What If... The Night Lasted Forever? Chapter One: The Impossible Dream
What If... The Night Lasted Forever? Chapter One: The Impossible Dream
Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, there lived two regal sisters.
In the reality that we have come to love, these two sisters would control two different celestial bodies. The elder, a tall, magnificent white coated prankster known as Celestia, controlled the sun. While the younger, a dark navy coated mare simply named Luna, was in charge of the moon. When Celestia brought forth the sun, ponies would have fun and play in the light. Yet when Luna brought her beautiful moon, they would hide from the cool light and sleep, dreaming for the next day. With Luna's fear and anger only strengthening for every daybreak, Celestia's blind ignorance for her sister's worries would as well. We know that this path soon leads to the birth of the Wicked Mare of the Moon, Nightmare Moon, and to her eventual banishment by Celestia and the Elements of Harmony. She would soon be returned and defeated again by those very same elements... but. What if...? Celestia had never found the elements? What if...? Nightmare Moon had never been banished to a thousand years' imprisonment on her moon? What if...? Nightmare Moon had defeated Celestia and her sun loving ponies?
What if... the night lasted forever?
Chapter One:
The Impossible Dream
“Since when have you ever had a challenge?”
Equestria: Present Day
"Oh no, oh no, oh no! I'm going to be late to see the Queen. Last time I was late, she gave me two weeks detention!" Yelling, a lavender unicorn was seen running through the dimly-lit corridor. It was lined with large extravagant stained window panes, detailing Equestria's past, alongside purple plates for the evenly placed candles that lit the hallway. From the right to left, the same direction the lavender pony was traveling, was the order in which time went, until it wrapped around to the entrance of the corridor. She had seen these windows thousands, if not hundreds, of times. She had seen them so many times, in fact, that she could give you a precise number for every color used. "Oh please just let me get there without any more distracti- woah, that's a new one." She skidded to a stop, having lived here her entire life she knew these walls like the back of her hoof. She was absolutely sure she hadn’t seen this one. The newly installed window pane vaguely detailed the Queen's newest accomplishment. It featured a black mare dawned in deep navy armor, shooting a sickly green laser at a bright yellow circular object, the sun.
"Wow, the artists really out-did themselves on this one. I'm completely stumped. What's the title of this one?" Unbeknownst to the unicorn, an unfamiliar yellow pegasus was hovering high above her. “Hold on, wait till I get down there.” She quickly added as she flew down to greet the lavender pony.
Looking down to the golden name plate that shimmered in respect of the candles, Twilight replied. “‘One-thousand Year Anniversary: Defeat and Control of the Sun.’”
“Is that what that’s supposed to be?” Questioned the yellow mare. Touching the bottom of her chin. “I knew that the Dusk-Dawn Celebration was within the next few weeks, but I never thought she would put it up this early. Usually she waits till the accomplishment is done, right?”
“Yes, usually. Although, this is the Queen we’re talking about. She makes careful decisions all while attempting lame, albeit funny, pranks. I don’t believe we’ve met, I’m Twilight Sparkle, assistant to Queen Moon. What’s your name?”
As if she was suddenly intimidated, she lowered her head, allowing her eyes to be covered by her pink mane. Softly she replied, “M-my names, Fluttershy.” It was so soft that not even a rabbit could have heard her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that, can you say that again?” She said smiling.
Now scuffing the ground with her hoof, the yellow pegasus replied, “I said my name’s Fluttershy.”
“One more time for me please?” Widening the existing smile.
A high pitched whimper came from the now shy individual.
“Okay, well I got t-” Interrupting Twilight, the other was visibly shaking.
All of a sudden she laughed. “Hahaha. You should have seen your face, haha. Priceless.” Wiping her tears from her eyes, she replied, “Haha, sorry. I got you real good.” Sighing from the laughter, she continued. “Name’s Fluttershy, I know the name doesn’t really fit with… me.” Referencing herself, she circled her hoof all along her body.
“Oh, ha, well, yes. You most certainly fooled me.” Now taking a closer look, Twilight could see nasty scars running across her body, her back-leg being completely made of metal, an ear chipped at the edge, a necklace of large-sharp teeth, and more. What happened? Twilight thought to herself, quickly wanting to disregard the teeth she continued. What happened to her that she had received so much damage to her body? I mean I’ve heard of some ponies that return from war zones with damage, but never to this degree. She thought back to General Armor, her older brother, and how he told stories from the warzone, and how he would barely see any allied forces take any damage. Interesting, though. Shining Armor talked about how the ongoing war had barely any casualties, not to mention the soldiers that couldn’t fight anymore. Was she a bystander or a soldier? Is it just a normal prosthetic? Or a cybernetic one? I wonder if she would let me examine her leg?
As if the pegasus had read her mind, she turned to her side and presented the shiny plated metal leg to the unicorn. “Go ahead.” She said, “I’ve been gawked at enough to know when someone is pondering the inner-workings of my leg. Just don’t try running off with it.” She snickered as she finished.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, I was just wondering if it was cybernetic? She quickly replied.
“Yeah, it is. I’m a sol- was a soldier.” She corrected herself. “I was medically discharged just around a week ago. Anyways, I lost my leg in an ambush involving the dragons awhile ago. Took the bastards’ head with me though.” Just as she finished saying this, she lifted the toothy necklace. “Ahh, memories. Have you ever killed a dragon? Tough bastards they are. Their scales are so hard that gold tipped arrows do nothing. Only way I took this asshole down was by making him forcefully swallow a Nehcrai, you know one of those magi-bombs? Specifically a disintegration one. Disintegrates everything but bone. Ah yeah. I mean look at these, doesn’t it make me look, I don’t know, 20% cooler? Ah, who am I kidding? I’m 200% cooler with this.” Once again attempting to bring attention to her ‘unique’ necklace.
“Right…” Twilight rambled quietly, unsure of how to continue the conversation. “Well, since you are no longer a soldier, have you taken your S.C.A.T. then?”
The S.C.A.T. An acronym standing for ‘Specialized Category Assignment Test.' It's an exam specifically meant to give you an assignment within the Lunar Empire with frightening accuracy. It was so accurate, in fact, that the entire reason the realm of Equestria hadn’t lost a single war in the last 400 years, was because of the careful job assignments of the S.C.A.T; or so they’ve been taught. Said to have been painstakingly created by the Queen herself, she had spent around 600 years perfecting it.
Yet, Twilight couldn’t disagree with this fact. After all, this is the same exam that gave Twilight her very own assignment: Queen’s Apprentice, a title that only a hoof-ful have been given within the past centuries. Shining Armor’s was Captain, although he still had to earn his position. Mom was a Caretaker, a position only the kindest and most patient ponies could be given. Finally, Dad was a Head-Stallion Engineer, essentially he makes sure all weaponry and vehicles work the proper way and supervises those who work on them.
“Yes, my results were, drum roll please…” Twilight, reluctantly, started tapping her hooves together in response. “Royal Advisor!” Fluttershy said as she presented her badge from under her wing. It was just small enough to fit in a wallet and read ‘Fluttershy: Apprentice Advisor ’. “I was so surprised when I got it, though. Expected something completely different, like. Strategist or something like that.”
“Yes, well, our destinies are directly answered by the S.C.A.T., not only are our cutie marks. Although, I must say that-”
A deep chuckle rolled throughout the indigo corridor, interrupting the lavender pony. As if in sync, The moon itself seemed to be amused by the two ponies, and moved along with the laughter.
“Twilight…” a soft voice whispered. “Oh where art thou? I call upon thee...”
“Fluttershy…?” Another said, this time lower and more raspy. “Oh where art thou? I call upon thee…” The voices continued to whisper, repeating the same four sentences of dialogue. “Twilight… Fluttershy… Oh where art thou? We called upon thee.” With every repeat, they grew louder and louder and louder.
Distracted by the voices, they didn’t realize that dark clouds of a nearly invisible blue were starting to spread around them. Slowly the dark clouds rose to eye level and attached themselves to their new hosts, completely covering their eyes, all while the voices continued to get louder and louder. Suddenly, the clouds turned a vicious black and now blinded the ponies.
“Augh. What the hell?” Shouted Fluttershy as she now flailed her wings carelessly. “Why can’t I see?” She could feel the dark cloud starting to cover her body, at least that what she assumed since a cold wet substance was now in places that it shouldn't be. “Twilight! Did you do this? I swear if this is some joke, you're gonna get a real close look at my leg.”
“No, I don’t know what’s going on! Can you feel the wet stuff too?” She said in response.
“Grrr, when I find the bastard who did this, I’ll-.” Suddenly, she stopped yelling, and a mysterious noise that could only be described as tearing paper could be heard.
“Fluttershy? Fluttershy? What's going on? What happ-” Twilight was now cut off from talking, this was because she no longer had a body, physical body to be exact. Although, she could still feel her coat being wet with a slimy substance, shifting and rolling across her body. Odd, she thought to herself, more with curiosity than fear. She could still hear as well, this was proof by the paper tearing sound she heard once more.
“Twilight, The Queen called you several hours ago. Around lunch time I believe. Do you know what time it is?” A now more familiar voice crawled through the darkness. One that only narrowed it down to two different mares. “I understand that you are busy, but when your Queen calls you, you respond asap. Honestly, what am I going to do with you? You forgot about your classes, you forgot about the S.C.A.T. and you missed the train coming back from Sombra’s ruins.” Wanting to disagree, she thought up a retort in disagreement… only for the voice to respond with, “You forgot Spike at Pony Joe’s. Spike! Pony Joe’s! Spike!” With this new fact, Twilight knew exactly who she was dealing with. This wasn’t actually a pony, but a pseudo-physical manifestation of a persona. She was talking to the Wicked Mare of the Moon, Nightmare moon. Rather, listening. “For realsies girl, I don’t know how much more the Queen can take before she punishes you again. Okay, well maybe she won’t punish you that bad, even after missing her class, again.” Twilight could almost physically feel a jab at her in reference to that fact. “We're at the throne room, be prepared, although she doesn’t look to be mad.”
Just as quickly as the cloud had taken her vision away, she was given back her body. Opening her eyes, she could see that Nightmare Moon had told her the truth, she was now in the throne room. Unlike the castle itself, this room was a beautiful dark red, almost the color of blood mixed in with the excitement of anger. Purple banners decorated with the sigil of the moon, a crescent to be exact, were spread thinly around the room. White pillars, each having an increasing era of historical art, surrounded and conjoined with the walls, slowly leading towards the center. A chair sat lonely in the middle of the opposite wall where Twilight was, with an overabundance of tall paper towers. Some of the towers seemed half-finished with signatures, leaning dangerously towards another, somehow not tipping over to create a hurricane of papers flying about. Others had been perfectly stacked with clean straight edges, and yet Twilight had a feeling that those ones hadn't been touched yet.
Just after noticing the towers, another black cloud came right up next to her and spat out Fluttershy, who was still thrashing about. “What. The. Fuck. What just happened? Did you feel that too? Did- How- What? Grrrr. Whatever I give up!” With a frustrated groan, finally giving up her rough housing, Fluttershy threw up her hoofs into the air. Face planting into the floor and groaning even louder.
“Seems like you haven’t met the Mare in the Moon.” The other calmly responded.
The pegasus froze, slowly look towards Twilight. Quickly, she raced to meet Twilight, nearly tripping in the process. She was so close that you could consider their muzzles to be touching. “You mean, THE Mare in the Moon? Like Nightmare Moon?” A chill raced down her spine. “Like the REAL Nightmare Moon?” Eyes widening, she gasped. “OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh!” She, once again, started shouting in a repeated fashion, flapping her wings down with every ‘gosh’.
Twilight, surprised by the pegasus’ reaction, tried to calm her down. “Yes, THE Nightmare Moon. The Queen’s second in command.” She said knowingly.
The remaining clouds floated and joined together in front of the throne to give a new physical form seen many times by Twilight... or in Fluttershy’s case, on stained window panes and history books. First, bright blue eyes gazed upon the two, then bat-like wings expanding to cover the paper towers. Finally, a body was now able to be seen and solidified. Revealing a tall, black feminine figure. The red moon-lit room greatly contrasted against the mare’s very blue armor, giving off a purple hue. Her mane was that of the night sky, only bluer. Shimmering stars popped in and out of existence within while flowing and licking at the air around her. She landed gracefully on the ground, and stepped aside.
Again, a chuckle rolled throughout the room, this time it was higher pitched, louder and more... equestrian. Then the chuckle turned into a voice, it was middle grounded with an ancient accent. “Why did I have to send in my second to fetch both my students? Can either of you tell me?” Waiting for a response, the two students remained quiet. Both Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other in confusion, knowing only that one of the two were a student.
‘I thought you said you were an advisor.’ Twilight mouthed, eyes widening with excitement.
‘I am.’ She responded with confusion.
‘Then why did she say ‘both my students?’’
‘I don’t know!’
‘Well she seems to think something different!’
“Silence!” The voice quaked, shaking the room. A navy alicorn walked out from behind the paper towers. “Now, answer the question before I invade your dreams and show you why they once called me Nightmare Moon.” Her voice rattled inside their heads, seemingly to physically shake their heads in sync.
Twilight was completely dumbfounded, struggling to mouth or voice any words, only making incomprehensible noises. Fluttershy stood in place, not daring to move a muscle.
“...3…” The Queen started counting.
‘What do we do?’
“...2…” She was impatient, her body moving closer with every second in between the counting. With every foot step she took, it was as if she were stepping upon bones, breaking them.
‘I don’t know! You’re her student, you buckin guess!’
“...1…” She was now on top of them, looking down at the two ponies with disdain and hatred.
They looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Fear, restless as a raging river, was seen in Twilight’s eyes, Fluttershy noted. While Twilight found an empty vast void within Fluttershy’s. Hearts beating faster, the pair had dropped the gazes to the floor, tears welling up within them. Both ponies closed their eyes, wanting this misunderstanding to be corrected. An eternity passed, waiting for their ‘punishment’ from the Queen as they waited… and waited… and waited… and waited, until a snicker was heard from the darkness. Opening their respective eyes they quickly find that the intimidating Queen, who was just standing over them, was now holding her hoof to her mouth trying not to burst out laughing.
“Bahahaha,” The lunar queen had bellowed out her now uncontained laughter. She fell back clutching her stomach, all while rolling on the floor. “I can’t- I can’t-I can’t” As unfortunate for her, she couldn’t- “Breathe! Hahaha!”
Both Twilight and Fluttershy forgetting to do the same, they took a second to recompose themselves, Twilight attempting to regain an annoyed and unamused face while Fluttershy, reaching to grab her necklace.
“Hahaha, you should have seen your faces! Nightmare show them- Haha!” Quickly, the black mare faded back into her normal cloud and within seconds, made the faces of the scared pair just moments ago. Twilight had just accepted it, while Fluttershy on the other hoof.
“I wasn’t scared! I’m Fluttershy the Rage! I’m not scared of anything. Grrrrr!” Roared the fellow scared pony. “You are lying. My face was something more like this.” Following this saying, she created a battle scarred face, and only ‘improving’ to look more rough. Even though she started to look like a penguin.
“HAhaha,” with the new faces that Fluttershy had created, an ever louder fit of laughter started to erupt from the lunar queen.
The cloud had formed back into Nightmare Moon, and whispered to her master. “My Queen, if I may be so bold, we have two important matters to discuss with your students.”
Finishing her bout of laughter, she cleared her throat. Her face stiffened, her pose rising to be that of an actual queen. A serious and deep voice had crept throughout the throne room. “Yes, I forgot about that. Thank you. First things first. Fluttershy, your Advisor role has been denied.”
Fluttershy just stood there, frozen in time. “Wh- I- How- Why?” Was all she could let out before the alicorn queen.
“Instead of an advisor, your new role is Queen’s Apprentice. Now, matter two. Oh, before I go on, do not question me. I know that S.C.A.T. is successful in its own right, but remind yourself who created that very test.” She said, staring at Twilight with a huff. “We’ll talk about details later. Both of you are to travel the land in search of the most powerful elements, The Elements of Harmony. Or as I like to call them, The Elements of the Seven Deadly Sins. These elements are as follows; Greed; Envy; Lust; Wrath; Sloth; Gluttony; and finally Pride. Of course these are just the elements’ names, if you want their true natures I’ve written and sent them to your dragon friend, Twilight. I’ve discovered who two of these elements are. Fluttershy the Rage, you of course have a fitting name: Wrath. While Twilight... I am unsure which you are, I suspect Pride, though. Trust me when I say this. You are one of the sins.” Without skipping a beat, she continued. “It is your mission to find who the other five are. I know of the locations of two more. Manehattan, and PonyVilla. I believe you should start there. I expect this to be done before the Dusk-Dawn Celebration.”
Fluttershy hadn’t moved at all. The shock of hearing that not only being a Seven Deadly Sin, which she’d dreamt about since she was just a foal, but that she received a new title, Fluttershy: the Sin of Wrath, “I’m a deadly sin. I’m a deadly sin.” She repeated over and over. This being said, she didn’t hear any part of the conversation past this point.
Twilight, who somehow had found a paper and quill, had bubbling questions in the back of her mind. Namely, questions about her fellow ‘student’ and these elements, but they would have to wait until later. “Excuse me, your highness,” she began sheepishly, “I don’t understand how I can find another three other of these ‘elements’ without locations AND find the two with locations in just three weeks. I may have been your top student since the beginning of kindergarten, but don’t you think this is too much of a challenge?” She was sweating now. Normally, she wouldn't mind going outside the castle, she even has been sent on low-grade missions like this before. Only differences was that she knew the location and name of the individual in question, and the only thing she needed to do was drop off mail and summons requests.
“Twilight, my dear apprentice. Since when have you ever had a challenge?” The Queen responded in her most royal and queenly way possible.
“Well, there was Spike’s hatching, the Discordant Exam, the S.C.A.T.” She trailed off, the Queen on the other hoof lost interest and had looked at her plainly. Twilight, not noticing, continued to ramble on and on.
“Twilight,” the lunar queen attempted to stop her students’ talking. “Twilight,” this time a little louder. “Twilight!” She shouted, ending the students’ current train of thought.
“And then I-” The lavender unicorn stopped suddenly, and blushed. “Oh, sorry, was I rambling again?”
“Yes. Now as I was saying. Ugh.” She glanced over to entranced yellow pegasus, who had now been clapping her hoofs together. What is she doing? The lone alicorn thought to herself. I have a paranoid unicorn and now a daydreaming pegasus soldier. Hugh. I guess I’ll have to get this one’s attention. “Fluttershy, if you do not want to die, look at me.”
Immediately, as if by instinct, the yellow pegasus had stopped her train of thought and saluted proudly shouting the following. “Yes ma’am!”
“Alright. Now listen, both of you. Normally, I would be the one to find something as top class as this, but I have to prepare to raise the sun for the Empire’s Dusk-Dawn Celebration. Something is coming, but I don’t know what. Not yet at least. The Sin’s are going to be our last line of defense. Only in case I can no longer fight. Only in case Nightmare Moon is captured or unaccounted for or… lost.” The black mare’s eyes had grown softer upon hearing this. “I know I only played the Elements as mere myths and bedtime stories, but legends had to come from somewhere. Like I said earlier, your dragonborn has more information regarding the elements and their natures. Twilight, my pupil. Pupils," She corrected herself, "I’m trusting the both of you.” As she finished with this, she closed her eyes.
“Y-Yes, my queen.” Fluttershy stuttered, barely able to get out the sentence. “Come on Twilight, let’s go.” She tugged the unicorn, who was struggling to say something, but after admitting defeat, the unicorn turned and walked through the giant wooden doors.
Far beyond Equestria, far into the stars. A lone alicorn sat waiting. In silence, a secret anger hidden from the breathing world. In silence, a lone mind thought on a desolate, cold landscape. In silence, nothing but lone regret was felt. In silence, flame flickered to and fro. When the silence broke, murmurs could have been heard; nobody but the lone alicorn could hear herself. “Dear sister, how long have you kept me from my home? A decade, a century, a milenia? Well, no longer. I am coming back for my throne. Just a little longer.”
What if... The Night Lasted Forever? Chapter Two: The Letter, the Truth and the Hunt
What if... The Night Lasted Forever? Chapter Two: The Letter, the Truth and the Hunt
Chapter Two
The Letter, the Truth and the Hunt
“But that just makes the hunt all that much sweeter.”
“First off, how is there even another student? I worked hard to earn my spot, I read every diary entry, every story of the past students’ to get where I am now and here comes ole’ Miss Badass strolling in the door. I bet she doesn’t even know who Starswirl is.” Twilight muttered to herself, walking through an empty corridor of the castle. Twilight couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t. “Second, the ‘Elements of the Seven Deadly Sins? They can’t be real, I mean sure they were based on real artifacts, but the Seven Deadly sins? But, what if they are real? Queen Luna sure thinks so, but as a pony that relies on science, I- How- They just can’t be real!” She sighed greatly as she looked onto a giant wooden door. It had a gold plate that shined in respect of the candles that stretched the castle’s halls. The plate read, ‘Residential Wing’. Entering, Twilight continued, “Third, what’s with the time limit? If it's so important, why can’t this wait till after the celebration. Hmm, maybe because it's three weeks out. Well, that makes sense I guess. I wonder what Spike will think about this.” She walked past aging doors, some without name tags, some with old plates, some with brand new name tags. Wanting to get her mind off of things, she decided to start reading the doors at random. One read ‘Lyra Heartstrings’, another ‘Starlight Glimmer’. This one she already knew about since she made regular, but careful visits for ‘personal attention’. She moved to another. “Yikes, that's an oldie.” She whispered to herself. She, surprising even herself, hadn’t ever noticed this one. The door itself had clearly seen better days. I was rotten to the point that it started showing holes to reveal the mysterious inside. The name tag, as difficult as it was to read, Twilight admitted, was corroded over with a blue fuzziness to it, much like copper does with oxygen, and had been scratched out many times. “Sunset Shimmer. Hm, must have left or dropped out before I came here.” Moving along she continued this little trend of her’s. Vinyl, Sereth, Jeresu, Jeresu (Male)...? “Hmm must be one of those interchangeable names.” She was close to her own room, but before she took the few final steps that kept her from her room, she took an immediate right, opposite of her room. The name plate… was glitching? It was uncertain what was going on. It seemed to fade in and out of existence the closer she walked to the door. “D… Deanery? Dealer? Dreamless? Port? Portal?” Her eyes itched immensely, almost unbearably the closer she got. After aggressively rubbing her eyes, she looked back at the door. Now there was nothing. Just a wall stood before her. “What? I saw something though, it was right here!” Confusion started to take hold of her, wondering how she just made up thirty-seconds of a door. ‘But that would make the most sense. After all, the most probable solution is most likely the truth. I have too much to worry about then a hallucination’ She thought. She decided not to worry about it. Turning around, she almost instantly forgot about it…
Opening the dark oak door, Twilight could see a brightly lit room… in nothing but a mess. The kitchen was covered in some sort of green slime. The living room had pillows and blankets absolutely everywhere. The closet door was open with brooms, dustpans and other cleaning supplies sprawled out on the floor. Somehow all the paintings and picture frames were either crooked or just on the floor. I was gone for an hour. What happened? She thought in rather extreme worry. “Spike! Spike! Spiiiiiiiiike!”
The pile of blankets and pillows in the living room made a slight twitch. Then a small shuffle, having a small purple and green spiked head pop out. Sleepy jade slit eyes looked towards the silhouette that called his name. A long yawn emerged from the draconic character. His jaw extended out to an unnatural angle and his forked tongue curled at the end. While there wasn’t his normal green flame erupted from his throat, smoke did start spilling out from Spike’s muzzle. This slightly unnerved Twilight as she remembered all the times he would accidentally start fire in her room when they were both younger. “Yahhhhhn. Hugh. Who is it? Twilight won’t be happy if you're here uninvited. Well, unless you’re Starlight that is, heh.” He finished this thought with another yawn as another limb was brought from the comfy pile. Rubbing his eyes, he let out another yawn. Eyes now finally clear, at least enough to see somewhat clearly, he looked at the not-so-mysterious stranger that invaded his home. “Oh! Twilight. I-I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. Don’t your lessons usually last until Moon’s Dawn?”
Rolling her eyes, she responded. “Yes, they do. Normally I would be gone until the Moon was risen, giving way to the star-filled sky, but this wasn’t a normal lesson. Spike?” She questioned. Before continuing, she let a small pause of silence take the room. “What day is it?”
The lonely dragon scratched his chin, “Uhh, Friday?”
“And what days are Fridays?”
“Cleaning day…” He said with a slow huff.
“And what do we do on cleaning days?”
They both stared at each other in total silence for a moment. Then a minute. Then Twilight asked again.
“And what do we do on cleaning days? Spike? I wonder what we do on cleaning day?”
“You already know the answer. Why do you hurt me so with these trivial matters?” He changed his dialect to match those that live in the city below the castle, and that annoyed her to the very bone.
“And cleaning day is for what specific purpose?” She said with a slight tinge of anger.
Letting out a huff of annoyance, he gave up. “Cleaning day is for… cleaning. Are you happy now?”
“Yes. I’ve another question though. If today is Friday, which we’ve concluded is cleaning day. Why is the apartment a giant mess?”
With a quick retort, Spike raised his voice as if he was royalty. “Because my dear mother, I am a king. Should a king not have his own castle, his own domain? I think not! Royalty has flowed through my bloodline since the dawn of time. Now, bask in the aura of my beauty.”
He stood up from his soft forretress. For the rarer species he was, Rainbow Spine Tooth, his height for his age was around that of a normal pony, his length however, was around twice that of an earth pony. Stretching his scaly wings, his undertones of green on his wings shimmered in the light. When in the moonlight, it seemed as if you could only see green, but if you looked close enough you could see that the light refracted in just the right way to see a full seven colored rainbow. A seven colored rainbow of secondary colors odd enough. Twilight thought this was normal, as she lived with the self proclaimed ‘king’.
‘You’re kidding me.’ She thought to herself. “Spike. You might be of a rarer species of dragon, but by no means are you the ‘king’ of dragons. First off, you hatched under my care, making you a noble. Second, although we have a treaty with the Dragon Pit, you haven’t ever met another one of your species, let alone another dragon. Third, we only just found out what species you are.”
A pout of annoyance and anger emitted from the sole draconic. “I am a king and you shall respect me as such!” He roared.
Just as quickly, Twilight glanced at the cleaning supplies. Her horn lit up with a ghostly purple haze surrounding it, using a telekinetic power to grab the bottle that said ‘Water’. She then proceeded to spray the angered dragon. “No, no, no. We don’t yell in this household. Although not biologically, I am your mother and you shall treat me as such.” She mimicked. Spike, now completely woken up by the cold water droplets, had dove back under the pillows and blankets. “Good try.” It was to no avail, Twilight simply used her magic to lift all the pillows and blankets, revealing a purple dragon curling around himself. “What do you say?” No response except a slight whimper. “Spike. What do you say?” Again, nothing but a whimper. “Spike,” she said firmly and with complete dominance. “What do you say?” A strange muffled noise came from the purple blob, as if this meant he didn't want to give Twilight the satisfaction. Twilight thought to herself upon hearing this. ‘Hmmm. This feels like Deja Vu.’ “Sit up and say it again.” Still having the asserted dominance.
Finally sitting up onto his haunches from his curled prison, Spike had straightened his back. He was taller than the lavender unicorn, unsurprisingly. Certain species of dragons grew faster than ponies, Twilight remembered as she looked upon the towering child. His glassy jade eyes avoided the purple counterparts, looking in the direction of the couch. His wings tightly tucked behind his back, his front claws were folded together. “I’m sh-,” He let his voice trail off, hoping to be let off. However the face on Twilight didn’t seem satisfied. “I’m sho-,” Again, he let his voice trail off, and once again Twilight wasn't accepting this response. “Grrrrr. I’m sorry, alright?” He finally roared out into the dark castle.
In the dragonic societal hierarchy, you prove your worth by your strength, assertiveness and smarts. Although, it mainly and really only depends on your strength. Dragons act and respond to this out of pure instinct. So, when Twilight asserted her strength, Spike responded as such, knowing that her strength, assertiveness and smarts vastly overcame his own. Twilight had learned over the years of taking care of Spike that strength was the only way to communicate when the dragon was being overly and frankly unnecessarily stubborn.
“Spike,” the lavender pony continued. “I forgive you.” Her eyes, growing to a soft motherly love with her lips curling to a soft smile to match. “I have two things to talk to you about. One, this mess needs to be cleaned up by the end of the day and/or by the time we leave.”
“Leave?” The dragon questioned.
“Yes, leave. Queen Luna said that she sent you a letter earlier. It should have a red waxed crescent moon on the seal.”
“Oh yeah. She actually sent two of them. Here.” Reaching under his wings he passed the two scrolls to his mother. “One of them doesn’t have red wax, though. It's purple.”
He was indeed right, two scrolls were in front of the unicorn, and yet only one of them had the Queen’s official seal. The other? Twilight had an idea as to what it might mean. ‘Might be an unofficial seal? Or maybe she’s changing the codes again? She does like to mix things up once in a while.’ She thought quietly. Deciding to open the purple seal later, she took the red scroll in her hoofs. A small and brittle crack came from the wax seal as she opened it, waiting to see what the contents held inside.
To my dearest student, Twilight
In all my years of ruling over Equestria, I had never had a student as bright and studious as you. Although many of your peers had fought to get where they are now, none of them had the drive and ingenuity to claim the role that you have now. This includes that little mare friend of yours, yes I know about her. Really my pupil, you have the strangest tastes. Although her flank has something going for her, however, you already know that don’t you?
Twilight flushed upon reading this. How did she know about Starlight? She did whatever she could to keep their secret as well hidden as possible. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, this is her castle after all. She went back to the scroll.
However, that's not here nor there. I wrote this letter to you, to express my thoughts on you, about the future of Equestria, the Sin’s, their bearers, the truth of Nightmare Moon and finally my sister.
‘Sister?’ She thought to herself. ‘Queen Luna has a sister? Nightmare moon? And what about the Sin’s? How do they play into all of this?’ Too many questions, and not enough time. So she put those confusing questions in a box and locked it six feet below in her mind.
First, with Celestia. My sister. You know of the mythical tales of ancient Equestria, where two regal sisters lived in harmony? One rose the sun and one rose the moon. They’re real, every single story. This would include Discord, Sombra, the Sirens and finally Starswirl and his pillars. I know at one point in time he was your idol, Starswirl. Anyways, yes. I have a sister. She is the elder of the two of us. After our mother died, we decided to split Equestria in two. Not by territories or factions, but by a day-night cycle. Of course with Celestia and I having our destinies defined by our cutie marks at a rather young age, we agreed upon the obvious. As I lowered the moon, Celestia would raise the sun and vice versa. The problem was, I was the only one who enjoyed and basked in the light of my beautiful moon. With the ponies enjoying the sun during the day, playing and laughing, I was alone. Everypony loved Celestia, as she sat upon her throne overlooking the crowds that would cheer her name. Nopony ever noticed me, perched upon my balcony performing my duties of the night. I felt alone. I was alone. Or at least I thought I was. Celestia had tried to help, but how could she understand? I lived in her, quite literal, shadow. She was ignorant though. She thought that if I just showed my face into the crowd, they would love me. You see at this time, I was rarely ever seen outside of my room, only ever leaving to raise the moon, go to royal meetings and such. I was like you before you moved into the castle.
She felt a slight jab at herself when reading that part. ‘I wasn't a shut in.’ She pouted.
I, at the time, was filled with nothing but anger, fear and betrayal by my own people, my own sister… and yet here I am one-thousand years later. Wondering if maybe she was right. Maybe if I had just shown my face a little bit more, go to the gala’s that were hosted, meet new ponies. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so blind or so… susceptible.
‘Susceptible? To what?’ She paused, not sure if she wanted to read the next page. In all her time she spent with the lunar queen, twilight never found that Queen Luna had ever been ‘weak’ in any sense of the word SAsa. Whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally or whatever else. So to read it on paper, to read that she was hurt emotionally and mentally. It unnerved her. More than she thought it would. She went back to continue, but before she could, she saw her hoof was starting to shake, but she didn’t know the exact reason. Maybe it was the fact that Queen Luna was being vulnerable with Twilight. Or maybe it was the weight of the responsibility that was finally getting to her. Or maybe it was just her anxiety getting the better of her. Either way, she pushed on.
Susceptible to the darkness, to my anger, my fear and my pain. I gave up. On trying to be the princess that Celestia and everypony else wanted me to be. This darkness came in the form of myself. Only she was taller, black coated, and had a deeper resolve. Which leads me into the next topic. Yes, this darkness I speak of is her. The Wicked Mare of the Moon, Nightmare moon. Back then, when she spoke I believed every word she said. That I would be praised, loved even. That I would be the pony everyone looked up to. A pony that even Celestia could look up to. Oh how a young fool I was. She once controlled me, but given 50 years and a ton of regret. I gained control of not only myself, but of a new puppet. I hated her, you know? I hated her so much, but given time, she would be my closest ally, friend even.
‘You have got to be kidding me. She controlled the Queen? The Queen who killed the King of Dragons? The same Queen who had brought forth a striving nation? There’s no way!’ She was confused, frustrated and for some reason a little angry. At who or what? She, again, didn't know. ‘Twilight, focus.’ Levitating the scroll, she slapped both her hooves against her face, snapping out of whatever trance still held her.
It was odd. We both came to an agreement however. I would let her have free will once again, but only if she held a master-servant spell pact with me. This would prevent her from defying me, lying, allowing a psychic connection, etc. This is how I would trust her and her me.
Subject number three. The Elements of Harmony, rather the Elements of the Seven Deadly Sins. Wrath; Lust; Envy; Greed; Sloth; Gluttony; and finally, Pride. As I have said before, Wraith belongs to Fluttershy. Although the Element of Harmony she connects to is Kindness. Odd isn’t it? The Elements of Harmony and the Seven Deadly Sins are two sides of the same coin.
Wrath is Kindness. Fluttershy unbeknownst to even herself, and others for that matter, she expresses the utmost respect and courtesy when fighting her foes. No matter the power gap that lies between her and her target.
Envy is Honesty. The ability to feel a venomous jealousy and be able to truthfully tell others.
Greed is Generosity. A power that leaves the host contemplating the morales of their actions.
Gluttony is Laughter. An unstoppable feeling of hunger that leads their user to laugh at others' pain.
Sloth is Loyalty. This host will take things on step at a time, with the resolve equal to that of the world itself.
Lust is Empathy. An overwhelming passion for one or many, all while feeling the pleasures within it.
Finally… Pride is Magic...
Not much is known about Pride. All we know is that Pride and Magic are… how do you say. Obscure. All we know is that it exists. I believe you are Pride, but without a basis to make an informed guess, I am unsure. Regarding the two bearers in Manehattan and PonyVilla, you are going to want to find Rarity in Manehattan and AppleJack in PonyVilla. I’m sorry for not being able to give you the other three bearers’, but that just makes the hunt all that much sweeter.
Finally, I must tell you the future of Equestria. It will see nothing but conflict and peace in the future. You will see, hear and feel the pain, love, suffering, and care from all the ponies in the coming decade. For this, I’m sorry. You will understand when the time comes, but I’m sorry.
I must apologize, but this is all I can do for you now. Find the Elements, find the bearers’ and save Equestria… and if you can. Please save Celestia.
Below the final paragraph, Twilight saw the words ‘Your Trusted Queen’ were crossed out multiple times… along with the words ‘Your Mother’, but she chose to skip over the rest of the crossed lines. Instead the final words were read aloud by the dragon.
“‘Your Teacher and friend, Luna. Teacher. Yes, but calling herself your friend seems a little weird for me."
“Spike. Shouldn’t you be cleaning the apartment?”
Dejected, he looked around the room and sighed. “Yeah. I’ll get right on that.”
