The Monument to All Your Sins.

The sun was rising brightly over the northern hills, the grass was swaying gently in the frosty breeze, and six mares were walking in a row on one of them.

Pinkie Pie pranced around Bek as she asked question after question.

“And how did you get this one?” She said pointing to the mare's burned left foreleg.

“I had to stick my hoof down a dragon's throat to slay it” he replied nonchalantly.

“Wooow! And these?” said the pink pony as she pointed to the bruised tail.

“A griffin grabbed me by the tail and dug her claws into me as she whipped me to the ground.”

“Oooooohhh What about this one?” Pinkie pointed to the large scar around Bek's neck.

“I...emmm, you know...if you don't stop asking questions this trip will be more tedious than it already is...” Bek replied uncomfortably at that last questioning.

“Yeah Pinkie, you shouldn't burden the girl so much...” started to say Rarity ‘But seriously now, did you really do all those things?’ asked the unicorn somewhat intrigued.

“You really think I did all this to myself?” replied Bek with a puzzled look.

“Do you really expect us to believe that you stuck your hoove down a dragon's throat and it wasn't instantly charred?” exclaimed Rainbow who was hovering nearby.

“I told you, I heal fast...” started to say the mare but at that instant she felt a twinge of pain in her left hind leg that made her stop abruptly.

“Are you all right?” asked Twilight attentively.

“Yes, yes yes yes...” replied Bek as he flashed his horn, pulling out of his saddlebag a bottle with a strange green liquid in it and drinking some, Bek seemed to hold the pain for a second until it was gone, letting out a sigh of relief and looking forward again.

“What's that you've got there?” asked Applejack pointing to the bottle.

“What? This? It's a medicine your friend Zecora prepared for me, it helps with the pain...”

They were all silent for a moment, they didn't think Bek's condition was serious enough to keep her constantly medicated, they all looked at each other worriedly before the gaunt unicorn cleared her throat.

“Ahemm...can we...go on?”

They all reacted at the same time.

“Oh yes yes, we must hurry, I want us to get to the border before it gets dark” said Twilight resuming the march being followed by her friends and Bek.

In the distance beyond the hills an icy range of mountains could be seen, rising beyond the horizon.
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It was the first time Zecora took the train to Canterlot, it had taken her a long time to decide which method to use to get to the capital city, she thought about traveling on foot, but she knew it would take too long, she thought about traveling by balloon, but she had never been a fan of heights, finally she came to the conclusion that the most efficient route would be the easiest.
The zebra was lost in thought, as she patted her little bag made of straw and brown cloth, feeling the poison antidote inside, she almost didn't notice when the train stopped and one of the working ponies approached her and spoke politely.

“We have arrived at our destination miss” the pony gave Zecora a somewhat flirtatious smile as he indicated that she should get off now.

“Oh uh yes..” said Zecora nervously ”Thank you very much kind young man, a little out of my trance and I couldn't help it if I...” Zecora stopped her rhyme halfway through, she knew better than to draw attention to herself, it was vital not to, so once again she was forced to speak like a normal pony “I say thank you very much, I'll be right down.”

The pony escorted Zecora towards the exit and she could almost swear the stallion was watching her ass. Once she was outside she was stunned by the vastness of the city she was in, she had never seen such tall buildings or so many ponies together, the hustle and bustle instantly saturated her and she had to take a moment before she could wander into the streets.

Zecora knew that a zebra in the middle of the city would be too conspicuous so, much to her regret, she had to take some measures to avoid being a walking black and white target.

It had taken her a couple of days of trial and error, but she had finally managed to create a potion that turned her coat, almost completely black, only leaving a few white spots here and there, she had also tied both her mane and tail in buns, thus eliminating the unique shape of her mane that gave her away as a zebra.
Now she gave the impression of being a stocky and somewhat tall earth pony taking a leisurely stroll through the city, Zecora could feel a few glances on her, trying her best to disguise a quiet walk, she really felt very uncomfortable looking like this, it was as if her body did not belong to her, as if she was losing everything that made her her, despite this feeling growing in her stomach the zebra swallowed her pride and kept her head forward, she had a mission to accomplish, and she would wait until nightfall to carry it out, there was no room for doubt, tonight, she would rescue Fluttershy.
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The pegasus was asleep in a hospital bed in a small isolated room, now she remained sedated most of the time since the pain had become unbearable and once a day, a nurse came to check her, give her medicine and clean her.
The nurse was an earth pony, part of the nursing staff of the royal castle, she had been called directly by Celestia who had entrusted her with the task of taking care of the element of kindness with the only task of keeping her alive and also with the task of not talking to any pony about her work.
Even though it seemed strange the beige furred and yellow maned pony did her best to please her princess, but no matter how much medicine or treatments she used the pegasus did not seem to improve one bit, she just stayed exactly the same, sweaty, sore and with an open wound that apparently was impossible to close.

The nurse arrived at the door of Fluttershy's room carrying a tray with her medicines, entering quietly and closing the door carefully.
There she was, the yellow pegasus, the mare was not surprised to see her in the same state as always, at this point she had almost resigned herself to the fact that sooner or later she would die, she thought that maybe Celestia knew it and that's why she entrusted her last days to be under special care.

The pony began the already repetitive routine once again, she put on a mouth cover, washed her hooves with alcohol and put on latex gloves.
Slowly she began to wipe the sweat from the sleeping pegasus, making sure not to omit any part of her body, when she passed the wet towel over the pony's face she could notice two things, one that the fever had not gone down one bit and two that the pegasus had a beautiful face, her features, despite being emaciated by the illness, were still round and perfect, her nose was extremely adorable and her lips, fleshy and symmetrical.
The nurse could not help blushing and for a brief moment the thought of stealing a kiss crossed her mind, but she quickly shook her head and slapped her face, saying to herself.

“Control yourself White Gauze, it's the element of kindness and you here thinking about dirty things, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

The mare stepped aside and prepared to change Fluttershy's serum, preparing the new needle, in a moment while she was still distracted she miscalculated and pierced the skin of her hoof with the needle, letting out a small choked scream and pulling away quickly.
She watched as a small trickle of blood began to trickle out soiling the glove, the pony also noticed that the needle had become stained with her own blood, causing her to roll her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

“Aghh great, now I have to go back to the infirmary for a spare...” the mare looked at Fluttershy for a moment when she thought she saw movement in the corner of her eye, but no, the pegasus was still inert, after she took a moment to check the pony turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Fluttershy alone.

Fluttershy was in a dark dream, she could barely see beyond her own nose and felt pain, it was faint and dull but it was definitely there, the pegasus felt confused, scared, on the verge of tears but suddenly she felt something in her nose, a scent that made all her fears disappear.
It smelled like iron but it was more subtle, like a nectar that sprouts from a tree in autumn, Fluttershy breathed deeply, letting the scent flood her senses, she didn't know why, but that smell made her feel calm, relieving the pain for a moment and allowing her to finally rest.
Without knowing it, the pegasus finally managed to fall asleep peacefully, thanks to the smell of the pony's blood.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zecora had been wandering the streets of Canterlot all day, seeming distracted most of the time but was actually looking for the secret entrance to the catacombs that Twilight had pointed out to her.
Being his first time in the big city, it took the zebra almost the entire day to find the location, she even found it necessary to ask some stallions on the street for directions who gladly offered she their help, but not before making hints to him. nothing subtle about asking her out or taking her to a hotel.

Finally, when the sun was already descending in the sky, Zecora found the place, in one of the old cemeteries on the outskirts of the city, it was an extremely neglected place, the vast majority of the tombstones were covered with roots and were barely maintained. in one piece.
Zecora could only count one or two graves that looked in good condition and with freshly placed flowers, thinking to herself about how disrespectful the ponies were towards their deceased, she did not understand how this society had managed to come so far with such a little culture. considered with the memories of their ancestors.

The zebra could notice greater detail the closer she got; the figures carved into the stone seemed to represent pony warriors, four armored unicorns carved into each of the four pillars holding spears and seeming to show their respects, just before entering through the weathered grille Zecora took a look at the inscription on the stone.

“Here rests Sir Brander Thunder, valiant knight and protector of the crown, may your bones rest eternally and may your soul be received among the stars.”

The zebra couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

“What a lot of respect for a soldier, and just like everyone else he lies here abandoned.”

Zecora stepped into the crypt noticing that it was much larger than it appeared on the outside, a huge polished and stoic shrine and in the center of the room a single stone coffin.
The zebra walked past him checking the chamber for some entrance but the whole room seemed to be intact, Zecora even went back to check the directions Twilight gave him believing he had gone to the wrong tomb when he suddenly noticed that, on the lid of the coffin, there were hoof marks on the dust.

The zebra then understood and hurried to remove the lid, she tried to do it carefully to make as little noise as possible, but inevitably the stone slab slid to the side and fell to the ground with a clattering noise.
Zecora kept silent for a moment hoping that no one had heard her, and then realized how lonely she really was and started up again.

She peeked into the coffin cautiously, noting very well what was inside, indeed on the floor of the chest there was an entrance, a somewhat narrow hole because the zebra considered that it would barely fit, but what was above the entrance was what would surprise her most.
On the floor of the tomb, still resting were the old bones of a pony, dressed in black iron armor that covered almost the entire body, there was also a helmet but it had fallen off, revealing a huge skull.
Zecora examined it closely, noting that the bones appeared to be bruised, with cuts carved into its white figure, surely wounds from the past.
The corpse held what appeared to be the handle of a large axe but without the blade part, this one was made of a dull white metal adorned with details that looked like golden flames, right at the tip of the handle a carved sun could be seen that still seemed to glow.

Zecora felt a shiver remind her of the body, something in those remains didn't feel right, shaking her head and getting rid of the discomfort the zebra whispered a “I'm sorry” and started to slide down the passage under the tomb.

It took her a while to make her way through the narrow tunnel, struggling to get her hind legs through, she finally made it to a main chamber, emerging from the dirty and sore ground.
Everything was darkness, Zecora couldn't see anything, she quickly dug her hooves into his bag, pulling out a small vial with a golden liquid, she squeezed it and in less than a second everything was illuminated.
The small magic lantern glowed subtly, giving Zecora a clue as to what was in front of her, in front of her lay the catacombs of the castle, frozen and forgotten, and at that the zebra could not help but exclaim straddling it.

“Bigger this place is than I thought, I hope I could have memorized the route when I was reading it!”

Shaking off the dust and rising to her hooves, Zecora set off taking steps that echoed everywhere.
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Luna was in her chambers watching the night, a few hours ago her older sister had retired to her room, but she knew she wasn't asleep, she could feel the dreams of all the ponies nearby and Celestia's didn't appear, she could only imagine what kind of things and machinations that unstable mare was up to inside her room.

The princess of the night couldn't help but let out a melancholy sigh, it had been less than a month and all this had gone bloody mad, she couldn't believe that something as insignificant as the return of a single pony, had set Equestria on a path leading to disaster and agony.
Luna was still deep in thought, about what her role in this was and what decisions she could make to help her people, she had really come to love this fake world her sister had forged, seeing it as much more than just curtain and sass.
To her these ponies deserved all that love Celestia pretended to give them, they deserved warmth, peace and she knew that if she let her sister keep trying to fix it more and more of it would be lost.

The alicorn looked up and gazed at the full moon, her star, the power she had so long ago bound herself to, unlike her sister who thrived in the light, she had learned to live in the shadows, but it had been a long time since she had fed from them, she had not realized how weak she had become until Bek cut her face with his sword and the wound took all night to heal, she had lost herself in the quiet and now her body was almost as fragile as a mortal's.
This led her to think about how long Equestria had gone without a dark night, without the light of Celestia's sun reflected in the moon, it was there that it dawned on her how long it had been, how long her sister had weakened her, before she thought it was carelessness but now it was more than clear, Celestia kept her weak without leaving leftovers or cloudy days.

Luna then began to think of a strategy, to leave behind the evil that afflicts her, she could darken the moon if it was her wish, but that would certainly make Celestia think suspiciously, no, she had to find another way to regain strength, although this implies to dive back into her head, suddenly ancient whispers filled her mind, words of a lost and resilient entity.
An alien consciousness then spoke after her years of banishment, the voice Luna created so as not to go mad during her confinement.

“So here we are again? “The somber, opaque voice spoke directly to the alicorn.

“Yes” Luna replied in her thoughts.

“You finally realized that I was right.”

“That my sister is a madwoman doesn't give you validation.”

“So have you thought about whether you're going to do it yet?”

“Going back into the shadows with you won't change my mind.”

The voice let out a laugh and scoffed.

“That you're still just as foolish makes me furiously glad...” the voice paused before resuming ”Do you still remember what Bek didn't say before she left?”

Luna rummaged through her memories in search of what to say.

“One has to be strong, to deny what is in front of him.”

At that moment another sensation invaded Luna, pushing the voice away, for an instant she was startled by the forgotten feeling but quickly recovered, it only took her a moment to know what it was, one of the traps in the catacombs had been activated.

After Bek's escape, Celestia gave Luna a task, to protect the catacombs to avoid more trouble.
Luna gladly accepted this opportunity, as this way she would know if something was going right or wrong, all the catacombs were full of magical sensors, waiting for more of Twilight's allies to use this means to enter the castle.

Quickly Luna disappeared, transporting herself to the room where the fluctuation felt, immediately the room lit up.
Zecora then gave a great leap and screamed, but when she saw who it was her fear subsided.

“Princess Luna is it really you, it's a relief I really thought I was going to perish.”

“Who are you?” replied Luna with a straight face.

“Oh I beg your pardon, we never got a chance to introduce ourselves...” Zecora paused and bowed slightly “Zecora the zebra humbly introduces herself, friend of Twilight Sparkle and her faithful confidant.”

“You don't look like a zebra” Luna said with confusion.

“An apology for that but I couldn't find a better option, a disguise I had to make myself if I want to complete my mission.”

“What mission is that if I may ask?”

“To cure and rescue Fluttershy without delay and without fear.”

Luna then understood, she stood thinking for a second before answering.

“How do you intend to accomplish those two things little faithful zebra?”

“An antidote I have with me that can cure the discomfort, as for getting her out of the castle maybe you with that could help me?”

Luna looked impressed at the cheeky zebra, almost demanding her help as if she were any pony out there, after a few seconds the alicorn reflected, this was the opportunity she was looking for, she certainly wasn't going to say no.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Both the zebra and the alicorn walked side by side, through the corridors of the catacombs with hardly any conversation.

“So you know what you have to do?” asked Luna to Zecora.

“Wait for her outside the castle without hesitation, so that you can save Fluttershy.”

“Exactly, I will administer the antidote and escort her out of the palace so you can take her with you so my sister is left without her singular token...” Luna paused going over the plan again and again “'Can you tell me again how this medicine works?” asked the aliconrnio as she held the vials with the black liquid with her magic.

“You must give it to drink three drops only, the rest you must apply to the wound for it to heal properly.”

“Understood, so you already have the path memorized?”

“For my guidance you need not worry princess, I will be there ready for the surprise escape.”

The two exchanged a look of approval and then parted ready to spring into action.

Luna walked through the corridors of the castle trying not to look suspicious, turning corners and dodging guards with great skill, until she reached the room where she knew the pegasus was.
At that moment Luna turned off her horn holding the bottle with the antidote in one of her hooves and approaching the door cautiously, she knew she couldn't use magic in there, at least not without her sister knowing it instantly, her sister would know it too if she spent too much time in the room so she had to be quick.

Gripping the knob firmly the alicorn took a big breath of air, holding her breath for a moment and finally stepping inside.

The room was quiet and dimly lit by a lamp on the bedside table, Luna scanned the room with her eyes and was surprised to see that there was another pony besides Fluttershy.
The young nurse was reading a book sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room, the sound of the door opening made her look up and she dropped the book when she saw that it was none other than Princess Luna.

“Oh princess, I'm sorry...” the mare said as she picks up the book ‘I was surprised, I wasn't expecting any visitors at this hour, usually everyone comes during the day, though I guess it makes sense for you to come now since you're the night princess and all...’ the nurse was very nervous and couldn't stop talking, screaming inside and blushing from embarrassment.

Noticing this Luna took the opportunity to hide the small vial behind one of her wings, clearing her throat and speaking in a solemn tone.

“You don't have to worry about that little pony, I just came to pay my respects to the element of kindness.”

“Oh yes, sure, go ahead go ahead, take all the time you need.”

Luna took a few steps forward placing herself right next to the bed, looking up seeing the nurse looking down at the floor blushing and not moving from her spot.

“I...” began Luna ”I would like a moment alone.”

“Oh...” exclaimed the mare in surprise ”I, I'm very sorry your highness but I'm afraid I can't do that, Princess Celestia ordered me to only leave the room when strictly necessary, to ensure Miss Fluttershy's well-being”

“Don't worry, I'll take care of it” Luna said impatiently.

“Ehh well,,,,I,,,,don't know, maybe I should ask Celestia first...”

Hearing that Luna put on a more serious and demanding tone of voice, looking straight at the pony.

“I am the princess of the night mare! Do you think my authority is beneath my sister's?”

White Gauze swallowed her saliva in fear, it seemed she had offended Princess Luna and was now very worried about what Luna might do to her, maybe she would get her fired What would happen then, if she was fired from the royal palace for insubordination she would never be able to get a job as a nurse again, it would be the end of her career and she would run out of money to pay for her little sister's college, the very thought made her almost start crying.

Seeing the growing fear in the pony Luna's eyes she thought perhaps she had gone a little overboard with her demand, speaking in a more comforting and calm voice the alicorn calmed the mare's fears.

“I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, it's just that, Fluttershy is one of my dearest friends, and this will probably be the last time I can talk to her, I would really like a moment, to say goodbye.”

The nurse then it dawned on her, all her suspicions about this care over the pegasus was just a last show of compassion before her departure, at this she couldn't help but feel stupid refusing to leave Princess Luna alone with her friend, all her fear turned to shame finally coming to a resolution.

“I...well I, I, I think I could leave the room for ten minutes...”

Luna faked a smile and calmly replied again.

“That would be more than enough and I would be most grateful.”

“Of course princess!” exclaimed the mare before hurrying to quickly leave the room, just as she was about to close the door behind her she took a moment to say.

“If you need anything call me.”

Luna then hurried to take out the bottle with the black liquid again, removing the cork to discover that it smelled of rotting roots and mold.

“Ugh gross, I really appreciate not having to drink this...” started to say luna as she carefully brought the bottle closer to Fluttershy's face, slightly opening her mouth with her other hoof ”Alright Fluttershy, here we go.”

Luna dropped three drops of the concoction into the pegasus' mouth, closing her mouth tightly and pulling away slightly.
For an instant nothing happened, Luna even wondered if the potion had even worked, but the next second Fluttershy was employed to writhe violently, suddenly all the pain dulled by the painkillers engulfed her like flames in a furnace.
The pegasus was convulsing while rolling her eyes upwards and foaming at the mouth, the heart monitor showed that her heartbeat was one hundred and ninety per minute.

Luna didn't know what to do, Zecora didn't warn her about this when she gave her directions, she quickly realized that she had forgotten to smear the potion on Fluttershy's leg wound, she quickly poured the rest of the contents of the vial over the wound, making sure it was covered in its entirety, a moment more of convulsions and Fluttershy suddenly seemed to calm down, her heartbeat returned to normal and her eyes closed again.

Luna could see how the open wound finally seemed to dry and heal as all the sweat on the pegasus' body disappeared, finally her breathing seemed to stop being torturous and the alicorn could see the color return to her fur.

Luna let out a sigh of relief, finally it seemed she had helped, she had done something right, now she just had to wait for Fluttershy to regain consciousness and she could get her out of there.
But suddenly the door to the room burst open, Luna turned around thinking it was the worried nurse but her pupils constricted as she saw Celestia standing in front of her with a dismayed look on her face.

“Luna...?” she said almost as a whisper.

Luna in an almost imperceptible movement threw the empty bottle under the bed out of pure instinct before answering.

“Sister...” the alicorn struggled to remain calm, barely managing to materialize a nervous smile.

“What are you doing here?” celestia's tone went from concern to suspicion.

“Ehh I...I just, I came to check on her, that's all...” Luna tried to deflect the conversation as she looked away “And what are you doing here?”

“I came because I felt the pegasus' heart racing.”

“I didn't know you could do that..” Luna spoke feigning nonchalance

“The magical connection she establishes with her lets me know when her life is in danger...” began to explain Celestia before it dawned on her ”You saw it? What happened to it?”

Luna had already prepared her answer.

“The pain, I think the painkillers lost their effect, she must feel all the pain all at once before he passed out again.”

Celestia inspected her sister's face and then the entire room, she looked for signs of anything suspicious but nothing seemed out of place.

“Where is the nurse?” asked Celestia.

“I told her to leave me alone for a moment, I needed...a moment.”

“A moment ... Don't tell me you're worried about her?” said Celestia disdainfully.

“I can't believe you didn't...” said Luna quietly.

“What did you say?” asked Celestia sternly.

Luna felt strangely emboldened at the moment, feeling confident to question her sister's ideals.

“I can't believe you really don't feel anything about this...” she finally said standing up and facing Celestia ”I can't believe you don't feel anything about going against our friends!”

“Friends!!! You think that's what they are?” interrupted Celestia annoyed ‘Have you really gotten to the point where you believed our own lie? Do you really think friendship is something that matters?!’ the alicorn started to raise her voice but stopped short, taking a breath as she pressed her forehead with one of her hooves, calming herself before speaking again.

“Luna, come with me” she said calmly as she walked out the door, Luna hesitated for a second to follow but a serious look from her sister was enough incentive to follow her.

They both left the room closing the door and starting to walk down the corridors in silence, Luna gave Celestia a confused and annoyed look while she kept her eyes straight ahead and walked steadily.

“Look Luna, I know it's easy to get attached to these inferior creatures...” she began to say without looking at her ‘Believe me, I really do, but you must not lose sight of our ultimate goal, now that we are finally so close...’ they both turned a corner.

“Are you really still obsessed with it sister, don't you think it's been enough?”

“No” she replied without thinking ”It's our life's work, from the moment we were born we knew our species was destined for greatness...”

“Celestia...that was long ago, the reign of our people was in the past.”

“Lies! Our reign was taken away by forces incapable of accepting our supremacy, they believed that by destroying our entire legacy they would end us forever, but there remain you and I, the last descendants of the firmament, it is our sacred work to return our species to its once lost glory...”

“But at what cost?” asked Luna making Celestia finally look at her ”Think of all we destroyed, all we consumed, all the lives we sacrificed don't you think we took our ambition too far?”

“Of course we did!” exclaimed Celestia ”It was our right to do so, we are goddesses Luna, this world is ours to do as we please!”

“No, it's not true! This world existed long before our ancestors arrived and it will continue to exist long after we are gone, the world belongs to itself, no one has the right to decide about it and its creatures, not even the gods!”

“What happened to you Luna, where is that spark that made your shadows glow, where is my sister who had done everything to achieve our goal?”

“Oh I don't know...” answered Luna already annoyed ”Maybe she stayed on the fucking moon where she went crazy because of the loneliness and the fear of freezing to death in space!”

“Are you going to keep complaining about that? I told you, it was a necessary thing to do!”

“Necessary because?!”

“The ponies didn't trust us anymore, it would have been impossible to enact change if there wasn't a scapegoat, something or someone to take the blame for so many centuries of misery and war...” Celestia paused “Unfortunately I had to use you as that scapegoat, blame Nightmare Moon for everything that had happened and present myself as their savior, I know it sounds cruel but it worked, they trusted me again and with time I was able to put everything in its place, the only thing left was to wait for you to return so we could finally complete our plan.”

Luna kept quiet, she had heard that explanation before, but this time she felt different, this time she could see behind her sister's mask of falsehood, she was a hypocrite and a liar, she wasn't even sure if her affection towards her was genuine, she really didn't recognize her own sister.
She knew that further debate was useless, it would come to nothing and would only cast more suspicion on her, so she feigned resignation and bowed her head in defeat.

Celestia approached her, placing a hoof on her face trying to comfort, dedicating a smile that was hard to tell if it was genuine or not.

“Luna, soon this will all be over, all this martyrdom, all this guilt, all this falsehood, when we are done and reign over all things again, we can finally stop pretending and go back to being, us.”

Luna felt disgusted, but she was already in the game, she had to play her chips smartly, swallowing the nausea she felt she answered Celestia.

“Yes sister, it's okay...”

At this Celestia couldn't help but smile and hug her little sister.

“I knew you would understand, you're the only one who understands, sun and moon...” Celestia started waiting for Luna to finish the sentence, which took no more than a few seconds.

“Together forever...”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy was already conscious by the time Celestia and Luna left the room, the little pegasus was full of panic, she couldn't believe what she had heard, the princesses, the kindest and gentlest beings in Equestria, were a sham.
She had already sensed it since the incident under the castle but it hadn't dawned on her what it meant.

She was not sure, she had to get out of there, but she was badly wounded.
A thousand thoughts filled the mind of the timid pegasus, letting herself be consumed by her fear so much that she was even afraid to move or open her eyes, it wasn't until one of those thoughts was able to rise above the others that she realized something very strange, she was thirsty.
Her mouth was completely dry, she also felt a strange weight in her wings, and despite her eyes being closed, she could feel the dim light from the lamp on the table hurting her eyes.

The strangeness soon turned into discomfort, a discomfort that got worse with every passing second, Fluttershy didn't believe it was possible to feel so dehydrated, it was as if her mouth was a desert and her tongue only sand.

Her breathing became heavy again and she felt about to lose consciousness when, a familiar smell came to her, it was exactly the same smell she had felt earlier that day, but much more intense, it was as pleasant as she remembered it and with every passing second she could feel it closer.
Suddenly something else came to her, a sound, it was like a muffled drum, rhythmic and constant, the pegasus sharpened her hearing and could now hear it with total clarity and not only that sound, she could also hear through the walls something she identified as footsteps, which were gradually approaching where she was, a very subtle scent of perfume also became present, it smelled of roses and coconut.
Fluttershy was saturated by all these new sensations, she didn't understand what was going on, but, again, the thirst she felt anchored her back to reality, the subtle smell of iron flooded her senses, suddenly it was the only thing she could smell, her head plunged with only one thought while the smell became completely unbearable, she was thirsty.

The nurse walked slowly down the hallway she had given the princess a couple more minutes than she had said just to be safe and now she was taking her time getting back to the room, she didn't want to arrive and find Princess Luna crying or something, the thought of that killed her with embarrassment.
Finally she stood in front of the door, carefully sticking her ear out to see if it was appropriate to enter, hearing nothing the mare plucked up her courage and knocked carefully on the door.

“Prin...princess Luna...” she called timidly ”It's been ten minutes.”

She waited for an answer that didn't come, all she kept hearing was silence, nervous that she might have come at a bad time she quickly excused herself.

“Yes...if you need more time I can go, just tell me what and I'll leave you a little longer...”

No response.

The nurse hesitated for a moment about what to do Was it possible that the princess had already left? if so then she was talking to nothing, she felt foolish for a second at the thought and despite being almost certain, she still announced her arrival.

“Uh, excuse me princess, I'm coming in.”

She opened the door very slowly and noticed that there was only darkness, the lamp was no longer on the little table and the room was shrouded in gloom.
The pony felt very confused at this, why would Princess Luna leave the room in the dark? But she felt even more confused when she adjusted her eyesight and noticed that Fluttershy's bed was empty.
She quickly approached to make sure what she was seeing, the pegasus was gone, for a moment she thought she had fallen out of bed but there was no one there. Did Princess Luna take her? Why would she do something like that? The pony was about to panic when out of the corner of her eye she noticed a lump on the other side of the room.

She turned to look at it, it looked like someone was sitting in the chair in the corner.

“Miss Fluttershy..?” the mare asked confused, she stretched her hoof to turn on the main light of the room but it didn't work, she pressed it a couple more times before turning her attention back to the lump that seemed not to have moved.

The nurse began to approach slowly trying to remain calm.

“Miss Fluttershy...are you feeling better now?” she took another step forward ‘Do you...do you want me to let the princesses know you woke up?’ she stretched her helmet ‘Are you...okay?’ she touched the lump.

A rumbling noise made her jump as the lump fell, revealing it to be the lamp, pillow and bed sheet, arranged in a mound.
The nurse let out a small scream before realizing what seemed to be a small joke, she let out a sigh of relief and then a nervous chuckle even thinking she had the wrong rooms, just as she was about to turn around to check, something grabbed her from the ceiling and dragged her violently.

White Gauze tried to move, but she couldn't, something rubbery and elongated wrapped around her body, pressing hard and trapping her hooves against her body, then she tried to scream, but the lack of air made it impossible, she tried to look around but all she could see was darkness, at least until a pair of intense pink eyes shone right in front of her, the faint glow illuminated enough so that the pony could see a familiar face right in front of her.

There it was, the face of the pegasus who, just a moment ago, had been bedridden and unable to move, her head-first gaze buried itself firmly in the eyes of the nurse who could not believe her eyes.

The pale yellow fur had been replaced by a duller gray, the ears had grown twice their size and the pupils had become pointed.
The exchange of glances lasted for a long moment, the mare looked completely terrified and with her mouth open trying to catch her breath while Fluttershy's head started to turn around the pony, analyzing and smelling her.

In a moment the pegasus approached the nurse's ear and in a sensual voice, which was nothing like Fluttershy's, whispered to her.

“I heard what you said this morning, you arouse dirty thoughts in me too” a long forked tongue came out of the pegasus' mouth and gave a long lick to the person's face and which was struggling to free itself.

Finally Fluttershy's face came back in front of the mare who was about to faint, for an instant the nurse lost herself in the beautiful eyes of the pegasus and the next moment, Fluttershy pounced on her, biting her neck.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The scream echoed throughout the castle, even the princesses who had moved a great distance away heard it, both could not remember the last time they heard such an agonizing scream, without thinking they both ran through the corridors in search of the cause.

They were both surprised when they turned a corner and found the hallway where Fluttershy's room was.

Guards had already arrived and were slowly approaching the open door.

“What's going on here!” exclaimed Celestia in shock and somewhat worried.

“We don't know princess...” began a guard ”We heard a scream and came to investigate.”

“Isn't this Miss Fluttershy's room?” asked one guard to another.

“Are you sure the scream came from here?” asked another:

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, Luna's heart was jumping in her chest but she did her best not to show it, while Celestia was starting to wonder if Discord was stupid enough to try to come, but it was pointless, she hadn't felt anything.

Just as the first of the guards peeked inside the room a bestial growl was heard coming from the room, all the guards raised their spears, putting themselves on guard and approaching as a group.

As the guards were about to enter the darkened room a whirlwind shot out of the room, ramming into the guards and testing them.
The figure landed in the middle of the hallway, crouched down due to its missing hind leg, the princesses gasped as they saw Fluttershy standing there, standing there with grey fur, her mane and tail were unpainted and dirty and the entire top, from her mouth to her chest was covered in blood.

Luna could see her sister take a step back as she said.

“What the fuck?” the sound of her voice made Fluttershy look in her direction and then Luna could see everything clearly.

The pegasus's face was deformed into a horrible grimace, her eyes glowed brightly in a reddish pink and her mouth was wide open noticing that in it were two huge fangs also stained red.

The exchange of glances only lasted a second and Luna thought that Fluttershy would jump at them, but instead of that she let out a high-pitched screech, opened two huge membranous bat wings and flew away breaking the window of the corridor, flying away at great speed.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zecora was waiting at one of the back entrances to the castle, growing impatient with Princess Luna's apparent delay, she wondered if something had gone wrong or if the antidote had failed to cure Fluttershy, just as she was about to try again to enter the castle to check it out a loud screech followed by a rumble shook her to her bones.

The zebra looked up just in time to see a strange winged creature darting out from inside the castle and disappearing into the distance.

Zecora opened her mouth in surprise, it couldn't be possible, it was absurd but, she couldn't help but think that, at the moment she saw the creature come out, she could see a clear, incredibly long pink mane.