The Alicorns of Harmony

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: Awaken the Legends
Chapter 2: The Controlling of Power
Chapter 3: A Thousand Year old Ceremony
Chapter 4: Raising of The Night
Chapter 5: The Goodbye's
Chapter 6: Seeds of Madness

Prologue

The Alicorns of Harmony

Prologue

By: Dracoliat

"Spiiiike!" the lavender unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle yelled into the air. The sound echoed around the library slightly before an answer came ringing back.

"One minute!" Spike yelled back as he ran towards Twilight, two large bags in tow.

"To think how fast things can change..." Twilight said as her eyes became unfocused. A mind numbing pattern of hoofsteps she didn't realize she was making led her outside.

That morning Twilight was levitating the brush lightly as it went over her unruly mane. Every few seconds a yelp would emerge from her as the brush got stuck again and again. Not long after, Spike ran in. He was holding a letter from Princess Celestia that simply said, "Dear my faith full student, Twilight Sparkle. Please go to Canterlot immediately and bring your friends, this is urgent."

Immediately afterward Twilight's horn stopped glowing. An audible thunk was heard as she and spike headed in opposite directions to tell the others of the letter, leaving the hairbrush on the floor.

It took some convincing to cause Applejack to stop bucking and come with her, but other than that everypony was easily convinced.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked as the purple unicorn stared off into the distance. The calling of her name caused her to wake up from her recollection.

"W... what?" Twilight stuttered, her eyelids blinking a few times as her eyes refocused on Rarity.

"I'm sorry for interupting, but are you ready?" Rarity asked kindly before her voice cracked ever so slightly at the end. Twilight looked around quickly at the assembled ponies, Pinkie was practically skipping with excitement. Rainbow Dash was on the ground at the moment but her feathers rustled as if with some invisible wind. Applejack's reaction was perhaps the strangest of all, she stood there her eyes looking of in the distance.

"Ya, let's go!" Twilight said, deciding not to delay any further as she jumped into the magnificent carriage with her friends.

The trip to Canterlot went by in silence, except for Pinkie Pie's occasional burst-out's about something she saw in the distance. The carriage itself was very comfy, the seats had just enough support. It felt like the carriage had been made specifically for them. There were six seats exactly, and above each seat was an engraving. Above Twilights a shining stone, above Applejack's a pony bucking apples, above Pinkie's some balloons. And it went on like that for everypony. As Twilight surveyed her friends, each in their respective seats she noticed that Fluttershy was staring at her wing. Every few seconds her eyelids would droop slightly. Rainbow was busy plucking out lose feathers, her eyes almost constantly darting to the windows. Pinkie Pie's legs kept shaking slightly, and Twilight could have sworn she saw a bead of sweat come down Pinkie's back leg. Rarity was busy sketching a new dress and not paying anypony anymind. The other ponies seemed in similar trivial pursuits.

The purple unicorn remembered the last visit, her birthday party. They were happy even though they knew they would might be seeing Princess Celestia, yet the mood was so different now. No, it wasn't seeing Celestia Twilight quickly determined as she looked around the carriage once more. It wasn't the letter because when Celestia had sent a similar letter to inform them of Discord they had laughed the whole way there. But something was off, something in the back of her mind kept telling her something wasn't right.

The armor of the 15 strong pegasi infront of the carriage did nothing to ease Twilights worries. The magnificent sun reflected brilliantly of the golden armor that hugged the pegasi, on each suit of armor were the same symbols as above their chairs.

After about half an hour, Twilight bounced slightly as the wheels touched the floor. Outside of the carriage they saw a smallsea of faces gathered as if waiting for something. Extremely self conscious Twilight took a step out of the carriage and began walking up the stone path towards the castle.

As soon as the group had gotten out of their carriage, the crowd seemed disappointed, whispers began in the crowd. No matter how hard Twilight tried she couldn't make out much of the conversations except for a few disjointed words and phrases like, "can't be them," and, "but why?"

"I guess word got around that we're the Elements of Harmony," Fluttershy's soft and tender voice said lowly, so the dispersing crowd couldn't hear.

"But how can they be disappointed? We're awesome," Dash asked.

"Maybe they expected something more..." Twilight stopped as she searched for the right word.

"Regal?" Rarity interjected.

"Exactly, thank you Rarity," Twilight said smiling at her friend.

"Don't mention it darling," Rarity said before they continued their way inside.

The elegant doors loomed over them to Celestia's chamber, before they could ask to go inside, the two unicorn guards nearby used magic to swing the doors outwards allowing them to enter before the doors closed behind them.

The sight they saw was an unusual one, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both standing, not sitting as they usually did. As Twilight and her friends approached Celestia and Luna did the strangest thing, they bowed.

Twilight contemplated this before she saw Fluttershy fall unconscious, Pinkie Pie came next. Rarity's fall was more violent, afraid, Rarity tried to run and half stride she fell and an audible smack could be heard as she struck the floor. Rainbow Dash was just as confused and scared as the rest as her eyes rolled back and she fell down like the rest. Applejack soon joined the others as she fell onto her stomach. Twilight looked at Celestia as she felt something strange inside of her, something trying to get out, a strange power threatening to overtake her.

Celestia smiled and said before Twilight fell, "Don't worry, Princess."

Chapter 1: Awaken the Legends

The Alicorns of Harmony

Awaken the Legends
Chapter 1
By: Dracoliat

Something powerful was rising quickly. Something unimaginable and complicated forcing its way to the surface. Twilight Sparkle was trying to fight this strange power but was quickly losing ground in her own mind. It encroached every single surface, her defense was like trying to climb up and over a steel wall without any holds on it. But most of all, it was enticing. Every single second, even as it conquered Twilight's feeble excuse for a defense it invited her. Yet something was off about it, this power wasn't alien, it was her. She could feel it, this power had her personality, but then why was it trying to take her over? She finally decided it would not hurt to let the power do what it wanted, it seemed kind enough. When she gave up the process became relaxing instead of taxing, the only discomfort was a slight itching in her back but as she tried to scratch it she found she couldn't move her body at all. It was a strange feeling, being imprisoned in ones own mind, but the power was receding. This power seemed to retreat enough for her to take command again before the power rushed forward once more combining with her own mind.

Twilight took an experimental deep breath, not sure if the power had affected her life functions. Her throat began to sting slightly and she seized up slightly before relaxing. The stinging wasn't unpleasant, it wasn't a sting at all, just a powerful scent traveling down her throat causing her nerves to react. It took her only a half second to come to this conclusion, this itself caused an alarm to shoot up in Twilight's head. She couldn't think that fast ever before, what else had the power done to her.

Carefully Twilight tried to recall spike from this morning and saw the little dragon crystal clear from her memories, almost as if she could reach out and touch him.

The smell came back again as she breathed in causing her to cough, it was too strong. Her eyes popped open to a small bottle of blue fluid floating in front of her nose. But the bottle and its contents held her attention for less than a second.

Unlike before, there weren't two alicorns, now there were seven of them standing before her. Tentatively Twilight's head turned around as her eyes looked at the strange sight that sat upon her back, two fully functioning wings, eight alicorns.

After a few tense minutes Pinkie Pie laughed slightly saying, "Wowsers! we all have wings and horns now!" At this everypony nodded slightly before finally relaxing seeing, they were still all friends, and there was no need to fear any of them.

"I know you must be disoriented and confused so please ask me all your questions." Celestia said.

"When will we develop a magnificent mane like yours?" Rarity asked bluntly, offended at how she and her friends still had regular mane's and were their same size.

"Ah, my dear Rarity, always with the fashion. I cannot say but somewhere between two to five months." Celestia explained.

"Are we royalty?" Applejack asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly before returning to normal a second later.

"Yes, from this moment on, you are all royalty." Celestia said with a bright smile.

"How can I use my magic?" Pinkie asked, her face brightening considerably as she thought about several possibilities.

"That is a lesson for later." Celestia said.

Finally Twilight gained the nerve to ask a question on everypony's mind, "Why us, and how?"

"Ah, well that requires a story my little ponies..." Celestia's voice drifted of as her eyes wandered the room before refocusing on the group of alicorns before her. Luna walked over to Celestia's side and together they began.

A long time ago, before Equestria, before the great blizzard even there was no chaos. There was only order, as the universe had intended, everypony lived together happily, and equally. However one day a single pony was born. It was the first Alicorn and this perfect creation was fought over. It's power was nearly immeasurable and its name was Sol.

Sol's birth caused rupturing of relations and wars over which species is dominant. It was the beginning of chaos, and all the while this was the world the impressionable immortal Alicorn grew up in. Chaos ruled his life for so long, it was all he knew.

Finally negotiations gathered in a central location, Sol was in attendance, since it had all started over him. The Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies were ready to end the war, but the seeds of chaos and madness had already been planted in Sol's mind. He sabotaged the negotiations by spreading rumors among the leaders, rumors so scandalous it destroyed any chance of piece.

The wars continued and Sol enjoyed the blood, switching sides on a whim, killing hundreds upon thousands of ponies of all kinds, and ages. Finally a second Alicorn was born, over a thousand years later and Sol stole the young Alicorn from her parents. Her name was Centual, and Sol raised her like he was. He raised her around battle and chaos, but she despised it. She despised the bloodshed and the fighting and the chaos.

Finally Centual was grown and she abandoned Sol in the night, when he learned of her betrayal his rage threatened to destroy the entire world. Centaul felt this and came back to see Sol.

Sol was happy as he thought she had returned to join him, but it was the opposite, she had returned to bring harmony, something that had not occurred for over 2,000 years at this point. In the short while she was away she had found the power of the stars, all the stars, not just the sun like Sol leached of. She had asked for their help and they had granted her the power, she used this new power to bind Sol forever. There were six seals that bound him, Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic. These seals materialized and became the original elements of harmony.

Centual helped the world return to harmony with the elements before disappearing, never to be seen again.

Our next part of the story sends us forward a full 10,000 years, Harmony was again threatened in the new land of Equestria and six friends were found, the friends who represented the Elements of Harmony, and like you they were touched by the Elements and underwent the same transformation you have. These six destroyed the chaos before finally disappearing a thousand years later, and so it went, every thousand years new Alicorns would take the old one's places.

The system worked well until 6,000 years ago. The elements and earlier Alicorns had grown reckless in their choice. This was a big mistake, of these six friends, two are dead, two are corrupted, and two are still alive. The Alicorn of Loyalty got into a large argument with the Alicorn of Kindness. The Alicorn of kindness killed the Alicorn of loyalty in cold blood forcing the other Alicorns to bind her with a spell. The next to die was the Alicorn of Honesty who noticed the Alicorn of laughter's unacceptable sense of humor in torturing and murdering ponies. Laughter drove the Alicorn of Honesty insane causing the other Alicorns to have to kill Honesty. Immediately afterwards The Alicorn of laughter underwent a disasterous transformation of his own design and a battle raged between him and the two remaining Alicorns. Eventually the Two remaining Alicorns overcame the previous Alicorn of Laughter with the Elements of Harmony by their side.

Afterwards they both took on three elements and eventually the original Alicorn of generosity betrayed the Alicorn of magic and all of Equestria. She was soon banished to the moon for a thousand years leaving the Alicorn of magic to rule Equestria alone, all of the Elements of Harmony at her disposal, for a thousand full years.

Celestia stopped for a few seconds before continuing, "If you have not guessed yet, I was the Alicorn of magic, and Luna the Alicorn of generosity. The element of laughter's name is now Discord, and the element of Kindness is referred to as, Alien."

Celestia closed her mouth lightly as she sat back down in front of the stunned new Alicorns and let the truth sink in.

"So let me see if I understand this," Twilight said pausing as Celestias head nodded slightly. "Every Element of Harmony undergoes this transformation?"

"Exactly my dear student," Celestia confirmed.

"K, th'n who'll rule Equestria now?" Applejack asked, her voice shaking.

"I think you already know the answer, you will," Celestia said as Applejack gulped loudly.

"So that's why all those crazy ponies wanted to see us so badly," Dash said.

"Yes, unfortunately, somehow word got around that new royalty would soon be put in place. But there is no need to worry, you are royalty now, and you have more power then you can imagine. The only thing you lack is experience and knowledge, me and Luna can give you knowledge but you must gain experience."

"I have one last question Princess," Twilight said before continuing at Celestia's urging, "Why did the Elements wait so long to pick the new Alicorns of Harmony?"

"Well first, please refer to me as Celestia from now on, for you are the princesses now. As to the answer to your question, I cannot be sure but I do know it has something to do with their previous failure. I am not sure of the exact reason but every few thousand years or so, something else threatens to unleash chaos. yet in the last 3 years two such events have occurred. Perhaps chaos is spreading faster than before. But I have no concrete answer, I am sorry." Celestia explained quickly and precisely.

"So what happens now?" Dash asked.

"Now, we have to teach you how to use your new flight, and magic. It shall be especially difficult for you Applejack and Pinkie Pie. But the rewards are great. After this there will be a ceremony where you will each officially take a seat in ruling Equestria. who raises the sun and the night is up to you, but I suggest switching it around once in a while so as not to go insane as Luna did." Celestia stated.

At her mention Luna shifted slightly before saying, "I truly do not know what came over us, however piece of advice for all of you. Keep your friendship alive. Without it you will all surely meet a similar fate as the last Alicorns of Harmony."

Chapter 2: The Controlling of Power

"Now if there are no further questions we can begin your training." Celestia said. After a moments silence Celestia nodded her head before continuing, "good, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash; you shall train with Luna. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie; you shall train with me."

When Celestia had finished they all slowly began to stretch themselves. Twilight's back arched, her eyes were closed and she accidentally walked into something. Her eyes popped open and she saw a vase falling towards the floor. It seemed like she could stare at it forever as it fell much slower then it should have, or it looked that way. Her horn began to glow as she began to lift it back up to it's pedestal.

Somewhere behind her Twilight heard Luna gasp. The vase shattered into a million tiny pieces, shocked Twilight stood there for a second. "What just happened," She asked, her voice quivering.

"Twilight Sparkle, you are an Alicorn now and as such should treat magic with more respect, you have more power than you can imagine. Please refrain from using magic until you have been fully taught on how to control it." Luna chastised.

Still stunned Twilight nodded to indicate she understood. Her head bent closer to the broken vase, it's tiny broken facets reflected a million different colors. Hesitantly Twilight put a hoof on it and tried to crush it, but no matter how hard she tried none of it would shatter.

"By the way, Twilight, that vase was made of Diamond," Celestia said before continuing lecturing her three students on the proper method of releasing magic.

Twilight's mind quickly grinded to a halt, she did not want to think about how much power she had within her.

"Twilight Sparkle! shall you be joining us today, we need to begin." Luna said loudly.

===

The first part of Training was teaching Dash the basics of accessing magic. She seemed pretty good at it, but that was to be expected of an Alicorn. After over five hours on this topic finally they moved onto learning how to move their wings and the basics of flight. Something that Rainbow Dash found extremely boring since she already knew it all. But she kept quiet because she understood the necessity of the practice.

The training slowly made progress, it was arduous and difficult work, trying to master their new body parts and abilities in such short notice. When night fell and the ponies began to complain about having to sleep Celestia called them together again.

"I know it is late, however ask yourself, are you tired?" Celestia asked before going silent once more.

"Strangely, I'm not," Twilight said, her tone curious.

"That's right, Alicorns do not need sleep, now shall we get back to work?" Celestia asked kindly. Everypony nodded quickly, and their efforts doubled.

The sun should have risen, but it hadn't yet. The night had passed quickly and after only a day of training, Celestia told them to raise the sun themselves. After some quick instruction on the spell to cause the sun to move across the sky they were ready.

Celestia took two steps back, her eyes not leaving the new Alicorns.

"Ok, ready?" Twilight asked, stuttering several times.

Hesitant nods came from the group as they each closed their eyes and immersed themselves in the sea of magic they now possessed. The spell was fresh in each of their minds and easy to bring to the forefront, but it was not done yet. Before they could actually use the spell, they had to use their magic to touch the sun. Their magic began to expand to dizzying proportions as they let down all the floodgates they had put up the night before. A torrent of magic flew into their minds and they reached out so far they felt something distant. Something unimaginably huge and powerful was now theirs to control. Together they said a few words in perfect harmony as the sun began to creep over the horizon.

Twilight opened her eyes and smiled before gasping quickly at the changes around her. All of her friends, and herself she assumed, had grown. Their manes had a slight sparkle to them, and they had grown at least 5 inches. Their horns had also grown and their wings appeared larger then before. Worried Twilight looked at Celestia.

With a smile on her face Celestia said, "Nothing to worry about, the more times you do that, the more grown you will become, it will only take a few days to achieve your full size and power."

"Wait this isn't our full power?" Dash asked, her voice jumping up slightly.

"No, every generation, for some unknown reason, the powers increase. soon enough you will each dwarf me and Luna combined." Celestia said, her voice getting lost somewhere before continuing. "But no need to worry, we shall have the ceremony tomorrow, and after that, we cannot teach you anything. You may not believe it, but you already know exactly what to do. So I can think of no reasonable answer why not." Celestia announced. "It shall begin tomorrow at high noon."

Everypony went silent, they tried to imagine what it would be like. Slowly, Rarity began to speak, " It will be a huge ceremony, with the most important ponies there..."

Pinkie Pie chimed in, "It will have streamers, good music, and all kinds of games!"

At that point Fluttershy smiled slightly and said in a soft voice, "I hope there are cute little animals, like birds and bunnies."

"The wonderbolts have to be there," Rainbow said loudly.

Interrupting the conversation Celestia said, "Do not worry all of this is being prepared right now, after all it is possibly the biggest day of your immortal lives. Now my little ponies, get some rest please."

Chapter 3: A Thousand Year old Ceremony

The Alicorns of Harmony

A Thousand Year old Ceremony
Chapter 3
By: Dracoliat

Twilight's back arched slightly as the bright sun shined through her window. As she looked into the mirror she expected to see small dark bags under her eyes before she remembered. "Oh ya, Alicorns don't need sleep." She looked briefly back at her bed, it's entire surface covered in feathers. 'Huh... maybe I moulted?' Twilight thought before she saw the large holes in the bed. Carefully she aligned her horn with the holes, exact same size. But it couldn't be right, for the holes were much bigger. Panicked as to what she was seeing, Twilight ran to her mirror and stared at herself. A long lavender mane complimented her now slimmer and bigger body. She looked like a real Alicorn now.

Twilight stood there for a few seconds before lifting up her hoof seeing the creature in the mirror do the exact same. It really was her. As she looked at her new wings in the mirror, of to the side of them she saw a clock. She turned around to check the time. She had only twenty minutes before the ceremony would begin.

After a quick once over, making sure nothing was wrong with her appearance she ran towards the door. Intending to push it open with magic instead the door flew of the hinges and landed a good thirty feet down the hall where another Alicorn was standing. Her pink flowing mane and yellow body meant it had to be Fluttershy. She jumped slightly as the door landed with a loud crash right next to her.

Immediately Twilight teleported near to her and told her she was sorry, before saying, "Shall we get going? We don't wan't to miss our ceremony do we?"

Fluttershy shook her head slightly as the two friends continued down the long hallway towards two magnificent and ornate golden doors, on them, were engraved six Alicorns side by side. As they approached the two unicorn guards took a long bow and used their magic to open the doors.

A bright light seemed to fly towards them as they entered the throne room. In there were 6 large thrones. Each one with a different design set in it, no specific shapes were set in them. But they quickly found their way to their own seats. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were both seated on the outermost seats, while Applejack and Pinkie Pie were seated in the next seats over. Leaving the middle most seats open to Twilight and Rarity.

A quick glance proved Twilight's hypothesis, they had all grown to look like real Alicorns over night. Her eyes met Pinkie's who sat directly on her right, they smiled at each other slightly and Twilight opened her mouth to say something before the two main doors swung open.

Twilight's gaze focused On Celestia and Luna both walking side by side up to the new thrones. Only then did Twilight notice the enormous crowd in the room. At the very front were their best friends. Behind them were some very fancy ponies, even Fancy Pants was there. But her attention was quickly brought again to Celestia and Luna. Their eyes met for the slightest second before Celestia closed her eyes and looked elsewhere. In that single second a tear was brought to Twilight's eyes.

"Today, we witness a crowning, one that has not been seen for over six thousand years. We shall crown these six new Alicorns and wish them luck, for they shall take over all responsibility for keeping order in this great land of Equestria. They are the new Alicorns of harmony." Celestia and Luna announced together in the royal Canterlot voice.

They paused for a moment as hooves struck the ground quickly in applause at the small speech. Yet even over the commotion everypony continued to look at each other until finally Celestia raised her hoof into the air, indicating that she needed silence.

She smiled as the ponies quickly became silent, their eyes fixed on her. Celestia walked slowly and deliberately over to the right most chair where Fluttershy sat. At the same time Luna walked over to the opposite side and stood by Rainbow Dash.

Luna began, "This Alicorn is Rainbow Dash, the Alicorn of Loyalty." She stopped and faced Dash, "Will you Rainbow Dash vow to always be loyal to Equestria, as long as it needs you?"

"I will," Rainbow Dash answered simply, her voice ringing out into the hall.

Celestia said next, "This Alicorn is Fluttershy, the Alicorn of Kindness." she faced Fluttershy before continuing, "Will you Fluttershy, vow to always be kind to all those who need it, and everything living thing in Equestria?"

"I will," Fluttershy said, her voice sweet like honey.

They continued like that down the line.

"This Alicorn is Applejack, the Alicorn of Honesty. Will you Applejack, vow to always be honest with equestria and all whom inhabit it?"

"I will," Applejack said, her voice strong and noble.

"This Alicorn is Pinkie Pie, the Alicorn of Laughter. Will you Pinkie Pie, vow to always keep the good nature of laughter alive in Equestria?"

"I will," Pinkie Pie replied, her voice containing happiness.

"This Alicorn is Rarity, the Alicorn of Generosity. Will you Rarity, vow to always give all you can to make the inhabitants of Equestria happy?"

"I will," Rarity said, her voice kind and happy.

"This Alicorn is Twilight Sparkle, the Alicorn of Magic. Will you Twilight Sparkle, vow to always keep the balance of magic in Equestria even, therefore allowing harmony to flourish?"

"I will," Twilight said, her voice regal and powerful beyond measure.

For a few seconds there was silence as six crown's appeared out of thin air and slowly levitated down onto their heads.

Finally breaking the silence Celestia and Luna walked to the front and gestured for everypony to rise. They faced Twilight and the others before saying, "All bow before your new Queens." Afterwards they both quickly went into a deep bow as the rest of the room did the same.

Twilight's mind couldn't comprehend it, they were all the new Queens. For a full thousand years. she smiled as she looked around and in each of her friends eyes she saw the same realization, and a spark appear in each of their eyes for the briefest moment.

Chapter 4: Raising of The Night

The ceremony quickly dissolved as everypony began heading to the ballroom. Inside streamers hung from end to end of the room, and a huge cake dominated the middle of the room. It's warm aroma filled the room, Twilight couldn't stop herself from licking her lips.

Rainbow Dash was busy enjoying the Wonderbolts attention while Pinkie Pie was living it up, the only way she knew how. Rarity and Fluttershy were both nowhere to be seen and Applejack was just mingling with the guests and her friends. Twilight took the opportunity to ask Celestia an important question.

"So, why are we queens, were no better then you, and your only a princess?" Twilight asked curious.

"well, when my friends betrayed us, the previous Alicorns stripped us of our queenhood, and only made us princesses," Celestia replied. Her eyes staring beyond Twilight's shoulder.

"I can understand with Princess Luna, but with you? Why would they be mad at you?" Twilight inquired further.

"I'm sure they had their reasons," Celestia said before walking away when Twilight was silent.

Slowly something in the back of Twilights mind clicked, she couldn't understand it, but for the slightest second, the smile Celestia gave as she was walking away looked almost sinister...

"Everypony please gather, it is time for our newest queens to lower the old day, and raise the new night." Celestia stated clearly, her voice reverberating slightly with magic.

Almost immediately everypony stopped what they were doing and gathered around the spacious balcony to find the queens standing together. They smiled at each other slightly, they knew this wasn't the end of their friendship as they had feared. Together they closed their eyes gently and reached out with their immense magic power.

Twilight's hair stood on end slightly as the unnatural sensation of feeling something as massive as the heavens was still new. Carefully she dipped the sun below the horizons before shifting her powers towards helping raise the moon and stars, only to find that it was already done.

She opened her eyes slowly, almost immediately her cheeks became bright red. Everypony was staring in awe at the sight of how effortlessly the entire process went by.

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Luna and Celestia nodding slightly at each other. The crowd dissipated relatively quickly leaving Twilight time to ask some more questions. After a bit of convincing, her friends tagged along as they approached the former princesses.

"So, Princess Celestia..." Twilight said but was cut short.

"Just Celestia, and yes my queen?" Celestia interrupted.

The new title caused Twilights hair to raise on end again as she shivered slightly, but she continued. "You said that every other Alicorn of Harmony had disappeared when they passed the title to their successors right?"

"Correct my queen," Celestia confirmed politely.

"Where exactly do they go?" Twilight asked, her voice hesitant as it jumped up and down a few pitches.

"Honestly we do not know, however we promise, we'll be safe," Celestia answered with a smile as Luna nodded in silent agreement. "Now why are you not enjoying your party?" she asked playfully.

A small smile came to Twilights face as she and her friends turned around to enjoy the new night.

The rest of the night passed without incident and after a long night of partying they each retired to their beds. Even though sleep was unnecessary, it felt good anyways...

Twilight got up out of her bed to a smell of smoke, it was suffocating, all around her were large pieces of marble and stone. Confused and worried she released some of the bonds that she had worked so hard on to keep her magic in check. The rubble around her cleared in a small shockwave from her, the entire castle was in ruins.

How she had slept through it she couldn't figure out, it had to be a dream... but it was so real, she could think it was a dream but wasn't waking up!

Her thoughts quickly took a very different path as she realized her friends were in the castle to. Her immortal heart stopped for the tiniest instant before she saw her 5 best friends standing side by side smiling slightly. Their eyes focused on her. With a grin Rarity raised her majestic hoof and gestured for Twilight to come closer. As she neared her friends her mind screamed out that something had to be wrong...

"I'm glad you finally joined us Twilight," Applejack said kindly, yet there was a strange new undertone in her voice, one of menace. Something was very very wrong here.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked monotone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we almost forgot we are still wearing our public appearances," Applejack said as the others laughed slightly. Their horns glowed for the slightest second before Twilight was face to face with five nightmares. Each pony had been twisted, their manes altered, and they radiated extreme power, even more then before. Applejack saw Twilight surprised and scared voice and reassured, "don't worry, we won't hurt you."

A voice in Twilights mind told her lightly, "They tell the truth, at least to a point, you can't trust them completely though. You have to find a way to avoid this future at all costs, or they will destroy Equestria..." It was an echo of a voice of reason. She soon recognized what her friends had become, they had became corrupted, and around her, not only was the castle destroyed, but everything else... The Lunacy had taken her best friends, and somehow her.

Twilight's head was clammy with cold sweat. She had once read about visions, that's what it must have been. She had to stop it from coming true, without expecting a reply she asked out loud, "how am I supposed to stop the lunacy?"

But the echo was still there, and it answered, "you will find a way, or billions will die..."

Chapter 5: The Goodbye's

The sun's warm rays slowly crept over the dark horizon shedding a soft light on the new day. The grass outside began to shine brilliantly as the dew stuck tight to each blade. An hour before the sun's light blessed the morning there had been a light drizzle. It's moisture still hung heavily in the cool day but was pierced by the light splitting it into a arrangement of colors.

The pegasi had really been busy over the night getting just the right amount of rain for this important morning, the first day for the new royalty to take the thrones. Yet even with the soft light slowly pressing into Twilight's room she couldn't shake the feeling of unease her dream had given her. But as always her logical side shone through and quickly thought to ask Celestia, but she soon dismissed this idea in favor of asking Luna. After all, princess Luna was the resident expert on the night and dreams, but she had to ask soon since the night was setting and the sun was raising.

With a burst of will the Purple maned Alicorn slowly rose from her bed, she stretched her wings uncomfortably and reminded herself to ask Rainbow Dash how to properly sleep with wings. After a few minutes of magically fixing her mane she figured she was presentable. She turned her attention temporarily to a bird chirping outside her window, but when she looked outside it turned out the bird in question was all the way across the courtyard and she heard it perfectly. The element of magic quickly dismissed it as just an Alicorn thing before she walked towards the door.

Her horn glowed slightly as did the door before the door was swung open with impossible speed only to smash loudly on the stone wall. "Oops... right, control your power," she said to herself as the purple alicorn applied the techniques she had learned yesterday to lower her power available directly. She tested the new barriers by picking up the brush on her bedside and putting it back down. After a loud and drawn out sigh Twilight began walking towards Luna's chambers.

=======

Twilight's hoof came up to the large double wooden doors and knocked three times. Her attention was quickly drawn to the elegant design covering the doors, a large full moon dominated the center. Off to the sides of the moon were every phase of the moon and even an almost accurate representation of the stars but some of them looked misaligned. "Strange I thought they would have tried a bit harder to get it accurate," Twilight commented to herself before understanding clicked in her mind. The stars were accurate, as of thousands of years ago, this small revelation truly put their age in perspective and only made it more impressive.

After a moment more of admiring the doors supreme craftsmanship Twilight knocked again, much louder this time. "Prin... I mean Luna, I'm coming in," the purple alicorn said as her horn glowed again making the doors swing inwards silently. "Luna, I need to talk to you," the alicorn of magic said before stopping dead in her tracks. The room she was facing was magnificent, the walls were covered with every star visible in the night sky that seemed to be moving ever so slowly, something only her keen new eyes could have noticed. They were accurate down to the latest second, and the bed in the room was magnificent. It's black elegant frame seemed to be carved out of some ancient tree with techniques long since forgotten. But for some reason the bed was completely undisturbed, "Luna?" Twilight called out more loudly.

Slowly she put one hoof in front of the other as she explored the marvelous room that surrounded her. A quick investigation of the bed showed it hadn't been used recently. The absolutely humongous closet turned up no clue's as to the goddess of the nights whereabouts either. "Luna, please come out," Twilight said a marginal tint of terror creeping into her voice. Her hooves were less controlled now as her pace quickened around the room. She finally managed to spot a faint outline through the blinds where the Balcony was. She walked carefully to the blinds and pulled them back to find Luna standing there. "Ah there you are Luna," Twilight said, "I had a dream I would like to discuss with you."

"We are sorry Twilight Sparkle, but we do not have much time to talk, let alone about dreams or nightmares. We shall soon have to part," Luna said in a voice that sounded completely distant.

"What are you talking about Luna?" the younger alicorn asked, her head tilting slightly towards the black alicorn.

"Recall the legend for they shall tell you what you need to know, we wish you the best and ask you to continue on the legacy, better then we or our sister did." Luna's head remained locked in place as her eyes scanned the horizon aimlessly.

Twilight stood still for a few moments before her eyes opened slightly wider. "No, you can't leave... You haven't said goodbye to everypony else!" Her voice cracked and her mind rushed as she tried to think of a reason for Luna to stay.

"Trust us Twilight Sparkle, we have said our goodbye's in their dreams, you are the last one. We ask again, will you be brave and as wise as this post requires you to be?" Luna's tone had turned monotone, no normal pony could hear any emotions in her words but Twilight heard it. The tiniest hint of sadness threatening to engulf Luna.

"I will, I swear," Twilight's throat closed up temporarily and she had trouble even saying that much.

"Thank you, now we shall take our leave, it is not our choice but know this. We will always be with you in one form or another. Good bye Twilight Sparkle, Queen Alicorn of Magic." Her eyes stayed locked on the horizon and in the next second she was gone in a bright flash of light.

Twilight Sparkle simply stood there dumbfounded, the goddess of the night had just disappeared. Twilight's mind began to reel at the impossibility of simply disappearing. Quickly Twilight removed the blocks she had put around her magic only minutes ago and sent out a kind of probe into the world scanning for the familiar powers of Luna. But even after scanning the whole of Equestria, there was absolutely no results, but according to her quick search for magic power Celestia was still in the castle.

All sense of regalty in her hoofsteps had been abandoned as the new alicorn ran straight down the hall towards the looming doors of the throne room. Not bothering to stop for even a second Twilight blasted in each door of her friends as loudly as she could screaming like a banshee as she passed. Yelling at them all to meet her in the throne room immediately as she slammed open the large doors. There standing in the middle of the room with the same locked gaze as Luna had, was Celestia.

"Princess! What happened to Luna, where did she go, are you going to leave?" Twilight's torrent of questions seemed to be completely ineffective at knocking Celestia out of her stupor. Twilight's questions kept coming as the rest of the newest Queens of Equestria filed in quickly, taking places beside Twilight.

"Sugarcube, calm down, we all want answers an' we're going to get em," Applejack said, her voice was almost as frantic as Twilight's but she obviously was less emotional. Her control seemed absolute but behind the facade of confidence, a hint of fear and even anger could be heard. Her light green eyes scanned Celestia for any and all signs of movement but there was none except for the gentle rise and fall of breathing.

"My little ponies," Celestia said with deliberate slowness, "I cannot answer where Luna went, for I have no idea." Celestia stopped for a few moments in order to let this sink in before continuing. "What is happening is simple, the new alicorns of harmony have been chosen and know everything they need to know, so there is no need for the old. Why is the hardest to answer, for I have even less of a clue why, then I do about Luna's current whereabouts. Just know this my ponies, you are the new queens, and you will need to find out who will raise the sun, and who will raise the night. Since me and Luna were the only ones we split the duty, however this turned out not to be an intelligent choice as you all saw with Nightmare Moon. If you raise the night more often then not, you will find yourself becoming more attuned to the night, and the same with raising the sun to the day. Now I bid you good luck and goodbye, thank you my little ponies, and Twilight, my faithful student. I could not be more proud of your accomplishments, that goes for each and every single one of you, Thank you." Celestia's speech concluded she kept facing towards the entrance to the throne room before a bright light seemed to come from nowhere and she was gone.

A silence ensued that made a single bit drop sound like a church bell, no one moved or even breathed; this continued ,for what they perceived, to be eternity. For once, there was no real direction they were being pushed in, or expected to do. It felt like a set of chains had been lifted, yet at the same time new chains laid on.

A single quiet hoofstep sounded almost like a gun going off in the silence. This tiny sound knocked the new alicorns out of their stupor as they all turned the newcomer, a pegasus stallion with a black coat, dark blue mane and yellow eyes. He bowed and waited there until Twilight realized he was waiting for some kind of sign, "there's no need for that." Twilight quickly said allowing the pony to recover onto his feet.

"Salutations my queens, I used to serve princess Luna and am here to help you run your new kingdom at first, at least until you get the hang of it. Specifically I specialized in internal affairs and economics. Please call me when you have need, you may refer to me as Dol." The new pegasus pony said before another sound came from the entrance. A second pony entered the magnificent throne room and began to bow.

Yet again twilight acknowledged the unicorn and allowed her to stand. "Salutations my queens, I was previously in the service of princess Celestia and will help you with the nature oriented part of the job. I mainly specialize in the more magical aspects of your new kingdom and am here for you to consult on any matters you deem worthy. Please call me Seff, it is a pleasure to meet all of you." With the introduction out of the way the two new ponies stood side by side waiting for instructions. Seff had yellow hair and a white mane with orange eyes, Both of the new ponies flanks were covered with modest garments that showed their positions. The fabric seemed soft enough and the stiching must have been done by an expert to get the intricacies just right.

Finally Rainbow Dash spoke up, "so what exactly are we supposed to do now? They didn't really tell us." Her eyebrows lowered slightly and her nose wrinkled. She felt a soft hoof on her shoulder, it was Fluttershy.

"Please calm down," Fluttershy said into Dash's ear, almost immediately her soothing words made the rainbow maned alicorn relax slightly. Her eyes however continued to study the two new pony's.

"Well, I suggest that you choose who shall raise and lower the sun, along with who will raise and lower the night. We shall leave you to it and shall be outside of the chamber where you may find us when you are done conversing." Seff the unicorn said as she and Dol quickly turned around and walked out of the throne room. The doors shutting lightly behind them left another awkward silence before Twilight began.

"Personally I think we should split it up between the six of us, so three of us would raise the sun, and three of us would raise the night. What do you gals think?" Twilight asked curiously looking at each of the powerful alicorns around her. Nopony seemed to want to talk so instead everypony nodded in agreement. "Personally I think I would be more suited for sun duty due to having studied under Celestia for years I would find it only natural." Twilight continued.

Fluttershy, to the surprise of everypony, was the next to talk. "I'd like to help raise the sun, I mean if that's ok, after all animals love the sun so much." Her eyes were focused on the flawless floor, tracing a small pattern in the tiles. Nopony seemed to have any objections to it so she stayed silent and smiled slightly.

"I'd reckon raising the sun is where I fit in. Since farmin' takes so much sunlight an' warmth," Applejack explained before asking, "Unless somepony else wants to help raise the sun of course?" The question hung there heavily but no response came so they moved on.

"Well I guess that leaves me, Rarity, and Pinkie to the night eh?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly at the concept. Her eyes alive with a inner kind of fire that hadn't burned in her eyes since she first earned her cutie mark. The fire of a challenge that she knew would be difficult but she would conquer. "After all, it's even more difficult flying during the night and in the dark, plus having dream powers sounds pretty cool."

"Rarity? do you mind doing the night?" the purple maned alicorn asked, her voice soft as if hesitating to give her a choice almost.

"Not at all darling, it shall give me plenty of time to work on my dresses and think of brand new designs in private." Rarity responded enthusiastically, designs already buzzing around her head that she never had the time to even attempt to make before. Designs so complicated they would make any other pony's head spin in a full circle.

Twilight barely had time to get the first syllable in Pinkie's name out of her mouth before Pinkie Pie interrupted her. "Of course I don't mind, party's are so much more fun in the dark anyways!"

Twilight nodded slightly and said finally, "then it's agreed, me, Fluttershy, and Applejack will raise and lower the sun. While Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash will raise and lower the night, deal?" Twilight asked to make sure there had been no misunderstandings.

"Agreed," the group of assembled queens said in unison, each of them had their own looks. Ranging from pure excitement to pure terror of the upcoming unknown.

Pinkie finally spoke up again, "I think we all need a hug, because hugs are nice." Everypony nodded absentmindedly but nopony seemed to want to move.

"How bout' later sugarcube?" Applejack suggested to the element of laughter. Everyone else quickly nodded in agreement as they walked towards the throne's.

Twilight thought to herself, 'this won't be so hard, we're already organized and our friendship is stronger then ever, we can do this.'

Chapter 6: Seeds of Madness

The sun had slowly descended until it stopped near the horizon. The powerful magic that had been fueling it during the day, presumably cast by Celestia, had dissipated completely. Twilight's lips tugged upwards into a sincere smile as she, Applejack, and Fluttershy stood side by side on the royal balcony. Underneath them was a magnificent design of a shining yellow sun, it's craftsmanship was beyond superb. Not a flaw to be found, even to the discriminating eyes of the three alicorns. It seemed to be older then the palace itself, a place with true history that stretched back to since Equestria's founding, perhaps even earlier. But the stone sun's magically dimming light reminded them of their own new duty.

A crowd had gathered to watch the first time they would set the sun, a tradition everypony assembled hoped would last with the same queens for another millenium. Each of the three new alicorns looked at each other and nodded in unison. Twilight's eyes closed lightly as her horn began to glow fiercely. The purple glow that usually only enveloped her horn soon eveloped the whole of her body, her wings seemed to spread almost of their own accord and her hooves left the ground. Fluttershy's body was floating slightly lower with a mysterious pink light surrounding her, only it seemed to be almost protecting her. Applejack was doing the same thing only her light was a distinct light orange. The magic flowed around them as they carefully stretched out their magic towards the sun, an impossible distance for even the most powerful unicorns to cast magic across. But to each of their surprise their reach was much longer then they needed and the sun felt almost as light as a small bottle of water.

Collective silence came from the assembled ponies as the sun slowly began to sink beneath the horizon casting an enormous array of colors across the sky. It's gorgeous light slowly faded from the land as it sank deeper and deeper.

=======

On the other end of the palace waited an eager Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. They stood on a balcony similar to the one their day counterparts stood on, only there was no sun present on the balcony floor, only a moon in the exact current phase of the moon. The many stars of the night sky accompanying it as they magically kept proper alignment with their real life comparisons. An equally respectably sized crowd was gathered on this side of the castle and went silent as the light began to fade.

"This is it!" Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly before closing her eyes and allowing the magic to flow through her. The glow from her horn intensified as she reached out to the moon and the stars, the blue glow slowly starting to cover the rest of her body. In the blue cloak of light could be seen sparkles of nearly every color imaginable and the sheer amount of power being given off was self evident by the soft light that covered the balcony and the ponies below. Rarity's magic took a purple hue as its desired form as it completely enveloped her and she became airborne, the light cast by her glow brought a certain regality to the entire ceremony as the purple light mixed with light blue tint already being given off. Pinkie's own magic took no true color as it flowed from one color to the next smoothly giving a much needed boost to the mood of the light being produced around her.

The moon was much closer and much easier to move then the sun would have been, but they also had to stretch their magic even farther in order to grab the stars. A absolutely impossible task for any normal pony, no wonder they need so many unicorns to do it in ancient times. But the stars seemed almost eager to replace the space that had been occupied by the sun all day, their lazy and easy path was directed by the three alicorns. After a difficult spell they had been taught their magic's retreated back into them and the magic glow left the balcony, leaving a simply light from the stars and moon shining.

It's majesty was at least equal to that of the sun, the moon's light gave a fainter less intrusive light to everything allowing for ponies to see but not to the point of blindness. The green grass seemed to finally be at rest after a full day of absorbing the plentiful sunlight, it's blades looked like they were turning gray, but in reality it was just the optical illusion that the low light provided.

Finally the alicorns of laughter, loyalty, and generosity opened their eyes to examine their work. There on the way up to the middle of the sky, was a gorgeous full moon, its yellow ambient light shining beautifully in the star dotted sky. "Well, shall we meet with the others in the throne room?" Rarity asked pleasantly, pride shining in her voice.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said enthusiastically as she skipped inside the large doors that had lead onto the balcony. Rarity quickly followed suit but Rainbow Dash stood there, obviously enjoying the copious amounts of applause. The ponies down below were bowing and cheering, their hooves striking the floor with a deafening crash, like that of thunder. It's sound reverberating and getting louder until finally reaching the balcony where Dash stood. Her head held high in the air as her eyes surveyed the crowd below.

Rarity's hoofsteps were silent as she approached the rainbow maned alicorn before whispering in her ear with extreme slowness, "mare do well," and walking away. This left Dash with a noticeable blush on her face as she remembered the time her friends had out competed her in everything heroic and left her absolutely humiliated at her previous behavior of bragging and attention hoarding. The message struck home hard as she turned to join the others in the throne room. After a moment of running she caught up to Rarity and Pinkie as they walked down the hall. Their hooves striking the floor allowing a small clip-clop to be heard as they traveled down the corridor. Their laughter soon overpowered their steps as they realized exactly what they had just accomplished.

They soon were making completely idle small talk about no particular subject, but their minds were racing. Even though Rainbow Dash was the only one to show it, each of them had loved the attention, they loved the thundering applause whose echo could still be heard behind them.

=======

From either end of the chambers came laughter as the two separate parties of friends re-met in the center then the laughter seemed to die. The good mood gone, replaced by that awkward moment when nopony knows what to say. "Nice job raising the night, very majestic," Twilight complimented them causing their shoulders to lower a bit.

"And you with the sun, extremely smooth my dear," Rarity replied awkwardly. Her eyes not wanting to meet Twilights for reasons she couldn't figure out. 'But why? Twilight is my friend, the least I can do is look her in the eyes when I talk to her,' Rarity thought before looking into the alicorn of magic's eyes. Twilight was looking right back after having thought along the same lines. An awkward smile developed on both their faces before they started laughing together. Soon everypony joined in on the cheerful laughter that developed at seemingly nothing.

The days stress then began to quickly melt away as their shoulders resumed their normal positions and they each sat in a circle like they had so long ago. " Remember that night months ago when princess Celestia asked us all to report on our findings about the magic of friendship, and spike added..." Twilight said before being knocked out of her reminiscence. "Where's spike?" everypony froze for a moment before their keen eyes and ears scanned the chamber for any sign of the purple dragon, none existed.

"I think I might know," Fluttershy said hesitantly. After a bit of urging that they wouldn't care if Fluttershy was wrong she got onto her feet and began walking down the smaller hall that led to each of their rooms. As they passed the rooms they saw the wooden doors that Twilight had smashed that morning in her panic had been magically repaired back to their perfect state. Fluttershy stopped in front of a large unmarked door on the left near the end of the hallway. Her horn glowed with that same pink glow before Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Everypony, we need to remember to put our magic guards up, we don't want to smash the doors again, do we?" Twilight reminded as Fluttershy blushed brightly at having forgotten. Her eyes closed for a moment as everypony put the now familiar inhibitors on their magical flow. Fluttershy continued without delay by opening the door, a lighter pink glow then before surrounding it as it swung inwards.

Inside was an enormous closet, and inside of said closet was a comfortable looking basket, Spike laying inside. Twilight walked into the closet followed by the others and poked Spike. "Spike, time to wake up," but her prodding only resulted in a loud moan of protest. Twilight smiled slightly and used her magic to gently pick up spike and put him down before poking him again.

This time Spike opened his eyes groggily and said, "What do you want?"

Twilight responded with a laugh, "so you've been sleeping all day, and don't know that Luna and Celestia disappeared?" her statement caused Spike's eyes to widen faster then a bullet as a barrage of questions were directed from the small dragon to everypony present. "Calm down, let's go back to the throne room, we'll explain everything there." Twilight said as she and the other alicorns walked back to the throne room.

=======

They had arrived about an hour ago and had finally finished answering all of the curious dragons questions that they could. After this ordeal they were glad to finally be able to sit in the circle like they had been before, only now everypony and dragon was present and it really felt like home. The first time in days that relaxation was the norm and not the exception but it didn't last.

"I think we should go to bed Twilight suggested to Applejack and Fluttershy. "After all, we have to be up bright and early tomorrow morning," she reasoned while gauging their reactions.

"You know, I think yer right Twilight. I'm goin' to bed, night ya'll." Applejack responded rising onto her hooves. Her eyes were baggy and as she mentioned it, she could barely stand anymore. "I'll see y'all tomorrow mornin," she said before shambling of to the corridor that led to her room.

Fluttershy said nothing as she rose and followed Applejack to her own room. Twilight turned to the three other remaining alicorns and asked, "are you guys ok with staying here for the night for anything that comes up?"

Rainbow Dash made a jerky nod in the affirmative and Pinkie was too busy looking at the intricately designed ceiling so Twilight assumed she would. "Of course we will darling, you need your sleep. But please do remember you still need to raise the sun tomorrow morning," Rarity said kindly. Her eyes studying the purple alicorn carefully as she shambled into the corridor following the other 2 alicorns to retire to her bed.

Twilights horn glowed once more as her door opened and closed behind her silently. Her eyes scanned the room and confirmed that nothing had been changed since she left that morning, 'wait why do I care who could have been in my room?' Twilight thought to herself, remembering she never did that before. She had never been a particularly paranoid pegasus, but here she was checking her own room for even the slightest change. Knowing it was probably just a bit of pressure getting to her Twilight walked to her comfortable bed. The soft satin sheets inviting her to lay down in their warm confines if only for a few short hours. Finding no rational reason to not sleep Twilight allowed the bed to envelop her and she drifted to sleep.

=======

Twilight found herself in a meadow completely covered in luscious grass. It's beauty was nigh impossible, the tiny drops of water more balanced then any single thing Twilight had ever seen, the grass itself seeming to hum as if alive. It wasn't cold despite the obvious moisture in the air, and a slight breeze stayed the temperature so it would not become to warm. Yes it was a completely perfect dream, until something caught the alicorns eye. Something had shifted in the corner of her eye, but when she looked, the trees surrounding the meadow were still there and nothing else.

A tiny voice seemed to whisper all around the meadow, yet from nowhere at once. "This is perfection is it not?" the voice waited patiently for Twilight's answer, almost like a father waits for a child to think about what he said.

"Ya, it is pretty nice," Twilight responded absentmindedly her eyes still looking at the trees. Then one of them seemed to move forward, a bit closer to her, shrinking the meadow ever so slowly. The element of magic rubbed her eyes vigorously before taking a second look, the tree really had moved.

"You saw that, I thought you would. This place is named the meadow for obvious reasons. It is an accurate representation of Equestria in a way. Each and every time a new tree grows, or one spreads closer, disharmony spreads. and when the trees reach the center Equestria shall be engulfed in an endless age of disharmony and death, more powerful then anything you have ever heard of or seen. So powerful that even the Elements of Harmony will not be able to stop it. Will you help me stop it before it engulfs this land?" the voice said in it's strange way again.

"Of course I'll help, how?" Twilight asked nervously. She knew this was no normal dream, this was a vision; something she had read about a long time ago in Celestia's private library but was foggy on the details.

"Good," the voice said pleased, "however this will not be easy, and it will require sacrifices, both physical and emotional. Will you do this to save billions?"

"Yes," Twilight answered knowing it was most important to save Equestria, no matter what.

"Very well, I shall tell you how this future is coming about... Your friends will betray you for the power it brings, you see when one alicorn of harmony dies, the others inherit all of it's power making substantial boosts. They have not formulated the plan yet bu..." but the voice was cut off by twilight.

"That's impossible, you're lying. My friends would never betray me or Equestria, ever, you are just trying to make me more paranoid. It shall never come to be and this entire dream is just an elaborate illusion by whoever you are!" Twilight yelled before concentrating her magic in order to dispel the nightmarous vision and wake up.

"If you wish to believe this then you may, but know you must accept the fact that they will betray you, or Equestria will be destroyed. When you accept the facts, I will help you stop it." the voice said before fading and the vision breaking.

=======

With a powerful jolt Twilight woke up to find her friends all assembled staring at her. But before she could ask Applejack spoke, "You were screamin' in yer sleep sugarcube, we had to wake you up." For some reason finding all her friends that close to her was unnerving, it was never that way before. Behind Applejack's eyes Twilight could have sworn she saw a hint of some emotion that didn't belong there. Lust, not the kind of sexual lust but a more powerful lust for power.

"Thanks for waking me," Twilight said nonchalantly, still focused on Applejack who had now given her some more room to get up and stretch her wings. 'No, i'm seeing things, Applejack would never try anything like that, after all she is the element of honesty. She'd never blatantly lie to me like that. But still, the look had been there, and Twilight couldn't play down compeltely what she had seen, hunger for power.