In Ponyville, a storm was raging at Sweet Apple Acres' request due to the recent drought that had damaged the crops.

Twilight had stayed up late in, what had recently, been her large library, as almost all of her things had been shipped to Canterlot she didn't even have a bed to sleep in not to mention that, due to her friendship school students, every room in the castle was occupied, luckily Starlight had set up a makeshift bed for her made of blankets and pillows so she and Spike could, at least, be comfortable.

“Tea is ready Twilight...” announced Spike as he entered the room carrying a small tray with a teapot and a couple of cups, the little dragon walking silently and stopped when he received no response.

Looking up he met Twilight's distracted gaze, lost between the pages of a book she didn't even seem to be reading.

“Twilight...” repeated Spike causing the alicorn to look up and turn in surprise.

“Oh Spike...sorry, thank you so much for the tea..” she gave him a small smile the baby dragon before looking back down at her book, she tried to read for a second before looking down and discarding the book.

“Are you all right Twilight?” asked Spike as he placed the tray at the side of the blankets.

“I...I don't know Spike, I keep thinking about what happened...about my coronation” Spike frowned, the memory was still fresh in both of their minds and there was no doubt that it still echoed deep in their minds. Spike wanted to comfort his friend, but couldn't find the words, he simply settled in beside her as he found the words.

“You heard the princess, she told us everything would be all right...” the dragon began to say but was quickly interrupted.

“But it's been two days and we haven't received any news. What if they're having trouble capturing him? What if he attacks again? What if the princesses are in danger and I'm not there to help them...!” Twilight began to hyperventilate as she held her head in frustration.

Spike, foreseeing one of Twilight's nervous breakdowns, quickly stepped in front of her, holding her cheeks with his claws and lifting her chin to look at him.

“Twilight, listen to me” the alicorn watched her friend's face.

“I know this was unlike anything we've ever seen and I know we're all worried about what may or may not happen, but please think about it for a second, even though that crazy pony managed to get close to you and the princesses, she wasn't even able to touch them, Celestia protected them and thwarted her attempts to harm them, if anyone can control this situation, it's her don't you think?” Spike gave a wide comforting smile to his older sister as she finally seemed to get her breathing under control.

“You're...You're right Spike, the princess is the most powerful and wise pony I know, she'll be able to handle this...” already more relaxed Twilight snuggled with Spike between the sheets as they drank a cup of tea in silence by candlelight, the sound of the rain echoed lightly on the castle roof, creating a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere.

After a while the alicorn finally noticed, as the few remaining candles were about to burn out completely.

“I think maybe it's time for us to go to sleep...” she said as she stretched. Spike found himself reading one of the few PowerPonies comics that hadn't been sent in the move engrossed, yet as he heard Twilight's voice it dawned on him, they really had both lost track of how late it really was.

“Yeah, I think you're right..” the little dragon couldn't help but let out a yawn as she stretched and her friend smiled at the adorable gesture.

In a moment Spike was already tucked between the sheets, curled up in a little ball while Twilight was arranging the books she had been reading and blowing out the candles one by one, just as she was about to blow out the last candle a distant sound stopped her in her tracks.

For a moment she thought it had been her imagination, she might even have been sure of it since Spike didn't seem to have noticed, but the sound was repeated a moment later, this time more clearly, causing Spike to raise his head from his pillow.

“What...is that?” asked the dragon as the sound repeated for the third time.

“I, I'm not sure...” replied Twilight with another rumble of the sound. In a moment they were both walking down the main hallway in the direction of the sound, Twilight was holding the small candle with her magic while Spike followed just a couple of steps behind her, finally turning a corner they both came upon the source of the sound, the alicorn and the dragon found themselves frozen as they rounded the corner and discovered that it was nothing more or less than knocking on the front door of the palace.

They both looked at each other and then looked at the door, the knocking, now, repeated at regular intervals, more frequent but no louder, making the corridors rumble with subtlety due to the silence of the night.

“Did...did someone stay at school working late?” asked Spike almost whispering to Twilight.

“No” replied the alicorn seriously ”Starlight confirmed it twice, everyone is either asleep in their rooms or went home...”

“So is this another one of Pinkie's late night visits?” she asked even more nervously at the insistent knocking.

“They don't sound like Pinkie's knocking...” the pony replied as she began to take small steps towards the door, Spike following soon after, walking cautiously behind her.

“And shouldn't we...should we wake the others or something?” said the dragon trying to make as little noise as possible.

“...No...” finally said Twilight just a few steps away from the door ‘It could be nothing, maybe a branch that fell because of the storm or maybe someone who needs help...’ the alicorn advanced until she stood right in front of the door and at that moment, the knocking abruptly stopped. The two shared nervous glances as Twilight brought a hoof close to the knob of the large door, turned it and opened it.

The breeze that blew into the enclosure quickly blew out the candle, leaving, for a second, the little moonlight that slipped through the thick clouds as the only source of light. Twilight seemed to notice a silhouette standing in front of the door so she quickly lit her horn in a glowing violet light.

There was indeed someone there, she was standing a couple of steps away from the door, clearly she had backed away before the alicorn opened and was now standing with half her body in the rain.

“Good evening...” started to say Twilight with a cordial tone, the shadowed figure didn't respond, somewhat nervously the alicorn insisted.

“Did you...need something?” still no response, the silence was making Twilight more and more nervous, the figure was tall, perhaps almost as tall as AppleJack and smelled bad, even with the whirlwind of smells the storm was bringing with it she was able to notice it.

The purple mare began to lose patience as her nocturnal visitor maintained an immaculate silence, not even showing signs of movement, the alicorn tried to shine her horn brighter so she could see if it wasn't a scarecrow prank or something, but just then the figure took another couple of steps backwards, staying out of range of the flash of light.
The sudden movement made Spike startle while it put Twilight on alert.

“Hey!” she said with more authority in her voice ‘Enough games! Who are you..?’ she began to ask as she strained her eyes to try and make out some distinguishing feature in the figure ”And what do you want?”

After another moment of silence the figure took a couple of steps, but this time forward, far enough to enter the alicorn's area of light, now with the dim illumination Twilight was able to denote a modicum of the stranger's appearance.
He was covered from head to toe in thick rags, most of which appeared to be scraps of brown cloth similar to potato sacks, roughly sewn together like patches, and underneath these, though barely noticeable due to wear and tear, was a very deep blue cloth that hinted at some light gold detailing, the face was covered by a large hood where these tones were most visible, Twilight instantly recognized it.

She guessed that Spike had also done it since they both froze and she could feel how the claws of the small dragon that held her turned cold all of a sudden.
Terror invaded the princess of friendship for a long agonizing second, a thousand ideas flashed through her mind, scream, run, wake everyone in the palace, attack with her magic, whatever she was going to do she had to be quick, this pony was dangerous and could threaten everyone in the castle, just as her mental block was about to break a voice crossed the air.

“Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle...” said the figure standing in front of her, removing her hood and unveiling the familiar gaunt scarred face. Just after that something happened that left Twilight and Spike gaping, the mare in front of them leaned forward and bowed, dropping to her knees before Twilight.

“I need your help...”

Now the ones who were speechless were them, the situation had thrown them off balance to such an extent that Twilight could feel her head throbbing, her breathing became fenoetic and her vision blurred slightly, she looked down to check if what she had seen was true and yes, there she was, the mare who only two days ago had caused an altercation like no other, where ponies had been badly hurt and their sun princess threatened with death, there she was bowing before her.

Twilight mumbled a couple of unintelligible words as she took a couple of steps back, at the lack of a coherent response the unicorn spoke again.

“Please your highness...I ask that you listen to what I have to say” the brown mare looked up slightly, looking Twilight straight in the eyes while still revering the.

She was finally able to pull herself together, sorting out her thoughts and finding herself with a new feeling slowly replacing the fear, anger.

“Because...?” he began to say in an angry tone that finally came out as a bellow ”Because in a thousand Equestrias would I listen to anything you have to say!!!?” The sudden rise in her voice surprised Spike, even Twilight herself was surprised at herself at such a display of fury, only to realize that these were more than justified, what stood before her was, in her eyes, nothing more than a criminal.

At this resolution the alicorn realized that, most likely, they were not safe so she quickly flashed her horn, raising a shield that blocked the entrance door. This far from upsetting his visitor kept him in exactly the same place, undeterred.
Twilight did not understand this strange behavior, at least now, thanks to the shield, she felt safer to continue questioning the mare.

“You made an attempt against my life and against my princesses' lives...” incriminated the pony ‘Give me a single reason not to hand you over to justice’ Twilight kept her gaze fixed on the visitor's eyes, who did not look away and did not even change her facial expression, it was as if her face was frozen in a grimace of melancholy and exhaustion.

At this sight the alicorn could not help but feel her anger subside, seen this way this mare did not seem to be able to provoke all the suffering and fear she had seen her consummate, she looked like any pony, with the difference that, apparently, she seemed to carry something too heavy on her shoulders, something that seemed sincere.

Twilight then ventured a couple of steps forward, placing herself right in front of the shield.

“Who...who are you?” he finally asked without breaking eye contact, it took the mare a moment to find the right words to answer.

I'm...I'm .... I'm a soldier..” she finally said ”And I have a story to tell you...”

Twilight pondered for a few moments, turning the idea over a thousand times, until finally, in one simple motion, the shield at the entrance disappeared.

“Twilight are you crazy?” shrieked Spike in shock.

“It's okay Spike..” she whispered to him as she stepped aside to let him pass ”Easy..”

The mare rose heavily from the ground and walked towards the inside of the castle, her wet and muddy hooves stained the entrance immediately and the unpleasant smell immediately filled the nostrils of the hosts, Spike couldn't help but hold his nose and Twilight made a disguised grimace. When the visitor was fully inside Twilight used her magic to move the door which closed with a thud.

Silence reigned for another long minute, the three looked at each other before the alicorn broke the silence.

“Okay, follow me..” Twilight started walking down the hallway in the direction of the library with Spike at her side while the unicorn kept only a couple of steps behind her.

The walk was tedious and the silence even more so, Spike fiddled with his claws nervously as Twilight walked with her eyes straight ahead while trying to ignore the cold sweat trickling down the back of her neck, she was beginning to wonder if she had really made the right decision, this pony was undoubtedly dangerous and allowing her to enter so easily into the compound where not only her friends, but also her students were staying could have been seen as complete stupidity. Still there was no incident, apart from the heavy, shuffling footsteps of the unicorn no other sound came from her, finally arriving at the library and inviting her to enter.

The mare stood in the middle of the room while Twilight with her magic levitated new candles from the other side of the room, lighting them and arranging them in a perfect wide circle, after that she levitated several pillows, arranging them on the floor creating three comfortable seats, two on one side of the circle and the other at the other end.

“Well, have a seat...” the hostess finally said.

“No...” replied the unicorn curtly ‘I prefer to stand’ Twilight was surprised at the rudeness but decided not to insist, taking a seat with Spike at her side.

Again silence filled the atmosphere again, the unicorn just stood with her head down and her gaze lost, seemingly absent, finally the alicorn, in a gesture of impatience but also concern cleared her throat loudly, catching the mare's attention.

“Ahem! You eh, you can start whenever you want.”

The unicorn swallowed spit and looked directly at her hostess, taking a moment longer and closing her eyes for a second, she began to speak.

“You...you were born and raised in this land you call Equestria, you lived surrounded by prosperity and plenty, in perpetual and seemingly uninterrupted peace...” the mare paused as she leaned to the side, supporting herself on her right legs.

“But what would you tell me if I told you, that all that peace, all that fullness, were built on a sea of death and lies...?”

Twilight could tell how the mare slurred a few words, her pronunciation was coarse and crude even so, she seemed to have a wide lexicon.

“What do you mean?” the alicorn finally said.

“I mean that all this...” she paused gesturing towards the huge library ”This whole kingdom, all this harmony, it's all a sham, built to ensure order and control...”

“Control over what?” asked Twilight increasingly intrigued.

“Over everything” he replied as his gaze lingered in the distance ‘Over ponies, over dragons, over griffins, over any creature that flies, walks or swims, this peace is just a prison...’ before Twilight could question him he took back his words forcefully.

“And this prison has jailers, the ones responsible for creating it in the first place..” the alicorn braced herself in anticipation, already expecting what was coming next ”Those whom you call princesses, those who call themselves Celestia and Luna..”

She thought she was ready to hear it, but the power of the words caught her off guard, her mind could not even begin to size up the amount of reasons why those words were, plain and simple, ridiculous, never in a million years, never ever, did Twilight Sparkle think she would hear someone attribute something so absurd and impossible to the ponies who had sacrificed the most for the welfare of Equestria, who had fought so hard for their people and for defending what was right, simply, it was absurd.

“Listen...” the purple pony began to say trying to keep her composure ”I don't know what you're looking to achieve or what your motivations are, but you won't achieve anything by slandering and lying about...”

“It's not lies!” Shouted the mare in a tone almost too loud that probably would have woken someone up if only the library wasn't so far away from the rooms.

The sudden outburst put Twilight on the defensive, almost making her jump out of her seat along with Spike who, in shock, had taken flight. Both Pony and dragon looked in the direction of their visitor who again had that angry expression on her face, gritting her teeth and scowling.
The unicorn, seeing the reaction of her hosts, took a deep breath, closing her eyes to calm herself, she had to, she had to keep calm if what she was about to relate didn't seem like the ravings of a lunatic.

“Listen...” she finally said sighing ”I know it sounds crazy, if I were you I would think the same thing, but please, I beg you, listen to everything I have to say, hopefully, it will shed some light on your doubts.”

The pony's change in attitude made Twilight regain her composure, she seemed to be making a great effort to behave herself in his presence and not give in to her impulses, the alicorn considered that valuable enough to stop questioning and listen with unclouded ears.

“Very well...I hear you then,” Twilight said taking her seat again while Spike just stood beside her.

The unicorn took another deep breath, relaxing before continuing.

“You may think your princesses are old, that they've lived for a long time, and you wouldn't be wrong, but you have no idea how long, in fact, they've been walking this world...” the mare looked nervous, tense, as if battling to say every word.

“What if I told you that the princesses you praise to this day are over ten thousand years old?” Twilight didn't answer, it didn't seem like it was a question that would need to be answered, still the alicorn did the math in her head and found it illogical, according to the historical records of Equestria, Celestia and Luna were born during the time of Star Swirl the Bearded, being his apprentices and pupils to later ascend as the rulers of Equestria, something that happened no more than nineteen hundred years ago.

“Your princesses belong to a millenary race...” Twilight's thoughts were interrupted ‘A race that came from the stars and that inhabited this land centuries and centuries before ponies even existed...’ now if the alicorn was more than confused, one moment she was talking about the history of Equestria and now she was mentioning beings coming from the stars, this sounded more and more like madness.

“ Their reign over this land lasted for millennia, they molded the land to their liking and ruled over any creature that was born and lived under their hooves, until...”

“Stop for a second, if that what you say is true how is it possible that no other supposed being besides Celestia and Luna has ever ever been seen throughout history, or even a mention of it...What happened to them?” he finally asked.

“As I told you, this happened a long, long time ago...” she answered vaguely before continuing ”Neither I, nor anyone else who has ever heard this story knows why or how or who, the only sure thing is that, at some point the beings messed with something they shouldn't have, something dark and more powerful than them, whatever it was, destroyed them, wiped them all out in an extermination of unimaginable proportions, or well...almost all of them.”

Twilight was beginning to become engrossed in the story, she could even feel Spike settle back down on the ground and sit up, giving her full attention to the mare.

“The only survivors of this celestial massacre were two, at the time small, who, upon being stripped of their divine right, began an odyssey to regain their supremacy...”

It all sounded too incredible, but more incredible was for Twilight to realize that she had relaxed, she was no longer tense or frightened in the presence of the unicorn, somehow her words and the tone in which they spoke cleared any suspicions the alicorn might have had.

“Here is a wide time gap in which I possess no information about what happened, I will skip to the time when I became part of this story...” the unicorn cleared her throat ”I was born in this realm, just like you, but.... it was a very different place than the one you know, when I was born this realm was known by another name, it's hard to pronounce it in its current language but a more or less accurate translation would be “Empire of Crimson Dusk” or failing that “Empire of Crimson Dyed Dusk”. ..”

Twilight didn't know what to say at the turn the story was taking, the mention of the supposed name of ancient Equestria brought her nerves back, dormant deep within her.

“I am not sure how long ago that was, but, I can deduce that it was about three thousand five hundred years ago...” the mare looked at the ground, as if trying to assimilate that amount of time ” I, like many back then, did not even know my mother, I was snatched from her arms as soon as I was born...my mother, one of the unfortunate souls caught in the sickly machinery of the world...”

The mare looked wistful for a moment, looking for a moment like she would sit down but regretting it at the last moment, steadying herself again.

“I ahem, I was born on one of the breeding farms for manpower, upon being born a unicorn I was lucky or unlucky enough to be redistributed to the farms for infantry, once there I was raised by the imperial army along with several others to train and eventually become...”

“Wait wait wait wait!” exclaimed Twilight in a daze ‘What the hell are you talking about...breeding farms? Manpower? Infantry?’ the alicorn didn't understand the correlation between the beginning of the story and the barbarism she thought she understood the mare was now spitting out.

The unicorn watched the friendship princess in confusion for a moment before it dawned on her what information had been omitted.

“Oh excuse me, I think I got a little ahead of myself...” the mare took a moment to reorder ”During the time of the empire Celestia and Luna were in the middle of a campaign of conquest, a turf war against the griffins and dragons or at least, their ancestors...” Twilight gaped.

“Also, back then, wild beasts created by an ancient being of darkness Grogar, threatened to invade the empire, killing and destroying villages and crops, the princesses Celestia and Luna...” the mare paused ”Sorry, I don't feel comfortable calling them by that name...”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

“Back then they were known neither by those names nor by that title, for my entire life and the entire duration of the empire they were known as the queens Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon...”

The alicorn turned pale, so far everything that mare said could be attributed to a delirium or an excess of imagination, but now with this Twilight's nerves were starting to get out of control, it wasn't because of Nightmare Moon, after all it was a recent legend, any pony had heard of it, but the name Daybreaker, Twilight had only heard it once. The time Starlight Glimmer was summoned by the map of friendship to Canterlot castle due to a dispute between the two princesses, in which Starlight herself exchanged her cutie marks in an incredible way and ended up trapped in a nightmare with Celestia, she had told her that there she met an evil version of the same that answered to the name of Daybreaker, she had also told her that the princess seemed very shocked to see her and that she seemed extremely worried.

How was it possible that this pony, that she had never seen in her life, knew such a specific detail? did she guess? no, impossible, the probabilities were very slim, so Twilight had to get the frightening and demented idea that everything she was hearing now was real.

“As you can guess...” continued the mare snapping Twilight out of her trance ”Even for beings as powerful as them the conflict had overwhelmed them, they did not possess enough volunteer soldiers to fight on so many fronts at once not to mention the great loss in crops and raw materials, this war threatened to destroy their emerging empire... until they devised a solution.”

Twilight was afraid, she didn't want to hear this anymore, she didn't want to know more, but, faced with the minuscule possibility of veracity in what she was hearing she couldn't back out.

“The queens instituted that all families of earth ponies, pegasus and unicorns must give one of their children to serve the empire, said children will be educated in obedience and devotion to fulfill different functions, being the main one to be part of the armed forces to fight the invaders and conquer new territory, these sons and daughters would be forced to procreate new offspring and this in turn replaces the previous one, managing to get, in a relatively short time, a vast army with which, finally, they could face their enemies.... ”

Twilight was hyperventilating, sl sweat covered her face, her mouth was dry and she could feel nausea building up in her stomach, Spike for his part was white and his gaze was lost, it was hard to tell if he believed the story as much as Twilight did, but it was obvious that he was disturbed by the excess of detail in it.

“Ahem me, well I was born in something that the queens baptized as “breeding farms”..... once the Mares reached a certain age they were subjected to a physical exam, the purpose of which was to find out if they were fit for breeding or if their bodies were already too injured to fulfill that task, in the case of passing the exam they were dismissed from their positions and ranks, no matter how high the rank or how important the labors were, taken and locked away in the farms, so that, from now on, their only purpose would be to be inseminated to give birth to the next generation that would serve the empire...”

Twilight could have sworn the vomit rising in her throat, it was impossible, it was disgusting, it was...obscene, she simply couldn't size up what she was hearing.

“Stallions on the other hand, well they were only kept in service until the day they died...” as strange as it seemed the unicorn couldn't help but smile slightly.

“And....what about you?” a muffled voice was heard coming from Twilight. The unicorn looked up bumping into the crumbling face of the princess of friendship, who looked as if she was going to faint.

“I...?” the unicorn widened her smile absentmindedly ‘I didn't pass the test...’ she finally said.

“I was discarded as a breeding mare and reinstated in my duties, I must thank the dragons for that, it was one of their injuries that left me unable to bear children...” the unicorn looked sideways at the little dragon who barely managed to raise his gaze to see her and winked at her.

Noticing that her attempt to lighten the conversation had no effect on her hosts the unicorn cleared her throat again and lowered her head, losing her smile.

“And what were they...?” asked Twilight haltingly, which caused the mare to look at her with a confused expression.

“Your duties...what were they?” she finally asked.

The unicorn took a moment in silence to answer.

“I already told you...I'm a soldier...” Silence reigned again and both mares gave each other long looks until Spike's voice finally came through.

“So, if you were born over three and a half thousand years ago...how come you're here now?” the question threw both of them off, more so Twilight as it dawned on her, how could she have missed such an obvious questioning, for a moment she was hopeful believing that was the reason she needed to dismiss all that sick crap, she thanked Spike for recovering from her initial shock as he had now laid his cards on the table.

The unicorn looked at the dragon with a solemn look before letting out a sigh and replying.

“Truth be told, even I can't quite figure it out yet, but perhaps it can be explained by this...” the mare tucked a hoof between her robes which made Twilight and Spike stand on alert for a second, fearful and attentive, but the panic was dispelled when a flash of gold peeked out from between the robes.

“In my last assignment...” he began to say while holding in front of Twilight the impossibly shaped golden hourglass ”I was sent to distant lands, lands that are now known as the zebra territory, back then they were nothing more than a couple of isolated tribes though with a lot of potential, I was ordered to steal and bring to the empire an artifact that, according to legends, was able to freeze time...this is that artifact.”

Twilight analyzed the clock up and down, trying to understand what exactly it was she was seeing but, besides the peculiar shape of the artifact, the alicorn couldn't sense any trace of magical power coming from it. Before the alicorn could protest the mare continued.

“I found the place where they guarded it, I infiltrated, but something went wrong, I was discovered and cornered in the chamber where the treasure was guarded, there was a battle and then...nothing, the next thing I remember is that I woke up in that same cavern disoriented and confused, and by the time I went outside...everything was different” suddenly the mare's tone was filled with melancholy and she lowered her gaze to the ground.

“Nothing was as I remembered, the smell of the air, the position of the rivers, even the mountains seemed to have moved, it took me a long time to realize that the artifact had activated, freezing me for who knows how many years until for some reason it simply lost its power and deactivated...”

Twilight continued to admire the watch, even taking it with her magic and holding it close to her face, the engravings on it were beautiful no doubt and it looked like a very ancient language, one that even she could not decipher.

“As soon as she understood my situation I decided to return to the empire, even though I didn't know if she would still be there I had no other place to go, I set out on my journey, learning about the new world I had come to, meeting its people and marveling at the peace that had been achieved, I thought that...perhaps and despite the war the queens had accomplished their goal of unifying and establishing an absolute and prosperous reign...”

Twilight had put aside her watch to pay attention to the story, which was already giving airs of being soon to end.

“I heard many stories while traveling, about two kind princesses, the betrayal of one of them, her banishment and how the elder one unified with harmony and diplomacy a prosperous kingdom, it all sounded very strange to me, but I dismissed it thinking that they were simple misinterpretations, after all, it had been a long time...” the mare began to tap the ground lightly with one of her hind hooves, apparently without noticing.

“Until I....finally arrived at what they called the Castle of the two Sisters, although I confused directions and got lost on the way I arrived, it was strange, to see the palace of the regents in that condition, when I left it had just announced its construction, I know I should have gone to Canterlot, but there was something in the back of my mind that bothered me and which required answers...” suddenly the voice of the unicorn seemed to break starting to stammer.

“And I...I found them...then I knew” the mare raised her gaze and looked into the eyes of the princess of friendship.

“I knew that everything, all the death, all the suffering, all the anger, had been for nothing...the former queens had managed to erase all history and rewrite it at their convenience, becoming the benevolent princesses that everyone loves and admires...and I...”

Twilight could tell tears were beginning to form in the unicorn's eyes.

“I just...I couldn't take it...” the mare gritted her teeth trying to hold back the sobs ” It wasn't fair...that the world would forget us like that...that they would throw us away like we were nothing...after all we gave for them...” Tears began to fall down the mare's face who was trying to wipe them away by passing her clothes over her face.

“That's why I...decided to kill them, out of revenge, out of retribution, for all those who died and now, no one remembers...”

Silence reigned, this time more than ever as the mare held back her tears and stood firm again. Once Twilight realized that her story was over it took her a long moment to fully recover, she had no words for this, absolutely none, her mind tried to assimilate all the information she had just received and compared it to everything she had ever known, she turned it over and over with a blank stare, in the end the only thing she could whisper was.

“It's impossible..” despite the fact that she said it in a low voice it echoed throughout the room, reaching the ears of the unicorn which tensed slightly, observing the blank stare of her hostess she could deduce the conclusion she had reached.

“What you say is impossible...” said Twilight again, no matter from which angle she wanted to analyze it everything her guest had told her was, without a doubt, crazy, it went against everything she had learned, everything she had lived, the very reality in which she lived, it simply couldn't be real.

“I understand you...” heard the alicorn who, surprised, looked up to see the smiling face of the unicorn who was looking down at the floor.

“I understand that this goes against everything you've ever believed...if I were you I wouldn't believe me either..”

Twilight finally managed to pull herself together enough from her tangle of thoughts.

“You...you, you, don't even have any proof that what you say is true...” she finally said as a sigh.

“Well, that's not quite true...” said the unicorn causing both hosts to look up.

“Though for how little they mean they might as well be nothing...” suddenly the unicorn flashed her horn causing her robes to tremble slightly, a couple of clicks were heard and finally, the mare's robes fell to the ground.

Twilight's disbelief was replaced with a new wave of shock as she saw the visitor's naked body, finding herself unable to believe her eyes.
Virtually every inch of the mare's body was covered with scars, just as on her face there were scars of all kinds and of different sizes; There were some so small and superficial that they were barely noticeable and others that seemed so deep and huge that the alicorn could not understand how anyone could even survive such wounds, both front legs were butchered, one of them seemed completely burned while the other had only a few patches of fur left, the rest being bare skin, along his sides and back were a series of deep cuts, so deep that the scarred skin allowed to see the outline of some bones under them, on his neck there was a large mark that spanned the entire circumference of his neck, Twilight couldn't help but think it looked like the mark of a very tight collar, finally his hind legs and tail were covered with multiple lacerations and more cuts.

The alicorn lost all the air left in her lungs, the image of the emaciated mare disturbed her to such an extent that she found herself looking away because of how grotesque the scene was.
It took her a moment to gather the courage to look at her again, now with the initial shock passing Twilight could see that, underneath all those scars was a beefy body, her muscles standing out even more due to the exposed skin, for a moment she thought her figure reminded her of Rainbow Dash's, making the image even stranger.

“It's...horrible...” she finally said as the unicorn arranged her neatly folded clothes on the floor.

“Uh...what...” the mare asked in confusion before looking down at her own body.

“Ah this...no no, this isn't the test... “she said nonchalantly as she took a couple of steps towards Twilight who, out of instinct, also takes a couple of steps back, then the mare takes a step to the side turning, presenting her flank to the alicorn.
At first she thought the mare's cutie mark was horribly disfigured by her multiple scars, but on closer inspection she discovered that it was something much worse.

Instead of a cutie mark adorning her side the mare had what was undoubtedly a mark made with a hot iron, the design was uniform, somewhat wrinkled by the contraction of the skin but very clear. Twilight covered her mouth with her hooves, she could perfectly recognize the shapes mimicking the design, it was a large ornate circle, with a uniform pattern, inside you could see two very recognizable figures, it was a sun and a moon in almost uniform harmony, with the difference that the moon was much larger encompassing most of the circle.

“This is my mark, which identifies me as a member of the imperial legion of Queen Nightmare Moon, it is an unbreakable union that binds me to my regent for all eternity...”

Twilight had to take a step forward to fully appreciate it, she tried to fool herself, trying to convince herself that it was something else, but it was undeniable, she spun around the mare and found that there was another mark on her other side, letting out a gasp of anguish when she noticed that, no matter how hard she tried, she could not discern any real cutie mark underneath the scar.

“Why....why?” asked the alicorn meeting the mare's face which was staring straight ahead.

“Well, the queens decided that they would each have a legion of their own, so, in case any of them were captured or controlled there was still a legion completely loyal to their...”

“No!” exclaimed Twilight startling the unicorn who turned around in surprise ‘Why!’ she asked again pointing this time to the mark on her side.

The unicorn finally understood what he was referring to letting out a surprised gasp.

“Oh...why?” the mare pondered for a moment, looking back to the front, letting out another sigh she finally answered.

“I was born as cannon fodder, less than a pony...non-ponies have no right to a cutie mark...”

Those words were the last straw, Twilight's dizziness reached its limit and she dropped face first to the ground, lying completely still as Spike went to her aid.

“Twilight! Twilight! Are you all right?” the dragon asked over the course of a minute as the alicorn kept her gaze averted, her guest held still in place, expectant and prepared for the worst.

Finally, after Spike checked to make sure Twilight was still breathing and one more moment of awkward silence the princess of friendship finally spoke.

“I'm...I'm sorry...” she said dryly.

“Oh you don't have to apologize, nothing that happened to me...” quickly the mare was interrupted.

“No..I mean, I'm so sorry I can't believe you...” The comment made the unicorn's eyes widen.

“I'm sorry I just...it's impossible... “the guest searched for her hostess' gaze but only found her staring into nothingness, pale and with her mouth half-open.

The mare thought about saying something else but stopped herself, there was nothing more she could say, her listener had made up her mind about what to believe and as much as she regretted it and found it hard to admit, it was to be expected. Letting out a sigh of disappointment the unicorn whispered to herself.

“One has to be strong, to deny what is in front of him...” She then crossed the room, grabbed her clothes and began to dress quickly.

Spike watched the situation dumbfounded, he couldn't believe what that pony had just told them either, Twilight was right it was impossible, even so he found himself worried and dejected at the disappointed attitude of the unicorn, he could see her adjusting her heavy robes as she flashed her horn to refasten them, just as she seemed to be about to head for the exit she turned to them, flashing her horn once more, from between her robes she pulled out a small piece of folded parchment which she held out to Spike.

“What....what's this?” the little dragon asked confused.

“It is my second test, go there if you still wish to know the answers...” the unicorn gave a serious and deep look that gave Spike a shiver ”But, be warned, if you are going to venture into the darkness, be careful, what dwells there, was left so that no one will ever know the truth...”

And without further ado he turned around in the direction of the exit, Spike looked at the piece of paper for a moment, then at Twilight who kept her gaze blankly repeating over and over again.

“It's impossible, it's impossible, it's impossible....”

Then Spike, not quite sure why, took off after the pony.

“Wait!” he exclaimed reaching her down the hallway, she didn't slow her pace but did raise her head slightly.

“You're not still trying to convince her? Isn't that what you came for?” asked the dragon in exultation.

“I have no more to tell you little dragon, I respect that she doesn't believe it, like I said, if I were her, I wouldn't believe me either...” the unicorn turned down the hallway towards the front door with the little dragon a couple of steps behind her.

“Uh..but where will you go now?” asked the dragon taking flight and fluttering around her.

“Well, I still have a vendetta to fulfill...” the words stopped Spike in his tracks.

“You? You're going to try again...?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes. What choice do I have?” the mare said reluctantly.

“You could just go!” exclaimed the dragon causing the unicorn to stop just a few steps from the door.

“Yes! You could just leave and never come back, live the rest of your life away from Equestria...because, if what you say is true and princesses are indeed that powerful...you, you don't stand a chance...”

The unicorn stood still without turning to look at the dragon for a moment.

“What's your name dragon?” she asked surprisingly.

“Uh....Spike.”

“Well Spike let me tell you one thing, all my life I served and fought for someone else's interests, all my life had purpose because of the dreams of someone other than me...” she paused.

“For the first time I am deciding what I want to do with my life and in what ideals to turn it into...if those ideals lead me to death at least I will know that I died because I decided so...” the unicorn shone his horn opening the door and letting in again the steady breeze of the storm, putting on his hood and starting to walk again.

Just before he stepped into the darkness of the night Spike spoke one last time.

“Wait!” his words stopping the mare again.

“What...what's your name?”

The unicorn turned slightly with her face covered to look at the dragon, debating the answer for a second.

“Bek” he finally said, the dragon quizzically replied without thinking.

“That's not a name” realizing how rude he sounded embarrassed but his visitor didn't seem to mind replying.

“Well that's my name...goodbye Spike the dragon, apologize to your princess for me..”

And without further ado, he walked out the door, losing himself in the distance.

Spike watched her walk away through the open door, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel almost the same as Twilight, the whole thing had been surreal and the chances of any of what that pony had told them being real was simply impossible, still Spike looked down at his claw in which he held the piece of paper, for a moment he thought about opening it but the idea was promptly dismissed, he had already suffered too many headaches that night, in one swift movement, he flew to the door and locked it.

Author's Note

I'll be the first to admit that this chapter could have been called perfectly:
Chapter 3: Context.