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The Fate of Equestria Rides On Your Shoulders
Discord shuffled a foot beneath the gray dust of the moon’s surface.
“It’s a wonder she didn’t go crazy,” He muttered, pondering the plain, boring terrain. ‘I won’t do anything to your moon, Luna,’ He decided Yet.’
Discord padded on, glancing around at the scenery-not that there was much to look at. He was looking for someone. Someone he needed to talk to. “I have to find you first,” cupping his lion paw and eagle’s claws around his muzzle, he sucked in a breath and called “Oh, Nightmare Moon!” He whistled and patted his thighs. “Here, Nightmare Moon.”
Nothing. Then, “I am not a dog, you know,” Behind a boulder came a small alicorn foal, almost to the peak of teenager-hood. She had a black mane and tail cut into a short A-line and turquoise eyes. Instead of an oval pupil, it was a black slit, curving like a claw. her cutie mark was a gold eight point star in front of a blue and purple universe. “And treat me with some respect. Heavens knows I accomplished almost as much as you did.”
Almost being the key word here,” Discord tapped the foal’s nose before folding his arms and crossing one leg in front of the other. “I have a proposal for you.”
The foal stretched out her wings and folded them again, considering what he had said. “What kind of proposal?”
“I need you to help me take over Equestria. You can possess Luna again; make the night last forever, yada, yada,” Discord waved a bored paw. “I could care less what you do to it as long as we fit some chaos into it.
“What about the…Elements of Harmony? What of them?”
“They are out of the country at the moment. They’re in the Crystal Empire fixing whatever King Sombra’s done there.”
“Alright, fine. I accept your offer.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “I…I didn’t think you’d jump on board that quickly.”
“I’ll do anything to get off this moon,” She answered.
“Well, Nightmare Moon-“
“My name is Vega,” She cut in.
“We have one more partner that I have to pick up. We have to make a stop in the Macintosh Hills before we take over Equestria.”
Sounds like a plan. But just one thing,”
“Yes?”
“Who is this other partner?”
Chrysalis wanted to die. She felt as if every bone in her body was broken, though her immortality prevented it. She lay in a small crater, as she had been since noon, when she had literally been thrown out of Canterlot Castle.
She was badly bruised, and even the slightest movement hurt. ‘Equestria will pay,’ she thought. She would have voiced it, had it not hurt to talk. Or breathe for that matter.
The sun, which had pounded down on Chrysalis’ helpless body all day, had slipped from sight. The warm shade of orange that lit the sky dictated that it was sunset, which meant Chrysalis would have to move somewhere sheltered.
She counted to three in her head before pulling her legs under her. She sucked in a breath, gritted her teeth and rose to her hooves, swaying gently for a moment. Chrysalis stumbled to the edge of the crater and collapsed, gasping for breath. The pain from the bruising was leaching away her strength and her oxygen, and Chrysalis was panting to get enough air into her lungs.
She swept a chunk of hair out of her eyes, smoothing it to her head. ‘Wait,’ Chrysalis frowned as she gingerly felt her head. It was bruised, like everything else, but there was no doubt about it. Her crown was missing.
‘Where’d the stupid thing go?’ She scanned the hills around her for her mark of royalty. It was nowhere to be found.
Still, her stubborn nature kicked in and she continued onward, staggering uphill and trying not to slip and fall. Finally, she reached the crest of the hill and paused by a pile of boulders.
She tossed her upper body onto them and felt a ticklish stream of adrenaline shoot through her veins as she found herself falling. She landed in what felt like a body of water, and struggled to kick to the surface. The water only rushed through the holes in her legs, making it near impossible to swim.
Chrysalis kicked harder, but her attempts were fruitless. She was only wasting energy. The last of the breath she was holding in escaped her mouth as something seized hold of the base of her tail and dragged her upwards.
At last, when she was finally above water, she could hear.
“Well, that’s one way of catching a changeling,” A young female’s voice remarked.
“I told you I’d had a bite.” This voice was clearly male, and Chrysalis exhaled, mainly because she was sick of being suspended in midair by her tail.
Her front hooves dragged in the crystal blue water as the pony holding the pole pulled her in. Chrysalis let out a little squeak as she was clumsily dropped on a flat rock. Chrysalis rolled onto her side and watched a pitch black unicorn and a goat looking…thing holding a fishing pole peer at her curiously.
“Should we throw it back?” The black unicorn asked.
“No, no, this is the creature I’m looking for. Walked right into my trap,” The goat thing reached forward and patted her face. “Are you alright?”
Chrysalis sat up, shaking water droplets from her mane. The black unicorn winced as the water hit her, but creature-which now that Chrysalis had had a better look at him, was made up of several different animals- sat still and the water sizzled upon contact, spiraling up in tiny puffs of smoke.
“Your name is Chrysalis, right?” The black unicorn –alicorn, when Chrysalis saw it ruffle its wings-stared pointedly at her, awaiting an answer.
Chrysalis nodded.
“Can’t you talk?”
“Cut her some slack, Vega, she was catapulted out of Canterlot today.”
“Then this should help,” Vega levitated Chrysalis’ crown up to the crown of her head. A sensation like water ran down her head, her body, her legs. The pain washed away with it, and Chrysalis sighed in relief.
“I didn’t know it could do that,”
“Now you do.”
Chrysalis got up and looked around the cavern. “I recognize this place. Where are we?”
“The caves under Canterlot.” The goat thing answered.
“But that’s not possible. Canterlot is miles away from where I was.”
The jumble of animals raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“It doesn’t make sense,”
“What fun is there in making sense?” he mused. “Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Discord, the spirit of chaos.” Vega cleared her throat. “Oh, and this is Vega. She’s got aging issues.”
Vega exhaled. “I can possess the weak-willed and transform them into monsters,” She explained. “Kind of like when you take the form of other ponies.”
Chrysalis frowned. “That’s all very well, but I don’t get it. Why am I here?”
“Easy. I brought you here,” Discord shrugged as if this explained everything.
“No, I mean, what do you want with me?”
Vega and Discord exchanged a glance. “We’ve come to offer you a deal,” Vega started.
“We’re going to take over Equestria, and we need your help.”
“Discord, I have tried that. I invaded Canterlot castle with an army of a thousand changelings. Do you know where they are? Scattered across Equestria’s countryside, dead.”
“That’s because you went alone. You made the same mistake Vega and I did. But I figure, if we combine all of our powers, there’s no way we can lose.”
The changeling queen blinked. “What do I get out of it?”
“Well, I get my free reign of chaos, Vega gets eternal night and Luna's body, so you can get love to feed off or something.”
“No,”
“No?”
“I don’t want love to feed off of. I want to be Queen of Equestria, and I want Celestia as my footstool.”
Discord and Vega were silent for a minute. “Fine, you can be queen,” Discord agreed. “Do we have a deal?”
“Yes you do. Now when do we attack?”
“Tonight. Now here’s the plan.” Discord snapped his fingers, and a map appeared out of thin air. “We’ll start here….”
It was nighttime. Inside Canterlot Castle, Luna and Celestia were having their joint meal.
Celestia poked a salad leaf with her fork and looked across the table at Luna, who was staring idely at her toast.
“Not hungry?” Celestia asked. Luna shook her head, not looking up from her breakfast. “Did you sleep well?”
Not at all,” Luna raised her water glass to her lips and took the tiniest of sips. “I cannot believe I slept through that invasion.”
“You always were a heavy sleeper.”
“A changeling crashed through my window, Celestia. I didn’t even notice the body when I woke up.”
Luna, please do not beat yourself up over this,” Celestia set her fork down- the lettuce still pierced on its prongs- and looked Luna in the eye. It was then that she noticed Luna’s missing tiara. “Where is your tiara?”
“In my bedchambers. I will retrieve it when I break my fast.” Luna selected several pomegranate seeds from a bowl and popped them in her mouth. “There. I am finished,” Luna dabbed at her mouth with her napkin as several waiters carried the dishes away from Luna’s side of the table.
Celestia sighed and nodded toward her waiter, who collected her salad bowl, her wine glass and her eating utensils-including the lettuce leaf- and left to the kitchens.
“Good night, Luna,” Celestia told her sister. She rose from her chair, but was thrown to the ground as an explosion made the room shudder. Instinctively, she called out to her sister. “Luna!”
“I am here,”
Celestia was flooded with relief as she felt Luna’s presence next to her, nudging her to her feet.
“We have to get out of here,” Celestia said. “We have to find out what’s going on.”
“I think I can help with that,” The sisters spun at the voice. There, standing on the windowsill, was a small adolescent filly-like alicorn. Her coat was purple, her mane and tail a coal black hue.
Vega,” Luna whispered. Her legs began to shake.
Vega let out a small giggle. “Hello, Luna.”
“Run,” Celestia swept a wing around Luna and they made for the doors.
“Ah, ah, ah,” the doors disappeared with a pop, leaving a bare wall in its place. The royal sisters slammed into it.
“What?” Celestia gawked at the space where the doors had been. “That doesn’t make any….”
“Sense,” Luna finished.
“Discord,” They said together.
“Did you think that I would stay a statue forever?” A potted plant in the corner suddenly changed shape until it was the mismatched oddity of Discord. “I got out once, and that Sonic Rainboom softened me right up.”
Luna slowly turned to Celestia, a look of disbelief on her face. “A Sonic Rainboom over Canterlot Gardens?”
“I didn’t think it would affect him,” Celestia nodded toward Discord.
“I’d say that wasn’t your best move, eh?” As Luna spoke, her form began to flicker. She changed from blue to a dark smoky
gray and back again. Luna rose to Celestia’s height, and then shrank. Finally, Luna was no longer Luna. In her place was a creature Celestia had doubted she’d ever see again. Yet here she stood.
Queen Chrysalis has masqueraded as Luna, just as she had Cadance yesterday.
“Where is my sister?”
“In her bedchambers. Vega, go fetch her for us, will you?”
“With pleasure,” Vega turned to hop out the window.
“No!” Celestia quickly wracked her brain or something, anything to prevent them from causing harm to Equestria. “Wait,”
“Don’t stall Celestia.” Chrysalis chided. Vega was perched on the windowsill, unsure of what to do.
“I’m not stalling. I’m telling you something,”
“What is it?”
Celestia closed her eyes and said: “Planet Earth.”
“Excuse me?” Discord stepped forward.
“Planet Earth. It’s in a galaxy far away from here, but easily reached if you know how to get there.”
"And what’s so great about this Planet Earth?”
“We know all of your tricks, and chances are we’ll beat you,” Celestia reasoned. “So why not start new, on another planet. It’s inhabited, and plants grow themselves there, animals care for themselves.”
“Like the Everfree,” Discord concluded.
“Bigger that the Everfree. And there are creatures there. Creatures unlike us. Creatures who are waiting for someone to rule them.” She mimicked the words someone had told her long ago.
“How do you know about this planet?” Vega asked.
“A traveler came to Equestria on his way there. He told me about it. And they have a moon too! A moonthat you can use to cast eternal night,"
“And how do we get there?” Chrysalis tilted her head to the side.
“With that,” Celestia gestured to Chrysalis’ crown.
“My crown?” Chrysalis pulled it off her head and inspected it.
“Those orbs are part of a very strong relic called the Tessaract. The traveler had something like it when he came here."
“How do we activate it?” Discord plucked the crown from Chrysalis’ magical grasp and looked at the orbs on the end of the crown
“He left me a scroll on how to activate it in case I ever came across some and changed my mind. It’s in the library. In the Restricted Royal Archives.”
Discord grinned. “Nice try Celestia,” he said. “But we’re still going to take over Equestria, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Oh, yes there is,” Celestia spun on the spot and basted a hole through the wall, barreling around the corner and heading for Luna’s wing of the castle. “Please be there like Chrysalis said,” Celestia whispered. The doors to an unknown room were incinerated by a green beam of magic. Celestia didn’t need to know who it was.
The polished ivory faded to a black marble and obsidian. The final doors, guarded by two of Luna’s bat guards, the one with the silver moon emblazoned on them, she just had to reach them….
White hot energy hit Celestia’s back hoof. The gold horseshoe melted off, singing the fur on her hoof. Celestia lost her balance and went flying. The bat guards lowered their spears to fend off Chrysalis, and Celestia cannoned through the doors, skidding across the marble floor.
“LUNA!’ She shrieked.
“Tia?” As soon as Luna came into sight, Celestia tapped into her reservoir of dark magic and shot a portal through the floor. It widened and swirled in a colorful vortex. Luna backed away. Celestia pulled her sister into an embrace. The tears started to flow.
“Tell Loki that Equestria is under attack. Tell him Celestia needs help,”
“What?"
“Just remember it!” Celestia was hysterical, shaking Luna like a rag doll. “I love you, Luna. Remember that too. Now go. I’ll be fine.” With that, Celestia shoved Luna into the portal.
“TIA!” Luna screamed as she grew smaller and smaller in the awirling colors. Celstia closed it as soon as she was out of sight, sobs shaking her body. Celestia crumpled to the floor, oblivious to Chrysalis, grabbing her by the mane and dragging her away from Luna’s bedchambers.
‘The fate of Equestria rides on your shoulders, Luna. Prove yourself to your subjects. Earn their respect again.’ The world swam, and Celestia blacked out.
Luna woke up with a start.
She spoke the first word that came to mind: “Celestia,” Luna tossed the blankets away from her body and dove out of the bed, hitting the floor with what she thought were her front hooves. It was when her arms buckled beneath her and she collapsed in a heap did she realize that something was terribly wrong. She took a second to look at herself. Pale ivory skin, a blue gown fitted around her body; Luna searched the room and found what she was looking for: a mirror.
The moon goddess stumbled clumsily to her feet and staggered to the reflective oval glass, surrounded by an ornate gold frame. She placed her hands against the wall to steady herself as she stared in shock at the person, who stared back at her in equal surprise.
Her blue hair was pulled back in a long, high ponytail. Teal blue irises that seemed as deep as an ocean filled her eyes. Her crown and wings were missing, and she clutched at her head, searching for the thing that made her the powerful pony she was in Equestria-her horn. It wasn’t there.
Feeling vulnerable without her primary line of defense, Luna let out a wail and stumbled away from the mirror.
The normally calm princess was close to hyperventilation, and she lunged for the door, throwing it open and leaning against the frame. The golden hallway was empty.
Playing by chance, Luna turned left, pelting down the corridor in long strides. She careened down random passageways, clutching the corners of the walls as she turned. She had to get out here-wherever that was.
Luna reached a dead end and screamed in frustration, banging the bare wall with her fists. They went back the way she came, taking the opposite hallway. That was where she came across the first guard. Dressed in gold and carrying a spear, just like Celestia’s guards.
“M’lady,”The guard started. But Luna didn’t let him finish. She breezed past him, not planning on stopping until she had reached her destination: Out.
She heard the clink of armor behind her as the guard chased after her. “M’lady, wait!”
Luna didn’t listen. She whirled around a corner, tearing down the halls like lightning. Finally, she reached the top of a wide staircase, which lead down to a huge pair of double doors. A guard stood on each side of them.
She flew down the stairs, charging at the doors. The guards crossed the spears to stop her, but Luna only ducked under them, body slamming the doors open. It seemed as though they couldn’t open fast enough. As soon as it was wide enough, Luna slipped through the narrow crack between the two and skidded to a halt on the paved stones.
They were cool beneath her bare feet, and Luna froze when she saw the night sky. ‘Those aren’t my constellations,’ she thought. They were interesting, but a little piece of Luna died inside when she saw that even the sky was different.
The groan of the front doors became apparent to Luna’s hearing, and she darted down the steps, veering off into the garden. She was thrown back as a yellow blast hit the grass in front of her, searing a small hole into the ground and tearing a gaping hole in the ground.
The co-ruler of Equestria wasted no time scrambling to her feet and started moving again. She ran. She ran from everything. The palace, the guards, the unfamiliar night sky; she searched for something familiar, somewhere safe where she could hide. Luna was finally stopped by a looming hedge that rose high above her head.
The ground shook, and Luna spun around to face a muscular man in a red cape. He carried a hammer.
“I will not hurt you,” He called, walking toward her. “Please just come back to the palace so we may talk.”
Luna weighed her options. She could come quietly, and maybe this man could help her. Maybe he knew how she could get back to Equestria. But a small part of her told her not to trust him. If it was peace he wanted, why had he come armed? More specifically, why had he come to persuade her?
If there was one thing Luna wasn’t, it was an idiot. She stepped back, pressing into the hedge. She shook her head.
“Then we will have to do this the difficult way,” On a whim, Luna bolted. The hammer flew from the man's hand, punching a hole directly in the spot Luna had been. It had been a soft blow. Nothing that would've killed her, but it would've been enough to stun her. The hedge was already starting to grow, patching up the gaping hole that lead to darkness. 'Darkness,' Luna thought.
That was the moment Luna finally found her escape. Gathering her legs beneath her, Luna vaulted through the quickly shrinking hole. The leaved brushed her feet and she gasped as she hit the ground, rolling to a stop against the far hedge wall. Luna pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked around.
"It's a maze," She said to herself.
On the other side, there was silence. Then a frustrated yell and a terrible tearing sound. A shaft of moonlight spilled over Luna as the man ripped a chunk of the hedge away. Luna screamed involuntarily and scrambled to her feet, dashing down the maze's path. Adrenaline coursed steadily through her veins as she chose paths at random, veering around corners and occasionally tripping on the cold grass.
The narrow path of the maze widened out onto a circular clearing, illuminated orange with a fire in the center of the clearing. Someone or something lived here, and Luna had just walked straight into their lair. Still, she took a moment to pride herself in the fact that she had found the center of the maze.
Furled up next to the fire was an empty pile of blankets and a helmet. The helmet gleamed gold in the firelight. Luna knelt and gathered it in her hands. The metal was warm on one side from the heat of the fire, chilled on the other from the night's cold. Growing out of the helmet was a pair of horns, curling backwards like a ram's.
The whole concept of this- the maze, the horned helmet- it reminded Luna of the time she and Celestia visited Tartarus. They had taken a boat ride past a labyrinth, and the gondolier- named Maron- had told them it was guarded by terrible beast.
'What was it called again?'
A Minotaur. Yes, that was it. A Minotaur. A half bull and half another creature that lived in the labyrinth. According to legend, the Minotaur ate ponies.
Luna considered that thought and laughed at how ridiculous it was. Another herbivore eating ponies. Of course it wouldn't scare her. Luna had never been afraid of the dark or what was in it.
Luna folded her legs beneath her, sitting with her back to the fire and the entrance of the clearing. The helmet rested in her lap, cradled by her hands. For some reason, Luna found the protective headgear fascinating. She didn’t dare put it on though. Instead, she examined it from all angles, ran her hands over the curved horns, the textured back.
“Who do you belong to?” She asked it.
“That would be me,” All at once, the fire went out, the helmet was snatched from Luna’s hands and a hand was over her mouth, dragging her back out of the clearing. A familiar heated flash rose from Luna’s feet to her head as she experienced something she had felt only twice: Fear.
Celestia was defeated. So were her guards and Luna’s guards. The staff of Canterlot Castle had fallen to their knees in front of Discord, Vega and Chrysalis. Currently, Celestia was in the throne room, crouched in front of her throne. Chrysalis’ back hooves dug into her back. It was noon, the day after she had pushed Luna into a portal.
She had been stripped of her royal regalia-each had been distributed amongst the three villains.
Discord adjusted the golden yoke around his neck, trying to find a comfortable position for it. Finally he tore it off. “Meh, gloating is uncomfortable and overrated,” He said, tossing it to the hooves of a shaking guard, who recoiled from it as if it would explode. Discord looked to Chrysalis, who lounged across Celestia’s throne, Celestia’s tiara locked behind her horn. Her old one had been discarded at the foot of the throne. “Why couldn’t I have the tiara?” He asked somewhat whiney.
\“Because I’m the queen now,” Chrysalis answered, sinking deeper into the cushy throne. In result, her back hooves were pressing deeper into Celestia’s back. “That was our deal.”
“That sure it an interesting way of sitting,” Chrysalis glared at Vega, who wore the remaining three of Celestia’s horseshoes, which were far too big on her. Vega had plans to melt them down into a crown of her own. Clearly the idea hadn’t crossed Discord’s mind. She raised her eyebrows defensively. “What? I’ve never seen a pony sit like that before.”
It was an odd way of sitting, Chrysalis had to admit, but she had wanted Celestia as her footstool, and footstool she was. The white alicorn sat in silence at the edge of the throne, legs folded beneath her, neck straight. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and several bruises showed through her coat from when Chrysalis had tried to beat the location of Luna out of her. She had to hand it to the former princess- she was tough.
“What are you staring at?” Chrysalis shoved a hoof into Celestia’s back in an attempt to get her attention. She didn’t respond. “I said, what-“
“I heard you,” Celestia said calmly, her eyes not moving an inch. “And I am choosing not to answer your question.”
“You’ll answer it or I’ll-“
“She’s looking at that window over there,” Vega cut in, lifting a hoof and pointing.
“Or rather,” Discord sauntered over to Celestia’s fallen yoke, lazily leaning down and collecting it in his lion paw. “What’s outside the window,” Discord lifted the yoke over his head and let it rest on his shoulders. “I say we take the chariot for a spin and visit the peasants.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Chrysalis mused. “I would just love to see my new subjects. I bet they’d love to see you too, eh, Celestia?”
“They are not peasants,” Celestia hissed slowly.
“Then let’s go,” Vega stepped out of Celestia’s three horseshoes and levitated them ahead of her, trotting down the small dais and leaving the other two to follow her. Discord strutted after Vega, snapping his fingers so the door sprung open.
“You heard them, footstool,” Chrysalis growled, using her wings to hover off the throne. “We have a country to visit.”
Slowly, Celestia rose until she matched Chrysalis in height. Her eyes cast one last look out the window before she walked ahead of Chrysalis, allowing herself to be corralled out of her throne room.
Outside the window, nestled in the countryside, was a small town called Ponyville. A train had just pulled into the station, carrying seven of Ponyville’s permanent residents, fresh from the Crystal Empire.
Twilight Sparkle stretched as soon as she stepped off the train and waited as her friends followed her. Pinkie Pie bounced off, turning to bounce in place right beside Twilight, her equally springy mane rising and falling with her movement.
Rainbow Dash practically knocked Fluttershy over as she escaped from the train, ditching her saddlebags and zooming into the air, eager to stretch her wings. The saddlebags fell on the head of Applejack, knocking her hat off her head.
“Rainbow!” Applejack replaced her Stetson and tilted her head skyward to cuss out the airborne pegasus.
“Thank you ever so much for carrying my bags for me, Spike,” Rarity sashayed off the train, a lovesick baby dragon carrying a teetering pile of suitcases in her wake.
“N-no problem, Rarity,” He mumbled, stumbling out of the train. He carefully set down the luggage, wiping sweat off his forehead.
“It’s great to be back in Ponyville,” Twilight said conversationally.
“Yes, I imagine Opal and Sweetie Belle must have had a wonderful time at Sweet Apple Acres,” Rarity replied.
“Well, I’m hungry,” Rainbow Dash landed next to Fluttershy and nosed her way into her saddlebags. “What’s for lunch?”
“I think we should slip over to the Ponyville Café,” Rarity suggested.
“Sounds good ta me,” Applejack agreed. “Ah hafta stop by the farm to get rid of my bags though.”
“So we’ll meet at the town square in fifteen minutes,” The group dispersed and went their separate ways- Rainbow to her cloud mansion, Pinkie Pie to Sugar Cube Corner, Fluttershy to her cottage.
“Ready to go, Spike?” Twilight looked to her assistant, who was gathering up Rarity’s baggage.
“You go without me Twilight,” He answered from behind a duffel bag. “I’m gonna help Rarity.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and set off for the library alone. She nudged open the door and magically opened the curtains, letting in the much needed sunlight. “Princess Celestia sure did a good job with this day today,” She muttered as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, where she flipped open the bags and began to put her things away. She almost dropped her notebook when there was a loud banging on the door. She set it on her bed and trotted down the stairs, opening the door to an exhausted Spike.
“What’s wrong?”
“You gotta… town square… Discord,” Spike huffed.
“Discord!” Twilight bolted out the door, slamming it behind her and pulling Spike onto her back.
“Where is he?”
“The town square…but Twilight…”
“Not now, Spike. Where are the girls?”
“Already there…but Twilight….”
“Perfect. We’ll make a plan from there,”
“Twilight…”
“Maybe we can catch the train to Canterlot and get the Elements before he does anything serious,”
“Twilight,”
“I can probably break that spell the Celestia has on it. It might take some time but-"
“Twilight!”
“What is it Spike?” But Spike never got to tell her. Twilight stopped on a bit and her jaw hit the floor at what she saw. The royal chariot was being pulled through the town square by two reluctant pegasi. On board were Discord, Chrysalis and a purple alicorn foal with a closely cropped mane and tail.
Each wore a piece of Celestia’s regalia. The chariot stopped in front of a fountain, where Discord rose up to scan the mumbling crowd on Ponyvilleans.
“Good afternoon, peasants,” He called. “I have special treat for you today,” He reached down pulled Celestia up by her mane. A tremor of protested rippled through the crowd as they saw their beloved princess, stripped of her crown and clearly beaten, being held by her mane in front of her loyal subjects. “Behold, your princess,” he tossed her into the fountain, sending water spraying everywhere.
“Princess!” Twilight dove forward to help her mentor, her second mother, her leader. “Princess Celestia,” Twilight offered her hoof to the dripping goddess, who only stared at her with a weak eye, her muzzle resting on the edge of the fountain.
Twilight spun around to glare at the three villains. “What did you do to her?” She snarled.
“Nothing,” Discord replied.
“It doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Rainbow Dash flared up, hovering above the throng of ponies.
“Look, I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything to your precious princess. I swear.”
“Where’s Princess Luna?” Twilight fired off another question-a very sensible one, and one that made a small amount of muttering run through the gathered Ponyvilleans.
“I can’t answer that,” Discord looked at his fellow allies. “I don’t think any of us can. In fact, I think only Celestia knows the answer. So tell us, dear Celestia; where’s Luna?”
Celestia’s magenta eye flicked from Twilight to Discord. Finally, she raised her head of the fountain and spoke. “I sent her to get help.”
“Help?” Discord erupted into laughter, almost falling out of the chariot. “Oh my, this is a treat. Are you saying that the great and powerful Celestia can’t take on three villains?”
“Not alone,”
“But why did you send Luna? Can’t the Elements of Harmony stop them?”
“The Elements of Harmony are not powerful enough,” Celestia told her. “Not against what they have. Luckily they don’t know how to use it. Yet.”
“Did you hear that, Ponyville?” Discord turned to them. “Not even your elements can save you. In fact,” Discord snapped his fingers, and a cage sprang up around Twilight and her friends. “I think I’ll add them to my collection so I can show the whole of Equestria!”
“Princess,” Twilight whispered. “What do we do?”
Twilight’s mentor, who was always reassuring, who always had the answer to everything, rested her chin on the fountain again and looked away from her faithful student. “I don’t know, Twilight. I just don’t know.”
And with that, Twilight’s world fell apart. She watched as Discord snapped his fingers and the guards unstrapped themselves, wheeling the cages to the back of the chariot. Twilight watched as Big Macintosh held Apple Bloom away from Applejack’s cart, giving a nasty glare to the guard. Rainbow dash fought against the cage’s bars, almost tipping it over. Rarity reached out and touched hooves with Sweetie Belle, who was in tears as she watched her sister being led away.
Slowly, realization spread over Ponyville. The three most powerful villains in Equestrian history had joined together, and not even the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful weapons in existence, could stop them. Their princess was defeated, now being dragged back into the chariot. Their other Princess was gone, where; they didn’t know. The murmurs built to yells and shouts like a crescendo, and the chariot lifted into the sky, carrying the cages of the six ponies who always knew how to defend Equestria from evil.
Twilight turned around and looked back at her friends, who all bore the same look: Defeat. Applejack was reaching over to Rarity’s cage to comfort her; Fluttershy was huddled in a corner. Even Rainbow Dash was losing her fight. But the most depressing of all was Pinkie Pie. The think, cotton candy-like man had flattened to a poker straight pink that blew in the wind.
At that moment, Twilight knew that if Luna didn’t return with help, Equestria was doomed.
Hopelessly and utterly doomed.
Luna flailed against the unknown person who dragged her down several paths. Finally, the person tossed her to the ground in front of them. Luna sat up and looked behind her; dead end. She turned her attention to the person, who was most definitely a man. His lanky stature was silhouetted against the bright moon.
“Who are you and how did you get into my labyrinth?” He demanded.
"‘Tis is thy labyrinth?” Luna frowned. “Who art thou?"
“I asked you first,” He said. “And yes, this is my labyrinth. It is my prison, so therefore it is my labyrinth.”
“Thou art a criminal,”
“In a way,” He passed the horned helmet from one hand to another. “Now who are you?”
“I am Luna; Princess Luna, goddess of the moon and co-ruler of Equestria.” Luna squared her shoulders importantly. “Who art thou?”
“Equestria,” The man murmured. “You said you were a ruler there?”
“Yes, alongside my sister.”
“Who is your sister?”
“I shall tell thee her name when you give me yours.”
The man reached down and offered her his hand. Luna obliged, allowing him to help her off the ground.
“My name is Loki. Your sister’s name wouldn’t be Celestia, would it?”
Luna yanked her hand free of Loki’s. “How doth thou knowest that?”
“I came to your land once-not long ago, actually. I met your sister when she found me on the mountain, badly injured. She nursed me back to health,” He paused. “Your sister, Celestia, she is kind.”
“My sister never spoke of you,” Luna started.
“Oh, but she spoke of you. Princess Luna, her jealous little sister, possessed by an evil spirit and imprisoned on the moon. Tell me; are you still after Celestia’s throne?”
“It was never her throne I wanted. And thou would be envious if your sibling was loved and praised for the one star she controlled, whilst thou art hated for the fictional tales about monsters coming out at night, where I manage a moon and billions of stars. You would be so envious that you would make a deal with a deceitful demon who-instead of advising you on how to become a better ruler- takes over your body and uses it to seek revenge on a pony that has been dead for years!”
“That’s…quite a story,”
“Thou doth not have any idea,” Luna deflated a little. “And now here I am, stuck on an unfamiliar planet because my sister sent me here to…to…” What had Celestia sent her here for?
Loki raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. “Perhaps I should take you back to my camp. You look like you need rest.”
“Rest,” Luna argued. “Is the last thing I need. I am a nocturnal being; my internal clock is set to watch over the night.”
“A night that you don’t control,”
“I don’t care whose night it is. Please, just let me keep this privilege. I cannot remember the last time I was awake during the day.”
Loki considered this for a moment before smiling. “Nope,” He lashed out, squeezing a point on Luna’s neck that made her fall unconscious. He let her crumple into his arms and carried her back to his small camp, where he set Luna down in his blanket pile, tugging a few over her body.
He sat back, watching her for a moment. “Luna,” He repeated her name quietly.
She was beautiful, just like her sister, yet in a far different way. Celestia was irresistible and warm hearted, capable of loving even the sourest of beings. She was painstakingly beautiful and carried a warm, sunny aura that made you want to smile.
Luna, however, was strikingly gorgeous. She radiated power and demanded respect from anyone she came across. In a way, her headstrong personality reminded Loki of Thor. He quickly dismissed this thought. He wanted nothing to do with the childhood memories of his brotherhood with Thor.
Those were over as far as he was concerned.
Loki lay on his back and stared up at the stars, tracing together constellations to pass the time. Slowly, his eyelids slid over his eyes, and he too fell asleep.
-oOo-
Luna was alone, and in the pitch dark. Not even her night vision could pierce its inky blackness. Carefully, she waved a hoof-no, hand in front of her face. Even in her dreams she was a human now-nothing.
Carefully, Luna raised a foot off the ground and placed it forward. The ground was solid and warm, like the floor in front of a fireplace. Feeling a little silly, Luna spread her arms out and shuffled forward, feeling for anything; a wall, a table, a bed. It could have been Slendermane and Luna wouldn’t have cared. She wasn’t scared of him anyway, and he was actually a nice stallion. He just had attachment issues.
“Luna…..”
She froze and pulled her arms down. “Who is there?”
“Luna,”
The blue haired princess turned in circles, her eyes fighting to cut through the curtain of darkness.
‘Is this what it is like to be blind?’ Luna thought.
She closed her eyes and tried to force her way out of the dream, to no avail.
“Luna!” The voice became shockingly louder, and suddenly, a beam of light swept onto the ground, shedding light on what Luna presumed to be a human Celestia. The long four-toned hair was mussed and dirty, and the white dress she wore was torn and covered with dirt and streaks of blood. Her skin was bruised and filthy. The sun goddess was lying on the ground, her arms supporting her upper body.
“Luna, find Loki,” She called.
“Celestia,” Luna ran toward the beaten form of her sister, but the light disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving Luna in total darkness. Luna dove on top of where Celestia had lain, finding nothing but the warm ground. She closed her eyes, and then opened them. She found no difference.
‘Find Loki…find Loki…Loki…Loki…’ Luna milled the name over in her subconscious state, letting her mind’s voice play it over and over.
“Loki,” She whispered it now, the syllables rolling over her tongue. She liked the way it sounded. It sounded…well, low-key. Something relaxed and peaceful. “Loki,” Each time she spoke it, it became an octave louder.
She had heard it before. It was…a name, yes, a name. Celestia had made it sound important. She had said it before this dream too.
“Loki,” But someone other than her sister had voiced the name. Luna groped through her thousand year old memory, searching for the carefully preserved memory that had mentioned Loki. It was a person, someone she had met recently. And then it came to her.
Luna gasped and her eyes snapped open, meeting the peach colored sky of dawn instead of the infinite black of her dream.
“Loki,” She murmured.
“I find it flattering that you speak my name in your sleep,”
At a sensible pace, Luna sat up to meet the gaze of the man who, until now, had remained faceless to her mind’s eye.
He sat cross legged, his hands folded in his lap. Loki’s hair was long and black, smoothed against his head and flipping out at his shoulders. His pale skin stretched over his cheekbones. He wore a patient smile, his eyes observant and friendly. The gold helmet lay in the grass beside him.
“Thou art Loki,”
“I am,”
Without warning, Luna sprung on top of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and flattening him to the ground. “My sister has spoken of you!”
“She has?” Loki struggled to sit up, resuming the cross legged position. Luna now rested in his lap and she pulled away to look him in the eye.
“She has! Celestia sent me here to get help! That is why I am here!”
“Help?” Loki’s face pushed into a look of concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Luna admitted. “All I remember is Celestia telling me to find thee and then she pushed me into a portal that leads to here, I suppose,” She paused, then added, “But now that I have found thee, thou can help us.”
Loki looked away from Luna, frowning. The corners of Luna’s lips dropped. “Thou cannot help, can thou?”
Slowly, Loki shook his head. He looked back at Luna, watching her expression morph from realization to disappointment to complete helplessness.
Luna turned and crawled out of Loki’s lap, standing with her back facing Loki. She headed for the exit of the clearing.
“Luna,”
“Yes?” She turned to look at Loki.
“I’m sorry.”
“It is not thou I am upset with. It is the fact that I can to nothing to help my country’s crisis that I am sad about.
“Will you come back?”
“Of course,” Luna promised. “Just allow me some time to myself.”
-oOo-
“No…no…no….” Discord tossed book after book of the shelf, disappointed with each title he saw. Finally, he threw another book across the room. “This is ridiculous!” he shouted.
“What is?” Discord turned to see Vega, free of Celestia’s horseshoes peel away from the dark shadow of a dusty corner.
“This,” Discord gestured wildly to the small section of the library around him. “I can’t find anything on that planet Celestia was talking about.”
“Maybe I can help.”
“And how can you help? I’ve torn apart all of these books and I can’t find anything.” And torn apart they were. Books were scattered in piles and loose pages lay like leaves on the floor. A few bits even floated through the air.
Vega took in the mess around her as a scrap of aged paper landed on her nose. She twitched it to get it off. “Well, for starters, Celestia said it was a scroll.”
Discord’s arms, which had been folded, dropped to his sides. His smug expression turned to utter disbelief. “Pardon?”
“A scroll,” Vega blinked. “You’re in the right section, just not the right…sub-section.”
Discord looked around him and slumped his shoulders. “Well this is embarrassing.”
“The scrolls are that way,” No sooner had Vega pointed her hoof than Discord blown her over in his desperate attempt to find the precious information.
She climbed to her feet and spread her tiny wings, flittering up into the air to follow him.
“Why do you want it, anyway?” She perched on the top of the bookshelf Discord was currently rifling through, tilting her head to the side.
“Celestia tried to bargain another world for her own,” Discord muttered, unfurling a scroll, then tossing it aside. “We have Equestria, but why stop there, eh?”
Vega narrowed her eyes. “You’re crazy.”
“Ahahaha!” Discord held up a scroll triumphantly. “There’s a method to my madness, little friend,” He reached up and plucked the tiny alicorn off the bookcase, tucking her under his arm like a hoofball, holding the scroll ahead of him. I look of wild glee was scrawled across his jumbled face.
“We must find Chrysalis! She’ll think this idea is fantastic for sure!
-oOo-
“GET OUT!” Vega, who had been waiting by the door to the royal bath chamber, jumped to her hooves. The doors were flung open, and Discord was pitched horns over hoof and claw outside. He smacked into the opposing wall, sliding down with a high squeak.
Vega trotted over and sniffed the seemingly unconscious draconequus. Vega straightened, deep in thought for a moment.
“Cotton candy,” She decided. “You smell like cotton candy.”
One of Discord’s yellow eyes popped open and rolled up to meet Vega. She gave him a wide grin. “So what’d she say?”
-oOo-
Thor and Luna sat at a small table just off the dining hall. The muted sounds of guests could be heard through the doors.
“How are you enjoying your food?”
Luna answered only out of politeness. Mad as she was, Luna was a princess, regardless of what world she was on. Celestia would’ve expected her to make an excellent impression.
“It looks wonderful, thank you.”
Thor himself had spoken only out of politeness; Luna hadn’t touched her food at all. He figured it was because she was from a different planet and therefore wasn’t familiar with the cuisine of Asgard.
In reality, Luna was starving. She had missed four meals and on top of that, she had eaten a light lunch the day Celestia has sent her to Asgard. It was merely the matter of Luna’s unfamiliarity of using a knife and fork. That and the plate that sat before Luna consisted mainly of meat.
Thor, himself caught the latter half of Luna’s problem. “You’re vegetarian aren’t you?”
“Y-yes,” Luna stammered.
“I apologize,” Thor rose from his seat and pulled the plate of the table. “I should have been more considerate.”
“I think I should take part of the blame,” Luna protested. “I should have said something.”
Thor only smiled and slipped through the door, off to fetch Luna a salad.
