Twilight Sparkle stared at the ruined building in front of her. The roof and the west wall collapsed decades ago, revealing most of the first floor. The remaining walls were overgrown with moss and vines. A lone pine tree was desperately trying to take root in a shallow pocket of earth that accumulated inside an old elevator shaft. All in all, it looked exactly as she would expect of a place located so far from the Canterlot Bastion.
Once upon a time these ruins used to be a library or a bookstore. All the wooden bookshelves fell apart long ago, covering the floor – or what remained of it – in a knee-deep layer of ruined books and torn pages. Twilight didn’t bother picking up any of them. She knew what she would find.
Twilight stepped inside, heavy metal boots clanking against the rubble. Amidst the sea of broken window panes and scattered sheets of paper, a brown hat laid next to a seemingly discarded Reader’s Haven uniform. Forcing herself not to think about it, she reached for the name tag. It was blank. Suddenly she remembered that the last owner of this place was a mare called Turned Page, thirty two years old. A library, then, a voice in Twilight’s mind concluded. She silently paid her respects to the forgotten librarian. She’s seen such scenes thousands of times and yet she never fully got used to it.
But that was it, Twilight couldn’t remember anything more specific about this library. More tired than disappointed, she pulled out a steel chisel and attached it to one of her front hooves. Using it, she engraved a six-sided star in the stone doorway, next to a similar carving of a musical note and a fish. It was a custom of the Archivists, meant to stop one from re-exploring a site they’ve both visited and forgotten about. The Archivists themselves were disbanded decades ago but their teachings were still proving useful to the few ponies who ventured beyond the safety of the Canterlot Bastion looking for long lost memories.
Twilight coughed harshly inside her hermetically sealed mask.
“I know, I know. I’ll be going back today,” she murmured. The suit she was wearing was a minor miracle of post-Pulse engineering. It was designed to protect its wearer from the harmful effects of staying outside the safe area for up to a week. Twilight had left Canterlot eleven days ago.
It’s always been the same out here. Too many places to visit, too many crucial memories to recall, never enough time. Twilight sighed. None of that excused getting sloppy. She took one final look at New Trotingham. The library was in a relatively good condition compared to the rest of the city. Back in its glory days, several mansions were floating over it, first designed and constructed by earth ponies then suspended in the air by a mix of unicorn and pegasi magic. The citizens of New Trotingham used to pride themselves on their engineering. It’s ironic that, in the end, it was those very mansions falling from the sky that obliterated the majority of the nearby landscape.
To an ignorant onlooker the Canterlot Outskirts might – for a moment – look perfectly normal. A more perceptive pony might notice the untrimmed hedges and overgrown gardens, the only remaining witnesses of the events that befell this quiet part of the town.
Then the moment would pass and the illusion would shatter. Silence. That’s the real difference. Twilight shuddered. Exploring long dead ruins was mentally exhausting on its own but it was something distant, more of a history lesson than real life. Seeing the same happen to settlements which were still alive days ago – Actually, it’s been several months, the voice corrected her – was magnitudes more depressing.
The wind passing through rows of abandoned buildings whistled a warning. “Take a good look,” she could swear it said. “The same fate is coming for you, sooner than you expect.” An old willow tree rustled its leafs in agreement. Twilight ignored the ominous message forming in her head and firmly trotted onward, slightly quicker than a minute ago.
She was less than a mile away from the border of the safe zone when she spotted a wooden house tucked in between two of the much more representative buildings. Indeed, wooden houses weren’t a common sight even in small towns located on the edges of the map, but the choice of the building material wasn’t the most surprising thing about the house. The doors were left wide open with a large white circle drawn on both sides, barely faded. It was another custom of the Archivists, this one meaning that the owner had some piece of history they wanted to preserve. There were no other markings on the doorway.
Twilight tapped on the metal joints of the armored suit. She reasoned that if it didn’t fall apart over the course of the past twelve days then surely she could postpone her return by a quarter of an hour. She might never get another chance to solve the mystery of this suspicious small rundown house built among villas made of gold and marble. Maybe it’s something important. Not to mention the mark, only a tiny group of ponies was still aware of their existence.
Are you going to risk your life just to sate your curiosity? A familiar voice, her voice, scolded her.
Twilight quickly ran some calculations in her mind. According to the suit’s specs, the detour would carry about 0.037% risk of the magnesium plating sustaining serious damage. That’s not good. The voice was probably right, by all accounts she shouldn’t take any more chances.
But there was something strangely… familiar about the way this house was constructed. Furthermore, its former host marked it as important. If they thought that there was anything of value stored in here then maybe investigating further would be worth the risk.
Twilight trotted towards the open door and cautiously peeked inside. Calling this structure a house was too generous. There was nothing there save for a makeshift bed, a single drawer and a metal table. The building lacked proper insulation, instead relying on bales of hay propped up against the walls to keep the heat in. It didn’t have any windows either but the roof had so many holes in it that Twilight didn’t need to light a candle to see clearly.
The pony who lived here carved several perfectly even lines into the western wall. They were grouped into a grid, four rows of sevens and three more lines on the last row. A crude image of a skull was carved above the sixth line in the fourth row. Seventeen lines directly preceding the pictogram were crossed out.
“A calendar!” Twilight excitedly exclaimed. “They were only living here for seventeen days!”
The voice in her head chimed in, Good job, detective Sparkle. But do we really have the time to roleplay as Shadow Spade? Take the box from the table and hurry to safety.
“A box?” Twilight raised her brow. “What am I talking abou–“
In sharp contrast to everything in the seslidareous room, the box laying on the table was almost whimsical. It was a small treasure chest made of a shiny, gray metal seemingly enameled in a layer of a crystal-clear glass. The outer details like edge reinforcements and the hinges were fashioned from a white metal, either silver or platinum.
After decades of mostly fruitless experiments with all sorts of materials, it was discovered that glass-covered magnesium was able to temporarily slow down the destructive effects of the Pulse. Containers like this one were prohibitively expensive – or at least they used to be, back when bits still meant something – since the high flammability of pure metallic magnesium rendered all non-magical enameling methods useless.
Twilight carefully strapped the small chest to her back. She didn’t want to risk damaging the contents by opening it here. Just like her suit, it was surprisingly light. Not wanting to waste any more time, she quickly carved her cutie mark on the door frame and ran a diagonal line through the large circle that invited her to investigate. Crossed out circle meant “cleared out”.
Trotting back to Canterlot proper, Twilight couldn’t stop thinking about the anonymous pony who went through such trouble to save something from the incoming apocalypse.
Canterlot was even emptier than she remembered it. Twilight passed by a group of older ponies rolling metal balls on the ground in a game she wasn’t familiar with. One of them, a dark green pegasus stallion with a faded lime mane, greeted her. She nodded back, unable to remember his name. Images of dozens of green pegasi flashed through her mind. None of them matched the pony in front of her.
Twilight stopped by the Canterlot general store to trade some of the trinkets she had collected for food. Technically speaking, she hasn’t eaten in two weeks. Staying outside tends to have that effect on ponies. That, coupled with the Sun and Moon being locked in a permanent sunset for the last tens of thousands of hours, made it all too easy to lose count of the passing days. She remembered that once upon a time the castle had its own kitchen. Not anymore. The sole surviving cook was relieved of his duty about two years ago to write the world’s last cooking book.
The shelves were well-stocked with all kinds of food and supplies ranging from writing utensils to furniture. The proprietor of this establishment – a middle aged mare who also worked as a clerk here – prided herself on having the best equipped shop in Canterlot. She never mentioned that she no longer had any competition in the City of Ghosts, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. The clerk wished Twilight a “good day”. Black humor has been increasingly popular among the survivors.
Twilight didn’t meet anyone else on the way to the castle library. She carefully placed the shining chest on the floor. She also finally took off her saddlebags made from magnesium alloy – the only piece of the suit she hadn’t discarded after entering the city. She took a deep breath, looked around, grabbed the lid with her mouth and slowly pushed it open.
The box contained only a single item; an album seemingly as old as the technology of photography itself. Twilight opened it on a random page and inspected a few pictures. The album documented the history of an Equestrian corporation known for producing high-quality means of transportation. The photos covered every major event in the company’s centuries-long history. At least, that’s what Twilight figured out from browsing the pictures. Despite all the protective measures taken by the pony who stored it away, all the text in the book has already corroded away, leaving only a blank strip of paper under every picture.
Twilight closed her eyes and ran her hoof across the thick cover with the company’s logo – an old fashioned scooter – emblazoned in gold. It had to be important. Ponies don’t move into rundown shacks just to preserve some trivia about a now defunct company.
“You know you’ve seen it, Sparkle. But where?” she heard herself say.
“I don’t know,” she responded. “I checked the most recent pictures but they’re all from Detrot City. I haven’t been there in centuries!”
You’re not getting it, the voice in her head scolded her. If the author wanted to save a recent memory, they’d have just told you the story themselves.
Twilight facehoofed. She opened the book on the first page and took a look at the large photo on the top. It was faded and blurred (likely from age rather than magical decay) but she could still make out some of the details.
The photo immortalized the opening of their first workshop. A young, short maned pegasus mare was shaking hooves with a tall unicorn who had just cut the, presumably red, ribbon strung across the doorway. A group of ponies was cheering nearby. Chief among them was another pegasus, this one with her mane dyed in several colors. Twilight felt a chill running down her spine. She was sure that this mare used to be somepony very important to her but now she couldn’t even remember her name.
Once again, the voice interrupted her thoughts, Doesn’t this ceremony seem familiar? Go on, take another look.
And so she did. The realization suddenly hit her – the official in the front wasn’t a unicorn. It was an alicorn. And not just any alicorn, no. She was only slightly taller than a regular pony (which ruled out the Royal Sisters) and her build was on a heftier side (which precluded Cadance). Therefore, by the process of elimination it must’ve been…
The memories came back to her like a river rushing through a blown up dam. Those ponies, she knew all of them almost as much as she knew herself. Twilight kept her eyes peeled to the millennia old photo, filling in the details from memory. The smudge near the edge wasn’t an error – it was caused by a shy pegasus ducking away from the camera. To the side, a well-dressed unicorn mare discussed some business matters with a dignified stallion. Such a sight in Vanhoover was a rarity.
“No, not a rarity. The Rarity!” Twilight shouted with joy. “And that colorful mane is not dyed. It’s even in her name! Rainbow… Rainbow…”
A loud knocking sound echoed through the room disrupting her focus.
“Princess Twilight?” said a muffled voice coming from the other side of the door. Its tone had a tinge of urgency to it.
Twilight blinked several times trying to assess the situation, “Rain… bow?”
“I’m afraid it’s just me, Sky Blitz,” the guardspony responded. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, madam, but Princess Celestia wanted to hear from you as soon as possible.”
“I… I see,” Twilight stammered, “Tell her I’ll be coming in a few minutes.”
“Understood.”
Twilight fought off the urge to immediately look at the photo again. She closed the album and carefully put it back into the glass container. Sure, there was almost no risk of anything bad happening to it here but “almost” was never good enough for Twilight. Having taken care of that eventuality, she left her room and trotted over to the throne room.
Twilight waited for Sky Blitz to open the doors to the throne room. He had adjusted to his new job pretty well. Years ago, the entirety of the Royal Guard marched against the coming Pulse in a desperate attempt to stop it. None of them came back. Sky Blitz was a flight instructor back then. Like all pegasi, the consequences of the Pulses hit him really hard. Even the unicorns found it easier to adjust to their new reality. It’s no wonder that, after Princess Celestia’s accident, Sky Blitz was the first – and only – pony to volunteer.
She nodded to the guardspony and stepped inside. Celestia gestured her to come closer. The alicorn was laying on a lavishly decorated sofa that replaced the throne some decades ago. Her mane was flowing down the middle of the room like a colorful carpet, then turned around and looped around the old monarch several times, making her already majestic silhouette stand out even more. Twilight was one of the two ponies who remembered the times when Princess Celestia’s mane was still levitating behind her as she walked but even she had to admit that there was something marvelous about the Princess’s current state. She was exuding an aura of ultimate finality, an ancient ruler seeing her kingdom and her subjects vanish into nothingness. Yet there was peace in her presence.
“I’m glad you could come, Twilight,” Princess Celestia didn’t open her eyes, “Was your last journey to New Trottingham successful?”
“Hello, Princess,” Twilight replied, “Yes, I think so. But not thanks to anything in Trottingham. Somepony left us a very special photo album just outside the barrier.”
“A special album?” asked Celestia. “Does that mean you’ve at last found out what you were looking for?”
“I think I did. Rarity, Rainbow, others I’ll remember soon. Princess, all these years and you didn’t tell me once. You must’ve known. Why?”
Princess Celestia smiled with a sad smile that betrayed her age. “Who says I haven’t? We’ve had this conversation many times, Twilight. It never gets better. And…” Celestia took a long pause.
“And what?” Twilight urged her former mentor to continue.
“…and I thought that this time you deserve to remember everything on your own, if you can. We both know there won’t be any more next times after tomorrow. Which is why I asked you to come on such a short notice," Princess Celestia opened her unseeing eyes, turning her head towards the window and the sunset that shone through it for decades. Twilight could swear that, for the first time in years, her gaze expressed relief and acceptance beneath its usual nostalgia. “One more day until it’s all over.”
Twilight felt her heart sink. She knew it’d happen eventually. But it was one thing to know and another thing entirely to actually hear the sentence. Hoping to break the silence, she asked, “Did you tell everypony?”
“I did. We learned last week. The Vault will remain open until tomorrow morning, if you want to add anything to the collection.”
The Vault. Equestria’s final preservation project. The marvelous warehouse-museum housing much of culture and technology from Equus. It was built like a bunker dozens of miles underground, with walls made of meter-thick magnesium slabs. Its construction started after it was discovered that the Pulse was primarily attracted to living creatures, leaving buried items in a relatively good condition for a long time. Optimistic calculations gave the Vault many thousands of years before the corrosion would seep inside.
“Twilight!” – Celestia paused, letting her voice reverberate in the nearly empty room. – “You zoned out again. There’s something else I want you to know. When you were gone, my sister has fully recovered.”
“Luna woke up? That’s great to hear!” Twilight jumped up in place.
“It is. However it seems that the years she spent during her forced stay in the dream realm deeply…” Princess Celestia searched for the right word, “Yes, deeply affected her.”
“What happened? Is she all right?”
Celestia’s brow furrowed. “In her desperation, she came up with a plan. A plan that’s now supported by more than half of our subjects. It’s hardly more than a fool’s errand that would destroy everything we’ve built together were it come to fruition. A false hope costing us our legacy, our Vault.”
“What are you talking about, Princess?”
“My sister will want to tell you herself as soon as she’s back, I’m sure. This morning she went to the old Canterlot castle. Against my advice, mind you. Said that she’ll be back before tomorrow. As for you, I only ask you to carefully consider your options when the time comes,” concluded Celestia, her empty eyes still locked on the window frame. “That is all. If there’s anything else you wish to know, ask now. I need to prepare my last speech.”
Twilight slowly walked up to the window. “Prin– no, Celestia, what do you think happened to Cadence, to the librarian from New Trotingham, to all the ponies who got caught up in this mess –“ Twilight gestured at the swathes of land surrounding the Bastion. Her voice was trembling. “– What will happen to us, Celestia?”
The ancient alicorn tapped her hoof on a polished marble floor, briefly looking more frail than ever. “I do not know,” she forced a reassuring smile, “But try not to worry about it. We’ll get to know the answer soon enough.”
“Thank you. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Twilight.”
Twilight placed a lit candle on the table and opened the album on the first page. The candle produced barely any light but that wasn’t its main purpose. Magical and even mechanical clocks have been getting less and less reliable each year, causing the popularity of alternative time keeping methods to rise. Carefully measured candles, made to burn for a specific amount of time, were one of the more popular replacements for indoor clocks. This one was set to burn out in eight hours, give or take a couple minutes. Twilight knew that she couldn’t have forgotten everything about her old friends, she only needed a bit of extra effort to remember.
…Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pink Pie and the last one was…
No, not Pink Pie, Pinkie Pie, Twilight mentally corrected herself as she yawned. It was going to be a very long afternoon and the exhaustion from her long trip was only going to make the already arduous task that much harder. There was no way she could waste the few precious hours she still had on sleeping.
(…)
…then Applejack finally let us help her with the harvest season and…
(…)
…all of us were surprised. We had no idea Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom was…
(…)
…told us about Blueblood. The night didn’t go as planned for her either.
(…)
Twilight glanced at the candle. It was less than a quarter of its initial height and yet she didn’t feel tired at all. She let out a deep breath. It felt good to remember, like she had found a family heirloom that she didn’t even know was missing.
Then she noticed that something about the room was off. It was dark. Twilight held her breath in disbelief. The small candle was the sole light source in the room. Did something happen to the Sun? Considering that the last Pulse that reached the Sun left Princess Celestia blind and weak and outright put her sister into coma for decades, she didn’t want to even think about that possibility. Instead, she rushed outside.
The city was gone. Not just ‘empty’ or ‘destroyed’, a thick blanket of indistinct darkness enveloped the world in every direction. Twilight’s eyes frantically darted from one point to another, hoping to see anything – or anyone – familiar.
“What happened?” she asked herself aloud, “Did I miss it?”
At last, a shining star appeared in the darkness. It drifted towards Twilight, bright and firm against the backdrop of ghoulishly stale nothingness. When it landed, the world went silent, dutifully obeying the unspoken command.
“Really, Twilight,” the star said in a familiar voice, “You of all ponies should know better than to fall asleep when reading.”
The stranger stepped out of the light. Her coat was lighter in shade than Twilight remembered. She was much shorter than she used to be. But the most notable change happened to her mane. It was rippling through the air, countless tiny stars shimmering in it as the alicorn raised her head to meet Twilight’s surprised gaze.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Luna smiled, “I assure you, I am very much not a ghost.”
“Luna!” – Twilight jumped forward to hug the blue alicorn – “I was so worried for you! But where– how– what– I thought–“
Luna returned the hug. “I’m really happy to see you, too. It’s been far too long.”
“I can’t believe that I’m saying this but please, tell me that Princess Celestia was mistaken. You don’t mean to destroy the Vault, do you?” Twilight asked with pleading eyes.
“I do.” Luna didn’t try to look away. “And you’re right to question why. As was my sister. Come with me and I’ll try to explain everything.”
Princess Luna’s horn erupted in a blaze of dream magic and three spectral doors appeared before the alicorns. The door closest to Twilight was slightly ajar, hot sulfurous air coming through the gap in the stone frame. The middle door was upside down with no visible handle. From a distance it looked like a pane of a multitude of different materials stuck together and painted over in just as many colors without any rhyme or reason.
The last door was the largest one, resembling a towering castle gate more than any ordinary door. It was made from a material resembling highly condensed dark blue clouds. Or at least that’s what I imagine it looked like, Twilight thought, before it became a charred ruin. Furthermore, in the present a large part of the door and its frame had collapsed, blocking the entrance. Twilight noticed that someone dug out a tunnel through the rubble. It was barely wide enough for a single pony to pass through.
Ultimately, Twilight decided to go with Luna. Despite what Princess Celestia said, she was still the same pony, her friend. Listening to what she had to say was the bare minimum of what she should do. Not to mention, Twilight just had to know how the other alicorn was using her dreamwalking powers dozens of years after all magic was declared an impossibility.
“If you say so,” she said. “I trust you, Luna, I really do, but I don’t know if there’s anything that could possibly justify what you’re suggesting.”
“Thank you, that’s all I wanted to hear.” Princess Luna stepped through the first door. Twilight followed.
The air was uncomfortably hot and reeked of sulfur. Twilight looked around. She was standing on the top of the highest mountain in the surrounding mountain range. Its entire peak had been mined out, revealing a flat granite surface used by the Dragon Lord as both his dwelling and a courthouse.
The Dragon Lord was the largest creature Twilight has ever seen. Although he was mighty and dangerous, causing the earth to shake with every step he took, he was also far from a simple brute. His slender, unbeastlike build coupled with a pair of small, intelligent eyes gave him the appearance of the legendary dragon-philosophers of old. An image that he carefully cultivated, making sure that his naturally golden scales were always polished to a mirror sheen. It was hardly a coincidence that the glistening scales drew every onlooker’s attention away from his wingless back.
The royal court was already in session when Twilight and Luna arrived. Hundreds of adult dragons were circling the mountain, the oldest of them landing on nearby mountain peaks. Before Twilight could see who interrupted Dragon Lord’s slumber, his voice echoed through the valleys.
“The wise and fair Princess Celestia,” he bellowed, “With the valiant and no less beautiful Princess Luna, to us better known under another name. Together in the heart of the Dragonlands. It is not a sight many Dragon Lords could claim to have ever seen. Welcome to the domain of Dragon Lord Thorn. What brings you ponies to the end of the world?”
Twilight squinted her eyes. On a stone pedestal opposite of the dragon lord stood two tall alicorns dressed in ornate sets of battle armor.
“We suspect that you already know,” said the white one.
“Of course I do,” responded Thorn, an ugly smile forming on his face. "How could I miss an impenetrable wall of invisible filth rapidly approaching the western border of my kingdom. I’ve lost three of my most elite warriors trying to fight it off before we realized it’s a purely magical phenomenon.”
“Our deepest condolences,” said Celestia, “But if you got so close, have you by any chance noticed any weak points that could be exploited? Details that might not be apparent to someone maintaining a safe distance?”
Thorn let out a raucous laugh. “For months I had hoped one of you would come here with a solution. Today I learned that you know as little as I do. More than that, you came here to ask for help to save your own kingdom, haven’t you?”
“With all due respect, you’re wrong, Dragon Lord,” said Celestia, standing proudly below the sea of swirling wings, claws and teeth, “We wouldn’t leave our neighbors alone against such a deadly threat. That is why I won’t waste any more of your time sugar-coating our advice; You have to take your dragons and head east.”
Thorn stretched out his body towards the Princesses until his enormous head was less than a hoof’s reach from Celestia. His gaze, previously calm and intelligent, flared up with anger. “Do not insult me in my own home, pony,” he hissed. “We dragons are fearless warriors. Tales of our conquests are told to scare the young of every civilized creature. The adults shiver in fear when we take flight, for we have only lost but once in our long history of wars against all manners of threats. No, we will not run away like stray dogs.”
Celestia took a few steps back and said, “You misunderstood me, Dragon Lord. You can’t stay here. Our studies are still underway but from what we’ve learned it’s clear that you will not endure. Instead, we’ve prepared a mountainous part of Equestria where your dragons could wait things out until–”
“SILENCE!” he roared, “We need not your pity, pony princess.”
“Is that so?” Princess Luna, who up to this point was silently observed the conversation, walked between the great dragon and Celestia. “Drop the act, Thorn. We’ve known your great-great-great-great-grandfather while he was smaller than a colt. And –“ Luna noticed that as soon as she started talking the dragons above their heads flew higher up “– I’ve also seen enough frightened dragons in my life to see through your empty threats.”
The dragon returned to his previous spot, his fake anger replaced by a genuine respect. He grinned. “The Dragonslayer of Havoc’s Pass speaks at last! The only pony to ever spill the blood of a Dragon Lord in a duel. We still tell the tales about that fight.”
“Then tell your subjects that what my sister has said is also my wish. We’re giving you the lands you once tried to take by force.“
“I can do that,” the Dragon Lord agreed, “but they won’t listen to anyone, not even to you. Since Dragon Lord Havoc’s death, every dragon swears to protect the Kingdom with their life.”
“I see,” said Celestia, “Your ancestor’s dragon code is being held in high regard. Is there nothing that can be done?”
“I’m afraid so. Unless –“ Thorn scratched his chin “– Wait here, I have an announcement to make.”
The mighty dragon turned away and stepped towards the edge of the cliff. His scales reflected the long rays of the sun, shining as if they were on fire. He cleared his throat to get the attention of every nearby dragon.
“Hear me, dragons!” he yelled, “For millennia we have thrived, spreading the tales of our might far and wide. We seized land, gathered treasure and sown terror in the hearts of weaklings. But as time went on, simple conquest proved to be not enough. To this end, the Dragon Kingdom was established and with it, the age of the Dragon Lords has begun.
“The Kingdom has served us well. We are now more numerous and wealthier than our ancestors could even imagine. But the times have changed once more. There shall be no more Dragon Lords after my death, that is my final decree. The Dragon Kingdom will pass into legend and you will be free to pursue whatever goals you deem worthy. Go to Equestria if you want to, carve our history into the stone of their mountains. Or stay here and watch the end of an age. The court is over!” With that, he released a large burst of green flame into the air.
Thorn turned back to Princess Celestia. “I made a mistake. I sensed your fear and assumed you were afraid of me and my dragons. But that wasn’t it, was it? When you spoke about the threat on our border you didn’t tell me the whole truth.”
“I didn’t lie to you, Thorn,” said Celestia, consternation written on her face.
“Perhaps. But as I said, you didn’t tell me the whole truth, either,” the dragon glanced at her, “You already know what your studies will show. That… thing will not stop at Dragonlands. It will eventually devour everything and there will be nothing anyone can do against it. Am I wrong?”
Celestia recoiled, struck by his words. “N… no. We can’t be sure yet,” she mumbled.
“As I thought.” A very sad smile crossed Thorn’s face. “And what do you make of it, valiant Luna?”
“As my sister has said, we still don’t know enough. But if you’re right –” she firmly placed her front hoof on the ground. “– we will still fight. Contrary to you, we’ll have nowhere to hide. And…” A shadow of a smug smile appeared on her face.
“And what?”
“And although we ponies may not be fearless warriors and no creature tells the tales of our conquests, we have yet to lose for the first time.”
Thorn laughed and lowered his head to meet the Moon Princess’s gaze. “Ha! I see the tales were true. You know I could take those words as an insult and challenge you both to a fight to the death.”
“You could,” Luna said with a calm nod that revealed no emotions, “And then you’d die.”
“And then I’d die,” the dragon agreed in an equally calm voice, “Die as the last Dragon Lord, one who fought a legendary opponent at the heart of our Kingdom. Indeed, I could do that.”
The dragons sensed the rising tension and started circling faster and faster. Princess Celestia adjusted her helmet. Princess Luna stood firm, preemptively preparing a shielding spell. For a moment, the dragon and the two ponies sized each other up in silence.
“I could,” Thorn finally broke the silence, “but I won’t.”
“You won’t?” Celestia and Luna asked simultaneously, the former relieved and the latter surprised.
“I will not.” The dragon walked along the edge of the cliff. “Because it doesn’t matter. I do not believe in the success of your quest but I wish you luck regardless. Farewell.” Thorn took a step over the edge and his massive body disappeared immediately.
He fell for a long time. The earthquake that followed was felt in all lands from the western edge of the world up to the capital of Equestria. But Twilight couldn’t have known that, for Princess Luna had ended that projection inside the dream well before the impact happened.
Twilight looked around in confusion. The landscape of the first dream remained unchanged, save for the stone door disappearing immediately after she and Luna went back through it. The stillness of the castle was especially eerie in contrast to the ubiquitous noise that permeated the Dragonlands.
She gestured with her hoof towards the former location of the stone door. “Was that real?”
“It was a real memory, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Luna, “But the events themselves took place almost three hundreds years ago.”
“Then why haven’t you or Princess Celestia told anyone about his sacrifice?” asked Twilight.
“He wasn’t always a bad ruler,” Luna responded, “We decided to let him be remembered that way. So did the dragons, it seems.”
“What do you mean, Luna?” Twilight blinked rapidly. She suspected that Luna wanted her to reach the conclusion on her own but none of what she just heard made any sense. “Thorn’s selfless sacrifice would–“
“His what?!” Luna interrupted Twilight with a hint of anger resonating in her voice. Although she was hiding it well, it didn’t slip past Twilight’s attention. “How many dragons have you seen take shelter in Equestria?”
“Zero, I guess?” Twilight was confused by Luna’s sudden outburst.
Luna furrowed her brow. She turned around and walked over to a pond in the castle garden. “Correct, not a single one abandoned their kingdom and returned with us.” She picked up a dozen of flat stones with her telekinesis and focused her attention on throwing them one by one. “Thorn must have known it would happen.” The first one skipped twice and sank with a plop. “He gave up on everything long before we arrived.” A stone skipped, then disappeared underwater. “Then he used us, my sister and I, to put up a show.” Another stone flew perpendicular to the water’s surface only to sink immediately. “I don’t doubt that he even tricked himself into believing that he was doing something noble, especially with the speech that he worked on so hard mere days before the end.” The next stone skipped four times before sinking. “But he simply chose to quit, selfish fool!” She dumped the remaining stones into the pond.
Twilight gasped and trotted over to Luna. The Princess of the Night was shaking. Twilight said, “Um, Luna, I… None of this is about some long dead dragon, is it?”
Luna wiped the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “I will say nothing more.” Her horn glowed and the mismatched door appeared next to them. “We still have two more memories I’d like for you to see before you cast your judgment. Shall we?”
They found themselves in the throne room. Nearby, Twilight from the past stood next to Princess Celestia, neither of them looking any different than their present day selves. They were discussing something when the gate suddenly swung open. The sound of many trumpets filled the room. The Princesses weren't especially surprised.
“So, you’re leaving.” Celestia said to a draconequus who had just entered the room. He was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, with a pair of shades on his eyes and a travel bag in his right paw.
“Time is running out, my dears.” He theatrically checked the time on a nonexistent wristwatch. “I know I don’t look my age but the Pulses have been getting unbearable for me, too. One or two more and I might not make it to another world.”
“Another world…” Twilight scratched her head. “Discord, I take it this isn’t your first time leaving a world before it collapses. Is it always like this?”
“You mean some unstoppable cosmic energy vanishing every creature it touches?” Discord pouted, his sunglasses sliding slightly down on his face. “That’s typical, although some civilizations have managed to wipe out all of the intelligent life themselves, without any outside assistance.
“But let’s leave reminiscing for later.” Discord opened his bag and pulled out an old map of Equestria. “Speaking of, take this, Twilight. I marked some places you might want to visit. I even ordered them for your convenience!”
Twilight rolled her eyes and said, “Discord, I don’t have the time for a scavenger hunt! The entire Equestria is on the brink of destruction!”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” he patted Twilight on her head, “But trust me, you might want to. Don’t you want to fill those holes in your memory you’ve been complaining about? Besides, you might find that the real treasure was found along the way. Or something like that.”
“Let's say I’ll consider it.” Twilight sighed and reached out for the map.
“I know you will.” He grinned. “Oh, I might be some thousands years late but nevertheless,“ – Discord made an exaggerated bow to Celestia. – “thank you for not turning me into a garden statue again. Goodbye, Celestia.”
“Goodbye, Discord,” said Princess Celestia.
“Goodbye,” added Twilight.
“No, Twilight.” He swiped his claw through the air opening a dimensional rift. “See you soon, I hope.”
“Wait!” Twilight cried out, “How many times did you go through this?”
The smile momentarily left his face. Twilight thought he looked impossibly tired. “I lost count eons ago.” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared from the room in a flash of light, closing the rift as he did.
Twilight opened her eyes. She was in an open field outside a small town. To an untrained eye, nothing would seem off. Twilight, however, spent enough time traveling to- and from- the lands overtaken by the Pulse to quickly localize an invisible border cutting the area in two. The most telling sign was the sound around the line. On its left side, the grass was unnaturally silent, not a single grasshopper could be heard playing there.
Princess Luna was standing next to her, still translucent. Twilight looked at her own hooves and noted that they’re also see-through. “Luna, where are we?” she asked.
“This memory is not over yet, look!” She pointed to a barely visible figure in the distance. “I’ll have to leave you soon but don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll open the way back for you when it’s time.”
The black dot on the horizon became bigger and bigger until Twilight recognized it as Discord. The draconequus lost his previous attire, now sporting an oddly-shaped metal helmet and a lance. He was riding a small flying pig.
“Hello again, Twilight! Long time no see, Luna!” He called out in her general direction, “I’m glad you made it. I’d make a fool of myself if you didn’t. I am, of course, not a fool.” His clawed arm detached itself from his body, crawled over the shoulder and patted him on the back.
Once he got closer, Twilight noticed large patches of gray hair on his neck and torso. They weren’t there during the conversation in the throne room. Discord folded his lance like origami paper and jumped off of his peculiar mount. The pig oinked and immediately flew to the town, scared. Discord groaned and made a number of pained steps in the opposite direction.
“Another world to leave and start over. Again and again and again. Insanity, isn’t that right?” He burst into a hollow laughter, the sound rising over the empty plains. “Perhaps I grew bored of it. Maybe it was something about Equestria or you, ponies, that convinced me to stay. Even now I’m not sure.
“Once I thought myself invincible; today I’ll prove myself wrong – in defense of a kingdom of Harmony, no less. The irony of that –” he snorted “– isn’t lost on me. Discord, Knight-Errant of Harmony.” He knocked on his helmet and it fell off, split in half.
“Farewell!” With one final step, Discord crossed the invisible line.
The world around Twilight erupted into flames. A wave of irrational panic washed over her body. It's just a dream, right? Surely Luna wouldn’t let anything dangerous happen if her dream powers have returned as she claimed, she tried to calm herself, the crackling of fire undermining her attempts.
Meanwhile the air itself started to burn with a strangely captivating multicolored flame. The inferno spread in every direction with newfound ferocity, consuming all in its path. No, that’s not right! Twilight pointed out to herself, It can’t cross the border to the safe area. Another wave of fear assaulted her. This time, however, Twilight kept her composure and identified the source of this sudden attack – it wasn’t her fear, the very air around her was lashing out in a blind rage.
And then it stopped, as suddenly as it started. Moreover, not a single blade of grass was scorched and not one leaf on a nearby tree damaged. If not for the smell of burned flora and a missing draconequus, Twilight would question if what she saw a moment ago had really happened.
She looked around. Luna was still nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, an open door was standing where she last saw her. She walked through it and once again ended up in the isolated castle shrouded by the night.
Luna was sitting on the ground, staring into the dark void enveloping the castle. Twilight wondered if the Princess of the Night saw something in that unending abyss.
“I apologize for leaving you out there,” said Luna, “I couldn’t endure experiencing that memory again.”
“It’s fine,” Twilight reassured her, “I think I understand why did you want me to see it. The Pulse slowing down after Discord’s… departure wasn’t a coincidence, right? He somehow weakened it.”
“That’s a part of it, yes,” Luna nodded, “He could’ve ran away. By all accounts he had the right to run away. But he didn’t, he chose to buy us time instead; for you to remember who you were, for my sister to finish her project and for me –“ she wistfully looked at an undefined point on the horizon “– to wake up.” She stressed the end of that sentence.
The two alicorns stood in perfect silence, Luna’s spectral mane rippling through the air. Her posture was firm, with eyes full of determination. Twilight thought that there was something comforting in the way she carried herself in the face of the approaching doom.
“There’s something I still don’t understand,” Twilight’s voice wavered, “ whose memory have I just seen? And for that matter, what did Discord do to achieve what no pony managed before? If he was able to slow the pulse by decades then the defense of the Crystal Empire led by Cadence should’ve had observable consequences, too.”
“Sharp as always, I see,” Luna smiled, her gaze still glued to a sight visible only to her. “The spell that he had cast that day was no ordinary magic. As for the memory –“ Luna pointed at the last remaining door “– the answer lies there.”
Twilight trotted over to the pile of rubble which has reappeared next to them. She squeezed through the tunnel and grabbed the gigantic handle. But no matter how hard she tried, the door remained shut.
“Wait, Twilight,” Luna called out to her, “Before we head there, you need to know that what you’ll see there won’t be just a regular dream or memory. That gate leads back to the remains of my dream realm. What you’ll see there may be more than slightly uncomfortable. Are you sure you still want to go?”
“I am.” There was no hesitation in Twilight’s voice.
The gate opened just wide enough to let the two ponies pass.
The dreamscape resembled an abandoned battleground. The few stars still shining were giving a dim glow, standing out among the sea of dead gaping holes left all over the sky in mockery of the constellations. The light was insufficient to illuminate the realm, leaving it covered in a sad state of permanent semi-darkness. Ugly gray cracks marked the ground and the sky like cosmic scars that never healed properly. Icy wind blew through these cracks, chilling Twilight to the bone.
She looked around. The rows upon rows of doors stretching towards the horizon in every direction were gone without a trace, alongside the dreams of ponies whose minds they used to lead to. All that remained was a couple dozens of doors arranged in a humble semicircle. And even between those few doors still left standing, all but two were buried in piles of heavy, charred dream matter. The door she used to enter this forsaken place was carved from a single piece of bright purple oaken wood. The other still functioning portal was cast from pure gold. Once upon a time it was decorated by elaborate bas-reliefs portraying Equestria's greatest victories, now abraded to the point of unrecognizability. It was closed shut.
Princess Luna was already waiting for her. She asked, “What do you think of my realm?”
“What happened here?” Twilight was shocked. After Luna’s warning she expected the dream realm to be in a bad state but the reality was so much worse than anything she could have imagined.
”It has seen better days, –“ Luna tossed away a large piece of the dream matter that rolled onto their path “– but it still exists, and is still under my control, limited as it were.”
“I don’t understand!” Twilight started pacing between the collapsed doors, rapidly spouting one sentence after another. “A Pulse severs your and Princess Celestia’s connection to the celestial and dream realms, almost killing her and putting you into a decades-long coma, then you wake up days before the end of the whole world and you’re – maybe not fine – but better off than anyone else, somehow even retaining some control over magic. A feat which was thought to be impossible for more than thirty years. Then you take me on a round trip to the memories of Equestria’s fall – including Discord’s which you couldn’t have seen for multiple reasons – to convince me that it’s good to sabotage the greatest project we have achieved in centuries. For a moment I was afraid that you started working for the destructive force that is devouring Equestria, but I know that it’s not true, I’ve seen how you react to the remnants of our world. So, Luna, please stop with these riddles and tell me what exactly is going on here.” Twilight had to stop and catch her breath.
“I could tell you –” Luna trotted over to Twilight and stretched one of her wings over the purple alicorn. Her voice lost some – not all – of its firmness upon seeing Twilight’s breakdown. “– but I still think it would be best if you saw it yourself. Some of what you’ve said isn’t quite true. Would you like to see what really happened on that fateful night?”
Twilight took three deep breaths to recompose herself and said, “Alright. Yes, I would. Where–“
“Here,” Luna interrupted her, the glow from her horn enveloping the world around them in a blanket of blue light, “You must stay close for the protection spell to work.”
The light gradually dimmed revealing a completely different scenery than the one they saw moments earlier. A multitude of stars cast their warm and welcoming light on an even greater number of doors filling up the world. It was only after some time that Twilight noticed how sparsely placed they were, with only one of every nine designated slots holding a functioning door in it. The rest were either empty or filled with fake doors that didn’t lead anywhere, marked by the lack of a doorknob.
The host of this realm had her back turned towards them. Even though she couldn’t have been more than a few inches taller than Twilight, her presence permeated every corner of the dream world. Twilight instantly recognized her armor. It was the same ornate design that she wore on her last trip to the Dragon Empire. She dug in her hooves and watched a gray rift slowly growing in the air right in front of her.
“Observe, Twilight,” said the shorter Luna standing next to her, “And don’t worry about that me. Things won’t look good but as you can see, I did get better eventually.”
“Luna, this was borderline suicide!” Twilight blurted out, concern and resentment equally apparent in her tone, “Why didn’t you leave this place like Celestia?!”
“I couldn’t let the dream realm be overtaken by the Pulse,” she said with a bitter smile, “Look around, Twilight. Do you understand where all of these doors lead?”
“Oh…”
“Yes, ‘Oh…’ indeed.”
A gray, shapeless mass seeped through the gaping hole in the fabric of reality. Princess Luna gritted her teeth and addressed the intruder directly. “You have to go back, whatever you are. I will not repeat myself.”
It didn’t react and continued to pool itself not far from the ponies. “So be it,” said Luna. The alien parasite was hit by an enormous lightning bolt from the sky. Luna followed it up with a heavy energy beam that made the air around it sizzle.
When the dust settled, Twilight gasped. Not only did the invading creature (assuming it could be called a creature) survive, it continued to grow all throughout the onslaught of magic unleashed by this realm’s Princess Luna. The latter, however, was hardly surprised. She furrowed her brow and whispered to herself, “There really isn’t any other way, is there?”
She closed her eyes and let the magic of the dream realm flow freely through her. The air grew thick, waiting for its mistress to command the power accumulated in the sky over the millennia. For a short moment, she felt every dream and every memory lingering in the minds of her subjects. Then, she let a lone spark leave her horn. It floated for a second before drifting into the ground.
The blue fire burst in every direction, setting almost every inch of the dreamscape aflame. Twilight and the other Luna were now standing on the only safe patch of land in sight. A piercing shriek rang out in the minds of everyone who could witness the inferno. It came from the nondescript gray mass whose entrance point to the dream realm was sealed off by the raging magical flame. It shrieked again, seeking to break its opposition.
But the fire didn’t listen. It reached higher up than anyone could see. The stars were exploding like light bulbs before its heat. The boundaries of the dream were cracking from the immense magic, chunks of the dream’s ceiling causing earthquakes wherever they landed. The alicorn at the center of the inferno dropped to her knees, her mane becoming one with the surrounding cerulean blaze. Her armor was long gone, melted down in seconds.
The shrieking stopped. The invading force was now only a tiny remnant of what it had been. Bit by bit, it ceased to exist with a satisfying sizzling sound. An order broke through the chaos and the fire retreated back towards the alicorn. Luna grinned with a triumphant smile and dropped to the ground, unconscious.
“Luna, no!” Twilight cried out. A blue hoof stopped her from running to help the collapsed princess.
“If you do that, you’ll only end up stuck here as I did,” Luna said, “or worse, given that you lack the inherent connection to this place that let me regenerate.”
She terminated the dream travel spell and soon enough the two alicorns found themselves back in the ruined dream world of the present. She waited for Twilight to start asking questions. But Twilight remained silent, proverbial gears grinding in her head until a valid hypothesis was found. Luna was perfectly content with waiting.
Some time later, Twilight’s ears suddenly perked up. She faced Luna – who busied herself with clearing the debris out of a ruined garden – and proudly exclaimed, “It doesn’t devour, it absorbs!”
Luna raised a brow. “That is correct. How did you figure it out?” She prompted Twilight to continue.
“Cadance and her Crystal Empire threw everything they had at the Pulse, and they lost without as much as slowing it down. So did the Royal Guard, now that I think of it, even with the support of the strongest wizards. But that didn’t happen with you or Discord.
“It didn’t make any sense until I found the key difference – Discord ignited the magic inside that thing. In your case, you prevented it from regenerating by turning all of the dormant magic around it into a scorching fire. But how did you know how to stop it?”
“It was a gambit,” Luna admitted, “one that I was not sure would succeed. When I first felt that thing worm its way into the dream realm, I noticed my magic in its vicinity was being drained. I tried the only thing I could think of.”
Twilight nodded, “And it worked. You briefly trapped it, whatever it is, here. That second memory wasn’t Discord’s as I initially thought, it was…” she trailed off, bothered by a contradiction she was about to say out loud.
“Yes,” Luna watched Twilight with a curious glance, “What you don’t know is that from its perspective, time only passes with the so-called Pulses. For us, Discord’s fight was still a decade away but in its mind, if it indeed has one, I saw it happen in real time.”
Twilight paced around the pond and the garden. Everything in the dream was perfectly still. Everything except for her, of course. And yet this was a different kind of stillness than the one she got used to on her expeditions. The gentle embrace of the dream was comforting more than it was depressing, calm instead of desperate, soothing rather than grating. The castle itself was a new development but its foundations were built on the legacy of billions of ponies who visited it over thousands of years. Despite its ancient history, the dream didn’t care that it would soon be unmade and forgotten. Twilight was jealous of that.
She took three deep breaths and sat on a bench overlooking the pond. She was stalling for time, hesitating to ask the last questions. She suspected that she already knew the answers but as long as the words remained unsaid she could at least feign ignorance to make the dream last a moment longer.
Luna silently teleported next to her and sat down without a word. Twilight looked at the empty benches on the opposite side of the pond and said, “It’s not right. There should be ponies playing and enjoying themselves.”
“There should be,” Luna agreed, “but there aren’t any. Reasons to celebrate have been scarce lately.”
Twilight turned her head and looked at Luna with uncertainty. “Luna, do you really want the Vault to be destroyed?”
“Yes,” she said, “but I won’t do it without your or my sister’s approval. If that’s the way Equestria wants to go, so be it.”
“But why?” Twilight raised her voice. “It’s an invaluable source of information! With it gone, there won’t be any trace of ponykind ever existing!”
“When I briefly looked into the Pulse, I saw many things. Above all of them, however, –“ Luna paused and looked Twilight in the eyes “– was fear. Twilight, it’s afraid of us. If we could replicate what happened here, then maybe, just maybe, we could achieve something no one has ever done before!”
“You don’t even know what you’re trying to accomplish!” Twilight fired back at her.
“It can’t be worse from building yourself a tomb and quietly waiting for the world to die.” Luna’s voice was firm but calm. “I felt echoes of every pony that got absorbed by the Pulse. We can’t just give up now. We owe them more than that.”
Twilight let out a resigned sigh. “I don’t know, Luna.” She shook her head. “I really don’t know what we should do anymore.”
Luna stood up and said, “I understand that it’s a lot to take in. I’m not asking you to decide right away. But there’s not much time left, either.” She walked in silence to the nearest portal. For Twilight, the dream faded away before she got there.
Twilight opened her eyes. She closed them immediately. Her head was laying on the desk, rays of the evening sun unluckily shining right into her pupils. She was back in the library and the candle was still mostly intact. According to the scale engraved on it, less than an hour had passed since she lit it up. The album was still on the table, right where she left it. Twilight ran her hoof over the weathered picture and sighed.
“Friends, what would you have done in my place?” she asked.
Can you really afford getting sentimental now? the voice in her head responded.
She said out loud, “You’re right, I can’t. But–”
No ‘buts’, Twilight. The voice was assertive as always. You have seven more hours to make a decision. Let’s focus on what we know first–
Twilight burst into the throne room with the album on her back. Luna was already there, standing near the throne, discussing some important matters with her sister. Both of them turned their heads to the source of the sudden noise. Twilight stopped for a moment. Although she didn’t expect Luna to fake her appearance in the dream, seeing her magical mane drifting in the air in the world thought to be deprived of all magic was a surreal experience. Being honest, until yesterday she didn’t believe that she’d ever see the Moon Princess again.
Luna saw her and smiled. “Hello, Twilight.”
“Hello, Luna.” She stepped forward in a polite bow. Her eyes were locked on a point on the wall as if she was afraid that looking at the Sisters would deprive her of all the confidence she managed to muster. “I have decided.”
“That’s good,” said Celestia, “Indecisiveness is a luxury we cannot afford. I hear that you’ve brought something with you. Is it the book you’ve talked about yesterday?”
Twilight silently nodded. She immediately realized her error and said, “It is. It’s for the Vault.”
“For the Vault?” Celestia looked towards the balcony with her blind eyes. She didn’t need them to see what was happening down on the streets. Some of the ponies were still finishing their goodbyes or walking around the park to kill time. A few were just waiting for the Princesses’ verdict in silence. The others...
A former farmer was planting pear trees on the castle grounds to commemorate his family. Nearby, a shopkeeper hung a sign that said “100% off, valid today only” on her shop. Next to a recently renovated statue of Fancypants the Wise, two teary-eyed nobles – the last of their kind – were shaking hooves, for the first in their lives not wishing misfortune upon each other. An older mare boasting a collection of scars from her youth (likely spent as an adventurer or a caravan guard) spread dozens of photos around her. The photos were colorful, depicting creatures and lands that few ponies heard about.
Celestia raised one of her hooves and pointed to a simple black door in the corner. It contrasted with the rest of the brightly colored throne room. “That lift will take you to the Vault. Come back soon,” she said.
Luna didn’t say anything, pretending to be distracted by a letter she was pretending to care about. She knew what she saw in Twilight’s eyes a moment ago.
Twilight, on the other hoof, awkwardly cleared her throat. “Um, Princess, I…” her voice drifted off.
Come on, Twilight! Someone only she could hear scolded her. What are you waiting for?
“I… I greatly respect your wisdom,“ she said, “But I decided that Luna is right. Even if we had no chance to win, we should still fight. You’ve said it yourself; we can’t afford to hesitate right now. And there are no worse forms of hesitation than giving up beforehoof.”
“I told you Twilight still has the fight in her, Tia.”
“Would you believe she’s not the only one?” To the surprise of the other two alicorns, Princess Celestia was smiling. She summoned the guardspony.
“Sky Blitz! Here, take this letter and read it to the ponies gathered outside. And thank you for your service in these last years, it was invaluable.” She bowed her head before the flustered pegasus.
“I… I… tha…” he stammered.
“Now go, quickly! It’s Equestria’s final stand, we cannot be late.”
Sky Blitz galloped out of the room before she finished her order.
“I half expected this turn of events ever since you woke up, Luna,” she said to the surprised alicorns, stretching out her hooves to see if they work, “If you and Twilight agree, it would be foalish of me to assume that I’m in the right. I trust your judgment.”
Celestia pushed one of the pillows off the sofa revealing a hidden compartment containing dozens of scrolls and a brown bag. Using only her front hooves, she quickly scooped them all up into the bag. Once she was done, she put it on her back and slowly stood up.
“Twilight, Luna, lend me a hoof, please. The lift is only a couple steps away but I’m not exactly in the best shape.”
They did as she asked. Celestia was right, even with Luna and Twilight supporting her from the sides, every step proved to be a challenge. On the way to the lift, Twilight asked, “Princess, are those letters… from me?”
“Some of them are,” she said, “But others are older than that. A lot of them have already been stored in the Vault years ago but I left the most important ones with me.”
Twilight adjusted the album in her saddlebag as she entered the lift. “You know, I thought I’d feel terrible knowing what we’re going to do. But instead I almost feel anxious.”
“I do know,” said Celestia, “I spent five decades building this place and I feel the same way.”
“I, too, felt this when I stood against the Pulse,” chimed in Luna, “We’re taking the fate of Equestria into our own hooves, for the first time in –“ she furrowed her brow “– too long. Whatever happens next, no one could ever say that the ponies of Equestria gave up without a fight.”
A few minutes later, the lift arrived at the bottom floor, many miles below the throne room. A thin corridor separated the lift shaft from the Vault itself. It was meant to be collapsed right before the final Pulse, blocking the entrance and safely sealing the knowledge stored within.
The corridor ended with a sharp turn. So far, the three Princesses were walking in silence, Celestia relying on the other two for support. As soon as they passed the turn, Luna gasped. “You built this in fifty years?”
“Give or take a couple, yes.” Celestia nodded. “It’s as impressive as Twilight told me, I take it?”
“It looks like a palace, not a warehouse!”
“Although I could never see the results of the work, I made sure to arrange for the best of the best to construct it.” Even knowing what was going to happen to the Vault, Celestia was still proud of her project.
She had every reason to be. Luna’s impression was correct – the exterior of the Vault buildings was chiefly inspired by the old Canterlot Castle. They were built inside an enormous artificial cave supported by dozens of massive stone pillars. Even though the only light sources down here were the rare luminescent crystals, the cave was bright as day. The crystals were generously scattered around every corner, coating the streets in a cool, faint blue light. However, they were only a part of the reason why the light was omnipresent.
The other, arguably even more important cause could be found all around the alicorns, in the walls and above their heads. Much like the decorated chest that Twilight found, every inch of the cave walls was covered by the shiny gray metal. But although the idea was similar, the scale was incomparable. From what Twilight remembered, the metal layer was over a meter thick in its thinnest spot. Furthermore, instead of a fragile glass coating, the elementary magnesium was solidly held in place by heavy panes of tempered glass.
Below the glass dome, countless golden spires crowned an equal number of slender marble towers. Every tower was slightly different in size and stored a different branch of ponykind’s knowledge. The largest of these towers easily rivaled the Crystal Castle in size. Princess Celestia effortlessly found the way to the tower they were looking for. She has never been in the Vault herself but every inch of the place was a part of her deliberate design.
The Tower of Legacy was comparably average, with floors roughly the size of small rooms. On the inside it was filled to the brim with chests, bookshelves and scroll racks. All those containers were full of items of varied origin and sometimes dubious history.
Celestia opened the bag she was carrying and scattered the letters on the ground. Seeing it, Twilight pulled the photo album out of her saddlebags and placed it right in the middle of the pile of letters. The air started crackling – the faint magic in the room was almost palatable. Twilight looked at Princess Luna with wide open eyes and asked in a trembling voice, “What now?”
As if on cue, the Princesses of Day and Night exchanged a determined look despite Celestia’s blindness. Luna took a step forward.
“Now –“ she raised a hoof to Twilight’s chest “– we need your spark to start the reaction. We’ll help you take it from there.”
“But what if I can’t do it? Thousands of years have passed since I’ve done it last.” Twilight was shivering. Whether out of fear of failure or the consequences of the opposite, no one in the room – not even Twilight herself – could tell for sure.
“We’ll know soon enough,” said Celestia, a barely visible reassuring smile appearing on her muzzle, “but in the countless years I’ve known you, whenever the fate of Equestria was at stake, you have not failed even once.”
Twilight took a deep breath and said, “Whatever happens next, Princess Celestia, Luna, it was an honor to stand here with you.” She bowed her head.
“Likewise, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna lightly nudged Celestia and the two sisters synchronously returned the bow.
Twilight swallowed loudly and closed her eyes. She remembered her life in Canterlot as a unicorn under Princess Celestia’s personal tutelage. She remembered meeting her dearest friends, she remembered venturing to the Everfree forest and – with her friends – undoing her mentor’s most painful mistake. She remembered the many adventures she has experienced alongside Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. She remembered befriending Luna and helping her adjust to the present times.
The memories started flowing faster and faster as she no longer felt the terrifying sting of uncertainty. She saw her entire life before her eyes and knew with an absolute clarity what must happen next.
Somewhere far away, two royal sisters saw a purple alicorn rise above the ground without any movement of her wings. Localized bolts of energy were crackling everywhere around them. When the horn of the third alicorn started glowing in a blinding white light, the sisters joined her with all their magic.
But Twilight didn’t see that. Her mind was soaring outside the Vault, on the surface where a group of ponies gathered in a circle around the new Canterlot Castle. They directed their magic, their will, their very beings in support of the spirit of Equestria that flooded out of every entrance to the Castle.
A blink of an eye later, two things happened simultaneously. One, the Pulse overtook the Canterlot Bastion, instantly filling every corner of the land and barging into the open Vault. Two, a purple alicorn opened her eyes and a purple spark left her horn.
Just as the Pulse – if it really was sentient – was about to announce its ultimate victory, the purple spark returned to Twilight. In a fraction of a second it traveled far and wide through the Pulse, exploring Equestria all throughout its history.
Before anyone could so much as notice what happened, the entirety of Equus in the present erupted into flames. There was no shrieking and no struggle. The combined power of every single absorbed soul, from Equestria's past and present, obliterated the fragile frame of the entity known in this world only as the Pulse. Having accomplished its purpose, the flame obediently disappeared as suddenly as it came to be.
The world fell silent once more. However, it was not the sickly silence offered by the Pulse, but a period of respite for the universe itself. To an outside observer, the fight was over in less than a heartbeat. But of course, this hypothetical observer didn’t exist, nor could it exist.
Twilight woke up curled on the ground with her face in the grass. She tried to stand up using wings for support only to lose balance and fall again. Something about her body felt off. She checked her purple legs, her smooth back, her head with its stumpy horn and…
Her wings were gone! Twilight blinked several times and bit her tongue to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. The sharp sting she felt confirmed that she was very much awake. Then it hit her – the missing wings weren’t the only change. Her legs were weirdly short and thick and her horn was at most half its usual length. There was no doubt, she was a unicorn. But what could it mean? Did the spell work? How was she still alive? A familiar voice, although one she hasn’t heard in many centuries, interrupted her thoughts.
“Howdy, Twilight!” An orange pony wearing a cowpony’s hat lent her a hoof. Twilight’s heart started beating rapidly. Instead of looking up, she grabbed the outstretched hoof and, with the help of the other pony, got back on her hooves. She found it hard to keep balance. Her hooves were shaking trying to adapt to the new (old) body that they had to carry. No, Twilight mentally reproached herself, this physique doesn’t have anything to do with the shaking.
She swallowed hard and slowly raised her eyes. The other mare was patiently waiting with her front legs crossed. Her mane was blond and neatly tied near the end. Her cutie mark depicted three red apples. Twilight raised her gaze higher, where it was met by the warmest smile she’s seen in a long time and a pair of green eyes barely holding back tears. Twilight opened her mou–
An excited fuzzy mass of pink knocked her off her hooves, pinning her to the ground. The obstacle was quickly enveloped in a blue aura and dragged off of Twilight.
“Pinkie, darling, I told you not to do this!” The scolding words were spoken with such cheer that they couldn’t have been any less effective. “Give Twilight some time. She won’t disappear if you let go of her.”
Twilight’s eyes welled up with tears. She raised herself back up and looked at the group of ponies standing in front of her.
“Friends, I missed you like you wouldn’t believe!” she cried out through the tears. For the first time in Celestia only knows how long, she was smiling.
“Before we start hugging or something,” even Rainbow Dash couldn’t quite keep up her usual demeanor and stop her voice from trembling slightly, “I figured you should look around a bit more.”
Twilight did as Dash suggested. They were on a grassy plain near a hill. All around them were ponies who smiled, chatted, exchanged hoofshakes and hugs. She didn’t bother estimating their numbers. Two familiar nobles were sharing a laugh at the nonsensical conflict that kept their families apart for centuries. An energetic older mare with many scars was flying around, taking photos with an antique miniature camera. She had to be quick for there were many, many more ponies to photograph.
The path leading to the top of the hill was mostly empty. A draconequus dressed in a military uniform that Twilight has never seen before was leading a squadron of flying piglets clad in a metal knight’s armor. His target, Princess Luna, rolled her eyes and giggled.
On the top of the hill, a white mare with a prismatic mane flowing through the air was just finishing raising the sun on the first dawn of this new age. After she was satisfied with her work, she opened her eyes and saw Twilight staring at, no, staring into her shining pink eyes. Celestia smiled and waved to her (former?) student. Twilight smiled and waved back.
Five ponies and a dragon waited for her to say something. She didn’t need to. Her smile widened as she made the first step towards the group. Before she could make the second one, she was already locked in a heartfelt hug with her dearest friends. They stayed like that for a bit. No pony said anything. They didn’t need to.
