. After that, it was flames and roars and roaring flames and just… I was just getting control of myself when you showed up.”

Nyx sighed, her eyes fixed down at the smoldering rubble of the candy shop. “You still let your temper get the better of you, but… I know how protective you are of your daughters.”

“Damn straight. You don’t mess with mama bear.”

Nyx took in another deep breath and, after glancing at Helia, she decided to take a similar position. She rolled onto her back, sinking into the cloud a little as she started looking up at the same calm sky that currently held Helia’s gaze.

“You know, you wouldn’t have this problem in Ponyville.”

“I know,” Helia answered.

“You know Applejack could give you a job, or you could just start accepting the stipend mom has been trying to send you for ages.”

“I know,” Helia repeated again.

Nyx hesitated a moment, trying to find the words. “Is it… because of me that you don’t want to be there?”

“You know it’s not.” Helia took a deep breath and then gently blew out some smoke, the result of her using the absolute weakest of her flame breath. “We buried the hatch years ago.”

“So it’s…”

“Mom,” Helia said with a nod.

Nyx closed her eyes, mind tripping back to how they had ended up like this. After Cozy’s failed attempt to destroy Equestria, Twilight had stepped up to take responsibility. Maybe she had been overconfident that, after raising one adoptive daughter, she could handle a second. And things were all right at first. Nyx had been a bit jealous, but the two of them sat and talked it out. Nyx did her best to take on her responsibility as a big sister.

It was going to be the four of them. Mother Twilight, Big Brother Spike, Big Sister Nyx, and Little Sister Helia.

But things unraveled about a year after Helia had been adopted into the family. The first big argument between Twilight and Helia had been about her disguise. Up until that point, Helia had done what Nyx did. She disguised her more intimidating appearance. She wore glasses to hide her eyes and a hair clip, with a cute flower on it, to suppress her fiery mane. But Helia didn't want to do that. Helia wanted to be real with her friends and scare off the bullies at school.

After that first argument, Helia would take off those items whenever she could get away with it.

Things only escalated as the years went on and the pair of them became teenagers. Helia was running around with friends who liked to get in trouble and goof off. Her grades were slipping as she turned not studying into an act of rebellion against Twilight.

It all came to a head when, after they finished school and were legal adults, Twilight wanted Helia to enroll in her Friendship School. Helia was done being told what to do and made the choice to move out.

In hindsight, Nyx had to wonder if things could have turned out better if Helia had been taken in by anyone else. Maybe Rainbow Dash would have been a better fit, or maybe Applejack. Actually, since those two got married, it probably would have ended up being both of them no matter who Helia started with.

“Mother asks me about you a lot,” Nyx said, coming out of her own thoughts and realizing the pair of them had been laying silently for a while. “She wants to know how you’re doing. She wants to know how the fillies are. I know I’ve told you before, but… she really does regret she hasn’t gotten to meet her grandfillies in person.”

Helia blew another smoke trail as she extended a forehoof and gave it a little twirl. “Woop dee do for her.”

“Do you really want this to stay like this? We’re alicorns, Helia. We live a long time and that’s a long time to hold a grudge.”

“What do you want me to say, Nyx? I get so ‘peeved’ around her.” Helia used her forehooves for air quotes. It was a tactic Nyx was all too familiar with, as Helia was swapping out something less offensive for what she really wanted to say. “And not like she’s going to be in the best mood when she hears about this.”

“Let me worry about today. I was the one that escalated things… especially when I broke your glass eye. Sorry about that, again. I’ll pay you back for it.”

“That’s fine, just tell me you still have that spare I asked you to keep.”

“I do,” Nyx said as she nestled a bit more into the cloud. The tension was really ebbing away and now it was just two sisters talking.

Helia blew another trail of smoke, this time drawing a circle with it. “Even if you do try and take responsibility, you know Mom will still know I started it. She’ll know you’re covering for me. Then she’ll just think what a wonderful mare you are and how horrible I am. The shadow you cast is bucking hard to deal with sometimes, Nyx.”

Nyx took in those words, and then she couldn't help herself. She snickered. A thought tripped across her brain, and she just hadn’t been able to resist the absurdity of it. A snicker turned into a chuckle as she tried to fight back the urge to actually laugh.

Helia turned her head, looking at Nyx with her one good eye and an arched eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”

“Nightmare Moon came about because Luna was jealous of Celestia. Because Luna was in Celestia's shadow. Now, Daybreaker is complaining about being in Nightmare Moon’s shadow. It’s just… absurd how weird our family is. ”

Helia blinked but then smiled. She began to chuckle as well as she went back to looking up at the sky. “Hey, that’s not absurd as the time I forged Mom’s signature on a name change certificate.”

Nyx covered her face, now laughing properly. “Sun and moon, I remember that. You were so proud the next school day when you showed the form to Cheerilee and then reintroduced yourself to the class. I still can't bring myself to call you that.”

“Oh, but it’s so easy, Nyx,” Helia said with a toothy grin. “It’s just your name with the first letter changed. I can spell it for you.”

“Nope nope nope, I don’t want to hear it. La la la, I can’t hear you.” Nyx sang the words as she put her hooves over her ears. But then the pair both laughed together. Truthfully, if someone was listening they might have believed that some dark villains were plotting something evil. When the pair of them got laughing, there was a maniacal quality to their voice that neither of them was able to suppress.

Nyx was the first to reign in her laughter as she gently wiped a tear from her eye. She laid on her back a few moments more before stretching out her legs and wings. She then turned back onto her stomach and looked down at the town below. “Guess we can’t ignore the mess down there forever.”

“I think we can,” Helia said as she continued to lay on her back.

“Luckily, Mother is out of the country right now. She’s at a summit at Mount Ares. We got a few days to sort this out before she gets back. I’ll talk to Spike tomorrow morning and we’ll figure out our next steps. Before then, how about we grab your fillies and head over to my place in Ponyville. I’ll cook dinner, you can grab your spare eye, and we’ll get the girls something from Sugarcube Corner for dessert.”

Helia slowly rolled over and stood back up, stretching out her wings and rolling her neck. “Only if you let me tell you about this stallion I think you’d like.”

Nyx stood up as well, shaking off a few bits of cloud that were trying to cling to her. “Are you really threatening me with another horrible date? I swear, you try to set me up with the worst stallions on purpose. Stallions who are expecting some bad girl like you and are disappointed when they get bookworm me.”

“Nah, not this time,” Helia said with a chuckle. “I think you’ll really like this stallion. He works in the office at the sugar beet factory. He’s a real ‘sweet’ guy. Covered for me once when I was late to clock in. That and, okay, I think he has a thing for tall mares. But they don't really come taller than us, do they?”

Nyx rolled her eyes, but still wore a smile on her face as she took off from the cloud. Helia did the same a few seconds later. They shared a few more words, working out details as they flew in lazy circles above the city. Then, when everything was decided, Nyx broke off and flew down to reassure the guards and ponies at the rubble that was once the candy store. Helia went off in another direction, heading towards a residential part of Sugar Basin.

It was quite the mess to clean up, but Nyx had to hope that maybe this time they could do more to mend the bridges in their family.

Variance 3 - Dreams

What if Nyx didn’t recover from the Ponyville monster attack?

Night Watch examined himself in the mirror, primping, and tweaking as he prepared. His first day on the job. He had to make the best impression he could. White-collar with the Luna blue tie tied in a proper full Windsor knot. The collar was specially made as well, having two small, square gem studs in a silver setting on both the left and right sides. The final touch was currently resting on his forehead: an official, government-issued eye mask.

Flashing one final smile at his reflection in the mirror, Night Watch departed his bathroom and stepped into his cozy little apartment. It was a studio, with all the basic amenities within the single room. The only exception was the small, separate bathroom. Still, for a new hire like him, it was practically perfect. But now he really needed to be getting to work.

Night Watch moved to the front door of his apartment and placed his hoof on the doorknob. Yet, instead of opening it, he just gave it a jiggle. He confirmed it was locked, and then with a smile, he turned around and stepped away. He moved across the space, going to the far corner of his room, to his bed. He looked at the sheets, fluffing and straightening the top layer blanket to make it look as presentable as possible.

He then gingerly laid down, trying to do his best to get into a comfortable position without disturbing the bed itself. He glanced at his bedside clock, seeing it click over to nine o’clock on the dot. Squirming with excitement, he reached up and used his hooves to pull the eye mask down over his eyes. He then laid there, listening to the click of the clock. Any moment now… any moment now…

Knock Knock Knock

Night Watch opened his eyes and found that his eye mask was missing. This alone made a huge smile spring onto his face because that meant everything was working as intended. He immediately sprang from his bed, which seemed to resist being wrinkled by his exuberant maneuver. He then jogged to his front door. He undid the lock and swung it open.

“Mr. Watch?”

Night Watch quickly brought his hoof up in salute. “Ma’am, yes Ma’am. Private Night Watch reporting for Dream Guard duty, Ma’am.”

Despite trying to maintain a stiff and proper salute, Night Watch couldn’t help but lean a little to the side. The mare in front of him was dressed like him. She was a pegasus, light gray tone with teal mane, but she wore the same collar, tie, and collar studs. “Welcome, Private Night Watch, I’m Sergeant Fluffy Cloud and I’m going to be your training supervisor. Now come along, we don’t have all night.”

“Ma’am, yes Ma’am.”

Fluffy Cloud stepped to the side, allowing Night Watch to walk out of his door. Yet, he was not in the narrow, somewhat grungy hallway that was normally outside his apartment. No, instead he stepped onto a Luna blue carpet that floated in an endless expanse. The carpet was soft to the touch, like fresh green grass in a spring field. The air carried a subtle smell of lavender and lilac. It was like there was a whole meadow of flowering plants just out of sight. And all around the carpet were orbs, little spheres of light. They floated and shifted in the empty expanse like an endless school of bioluminescent jellyfish in the depths of some great ocean.

The painting he had on the wall of his home, meant to depict this place, did not do it justice.

Night Watch brought his eyes back to ground level, his head turning left and right as he tried to drink it all in. He, Fluffy Cloud, and so many others walked along the Luna blue carpet that floated, without support, in the void. As they walked the carpet, different doors were appearing and disappearing from the edge of the path. Similarly dressed creatures stepped out of those doors and joined the growing crowd.

Ahead of them was what Night Watch could only describe as a regal yet modern castle, with smooth lines and curves compared to the normal rigid brick that made up places like Canterlot Castle. Truly, no modern construction technique could accomplish such a fanciful and sleek structure, but then that was the point, wasn’t it?

This was the Dream Guard Headquarters, the Dream Edge Castle!

Fluffy Cloud continued to lead the way down the carpet, Night Watch following dutifully even as he tried to look at every little detail. They reached the end of the floating carpet and passed beneath a large archway. The arch was guarded on either side by actual dragons, but even the dragons wore the same uniform as every creature else.

After passing through the front gate, Night Watch and Fluffy Cloud were in the protected courtyard. Around them, the smooth, light blue walls formed a barrier between the castle and the many floating orbs outside. In the center of the circular space stood a single grand tower, a monolithic structure that made the whole dream castle reminiscent of a sundial.

Floating around that central spire were clouds. They were dark blue, almost stormy looking, but at the same time, they looked more inviting than any bed. The other ponies coming through the entrance arches, one in each cardinal direction, were quickly getting swept up and carried upward by those clouds, circling the central tower lazily as the creatures on the clouds set about their work.

Yet Night Watch and Fluffy Cloud continued forward, reaching the base of the central spire. There they found a mare working behind a desk, the perhaps least fanciful of any of the structures around. The mare, a unicorn, had a black coat and purple mane, cut short but gently styled.

“Madam Secretary,” Fluffy Cloud said. She came to a stop in front of the desk.

The secretary glanced up from the papers she had been reading through, looking first to Fluffy Cloud and then to Night Watch. “Right, new recruit day. The new moon always sneaks up on me.” The secretary used her magic to pull open a drawer from beneath the desk. She hooved through the files for a few moments before drawing out one of the folders and cracking it open.

“Private Night Watch.”

“Yes Ma’am!” He snapped himself into a stiff salute. Surely if his superior referred to this mare with only a title, then he had to respect her as well.

“Welcome to the Dream Guard,” the secretary said, being cordial but keeping things strictly business. “I can see here you scored very highly on your aptitude tests. We’re always eager to get talented new recruits.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

“Though said recruits should also try to relax a little. We’re not as rank and file as the Royal Guard.”

Night Watch flinched and lowered the hoof he had been holding in salute this entire time. “Sorry, Ma’am… just so excited. I’ve grown up wanting to be part of the Dream Guard since I was a colt.”

The secretary’s gaze went into a mile-long stare for a moment, but she snapped back and forced a chuckle. “I guess it really has been that long since we started this program, long enough for someone to grow up with it.”

“We’ve been guarding the dreams of Equestria and beyond for over two decades now, Madam Secretary,” Fluffy Cloud said.

“Right right, yes… of course. Sorry, I just sometimes forget how long it’s been. Anyway, Private Night Watch, for the first few months of your service you’ll be apprenticing under Sergeant Fluffy Cloud. She’ll show you the ropes of how we guard the dreams of Equestria without invading the privacy of creatures more than necessary.”

The secretary clapped her hooves, and Night Watch felt his hooves gently rising off the ground. He looked down and saw that one of the dark blue clouds was gently holding him above the ground. “This cloud is your desk and your transport. Please try to treat it well.”

Night Watch smiled, moving his hooves around in the cloud before focusing on it. He then smiled as the cloud reacted to his thoughts, gently carrying him a little higher off the ground as some different shapes began to bubble up from it. The billowy structure of the cloud formed into a bed that was accompanied by an end table that had a flower-filled vase on it.

“Fluffy Cloud will show you where you’ll be floating and will begin your training once you’ve settled in. And again, welcome to the Dream Guard.”

“Thank you, Ma’am!” Night Watch saluted again, out of instinct, and then quickly looked to Fluffy Cloud. The sergeant rolled her eyes but gently tapped one of her forehooves. From the sky above them, another cloud descended. Fluffy quickly stepped onto this cloud. She then gently gestured with her head before flying off into the sky.

Night Watch nodded, quickly urging his cloud to follow and feeling the thrill as he did. He was flying, and he’d be doing so much more. The Dream Guard were guardians of dreams. They helped fight nightmares but also tended to the mental health of the nation. It was one of the most prestigious posts you could get as part of the Equestrian military, but as cool as it was, it was an important duty as well.

After all, with Princess Luna retired, someone had to guard the dream realm, and now Night Watch was part of that team.

This was the best day, or rather night, ever!

~~~

Several hours later, dawn was cracking in the real world. The crowd of creatures that had arrived so promptly hours ago now filtered out of Dream Edge Castle. Even the dragon guards at the gates began to shuffle off, walking down the Luna blue carpets that extended into the void to slip away through their own dream doors. The castle grew quiet, silent even, as every soul left except for two.

One of the souls was a new arrival, her dream door opening just outside the castle. Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped out onto the carpet, taking a moment to get her bearings before starting to walk towards the castle. She breathed deep, the relaxing aroma that permeated this place was always something she looked forward to in the morning. In the years since her coronation, she had just grown taller and taller until she was of the same impressive stature as Princess Celestia. Even her mane had taken on a magical quality that seemed to be an homage to the now-retired princess of the sun.

Twilight quickly spotted the one other soul still at the castle, the secretary who was dutifully filing away a few final papers at this desk. As Twilight approached, the mare tapped a few final pages against the desk, getting the stack nice and neat before slipping them into a folder. The folder was fitted into a filing cabinet, and then both the filing cabinet and the entire desk began to sink into the floor. Twilight arrived at the desk just as it entirely vanished from existence, leaving her and the secretary.

“Good morning, Nyx,” Twilight said.

“Good morning.” Nyx lowered her head and shook her whole body. To Twilight, it always reminded her of seeing a dog shake its fur after getting soaked in water. Still, instead of shaking off the wet, Nyx was shaking off what was her work uniform. With each shake, she was growing in stature. As Nyx grew, her wings popped into existence. They started as tiny little stubs and grew out to match the rest of Nyx’s form. They flopped around like underinflated balloons with each shake.

The final touch was Nyx’s eyes, which stretched and contracted to their true slitted shape. Truthfully, anymore Nyx was one of the few ponies Twilight could look in the eye without stooping down. Though, Twilight also couldn’t help but notice that Nyx’s full alicorn form was thin, dare she say frail. It was like a stiff breeze might be able to blow Nyx over.

“Did you sleep well?” Nyx asked once she had finished.

“I think if I didn’t, you’d be the first to know,” Twilight said. She and Nyx began to walk, quickly stepping out from beneath the castle’s gate. The moment they were gone, the Dream Edge castle began to unweave itself. The threads of magic that manifested the castle spiraled and faded into the void of dreams. Soon, it was just the pair of them walking shoulder to shoulder along the blue floating carpet.

Yet, no sooner had the castle finished unmaking itself did something else began to form. Ahead of them on the path, at the end of the blue carpet, a treasured memory, shared by both of them, was sprouting into existence.

It began with a rounded hill of grass on a familiar Ponyville street. On that hill was a sapling, but it was growing with each step. Its leaves stretched to the sky as its trunk thickened and twisted. Yet, even as the impressive tree took shape, other things began to pop into view.

From the folds of the bark, doors and windows began to bubble up and slide into place. The door was a rich red. It bore the image of a lit candle in a candle holder. The little painted on flame seemed to wave as if eagerly greeting the two mares.

Across the windows and from some of the higher branches, wrought iron grew like a symbiotic vine, curling and twisting into smooth, enticing shapes. From one window a long pole of iron grew. From that pole, a lantern grew like a ripe fruit. Balconies and rooftops of soft grass followed suit.

The final touch was a few red sticks that sprouted from the ground and quickly grew into thick pieces of lumber. They grew together and eventually formed into the shape of a cute little red sign. The image of an open book was on that sign, a single and simple picture that called out the purpose of the place.

As Nyx and Twilight stepped up the front step, the Golden Oaks Library had taken full form in front of them, the door opening on its own to welcome them in.

“No Spike this morning?” Nyx asked.

Twilight crossed the threshold first, feeling her body shift. Gone was her regal, princessly form. Now she was as she once was, a newly ascended alicorn that had grown only an inch or two at most. One who didn’t have nearly as much trouble with doors meant for regular ponies. Looking back, Twilight watched as Nyx entered and took on a similar, more normal-sized adult form. Yet, despite her diminished size, she still looked thin and underweight.

“He’s tending to some of his own royal advisor duties, which is his code phrase for setting up his monthly O&O game with Discord and Big Mac,” Twilight said as the pair moved into the kitchen. Twilight began using her magic to prepare a meal, cracking and whisking eggs in a bowl as she got out flour, sugar, milk, and some other basic ingredients.

“It’s about time for your monthly meeting with my aunts too, isn’t it? How is everyone? I got to see Rarity the other night. She was having a nightmare about another wrinkle,” Nyx said. “She may claim she’s aging the most gracefully of all my aunts, but that doesn’t stop her from being the most overdramatic whenever she finds some new wrinkle or gray hair. ”

“She wouldn’t be Rarity if she wasn’t a little overdramatic.” Twilight began heating a pan and some butter over the stove. “Applejack is bringing some zap apple jam up. How does that sound as part of breakfast this morning?”

Behind her, Twilight could hear the delicate sounds of glasses, forks, and knives finding their place on the table. Her good girl, as usual, was setting the table. “Sounds good. Oh, I got to meet Little Cheese the other night. It was her first nightmare, something about losing Pinkie Pie’s party cannon. She’s such a sweet little filly.”

Twilight laughed and glanced over her shoulder at Nyx. Nyx had just set out the last of the silverware and now flopped down into her favored sitting cushion at the table. She sat in the chair like a mare who had just walked ten miles despite how brief of a stroll it had been from the castle. “That must have been around the time Pinkie Pie actually lost her favorite party cannon. She wrote to me asking if I would be her investigative assistant as she looked for clues. I’ll admit, I was tempted, but I never heard anything else about it. I imagine I’ll hear the whole story today, and I bet it’s going to be thanks to you that things got resolved the way they did.”

“Well, you know me, just trying to do my part.” At that point, Nyx turned and coughed, covering her mouth with a hoof. Twilight took a step to move away from the stove, but Nyx used her other hoof to wave her hoof. “It’s okay. I’m fine. It was the new moon last night, and so it was new recruit day. You know how new recruit day tends to take it out of me.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing we’re going to have pancakes.” Twilight went back to the stove, pouring the batter into the hot, buttered griddle. Immediately the space inside the kitchen began to fill with sweet smells.

“If there was one thing Celestia was specifically going to teach you, I’m glad it was her pancake recipe.”

“What’s crazy is I got a letter from her, and she’s started taking cooking classes now. She says she’s planning to come up with an even better pancake recipe and wants to share it with us once it's done.” Twilight used her magic, forming a spatula in the air from her mystic energies and using it to flip the pancake in the pan. “Can you imagine her pancakes being even better? They’d be so good, I might have to outlaw them.”

“And how is Princess Luna?”

“She’s doing good.” Twilight flipped the first finished pancake out of the pan and began making the next. From thin air, a few more pans faded into existence, and Twilight began using each to speed up her pancake-making. “She’s started to join Celestia in a few of her more adventurous things. They’re apparently planning an excursion deep into a particular jungle. Hopefully, they don’t end up starting a bitter rivalry with Ahuizotl like Daring Do did.”

“It’s good to hear she’s feeling more adventurous after not guarding dreams for so long.”

“You know, she offered to let you take a vacation again, if you want.” Twilight flipped the pancakes in the many pans, the sweet sizzling sound and bubbling batter looking positively tantalizing.

“That’s very sweet of her, but we just don’t do things the way she used to. It’s taken a lot of time for me to have the endurance to dream link so many ponies for the entire night. I think if I were to take a night off, I’d have to make sure every creature in the Dream Guard had the time off too.”

“Which isn’t out of the question. Business mandated time off for all employees is 100% a thing,” Twilight said as she flipped all the pancakes out of the pans, landing each one perfectly on one of two plates. She then turned off the stove and turned, carrying the plates of pancakes to the table with her magic.

“Maybe sometime soon,” Nyx said as she used her magic to pick up a fork and knife. She smiled at the stack of pancakes, which smiled back at her with sliced zap apple eyes and a zap apple jam smile. “Just… you know me, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself without the Dream Guard.”

Twilight took a seat with her own plate, picking up a knife and fork as she began to cut and divide her pancakes. “I know, but we can’t let ourselves become workaholics like Celestia and Luna. Not unless we want to suddenly retire in a thousand years when another new alicorn happens to appear.”

Nyx chuckled as she slipped a bite of pancake into her mouth.

~~~

Twilight teleported into existence a short while later, the sun properly up and moving across the sky. She rolled her neck and stretched her wings. It was always a little strange to use a spell to get herself back to sleep after waking up to raise the sun, but truly, she didn’t have many other options.

She had teleported herself to the bottom floor of a particular tower. The bottom floor was rather unremarkable, really just a small foyer. Still, Twilight quickly climbed a pair of steps, ascending into a place so familiar to her. It was a private library and study, one with a giant hourglass at its center. Sweeping windows showed a clear view of much of Canterlot, all while remaining cool blue colors on the interior.

This space was once hers. It had been her private study, the one she had been given to use as Princess Celestia's faithful student.

That was a long time ago now, and the library part of this space was little more than decoration at this point. No one came in here to read books anymore. Even though she had a personal student of her own now, Luster Dawn, this space remained reserved for something else.

Twilight moved to one side of the room, where magical and scientific equipment meant for advanced studies had been replaced with medical apparatuses and a hospital bed. In some ways, this space had become among the most medically advanced in all of Equestria. The equipment of various shapes and sizes all had wires and tubes reaching towards the bed where a single figure lay.

Laying on the bed was Nyx, the otherwise pristine black coat marked with garish scars. Even her head was scarred. Those healed wounds were readily visible as Nyx's scalp was kept shaved for the doctors’ convenience. The distinctive patterns, the claw and teeth marks, had been left on Nyx by the Lupis Major, the final opponent she faced in defending Ponyville. The opponent she had managed to beat, but only by the narrowest of margins.

Twilight’s magic reached for the medical chart. Though she was the Princess of Friendship and an expert on magic, over the past few decades she had worked to become well versed in medicine as well. She read the bottom few lines of the chart, her face falling as she read the results from their latest tests.

Nyx still didn’t respond.

Nyx was alive, but something broke that day. Her body was in a coma while her mind remained trapped, or linked at least, to the dream realm. No matter what spell or medicine they tried, they hadn’t been able to coax Nyx back to the waking world. Worse still, it seemed even an alicorn's body could not survive being comatose forever.

Twilight felt her worst fears swimming. She hung the chart back in its place and moved it over to the side of the bed. Next to her and Nyx was an end table. On that table was a stack of letters and crayon drawings from that fateful day. Along with it was a plush of Twilight, one that wore a cute little nurse's hat. Though no one else knew it, that doll was enchanted so the real Twilight would be able to know the moment Nyx awoke. Though it seemed the doll was due for a small wash. It was looking a little dusty.

That only caused the knots in Twilight's stomach to tighten. She had seen it in the dream realm. Nyx’s mental form, looking so malnourished, was but a manifestation of her body. Things were deteriorating. Eventually, they would need to wake Nyx up or risk losing her forever.

Or maybe... a single thought clawed at the back of Twilight's mind, the darkest of thoughts. The one that refused to go away, no matter how hard Twilight tried. The thought that... maybe... she had really lost Nyx the day of the attack, and all this was just prolonging the inevitable.

Variance 4 - Remedial

Based of a combination of request(s) by spoonlol, CaptMayhem, ShadeNightingale.
What if Nyx became a teacher at the School of friendship?
What if Nyx stayed an adult after the events of Past Sins?

“Why can’t Headmare Twilight just cancel classes?” Gallus grumbled as he and his circle of friends departed what should have been one of Professor Applejack’s courses on honesty. Instead, however, they had been taught by a substitute, a kirin named Autumn Blaze. That mare had talked a mile a minute, and Gallus already knew most of the notes he had taken were going to be basically useless.

Smolder was walking alongside Gallus, only a step behind. Silverstream and Ocellus were walking behind them while Yona and Sandbar brought up the rear. Smolder stretched her arms and wings over her head, causing a few joints to pop as she did it. “What are they even doing this time? I didn’t hear about Equestria needing to be saved.”

“That’s right, you two were running late this morning and didn’t hear the announcement from Discord," Ocellus said. "Headmare Twilight and her friends are in Canterlot. Celestia and Luna are taking a long weekend to vacation around Equestria and Headmare Twilight is taking the opportunity to practice ruling Equestria.”

“That explains why Headmare Twilight wouldn’t be here, but why do all the professors have to be in Canterlot?” Sandbar asked.

Ocellus turned her head to look back at him, even as the group kept walking through the halls of the School of Friendship. “Something to do with a Royal Swanifiying.”

Smolder rolled her eyes. “Even by pony standards, that sounds silly.”

“Yona doesn't know what friends are complaining about. Yona loves substitute teachers!” Yona bounced, her landing causing a small shake in the floor. Gallus, however, took the vibration in stride as did all his friends. They were all too used to being around Yona. “Yona’s favorite was the Cutie Mark Crusaders talking about how they help creatures find their purpose!”

Sandbar nodded. “That was pretty cool, though my favorite was Zecora’s kindness lecture. Getting to see how potions are made was so awesome.”

Gallus chuckled and threw a glance Ocellus’s way. “I think mine was King Thorax’s loyalty lesson… mostly because of how embarrassed you were.”

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t do any better if Grandpa Gruff suddenly showed up to teach a class,” Ocellus replied with puffy cheeks. “At least the lesson was about his brother, Pharynx. I still can’t believe he told the ‘stop hitting yourself’ story.”

Silverstream giggled and bounced with excitement. Compared to Yona, she landed like a feather and Gallus doubted he would have noticed her jumping if he hadn’t been looking back at the others. “Well, I can’t wait until laughter class. Substitute Headmare Discord is teaching that one himself. You know that one is going to be fun!”

Smolder nodded as they rounded a corner. They were drawing near to their destination, the large atrium classroom where Twilight Sparkle often taught her history lectures. “Still can’t believe he actually got to be the substitute Headmare. Why isn't Starlight Glimmer doing it?”

“She’s away for a long weekend too,” Ocellus said. “She’s had it on a sign on her door for a few weeks now. Headmare Twilight probably just didn’t want to force Starlight to reschedule. That and Starlight probably advocated for Discord being given a chance after what happened last time.”

Gallus slowed to a stop. The group was just a few dozen steps away from the big atrium classroom. He glanced back at his friends, all of which had stopped along with him. “Hey, who wants to have a bet?”

“A bet on what?” Sandbar asked.

“Let’s guess who Discord got to teach Headmare Twilight’s History of Friendship class,” Gallus said, using one of his front claws to motion towards the classroom.

The others glanced around one another, starting to smile and nod. “Ooooo, what do we win?”

“Are bragging rights enough?”

The others nodded, and Yona put her hoof up. “Yona guesses… Starswirl the Bearded. Yona knows how much Headmare Twilight loves Starswirl. She’d let him teach her class no problem.”

Sandbar smiled and nodded. “That’s a good guess, Yona. Though, we gotta remember Twilight didn’t pick the substitutes. Discord did. So it might not be the perfect pick. I think it’s going to be Grandpa Gruff.”

Gallus flicked his tail and glared at Sandbar. “Really?”

“Why should Ocellus be the only one embarrassed? And Grandpa Gruff would know a lot about history.”

“Yeah, but maybe not a lot about friendship,” Ocellus said before her expression lit up a little. “Oh, maybe it’s Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. I know they’re on vacation doing fun things. Maybe one of them thinks teaching is fun, and so they want to be here for this lecture.”

“What if it was Discord?” Silverstream said as she waved her foreclaws in the air for dramatic effect. “I mean, I know he’s teaching laughter, but maybe he’d teach history too! He can be in more places than one.”

Smolder chuckled. “Yeah, that’d certainly be weird. But I think if Discord was going to do that, he’d do it for all the classes. I think it’s going to be Torch, the previous Dragon Lord!”

“Isn’t he bigger than this entire building?” Ocellus asked.

“That’s why it’d work. You’d never expect it!”

Ocellus rolled her eyes as Silverstream, Sandbar, and Yona giggled to themselves. Still, all eyes were on Gallus now. “So, you must have an idea if you started this whole bet,” Sandbar said. “Who do you think it’s going to be?”

Gallus turned and resumed walking towards the lecture hall. “I bet it's going to be Commander Tempest. That or some other villain that’s been redeemed through the power of friendship.”

The others moved with Gallus. The door to the classroom and the final truth to their bet looming ever closer. “That would be kind of cool,” Smolder said, “but… how many other villains are there besides Discord that are all buddy-buddy with Equestria now?”

Ocellus’s eyes wandered to the ground, her gaze fixed on the floor as her expression became focused. “Tirek and Cozy Glow are in Tartarus, and I doubt they’d want to come and teach us anything. We don’t know where Queen Chrysalis is, and I doubt she’d have been reformed without at least King Thorax hearing about it. Stygian would definitely fit that bill just like Tempest would. It wouldn’t be Starlight Glimmer. She’d be the Headmare if she was here.”

Gallus and Smolder turned to enter the classroom, even as Ocellus continued to speak. “Before Starlight it was Tirek. Then it was the first changeling invasion. Before that it was Discord, and before that it was…”

Ocellus stepped into something. She flinched and stumbled back, thankfully to be caught by Yona. She looked over her shoulder, flashed a smile at her sturdy friend, and then looked back forward. Gallus and Smolder had stopped dead in their tracks at the door. Ocellus quickly moved forward, as did Silverstream, Sandbar, and Yona, doing their best to cluster around Gallus and Smolder and peek their way into the room.

There, they saw her, standing on the atrium’s small teaching stage. The words escaped Ocellus’s mouth, finishing the sentence that had been so abruptly interrupted.

“Nightmare Moon.”

~~~

“Greetings, everyone, welcome to History of Friendship. I will be your substitute professor today. You may call me Nyx.” Nyx wrote out the short name on the chalkboard before glancing back at the students, seeing confused eyes and quiet whispers. “And that is my preferred name, though many of you may know me better as Nightmare Moon.”

The whispers among the students decreased, so Nyx had at the very least addressed the thing that had been the primary source of confusion. Most of these students were from outside Ponyville, or even outside Equestria, and wouldn’t know the intricacies of her personal story.

“Now, the lesson plan says that Twilight was going to speak to you about Equestria’s first friendships and alliances beyond its borders back when the kingdom was first founded. But… there is also this rather well-drawn note from Discord saying ‘teach what I know.’” Nyx held up the note for the class to see, and it was a rather detailed drawing of Discord at a chalkboard teaching Nyx, who had a dunce cap on.

“So, I suppose to begin my lesson I need to ask a few questions of my own. First, has Headmare Twilight gone over the First Nightmare Incident?”

The students were all quiet for a moment, but a brave soul raised a trembling hoof. It was the changeling student. Nyx had to quickly glance over to a clipboard that showed pictures and names of the students, but she was able to spot the student rather quickly. “Ocellus?”

“Yes, she has,” Ocellus answered as she lowered her hoof. “It was one of our first lessons, how her learning the power of friendship helped her and her friends save Equestria. It was a lesson meant to show us that by learning friendship now, we can do great things in the world with it.”

“I dare say it’s almost the school's mission statement,” Nyx said with a nod. “Now, has she taught you anything about the second Nightmare Incident?”

Nyx waited a moment, eyes scanning the crowd, but the collective shaking heads made it clear that it was a subject that Twilight had avoided. “Well then, I think it’s rather clear why Discord left me that little note. Who else knows more about The Second Nightmare Incident than me?”

A limb was raised, an eagle claw attached to a blue feathered foreleg. “So… like, you’re not Princess Luna.”

Nyx felt herself deflate a little. “So, we have to go back even that far. Admittedly, Spell Nexus could give a full and proper explanation of exactly how he accomplished what he did. But as of late, I’ve come to favor a particular analogy.”

Nyx called on her magic as she moved to one side of the platform at the front of the class. Her mane fluffed out, growing larger to fill the whole space. The dim but twinkling stars in that mane began to shift, clearing the space before a few of them clustered together into the distinctive image of a tree. As a final touch, lines became visible between the points of light, making it look like a textbook diagram of a constellation.”

“This may be something Applejack has covered in one of her classes, but not all varieties of apples are self-sustaining. Some apples, created through hybridization, are able to bear fruit but the seeds in that apple cannot grow a new apple tree. Thus, the only way to get new trees of that particular apple variety is through a technique called grafting. In simplest terms, you take a branch of a tree and graft it onto a new sapling of a different, but compatible tree variety. Then, with proper care, that graft will grow into a whole new tree.”

“This is what I am. I am what remains of the original Nightmare Moon grafted and pieced together into a new, separate entity. There are elements of me that are from the original Nightmare Moon, but I had to grow and replace everything that Luna kept when she was purified by the Elements of Harmony.”

Nyx surveyed the class again, making sure there weren’t any faces that were overly confused. When she saw none, she continued. “Headmare Twilight and her friends have had many triumphs, where the power of friendship and even love carried them through to victory against frightful foes. However, how the villains were defeated was not always the same.”

“Thus we come to the heart of what I feel will be today’s lesson, of what I am most qualified to speak on: a critical analysis and discussion on redeeming villains. As Discord, Starlight, and I prove, it is often the more difficult and time-consuming path compared to simply defeating and imprisoning a villain. Yet, despite our risk for relapse, I would argue it is the more sustainable solution in the long term.

To put it more bluntly, today’s lesson will be how you can’t just blast all your problems with rainbows.”

Several students laughed, and Nyx smiled at the delicate sound. It wasn’t much, but it was a sign that she had managed to cut the initial tension in the room and now they could go forward with the class in earnest.

~~~

The students were filing out of the classroom a while later, all of them chattering about the lesson. Nyx watched them go, giving nods to those that made eye contact with her. Eventually, it was just her alone in the lecture hall, though that solitude did not last as she heard the characteristic snapping of a certain someone popping in.

“My my, another class positively riveted,” Discord said with a grin. “Really, it seems you have a natural talent for being a teacher.”

Nyx rolled her eyes as she went to the chalkboard and began erasing the words that had been scribbled there over the course of the class. “I attribute that more to the subject matter than my teaching ability. Seems mother has been avoiding teaching about my attack on Equestria as part of her lessons.”

“Well, it was perhaps her first semi-failure on such a scale,” Discord said as he floated over and flopped to lounge in the student sitting section. “The little filly she took care of, despite all her love and care, still took over Equestria when her memories returned. Yes, you gave Equestria back eventually, but…”

Nyx turned her head to look at Discord. "But Equestria still remembers the weeks of eternal night.”

“Shame Princess Luna couldn’t take back the bits of her magic you still have. I imagine things would have been a lot better for you and Twilight if you were able to be a filly again.” Discord snapped his claw and turned himself into a cute little child version of himself. “Creatures are so much more forgiving when you have cute little cheeks they can squish.”

Discord snapped his claw again, turning back into his normal self. “I mean, getting a taste of that childhood only to not be able to go back. Truly that should have been punishment enough.”

“Is there a point you are trying to make, or are you just intent on rubbing salt in my wounds?” Nyx said as she finished erasing the chalkboard. "Or are you bragging about how good you have it despite helping Tirek? That you’re free to pop in and out everywhere you want while I’m kept so busy I can barely visit Ponyville.”

“Sorry, guess I struck a nerve.” Discord made a small medical hammer appear, which swung itself to strike one of his legs. Discord’s whole body convulsed while that one leg remained perfectly still. “Though… you do realize that your very busy “pay for my crimes” tour is partially your own fault. I suppose it eases the guilt, but really, one must strive for work-life balance.”

“I will tend to my matters in the way I see fit, Discord,” she said as she began to walk from the room. “I’ll leave the notes from my class on your desk so you can pass them onto Headmare Twilight, though I don’t imagine she’ll be wanting to quiz her students on this very soon.”

With that Nyx departed the room, leaving Discord and his annoying prodding behind. She navigated the halls to the nearest exit and from there took flight. Her ebony wings carried her easily as she soared higher and higher, becoming little more than a dark speck in the sky above Ponyville.

She was expected back in Canterlot for her curfew within the hour. It was another limitation she had agreed to have to appease the populace of Equestria, though she had been rather vocal that it was beginning to grate on her. Still, that one hour gave her time. Magic glowed around Nyx’s horn. She was casting no real spell but was instead sending up a flare. One noticed and quickly answered. She felt herself being seized by a teleportation spell, and soon, her surroundings drastically changed.

The place was dark and dismal, a strange lair formed from a naturally occurring limestone cavern. The roots from the swamp trees above dangled with moss from the ceiling. The murky water of the swamp filled the space with a musty smell. Everything was bathed in the warm light of an orb, a goat’s eye crystal ball that sat in a central place of honor.

Around that orb sat a dark council, those of wicked minds and spirits who sought nothing less than the domination and destruction of Equestria. Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow, and the group’s leader, Grogar, were all in attendance.

All eyes turned to Nyx as she arrived, brows furrowed and cautious. Nyx came and stood at her usual place at the table. Then, from the depths of her mane, produced a single jagged crystal. “As promised, a fragment from the magical map of Twilight’s castle.”

Grogar lips curbed into a small smile as his own magic picked up the gem fragment and turned it over slowly. “Very good. It’s nice to find someone capable after these three failed so spectacularly at securing my bell.”

Moving gently, Grogar lowered the crystal fragment to his crystal ball. The gemstone slowly sank into and merged with the mystical eye, and after a few brief moments, it began to display a visual. It was the throne room of the Castle of Friendship in clean detail. Grogar waved his hoof over the crystal ball, and the view moved to another chamber. A few more gestures and Grogar’s smile grew to a full, toothy grin.

“Yes, now not only can we glimpse and see Twilight anywhere within her castle, but we should now also be shielded from that accursed map table. Now, no matter how our plans progress, we should not fear Twilight Sparkle and her friends storming in to stop us before we are ready. Yes, this is very good, Nightmare Moon. With you replacing that fool Sombra, our success is more than assured.”

Grogar waved a hoof over the crystal ball again, returning it to the idle form of a glowing goat eye. He turned away from the table and began heading for the cavern’s entrance. “You should return to Equestria before you are missed. I will summon you once more when the next phase of our plan is complete.”

Nyx, along with the others, watched as Grogar left. A great deal of tension seemed to leave the room, and soon Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis closed in on Nyx. “Now, onto more important matters,” Chrysalis said. “What about your other mission?”

From her mane, Nyx once more produced an item. This time it was a book. It was brown with gold trim, and on its surface was an ornate pattern depicting a bell. Nyx saw the eyes of the three other villains light up with delight at the sight of the book. Cozy was the first to act, quickly snatching it up and cracking it open.

“I had to send clones of myself into the library for five nights, and then it took another three to pick the lock. But I doubt anyone will notice this book is missing for a very long time,” Nyx said.

Tirek moved to look over Cozy’s shoulder. “And you’re sure this book will contain information on Grogar’s bell?”

“If it doesn’t, then we simply resume our search elsewhere.”

“No, I can feel it,” Cozy closed the book and hugged. “This book is just what we need to turn the tables on that old goat. And with the power of his bell, Equestria will be ours.”

“Just remember our bargain,” Nyx said as she glared down at the other three villains.

“You’ll be free to do whatever you want with Twilight Sparkle and Spike after we’ve triumphed,” Chrysalis said. “After all, it's nice having a co-conspirator with such… low ambitions. Now, Grogar was right. You had better not stay here much longer. We’ll give you an update once we’ve confirmed whether or not this book has what we need.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Nyx gently hopped into the air, her wings carrying her upward before she turned and began flying towards the cave exit. Before leaving entirely, she dared to stop and glance back. Those three villains circled around the book, their eyes hungry for the power it promised. Nyx lingered to watch them a moment more. She then turned and made her departure.

~~~

Nyx landed gingerly on the balcony of Canterlot. The sun should have already been set, but Nyx could already see what the delay was. On the same balcony was Twilight, holding a strange amulet in her magic and fiddling with it. The sound of Nyx’s hooves nearby drew Twilight’s attention, making her blush and quickly try to hide away the trinket.

“Nyx… it’s good to see you.” Twilight said, putting on a smile.

“How are you, mother?” Nyx answered almost coldly as she took a few steps forward. “A bit weird to have you greeting me instead of Princess Celestia, but I suppose the princesses' duty as my wardens transferred to you while they are on vacation. It would seem the changing of day to night is also your responsibility.”

“Yes, just… the princesses didn’t really leave instructions on how to use this. I mean, I’ve used their magic before to move the sun and moon, but… it still feels… wait, ahah! I got it!” Twilight’s magic seemed to finally infuse into the amulet, and the sun did start to move… the wrong direction. It then began to wiggle and waggle across the sky as the moon came up from the horizon doing small loops.

“If I may.” Nyx flared her wings and lit her horn as she extended her will to the sky. Suddenly, the sun and moon froze, hanging for a moment before quickly returning to their correct positions. The sun began to sink beyond the horizon, Nyx keeping her magic focused on the act. Yet, at the same time, another spell was cast. Twilight’s horn glowed a little more brightly. To a casual observer, it would hopefully look like Twilight was trying to help and understand how to move the sun and moon.

In truth, Twilight was casting a protection spell, ensuring none could hear what they were saying. The spell, additionally, used illusion magic to mask the fact their lips were moving. To anyone looking in, the two were standing in silence as Nyx guided the sun through the sunset.

“You delivered the items to them?” Twilight asked.

“I did,” Nyx said, her wings slowly lowering as the sun disappeared further below the horizon. “You were right about the table fragment. They used it to bypass your protection spells on the castle and view the interior.”

“Did they notice the counterspell?”

“They didn’t. You should be able to use the same link to view their lair with the same ease.”

Twilight smiled, seeming to breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s good. It’s not fun knowing they can spy on me whenever. I’m glad I just made sure certain rooms were protected with additional privacy spells. It should hopefully keep them from catching on that we’re aware of them.”

Twilight sighed and gently put away the amulet Celestia and Luna had given her. “What about the other thing?”

“Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy are definitely plotting against Grogar. They were practically giddy to have that book.”

“But they still haven’t let you see the bell?”

Nyx shook her head. “No, I still haven’t been able to see the bell itself. They’re still pretty guarded around me, probably because Grogar is actually happy I’m succeeding in my missions. But I am absolutely certain they have it now.”

The sun was set, and Nyx adjusted her magic and began raising the moon. Twilight watched the moon, her eyes tracking its slow ascent. “Do they still believe you’re on their side?”

“I think they’re trusting me more. Chrysalis even went so far as to say how nice it is to have an ally with such 'low ambitions'. They really think I’m in it to protect you and spite the rest of Equestria.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you really felt that way,” Twilight said, her ears drooping. “You’ve been working so hard to earn back everyone’s trust, and if this plan goes wrong, they’re going to hate you again. They’re going to really think you were intentionally helping those villains take over Equestria.”

The moon was halfway up, its pale light bathing Equestria. Nyx kept watching her work, trying to ensure the moonrise was smooth. “We won’t let it come to that. We know they have that bell and the inaccuracies you inserted into that book will stall them. That will buy us time to read the original and come up with countermeasures.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s strange, being on the other side of things. Trying to do all this cloak and subterfuge stuff is nerve-wracking.”

“How do you think I feel? I’m conspiring with them to overthrow Equestria… so that I can help stop them from overthrowing Equestria.”

“I know it’s been stressful, but it’s almost over. And I promise, once I’m ruler, we’re going to be a family again. I don’t care what any creature else says, including you. If Discord gets to be off the hook, so do you. Heck, I’m tempted to make my first official decree be naming you my co-ruler.”

“You’re really dead set on tanking your approval rating in the first week, aren’t you?” Nyx said with a chuckle. “Be honest, you just want me around so I can be the one moving the sun and moon while you get to focus on Equestria’s friendship.”

“I’m not saying it wouldn’t be an efficient division of duties,” Twilight said with a giggle before turning her gaze to the amulet. “And I’m not saying that… I find the very existence of this amulet a rather dangerous proposition. Besides, you do such a good job at it.”

The moon was up all the way now, and Nyx was ending her spell. “Still, guess we’re out of time for today.”

“Yeah, but soon, we’ll have all the time we could want.” Twilight began ending her protection spell. “Just be safe, okay. If anything goes wrong, get yourself out of there. I don’t care if you have to blow your cover. Just get out of there.”

“I promise, I’ll be safe. And tell Spike I said ‘Hi.’” Nyx let those final words slip from her mouth before forcing her face back into a scowl. Twilight’s protection spell ended, and once more she had to act the part of the disgruntled villainess. “You had better practice moving the sun and moon yourself, mother. I’m sure Celestia, Luna, and the royal court will be cross that you let me dare indulge in such a grand act of magic.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with them. Still, let’s get you inside and to your room. It’s past your curfew, after all.” Twilight turned, heading back inside Canterlot Castle and Nyx followed a few steps behind.

~~~

Discord chuckled as he lounged in his home, resting on his ceiling couch as he looked at his floor coffee table. On it was a circular chess board with several unique pieces on it. The white pieces depicted Twilight Sparkle, her friends, and her fellow princesses. The black pieces, fewer in number, depicted Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis. And a third piece, in gray, depicted Nyx.

It was all his little plan, and it was working out so well. Nyx was doing exactly as he hoped, leaking tidbits of information to Twilight. This would further help Twilight grow and believe she is truly capable of ruling Equestria. That and he felt it would be a nice PR boost for Nyx. Really, the pair would be thanking him later once they realized how brilliant his plan was.

Discord still felt it was a shame that Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis had failed to get the bell. Really, his plan would have been practically perfect if they had just managed that one little errand. Still, if he couldn’t adjust his plans for minor chaotic mishaps, then he couldn’t really call himself a lord of chaos.

Yes, his plan was going flawlessly. Really, what could possibly go wrong?

Variance 5 - Legacy

What if Nyx was the only one left?

This was written in August 2021, and there is a LOT of speculation for something that will be released in September 2021. You’ll figure out what I mean by the end.

The sun rose, cresting over the wild forest and beginning its ascent into the sky. Nyx watched the orb ascend as it had done so many times on so many days, guided by the nudging of her magic. Truly, it was the gentlest of nudges, the bare minimum of effort. Still, it was enough effort, and Nyx turned to let the sun continue the sunrise on its own as she shuffled back towards her bed.

Truly she had come to hate summertime in so many ways. The nights were the shortest this time of year, which meant she truly had to be strict about going to bed and rising to ensure the sun and moon kept to their schedule. The schedule that her dear mother had made so much more complex in the name of allowing the seasons to pass more naturally on their own.

It was undoubtedly brilliant, and she loved the long nights in winter. But summer… summer she had grown to hate with a passion. Short nights, hot days in her black fur. Just too many reasons to be miserable.

Still, Nyx tried to put it behind her as she moved from her bedroom and began walking the halls of her castle. Yes, it was not Canterlot Castle and it was not the Castle of Friendship. This was her castle. This was the castle carved from raw stone by diamond dogs and then lifted above ground in a grand feat of magic. This was Night Stone Castle, though… perhaps not as dark and menacing as it had once been.

Just as the forest had come to surround the castle, it had sought to try and consume it. As Nyx passed a particular small balcony, just off one of the main hallways, she could see a familiar tree. It had found some small crack in the balcony stone long ago and had grown to an impressive oak that leaned against the banister. It had honestly become one of her favorite places to sit and read, the tree’s trunk forming a natural, comfortable seat.

That tree however was not an outlier. Vines, shrubbery, moss, and other full trees had taken root in the small cracks of stone and gaps in the brickwork. And Nyx knew the castle was home to more than just new flora as well. Tiny creatures, nuisances at worst, had found nooks and crevices to make their homes. If Nyx truly wanted, she could probably clear everything out with a few good spells, but the embrace of the forest helped to obscure the castle. That and it was nice to know there were other living things in the castle.

But all that was neither here nor there. Nyx’s mind couldn’t help but wander to the state of her home in the morning when she was walking the corridors with a night’s sleep behind her. It was like bidding good morning to a good friend and taking notice of a change of wardrobe or some new haircut. So much of the castle could change, and yet so much of it could stay the same.

One part of the castle that had changed a long time ago, and now changed most frequently, was the castle grounds. Once a place for marching soldiers was now a tightly packed vegetable garden. It was Nyx’s first stop each morning as she went to procure her breakfast and tend to the many plants.

Nyx did not pause to take in the garden once she had stepped outside. Instead, she quickly moved to a spot just to the right of the castle’s grand doors. There, sitting as an obvious unplanned addition to the grim and glorious castle, was a stone platform, an old metal water pump, and several stacked buckets and baskets.

With a flick of her horn, Nyx urged the old water pump to life. The handle rose and fell on its own, creaking and groaning before starting to burp up water drawn from deep underground. Another horn flick and the buckets rose up, forming into a clean single file line. One bucket would get filled by the pump, then go floating off to water some part of the garden. It was a delightful, choreographed dance that had become as second nature to Nyx as breathing.

As the magic tended to the garden, Nyx set to work using her hooves to harvest. She wrapped her mouth around the handle of the wicker basket, her teeth falling into well-worn grooves. She then began moving through the garden, browsing it as if it was a summer market. Whenever a particular vegetable or fruit caught her eye, she would stop and inspect it. More often than not, the food would then be promptly plucked. Some of it made it into her wicker basket. The others were tossed into a compost bin situated near the castle’s front gate.

Through the garden, Nyx walked from leafy greens to vibrant berries to root vegetables. Her last stop was a small cluster of trees furthest from the door, mighty apple trees. Nyx looked into the branches, moving among the trees before coming to a stop near one. With practiced efficiency, she brought one leg up and then swung it back, bucking the trunk of a tree. The branches rattled, and from the tree, a few apples fell to the soft grass below. Nyx picked up the apples, brushing them off a bit before smiling and nodding to the trees.

By this time, the water pump had stopped working and the buckets were stacking themselves. The garden was tended, and Nyx retreated back inside to lay out her food for the day and to decide on her breakfast. Then, it was back to work.

~~~

The sun rose, cresting over the wild forest and beginning its ascent into the sky. Nyx furrowed her brow a little bit, rubbing the base of her horn. The sun seemed heavy that morning, as sluggish as Nyx was when she did not want to rise from her bed. Perhaps her magic itself was just having an off day.

Retreating from the balcony of her bedroom, Nyx went to go about her routine. Out to the garden she went, flicking her horn at the water pump… but again… it felt off. The pump’s handle felt stiffer. She had to pour more magic into it to get the water flowing. The buckets, usually so swift to line up to their duty, floated haphazardly. It was like they too were deprived of sleep. Nyx furrowed her brow at all of it but went about picking her breakfast for the day. The plants were fine. The leaves, the produce, all of it was growing like normal. The plants were healthy, and the compost pile sure stank as much as it usually did.

Upon approaching the apple trees, Nyx found them in the same stellar health as always. She went to buck them, but… this morning she was granted nothing. The branches shook, but not a single apple fell. Nyx decided to try a few other trees, but they refused. On the final tree, she decided to buck with both legs. Finally a single apple fell. It was ripe and delicious. It looked like it’d be amazing, but still, the amount of effort needed didn’t seem right.

~~~

Nyx was sure of it now. The magic was slipping out of Equestria. She knew what this felt like. It was slower. It was happening over the span of weeks instead of days, but this felt all too familiar to what Cozy Glow had once attempted. Nyx found herself having to truly strain herself to move the sun and moon now. In a few more weeks, she feared she would lose the ability altogether. She had fallbacks, of course. A certain ancient amulet could be used in a pinch if she could remember where she put it.

Tending to the garden had become equally troublesome, now taking up a significant part of Nyx’s morning. She had to pump and spread the water by hoof and now had to pluck the apples from the trees. The garden itself seemed to be suffering as well. Pests and blights that the plants should have been resistant to were starting to creep in. Nyx was truly worried about losing the apple trees, though they seemed to be standing strong for the moment.

From the garden, Nyx would eat a quick breakfast. Then she would go straight to the castle library. The library of Night Stone Castle had never really been impressive in days of old. It had been made to store the contents of the Canterlot library, ready to be the true seat of Equestria’s government.

This, in a roundabout way, was the one purpose of the castle that had been fulfilled.

Nyx had books from across the old empire. Canterlot Castle, the Castle of Friendship, the Crystal Empire, Mount Ares, and beyond. The bookshelves overflowed, with some books simply having to be left in stacks because there was no room on the shelves. This was the one place where Nyx was rather diligent about keeping back the ever-encroaching forest. Yet, in the past few weeks, the library had become even more disheveled than usual.

Nyx had picked up her mother's tactics when it came to trying to find some obscure magical fact. Step one, try the most obvious books. Step two, try the obscure books. Step three, try the really obscure books. Step four, pour over everything and hope you find something. Nyx was deep into step four as she had yet to find an explanation.

Moving up to the table that Nyx had turned into her workspace, she looked over her efforts from the night before. It was a new spell, based on the same spell circle paradigms that had once brought her to life. It was her latest attempt, a spell meant to act as a compass and point to where the magic was going. But even as Nyx looked at it, she feared it would fail as so many other spells had before.

Truly, it felt like Equestria was in a drought. That the magic was simply evaporating under the heat of the late summer sun. That Equestria was simply becoming less magical, but Nyx knew that couldn’t be right. There had to be a reason, right? Either the magic had to be going somewhere, or that, for some reason, Equestria had lost its ability to generate more magic.

Nyx sighed and shook her head, and felt something shuffle on it that didn’t seem right. She turned her head and saw a glimpse of white. In a frantic search for a mirror, Nyx ended up looking at her distorted reflection in one of the decorative suits of armor in the adjoining hallway.

The magic had left her mane, and in its wake, it had left hair as white and pale as moonlight. It had been centuries since Nyx had seen her true and natural hair, free of magic. First, it was just a shock. She could almost hear Rarity giving a fainting gasp, even though it had been so long since anyone had heard the mare’s voice. Yet the deeper implications began to sink in. Alicorns didn’t age normally, and yet her mane was white. And now, as she looked at herself closely for the first time in a while, Nyx began to notice crows' feet around her eyes and creases at the corners of her mouth.

The magic of Equestria was evaporating, and her alicorn immortality was going with it.

~~~

Nyx stirred later that evening. She had spent the rest of the day trying to finish her most recent spell. The realization that her own lifeforce was being drawn away with the magic had lit a fire under her and had perhaps resulted in her pushing herself too hard. She had stopped only for dinner and to raise the moon. After that, she must have fallen asleep. It was now night, her drool staining the scroll she had been working on.

With a groan and a popping of her neck, Nyx resigned herself to going to bed properly. It was as if the floodgates had been opened, her mind now realizing that every little odd annoyance of her body from the past few weeks was age setting in. A weird sharp pain in a joint for no apparent reason. Achy legs and just a growing weight of exhaustion. It was the ravages of age finally catching up.

Still, she couldn’t let any of that slow her down. She had to find a solution, even if she was admitting she needed to get some sleep. She gently tucked away her work and quickly slipped out of the library. Nyx could almost hear the siren call of her bed, though she was already dreading having to rise in the morning to raise the sun.

She yawned, wondering if Equestria would notice if the sun was a little late, but… she then froze. She had been passing the front doors to the castle. The library was on the ground floor while her bedroom was in one of the towers. The quickest way between the two locations was to go by the front entrance and take a long set of stairs that led directly to her bedroom. Each morning, she left those doors to pick her food, and then pulled them shut behind her.

Now, as she stood there, Nyx saw the doors were open. On top of that, looking at one side of the door, she could tell it had been forced. The doors were supposed to be enchanted and resilient to entry, but Nyx could only guess that magic was fading as well. It had all become weak enough for something to force its way inside.

Nyx then heard it… a gasp, a squeal… it was hard to tell, but it certainly sounded unfamiliar. Her magic stirred, but even summoning the most basic of spells felt like lifting a great heavyweight. Still, Nyx would not stand for her castle to be invaded. She drew on her power, pulling from the ever-dwindling well of her magic to enact one of her oldest and most practiced spells. Nyx became a cloud of magic and began searching the castle.

Room to room, corridor to corridor she went. She began to hear voices, and she quickly honed in on them. The throne room. She hadn’t been in her throne room in decades, but that was where the sound was coming from. She began to move more quickly, ducking out a window and going around the exterior of the castle before going back inside through an old servants' entrance.

Within a minute, the magic cloud that was Nyx slipped into the throne room. She slunk around the edge of the space, hiding in the shadows. The once detailed stained glass that had depicted a great and frightful Nightmare Moon had long ago been replaced with more abstract and geometric designs. Yet, the glass of those windows still let the moonlight flow in.

And there, in the moonlight, Nyx saw five figures standing about the throne.

“It’s so amazing. I mean, look at the stitch work. I wonder if this was someone’s commission, but then who would leave it all the way out here? And where are her wings?”

One of the ponies was speaking as she stood near the throne. She was holding something, and Nyx felt her anger stir as she realized what it was. It was her soft, plushie recreation of Twilight. The target doll turned huggable, life-sized toy had been left to occupy the throne in the room. Nyx kept it there for a myriad of reasons, none of which applied to the current situation.

Not only were there intruders in the castle, but they were touching her things.

Nyx did not hesitate a moment more. She extended her cloud self, covering the main exit from the room. Her form crackled with lightning and boomed with thunder, causing the intruders to jump and quickly turn to face her.

“Who dares invade my home!?” Nyx bellowed, and… felt strange. Her voice was raspier than she remembered. Sure, she didn’t take to talking to herself too much, though she would read aloud to help fill the void. But she had been so focused on trying to solve things, she hadn't spoken in weeks. It would make sense her voice too had become aged and dry. Yet, the rage in her words still rang true.

The five ponies clustered together, a few moving to the front while the others clung to the back. Now that she was out of the shadows, Nyx could get a better look at them. At first glance, it was two pegasi, two earth ponies, and a unicorn. It was one of the earth ponies that now clung to her doll of Twilight, the one with orange coat and pinkish-purple hair.

Yet, it was that pony, that mare, that stepped away from the others, moving forward. She clung to the doll of Twilight as if it was giving her courage.

“I’m… Sunny Starscout. We’ve come… because the magic is disappearing from the world. It started with unicorns, like my friend Izzy, but it’s starting to affect the pegasi too.”

Nyx remained in cloud form, looming over them all. “Friends… earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi have not been friends for centuries.”

The mare who had stepped forward, Sunny, winced at Nyx’s booming voice, but… then her eyes looked to the doll of Twilight. She looked back to Nyx, bracing her hooves firmly against the floor. “They are my friends, and I’m going to do everything I can to help them. We came looking for the Tree of Harmony. We think it can fix what’s happening.”

“The tree… you know of the tree?” Nyx’s anger was calming, her cloud form relaxing. The crackling lightning faded and she became more like a billowing rainstorm.

“My dad told me stories about it, about how it helped Twilight Sparkle and her friends save Equestria. We believe… we hope it can help us do it again.” Sunny reached into her saddlebags and drew something out, something unfamiliar to Nyx. It was a wooden amulet, hoof carved, but on it was something unmistakable: her mother’s cutie mark.

Nyx remained silent for a moment continuing to loom. She had hidden away after the calamity, doing as instructed by her mother to ensure, no matter what, that some creature would remain to move the sun and moon. And yet in this darkest hour, when she felt she might fail in her task… a group of friends arrived at her door, seeking a tree that no longer existed.

Nyx couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking back to the beginning of Twilight’s own story. Six friends facing a calamity and searching for the Elements of Harmony. Had it really been so long that history was beginning to repeat itself? She couldn’t deny, she was curious, but Nyx could not risk exposing herself. News of a living alicorn in Equestria… she could not put the movement of the sun and moon at risk.

“You are close to what you seek,” Nyx answered, starting to let her cloudy body recede back away. “Head a day's travel to the west, to the dark heart of the Everfree Forest. There you will find a ravine beneath a castle more ancient than even this one. There you will find what remains of the tree.”

With that Nyx slipped away, leaving the throne room and taking her cloud form outside. She flitted and flew to her bedroom balcony, retaking her physical form. Nyx felt her legs tremble and heard a few joints pop and crack. It felt like she had robbed years from herself, age taking a steep toll for the magic she had just performed. Still, Nyx steadied herself against the banister of her bedroom balcony and looked down to the castle courtyard below. It took only a few moments before the five intruders came out of the castle, some visibly eager to escape. Nyx could imagine they believed the castle haunted, and perhaps that was for the best.

Still, as the other four left, the orange one lingered a moment just outside the castle gates. She turned to look back at the castle, and as her eyes followed the rising towers until her gaze met with Nyx’s. She held that gaze for a moment, then gave a hesitant wave. Nyx did not return the wave, continuing to simply observe until Sunny turned to follow her friends back into the forest.

“A new generation… it will be interesting to see what they do,” Nyx said, chuckling as she turned to go to bed. Though before turning in for the night she would want to check on one thing.

She wanted to be sure those ponies didn’t steal her Twilight plushie.

Core - Displeasing Futures

“Again.”

Nyx panted as sweat dripped from her brow. It was early, the sun was barely up on what was to be such an important day. Yet here she was as she had been for the past few years now, up at dawn running drills. She had only just finished an obstacle course that, by now, she felt she could do with her eyes closed. Yet with that one word, her mentor urged her to run it again.

And Nyx obliged, shaking her head and charging towards the first obstacle. It was a series of six slanted platforms, each at a 45-degree angle. The technique was simple, to jump between each platform swiftly and accurately until she reached the highest point. Nyx made the first leap, keeping her wings tucked. Perhaps when she had started this course she had needed and was allowed to use them for assistance. But today, for this part of the course, she could rely only on the strength of her legs.

First platform, second, third. She made each leap with practiced efficiency. Her eyes moved between the coming platforms, but she couldn’t help but notice what was visible in her periphery as well. On the ground was her mentor, Tempest Shadow, keeping pace and watching. Nyx knew she was being judged for every move and every step.

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth. She left the slanted platforms behind and arrived at the top of a round log that was kept elevated a good dozen feet above the ground. The landing was precarious, a perch barely suitable for regular-sized pegasi. Yet, Nyx had to cling and find her balance on it. In the past years, she had grown into the mare she had once been, an alicorn of regal height and stature. Truly, the only thing that separated her from her original form as Nightmare Moon was her cutie mark and her mane, the latter of which had not become a magic cloud of dark space. It was still just her naturally purple hair, though she kept it cut to a modest length.

It was not efficient or practical to run obstacle courses with the kind of mane often expected of alicorn princesses.

From the top of that log, Nyx leaped and opened her wings, riding the updraft from a fan below. She controlled her rapid ascent, working to stay in the same place in the air as she was carried skyward. Soon, she had been brought to the aerial part of the course: a set of cloud rings. With a single great flap of her wings, Nyx urged herself forward, beginning to twist and flow through the tightly set hoops. Barrel rolls and hairpin turns all led to a single, hawk-like dive from the air back to the ground portion of the obstacle course.

Nyx went through the hoops without a single feather out of place but dared to glance towards the horizon once she began the hawk dive. In the distance stood the Crystal Empire, the glittering buildings and castle that had been Nyx’s home for the past few years. She had been staying with her aunt, uncle, and cousin as she fully devoted herself to training with Tempest Shadow.

Nyx swooped and landed, losing no momentum as she entered the sprint portion of the course. Her hooves thundered beneath her as she raced towards the next true obstacle, and at that moment her mind wandered back to that fateful day at the Crystal Empire’s stadium. She thought of the day she asked Tempest Shadow to be her mentor. For a while, it was a simple monthly visit. She would be given a training routine to perform while living with Twilight in Canterlot and attending school, and then she’d slip back to the empire for an intense training weekend and evaluation by Tempest.

But after years of that, once Nyx graduated primary school, she approached her mother, Twilight Sparkle, and made the request. Twilight had hoped Nyx would go into higher education, to attend the collegiate program at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. And truthfully, Nyx wanted that too, but only after she pursued another goal.

She finally admitted the training she had been doing under Tempest Shadow, and Twilight, in turn, admitted she had already known about it. It still took some convincing. It became rather apparent that Twilight wanted Nyx to go to Celestia’s School so she could stay in Canterlot while still pursuing her higher education. Still, eventually, Twilight agreed.

And thus Nyx found herself here, today, running the obstacle course for what could have been the last time. For today was the day of her final exam, and what a doozy of an exam it would be.

Nyx reached the end of the sprint section and refocused, coming upon the magic portion of course. First came the water sprayers. They poured water constantly, turning the firm dirt of the path into sloppy mud. Nyx cast out shield spells, a mix of bubbles and flat squares. Her bubbles encircled the sprayers, blocking the water flow, while Nyx ran up a staircase of the square shields. It all led to a circular platform a good six ponies across. Nyx reached the center of the platform and pressed a button. Beneath her, the mechanical marvel that was the platform began to sputter to life.

Wooden standees, portraying red silhouettes of different creatures, began to spring up. Normally, in such a setting, a unicorn might blast such opponents with magic. Nyx, however, began forming more shield bubbles. These shield bubbles were the size of buck balls, and soon Nyx was turning and twisting her body to kick at the spheres of energy.

With the same grueling efficiency Tempest once showed in kicking cursed spheres at the royalty of Equestria, Nyx kicked her shield bubbles at the targets, knocking the standees over. But she couldn’t kick freely, as among the targets were ones that had to be left untouched. Those standees portrayed the happy, cheering faces of the Flim Flam brothers, the now Equestria praised inventors who had put together this particular portion of Nyx’s obstacle course.

Still, Nyx hit each target in swift succession and, once she had knocked down twelve, she leaped from the platform back down to the dirt below. It was the final straightaway of the obstacle course, and she began powering down it. But, at the same time, the magic portion of the course was not complete.

Tempest was waiting at the finish line, her horn sparking with energy. She rolled her head back and then thrust it forward, shooting out a surge of her wild, untamed magic.

Nyx brought up a barrier spell in front of her in a swift response, the wild magic smashing against the barrier as Nyx continued to sprint forward. Tempest only relented the blast once Nyx was a few steps away, moving to one side and allowing the alicorn to run full speed across the finish line.

Once the course was done Nyx quickly slowed herself and eventually came to a stop, once more hanging her head to pant as the sweat dripped freely from her brow. She panted but also tried to listen. Her ears remained attentive in case Tempest muttered the single word that would demand Nyx run the course another time.

“That’s enough.”

Nyx felt her legs go a little limp. She gently let herself tip to one side. She flopped over onto her back. She let her legs float in the air as her wings splayed out beneath her, the cool ground feeling so good.

Tempest stepped over to look down at Nyx. “You were a little slow on the sprint sections.”

“Didn’t sleep well last night,” Nyx replied, trying to keep her words steady even as she worked to catch her breath.

“It’s natural to be nervous. It’s why I chose the games as your final test. You need a situation with real stakes to prove you can apply all I’ve taught you when it matters most.”

Nyx slowly rolled back over to her hooves and shifted up to a sitting position. She looked to the Crystal Empire glittering in the distance, and could already see pegasi and other winged creatures flitting about in the air. In the wind, she felt she could hear the crowd in the stadium.

“That and I know you’re not really that fond of being the center of attention.”

Nyx chuckled, a dry laugh mixed with a whine. When on the obstacle course she couldn’t think about it, couldn’t focus on it. But now, as she looked at the stadium in the distance, it was like it was transforming before her eyes. A place of joy and revelry for Equestria was morphing into a monster that she had to face head-on.

Nyx would almost prefer facing a Lupis Major again.

“It’s just three events. Three events in the Friendship Games,” Nyx said, trying to convince herself that it wasn’t really anything to worry about. Faking confidence was doing little to give her actual confidence.

“Skeet breaking to prove your magic and offensive techniques, the air duathlon to prove your flight, and the ground triathlon for your physical agility.”

Nyx worked to stand up, shaking out her legs. Standing next to Tempest, she couldn’t help but loom over her mentor. Yet Tempest, with her strong personality, always seemed more than capable at looking Nyx square in the eye, even from her shorter stature. “Still can’t believe you convinced them to let me compete.”

“With the wide range of creatures in the games, Ms. Harshwhinny's only concern was limiting your magic, and there are spells for that. Besides, having you just do the events in an exhibition format would defeat the purpose.”

Tempest moved forward, heading back towards the city at a trot. Nyx knew all too well it was Tempest beginning their cooldown, a properly paced jaunt back to the city from their training grounds on the outskirts. “I cannot throw you into a real battle, where lives are on the line. Whenever you face that situation for the first time, that will be the true final test of all I’ve taught you. But for me to feel confident you are ready to graduate, I still need you to pass a test that has real stakes.

“The pride of Equestria in the first Friendship Games seems rather appropriate.”

Nyx once more laughed, trying to cover up a nervous groan. “Lucky me that Mom decided to start such a noble tradition the same year I was due to graduate.”

~~~

The din of the crowd was unending as the stadium crew went about their task. With practiced efficiency, the obstacles for the air relay event were being shuffled and tucked away, clearing the field for the next event. The Crystal Stadium of the Crystal Empire was at capacity, and to sate demand, extra cloud seating had been assembled to float in the sky above.

“Next up, the finals for the Skeet Breaking.”

Voices raised in cheers all around the stadium, voices that belonged to ponies, griffons, hippogryphs, changelings, yaks, dragons, and more. All had been invited to the Friendship Games. Yes, Equestria’s time-honored tradition of the Equestria Games had now been expanded. Creatures from around the world came to compete and spectate, and the games themselves had ballooned as new events were introduced to honor the sports and traditions of other lands.

Truly, the games were a shining example of Twilight’s hopes and dreams for Equestria.

Twilight should have been enjoying it more. She was sitting next to Cadance in the royal box, surrounded by the leaders of so many now friendly nations. Everyone, creatures of every size and species, was enjoying themselves. The papers were heralding the games as one of the greatest things to ever be done, and all seemed eager for the tradition to continue. Each day of events had proceeded efficiently under the direction of Ms. Harshwhinny, who took on the added responsibility of an international sporting event like it was second nature.

Twilight should have been happy because the games weren’t the only thing going well. The diplomatic meetings that had been happening around the games were going smoothly too. In each conference, Twilight had helped to further strengthen the bonds of friendship between Equestria and its many allied nations.

Twilight should have been many things, but all she felt right now was nerves that originated from her maternal instincts.

Though this was not the final day of the games, today was the last day of Nyx’s test. So far, her daughter had been performing admirably. In the air duathlon and ground triathlon, Nyx had made it to the finals. She ended up not medaling, but for those two events, reaching the finals was the bar Tempest had set.

For Skeet Breaking, however, Tempest had set the bar higher. Nyx had to medal in this event to truly pass her test.

The Skeet Break was an adaptation of a dragon pastime that involved trying to blast rocks with fire breath. The version used for the games upped the difficulty by using a mechanical device to toss clay disks into the air, which the competitors had to blast down with a single shot from a single position. There were several dragon participants in the finals, but the other nations had fielded some strong competition as well. Equestria had a couple of unicorns make it to the finals. There was also an abyssinian and an avian who used specially designed crossbows. There was even a yak who had impressively brute-forced her way into the finals by headbutting large stones across the arena to break the skeets.

A small flair of music filled the stadium, indicating the arrival of the competitors. Twilight stood up from her seat, craning her neck to look down at the stadium and watch the incoming procession.

A few years ago, trying to see over the crowd would have been much more difficult. Now, however, Twilight was truly starting to reap the vertical benefits of being an alicorn. In the ten years since her coronation, she had grown a lot. She was now taller than Cadance used to be by a good few inches, though Cadance herself had also grown and now had the same regal stature as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Really, despite her new height, Twilight was still the shortest of Equestria’s alicorns with the exception of the still school-aged Flurry Heart.

But her height relative to her peers didn’t matter at all at the moment as Twilight caught sight of Nyx entering the arena. Nyx strode in behind one of the dragon competitors, looking intently focused. Tempest Shadow was right beside Nyx as her officially registered coach, wearing a similar stern expression.

Even from this distance, Twilight felt she could see the influence of Tempest’s training. Beyond Nyx achieving the full stature one could expect of an alicorn, her build was athletic and strong. Twilight knew she and Cadance, in comparison, looked… royally pampered, to put it politely. Their long, flowing royal manes were also a stark contrast to the short, efficient mane Nyx kept.

Though, if Twilight was honest with herself, she was just grateful Nyx didn’t have her mane done up in a mohawk.

Still, no matter how serious the situation was, Twilight couldn’t help herself. Motherly instincts and nerves got the better of her. She put her forehooves in the air, keeping herself upright through her hind legs and wings, and she waved with her whole body! “You can do it Nyx!” she shouted. She didn’t use the Royal Canterlot Voice or any sort of vocal enhancement, but that didn’t stop her from getting a few surprised looks from the creatures sitting near the royal box.

And for a brief moment, Twilight saw Nyx glance up at the royal box. She couldn’t tell what expression Nyx had on her face, but just getting a glance from her daughter made Twilight feel a little better. Though Twilight also knew how nervous Nyx was. They had talked about it the night before, and in truth that had only caused Twilight's nerves to multiply.

It was the final test of Nyx’s final test. It was a final test squared!

“Twilight?”

“AH!” Twilight flinched, stumbling back into her seat and flopping down onto the cushion. She quickly looked in the direction of the creature that had touched her. She saw a forehoof on her shoulder and the foreleg attached to it. Yet, she couldn’t see the other pony. That was mostly because her outstretched wings had slapped the other pony in the head.

When Twilight was able to tuck her wing away, she saw the slightly startled face of her sister-in-law, Princess Cadance. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Cadance said as she removed her hoof from Twilight’s shoulder. “I know you really want Nyx to pass her test today. That and I know your own history with tests.”

“You’d think I’d finally be over it by now, but my daughter is going through her own final exam. On top of that, it’s in this big public setting. It’s giving me flashbacks to when the Crystal Empire first reappeared.”

“Well, at least Nyx’s goals are more clear-cut than yours were,” Cadance said as she looked back to the field. Twilight looked back down as well and saw the first skeet breaker was approaching the line. It was a unicorn from Manehatten. Though unicorn horns were normally blocked from any spell inside the arena, for this event each competitor could select a single spell of their choosing. The Manehattan unicorn was going with a basic blast spell, as was fairly common for any unicorn that participated in this event.

“And I’m sure Nyx will do just as well,” Cadance continued. “Besides, it’s not like the fate of an empire hangs in the balance.”

“For as nervous as I am, it feels like it could be,” Twilight said, trying to calm herself. The first competitor had finished and the next one stepped up. It was the yak, who brought with her a cart full of stones ready for headbutting. “I can’t wait for her to come back to Canterlot.”

“Shining and I are going to miss having her around. It’s been really nice getting to know her better the past few years. Helped us all feel closer as a family.”

Twilight turned and frowned at Cadance. “Oh, rub it in, why don’t ya?”

“You got to see all of us for Hearth’s Warming and the Festival of the Two Sisters every year.”

“That’s not enough,” Twilight whined.

Cadance brought a hoof up, trying to hide away a tiny flutter of laughter. “Well, I think Nyx is eager to be done with her training too. I know she’s going to give it her all.”

Twilight nodded, bringing her hooves to her face and gently slapping her cheeks. “I know and I know my friends have told me time and again it’s all part of growing up. That even though I wanted Nyx to go straight into higher education in Canterlot, it was better that I let Nyx go and focus on her training with Tempest. That it’s okay. That my parents went through the same thing with me when I moved out to focus on my studies with Princess Celestia. But Cadance, tell me again how my adoptive daughter, who liked to learn and ask questions, turned into such a guard brat like my brother?”

“Hey, I’m married to that guard brat,” Cadance said, using her wing to poke Twilight in the shoulder. “I do get what you’re saying, though. We can’t control who our children grow up to be. We can only help guide them, and I know you’re proud of how far Nyx has pushed herself. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be as nervous as you are.”

“I guess. But now I’m also worried about what’s next for her. I mean, once she’s finished this training, what does she do with it? I know we talked about her going to college in Canterlot and moving into the castle with me and Spike, but I don’t think she knows what degree she’d want to pursue. And if she doesn’t want to do that anymore, then what does she do? Does she just go around fighting monsters around Equestria? That’s not exactly safe, and it’s not exactly full-time work anymore. Even the world-rescuing that my friends and I need to do hasn’t been as frequent lately.”

“I don’t know, but I also remember a certain someone was unsure about her future once upon a time. And I think me, Celestia, and Luna would give Nyx the same advice we gave you. Know that her time is coming soon, as the sun rises, so does the moon. As love and friendship exist in every heart, your daughter will play her part.”

Twilight smiled, her own mind tripping back down memory lane. “That seems so long ago now. Guess even princesses need a reminder about lessons they’ve learned from time to time.”

“That’s what friends, and sisters-in-law, are for.”

“Next up at the Skeet Break: Nyx Sparkle for Equestria!” The announcer’s voice came over the speakers, drawing Twilight’s attention back to the field. A bit of guilt sank into Twilight’s stomach. She had totally missed some of the other competitors. Still, the crowd of the stadium was cheering. They were cheering for Nyx, and that alone seemed to soothe some of Twilight’s nerves.

While some tabloids had been eager to print headlines about “Nightmare Moon’s Return,” most of the news had been questioning the fairness of an alicorn participating in the games. Still, Harshwhinny assured that Nyx’s abilities would be tested and limited if they believed they fell outside an acceptable range for a pony or the other competitors.

But for now, all that was in the past. All those things were hurdles Nyx had already crossed. Now it was just the final test of her final test.

“For those who did not see the qualifiers,” the announcer said, “Nyx Sparkle will be deviating from the usual blasting spell employed by unicorn competitors. She will instead be using a bubble shield spell.”

Nyx stepped forward to the blasting position, loosening up her body as she fluttered her wings and rolled her neck. The game’s official placed a metal ring on her horn and Nyx followed with a few test spell casts. She was able to make different bubble spheres appear around her and then disappear. When the game’s official was satisfied, he stepped back. A moment’s pause and Nyx stepped on a button near her hoof.

The button was connected through a few wires to the skeet throwers, inventions of Flim and Flam’s that clicked and whirred with an almost charismatic quality. Somewhere inside the device, a timer was counting down. Then one of the devices gave a loud shunk, wood and metal working together to catapult the clay skeet into the air.

Nyx formed her shield bubble, leaped, and spun herself around. One of her hind hooves caught her shield bubble. That powerful kick rocketed the bubble forward, sending it sailing across the field. It smashed the clay skeet cleanly out of the air.

Twilight noticed some movement in her periphery, and she glanced toward Cadance. Though her eyes soon drifted back to Nyx, she still spoke up. “Everything okay?

“Just remembering when Tempest launched those dark magic spheres at the first Festival of Friendship. I know Nyx has put a lot of effort into mixing Tempest’s offensive techniques with her defensive spell work, but… those techniques were perhaps the scariest of Tempest’s arsenal."

“Oh, I remember,” Twilight shivered a little herself as the darkness of that day bubbled up from her memories. “Tempest managed to hit Luna while she was flying away. I’m just relieved I was able to catch Luna before she hit the ground.”

“And that you were pushed out of the way of your own orb by that brave mail mare. Hard to know what would have happened if you and your friends hadn’t managed to get away.”

Twilight nodded, even as she watched Nyx accurately break two more skeets out of the air. “Whenever I think of that day, I can’t help but think of how it could have been avoided if things had gone better for Tempest. And I don’t mean if she had avoided breaking her horn. No, I mean that if she had felt she had friends to help her through such a traumatic experience. The Storm King may have still amassed an army, but Tempest was such a crucial part of his success. Just one little filly, without friendship, nearly conquered Equestria.

“Though I guess the same could be said of Starlight.”

Another set of skeets was blown away. Nyx, so far, was performing at least on par with the other competitors. It all came down to the last few launches, where the number and difficulty of the skeets noticeably increased. Twilight was inching forward in her seat, craning her neck and trying to get a better look at the action, even if the royal box was among the best seats in the stadium.

Soon enough, the final set came into play. Five skeets all launched at once, with varying heights, speeds, and spins. Nyx summoned five bubble spheres and began to kick them out towards the skeets. One skeet was smashed. Another burst apart soon after, and then another. Two left. Nyx summersault kicked another sphere, and the fourth skeet went down. But now the fifth skeet was nearing the end of its flight. Time was running out.

Nyx kicked another sphere. It sailed through the air, looking to be on target, but a slight error in its trajectory became apparent as it drew closer. The shield bubble ended up just nicking the skeet, altering its direction but not properly breaking it. Nyx quickly summoned another bubble shield and smashed it across the field, and this time the skeet broke cleanly. Still, there were groans of disappointment coming from the stand.

“That is a tough break. Nyx Sparkle’s perfect performance has been marred by a slight miss on the last skeet. She recovered, but that extra shot may very well keep her from medaling. Still, it was a stellar performance,” the announcer said. Those words managed to turn the crowd around and bring a round of cheers as Nyx departed the event.

Twilight was on her feet, forehooves on the guardrail that separated the royal box from the rest of the stadium. She watched Nyx leave the field, Tempest following a few steps behind, then quickly looked back at Cadance. “Wait, what happens now? Did she pass or fail?”

“I don’t know. I suppose it depends on what happens with the other competitors. I mean, even with a perfect score, Nyx could have lost when it came to the tiebreakers. This does hurt her…” Cadance fell silent. She then hung her head and waved a hoof. “Just go check on her already. I can cover for you.”

Twilight rushed in and gave Cadance a quick wing hug. Then, she was gone. Twilight moved as quickly as her hooves would allow as she left the royal box and began navigating the stadium’s corridors. Normally she’d just teleport, but even the alicorn royalty had to have their magic limited to ensure there was no cheating. Ms. Harshwhinny was very strict about that.

~~~

“She can explain!”

Nyx jumped, twisting her body and getting to her hooves as her horn started to flare with magic. She was not the only creature that had jumped. Many of the other competitors, coaches, and other creatures in the locker room were now all looking to the doors. Doors that had been thrown open as Princess Twilight Sparkle came bursting into the room.

Nyx felt the tension quickly flow out of her body. She dispelled the magic she had been about to conjure. “Mom, Tempest isn’t even here.”

Twilight blinked and began looking around at all the creatures she had so thoroughly scared. She flashed a smile and cleared her throat. “Sorry, sorry everyone… just… royal business.”

Those words seemed to satisfy most of the other creatures in the locker room. They went back about their business as Twilight quickly crossed the room. Before Nyx could really react or object, she found herself getting pulled into a foreleg hug by Twilight.

“Mom, Mom, it’s okay!” Nyx said though she didn’t make an effort to escape. While she was the taller and stronger of the two, Nyx knew it was rather futile to try and resist one of her mother’s hugs.

Twilight finally released Nyx but stayed close by. The concern on her face was unmistakable. “But what about your test?”

Nyx picked up a towel she had dropped on the ground when Twilight came storming in using her magic and began trying to dry off the sweat from the back of her head. It was a simple gesture, but even that simple thing was helping to keep Nyx’s mind from focusing on the test. “Tempest is out in the stadium watching the rest of the finals. She’s going to come back once the event is over… or once three other creatures manage to beat my score.”

“So the fact she’s not back yet is good, right? That means three creatures still haven’t beaten you!” Twilight turned her head and craned it out, trying to look at every door that led in and out of the locker room.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Twilight looked back at Nyx. “You’re… very relaxed.”

“Because I can’t do anything about it now,” Nyx said as she finished toweling off. She picked up a water bottle and took a sip. “The test is taken. I’m worried about the results too. I’m trying really hard not to pace the floor. But I can’t do anything to change it now. I just… have to wait.”

Twilight brought up a forehoof and put it down. She nervously shuffled on her hooves before sighing and nodding her head. “You’re right. You’re right.” She brought a forehoof to her chest, drawing in a breath. She then released that breath as she extended that forehoof out in front of her slowly. “I’m sorry. I just… when you missed that last skeet and the announcer started talking about you not getting a medal I…”

“You Twilighted?”

“I may be the ruler of Equestria, but I’m still allowed to start Twilighting over my own daughter,” Twilight said, brow furrowed. Yet her expression soon softened into a smile as she went back up to Nyx and pulled her into another hug. “But still, you did so great. Even making it to the finals in the Friendship Games is such an accomplishment. I’m so proud.”

Nyx brought her hooves and hugged Twilight back, feeling some of her own still simmering nerves starting to fade away. “Thank you. Ugh, I still can’t believe I missed that last skeet like that. If I made a mistake like that on the obstacle course, Tempest would normally make me run it another five times.”

“Well, I think this proves that Tempest was right. The Friendship Games were a good testing ground, as it made you perform under pressure. And I still say you did great. If I was the one grading you, I’d say you passed with flying colors.”

“But you’re not the one grading her, Princess Twilight. I am.”

Nyx turned away from her mother, looking over to the mare slowly approaching them. Tempest's face was unreadable. Nyx could not tell if she was smiling or frowning, and thus, she could not discern a clue about her fate. All she could do was face the truth. “What is my final grade, Tempest?”

Tempest glanced between the pair of them, flicking her eyes back and forth a few times before speaking. “The gold medal is going to Martha Tumbletoss the diamond dog. She beat out Firewing the dragon in a final tie-breaker after both of them scored perfectly in the first round of finals.”

Nyx felt herself getting wrapped up in another hug of Twilight’s. This was less a comforting embrace and more a nervous squeeze. Twilight was holding onto Nyx as she braced for the news, and honestly, Nyx felt it was helping her keep calm as well. No matter the result, her mother was going to be there for her.

“And the bronze medal is going to a creature who scored a near-perfect round, who beat out the remaining competitors who all had at least two or more errors.”

Nyx smiled as she saw the truth Tempest was being torturously slow in revealing. At the same time, she felt Twilight's embrace growing tighter. She could only guess it was because Twilight was having the same realization. “That means…”

“Nyx Sparkle, you have passed your final test,” Tempest said, her lips finally cracking into a smile.

“You passed!” Twilight cheered. She released Nyx and began prancing about, her voice growing louder with each utterance of the phrase. “She passed! She PASSED!”

Tempest reached out and grabbed Twilight by the tail, yanking her back. “Yes, she did, now will you stop making fools of us all.”

Twilight blushed even as she slipped back over to Nyx, pulling her into another hug. “Right, sorry, but she passed!”

Tempest rolled her eyes and shook her head before focusing back on Nyx. “She did, and I’m proud to have had the opportunity to teach her. I know you plan to return to Canterlot after this, and I know your training routine may never be as intense as it has been the past few years. But I hope you continue to practice, hone, and improve everything I’ve taught you and put these techniques to good use protecting others.”

“Of course, and thank you again, Tempest. I’d hug you, but it seems I’m already occupied.” Nyx glanced down at her mother, still giving a proud mama-bear squeeze.

“If you really want to say thank you, you can do one thing for me.”

“What’s that?”

Tempest lifted a forehoof to point at Twilight. “Try to resist the 'royal alicorn' figure that your mother and aunt inherited from Celestia and Luna.”

“Hey!” Twilight said, loosening her grip on Nyx to glare at Tempest.

Nyx chuckled. “Well, maybe I could do the opposite and help my mother get into an exercise routine.”

Tempest’s smile cracked wider, and she began to laugh. Nyx began to laugh as well, light chuckles that only left Twilight pouting. “It’s not my fault. I have a lot of paperwork to do and the chef makes such good food! And do you know how many cake contests I had to continue because they were traditions started by Princess Celestia?”

Twilight’s protests only got Nyx and Tempest laughing a little louder, and soon even the Princess of Friendship was laughing along. The laughter was carrying away the nervous energy that had built up over the past days and even weeks.

For today, Nyx had passed her test.

~~~

“Yak still think smashing should be more than one event in Friendship Games!”

“You’re in third place as it is in the medal count. I think your yaks are doing just fine, though I wouldn’t get comfortable. My dragons will be coming to knock you down to fourth place tomorrow.”

“That’s unless the Mount Aris team swoops in and rises to the top. Tomorrow is some of our best events. Honey, we’ll be racking up the gold medals left and right.”

Flurry Heart stood with her mother, wearing a smile and listening in as Prince Rutherford, Dragon Lord Ember, and Queen Novo went on about how their teams were performing. Despite her smile, Flurry felt a crick in her neck forming looking up at the many tall creatures. Queen Novo and Prince Rutherford were at least reasonable. As long as Flurry had known them, they had been largely the same. Her mother had grown to match them but hadn’t gone much further than that.

Dragon Lord Ember, in contrast, always seemed to be taller every time Flurry Heart saw her. Ember was three heads taller than anyone else in the room. Trying to talk to her at all, for Flurry, ended up as a conversation with the Dragon Lord’s shins.

Though Flurry wouldn’t deny it was interesting how the dragons were actually NOT growing as monstrously large as they used to. She would bet it was because of their shift in focus to friendship instead of greedy hoarding. A dragon’s size was often partially influenced by the amount of wealth they possessed and how ferociously they sought to guard it. Honestly, she had a new book on dragons arriving next week that she was eager to dive into.

Still, as the conversation went on Flurry let her eyes wander and the smile on her face weakened. There were so many important creatures, leaders, and dignitaries that she all knew in some capacity. Other fillies and colts her age might find it overwhelming, but for her, it was just another diplomatic party. Just another chore.

Tonight was the last big diplomatic event before the end of the Friendship Games, the last Midway Meet & Greet. The leaders of the different kingdoms all attended along with top athletes. Though it was meant to be another diplomatic event, Flurry could tell it was mostly a chance for the dignitaries to take a break from the more sequestered diplomatic meetings. At this party, they were free to just talk about the Friendship Games themselves.

Looking across the room, Flurry could see different groups of dignitaries that were chatting. The Diamond Dog sisters Queen Ambrosia Muffinbuns and Queen Katherina Proudpaws were talking with the married couple of Princess Ocypete and Princess Celaeno. Their two nations had tied for 4th in the Skeet Breaking event and looked to be comparing notes on crossbow techniques with their respective athletes.

At the buffet table, the Abyssinia and changeling delegations appeared to be exchanging knowledge of a different matter. Capper, an acting diplomat to Equestria for his feline fellows, was regaling Pharnyx, prince of the changelings, with some tall tale that required a lot of pantomiming. At the same time Capper’s fellow diplomat and childhood friend, a two-tailed female abyssinian named Shadow, appeared to be talking magic with King Thorax. The Abyssinian kingdom had only regained its magic a decade ago, and many of them were still eager to learn all they could.

In the final major group, Flurry could see Aunt Twilight, her dad, her cousin Nyx, and the griffon delegation. Though Flurry couldn’t hear what was being said, she could tell by her aunt’s body language she was still gushing over Nyx 'graduating' from her lessons with Tempest. The griffon council was listening dutifully.

That delegation was led by Gilda, who had been a key actor in Griffonstone’s rejuvenation through the power of friendship. Flurry had even overheard from her mom and dad that there were talks of trying to restore the griffon monarchy with Gilda as the new queen. At the moment, however, Gilda seemed just to be struggling to look attentive as Twilight was droning on.

In all, Flurry would call it a very friendly party, and the social transactions were ongoing as one would expect. She herself was hoping to be able to slip over to talk with Aunt Twilight. She’d congratulate Nyx on medaling in the Skeet Break, and then maybe she could ask Aunt Twilight for some advice on a magic spell she was trying to master.

Hopefully Twilight wouldn’t ask why Flurry missed the Skeet Break finals, but Flurry was sure her aunt would understand that she had just gotten caught up in her studies.

After that, Flurry admittedly was wanting to go talk to Miss Shadow, the abyssinian delegate. The feline magic that had been rediscovered by their people was fascinating in its own right. Who would have thought having two tails would be a sign of magic? It was so strange compared to just having a horn in your forehead, though perhaps more subtle.

Then maybe after that—

“Flurry?”

Flurry winced. Someone had been talking to her and she hadn’t been listening. Flurry turned and craned her head back up, looking up at her mother and the other nearby leaders. “Sorry, I was just noticing how happy my Aunt Twilight is. What did you ask?”

“I was just asking how old you were. I’m afraid I’ve lost track,” Queen Novo said.

“I’m eleven,” Flurry answered. She knew how to handle polite chit-chat just fine. “Thank you so much for asking. And how is your daughter doing, Queen Novo?”

“Oh, Skystar is a bundle of energy as usual, though I’ll admit she’s rather jealous of her cousin Silver Stream. I would never have imagined she’d graduate from Twilight’s School of Friendship and then stay on to become one of its new professors.”

“Oh, that’s so wonderful for her. I’m sure she’ll be able to help a lot of creatures being a teacher at the school. She’ll make even more friends. Then those friends can in turn help her advance her career. Maybe she could open an additional campus of Twilight’s school at Mount Aris someday!”

“Oh, well… yes, I suppose all that could happen, though I think Silver Stream is just happy where she is right now.”

“Yes, I’m sure Silver Stream is just happy to be helping other creatures learn the magic of friendship.” Cadance had taken a step forward, smiling and laughing as if Flurry had just cracked a joke. Though Cadance then swiftly shifted her focus to Rutherford. “Still, I hear Yona is doing well too, Prince Rutherford. I hear she’s launching a multi-national fashion line with Rarity next week.”

Flurry recognized her mother’s tactic. A kind word, a reassurance, and then a change of subject. Flurry sighed and began to tune out the conversation again. There was a chance she and her mother would have a 'talk' about what she had said later, but considering how early it was in the evening, Flurry hoped it would just be forgotten.

It’s not like she said anything wrong.

~~~

“Twilight?”

Cadance knocked on the door to the guest room Twilight was using while staying in the Crystal Empire. Cadance knew Twilight could have been asleep already. It was getting pretty late and the party had ended a while ago. Still, Cadance found herself unable to rest. Her mind was constantly turning and broiling, refusing to calm down to let her sleep.

The door was silent and unmoving, and Cadance was beginning to fear that Twilight was asleep when, finally, she heard movement inside. The handle turned and the door opened, revealing Twilight standing on the other side. Cadance knew her sister-in-law well enough to immediately know something was wrong. Her mane was frazzled and, behind her, the room was stacked with books that Twilight had likely yanked from the castle library.

“Cadance, is everything okay?” Twilight asked as she used a forehoof to rub one of her eyes.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Cadance gestured to stacks of books. “Did something happen with the games?”

“No… but it did happen because of the games. Honestly, it would be nice to talk to someone else about it.” Twilight stepped back, letting Cadance come into the room before shutting the door. “You want some tea? The castle staff just brought it up.”

Cadance looked over to the tea set which, along with a piping hot pot of tea, also had a plate of cookies next to it. Cadance couldn’t deny it, it was an offer too enticing to pass up. “Yes, I do.”

Twilight shut the door and walked across the room, her magic reaching out and starting to tidy. The stacks of books were cleared from the table and set against one wall. The tea set with the plate of cookies came to rest at the center of the table while Twilight and Cadance each took a seat on one of the soft cushions. Cadance went about pouring the tea while Twilight set out saucers and plates.

“So, what’s going on?” Cadance asked once their refreshments were properly poured.

Twilight turned her head back to the stack of books, using her magic to fish out a single manila folder and bring it back to the table. “Nyx waited until after the party to tell me. It’s about the magic tests she underwent so she could participate in the games. Ms. Harshwhinny shared the results with her.”

Cadance took the folder from Twilight and cracked it open, glancing over the top page inside. While there were a lot of numbers she herself didn’t understand, the graphs seemed to indicate Nyx was above average. “This doesn’t look bad to me.”

“It wouldn’t be bad if Nyx was just a normal unicorn,” Twilight said as she took a cookie from the serving tray and placed it on her little plate. “In fact, it would be stellar if that was the case, but she’s an alicorn. She should have more magic than that.” Twilight produced another two folders.

Cadance opened these new folders, seeing they were the same tests but they had been performed on different creatures. One of them was familiar to Cadance. It was Flurry’s test from a few months earlier. The test was a normal part of tracking a unicorn's development, and Cadance remembered sharing it with Twilight, knowing her sister-in-law would be fascinated by the numbers. The results were record-breaking for a unicorn of Flurry's age.

The other folder had test results from Twilight. It looked like she had taken the test herself. Her results were even more staggering, beating out Flurry’s numbers. Some of that was to be expected. After all, Twilight was an adult and Flurry was just a filly, but it helped Cadance realize what was so abnormal about Nyx’s results.

“I think I understand what has you so worried,” Cadance said.

“Nyx didn’t even need her magic limited to compete in the Skeet Break. She was already within the tolerances that Ms. Harshwhinny and her committees had defined.” Twilight paused to lift and take a sip of her tea. It was a very brisk sip. Cadance could only guess it was driven by Twilight’s nervous energy. “I know that Luna took back her own magic after everything that happened. That’s what made Nyx a filly again, and it put her magic back down at what would be normal for a unicorn filly at that age. But I don’t know… with Nyx still having her horn and wings, I guess I expected her to grow back into her alicorn power by now. I guess I’m just worried this is a sign something is wrong.”

“I’m sure we can figure out what’s going on,” Cadance said, trying to be reassuring.

“Yes, and I’m grateful Nyx didn’t tell me until after the party. I would have been a wreck,” Twilight went to take a bite from one of the cookies. She sat and chewed, but then her brow furrowed. She looked back up at Cadance. “Wait, how did you know I was up and worrying about this?”

Cadance stared back at Twilight, then let her eyes fall to her own teacup. “Honestly, I came to talk to you because of something I’m worried about.”

“What is it?”

“Flurry… I don’t think Flurry has any friends, Twilight.”

Cadance heard a clatter, and when she looked up she saw Twilight’s partially eaten cookie had dropped back to her plate. “What?”

“She gets along with her tutors just fine. Wise Wand is always singing Flurry’s praises on how brilliant she is and how quickly she absorbs her lessons. It’s not that she’s being mean or impolite or ungrateful. But, as I was lying in bed, I realized I couldn’t name one creature that was Flurry’s age and her friend.

“And Shining and I have done playdates and parties, trying to help her make friends. She gets along with other fillies and colts just fine. She had dozens of little creatures at her last birthday party, and all of them seemed eager to be there. But she never asks to go visit them on her own. Either we’re invited to an event, or we’re inviting them. Flurry never wants to just go play with any of them of her own volition, but she never asks us to turn down an invitation.”

Cadance took a sip of her tea, trying to let its warm aromas and soothing flavor clear her mind. However, it was doing little to help. “She reminds me so much of you, but at the same time… it’s not like she doesn’t value friendship. I know she understands how important it is, but the way she talked about friendship earlier tonight wasn’t right. It was like she was focusing more on the reward. She spoke like it’s more important what someone gets out of friendship rather than the friendship itself. Add on top of that you mentioned Tempest and Starlight earlier and....”

Twilight winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry more.”

“It’s not your fault, you didn’t know this was bothering me,” Cadance said as she took a cookie from the tray and brought it to her mouth. Though these were made by some baker, Cadance could recognize one of Spike’s signature recipes anywhere. If Spike wasn’t an official friendship advisor and ambassador, Cadance imagined he’d have a heck of a career as a baker.

“What about Nyx?” Twilight asked. “Hasn’t Flurry been making friends with Nyx?”

“Nyx is maybe the closest thing to a friend Flurry has, but they’re also so far apart in age. I think Nyx does try to be like a big sister to Flurry, but Flurry doesn’t seem to value that relationship. She asks Nyx for magic advice and will watch her practice sometimes, but Flurry missed the Skeet Break finals. She doesn’t seem to feel bad about it, either. She was in her room trying to master short-range teleportation all day.”

“Teleportation? At her age? Wow, that’s kind of amazing. I wonder, could her magic still be getting limited by Fledgling’s Forbearance? Teleporting does take a pretty strong surge of magic, and that surge might be something that old spell is trying to curb and normalize. Maybe I should—”

“Twilight,” Cadance said, unable to keep a frown off her face.

Twilight winced and put on an apologetic smile. “Sorry. That’s not the important thing right now.”

“I don’t want to say I’m not grateful she’s so talented, but I’d honestly be happy if she was less of a prodigy if it meant she was having fun and playing with actual friends.”

“Maybe it will be okay?” Twilight lifted a forehoof to gesture to herself. “She could just be a late friendship bloomer, like me.”

“Maybe, but it’s such an important thing. Friendship has saved Equestria so many times, and a lack of friendship has caused it just as much trouble. I just wish I could know how worried I should be.”

“Yeah, I feel the same about Nyx’s magic,” Twilight said.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, sipping on their teas and nibbling on the cookies. Cadance just didn’t know what to say next, her mind reaching and grasping trying to find some solution to either dilemma.

“Well… there is one thing we could try,” Twilight said, finally breaking the silence. “But if we’re going to do it, we’d better start flying.”

~~~

Twilight and Cadance landed a while later on the balcony of The Castle of Friendship in Ponyville. It had been a long flight, even assisted by magic, but the pair of them had agreed it was worth it. Twilight’s horn flared, gently disengaging any magical alarms that would have otherwise triggered. She didn’t want to wake Starlight Glimmer just because she and Cadance were paranoid.

Into the castle they went, heading first to the central trunk library. They procured a single item from one of the display cases and then ascended back up to the castle proper. Within a few minutes, the pair silently slipped into the castle’s throne room.

Despite the fact Twilight had not lived there for years now, the throne room of the castle was still a place for her and her friends. The roots of the Golden Oaks Library still adorned the ceiling with chains of photo-filled gems dangling down as a gleaming chandelier. Truthfully, the number of gem strings had only increased as Twilight and her friends hung more memories from the library's old roots.

Still, Twilight and Cadance weren’t there for a trip down memory lane. Instead, they were there for the great magical artifact that rested just beneath the memory chandelier: the map table. For the past decade, the map table had continued to act in its mysterious ways, summoning creatures from across the lands to fix friendship problems.

Twilight went and to the table and took the throne that bore her cutie mark. Cadance went and sat on Applejack’s throne just to Twilight’s left. As they settled in, Twilight set down the item they had retrieved from the castle’s library. It was a chalkboard, wrapped in a gem frame with other gems studded into place.

It was the activation tool for a spell Starlight had cast upon the map table back before Twilight’s coronation as the primary ruler of Equestria. By writing a simple question on the chalkboard, you could use the table’s magic to glimpse alternate realities. It was developed to be a source of entertainment, a way for Twilight’s friends to see some of the crazy alternate futures she glimpsed when trying to stop Starlight from stopping the Rainboom.

Yet, of course, such an awesome power to glimpse what was or what could be couldn't be toyed with. They all learned that when Applejack broke into the castle to try and understand why the table showed so many alternate realities where her parents were dead.

And in time, they also learned the table seemed capable of limiting or denying requests. Or perhaps, more accurately, the table appeared to develop a resistance against Starlight’s spell as time went on. Now, the map table didn’t always answer a question if it was asked something serious, or something that could influence immediate events.

Twilight personally believed that it was the table making a decision. That it was deciding whether or not answering a question was really what was best for Equestria, much like how it decided what creatures were best suited to fix a friendship problem.

“I know I was the one to suggest this, but it might not even work,” Twilight said as she turned her head to the left to look at Cadance.

“If it doesn’t work then I think it’s a sign from the table that we don’t need to worry.” Cadance shifted in her seat. “Maybe we could start with your question about Nyx first.”

“Okay.” Twilight shook her shoulders, trying to get rid of the anxious energy building inside as she picked up the chalkboard. She picked up the piece of chalk they had brought with them from the library, and slowly began to spell out her question. “What is wrong with Nyx’s magic?”

Twilight knew that not phrasing the question as a what-if was already running the risk of the table not answering. Yet the chalkboard’s gem frame began to glow, and in turn, the glowing holographic map of Equestria began to fade away. The table was blank for just a moment before six points of light took shape.

Each point of light grew and morphed, each one eventually becoming what looked to be a tree. Each tree included not only the trunk and branches but also a vast root system. Tangled in the roots of every tree was a little ball of light.

No, Twilight realized that wasn’t accurate. There was one tree that didn’t have a little ball of light. Yet, before she could try and ponder that further, she saw equine figures start to appear next to each tree as each tree took on color. Twilight swiftly recognized that figure closest to her, which now stood next to a lavender tree, was a tiny copy of herself. The same could be said of the tree closest to Cadance. It was a pink tree with a tiny copy of Cadance standing in front of it.

Looking around the table, Twilight saw the trend continued. Each tree was accompanied by an alicorn. She could see Celestia, Luna, Flurry, and Nyx each standing near a tree of a similar color. She also quickly noticed that Nyx was standing next to the tree that didn’t have a little ball of light beneath its roots.

“Alicorn magic.”

Twilight looked over to Cadance, who had uttered the words breathlessly. “What was that?”

“Nyx isn’t as strong as she should be, Twilight, because she’s only an alicorn in body. She doesn’t have alicorn magic anymore,” Cadance said, pointing to where the orb of light should have been in the roots of Nyx’s hologram tree.

Twilight’s mind quickly latched on and saw the logic of Cadance’s theory. “When Tirek attacked the first time, he had to steal the magic from most of the ponies in Equestria before he could steal the magic from Celestia, Luna, and you. To prevent this, the three of you gave me your alicorn magic to try and hide it.”

As Twilight said her thoughts aloud, the map table seemed to react. The three orbs of light beneath the trees belonging to Cadance, Celestia, and Luna all moved over and crowded beneath Twilight’s tree, and her tree in turn glowed brightly.

Twilight licked her lips. Her mind was already working through additional theories, and she couldn’t help but wonder if saying them aloud would let the map table confirm her fears. “And… Nyx was born with fragments of Luna’s power, fragments of her alicorn magic. That’s why she was able to move the sun and moon.”

The map table shifted again. The balls of light returned to their respective owners, but then Luna’s ball of light broke into pieces. Some of the fragments went over to Nyx’s tree as the little hologram version of her lost its cutie mark.

“But when Luna turned Nyx back into a filly, she took that power back,” Twilight continued, and the map table reacted in turn. The fragments of light went back to Luna’s sphere, which returned to normal, resetting the map table to what it had been when the question was first asked.

“So that’s why her magic isn’t as strong as it should be,” Twilight said.

“But, that’s not a bad thing, is it?” Cadance said with a smile. “I mean, I’m sure Nyx wouldn’t be that disappointed to find out she isn't a full alicorn.”

“No, you’re right, I don’t think it’s that bad, but…” Twilight picked up the chalkboard, erasing the question she had asked. The map table, in turn, began showing the geography of Equestria once more.

“But…” Cadance drew out the word, leaning in towards Twilight slightly.

“But…” Twilight began writing on the board, saying aloud what she wrote. “What if Nyx doesn’t have alicorn magic?”

The chalkboard frame glowed once more, and the table reacted. The map faded, and in its place, it displayed the trees and tiny hologram alicorns again. However, this time there were only two pairs, and each pair took up more space on the table. It was Twilight and her tree, with the ball of light beneath, and Nyx and her tree, which was still lacking the spark of alicorn magic.

Nothing happened for a moment, but then the hologram Twilight began to cast a spell. As she did, the leaves on her tree began to fade and fall. Eventually, the hologram version of her collapsed, as if from over-exertion. Yet after a few seconds, the leaves on the tree returned and the hologram Twilight stood back up.

The hologram Nyx then began to do the same, pushing herself and burning magic. The leaves fell off her tree to the point it was as barren as Twilight’s had been. Then the hologram Nyx collapsed, just as Twilight had. Yet that was when things began to change. The leaves of Nyx’s tree were growing back much much more slowly, and the hologram Nyx was standing back up when, at most, a tenth of her tree's leaves had returned.

Yet the hologram Nyx began casting spells again. The leaves fell, but this time Nyx didn’t stop casting. It was like she was fighting something, and she couldn’t stop to rest. The hologram tree paired with the hologram Nyx began to look worse. Branches began to disappear as did some of the roots, then there was an audible crack.

The hologram tree related to Nyx had snapped at the trunk, toppled over, and was now fading away. The hologram of Nyx collapsed and soon began to unravel. Like she had been stitched of yarn, threads began to pull away from Nyx, parts of her body disappearing until nothing was left.

At that, the map table returned to normal. Twilight’s body was still as stone, yet her heart was racing. She gasped, sucking in a deep breath as she just realized that she had stopped breathing. “No…” She said, only to stand up and start shouting at the table. “No, no, no. That… that can’t be…”

“Twilight, Twilight, it will be alright.” Cadance was out of her seat and over next to Twilight, wrapping a wing around her.

“How, how can it be!?” Twilight felt rage flare in her heart. “Nyx just… unraveled like some cheap scarf!”

“She was pushing herself, Twilight. I think that’s what the map table was trying to warn us,” Cadance said in the practiced, calm, reassuring voice that Twilight knew so well from her days as a filly. “Nyx can’t push herself because… because... “ Cadance fell silent. Twilight could tell she was trying to understand what they had just witnessed. Trying to find the logic.

Twilight herself was racking her brain. What was going on? Why would…

“The spell,” Twilight said. “Nyx was born from Spell Nexus’s spell. She's a living breathing creature, but she was still made with magic. This might explain why she got so sick when Cozy Glow stole the magic from Equestria. Nyx’s body is still dependent on that spell to hold it together at some fundamental level. If she pushes herself too hard, burns through too much magic… she risks causing that spell to unravel.”

“Do you really think that’s it?”

“I… I don’t know. I’ll need to consult with Spell Nexus. As much as I’ve studied his work, there are still nuances of that spell I still don’t fully understand. It was, in so many ways, his magnum opus as a spell designer. But…” Twilight scrambled to pick up the chalkboard again and quickly wrote out another question.

“What if Nyx has alicorn magic?”

She watched intently, with Cadence still hugging her with a wing, as the map table did its little demonstration again. This time, beneath Nyx’s tree was a ball of light, a spark of alicorn magic. And this time, the hologram Nyx acted just like the hologram Twilight. She was able to cast spells until her tree was barren. She then passed out, but the tree recovered quickly.

Twilight found relief in that, her legs giving out a little as she leaned against Cadance. “But she will be okay if she has alicorn magic. She can be okay.” Twilight took a few ginger steps back and flopped back into her throne.

“It may not be easy, but I’m sure you and her can find a solution,” Cadance sat back down on Applejack’s throne. “Maybe Luna can give Nyx back a piece of her alicorn magic, make things like they were when Nyx was first born? Until then, Nyx just has to be careful and not strain her magic.”

“I don’t know if Luna can really break off a piece of her alicorn magic. It took getting blasted by the Elements of Harmony for it to happen in the first place, but there is a solution. And as long as there is a solution, we’ll be okay.” Twilight sank in her throne, melting into it as much as she could as she just took a moment to let the nervous energy flow out of her. “I don’t feel good, but I feel better.”

“Better is going to have to be good enough for tonight,” Cadance said.

Twilight nodded as she gently pushed the chalkboard across the table to Cadance. “Okay, your turn.”

Cadance looked down at the chalkboard but made no effort to pick it up. “I… I don’t know, maybe it would be better if I didn’t ask.”

“If that’s the case, the map table won’t answer your question.”

“Right.” After a few more moments of hesitation, Cadance picked up the chalkboard. She picked up the chalk as well, holding both in her magic before starting to write, speaking the words as she went. “What if Flurry Heart doesn’t make friends?”

The chalkboard’s frame glowed, and once more the map on the table faded. In its place formed a rocky, stony scene in hologram form. There were two creatures present, Dragon Lord Ember and Spike. They were standing next to one another, and soon someone else approached the table. It was an adult Flurry Heart, tall and regal… with wings that were still almost ridiculously too large for her alicorn frame.

Twilight watched with Cadance as the hologram Flurry Heart spoke with the hologram Ember and Spike. Things were strange. All the while, details began to fill in and appear. Flurry Heart was now the sole ruler of Equestria and was trying to get the Dragon Lands to fall under her rule. There was talk of poisoning griffons and ponies worshipping Flurry like a god.

Flurry Heart was pressuring Ember, using the word 'friendship' like it was a dagger to stab into someone's back. Ember was refusing and then things escalated. A crossbow bolt appeared out of nowhere. It dug deep into the table and smoked with unknown magic. Flurry cast a spell, calling forth dark crystals. It was the magic of King Sombra.

With murderous intent, the hologram Flurry took up the crossbow bolt and tried to use her magic to fire it at Ember, but other figures rushed in. They were armored ponies. Flurry blew them away with her wings like they were made of smoke. Yet the smoke swirled and struck back, knocking Flurry away before taking a firmer shape. It was Nyx, clad in bronze armor. Soon, the pair were visibly fighting, trading blows of magic.

“Stop!”

Cadance shouted at the table and it reacted. The holograms faded away, but before the map could return Cadance was already scribbling on the chalkboard again. “What if Flurry doesn’t make friends?”

She asked the same question, and the table began providing the same answer. Twilight tried to move closer to Cadance, but Cadance bellowed out another 'no' and repeated the cycle. Before she could make a fourth attempt, Twilight got in close. She hugged her sister-in-law with her forehooves and used her magic to push the chalkboard to the far side of the table.

“I’m sure it’s just a worst-case scenario,” Twilight said, trying to reassure Cadance.

“But what if it’s not? Twilight, what have I done? What will I do to fail Flurry like that? It’s not… no, it’s wrong. She’s just my little filly. She wouldn’t do any of that.”

Twilight felt Cadance hugging her back, starting to cry. Twilight made no effort to make her stop, just letting herself be a shoulder for Cadance to cry on. “I know, I know,” Twilight said, trying to be reassuring, even if she too was going to be haunted by what she had seen. Still, Cadance was barely reacting. Just crying and mumbling something.

Twilight dared to look over her shoulder and, after biting her lip, she retrieved the chalkboard. She held it gingerly, erasing Cadance’s last question and writing out a new one. “What if Flurry makes friends in the next few years?”

The table reacted once more, and the flickering of its light was enough to make Cadance glance up. The colors swirled for a moment, but then they saw the five figures standing and waving on some balcony. Twilight, now tall as Celestia, standing at the forefront of the balcony with an adult Flurry. Flurry was a little shorter than any other alicorn on that balcony but still had those massive wings. She was in a fancy dress instead of normal regalia, but still had a crown on her head.

Behind Twilight and Flurry stood Cadance and Nyx. Cadance looked much as she did now, while Nyx seemed to be wearing some subtle regalia of her own. Her mane was now magical and flowing, even if it was still cut short. Perhaps the most surprising was the fifth figure on the balcony, the fifth alicorn. It was Shining Armor, standing as the tallest of them next to Cadance, the both of them looking very proud.

Twilight felt Cadance almost go limp. She had to swiftly set down the chalkboard and use her magic to help get Cadance back on her hooves. All the while, Cadance was now smiling through her tears.

“It’s not too late, Twilight,” Cadance said, laughing and crying at the same time. "It’s not too late.”

“It’s not,” Twilight said, nodding her head even as she fought back a few relieved tears of her own. “Flurry will be okay, just like Nyx will be. We just have to figure out where to start.”

It was then Twilight heard a familiar sound, a swirling, light sound of magic that quickly made her look back at the table. The table had returned to displaying a map of Equestria and the surrounding lands. Above that map, two images appeared. One was a cutie mark, a blue shield that Twilight knew all too well. The other was a small picture of a little pony, one Twilight immediately recognized as Flurry Heart.

Those two images moved across the table, drifting from the Crystal Empire before coming to a stop and floating above a particular spot on the table. Twilight felt herself smiling as she reached out and hugged Cadance, who happily hugged her back.

They were unsure, and they couldn’t know what to expect. Yet that place was where the magic happened. A single town that, after one fateful summer sun celebration, became the place where the magic of friendship sprouted, where it blossomed, where it continued to grow. Where the fates of so many creatures weaved together to make strong bonds that stretched across nations.

They still had hope, because friendship was still magic.