Twilight woke up in the middle of the night, she was breathing heavily and her head was pounding profusely. She inspected her room with dozy eyes, it was dark, and the only source of light was the moon shining dimly upon her tree house.
There was no sound to be witnessed apart from the rain which collided on the thick glass of her window, creating a rhythmic tone. Twilight dropped her head on the soft pillow underneath her, sighing in exhaustion.
It was nothing unusual for the magically gifted pony to wake up like this, covered in sweat with puffy red eyes from dried tears she shred before drifting into her restless dreams. Nights in which she had found peace became a distant memory. Since that fateful day which took place a year ago, where she had to betray and petrify her beloved teacher. She only wished for a night without guilt and sorrow tearing her apart, but her wish had not been granted yet.
Everything started when Fluttershy intoxicated herself with a lethal poison. Why did she enter that cave in the first place Twilight thought. She wanted to blame Fluttershy for everything but her mind banished these feelings towards her timid friend before she realized them.
She thoughtfully gazed out of the window, as she continued to recall what lead to her current state.
After the doctor told them that they had no clue how to cure the poison Twilight tried to find a solution on her own, but she failed. She was too weak to save her friend by herself. That was when she asked her teacher for help.
Tears started dripping down from her eyes as she remembered the despair she felt after Celestia told them that there is nothing she could do. Fluttershy’s death seemed inevitable.
"Luna..." Twilight whispered with the slightest tone of anger.
It was the princess of the night who sent her the letter which included information about the spell. Why did she send that? She knew her sister did not approve of it, so why?
No, without the spell Fluttershy would've died. They were lucky that the princess found the spell; thanks to it they were able to cure her friend.
In a way it’s the fault of every single one of them, her friends were the one who pressured her into making a decision, she didn’t want to imprison her beloved mentor into stone.
I hope she can forgive me... Twilight sobbed out, her stomach started to sicken once again when the kind smile of her teacher crossed her mind. Why didn’t she try to stop me, she had the time to do it, but she just stood and smiled at me.”
Twilight was confused, so many questions were drifting through her mind, combined with the strange mix of emotions she was feeling, it was simply unbearable.
“Celestia, what can I do?”
====
Small rays of sunlight were appearing through the thick layer of clouds; they shined into the small cottage and embraced the pegasus inside with a warm and comforting sensation. This gesture of the sun did not remain unnoticed by Fluttershy as she started to rub her eyes while slowly getting on her hooves.
After a quick visit in the bathroom in order to wash away her exhaustion and to make herself look presentable, she started flapping her wings and flew downstairs. Most of her critter friends were still asleep, so she could leave without worrying about them. She approached the door with silent steps, being over careful not to wake up any of her animals. Upon leaving her cottage and closing the door behind her, she stretched herself while letting the gorgeous day embrace her. The sun was shining, the fields around her were covered in vivid green grass and even some birds were already awake, singing their catchy tunes.
But as peaceful as it was, it still sent a shiver down her spine when she realized that the sight around her resembled the dream she had, that particular dream which set everything that happened a year ago in motion.
Fluttershy shook her head and locked away these thoughts, today was a day to be happy! No sadness allowed!
She started moving out towards the Carousal Boutique, where she had an appointment with Rarity. She was awake rather early but that wasn’t a problem, as she was in the mood for a nice and quiet stroll.
“Hey Fluttershy!” a sleepy yet rough voice called
The canary-yellow pegasus turned around and looked up at Dash’s cloud house, which she moved next to her cottage a couple of months ago.
Dash gazed down at her with dozy eyes “Where ya headin?” she asked before letting out another yawn.
“Uhm... I’m going to get breakfast.”
“You want me to accompany you?” Dash asked
“If you want to... but I’m going to Rarity’s boutique.”
Dash’s eyes widened in shock as she remembered what happened the last time she went to Rarity’s place:
“Rarity, I’m here what do you want?” Dash screamed out upon entering the store of the white unicorn.
“One second, darling,” the distinctive voice of Rarity called.
A couple of seconds passed before the unicorn appeared from behind a curtain. “Come along, Rainbow!” she commanded
“What? Where? When?” Dash asked, being utterly puzzled about what Rarity wanted from her
“You’re going to have dinner with Fluttershy later today, are you not?”
“Well, yea but I don’t want to make it anything big or flamboyant.”
“Listen, dear,” Rarity stated with a calm voice “You are now in possession of my best friend, and you know how sensitive she is, don’t you?”
Dash nodded, and Rarity started approaching the pegasus, when she was directly in front of her she spoke up again “If you don’t treat her as good as you can or if you hurt her in any way. I am going to find you, did I make myself clear?” Rarity admonished with an intimidating tone.
The cyan pegasus wasn’t one to get scared easily but there were two things she was genuinely afraid of: Dragons and Rarity.
She gulped and gave her an understanding nod, Rarity’s mean face instantly turned into a smile.
“Okay, then it’s time for a makeover!” she stated in a singing voice.
What followed were hours of dressing up, hair styling and make overs. A memory which Dash reluctantly remembered
“I think I’ll pass, you two go have fun,” Dash replied, pasting a smile on her face.
“O-okay.”
“Love ya!” Dash called before resting her head on the fluffy cloud again.
Fluttershy blushed when her brain processed what Dash just said, it wasn’t the first time she heard these words from her but she still didn’t grow accustomed to it. “I love you, too.” she replied, but all the cyan pegasus could hear were some silent squeaks.
“Yea, I know,” Dash stated with a smirk before lying back on the cloud, making herself comfortable for yet another nap.
As Fluttershy was trotting through the relatively empty streets of Ponyville a juvenile, pink pony crossed her path.
“Hey there Fluttershy, where are you headin?” Pinkie asked, not making any effort to stop bouncing.
“Uh, I’m going to meet with Rarity.”
“Oh, oh, oh! Can I come? Can I, can I?”
“If you want to, of course,” Fluttershy replied
“Uhm, I’m sorry but I can’t come, I have work to do.”
Fluttershy was confused at first but then remembered who she was dealing with “Can I help you somehow?” she asked
“Help with what?” Pinkie was the one who was irritated now.
“You just said that you have work to do.”
“I did?” Pinkie wondered, blinking with her huge blue eyes.
“Uhm... never mind.”
“Okie dokie, hey you and Dash are coming to my party tonight, aren’t ya?”
“Yes, sure we will be there.”
“Okeey, see ya,” Pinkie exclaimed before bouncing away
Fluttershy couldn’t help but snicker at Pinkie’s randomness; it was so refreshing and enlightening.
====
Fluttershy arrived at Carousel Boutique earlier then agreed, but Rarity probably expected this, due to Fluttershy’s habit to always be in time. Except for that one training session with Rainbow Dash where... Nope, don’t think about that it’s over she thought shaking her head.
Tapping on the door with one of her hooves, she patiently waited for Rarity to open up.
“Just one second,” a polite voice called from inside.
A moment later the door got surrounded by a faint blue aura and opened up, inviting Fluttershy to trot in. Upon entering, she was immediately greeted by her purple maned friend.
“Dear, you are early, just as expected,” Rarity stated with a smile as she saw the timid pegasus stride through the door.
“Uhm, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t sleep,” Fluttershy apologized sheepishly.
“Don’t want to hear another word about it; I am actually quite happy that you’re here already. I just finished my work for the weekend, and I found myself being rather bored. Whatever, enough about me. I bet you are hungry.”
“Mhm.” Fluttershy nodded
“Come along then,” the unicorn gestured her to follow.
The canary yellow pegasus did what she was told to and trotted alongside her friend who led the way into the kitchen to a well-laid table. They both sat down and Rarity levitated the tea pot, pouring down some tea into their cups.
Taking a graceful sip out of it, the white unicorn spoke up “So it’s been one year already, isn’t it?”
“Yea,” Fluttershy replied before also taking a short sip out of her cup.
“Is something wrong? You sound so glum,” Rarity asked raising an eyebrow.
“Oh no, everything is fine, wonderful even.”
“I see.”
Both of them continued to eat their breakfast in silence, only the sound of the two ponies silently chewing to be heard.
“So how was your first time Rainbow Dash?” Rarity broke the silence casually.
Fluttershy didn’t understand what she meant “You mean our kiss? It was wonderful.”
“That’s cute, but I actually meant...”
“Oh...OH!” the pegasus understood what she meant and instantly her wings stretched to their fullest and she blushed into the deepest shade of crimson Rarity had ever seen.
“Ahaha, I’m sorry, sweety. That’s none of my business. Curiosity seems to have gotten the best of me,” Rarity apologized with a teasing smile.
Fluttershy however hid coyly behind her mane, feeling too embarrassed to meet the gaze of her friend.
She is so adorable when she does that Rarity thought, pasting a smirk on her face. She was trying hard to suppress the feeling to just jump on the pegasus and squeeze her red cheeks.
Not being able to fully resist this urge, she raised her hoof and tapped it on Fluttershy’s head. This gesture removed some of the tension and quandary around the yellow pegasus, allowing her to regain some of her composure, even her face shifted back into its usual color.
Several minutes passed before any other words were spoken, this time it was Fluttershy who interrupted the silence they were veiled in.
“Are you coming to Pinkie’s party as well?”
“Oh but of course! I would not dare to miss it!” Rarity replied with a joyous tone as she started levitating the dishes into the lavatory.
“Do you know if Twilight is coming?” Fluttershy wondered.
Mentioning the lavender unicorn immediately nagged on the juvenile mood. It took Rarity a moment to dispel her mind from the pessimistic train of thoughts she was on after hearing the name of her friend.
“I’m not sure, but I hope she will. She has been acting more and more reluctant towards us since that incident.”
Fluttershy was instantly attacked by her bad conscious as the incident was brought up. She knew that none of her friends blamed her, but nevertheless she always got flooded by a tsunami of guilt whenever somepony mentioned that certain event.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to remind you,” Rarity apologized when she realized what her inconsiderate answer had caused.
“No it’s not your fault Rarity. I know that none of you hold anything against me because of what happened,” her voice started cracking “yet... I feel that everyone would be better off if you would’ve just let me die.” Fluttershy stated, being on the verge of crying.
Rarity could not believe what her friend just said. Dropping everything she was doing, she walked next to her. The white unicorn raised Fluttershys head the slightest bit in order to lock Fluttershy into her gaze.
“Don’t you ever think that again, you have no idea how scared I was to lose you,” Rarity admonished her.
“Uhm... sorry,” Fluttershy excused stammering
“Just promise me that you will never think we are better off without you again, because that is most certainly not true.”
“Okay, Rarity... promise,” she sobbed out
“Pinkie Pie swear?” Rarity asked teasingly
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a Cupcake in my eye,” Fluttershy giggled.
“That’s my girl,” the white unicorn joined the laughter as she gave the pegasus a gentle hug
====
It was nearly sunset, the moon was starting to make his way up into the sky and sun nearly vanished completely from the horizon. Luna once again had to fulfill her duty of enabling this particular event since Celestia could no longer help her with it.
With dozy eyes the princess of the night slowly trotted into the throne room, ready to start the process of shifting the day into the night. She nearly fell asleep while walking through the many alleys the castle had.
“I am so tired!” she whispered to herself, mostly to keep her awake. The dark blue maned alicorn hadn’t slept since weeks, not that she needed it being immortal and all, but being a goddess does not mean that she could not be exhausted.
Upon her arrival in the throne room, she checked if the time is already due for her to start. With a sigh her horn started to glow and she closed her eyes. The whole room got surrounded by a blue aura, several minutes passed before the aura started to faint. The moon was now raised, being at the perk of the sky, shining through the windows with its dim light. A sight which usually created pure joy inside of the princess, but not this time. She did not even bother to pay attention to her work. Her bed was summoning her and she could not wait to finally give into her exhaustion and just fall asleep.
====
Another alicorn in the castle could not enjoy such mortal activities like sleeping, no she was not even able to feel something, aside from the feeling of betrayal.
“Oh, would you look at this, such delightful irony,” a shady voice echoed inside of Celestia’s mind.
“You? What are you doing here? How can you communicate with me?” She replied using her magic, even though she did not have access to her entire power it was still enough in order for her to answer her old foe.
“Are you not happy to hear me? I thought after eons you would show more excitement.”
“Answer me, how are you here?”
“I’m afraid that I do not understand what you mean. After all this is my world as much as it is yours, or have you forgotten that?”
“You know very well what I mean. You are supposed to be petrified, how did you break free?”
“As much as it flatters me that you expect me to be able to overpower the might of the elements of harmony, I didn’t do anything. The spell which held me imprisoned weakened and it was an easy feat to break free.”
“It weakened? But how?” Celestia wondered, fear mirroring in her voice.
“I have no clue, neither do I care, but if you are so eager to find out, I can grant you your wish of freedom,” Discord’s sinister voice resounded inside of her mind.
====
Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in anticipation, every inch of her was filled with pure excitement, last time she was this thrilled was …. Well at her last party. She had outdone herself once again. The bakery was one big jubilant mess, consisting of streamers, balloons and sweet treats in various colors of pink.
Pinkie impatiently looked at the time, only to validate that her first guests should be arriving soon. And so they did. The first ones arriving were two of her best friend. Dash and Fluttershy strived through the door together, being immediately greeted by Pinkie.
In a matter of minutes the bakery was crowded with nearly everypony in Ponyville, except for two certain unicorns.
Applejack started to wonder where Rarity and Twilight were. Leisurely approaching Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash she spoke up “Hey ya two lovebirds have any idea where Rarity and Twilight are?”
Fluttershy, who blushed lightly at that last comment, replied “I’m not sure about Twilight, but Rarity told me that she would be present.”
====
The moon was illuminating the way as Rarity trotted towards the Ponyville library, eager to speak to her dear friend. Once standing in front of the purple unicorn’s house, she gave the door three graceful knocks. The door was answered within seconds, but not as expected by Twilight bur rather her assistant.
“Oh, hi Rarity,” Spike greeted her with an admiring tone.
“Hello Spike, is Twilight home?” Rarity asked upon entering the gigantic tree. Of course she is home, where else should she be.
“Uhm yes… she is in up in her room.”
Rarity made her way upstairs, even though she was not sure what to do yet.
“Rarity?” Spike called after her with a glum voice.
“Yes Spike?”
“Do you know what’s wrong with Twilight? She has been acting so reluctant towards everything and refuses to leave her room, not to speak of the library. I am really worried,” the purple dragon stated glum.
“Don’t worry Spike, she will get over it. I promise,” Rarity replied with a reassuring smile.
“Okay…”
I hope she will…
====
A knock caught Twilights attention, she instantly dropped the book she was reading and answered the door.
“Hey Twilight,” Rarity greeted her friend with a smile.
Twilight slowly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes inspecting the white unicorn. “Oh… hey Rarity,” the purple unicorn replied, her voice indicating exhaustion.
“My dear, you look horrible. Are you alright?”
“Yes… I am … alright.” Twilight responded, avoiding Rarity’s gaze at all cost.
“You are a horrible liar,” Rarity stated with a weak smile.
Twilight did not answer, still focusing her eyes on the ground beneath her.
“Is it because of Celestia?” Of course it is, silly Rarity, what else could be the reason.
Twilight simply turned around and headed to her desk, her horn got surrounded by a faint purple aura and she picked up the book she dropped earlier with her magic, sitting back down on her bed.
“She always used to read me something when I couldn’t sleep because I missed my parents. This was my favorite story.” She stated, a small grin forming on her face.
“She was always there for me, no matter what troubled me; she would help me find a solution. And if that didn’t work, she would stay with me until I felt better.” Tears started to stream down from the purple unicorn’s eyes.
“She was so kind and never did anything which would cause me harm in any way.” Twilight released the book from her magic and caught it with her hooves, pressing it tightly against her chest.
“I miss her Rarity.” she managed to sob out before bursting out crying.
“It’s alright Twilight, I am here.” Rarity assured here and moved next to her, wrapping her fore hooves gently around the crying mare. “Let it all out.”
Twilight could no longer hold it, all the sorrow and guilt she locked away for months just wanted to break out. Leaning onto Rarity’s chest, she cried like she never cried before.
Rarity did not say anything; she tried to comfort her friend as good as she could.
A long period of time passed without either of them saying anything, until Twilight was finally out of tears to shred.
“Feeling better?” Rarity asked
“A bit.”
“That’s good, but you seem tired. How about you get some rest?”
A long yawn let out by Twilight was response enough.
“Rarity?”
“Yes my dear?”
“Could you maybe… stay here for a little longer please?”
Rarity pasted a smile on her face before replying “I didn’t intend on doing otherwise.”
====
Luna ran through the palace corridors in a swift pace, a boisterous sound roused the princess of the night from her eagerly awaited slumber. The alicorn wouldn’t have even bothered to look up the source of the noise, but it sounded like its origin was magical, and it came from the basement. The area where her beloved sister’s petrified body was located. Luna tried to calm herself down, maybe it was just her imagination, but she couldn’t help but have an uneasy feeling about this. Oh stop it Luna, it’s probably nothing. No need to freak yourself out. You are a princess, act as such.
She now arrived in front of the doors which lead to the basement; she took a deep breath before using her magic to open it. The sight in front shook her to the core, her sister, she was gone. Regaining her composure, she desperately looked around the room, trying to find her sister to no avail.
Suddenly a sinister laughter suffused the room, it sounded familiar but Luna was not able to remember where from.
“Who do we have here? The younger sister? My, my you are nearly as beautiful as your older Sister now.”
“You… who are you?” Luna shouted out
“Oh you don’t remember me? I guess spending thousand years on the moon hurt your memory, didn’t it?”
Luna hesitated for a second when she remembered her abode at the moon. Immediately shaking off these thoughts she continued inquiring the mysterious foe. “Where is my sister?”
“I released her from your punishment and hid her somewhere where she is safe, for now at least.” Discord stated, and walked out of a dark corner of the room, wearing a mischievous grin.
“You? But… how did you break free?” Luna asked, her voice being unsteady due to the shock of meeting their old enemy again.
“Oh not this again, why does it matter? I am here now, and I will take revenge on Celestia. While we are talking about revenge, don’t you want to join me? I bet you are still furious about her betrayal. Sending your little Sister to the moon for a thousand years? Ouch… that’s tough isn’t it?”
Luna faltered for a moment, memories of the night where her sister used the elements of harmony against her streamed into her mind. She nearly broke down, but caught herself before doing so.
“Tell me where my Sister is…” the princess of the night demanded her voice audibly weaker than before.
“Oh well, I will tell you, for old times’ sake.”
My intentions are to avenge her betrayal,
Don’t bother trying to stop me; it will be to no avail
But if you are so eager to change the flow of events
I’ll give you an advice, bring along your precious elements.
As the last word was echoing through the room, Discord vanished into a cloud of dark smoke, leaving an overwhelmed Luna behind.
====
“Thank ya two for coming, see you tomorrow!” Pinkie frantically waved goodbye at Dash and Fluttershy who were just about to leave.
“Well that was fun, wasn’t it?” Dash said before starting to flap her wings and leisurely fly towards her cloud house alongside Fluttershy.
“Mhm,” Fluttershy nodded “but I am wondering where Rarity is, she said that she would come for sure”
“Uhm I am sure everything is fine.” Dash replied.
The remaining way was veiled in silence, both of them too tired to start up a conversation.
As they were close to their homes the cyan pegasus broke the silence “Hey Shy?”
“Yea?”
“Do you wanna sleep over at my house tonight? It can get kinda lonely and … boring alone.” Dash asked with a grin.
“Oh I would love to, but I think my wings won’t carry me that high to reach your cloud,” Fluttershy stated, teasingly smirking at her mare friend.
“Hehe, that can be fixed.” Dash stated and flew next to her, gripping her with both her hooves and flying her towards her mansion, Fluttershy giggling like a little school filly the entire way.
Rarity was surprised at how fast the sun reappeared. “Was it really morning already?”
She leisurely got on her hooves and closed the curtains, denying any sunlight of shining into the room, for the purpose of sheltering Twilight from the bright light so she doesn’t get interrupted in her sleep. She desperately needed it.
With a last check on the sleeping unicorn, Rarity opened the door and left the room, as silently as possible. Letting out a sigh, she made her way downstairs into the entrance hall. Luckily, it wasn’t that much of a mess as she feared it to be. It seemed like Spike tried his best to keep this place from falling apart. Being careful not to damage any books on her way she headed towards the kitchen, intending to cook some breakfast. Once again she was fortunate that Spike actually took care of this whole place. She was able to find some eggs, spices and bread, and it all seemed to be not older than a day. Using her magic, she quickly finished a meal with those ingredients.
Putting everything on a tray she levitated it and made her way back into Twilight’s room. To her surprise, her friend was already awake. Lying in her bed with eyes wide open, she thoughtfully looked into the void.
“Oh, you’re awake. How did you sleep, my dear?” Rarity asked, putting the tray aside and releasing it from the grip of her magic.
“Rarity? You are still here?” Twilight wondered.
"Oh but of course, I just couldn’t leave while having to worry about you.”
“Thank you, Rarity; you’re a really good friend.” The purple unicorn replied, putting a smile on her face.
“Oh that’s no problem, everything for you my dear.”
“You are really sweet, thank you again.”
Blushing lightly, Rarity once again lifted the tray with the food and laid it next to Twilight.
“Here, eat that up. It’s good for you.”
“You even cooked for me? I am flattered,” Twilight grinned.
A faint door knock caught the attention of the two unicorns, Rarity moved downstairs in order to answer the door, Twilight following closely behind her.
The entrance got surrounded by Twilight’s magic for a second before it opened, revealing an impatient and confused looking Luna.
“Princess?” Rarity and Twilight simultaneously shouted out.
“Twilight Sparkle, and the bearer of the element of Generosity, we have a huge problem.” Luna explained with an unsteady voice.
Twilight invited the princess inside with a gesture before continuing the conversation.
“What seems to be the problem, Princess?” Rarity spoke up first.
“My Sister… Celestia… she has been taken.”
“Taken?! What do you mean?!” Twilight asked in an outrage.
“Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony, has somehow escaped from his stone prison and took Celestia’s petrified body with him.”
A long silence pierced in, Twilight and Rarity both being too shocked to catch their breath and move their lips for the purpose of creating audible words.
When Twilight was finally able to gather her thoughts again and gain control over her body she dared to ask “Do you have any idea where she is?”
“No… the only thing he left was this riddle.” Luna replied and handed Rarity a sheet of paper.
My intentions are to avenge her betrayal,
Don’t bother trying to stop me; it will be to no avail
But if you are so eager to change the flow of events
I’ll give you advice, bring along your precious Elements.
“Betrayal? What does he mean with that?” Rarity wondered.
Luna hesitated for a second before responding “I have… no idea.”
“We have to find her!” Twilight stated in a determined tone.
“Do you have any idea where he might have taken here?” Rarity wondered.
“I am not sure… but I think the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters is a good spot to start looking for her,” Twilight suggested.
“Then let us call our friends and start heading there?”
“We don’t have the time to!”
“What do you want us to do then?” Rarity wondered.
“I will go, you go call our friends,” Twilight commanded, lifting her saddlebags with her magic and making herself ready to depart.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Rarity replied.
“What do you mean?”
“I am not letting you go to such a dangerous place alone.”
“But…” Twilight wanted to protest.
“The answer remains no, Twilight. I am coming with you.”
“However your decision may be we must make haste.” Luna interrupted, she was eager to finally depart and find her sister.
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts and thinking of something to do, Twilight spoke up “Spike!”
A couple of seconds passed before her assistant lazily walked into the room.
“Princess Luna? What is she doing here Twilight? Did something happen?” Spike immediately bombarded the purple unicorn with question upon seeing the princess.
“It’s nothing to worry about Spike.” Twilight lied before continuing “But I need you to write a letter to our friends stating that they should head to the castle of the royal pony sisters as fast as possible and let Owlowiscious deliver them.”
“Uhm… Okay Twilight.” Spike said before he pulled out a quill and a scroll, doing as he was told to.
“Okay, that’s taken care of. Let’s go!” Twilight commanded and the three ponies made their way to the Everfree Forest.
====
Fluttershy lied in the bed made out of clouds, watching the undefined patterns which were created due to the sunlight shining through various holes in the cloud house. She could hear Dash silently snoring next to her, the warmth of the other pegasus’ body created a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure, like she has never felt before. Her life couldn’t be any better currently; the mare she was in love with loved her back. Fluttershy turned around, observing Dash in her sleep with her green eyes. She looks so peaceful during her sleep, Fluttershy thought.
“Whooo Whooo.”
“What was that?” Fluttershy whispered to no pony in particular.
“Whoo Whoo.”
Releasing herself carefully from Dash’s grip, the canary yellow pegasus flew outside.
“Oh it’s you Owlowiscious.” Fluttershy said when she saw the owl flying in front of her. He was carrying a little scroll with him, losing the knot on his feet; she picked up the scroll and read it.
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash Twilight wants you to go to the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters as fast as possible.
Fluttershy panicked a little inside, but immediately forced herself to calm down. It’s nothing too serious, just calm down Shy.
Flying back inside, she moved next to Dash, shaking her slightly in order to wake her up.
“Dash?” she spoke up.
The cyan pegasus dozily opened his eyes “Huh? What is it?” she asked, while being half asleep.
“Twilight wants us to go to the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters in the Everfree Forest, now.” Fluttershy explained.
“Uhm, why is that?”
“I don’t know.”
Letting out a sigh, Dash reluctantly started flapping her wings. Within a couple of minutes they were both ready and made her way to the mentioned location.
====
“What are you going to do now?” Celestia asked her voice lacked its usual strength entirely. She didn’t know where she was; it was dark and seemed to be an old kind of building. She may be able to escape on her own, but that was unlikely and the alicorn also lacked the will to.
“Whatever comes to my mind.” Discord answered, his tone wasn’t victorious as she thought it would be… it sounded glum.
“Discord,” Celestia began.
“What is it?”
“Even though you won’t believe me, I am sorry for what I did. I didn’t really think about what I did, I just did it. I was mad and driven by emotions.”
“Oh don’t give me that, the moment you find yourself in a sticky situation you are suddenly sorry?”
“No… I have been feeling like this long before I turned into stone. I even considered releasing you just to tell you.”
“Oh, and what stopped you from doing so?”
“I was… I was scared of how you might react; I was scared about what you would do to Equestria.” The princess of the sun explained with an unsteady voice
“Ah I get it. The crazy and wicked Draconequus would destroy the entire world.” Discord replied, his tone indicating his rising anger.
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Give me a break from your excuses. Besides I think some guests for you have arrived. I should bid them a warm welcome, like the evil villain I am, right?” with those words the Draconequus vanished.
Twilight, Luna and Rarity finally arrived at the castle; fortunately nothing delayed them on their way.
Gulping down her doubts, Twilight entered the castle. It had been two years already since they defeated Nightmare Moon, and not one of them even thought about going back to this place ever again. But yet, here they were.
“It’s… empty!” Twilight spoke up; she was at loss for words. This was the only place to come in question, where should they start looking for Celestia now?
“It seems like you found me, Bravo,” a dark voice called sarcastically, seconds later a strange creature appeared right in front of their eyes. Its body parts seemed to be from various animals, dragon, buffalo, goat, eagle and a lot more.
“So you did escape” Twilight said
“Didn’t my old friend Luna tell you? I officially announce my sincerest gratitude to you and your friends, Twilight Sparkle” Discord stated and bowed down in front of Twilight, in order to annoy her.
“What do you mean?” the purple unicorn wondered.
“You were the ones who imprisoned Celestia and thereby weakened the might of the elements, which she created.”
“Celestia, where is she Discord?!” Luna screamed out.
“Why do you want to know? What do you want from her? I think you are handling the governing of Equestria quite well by yourself.”
“No… that’s not why I want to see her,” Twilight replied.
“Oh, what’s the reason then? You want to betray her some more and break her heart completely?” Discord asked with a provoking voice.
“I want to tell her that I’m sorry… sorry for betraying her, sorry for using the elements against her, sorry for turning her into stone, sorry for not finding another way. And most importantly how much I miss her… please… just let me see her.” Twilight begged, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She is exactly like her, Discord thought. He wanted to defeat here right here, without her the Elements of Harmony would be useless and nothing would stand between his and achieving his goal, but why didn’t he?
“Very well.” Discord agreed, he didn’t know why he was doing it, he just wanted to.
Twilight couldn’t believe her ears; he was going to take her to Celestia just like that? It was probably a trap, but she had to take the risk, she had to see her teacher.
“But only you.” he said before snapping his fingers and disappearing with both himself and Twilight.
“No WAIT!” Rarity called out but it was too late, they were both gone
“Where are they?!”
“I don’t know…” Luna replied.
“We have to do something!”
“We can’t, we have no clue where they are. The only thing we can do is wait and hope that she will be fine on her own.”
Please Twilight, be safe Rarity hoped.
====
The world around Twilight turned blurry for a brief second before she found herself in a dusty, light forsaken place.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“Where you wanted to be,” Discord replied.
“Twilight?” a familiar voice called.
“Celestia?” Twilight said, turning around to face the alicorn. She was not able to describe her happiness in this moment; it was her teacher, right in front of her, alive. She immediately ran next to her “I am so sorry princess; I don’t know what I was doing… I was driven by emotions and my body moved on its own. I know that I can never make up for what I did, but please believe me that I am infinitely sorry,” she apologized.
Celestia felt her how tears rolled down her cheeks at the sight of her student. “It’s okay Twilight, I know how you felt,” she assured her.
“You do?” the purple unicorn wondered.
“Of course she does, she is very familiar with betrayal.” Discord interrupted their reunion.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, being utterly confused.
“I shall show you what a deceitful pony your beloved princess really is.”
With those words being spoken Discord snapped his fingers once again.
A bright light filled the room and Twilight’s eyes instinctively blinked, once she opened them again, her surroundings were different. She was no longer in the dark and dusty place, also her teacher was absent.
“Where am I?” Twilight asked nopony in particular,
“You are in the Everfree Forest, but the real question you should be asking is ‘When am I?’” Discord stated with a laugh,
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you are exactly 2037 years in the past.” The chimera explained, and started to walk northwards. “I will explain everything on the way, you should follow me. Alone you will be trapped in this year forever where nopony can see or hear you and eventually starve to death.”
Twilight had an uneasy feeling about this; she depended on Discord here, their enemy. He can do what he wants with her and she would be defenseless. But if he wanted to get rid of me he had plenty of opportunities. The lavender unicorn concluded that she was safe for now; nevertheless she should not keep her guard down. Discord’s way of handling things was way too confusing and chaotic; therefore it was unpredictable what he is aiming for.
“How about you stop worrying and just follow me? There is nothing you can do to prevent my actions anyway, if I wanted to kill you,” he stated and snapped his fingers, conjuring a sharp butcher knife and throwing it to Twilight. A second before it splintered her skull in half he stopped it and it disappeared “I would have done it now. I could even trap you in an eternal nightmare,” with those words being spoken everything around the purple unicorn turned black. Bit by bit sources of lights appeared, revealing the lifeless bodies of five certain ponies.
“No…way” Twilight gasped and headed towards the first spotlight. “Rarity? Are you alright? What happened?”
“Why would you do this to us… you were our friend” the white unicorn replied before her eyes turned blank.
Focus Twilight, this is just a dream created by Discord. Nothing in here is real. Even though Twilight knew this, she still felt a stinging pain deep down in her heart.
“And watch you slowly descending into madness just for the sake of it” Discord said as Twilight returned into the realm of reality.
“You made your point clear” Twilight replied and started trotting alongside her foe.
“I am glad you agree.”
“Could you at least tell me where we are going?” Twilight asked with the tiniest bit of annoyance in her voice.
“We are going to visit Celestia, now keep your mouth shut for a second if you would be so kind. You will understand everything in due time” Discord replied casually.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until they arrived at the destined destination. Their timing seemed to be perfect, just a moment later a small, white filly appeared. The filly had both a horn and wings, her mane was a bright pink and her cutie mark resembled the sun. No doubt, this alicorn was Celestia.
