The Return

by Lighthawk

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6532

Events from the distant past, things Celestia and Luna had hoped long put to rest have resurfaced...

Events from the distant past, things Celestia and Luna had hoped long put to rest have resurfaced, and now everything they have worked for may be placed in jeopardy. Despite all their power, the princesses must place the salvation of Equestria within the hooves of the Elements of Harmony if there is any hope to keep the peaceful paradise they have spent the centuries creating. But are Twilight and her friends up to a task that would challenge the might and wisdom of princesses themselves?

Published 2012-12-02 06:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-04 22:16:06 UTC

Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle was awoken in the early morning by a resounding belch, the sudden smell of sulfur, and a flash of green light. One eye cracked open in drowsy shock, catching the last flickering embers of dragonfire before darkness reclaimed the room. A soft, papery impact sounded in the black void, and near the foot of her bed Spike let out a sleepy yawn that turned into gentle snores.

Her body rallied for an immediate return to slumber, and for a moment her sleep addled mind considered agreeing. Eventually however her senses got their act together, reported in properly, and nudged her thoughts into something resembling order.

She had just received a letter from the princess. A letter that apparently could not wait until morning. There was something Celestia wanted to tell her that the princess had deemed too important not to send immediately. It would follow that something that vital was likely to be of potentially disastrous consequences.

Her mind made the trip from sleepy to overdrive in record time, her heartbeat likewise jumping into full blown panic mode as she bolted upright in her bed. Her horn flared to life, bathing the room in harsh, violet light and deep shadow. She flinched from her own aura as it stabbed her eyes with cruel light, but managed to squint enough to pick out the scroll where it lay upon the wooden floor boards.

The rolled parchment glowed as her magic seized it up, drifting it over before her eyes and unfurling it to be read. She was surprised to find the message written in an unfamiliar script, the sharp, spidery letters nothing like Celestia’s usual flowing hornwriting. Twilight’s gaze dropped to the bottom of the letter, and she sucked in a startled breath. A letter from a princess it was, but not the one she normally corresponded with.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Forgive us for most likely waking thou, but an urgent matter has arisen. Thou art to gather thy fellow Bearers of Harmony immediately and await our arrival at your library. Expect us within the hour. We apologize for the lack of details, but time doeth not permit a proper explanation as of this moment.

Sincerely,
Luna, Princess of the Night

Twilight read through the cryptic message four times over in a futile attempt to gather more meaning from it as her mind tried to process the odd turn of events. Ultimately however there really was nothing for it but to do as the princess ordered and hope to make sense of things later.

“Spike!” she called out as her magic flared, sparking life and light within the lanterns hung about the room. “Spike wake up!” she repeated after a moment of silence.

Her number one assistant gave a grumpy groan for a reply and turned over, away from the light, and pulled his blanket up over his head.

“Spike!” Twilight snapped in annoyance. “Get up! Princess Luna just sent me a message! She’s coming to see us in an hour and I need to get all my friends here before she arrives!”

Another sour grumble issued from the little dragon.

“I said up!” Twilight shouted, a burst of magic accompanying the words. Spike’s blanket whipped off him with a crack and a startled yell, and the dragon went rolling across the floor, coming to a sudden halt with the helpful intervention of the nearest wall.

A few books thudded to the ground from the impact.

“Come on Twilight,” Spike complained, getting woozily to his feet. “What’s the big rush?”

“This is the big rush!” Twilight said, thrusting the letter into his claws. She watched his expressions cycle from annoyance, to grumpy curiosity, to bewilderment as he read through the letter.

“But, what would Luna want with…”

“I don’t know, and there’s no time to question it,” Twilight cut him off. “Now listen carefully, because we don’t have much time.”

“Right,” Spike nodded, shaking off the remains of sleep’s hold. “Who do you want me to wake up? I know a shortcut that could get me to Rarity’s in like, two minutes…” The little dragon cut off as a feather duster flitted over to hover in front of him. “Oh come on!” he complained.

“No arguments mister,” Twilight told him, shoving the duster into his claws. “I want this place spotless.”

“But I just dusted in here this morning,” Spike groaned in frustration.

“Excellent, then you can focus on the detail work. Get the wood polish out from the closet and get started on the shelves.”

“But, but…Rrrrr!” Spike threw the duster down in a fit, stomping off in frustration.

“Spot!Less!” Twilight shouted after him as she trotted over to the front door, swinging it open and bolting out into the early morning darkness.

The next fifty odd minutes were amazingly hectic all things considered. Since moving to Ponyville, Twilight had faced down mad gods, rampaging dragons, voracious hydras, and a swarm of Pinkie Pies, just to name a few. All in all, she was a bit surprised that she wasn’t just a little more jaded after all those near death experiences. And yet the seemingly simple task of gathering up her friends rapidly grew into a trial to compete with any other as far as fraying her nerves to the breaking point.

Things started to go downhill right from the start with Rarity. After her initial bout of grumpiness at being awoken just a few hours past midnight, the fashionista had agreed with Twilight’s assumption that something potentially disastrous must be in the making for the princess to issue a summons at such an hour. Unfortunately they immediately found themselves at an impasse in regards to how to proceed. Twilight had wanted Rarity to go wake up Pinkie Pie while she headed off to gather Fluttershy. However…

“Darling, you can’t possibly expect me to go galloping off into the night with my mane looking like this can you? I’m barely going to have time enough as it is! An hour to be presentable before royalty? I’ll need a miracle!”

In the end, Twilight decided that she’d probably waste more time trying to convince Rarity to forgo the emergency make over then she’d save getting her to help out, and had just run over to collect Pinkie Pie herself. Of course this task was complicated by the fact that Pinkie didn’t live by herself, and Twilight really hadn’t wanted to ruin the Cakes’ night by waking up their foals knocking on the door. A simple teleportation spell into Pinkie’s bedroom had seemed such an elegant solution.

“Hmm? Who’s that? Oh hi Twilight! What are you doing here so late? Ooo! Ooo! Is this a surprise slumber party? Awesome! I’ll get bows and ribbon for our manes, why don’t you scoop some of that pudding you’re standing in into some bowls for later. This will be great!”

Once she got over her disappointment at having to put off the slumber party however, Pinkie had been perfectly willing to go collect Rainbow Dash, on the condition that they all had the sleep over at a later date. With a hasty agreement to meet up at Applejack’s, the pink party pony had streaked off into the night.

Fluttershy on the other hoof…

“You want me to go outside? At night? For a mysterious meeting with Nightmare Moon? Eeeee…”

Fortunately they had managed to come to an agreement…Twilight would forcibly haul Fluttershy along with her magic, and Fluttershy would drag a long pair of trenches into the earth behind her as she fought to get free. Mutually unbeneficial to both of them, and a complete waste of time.

As such they found Pinkie Pie already waiting for them at the gates to Sweet Apple Acres, a still snoozing Rainbow Dash stretched out on a swath of clouding. Pinkie had explained that she’d been unable to wake the heavy sleeping Dash, and so had been forced to just cut out the section of cloud from her home that the pegasus was passed out on.

Twilight had endured a moment of cognitive dissonance trying to figure out exactly how an earth pony could manage any of that, but had wisely decided to just go with it. She’d also taken advantage of the cloud and tossed Fluttershy up on it. Much easier to drag the petrified pegasus along with nothing solid for her to grab hold of.

Applejack at least had been simple enough, which was about the only thing that had kept Twilight from snapping completely. She had answered the door, taken one look at everypony, and said simply, “One moment.” She’d reached back inside, grabbed her hat, stuffed it on her head, and added, “Alright, ready.” After being filled in on the way back to town, Applejack had even volunteered to go get Rarity. “Don’ ya worry none sugar cube, Ah’ll bring Rarity over in time if Ah have to hogtie her to do so.”

They had managed to arrive back at the library with time to spare…which unfortunately meant that Twilight had time to stop and think, and coincidently, worry. So she ended up pacing around the library, fretting over what could possibly be so dire as to have princess Luna summon them all at such an hour. Amazingly, and annoyingly, her friends didn’t seem ready to worry about things anywhere near the degree to which she was.

Pinkie Pie was too caught up playing hide and seek with Fluttershy, a game in which Pinkie seemed to be doing all the seeking. Rainbow Dash was still passed out and oblivious, and Applejack was alternating between rolling her eyes and unloading a pair of overstuffed saddlebags of various cosmetic items onto a small beauty station that Rarity had brought along. The unicorn at least seemed to be grasping some of the weight of the situation, though probably not in the same fashion as Twilight as she frantically worked on her appearance.

“You know, has anypony stopped to consider that maybe the reason princess Luna sent that letter this late is because, oh I don’t know, she’s the princess of the NIGHT?” Spike asked pointedly, glancing up from his polishing work as Twilight trotted by in a titter.

“Oh come on Spike, that’s just silly,” Twilight said without breaking stride.

“It makes sense to me. When else would she be the one writing you and not Celestia?”

“Spike, just because Luna is princess of the night doesn’t mean she’s nocturnal.”

“Indeed,” a voice spoke up right behind her. “T’was actually the other way around in fact.”

Twilight tried to shriek, but ended up choking on it and merely managed to let out a muffled whine as she tried to both spin around and preform a teleport reversal. As a result she managed to cancel one maneuver out with the other and remained facing the same direction. Now feeling both surprised and foolish, she sheepishly pivoted around to face Luna.

“Princess,” she said somewhat nervously, dropping into a bow. “I didn’t hear you arrive.” She paused a beat, and then her curiosity forced to her add. “What do you mean, ‘the other way around?’”

“My apologizes for entering your dwelling unannounced,” Luna stated formally. “But we felt it would behoove us to keep our presence unknown to the other citizens of Ponyville, and thus did appear here directly.”

“Oh…yeah, that makes sense,” Twilight replied.

“So glad you agree Twilight Sparkle.” The alicorn considered Twilight for a moment, then smiled at her. Her posture eased, and her tone softened considerably. “And what I meant was that I was nocturnal long before I became princess of the night.”

Twilight blinked at that. “Really?”

“Well maybe not in the strict technical sense of the word,” Luna shrugged. “But I was fairly prone to staying up very late even before I took to overseeing the night itself.” She held up a hoof to forestall Twilight as the unicorn opened her mouth. “But that is a discussion for another night. We are on a schedule.”

“Of course princess,” Twilight nodded, and glanced over her shoulder. “Girls! Girls!”

Her shout drew every eye to the corner of the room, and there was a general commotion as her friends became suddenly aware of Luna’s presence. Rarity let out a half strangled shriek as she quickly hurled aside an aura full of cosmetics, forcing Applejack to duck hastily to avoid taking a concealer in the eye. Pinkie Pie came bounding over, greeting the princess like a friend she hadn’t seen in a long time, eye popping hug included. Fluttershy came creeping nervously out from under a table, moving to keep somepony between her and Luna at all times.

Rainbow Dash remained firmly asleep.

“Dash…” Twilight said, poking the pegasus in the side with a hoof. The skyblue mare groaned sleepily and just rolled over. Twilight glanced over at where Luna was politely but firmly extracting herself from Pinkie’s affections. She poked again. “Come on Dash! Wake up!”

“I rather admire her dedication to the art of sleep,” the princess commented as she strolled over to examine the patch of clouding.

“I’m so sorry,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh. “One moment, I can…”

Luna held up a hoof, cutting Twilight off. She glanced down at Dash, and took in a breath…

Halfway across Ponyville, Berry Punch jerked awake, one blurry eye peeling open. Her ears twitched as a slight tremor seemed to run through her bedroom, gently vibrating through her mattress and setting her collection of antique bottles rattling on their shelves.

“Hm, uh…earthquake?” she mumbled, still half asleep. The vibrations ceased, and the room fell still and silent. Berry briefly entertained the notion of getting out of bed to check and make everything was alright. Instead she gave a sleepy shrug and let her head fall back onto her pillow.

Back at the library, Twilight dismissed the magically created earmuffs she had hastily summoned, and glanced up at the ceiling. Rainbow Dash was practically plastered to the roof, her fur and feather alike sticking out so badly she looked like she’d had a mishap with a thundercloud. A moment passed, and the pegasus peeled off the ceiling, falling back down to bounce off the tattered remains of her cloud. Her wide, blood shot eyes regarded the room, and she held a hoof up to her ears gingerly.

“…okay, what the flying feather…” she began, before her eyes fell on Luna. She blinked, then gave a start and jumped to the floor, bowing.

“Now then,” Luna spoke up, casting her gaze around at the assembled ponies. “We do apologize for the late hour of this summons, but Equestria soon might find need of the power of the Elements of Harmony.”

“WHAT?” Dash asked, her voice a bit too loud. Luna regarded the pegasus, then sighed and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with a hoof. Her horn lit, and Dash’s ears glowed with an identical aura for a moment.

“We said, we might be needing the Elements of Harmony.”

“Uh, just how soon are we talking here your royalness?” Applejack ventured.

“Perhaps within the hour,” Luna replied curtly. Her voice rose to forestall any further questions. “And as it stands, we have not the time to explain right now. Prepare, for we will now carry thee all back to Canterlot.”

“Do what now?” Fluttershy asked as a pale blue aura surrounded the princess’s horn. Luna’s shadow expanded beneath her, slithering across the floor, and making the butter yellow pony back up into a bookcase. “Twilight, what is she doing?”

“I…don’t know…” Twilight admitted, flinched involuntarily as the creeping darkness slid under her hooves. It engulfed the room, sliding up the walls, slipping into every crevice, every crack, until it had covered everything but herself, her friends, and the princess. In seconds it was as if somepony had taken black paint to every available surface.

And then the room began to melt away, the edges and divisions between books, between the shelves and the walls, between the tables and chairs, it all flowed together, melding into a single, formless void. A vague sense of motion came to Twilight, something subtle, and yet that gentle sensation somehow imparted upon her a sense of impossible speed. Even before she really started to consider it, it was already over.

Shapes erupted from the darkness, towering walls and massive windows that defined a great, long hall. Stairs climbed to a dais at one end, an imposing set of doors forming at the other. The shadow melted away, colors bursting through to paint the room in its full and proper glory. Twilight blinked in surprise as the final vestments of Luna’s spell faded, and she found herself within the royal throne room in Canterlot.

“Well, this is getting serious isn’t it?” a familiar voice asked in a rhetorical tone.

“Shining,” Twilight spun to face her brother as the captain of the guard came walking up to the group. Behind him the greater majority of the royal guard was arranged in neat rows along the hall. “What’s going on?”

“I have no idea,” Shining Armor said, his gaze flicking almost imperceptibly over to Luna and back again. “All I know is I was told to get everypony in the guard not on active duty into their finest and into parade formation here.” He smiled slightly, but both it and his tone were a touch off, a bit too controlled and artificial. He was tense, and at least a little nervous. And not the only one Twilight saw as she scanned the lines of guards.

Light came pouring in the great windows of the hall, casting a dazzling array of colors as the morning sun shone through the stained glass. The tension in the room snapped into a razor focus.

“What…just happened?” Rarity asked, clearly picking up on the shift in the atmosphere.

“Celestia just raised the sun…” Twilight said slowly, puzzlement in her voice.

“Uh…okay?” Rainbow remarked. “That’s kind of what she does, is it?”

“Dawn isn’t for another four hours,” Twilight informed her pointedly, and the cyan pony silently mouthed an “oh”.

Light and flame erupted above the dais at the end of the hall, the sudden conflagration sweeping away to reveal the Solar Princess herself. Celestia alighted gracefully upon the floor, looking unusually grim. Even the smile she directed towards Twilight as their eyes met carried a hard edge around her eyes

“Princess,” Twilight greeted her teacher with a bow, quickly mirrored by her friends, and the gathered guard. “What’s going…”

“I’m sorry Twilight,” Celestia cut her off. “But there isn’t time.” Golden light engulfed her horn, and her magic withdrew a fair sized, blue painted box from behind the throne.

“Hurry sister,” Luna warned, her gaze focused sharply upwards. Her own magic flared, and the ceiling of the royal hallway seemed to vanish, revealing the bright blue of the sky. The moon still hung above despite the rising of the sun.

Only…only it wasn’t the right moon. It was not the moon Twilight knew, and she had spent no small amount of time studying the lunar surface through various telescopic devises. It was a moon, but it's features were alien and unknown. The color was a few shades too brown, the layout of the craters all wrong, to say nothing of it sharing space in the sky with the sun. Surely
Celestia would have lowered the moon if Luna had been too busy to do so before
bringing out the sun.

"Make sure they know where we are," Celestia said. "We don't need them causing
trouble across Equestria."

Luna only nodded in response, her focus upon the foreign celestial body. Her
horn flared with power, enough that it made Twilight flinch as the magic washed
over her. It was a humbling experience, to feel the raw might of one of the princesses at work. Might, and skill as well, as Luna expertly crafted the outflow of energy from her horn. Within the space of a heartbeat she had contained and focused her magic to such a degree that Twilight, despite standing just a few paces away, could no longer sense the enormous flow of power. She could see the aura around Luna’s horn, and the ripples in the air that marked the passage of a staggering amount of energy, but the entirety of the magic the princess was generating was being masterfully aimed into the sky, towards the rogue moon above.

"Now then my little ponies," Celestia said. "I'm going to ask you to wear these
for our guests."

Twilight's attention snapped down from the torrent of raw power Luna was
unleashing and onto the six gold encased jewels Celestia was holding out to
them. She let out a gasp of surprise as the Element of Magic drifted over to
her.

"You want us to be wearing the Elements?" Her own magic briefly entwined with
Celestia's as she took hold of the tiara that was the physical embodiment of
magic itself. The princess's aura was usually much like that of Celestia
herself, warm and comforting, the gentle caress of the sun’s light that eased away discomfort and worry. Now though it was like reaching into the sun itself, the heat and force of it threatening to burn away Twilight's magic before the princess let her grip on the Element go. "Are you expecting us to need them?"

Celestia paused, her features enigmatic. Her eyes were distant, and meeting her gaze, Twilight could practically see the great expanse of years that had passed by those violet orbs.

"I do not think you will need their power as of yet, but the presence of the Elements, the significance of you bearing them..."

"They come!" Luna cut in, her tone sharp and clipped. An undercurrent of anger flowed through the words.

"All these centuries," Celestia sighed, her features hardening. "And suddenly there just isn't time."

The Solar Princess turned, and with a wave of her horn the royal hall simply vanished. The walls, the stained glass, the throne and dais upon which it rested, everything but the floor shimmered as in a heat haze and was gone,
leaving them standing in the open air of the unnaturally early morning. Behind where the rear wall had stood extended a wide expanse of plain but expertly constructed stone work, forming a massive balcony that hung out over the edge of the
mountain Canterlot clung to.

"To order captain," Luna remarked as she stemmed the flow of magic from her horn and strode to her sister's side.

"At ready!" Shining Armor called, and a vibration ran through the floor as the assembled guards snapped to attention as one.

"Twilight," Celestia called over her shoulder. "You and your friends to either side of Luna and myself, if you please."

Twilight shared a quick look of concern and confusion with her friends. It was maddening to see the princesses so on edge, and to have no idea why. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be anything they could do at the moment but trust that Celestia and Luna knew what they were doing and follow their lead.

Twilight moved up to stand beside her mentor, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to her left. To her right, on the other side of Luna, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack took up positions.

They didn't have to wait long. They had barely settled into positions when a fierce spike of magical energy struck down upon the balcony. It brought with it a sense of bitter cold, the very presence of the magic sucking the warmth from the air and veiling the balcony in a sudden, dense fog. Vague shapes shifted within, and then a biting wind erupted, dispersing the cloud in a wash of freezing air. Twilight shivered, and then joined in the collective gasp that
came from everypony present, save the princesses.

A trio of alicorns stood before them.

Two of them were massive, towering stallions, easily a full head taller than even Celestia. They had the physique of heroes out of legend, their bodies layered with powerful muscles and clean lines that rippled beneath shimmering coats. They were possessed of the kind of good looks to invite wickedly inappropriate thoughts practically involuntarily, and Twilight felt her face flush as she squashed a few creeping ideas. As she worked to clear out her mind she started to take in further details.

The two stallions were both too much alike and yet too perfectly contrasting for it to be anything but by design. In build, in their features, their posture, they were virtually reflections in a mirror. Yet where the leftmost was possessed of a coat of pure obsidian, the one to the right was a white that practically glowed in the sunlight. The darker twin's mane was as a lava flow, brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges shot through with patches of grey and black that crept sluggish along, moving with an impression of massive weight. The other's mane held the might and fury of a thunderstorm, the steel grey strands whipping in an ethereal wind, cyclone like curls spiraling free as flashes of bluish light sparked within.

And yet in the end it was the mare Alicorn that stood between and slightly in front of the pair that truly held Twilight's attention. She seemed tiny beside the stallions, though in truth she was nearly on a level with Celestia. Her coat was arctic blue, and sparkled like crystal where the light touched her. She was possessed of an other worldly beauty, stunning yet exotic. Her mane was water and ice, flowing within its own current, individual strands waving in tranquil motion before freezing, becoming sharp and hard. Then the strand would melt back into motion, the cycle repeating.

Aqua green eyes with the uncaring depths of the ocean regarded the assemblage before her. The arctic alicorn’s gaze went first to Celestia and Luna, a frosty smile playing around her lips. Then she took notice of the guards, of Twilight and her friends. The alicorn's smile faltered, puzzlement replacing the expression. Her gaze tracked over each of the Bearers of Harmony, and it was something tangible to be under her scrutiny. Pale light glowed about her horn, and wisps of mist drifted on the air as the alicorn's magic reached out to touch the tiara on Twilight's head.

At once those bottomless eyes went wide with open shock, and she turned to face Celestia and Luna with open rage.

"What have you done!" Her voice rang like struck crystal, haunting in its beauty and terrible in its wrath. She started forward, her wings snapping open in a gale of winter wind. Without taking her furious attention off of the princesses, she lashed out with her magic, seizing the element of magic in a vise like grip of power, no doubt about to wrench it off of its wearer.

Fearing she'd likely lose some of her scalp along with the tiara, Twilight reacted out of pure reflex, sending a pulse of magic along her horn that disrupted the thaumatic field of the alicorn's power. Some annoyance at being so casually magic-handled must have slipped into that pulse, because the raw magic quickly reshaped itself into a counter spell that induced a cascading failure into the alicorn's own magic. The telekinetic field collapsed in a whip crack of suddenly
freed power that made the icy mare half stumble in shock.

Her fury was washed away by a tsunami's worth of total surprise. Her gaze snapped to Twilight, utter disbelief in her expression.

"It...can use magic?" That chiming voice declared in a tone that suggested something impossible had just occurred. Twilight for her part was near choking on the twin indignity of first being offhandedly cast upon, and now referred to as an 'it'. Before she could find her voice to protest however, Rainbow Dash had sprung forward on her behalf.

"Hey! Who are you calling 'it' icicle face!" The cyan Pegasus demanded, her wings spread aggressively.

The shocked alicorn's expression slipped further into disbelief, reaching a point of suggesting that reality had slipped off track somewhere along the way.

"They can talk?" The ebony stallion rumbled in a voice of cracking rock, casting a look at his almost twin that all but begged the other to offer a rational explanation. He didn't get one, but instead a return of the same confused expression.

"They can," Celestia announced, stepping forward. "They can also think, and reason, and create."

The three new comers stared at her as if never seeing anything like her before.

"What have you done?" The mare repeated, her former fury replaced with a cold anger.

"What you should have done Liath, had you not been as selfish and arrogant as nearly every Eldest before you. We made the world a place for all to enjoy, not just the few, greedy elite."

Liath jerked as if she'd been slapped. Her sea green eyes went flat, and the chill breeze that drifted around her became a biting cold.

"You dare..." She hissed in disbelieving anger. "You dare speak to ME in such a manner!" Her voice rang in everypony's ears with a grating vibration.

"I speak to you better than you deserve," Celestia retorted with supreme calm. "I address you as an adult despite knowing what a spoiled child you truly are."

The purpose of the insult was obvious, and Liath did not disappoint in her response. Her ringing voice shattered into a brittle shriek of rage as she seized her magic. The raw power of it was monstrous to behold, and Twilight felt the bottom drop out of her stomach as a panicky part of her mind unhelpfully pointed out that she had just a moment ago magically hoofsmacked the mare now holding enough power to utterly obliterate the entire palace. That much magic could
scour the structure down to the bedrock of the mountain itself.

And yet that knowledge didn't make her hesitate as Liath lowered her horn and unleashed her power in a rushing torrent of frozen death. Hopelessly outmatched or not, Twilight was not about to stand by while somepony, while anypony dared to threaten her princess and mentor. She gathered her own magic, preparing to cast a spell of disruption to hopefully bleed away some of the attack's strength, to diminish it enough to hopefully assist Celestia.

Then the Solar Princess unleashed her own magic, and Twilight's power was snuffed out as effortlessly as a spark ground under hoof. The pure might of it threatened to flatten the unicorn, and she struggled to remain standing next to such an outpouring of magic. Celestia's horn blazed, as bright and hot as the sun it commanded, and even ducking her head away and shutting her eyes, Twilight’s vision turned pure white. The heat was unbearable, and yet even as sweat poured from her to be instantly consumed by the inferno, Twilight felt no pain. She could hardly breathe the furnace hot air, but for all it's terrible might, Celestia's power refused to harm her, or any other of her subjects.

The same could not be said for Liath. Her strike was instantly blunted; not countered or dispelled, but simply shattering to pieces and being blown away by the sheer magical pressure surrounding the princess. The arctic alicorn jerked back from the burst of heat and light, desperately raising a wing to shield herself as she scrambled away, stumbling in pain and shock as a great cloud of billowing steam erupted from her.

An eternal instant passed, and then Celestia reigned her magic back in.

Twilight gasped as she sucked in a breath, the air seemingly freezing within her burning lungs. She shook, uncontrollable tremors washing over her body in response to the emotional shock of witnessing Celestia's true power firsthoof. She'd never experienced anything close to it before.

Oh sure, she had done the calculations and marveled at the raw might Discord had casually tossed around, to say nothing of what her equations told her of the Elements. But that was an intellectual understanding; Discord's magic had been too alien to properly sense, and the Elements seemed to shield their bearers from the immensity of their power. Witnessing Celestia cut lose had hit her on an emotional and instinctual level. It was not just a matter of numbers on
paper, she knew, KNEW in a completely tangible sense just how much power the Solar Princess could wield, and it was terrifying to consider.

Everypony besides Luna was goggling at Celestia. Even the pegasi and earthies had felt the weight of her magic. None were as unnerved as much as Liath however.

Lowering her wing shakily, the alicorn stared at Celestia as if the entire world had gone mad on her. It was a look of purest denial, of a complete unwillingness to believe. She shook her head as if she could ward off the truth.

"Impossible...you...you could not possess such..."

"Much has changed since you left Liath," Celestia said conversationally. "Have you any idea how long you've been gone? Just how long your slumber lasted?"

"Thirty thousand years," Luna provided cheerfully when Liath failed to respond.

"Impossible!" Liath snapped, eying the Princess of the Night as if she could spot the lie if she looked hard enough. "You would both have burned out long ago."

"That particular issue no longer applies to us," Luna said with no small amount of smugness. "Would you like a demonstration from myself as well?"

Twilight felt it as everypony present flinched involuntarily. Herself included. She saw Rarity inch away from the princess, clearly as unwilling to as herself to be nearby yet another unleashing of magic on such a scale.

"No?" Luna teased when Liath once again failed to reply. "You sure?"

"How?" The icy blue alicorn demanded after a heavy pause. "How did you..."

She cut off as Celestia, Celestia of all ponies, gave a disbelieving snort.

"Do you honestly believe we would share such knowledge with you?" She said, the casual mask of her tone slipping. She started forward, her pace slow, but with an implacable air that announced she would happily walk straight through anything foolish enough to bar her path. "After what you did, what you tried..." The mask slipped further, and steel edged into the words. "If I was anything like the pony you thought I should be, I would have already struck you down where you stand. I would have burnt you to ash and scattered you to the winds." Liath backed away as Celestia continued forward. "I almost wish I could be that pony, for what you did for your own selfish gains."

Though the fear never left her eyes, Liath's features took on a hint of defiance.

"But you can't be like that, can you?" She said hopefully. She managed a ghost of a smile.
"You were always a softy. You can't just kill me, and you won't turn us away, will you?"

"...no," Celestia said, having to drag the word out of herself. "It would not undo anything, and I am not yet ready to declare war upon my own kind, not for you. You're not worth that."

Liath scowled at first, but slowly her lips turned up in a wicked smile. "So then, where does that leave us?"

Celestia took a deep breath. "I, Celestia, Princess of Equestria, Guardian of the Sun, hereby recognize the authority and position of Liath as 'Eldest' among the Alicorn Council," she smiled mockingly at the title, and Liath glowered in return. "I acknowledge the sovereignty of the Council and its right to dictate the actions of all alicorns, as established by time and tradition."

"Well then," Liath replied smugly, her ears perking up. "If you intend to be that cooperative about..."

"Furthermore," Celestia went on, earning another scowl from Liath. "I invite you, as 'Eldest', to stay here in Canterlot as a royal guest so that we may engage in diplomatic negotiation in regards to the future of the remaining alicorn population."

Liath regarded Celestia shrewdly, her racing thoughts clear upon her face.

"You recognize my authority, and that of the Council, and yet you speak as if you intend to place
yourself outside of it. If I am Eldest, you must submit to me. I see no reason to negotiate with a subordinate."

"I recognize your authority, in keeping with tradition," Celestia said slowly. "Tradition which states that the strong shall rule the weak." She leaned in towards the other alicorn. "I'll submit to you, when you can make me."

Liath glared back, her teeth grinding over some desired but likely unwise retort. “Fine…” she grated out. “I accept your…gracious invitation. I’m sure these talks will be…beneficial.”

“Excellent,” Celestia replied with poorly hidden venom. “I look forward to it.” She turned, her attention snapping over to Shining Armor. “Captain. Please see that our guests are provided with suitable quarters, and that they receive whatever they require for their comfort.”

“Of course your highness,” the unicorn answered smoothly, but the wary look in his eyes set Twilight’s nerves on edge. “Your…Eldest, this way if it pleases you.”

Liath made to follow, but Celestia spread a wing suddenly, barring her path. “Before you go, I have one final thing to say.” The princess’s tone dropped, so soft that Twilight had to struggle to hear, and it was doubtful anypony else was near enough to eavesdrop. “Know this Liath,” Celestia said, and it made Twilight cringe to hear the open hate the words carried. “These ponies are precious to me. If anything happens to any of them, you will earn my fury.” As she spoke, magic flowed into her horn. It was not the explosion from before; the power was too tightly held, too contained. It was however still tangible upon the air, the enormity of it hanging over the heads of anypony with the talent to sense it. It was a molten wave ready to come crashing down in an unstoppable, blazing tide, with nothing but Celestia's will holding it at bay. “If anypony under your command harms them, I will visit double upon you what I give them. They are not to become involved in our dispute, or I will bring ruin upon you and everything you hold dear, and the consequences be damned.”

Liath shied back from the princess before catching herself, her posture locking rigid as she fought herself to try and present a stoic response to the threat. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She tried again, and again it seemed words failed her. Finally she merely gave a curt nod and moved to step around Celestia, casting a look back towards her companions that beckoned them to follow.

As Shining Armor lead the alicorns away, Luna stepped up to Celestia, and commented softly “Whatever else comes, I for one will always treasure this moment.” Celestia shot her sister an incredulous look. “What? I have dreamed for ages about wiping that eternally smug look from her face, and the reality of it when it came was a thousand fold more satisfying.”