Truth Behind Harmony

Chapters

Mother To All (Revised)
The One from The Shadows (Revised)
Power That Is Passed (Revised)
Revelations: Part 1 (Revised)
Revelations: Part 2 (Revised)
Revelations: Part 3 (Revised)
Revelations: Part 4 (Revised)
Revelations: Part 5 (Revised)
Revelations: Part 6 (Revised)
In The Dark Of The Night Evil Will Find Them (Revised)
Tis A Gathering (Revised)
We'll Fight Till We're Broken (Revised)
We Rise And Fall (Revised)
Her Foal, Her Goddess (Revised)
One Breathe In This Moment (Revised)
Slight Reprieve (Revised)
The Departing (Revised)
The Long Night Begins (Revised)

Mother To All (Revised)

She was bred to die…

The young mare rose from where she slept, the dust blanket that floated around the lone star of this system providing little comfort for her as she looked down upon her older sister, a tear coming to her eyes as she nuzzled her while she slept, kissing her gently on the cheek one last time.

She was bred to die…

She slowly got up, walking away from her loving sister, not wanting to wake her up. For if she did, she knew she would never be able to go through with what she planned. So she walked, moving across the blackness of space; her eyes gazing upon the empty spot far from the star, the one she knew would soon hold a planet, her planet.

She was bred to die…

There was no escaping it, this one truth, that one fact that separated her from her sister. She had been given life, just so that she could give it up so that others could live instead of her…and she accepted that, finally after all this time. It was unavoidable.

She would die, to give birth…

It was a small comfort, and smaller still knowing that out of the billions upon billions of lives she would usher into this world, only nine she would be able to genuinely call her own. She looked down at her swelling belly, smiling for the first time since she had reached her appointed place. Growing inside her was life, untapped, untamed Life. She rubbed her bell gently, knowing that the life was eager to break free, it had been ever since she had stopped repressing it like her sister had, letting it build into its current state of maturity, all those potential lives, all bottled up into one tiny womb.

She would die, to give birth…

Or would she, asked another voice inside her head? This life that was inside her, it was separate, different, from the life that flowed from her heart. That life was already in use, was already tapped and tamed, while the life force in her womb was wild and unshaped, ready for freedom.

She stared at the empty space, a new thought rising inside her as the life within her gave a gentle kick.

She had been born to give birth to life.

And with that thought, she ripped open her belly, letting the life force flow out and begin to take shape. Slowly it worked, swirling around the empty space and spinning in a spiral; guided by the mares magic, but only slightly, for it was still a wild thing and therefore could not be controlled outright. Still she could guide it, direct it in a way into what she wanted, but how and when her wants would occur was totally up to the force that was rushing from within her.

Slowly, the world she had long dreamed about began to take shape, mountains rising, rivers forming, and canyons sinking into the great continents of land that were not covered by water. Life began to flourish, quickly, instantly, taking shape in the rush to live in the new forms they had been granted, and those they had granted themselves.

Her eyes scanned the surface, looking for the faces she needed to see before it finished, desperate to see them before she had to leave. Then she found them, leaping down and landing amongst them, rising as some backed away in fear.

They were like her, as she knew they would be, their wings waving nervously as they looked upon her glowing form and her leaking belly, some of their horns lighting up defensively. All of them were young, younger than her by tens of thousands of years, but she knew them, how could she not know them, they were her daughters, her direct decedents, her flesh and blood.

She walked up to the oldest of them, a young white pony with a pink mane cradling a dark blue one with light blue mane. She nuzzled them, and then nuzzled the others as they crowded around her, each of them hugging their mother. She spoke kind words to them, explaining things that they would need to do, things they needed to hear. Then, with one final hug from all of them, she leaped back into the sky, tears following her in her wake.

As the moon finally formed, she breathed in deep, bringing forth the last of her willpower to directly affect the last of the life force which was left in her. Her world was too perfect, it was too harmonious, even the potential threats that had resulted from her life’s random evolutionary paths could not compare to what she knew her sister would bring upon this world once she awoke.

So with a quick burst of magic spheres formed, and into each she poured her Kindness, her Loyalty, her Generosity, her Laughter, her Honesty, and her Magic. She whispered to them, telling them where to hide, and who to wait for, and then she let them free, watching them touch down as the last of the life force left her.

She was the mother of Harmony, the mother of all…

Then she felt it, her consciousness beginning to ebb as her body began to fail, her eyes beginning to flutter closed. But as she started to black out she was brought back by the screams of her sister, and she opened her eyes to see her streaking toward her, her own magic life force trying to attach itself to the younger sibling, but to no avail.

They hugged, one last time, the older sibling screaming in rage at what she thought was a wasted life, stolen by dreams, while the younger tried in vain to tell her this was for the best, that this was how it was meant to be from the beginning. Then, as the light left her eyes, all that was left was a wisp of smoke as the younger sister vanished; leaving nothing but the howling cry of the older sister as she howled at the injustice that had robbed her of her precious sister.

She was…

She………

The One from The Shadows (Revised)

Celestia woke up from the old dream, smiling sadly as she lifted herself out of her bed, walking out to the balcony as she gazed at the long forgotten lights from the Crystal Empire. It had been a long time since she had had that dream, a memory held forever inside her mind, because it was the only real memory she had of her mother.

She laid herself down on the balcony, recalling that kind face and her soft spoken words, and her sky blue eyes. She looked out toward the landscape, recalling other things from the dream as well, specifically her other sisters. Back in those days they had lived in peace, loving each other as they watched over the life their mother had left behind, but now…

“Where did everything go wrong?”

She lifted her head up suddenly, for she could have sworn she had felt something out near the Everfree, something from her past. She scanned the area, but soon shook the notion from her head, convincing herself that it was because she was thinking of them.

She then got up, intending to go back to bed and get some rest, but then a cone of red light blasted out from the trees of the Everfree and into the sky. Celestia stared in shock, her eyes locked onto the familiar display, hope entering her heart as she watched.

As soon as it ended, she turned to head to her sisters room, only to see her bursting through her doors and cantering toward her.

“Sister did you see it,” asked Luna, her ears pinned to the back of her head and fear in her eyes.

“Yes Luna I saw…I’m going to go investigate. While I am gone I need you to bring Twilight Sparkle and her friends here, I have a feeling this will concern them.”

Celestia gave Luna a quick hug, and then she leaped into the sky, Luna watching till Celestia faded from sight using her magic to teleport, vanishing from the balcony as the moon arched through the sky.

Celestia landed in the woods moments later, scanning the area with her magic to try and find where the blast had come from. But as she explored, her mind began to race with thoughts, concerns which she could not quite as she moved among the trees. “It couldn’t be her, not her, her magic was too dangerous for my people to witness, and she would know that.”

As she kept walking she rounded one of the trees, spotting the familiar form lying on the ground nearby, blood leaking out from several wounds and from her closed eyes, causing Celestia to scream in panic.

“FANTASIA!”

The pony stirred, lifting her head slowly as she opened her eyes, a smile breaking on her face as she spotted Celestia.

“Celestia, dear sister…”

Celestia ran toward her, kneeling down and activating her magic, beginning to patch up her sisters wounds.

“Fantasia, what happened to you?”

“Long story dear sister,” said Fantasia with a smile, “sufficient to say things are not going well in my…”

She stopped as she began coughing, blood coming out of her mouth in large amounts, which caused Celestia’s eyes to widen.

“You have been over using you magic again haven’t you”

“I can handle…”

“No you can’t Fantasia,” exclaimed Celestia, “you know what your magic does to you when you do this; it costs you every time you go overboard!”

The younger mare stayed silent, silently thankful to hear those words again, for it had been a very long time since she had heard such concern for her well-being, a very long time…

“There,” said Celestia as she finished, “that should at least hold till we get you back to the castle, Luna was always able to patch you up better than the rest of us.”

“So she is back then?”

“Yes, she has been back for a while now.”

Fantasia contained her joy as she rose to her hooves, stretching her wings and leaping into the sky with Celestia, following her to the castle in the distance.

Luna paced around her sisters room, watched by Twilight and the others as she moved from one end to the other. Now that she had them here, she was letting her worries get to her as memories from her past flooded her mind. Apart from Celestia, Fantasia had been one of her favorite sisters, for they both shared a love for the night and for the darkness, both being nocturnal creatures. But what was concerning her now was what she knew about her magic, it was extremely destructive, bother to the world at large and its user, even with her unique traits.

“Princess, what’s the matter; is it something to do with why you brought us here?”

Luna turned to see Twilight looking nervous, and was about to speak when he heard a flap of wings as Celestia and Fantasia land on the balcony. Ignoring the gasps from the others in the room, Luna ran to embrace her long missed sibling.

“Luna, it’s been too long,” said Fantasia as the youngest of them nuzzled her, nuzzling back as the younger mare hugged her.

“Too long indeed sister dearest, I have missed you the most out…”

“WHAT!”

The three sisters turned to see Twilight and the others staring at them, Twilight looking totally flabbergasted by this new development. Celestia chuckled, walking over to Twilight and placing a wing over her in reassurance.

“Twilight, I would like you to meet my sister Fantasia, ruler of the Land of Shadows and Queen of the Vamponies.”

Fantasia bowed to the young unicorn, who still looked like she was going to collapse from shock. Fantasia herself began to falter as her strength ebbed, Luna catching her as she nearly topple over.

This seemed to shake Twilight from her shocked state as she began to notice all the patched up scars and dried blood on her body, though some of it was hard to notice due to the color of her coat, which was pitch black with strange red markings.

“Princess, what happened to her?” Twilight said, looking up at Celestia.

“That I am unsure of my faithful student, but it will be tended to, right now I need you to take your friends and wait outside, I wish to talk with her and Luna alone for a moment.

Twilight nodded, taking her friends and leaving the room, closing the door quickly as Celestia began to move. She turned back to see Luna already hard at work, the light of the moon adding to her power as she began to heal Fantasia’s wounds, wounds which no ordinary magic could touch. Celestia sat down next to her then, looking into her serpent like eyes before speaking.

“Fantasia, I know you may not want to tell me, seeing as how…”

“Celestia you need not worry, I do not hold the same grievances as most of the others do, not any more least. You’re my big sister; you know there is nothing I would ever withhold from you or Luna.”

“What I did to you all was unforgivable…”

“What you did,” said Fantasia in puzzlement, “sister you still don’t blame yourself for what happened all those years ago, you didn’t know that would happen.”

Celestia didn’t speak, for the truth was simple. She still blamed herself for all that had happened to them, especially what had transpired after she had…stolen the elements from her sisters. But Fantasia sensed her distress, nuzzling her oldest sister to try and reassure her.

“I’m sure the others will come around as I have, they will just need a little more time. Now what is it you need to know?”

Celestia nuzzled her back in silent thanks, the gesture making it easier for her as she opened her mouth to speak. “Thank you sister, I hope you are right; now please, tell us what happened.”

Fantasia nodded, “You remember the madness plague that hit all those years ago in my kingdom?”

Celestia nodded, her ears pinning themselves to the back of her head as she remembered the plague.

“Some fillies and colts began to show signs of it, or at least what appeared to be it. When I absorbed it into my body, I could not purge it, and it…it began whispering lies to me, making me do things I did not wish to do, making me say things I didn’t want to say.”

Fantasia closed her eyes then, tears leaking from them as she continued to speak, though Celestia could see she didn’t want to. “It…it even made me turn a blind eye to my own son’s pain, even when all I wanted to do was comfort him…”

Celestia heard Luna catch her breath, and she had to admit she herself was startled by this revelation. Out of all the nine sisters, only two of them had ever managed to give birth to children, so to hear that Fantasia now had a child of her own brought a smile to Celestia’s face. She quickly composed herself however as Fantasia gulped down her tears, trying to continue through the pain the memories were bringing her.

“I did…I did terrible things Celestia…I…” she breathed deep, trying to keep her emotions in check as she continued. “I made my son burn down a village, they had been getting rebellious after my nature had changed, so the voice said to make an example of them. I know he hates me for it, how can he not…”

She sniffed, her ears splayed back against her head as she leaned herself against Celestia, before finally speaking once more. “After that, I finally gathered the strength necessary and expelled that fiend from my body, what I didn’t expect was that it had its own form. It attacked me, and I was forced to run away, and I did the only thing I could think of, I came to you for help.”

“But why the brilliant display,” asked Luna, “don’t you think that was a bit excessive?”

“I would not have done so if I hadn’t been followed, for whatever had possessed me back at the palace sent something after me. I tried fighting it off with simple magic but in the end I was forced to over exert myself, and unfortunately I hadn’t kept track of how many wounds I had gathered from my previous fight, the pain was not enjoyable.”

Celestia sat there as she finished her tale, words stolen from her as she gazed at her sister. She would of never thought her sister capable of such malice, or turning her back on her people and her own child. Bile rose in her throat at this thought, but she quickly pushed it aside, for her sister was not to blame here.

Finally Luna finished with her work, the scars all gone and the blood cleaned from her body and mane. Fantasia marveled at her sister’s work, for it never ceased to be amaze her how well Luna could heal others.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch, even after all these years.”

“How could I, it was I that worked endless nights on this spell,” said Luna with a grin; nuzzling close to her.

Fantasia nuzzled back, then roes to her hooves, heading over to the balcony as she spread her wings.

“Where are you going,” Celestia asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder in concern.

“I have to go back, I left the capitol in turmoil when I ran, and I can’t leave my son there with that monster. I won’t ask either of you to go with me…”

“And you don’t need to,” said Luna, walking up beside her and spreading her wings. “It has been a long time since I have seen your home, and you might need some help in calming the public.”

“Thank you sister,” said Fantasia, before turning toward Celestia. “Celestia before I go I must ask, is it true, are they…”

Celestia just nodded, and then indicated that they should go. Fantasia smiled inwardly, glad that her suspicions had been confirmed, and then with a nod to Luna they leapt into the skies, using magic to speed off through the night toward their destination. Celestia watched as they left, a steady growing hope and a smile adorning her face, for she knew now that all was not lost between them, and she would soon see her sisters once more.

Power That Is Passed (Revised)

Luna followed Fantasia as they sped through the skies, eager to see the one place in their world that had long since forgotten the touch of day. Long ago, Fantasia had found a race of ponies that could not tolerate the light of the sun, the dark and often misunderstood vamponies. So Fantasia, being the alicorn of their kind cast a mighty spell over the entirety of her land, causing the sun to shine like the moon whenever it passed over the land. It had been a very powerful spell, for it never ended, and it covered the entirety of her kingdom, never letting a single ray of sunlight in and keeping the vamponies safe.

They soon passed into the spells effect, the daylight changing to night as they continued to fly, and Luna’s heart skipped a beat, she was home.

“I have missed this place greatly; this was always my favorite realm to visit. Tell me sister, do your ponies still hold the Moon Rises festival like they did in the past?”

Fantasia smiled, looking back at her night dwelling sister and nodding. Unlike most ponies, who celebrated the daytime, Fantasia’s worshiped the night, and specifically the moon that harbored the true night that had been their only source of comfort till Fantasia had cast her spell.

Fantasia also knew, though Luna did not, that the celebrations were also held in honor of Luna herself, for most of her ponies saw Luna as their savior just as much, if not more so than Fantasia due to the night which she represented.

“Yes they do dear sister, and we still call your name every time the moon rises into the sky, like we always have.”

She turned her gaze back to her destination, and she stopped in midair as her eyes widened in horror, Luna stopping beside her and gazed in horror as well, for the capitol was destroyed; buildings scorched and toppled over as fires raged throughout the streets and fields. And in the center, where the great castle should have been, lay a massive crater that still leaked violent magical energy. Ponies were gathered around it, trying to repress its harmful effect from spreading, but soon stopped as Fantasia glided down, provoking hostile responses as they raised their spears at her, their eyes filled with malevolence.

“Guards what happened here…?”

“Silence you witch,” yelled one of what she now realized to be her personal guards, “you dare asked what happened here when it was you who caused it! We will not listen to your lies, not until you are brought before the clan heads to be judged!”

Luna bristled at the blatant disrespect they were sowing towards her sister, but she kept quiet, knowing she had no authority in this place even with how they viewed her. Fantasia meanwhile hung her head in shame, but soon looked up with a determined glare, causing some of the guards to back away as she spoke.

“I know you do not trust me, especially if you believe I was the cause of this madness, but I can assure you I am not, at least not entirely. I was under the control of a dark spirit, one which wanted to cause harm to our ponies, though I am not sure why.”

“And how do we know you are telling us the truth,” asked a cold voice from behind them.

Fantasia caught her breath as she turned, seeing a large unicorn walk out toward her and backing away a bit in fear. Luna stared at the stallion as well, for she had never seen anything like him in all her life. He stood as tall as an alicorn, his strong muscles rippling as he moved over to face Fantasia, his cold blue eyes staring into the depths of her soul.

“Can you look me in the eye, and tell me that is the truth?”

Fantasia gulped, looking at him and nodding toward him. “You of all ponies should know I would never lie about this, least of all to you,” and then she held her breath, praying that he would believer her.

The stallion walked up to her then, nuzzling close and causing her to gasp in surprise, till he silenced it by kissing her right in front of the remnants of her personal guard. Luna, who was not used to such forward displays of affection, blushed in embarrassment, but that was nothing compared to Fantasia’s reaction.

“Ebony what are you doing,” she yelled, trying to push him away while also attempting to hide her face with her wings.

“It’s ok, they know.” he said, nodding to the guards as they withdrew their weapons. As they did so Luna walked up to them, her face still flushed as she gazed upon them.

“Is this…Is this father of the child you spoke of?” Luna asked, biting her lip as she kept her gaze solely on her sister.

“Ye…yes, oh sweet mother, Ebony what about…”

“We lost track of him after he chased that creature posing as you into the woods after the explosion, and we saw another one happen near the outskirts, you should head there.”

“What about…”

“GO!” he yelled, pointing his hoof towards the horizon to urge her on before turning back to the guard to shout orders. Fantasia nodded, walking away and spreading her wings, and then taking off into the skies with Luna in the direction of the forest.

Fantasia and Luna landed in the devastated woods; the trees burned black from the exposure to powerful magic, and the ground lay cracked and scarred beneath them. Luna grimaced, for sites like this reminded her all too often of when she had lost control, during her own time of madness.

“That beast possessing you must have been powerful, much like the one that whispered to me so long ago.”

“The destruction of neither the capitol, nor this was caused by that monster; all of it was caused by my son.”

Luna’s jaw dropped, her mind reeling at the statement, “How could a mere colt…?”

“I shall explain when we find him Luna; right now the kingdom is still in danger, now come.”

They pressed forward, moving through the burned trees and scared ground, the destruction growing as they neared their destination. But when they finally reached the center of the destruction Luna gasped, for standing in the middle of the crater was a young colt, his mane, tail and wings turned to red and black smoke, his hooves cracked into claws, and his eyes glowing feral red as red lighting leaked from them. This disturbed Luna greatly, for it nearly mimicked how Fantasia looked when she awakened the deepest part of her powers, except on a much smaller scale.

The child turned to see Fantasia, and he growled, his horn crackling as he directed a blast of red light at her, which she dispersed, running up to him before he could get another shot. She touched horns with him, using that connection to link their minds, and slowly with great effort she began to calm him down.

Luna watched as the internal battle waged, the light from the two beings melding together as the transformations began to fade from the young ones form. But finally, after what seemed like hours, the colt lay unconscious in Fantasia’s forelegs, sleeping soundly as Fantasia cradled him.

“Come here sister,” said Fantasia, “I believe this will answer most of your questions.”

Luna walked over, kneeling down so that she could see the colt. His mane and tail lay in shambles, and sweat from his ordeal rolling down his face as he slept. But what drew Luna’s eyes was the mark on his flank, a star whose points joined with a circle, glowing blood red in the moonlight.

“He shares your cutie mark!”

“And my power,” said Fantasia, “it is something I discovered after I gave birth to him, for I saw that he already had a cutie mark on his flank. Apparently, we pass our power and our gifts onto our children when we give birth, though we retain dominance over said power.”

“So…so if I or Celestia, or any of our siblings were to give birth to foals…” Luna’s voice faltered, her brain reeling from the shock of it all.

“They would gain your power, and your connection to the moon, but you would hold dominance over it because you were the first to connect with it.”

Luna sat there, her mind buzzing with confusion and revelation as she took it all in. She had had suspicions of course that ran along this line, due to the nature of Princess Cadance who was the only daughter to their deceased sister Marmora, who had bound herself to the uncontrollable force that was love, but she had never dared to connected the dots. Now here was another child, bearing the same cutie mark, and wielding the same power.

“This will change everything…but one thing still puzzles us dear sister. The colt’s father, we have never seen one like him in all our years of life, for we were certain the bonding process only worked with mares.”

Fantasia chuckled, “That's what I thought as well, till I talked with another of our sisters, you remember Ixen and her children?”

“Yes I do."

“Well she was the one who told me it worked with stallions as well, for after you disappeared she told me about it, plus you remember what Marmora used to say about the magic of love.”

Luna nodded, still confused, but she remembered all that their old sister had said, so she let the matter drop. “So where to now,” she asked.

“First I must go and tell the guard where I will be going, then we must return to your home. Once there, I believe it will be time to gather the others once more, it’s time we mend these old wounds.”

Revelations: Part 1 (Revised)

Celestia watched her sisters go, saying a silent prayer before turning around and heading to where Twilight and the others still waited. She walked through the door, Twilight and the others getting up as she did so, all of them looking nervous.

“Princess, how did everything go, is she alright?”

“I too am concerned for her,” said Rarity, “I mean whatever happened to the poor dear; she looked like she had been attacked.”

“Your concern is touching,” said Celestia, “but my sister is fine. She and Luna have left for her kingdom, and hopefully they will be back soon. However now I must ask all of you to come with me, for we have urgent matters which need to be discussed. And Twilight, I will also need you to write a letter for me.”

“Ok princess” Twilight said; pulling out a quill and parchment from her saddle bags as they walked.

“To Misses Lyra and Bon-Bon Heartstrings, I require your presence here in Canterlot regarding a matter of utmost importance, so I expect you here as soon, yours, Princess Celestia.”

“Okay done, but why do you want them here?”

“Yeah I don’t get it, what’s so special about those two,” asked Rainbow.

“They will be important for what needs to be done, right now however I must speak with you girls alone, preferably before they arrive.”

They followed Celestia back into her bed chambers, Celestia sitting down on her bed, beckoning the others to gather around. They all sat down, all of them looking at Celestia with questioning gazes as Celestia sighed; this was going to be a long night.

“Twilight, I know you and your friends probably have a lot of questions, but first I must ask you some of my own. First, how much do you know of the time before the events known as Hearths Warming Eve?”

“Well not much is really known, other than there had been many wars between the separate pony tribes before the shaky alliance was formed between all of them, at least till they were beset upon by windigos after they began to argue.”

“Correct, and what do you know about the lands outside of Equestria?”

“There is nothing out there; those lands were totally destroyed by the windigos long ago, there is nothing left but barren wastes.”

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at them all, her face turning grim. “I must ask you all now to swear that what I tell you never leaves this room, not until events have played their course.”

“Beg your pardon?” asked Applejack.

“I know this must seem strange, but what I am about to tell you could compromise the safety of the kingdom if it were to leave this room, now I need you to give me your word.”

The last words that left her lips were stern, almost akin to an order, which took everypony back a step, for they had never seen her like this.

“Princess, what’s going on?” asked Twilight, her eyes full of fear.

The Princess sighed, “Everything about our history, right up to the banishment of my sister Luna is all a fabricated lie.”

There was a defining ring of silence that fell across the room, all the ponies sharing the same shocked or confused looks on their faces at this statement, but Twilight looked like she had been hit by a brick wall. She mouthed words of protest, her eyes focused on Celestia as if she had just banished her from the kingdom, or had told her she had failed a test, for what she said could not be possible.

“…no…no princess you can’t be…”

Celestia cut her off, “Twilight what I speak is the truth, I along with my sisters have been rewriting history for the past millennia…to cover up mistakes and events from the past we felt too dangerous to be remembered by the world at large. Now before I go further I must have your word that none of what I have told you and am about to tell you will leave this room.”

They all stared at her for a long moment, their faces showing the shock and confusion due to this revelation, which in truth Celestia had never wished to share. Much of what had happened in the past she still blamed herself for, for she was the oldest of her sisters, she should have known better.

“Alright princess,” said Applejack, “if yah promise to explain what yah mean, I give mah word not to say a thing.”

“I always thought those history books felt like fiction,” said Pinkie.

“A what the hay I’m in,” said Rainbow.

“Ok…” whispered Fluttershy.

“I guess we really don’t have any choice do we,” said Rarity.

Celestia turned last to Twilight, whose face had gone from a look of shock, to a look of pure grim anger, and when she spoke, her voice shook as she tried to hold back said anger.

“All those stories you used to tell me, every single one of them, those were all lies, ALL OF THEM!”

Celestia felt a pang of guilt pierce her heart, the celestial leader could handle many things, but the look of pain and anguish on the face of the one she had tutored from filly hood was the most punishing thing she had ever experienced, for she had just taken this young mares childhood and smashed it to pieces within mere moments. Celestia hung her head in shame, for like in the past, she had stabbed another she had cared in the back, and also like in the past, it had been with kind words spoken into ears that had come to trust her.

“Not all of them my faithful…

“NO, YOU DON’T EVER GET TO CALL ME THAT AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN! NOW JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH!”

“Twilight, don’t yah think your being a bit…”

“SHUT UP!”

Twilight’s horn was flaring, her eyes had turned opaque and were glowing, and her cutie mark was glowing just as brightly as she stared at Celestia, her anger reaching the boiling point. She had been betrayed, betrayed by the one pony that she thought would never betray her, the one pony whom she had given everything to be with, everything.

Celestia looked up, tears drenching her face, but she found no forgiveness in Twilights glowing gaze.

“I will tell you the truth Twilight,” said Celestia through choked sobs, “once you have given me your word you won’t repeat what I tell you to anypony.”

Her voice cracked as she spoke, filled with tears that she knew she would haunt her for years to come. Twilight noticed this, slowly calming down as her eyes returning to normal, and her horn dimming along with her cutie mark. “Fine” she said, sitting down and keeping her cold glare on the princess.

Celestia wiped her eyes and composed herself; for she had a lot she needed to tell them, years’ worth of knowledge in fact, “I guess we should start at the beginning.”

Back at Ponyville, in a house on the outskirts of the town, two ponies were working in their basement as a letter materialized out of thin air. Lyra lifted up her welders mask, and then looked over to her marefriend as she grabbed the letter with her magic.

“Hey Bony, shut the generator down for a while, we got a letter.”

Bon-Bon looked up from her workstation, then walked over to the generator and flicked a switch, shutting of the generator and powering down her workstation. She then walked over to where Lyra stood; nuzzling up close to her so that she could read the letter. But once she was finished her brow furrowed in confusion, and she quickly turned toward Lyra before speaking.

“Wonder what the princess could want with us?”

“I’m not sure,” said Lyra, cupping her chin in a mechanical glove, taping it with one of her mechanical fingers before speaking. “You don’t think she…” she stopped herself, but gave Bon-Bon a knowing look.

Bon-Bon sighed, “I’ll go get the communicator and the hollow projector, and I suggest you take off your hands before we go, we don’t want another incident like last time now do we?”

She nipped Lyra’s ear as she left, causing Lyra to giggle as she began taking off her gloves. She got up, grabbing some equipment and putting it into her saddle bags, then joined Bon-Bon at the door, both making their way towards the train station on nervous hooves, hoping they were not in trouble.

Even through her anger, Twilight could not contain her amazement at the story Celestia had just told them. The idea that their world had been forged by one pony, an all-powerful pony of creation, was mind-boggling as it was contrary to everything the history books…she slowly cringed as she remembered, those books were all lies. She returned her attention to Celestia as she began speaking again, images floating above them as she began to explain.

“After my mother’s death, we all went our separate ways, save for me, Luna and Marmora, for Luna was still too young to be on her own, and Marmora wanted to make sure she was safe. I along with Luna and Marmora became silent observers, neutral parties that stayed out of the affairs of the kingdoms that began to rise, where as our other sisters sought out kingdoms of their own, as our mother had told them to do.”

More images surfaced, showing the one they knew as Fantasia finding some ponies that were struggling in the sun, and then watched as she cast a great spell, which made the sun turn silver as a new night fell over them all.

“The one you just met was Fantasia, a very loyal soul who went to a land that was filled with what you know as vamponies, who could not stand to be in the light of my sun. So to aid them, she cast a mighty spell, which turned the light of the sun silver like the moon, and allowed them to survive in a land that had originally been hostile to them. Thus the Land of Shadows was born.”

“Vamponies,” said Rarity skeptically, “but I always read that vamponies were violent creatures, with no sense of self whatsoever.”

“You’re thinking of feral vamponies Rarity,” said Twilight quickly, only to stop for a moment before turning toward Celestia once again. “Assuming ‘Genealogy and Vampony Divergence’ wasn’t one of the fabricated books?”

“No Twilight, that was not fabricated,” said Celestia, turning her gaze back up at the images, changing them so the focused on another of her sisters. Fluttershy screamed and ducked under her wings as a pony with claws and dragon wings soared over them, baring her serrated teeth as she flew alongside two full sized dragons.

“Ixen, the third youngest next to Luna, is of the race known as the Kirin…”

“Kirin, but she looks like that there Discord fella, doesn’t that mean she is a Draconeques?” asked Applejack.

“No Applejack, Discord is only one of two Draconequi, which in truth is a perversion of the Kirin species, but we will get to him later. Now as I was saying, Ixen went to a land dominated by dragons, and full of ponies like her, and with her power she was able to unite the two, becoming the leader of them and turning the once hostile land into what is now called the Empire of Fangs.”

Twilight watched as the images changed yet again, but before they could solidify, she coughed to get Celestia’s attention.

“Yes my…yes Twilight?” asked Celestia.

“I was just wondering before you continued, how many of you are there?”

“…There were nine of us originally…now there are only eight of us remaining.”

“Only eight,” asked Rainbow, “what happened to the other one?”

Celestia stopped for a moment, having to hold back tears as the memories flooded her mind. “She…she was killed long ago…” she said, her voice choking on each word as she spoke them.

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth in shock, while the others gasped behind her. Celestia could understand their shock, for she knew most of the citizens viewed her and her sister as gods, and therefore above such mortal ailments like death.

“…Killed, but how is that possible, how could anything kill somepony like you?” Twilight asked; her face full of confusion.

Celestia smiled mournfully, “Twilight, while we me may be immortal, we are not invincible. You all saw that at Princess Cadance’s wedding when I confronted Queen Chrysalis, and if she had but pressed her advantage, I to would have been killed. Now please let me continue, I have a few more images to show you before we retire tonight, then we can continue in the morning.”

They all nodded, and Celestia returned to the images above her. This time they formed under the oceans of the world as they fallowed a webbed mare whose wings looked like fins, and whose tail was like that of a fish.

“Siren Gale was one of those that decided to separate herself from the main body of sisters, though the path she chose she was well adapted for. It is her ponies who dictate how the waters of the sea behave, guided by her song.”

The images swam once more; focusing on a pony who looked like Celestia herself, except her main was pure white with sky-blue streaks running through it.

“Out of all of us, Anastasia was the most rambunctious of the lot. In fact in all my years of life I have never met a pony as obsessed with making other ponies happy then her, at least till I met you Pinkie Pie.”

Just as she said this the pony in the image began giggling madly as she clicked her hooves together, jumping around in a similar manner as Pinkie as a party cannon appeared behind her, firing confetti and other party favors.”

“Hey, that’s my party cannon!”

“Yes and no, however they are similar in their effect, but we are getting off topic. Anyways, through her travels she came upon a land that was full of ponies who could control the very elements around them, from the air they breathed to the water they drank, and through her laughter and good cheer she united their tribes, forming the Kingdom of Spires.”

She hesitated when she reached the next sister, for she knew this one out of them would be the hardest to understand out of all her siblings. The images formed, showing a blue alicorn with bull like horns working inside a lab, helping ponies with similar horns to build great machines the likes of which did not exist in Equestria.

“Now we come to Mercury, she was always the thinker and the questioner among us, always wanting to learn and invent, to build and create. It was due to this that she gravitated toward a group of ponies of similar mindset to her, and she along with this group began delving into the fields of science, merging it with magic to create a nation totally dedicated to technological and magical advancement, known as the Adeptest Republic.”

She began shifting the images again, and once they formed, Rarity cried out in joy at the sight.

“My word, she looks absolutely GORGEOUS!”

From her mane to her tail, to her coat and even to her hooves, the mares color continuously changed through all the colors of the spectrum, only her bright green eyes remained the same. She had fairy wings which fanned out from her back, and twin insect like antenna that sat beside her horn, complimenting her otherworldly nature.

“Princess…what is she; she doesn’t look like a normal pony.”

“Your right Twilight,” said Celestia, “Dreamstride isn’t normal, for she belongs to the race of ponies called the Fey, fairy like beings that used to live in the great forests the world. Dreamstride gathered them all in a strange place known as the Forest Le’Fey, a living wood where they could be protected from some of the wilder wilderness environments. Most of us are still unsure of how her people see her, but we know that whenever she gives the word, they follow.”

The images disappeared, and Celestia concentrated on the last set of images. But the moment that the images formed, Twilight leaped up, recognition etched in her face.

“That’s Princess Cadance!”

Celestia chuckled, “I’m not surprised you see the likeness, but this is not Cadence. This is Marmora Clairvoyance, Cadences mother.”

She paused as they all reacted, noting Twilights reaction in particular, for she knew how she would interpret it.

“Cadences mother, but when did she…?”

“A long time ago, none of us really know when. She remained by mine and Luna’s side, for she had wished to watch over us and make sure we were safe. Thus we became the silent observers of the world; the neutral party that kept the balance between the five kingdoms, at least till Marmora founded the Crystal Empire when she found the crystal ponies.”

The images faded, and Celestia breathed out a sigh, for it had been a trying experience, bring up images from so long ago.

“I suggest you all turn in for the night, a room has been prepared for you all, and we shall continue this tomorrow when we all are better rested.”

She then opened the door and watched them go, turning her back on the door and collapsing on the bed with a sob, calling forth old images as she heard the door close behind her.

Twilight followed the others outside the room, but soon stopped as the doors closed. She looked back, her anger finally abandoned and concern setting in. She had been very harsh with Celestia, and while she felt that she had been justified, was that really a good reason to hurt her so.

“Hey girls, you go on without me ok, I’m going to see if she is ok.”

“You sure about that Twilight, I mean you were pretty mad earlier.”

“Yeah…I’m sure,” said Twilight.

“Alright Twilight, we’ll see yoh back at the room,” said Applejack walking with the others as they went to the guest room.

Twilight turned back and opened the door slowly, walking into the room and seeing Celestia looking at several new images, her ears splayed against the back of her head in sadness. They showed Celestia running toward the balcony of her room as Marmora, injured and bleeding, landed there and stumbled, clutching a foal to her chest as though her life depended on it. She watched as the image of Celestia carried Marmora over to the bed, the blood trailing across the ground as they moved, not knowing what to do.

“She died in this very room,” said Celestia, startling Twilight. “It had happened several days after I had banished Luna to the moon, she…she had been missing for some time before that, and nopony knew where she was. She wouldn’t tell me where she had been, or what had happened, she just made me promise to take care of her foal for her.”

Celestia shook with contained sobs, the pain of the past washing over her as she curled up and cried. Twilight just stood there for a moment, and then she walked over, climbing onto the bed and resting against her mentor’s body, nuzzling her in comfort.

“Twilight…,” Celestia asked, feeling tears begin to fall from Twilights eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for yelling at you before,” said Twilight, sobs racking her body as she nuzzled into the princesses side. “I know you probably had your reasons to keep that information from us, but I was just so angry you lied to me, I…I thought that you didn’t trust me.”

Celestia draped a wing over her, bending down and nuzzling Twilight to try and comfort the poor mare. “Twilight you have nothing to be sorry for, I led you along with kind hearted lies that did nothing but appease the long growing gilt I have had to contain over the years. I am the one who should be sorry, for I never meant to hurt you, nor anypony for that matter,” she thought to herself, continuing to nuzzle her student to try and comfort her.

Twilight continued to cry as her mentor spoke reassuring words, offering solace to each other under the light of the full moon, for there was nothing else to do, now that the truth was out.

The rest of Twilight’s group made it to the room in one piece, everypony beginning to get things ready; all save for Rarity, who could not shake the many thoughts that had entered her head due to what Celestia had told them.

“I wonder why Celestia is choosing now of all times to tell us all this,” she said aloud, “I mean it all seems kind of sudden doesn’t it?”

“Ah know what yah mean Rare, Ah’m just worried about how long were gonna to be staying here, the farm can’t run itself.”

Rarity nodded at Applejack, knowing the earth ponies’ worries were the same as her own. She cupped her chin in her hoof however, pondering what all this could mean.

“It does make a lady wonder, is it possible Celestia intends us to meet with the rest of them,” Rarity asked aloud, turning toward her companions and noting their confusion.

“Huh, why the hay would she want to do that?”

“Well maybe Rare’s right Rainbow, ah mean think about it, first this whole business with the Crystal Empire, and now this long lost sibling shows up, forcing her to reveal the truth to us.”

“Oh that would be so awesome! We could throw a party for them and play games and all that other fun stuff. I didn’t know she had so many sisters, and they all look so cool and…”

Pinkie suddenly stopped talking as Applejack shoved a hoof in her mouth, crossing her forehooves in frustration at being denied her ramble.

“Hey does anyone know when Twilight is going to get here,” asked Rainbow, looking around the room as she spoke. “I mean she knows more about the Princess then any of us, maybe she could shed some light on this.”

“Um…I don’t think she‘ll be coming,” said Fluttershy, drawing everponies attention toward her as she spoke.

“Why whatever do you mean dear,” asked Rarity, turning to Fluttershy with a questioning glance.

“Well I…I think she will want to comfort the princess after yelling at her, because it probably was really hard for the princess to drag up all those memories from so long ago, knowing she had lied to about them for all these years, and Twilight would have seen that. Plus Twilight would have realized how harsh she had been, so she would of course want to apologize for that, oh and there is also the fact that Celestia is her marefriend so…”

They reacted all at once, Rarity, who had been sipping some tea; spat it out onto Rainbow Dashes surprised face. Pinkie, who had been laughing for no apparent reason, choked on her own laugh, and Applejack looked like she had been bucked in the face upon hearing Fluttershy’s words.

“Ok sugar cube, ah know ah can’t have heard that right, did you just say that Celestia is Twilight’s marefriend?”

“Yes I said that,” said Fluttershy in a matter of fact sort of way, calmer now then she had been before, “Twilight and Celestia are marefriends.”

The all just stared at her like she had lost her marbles, save Pinkie who just nodded, and then Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“But when the hell did that happened, I mean…they were always so…uhg this is making my head hurt?”

Fluttershy giggled at that, “They have been together long before she left for Ponyville, and they continued their relationship afterwards, you just knew her as Sunbeam then.”

“That was Sunbeam,” exclaimed Applejack, looking flustered as Fluttershy nodded.

“But…but dear,” piped in Rarity, “when did you ever find out such a scandalous thing?”

An uncommon grin formed on the yellow mares face, placing her chin onto her hooves as a dreamy expression masked her visage. “I found out during our double date, Both Celestia and Luna figured it wouldn’t due to hide the truth from ponies so close to them.”

Rarity fainted at this information, Rainbow Dash’s wings popped out of their own accord due to the images that had popped into her head, Pinkie Pie actually blushed, and Applejack’s nose started to bleed, this was too much for the poor farm ponies mind to handle.

“Yah…yah and Princess Luna,” asked the farm pony, wondering where all the sanity had gone from the world.

Fluttershy nodded, “mmhm; happened a while back, several months after her first Nightmare Night if I recall correctly.”

She then got up, heading for the door as Rainbow called out to her.

“Where the hay do you think you’re going,” asked Rainbow.

“To Luna’s room,” said Fluttershy with a faint grin, “I figure she will be coming back soon, and I want to surprise her.” She then opened the door, but then turned toward the group and spoke. “Oh and if you could please let me break the news to Twilight and Celestia that you guys know first, it will be easier for both of them if it comes from me, and the same goes for Luna.”

And with that she left the room, leaving the other ponies completely baffled as they tried to sort everything out.

“……ah think ah am just going to lie down, this is just too much tah handle right now.”

“Yeah…I’ll just get Rarity into the bed, gal actually fainted for once, hehe.”

Rainbow forced the laugh to try and quell all the images running through her head at breakneck speeds, lifting the unconscious mare into the bed with little effort before turning, seeing that Pinkie Pie was heading out the door as well.

“And where the hay are you going Pinkie?”

“Oh nowhere you need to know silly Dashie,” Pinkie Pie with a grin, “I just got some where I need to be at the moment.”

She to left, closing the door behind her, and Rainbow Dash just shook her head in confusion, lying down next to Rarity as Applejack climbed onto the bed as well. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel that things were only going to get weirder from this point on, and with that thought she closed her eyes, letting her mind take her to the land of dreams, where things weren’t turning topsy turvey.

Revelations: Part 2 (Revised)

Deep within the bowls of the moon a creature stirred, awakened by the familiar tingle of activity beginning on that forlorn blue orb. She slowly roes to her hooves, her red eyes looking down at the glowing blue pool that served as her eye on the world of her sisters creation, making it possible for her to see all that went on there. She began moving toward it, stretching her wings to get the blood circulating through them properly, and then she began to speak to the room at large.

“Wake up my beauties, rise and shine; it’s a band new day and the mortal world is at peace…but not for long.”

As she spoke, ponies began waking all around her, raising their heads to look at her. Slowly they began to raise, their eyes flashing yellow to signify their bond to her, the being who had taken them away from their torment and pain. She smiled as they gathered around her, nuzzling a few before gazing into the pool that reflected the world.

“Just look at them,” she said, “I pull one tiny thread and their whole world unravels into chaos, glorious chaos.”

They all gazed at the image floating in the pool, and watched the being they all viewed as their mother. The younger ones began to gather closer to her, nuzzling up close to her as their eyes began to glow they got close to her, and she returned it with affectionate nips and rubs, for she loved her foals dearly.

“And would you look at this,” she said, making the pool zoom in on a pair of ponies in particular as she turned back to the pool. It showed Luna and Fantasia flying toward the borders of Equestria at frightening speed, which made her smile mischievously as she spoke. “It looks like my nieces are coming together again at long last, how cute, but I wonder what Celestia is up to at this hour?”

She made the image zoom out, and then refocus on the balcony that led to Celestia’s bed chambers. As she gazed inside, a smile broke across her face at what she witnessed.

“Well my my Celestia, look at how far you have come in such a short time.” She licked her lips at the site, for she was after all a creature of such passions, and seeing such always got her excited. She shook her head however, for this was no time to be thinking of such wants, even if it could be simply satisfied.

She lifted her head then, looking out over the masses of her loyal children as she stretched out her thoughts. “North Fire, Dark Reign, Heath Haven, my loves, come to me.”

Three young alicorns leaped out from the group, each of them landing in front of her and nuzzling against her, their shining eyes eager with anticipation.

“I need you three to take your groups out to the Everfree Forest and set up a base in the caves hidden there, I have a feeling war is about to visit that quite little part of Equestria.”

The three children shouted their approval, turning to amass their forces as large groups of ponies of all kinds leaped to answer their call. The being watched as her true children guided those who she had taken to the portals, a smile creeping its way to her lips once again. It had been ages since she had caused such mischief, mischief the likes of which no pony of this age would be prepared to handle.

She threw back her head and began to laugh, looking to the statue of her long lost sister as the pupils of her eyes turned yellow like those of the ponies around her. She reveled in this joyance feeling, for soon she would come forth, and the pieces would once again begin moving towards her desired goal; bringing her closer to once again embracing that which they had stolen from her.

Her revenge would be sweet…

Celestia lifted her head drearily from her pillow, not even bothering to open her eyes as she activated the spell that would make the sun rise into the sky. She snuggled up closer to Twilight, the mare responding with a squeak and a nuzzle, opening her eyes to look at Celestia with a smile. She was about to speak when she heard the rustle of wings on the balcony, and then a gasp as somepony walked in.

“Oh my…Celestia,” said a voice above them, a voice that sounded all too familiar to Celestia as it spoke. “I never knew you had such…interesting tastes, but I must say she is quite something.”

Celestia’s eyes slowly opened; both her and Twilight looking up to see Fantasia staring down at them, a wolfish grin on her face and a devious light dancing within her eyes. She was holding a foal in one of her forelimbs, keeping him off the ground and close to her body as he slept.

Twilight’s interest was piqued almost instantly, driving all thoughts of embarrassment from her mind.

“Is that your foal,” she asked, noting the similar red markings along his black coat and mane.

“Why yes,” said Fantasia as she looked down, “how very astute of you, though I guess the resemblance is uncanny at best, the only real thing he inherited from his father is the fact that he is male.” She then chuckled, looking at Celestia before speaking again. “So tell me dear sister, how long have you and this intelligent individual been seeing each other?”

“Now what makes you think…?”

“Sister, please don’t tell me you have forgotten how good my sense of smell is, I could smell the scent of your coupling the moment I landed on the balcony.”

Both mares blushed as Fantasia laughed at their expense, Luna joining from behind. They were quickly interrupted as a nock came to the door, and one of the guards poked his head in, not even batting an eyelash at the presence of another alicorn in Celestia’s room.

“Your highness, Misses Lyra and Bon-Bon have arrived per your summons.”

“Thank you guard, tell them we shall meat with them shortly.”

She then watched as he left and closed the door behind him, rising to her hooves along with Twilight from the bed; beckoning her sisters to follow them as they made their way to the door.

Celestia tapped her hoof impatiently as the sun rose higher in the sky, for they had been in the royal courtroom for an hour now and she was beginning to run out of patients.

Where the devil was her sister and Fluttershy, everypony else had either arrived or had been relatively easy find, admittedly they had found Pinkie Pie out in the Canterlot gardens looking flustered, but other than that everypony else had been in the room save for Fluttershy.

Celestia had a sneaking suspicion she knew where they were, and sure enough her suspicions were confirmed when they both walked in through a side door, both looking noticeably flustered and blushing deep red, Celestia giving her sister a knowing look before speaking.

“Did you really have to take care of such business at this time of day?”

“We are sorry sister, but she was rather direct in her persuasions…very direct.” Luna’s blush deepened further as she turned away, Celestia saying nothing further about it and instead directing her attention forward as she told the guards to let their guests in.

Lyra and Bon-Bon walked along the carpeted floor as they approached the throne and the large number of ponies there, Lyra’s nerves growing with each step as she tried to keep calm. She had expected Celestia and Luna, and even entertained the possibility of meeting with the Elements of Harmony, due to the letter being in Twilight's horn writing.

But she had not expected the mare standing on Celestia’s other side, a mare she knew all too well due to her own past. However she would have to keep those concerns quite for the time being, for they had finally stopped in front of the raised dais, bowing low toward the regal monarchs in a show of respect, but before Lyra could begin to speak she was cut off by the sun goddess’s voice.

“You can skip the formalities Agents Lyra and Bon-Bon; I know who you are and why you are here.”

This caught everypony except Luna off guard, and stole the breath from Lyra’s lungs. She was so dead, her cover blown and she knew it. “Well,” said a voice in the back of her head, “might as well square your shoulders and see what the golden bitch wants.”

She and Bon-Bon both rose and stood straight, Lyra glaring into Celestia’s eyes with a non-caring look, as if the knowledge that her cover had been blown didn’t shake her to her core.

“So what is it you wanted to speak to us about,” asked Lyra, her voice calm despite the dread she felt.

“We assume that you have a means with communicating with our sister, the one you call Mercury Waters; we wish to converse with her now, for it is of the utmost importance.”

Lyra nodded, and then she and Bon-Bon got to work setting up the station, everypony else watching as they worked. Twilight watched curiously as the built the device, noting the intricate design and the use of wires and crystals to power the contraption.

Finally it was constructed, Lyra using her horn to turn it on, entering the correct sequence to connect to the coded frequency that she used to get in contact with her ruler and then standing aside. After a long moment an image formed on the screen, and the three sisters gasped at the face, for it was not the one they remembered.

“Sister,” exclaimed Celestia “what has happened to you?”

The alicorn mare on the screen smiled at the reaction, her right eye showing happiness at seeing her sisters again. Her left eye however, and part of the left side of her face was missing, replaced by metal plates and a red glowing orb that seemed to act as a replacement eye.

But those weren’t the only things that had been replaced with metal, the right side of her chest shown metallic as well, a glowing white disk over her heart that pulsed in time with her silent heartbeats. Her right foreleg an left back leg were also missing, and both her wings had been replaced with metallic replicas, like those given to wounded pegasi who had lost a wing due to injury.

But despite this, Mercury kept smiling at her sisters pained expressions, knowing the cause of it and not wanting them to worry.

“Sisters please, long has it been since I have gazed upon you, though I do apologize if I am not as whole as you remember me. The republic has fallen on bad tidings for the past thousand years or so, and because of this I have been forced to directly interfere to prevent disaster. It has cost me a little more then I expect, though I am coping, for my power has helped in that regard.”

Celestia nodded, remembering the unique power her sister had bound herself to, that now seemed to have taken part of her, like some morbid exchange.

“But I know you didn’t blow my dear daughters cover just to chat about problems on my end correct?”

“Correct…and when you say daughter, do you mean…?”

“Lyra is my daughter through marriage, so in technical terms she is my step daughter. Which reminds me, you can remove your disguise now Lyra, as well as the disguise of your mate.”

Lyra nodded, and then with a flash of her horn, both she and Bon-Bon changed, bull horns growing from their heads and their tails becoming long flexible appendages with tufts of tail hair at the end.

“What the hay, what the heck are you,” said Rainbow Dash rather harshly, drawing a glare from her friends. “What?”

“It’s ok,” said Lyra with a grin, “we get those reactions all the time from outsiders. As to what we are, we are of the race known as Gorgans…”

“Gorgans,” screeched Twilight in alarm, “but Gorgans are monsters who turn their victims to stone with a gaze, much like cockatrices.”

This drew a laugh from Mercury, “I can see the Legendaris Invictus has served its purpose well, but no Twilight, my race is not the monsters you describe.”

Twilight opened her mouth to ask another question, only to have the mare on the screen raise a hoof to silence her. "Now is not the time for questions young Twilight, for we have other business we must attend to. I assume by the fact that Fantasia stands by your side sister that the rumors my spies have told me about the attack on her kingdom are true?”

“Yes,” said Fantasia, “and I believe I was stricken with the same madness that affected Luna all those years ago, or at least some variation of it.”

This caused every pony in the room to look at her, especially Luna, for she had been trying hard to keep from connecting the dots, but now that her sister had said it, she was forced to connect them and come to the same conclusions.

“Hm…yes, I assumed as much, the reports from my spies there showed similar behavior when compared with the reports from Equestria those many years ago.” She then turned to face Celestia, her mismatched eyes locking with those of her oldest sister, “Celestia you…you don’t think it could be…her do you?”

Twilight and the other seven mares in the room all perked their ears up at this little snippet, Twilight wondering who this ‘her’ possibly could refer to.

“Yes, we do believe it was her. The magic I found in the wounds of Fantasia matched with the magic I felt deep inside Luna when she had been turned into Nightmare moon, and I think it was she that was behind both events.”

Mercury nodded, her face showing her concern as she sighed in defeat. “Then it is as we have feared, I shall communicate with the others, and we should arrive at your palace by midday your time, so stay safe my sisters.” And with that the transmission ended, her face disappearing from the screen as Lyra and Bon-Bon began dismantling the device, while Celestia turned to the other ponies present.

“We best get ourselves ready, my sisters will be here soon. I will expect Everypony at the landing balcony by midday, ready to greet our guests.”

Celestia could barley contain her joy at the thoughts bubbling through her head as she got up, for she was going to see her sister after so long, and it didn’t even matter the news she had been given. She galloped off as the group split up, Twilight walking up beside as she ran to her royal chambers to dress.

“Princess, um about…”

“Celestia, Twilight!”

They both turned to see Fluttershy running excitedly up to them, so they both stopped so she could catch up.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you both that I kind of spilled the beans about you two being together, hope you’re not angry with me.”

Celestia giggled as Twilight blushed with embarrassment. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I can safely say I am not angry with you, neither I can assume is Twilight, it was going to have to be revealed anyway.”

“Oh few that’s good, now if you will excuse me, I got a naughty princess I have to go help get into her dress,” said Fluttershy, who then giggled as she clapped her hooves and whinnied, charging off toward Luna’s room.

Twilight and Celestia both stared after the mare looking dumb struck, and then they turned to each other with expressions of confusion.

“Princess, I think your sister has corrupted my friend”

“Quite the contrary my dear student, my sister has always been rather…shall we say reserved about subjects of that nature, I think it is your friend that corrupted my sister.”

They both looked at each other for a moment, and then they began to laugh. They began moving again, heading to Celestia’s chambers, figuring they might as well be dressed to match if everypony knew about their relationship.

They all stood upon the landing platform as the mid-day sun towered overhead, all waiting patiently in their fancy garb that Celestia had loaned them for the occasion. They looked as regal as any royal court pony could possibly look, their manes all tied elegantly and draped over their shoulders, and their coats all cleaned to a royal shine.

Celestia paced nervously as she watched the skies, for now that her happiness had died down, all her worries had begun to crawl their way back in. Sure, Fantasia and Mercury had responded well to her, but she didn’t know what her other sisters would think. She knew for a fact Siren would not answer her summons, not until things between them all mended and the kingdoms started trade again, but she was used to Siren being so brash. Out of all the ponies she remembered, it was her sister Anastasia that scared her the most.

When she had said that Pinkie Pie was like Anastasia, she had meant that literally. Anastasia was a being of extremes, just like Pinkie Pie was, and she had her occasional…episodes, but there was a big difference between the two. When Pinkie Pie had an episode, she began talking to inanimate objects and her main went straight as a sheet. When Anastasia had an episode however…she shuddered as the memories of the first and last episode the young mare had ever had, for she had only seen destruction wrought like that two times in her life, and the other had been wrought by Nightmare Moon, which had seemed tame compared to the destructive force of nature that Anastasia was.

She shook the thoughts from her head; this was no time to be question herself. She looked up as the others gasped, seeing what they had spied as clearly as they did. A pony was being carried toward them on the back of a large black scaled dragon, his eyes shining red in the sunlight as he flew toward the landing platform, landing roughly on it and letting the Alicorn dismount, before changing his shape into that of a Alicorn sized Kirin male. The Alicorn stretched her wings and claws out, looking at the gathered throng, and smiling as she walked up to Celestia before opening her mouth to speak.

“Nomag wer suaco onureth dout altiuiri nurti loreat lae coi dronilnric wux okarthel.” said Ixen; a smile appearing on her lips as she spoke the ancient words of the dragon tongue.

Celestia’s eyes teared up as she heard the old greeting, for it was one they had used in their childhood, when the wait of responsibilities didn’t way so heavily on their shoulders, and she responded in kind. “Vur nomag wer ixen di dout sepa gahri wer gogetoi ekess erlelee wer sepa di dout itova iri.”

Ixen teared up as well, walking over and wrapping her sister in a hug, crying into her shoulder as she let the weight of centuries poor out of her strong frame, for it had been too long since she had her big sister to lean on.

After a while she pulled away from her eldest sister, sniffing and looking at the other two, her heart flipping over backwards at the sight of Luna, their youngest and most spoiled sister, before finally speaking again.

“The others should be arriving here shortly, everypony is so eager to see you after so long.”

“Everypony,” Celestia asked, trying to keep her fears in check.

Almost at once a dark look fell over Ixen's features, and she sighed loudly as she turned back to Celestia. “Unfortunately no, not everypony will be eager. I don’t know the details, but it appears that after…after the events of Nightmare Moon, it seems Anastasia had one of her episodes.”

Celestia’s face fell, her worse fears confirmed. She gulped, looking at her sister’s scaly face for any sign of scaring, “How bad?”

“It was horrible, by the time I had reached her to try and calm her down; her entire kingdom had been dropped into the void. Many pony lives were lost. Oddly though, they did not blame their ruler for what had transpired.”

“What, how is that possible, who could the possibly blame for that?”

Ixen seemed to hesitate, and then she sighed as she spoke. “They blame you dear sister, and the worst part is…she has started to believe it.”

Celestia felt the shock cut through her like a knife through butter. She had to hold back the pain that was welling in her throat, this was far worse than anything she could have ever imagined. It was one thing to just have a sibling blame her outright, she deserved it, but to have a sibling blaming her due to rumors spun by her subjects…it was just wrong.

She was slowly dragged out of her downhill spiral as another form was spotted in the distance, though this time it was Mercury, who was flying in on her own power instead of being escorted. She landed smoothly, her metal hooves clanking on the stone of the landing platform as she walked over to embrace Celestia. The sight of her mangled sister was worse in reality then it had been over the hollow projector as Lyra had called, but before she could voice her concerns Mercury spied Lyra in the crowed, and broke her embrace with Celestia before beckoning to Lyra to embrace her. Lyra didn’t need telling twice though, running up to the mare that had become her mother and hugging her tight, Mercury running a hoof through her step-daughters mane as she looked up at Celestia.

“Thank you for not harming her, I don’t know what I would do if I lost her.”

“It was no trouble; we just wish you hadn’t felt the need for secrecy.”

Mercury nodded, then let go of her daughter, walking over to converse with her other sisters.

Celestia scanned the skies, wondering who would be next, though in all honesty she just wished that Anastasia would show up already, for there were many other reasons that what Ixen had said bothered her.

Like Fantasia had been Luna’s favored sister, Anastasia had been hers, the rambunctious and wild mare bringing heights of joy to Celestia that she had never known before. It had been Celestia that had brought her back from the brink during her first episode, she who had calmed the raging inferno of angered thoughts and feelings that had consumed the wild mare, when no other could reach her.

She spotted another shape however, her heart sinking a bit when she saw who it was. Of all her siblings, Dreamstride was the one she liked the least, and with good reason, as they had a very jagged history. The pony landed softly, folding her butterfly like wings against her sides as she walked over to Celestia, the green pools that were her eyes gazing at them all in turn. Celestia stood still for a moment when their eyes locked, and then her face grimaced, causing her to glare at her sister.

“I distinctly remember asking you not to speak to me in such a manor sister; you know how it makes me feel.”

The other alicorn was slow to respond, but soon enough opened her mouth to speak. “We are sorry sister oldest, we have been…withdrawn from this world for some time, and it seems we have forgotten much of what you have said to us.”

Celestia drew in a deep breath, for it was worse than she had thought. She knew the others couldn’t hear it, but she could hear a second voice speaking faintly behind that of her sisters, a sign that her mind had begun falling within itself. She knew of her sisters strange tendencies, how she would lose herself in the world of her power, often forgetting to care for her body, let alone her mind.

Despite her dislike for her, Celestia could sense that the mental strain was starting to take its toll on the fairy like alicorn. So without asking for her approval, she grabbed her and pulled her into a soft embrace, not caring how sensitive her coat was to physical contact.

“I know we have had our differences in the past my sister, but I hope we can get past them, and learn to be sisters once again.”

The other nodded; her body shaking as she tried to contain repressed sobs as emotions she had long ago abandoned came flooding back into her. “We…” she stammered, “no…I would like that very much…” she said, letting go of Celestia and walking over to Mercury and Ixen; her heart jumping at the remembered pleasure of their unique company.

They waited patiently for the last sister to arrive, Celestia beginning to pace again, while Ixen and the others began conversing with the Elements of Harmony.

“Hm, that is strange, the elements do not look like I remember them.” Said Mercury, looking at the necklace draped over Applejack’s neck.

“What did they look like before Princess,” asked Twilight, her curiosity piqued.

“Oh I am no princess Miss Sparkle”

“Not a princess, I don’t understand, I thought all alicorns were Princesses?”

Mercury laughed, drawing a few chuckles from her siblings as she began to speak. “No not all alicorns are princesses dear Twilight, that is just some Equestrian tradition passed down due to the alarming amount of hostility toward the words Queen or King in the olden days, and tradition has stuck over the years.”

She chuckled again at the memories this produced, of when she had first visit to the rapidly growing nation, “I am what is called a President, I lead my people in times of war and hold veto rights over laws my board wishes to pass into effect.”

Twilight was enraptured, giggling excitedly as Mercury spoke. But before she could try to re-ask her previous question, a massive clap of thunder sounded through the sky.

They all turned to see a great black cloud forming in the sky, reaching its way toward them, till it came to rest itself on the great platform. The cloud opened, and out soared eight elegant mares, each landing upon the ground in single file in roughs of two. The two at the front were the largest, one alicorn and the other a pegasus, both standing at equal height, while the six mares behind them were all alicorn, each with markings similar to their regal mother, except different colors. The lead alicorn walked up toward Celestia, her ice blue eyes staring daggers into her once beloved sister as Celestia spoke.

“Anastasia,” said Celestia.

“Celestia, it has been too long”

Celestia reach a hoof out to her sister, only to have it brushed aside, an even angrier glint coming to the monarch’s eyes.

“Celestia, I only answered your summons because of my own personal reasons, not for some misguided hope of uniting our kingdoms; you and I have business that needs settling.”

Celestia gulped, knowing what was coming before any of her other sisters did.

“Celestia, by right of ancient blood, I Anastasia Skadi Elmora Ordea challenge you to a weighing of magic’s.”

Celestia heard the gasps of the other five, as well as the confused mutterings from her pupil and her friends. But Celestia squared her shoulders, for she knew this had to be done.

“I Celestia Solaris Ordea accept the challenge, and as it is on my land, I pick the field of engagement.”

“Rightly so,” responded Anastasia coldly, relishing in the words she had been hoping to use for the longest time.

“Then we shall hold the challenge within the grand chamber under the mountain.”

“With pleasure,” said Anastasia, before turning to the others behind her. “Sylvia, daughters come along,” she said, and with that she and the other seven mares that had accompanied her walked past Celestia, lifting off into the sky and heading toward the mountain.

Celestia sighed as she watched her sister go, but then turned and went for the stairway, Luna and the others following her close on her heals.

“Sister you cannot be serious about actually going through with this can you,” asked Luna, looking concerned as they moved down the stairs.

“I have no other choice Luna, and she has every right to challenge. Now go and escort everypony to the stands within the chamber, I must go and prepare.”

“Princess what’s going on,” asked Twilight, concern etched on her face.

Celestia quickly bent down and comforted her marefriend, kissing her softly on the cheek to reassure her before rising back to her full height. “Luna and the others will explain everything once you reach there, just be brave my stu…my Twilight, be brave for me.”

Celestia then gave her one more quick kiss, and then she took off, running back to the castle as Luna guided Twilight and the others to the entrance that would lead them to the grand chamber.

Revelations: Part 3 (Revised)

Twilight and the others kept pace with the Alicorns as they walked along the corridor to the stands, Twilight listening to them as they talked in urgent voices.

“How bad do you think this is going to get?”

“I do not know, but I can feel Anastasia’s anger from here, she is not in her right state of mind.”

“Dam dam dam! I knew I should have never invited her here, I knew she would pull this fucking shit!” yelled Mercury, her voice becoming metallic as it roes several octaves.

“Prin…I mean Mercury, what exactly is this weighing of magic’s, I mean it doesn’t sound that dangerous, right?” asked Twilight, trying to keep the note of panic out of her voice.

“Appearances can be deceiving Twilight Sparkle, for this trial was used in the old days to settle disputes between ourselves when words no longer worked, and honestly I had hoped we had all grown past such…barbaric methods”

“But you make it sound as if they are going to…to…” Rarity started behind her, gasping in shock as realization dawned.

“I am impressed Miss Rarity that you are the one to come to such conclusions,” said Dreamstride, “it is indeed how you have guessed; the weighing of the magic is done through combat.”

Twilight and the others gasped, Twilight's mind racing through all the possible outcomes, and possible ways to try and prevent this. But Luna sensed her growing turmoil, and she quickly walked up close to her, placing a wing over her in comfort. “Don’t worry Twilight, this has happened many times before and we shall not let things get out of hoof, for if the fighting gets too out of control, I and my sisters will put a stop to it.”

Twilight sighed with relief, not noticing the concerned glances that flew between Luna and her other sisters. It was true that in the past such incidents had occurred, but it had always been either Anastasia or Celestia that had been the ones to break up the fighting if it got out of control, not them.

Now it was the ones who kept them in check that were the ones about to fight, one consumed by an ever growing hate while the other racked with self-imposed guilt. Luna couldn’t think of a worse combination to be throwing into an arena style battle to fight it out, for she knew that Celestia was looking at this as a way to finally let somepony rip her to pieces, to tear into her and make her pay for all the things she blamed herself for.

And while she may not have known what drove Anastasia anymore, she knew that her anger now would most likely make her take advantage of Celestia’s plight, and most likely try and drag the regal sun monarch further down with harsh words as well as hooves.

But the thing that frightened her most about this fight was one simple fact, for Luna and the others all knew Celestia and Anastasia were the strongest of them, and if things got out of hoof, even all five of them combined would not be able to stop the bloodbath that would follow.

They finally reached the platform which overlooked the grand chamber that served as a refuge for ponies in times of strife and turmoil. Now it stood bear, the polished stone floor gleaming in the torchlight as they entered. On the opposite side, another platform faced them, showing the mares that had accompanied Anastasia already seated there.

Then they heard the doors at the bottom open, and watched as the two Alicorns entered the chamber; Twilight gasping when she saw Celestia, for she had never seen her in the armor she wore now.

The golden armor looked like it had seen many battles, the scars of ages passed covering each rugged piece. She held a helmet at her side, a split running down the back of it to allow her main to flow out, but otherwise the helm looked like it would entirely cover her face.

Anastasia on the other hoof wore no armor, and had also done away with her regalia, looking at Celestia with deep seeded hatred.

“Why is she not wearing armor,” asked Rainbow, her face showing her confusion.

Luna stared down at Anastasia, hesitating for a long moment before answering the question, knowing how they would react. “Because Rainbow Dash…when this starts, she will not need such mortal protection.”

All the elements looked at her with worry, for they could practically feel the fear dripping from Luna’s voice. However Luna had to ignore them, walking up to the edge of the platform and clearing her throat before speaking in her Royal voice.

“The challenge of the Weighing of Magic is convened, the witnesses have been gathered, and the combatants have prepared themselves. Celestia, stand thee ready?"

“I,” said Celestia

“Anastasia, stand thee ready?”

Anastasia just nodded her head.

Luna breathed in deep, and then let it out slowly, “Then let the Weighing of Magic commence, Solaris, I bid thee, come forth!”

Twilight watched as Celestia put the helmet over her head, then watched in horror as her body began to change. The fur along her body began to burn away, leaving black charred flesh which cracked to reveal glowing orange scars. Then she watched as Celestia threw back her head and screamed as her mane, tail and wings burst into flames, a great solar wind beginning to swirl around the armored princess, scorching the stone beneath black as she turned burning yellow eyes upon Anastasia.

“Skadi,” commanded Luna, her voice tinged with fear due to her sister’s transformation. “I…I bid thee, come forth!”

The first thing to change was Anastasia’s cutie mark, one of the symbols glowing brighter than the rest and expanding to consume the rest as a black and purple pool of energy began to form under her hooves. The energy began to crawl up her, wrapping itself lovingly around her form as it began to lift her off the ground, changing her and causing her to grow. She was soon consumed by the growing darkness that roes around her, its shape shifting as the semblance of an equine head began forming, followed soon by a neck. Arms soon followed, emerging from a large feminine body as it rose up from the pool, stopping just short of its hips as it towered over the burning sun goddess, its mane looking like slithering tendrils as they coiled and slid around its equine neck and horn.

“Le…let the challenge…commence,” said Luna, barely finishing her sentence as the two creatures lunged for each other.

Celestia’s mind was only half in the fight when the shadows first hit her in the stomach, causing her to fly into a wall. She struggled to her hooves, forming a ball of fire and blasting Anastasia with a weak blast of solar flame, meanwhile combating the beast that was screaming inside her for release. It wanted to hurt, it wanted to dominate, but most of all, it wanted to break the one who had dared challenge her unopposed might.

Celestia knew she had to keep it from taking hold, for she would never be able to get passed the beast that now ruled Anastasia’s mind if she was in a similar state, so she fired another blast, leaping into the air as a black cone of energy blasted its way toward her.

Twilight watched in fear as the two creatures fought against each other, petrified by the awesome display of power that she was witnessing. She watched as Celestia flew through the air on her fiery wings, sending blast after blast at Anastasia as she sent wave after wave of dark energy at her.

But Twilight could tell something was wrong, all Celestia’s movements seemed sluggish, like she was fighting to keep control of her body while battling with her sister, so in desperation for answers she turned to Luna for explanation.

“Luna, what’s wrong with Celestia, she doesn’t seem like she is all there?”

Luna looked down at her, knowing her confusion but hoping she could steer the conversation elsewhere. “It is hard to explain, we doubt you would understand…”

“Luna please!”

“Very well,” said Luna, watching as a fireball slammed against the barrier that had been placed around the balcony with a sigh, before finally looking down at her again to speak. “Our power has two sides, one side we use in everyday life, while the other we only use in the darkest of situations, times when the gentle touch of our power is not enough. But this power comes with a price, for it latches onto the more primal emotions of our being, an animalistic hunger that nags at us to be released. Released moderately and in remote places, control can eventually be won over this aspect of our power. But Celestia has not released her true power in some time, thus it is harder for her to control.”

“But…but you speak as if it’s a sentient thing.”

“…That’s because it is.”

Twilight stared at her in disbelief, but before she could ask another question she heard a screech of pain and looked down, seeing blood flying from a cut running along Celestia’s smoldering body. Twilight stifled a scream behind her hooves, tears coming to her eyes at the sight of her princess being hurt, but it was already too late…

Celestia heard the cry of her mare, turning to look in the direction of her love only to see her mare in tears, and then her vision filled with fire. She turned to the creature that had cut her, for it was the cause of that pain, and it was the cause of her mare’s tears, and in that moment Celestia let herself go, not caring about maintaining control anymore.

Solaris roared in triumph as Celestia’s mind went to sleep, rearing her head and roaring in challenge toward the shadow that caused her mare pain, flaming spittle and the heat of her breath heating the stone in front of her. She pawed the ground as the final changes wracked her body, flames begging to leak from the cracks in her skin as spines ripped their way across her back to the back of her head, resting behind her horn.

Her jaw cracked open, her razor sharp teeth gleaming as she charged the shadow, biting into its flesh and tasting black blood on her lips. The shadow yelled in rage, grabbing the flaming mane in her hands and ripping her off, throwing her at a wall.

Solaris hit the wall with her hooves, creating a crater with its impact before quickly leaping off and landing on the ground, opening her mouth and forming a sphere in front of it as large as a boulder, before suddenly compressing it to the size of a marble and unleashing a torrent of solar flame at the shadow.

The shadow moved, disappearing only to form behind the enraged sun goddess, grabbing her by the back of the head and driving her face into the ground. The shadow raised another claw to punch forward, only to be stabbed in the side by one of the sun goddesses flaming wings, causing her to roar in pain as the heat scalded her shadowy flesh.

Solaris then rose quickly, driving the spikes of her helmet into the chest of the shadow, bringing her further pain as she used her wings like swords, slashing at the elemental goddess wrapped in the blankets of darkness she most despised.

On the sidelines Twilight watched it all in horror, tears flowing from her eyes at the sight of that…that thing that had been her love. She thought she had seen what the princesses were capable of, what they could do if they got mad, and even what they might be capable of when they lost control. But that had all been a poor comparison to the feral creature that she saw before her, whose rage had unleashed because she had seen Twilight in pain.

“Luna, you have to stop this, they can’t keep doing this!”

“I…I’m sorry Twilight but I can’t…”

“What do you mean you can’t,” yelled Twilight as she rounded on Luna and the others, “your all alicorns aren’t you, and you said you could stop this if it got out of control, so why won’t you do so now?!”

Tears flew from her face as she yelled at them, glaring at them with her pain stricken gaze which demanded answers. They all looked away for a long moment, and then Fantasia spoke up, gulping back her fear as she looked at the distraught mare. “We may be alicorns Twilight, but Luna lied when she said we could stop this, for we are not as strong as Celestia and Anastasia. Celestia and Anastasia are the strongest out of all of us, but also the most dangerous because they have repressed the animal inside them…rather than embraced it as we have.”

“But why would that make a…”

“Because it has made our animals docile,” said Fantasia, “our predators have no teeth, thus we cannot hope to stand a chance against such primal creatures as they.”

Twilight just stared at them in disbelief, and then turned to look back at the ongoing confrontation between the two monsters. She wanted to yell at them, wanted them to stop, but she just couldn’t see a way of doing that when they obviously weren’t themselves any more.

Then a spark lit up in her brain, an idea forming as she focused on what she had just been told. This animal and Celestia were part of the same being, and that meant Celestia was still in there somewhere, trapped in the mind of the beast now controlling her body.

She closed her eyes, focusing on a desperate plane and a spell that Celestia had taught her after she had decided to live in Ponyville, for when distance forced them to be apart. Her horn flared bright for a moment, then went dark as her body fell to the floor, her mind soaring into the mind of Celestia, leaving the others behind.

She landed on an unfamiliar world, heated wind rolling across the surface of scorched earth as smoke rose into the flame filled sky. Twilight looked around, trying to place were she was in the drastically altered landscape, for it still looked familiar even in its current state.

In the past, when she had dived into the princess’s mind on those nighttime visits when they were far from each other, this place had resembled beautiful rolling hills with a lake of the east, a private place for them to be together. Now however the place looked like it had been hit by a meteor shower, the land scorched and blasted and any water that might have been there evaporated, leaving behind dried out pits and crags.

She galloped over the unfamiliar ground, heading in the direction she sensed the princess to be in, and after much searching she found her, lying asleep inside a secluded cave upon furs that cushioned the hard ground.

Twilight ran over to her, nudging impatiently into her to try and wake her up, “Celestia, Celestia you’ve got to wake up!”

Celestia stirred, lifting her head groggily as her eyes opened, seeing Twilight in front of her.

“Twilight…where…?”

Then she saw where they were, and her eyes widened in panic as she scrambled to get up.

“Twilight you should not have come here,” she said, her eyes scanning the skies as she starts leading the mare away from the cave.

“I had to, you weren’t acting like yourself and your sisters wouldn’t do anything to stop you, so I thought if I helped you get back control…”

“I realize your intentions and I thank you, but you don’t realize how much danger you have put yourself in by coming here now, don’t you realize…”

But she stopped as she felt the temperature rise as the sound of hooves landed behind them, both of them turning around and Celestia backing away in fear, for Solaris had landed behind them.

Twilight was just as scared, but she did not back away, for when she had turned to face her, their eyes had met and locked. Those flaming orbs, like miniature suns held within scarred black skies, they were so different from the Celestia’s, but they held a hunger in them that Twilight recognized as she gasped, for she knew then what she needed to do.

She closed her eyes, tapping into the core of her power and opening the wellspring that connected her with the element of magic. Runes started to form over her body, glowing the same color as her cutie mark, which also began to glow brightly along with them.

Then she opened her eyes, which had turned opaque, glowing a delicate shade of violet red like her magic. She stared at Solaris, her eyes telling the flaming mare all that it needed to know, and it licked its lips in approval before Twilight spoke to Celestia.

“Celestia, you need to go.”

Celestia, who had been so absorbed in her student’s transformation, hadn’t noticed the exchange between the two. She looked at Twilight in surprise as the mare turned to look back at her, her opaque eyes telling her to leave, and then Celestia looked from her to Solaris, spotting the hungry look in the creatures eyes and she gasping in shock, realizing what Twilight intended to do.

“No!”

She made to step in front of Twilight, only to have her student use her magic to restrain her, turning her gaze back to the creature in front of them. Then she began to fade as Solaris relinquished control of her body, cursing as the world faded to black.

Solaris watched as Celestia faded from her realm to return to reality, licking her lips as she looked back at the mare before her. She had longed for this moment, ever since the first night when she had felt Twilight take her host on her bed.

She walked over to the mare, feeling the magic radiating off her body as her eyes drifted over her curves, using one of her wings to grab Twilight’s chin, gently lifting it up to looking into her flaming eyes.

“My beautiful little mare, you are very brave to offer yourself to me, knowing my nature as you do.”

Twilight turned her face away from Solaris, not out of fear but instead out of disgust for the creature caressing her chin, “Just get on with it already.”

Solaris was taken aback by the disgust in the mare’s voice, but she soon smirked, her lust consuming her as she used her hooves to turn Twilight around and pin her roughly to the ground. She then leaned close to Twilights ear, her voice sounding husky with lust as she spoke, dipping with desire along with other parts of her body.

“Be disgusted with me all you wish, but I promise to be gentle with you, my Twilight Sparkle.”

All Twilight was able to do was whimper, and then her world became nothing but heat and flame.

It was a rude awaking to the world of reality for Celestia, made all the more rude as the sensation of Anastasia’s claws crushing her throat registered in her mind. Celestia sucked in a tiny breath, then unleashed it as a tiny ray of fire that managed to stagger the shadow, loosening her grip and allowing her to kick her away.

When she landed back on the ground, Celestia raised her wings into the air, letting their flames begin to mingle with the ones from her tail and main as she began forming a miniature sun above her, for she needed to end this now. She then let the ball descend, firing it forward at Anastasia as she charged, the great fire ball hitting and bathing the entire chamber in flames as it exploded.

Luna and the rest covered their eyes as the flames filled the chamber, cringing as the heat washed over them through the magical barrier. She looked down into the sea of flame, and then turned her gaze back to the unconscious mare in who was being clutched by Rarity, fearing for her as well as her sister.

Twilight’s eyes were closed, but a faint light could be seen behind her eye lids, signifying the workings of a mighty spell.

Luna knew what she had done, and cursed herself for not stopping her before she had completed her spell. She watched as a moan escaped her lips, a moan most mistook for a moan of discomfort, but Luna heard the subtle pleasure behind it, bile rising in her throat at the implications.

She turned back to watch as the flames began to faded, praying that Celestia could end this soon, for she knew this could not go on.

Celestia watched as the last of the flames faded from around the shadow, noticing it had lost some of its size due to the power of the attack, but was still awash in the shadows of her darkest element. The shadow lifted itself from the ground, its eyes looking dazed and out of focus, so Celestia decided to take the initiative.

“Anastasia, please let us stop this, I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

Anastasia’s head snapped up, her eyes glaring at Celestia as she let out a feral hiss. “Stop, why would we want to stop; when we have been waiting a thousand years and more to revenge ourselves upon you dear sister!”

Celestia felt a tear of flame fall down her face, looking upon her sister with only confusion. “Why are you acting like this, what have I done to you to deserve such malice from you?”

“What have you done…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Anastasia screamed; her voice cracking the ground around them as it shook the very mountain. “YOU SWORE TO ME YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE MY SIDE, THAT YOU WOULD NEVER ABANDON ME TO THE BEAST THAT PLAGUED ME, KNOWING MY PLIGHT AS YOU DO!”

Celestia’s tears increased, for memories began flooding her mind, unwanted and painful, and still her sister roared on.

“BUT WHEN WE NEEDED YOU MOST, WHEN WE BEGAN SLIPPING INTO THE CLUTCHES OF THE MONSTER WITHIN US, YOU NEVER CAME! YOU LEFT US TO BE TAKEN AND BROKEN BY THIS CREATURE, AND MY KINGDOM SUFFERED BECAUSE OF IT!”

Celestia sobbed, “I…I’m sorry, I would have come, but I had just lost Luna…and I didn’t hear about it till…”

“DON’T YOU DARE PATRONIZE US SISTER; WE KNOW THAT IS A LIE! WE ALL SHARE A BOND DEEPER THEN ANY COULD POSSIBLY FATHOM, ALLOWING US TO SENSE WHEN ANOTHER IS IN PAIN, AND I KNOW YOU FELT ME SUCCUMBING TO THIS BEAST! SO DON’T YOU LIE TO ME AND TRY AND MAKE EXCUSES, YOU KNOW THAT WILL NOT WORK!”

Celestia lowered her head in shame, tears racking her body as her form returned to normal, for she was too tired to continue this fight anymore. Then with a heavy sigh she looked up, beginning to take off her armor and throw it to the ground to the shock of all around.

“What are you doing,” asked Anastasia, her voice full of confusion as she gazed upon her sister.

Celestia removed the helmet last, throwing it to the ground as she gazed upon her sister with tears streaming down her face, before finally choking out a response.

“You want to kill me, go ahead and get it over with, for I deserve no mercy for what I have done to you! I abandoned you, I stole from you, and I caused you pain beyond imaging because of my negligence! So please kill me, I only ask that you make it quick, for I cannot stand to live another second seeing you in such pain!”

Celestia then closed her eyes, lifting her head to expose her throat, all worry leaving her body as she readied herself for the end.

Anastasia just stared, dumfounded by Celestia’s actions. The beast inside her began roaring in triumph, telling her to strike now and take her revenge. But another part of her, the part that was connected to Celestia, stayed the beast inside. She could feel the pain wracking her sister’s body, the years of emotional self-abuse that had ruled her for the longest time, and in that moment her anger was washed away.

She bowed her head as her form began to shrink, shrinking down till the shadowy tar like substance melted off her skin and onto the floor, fading away as she walked up to Celestia.

Celestia gasped as she felt Anastasia nuzzle up close to her, wrapping her forelegs around her as she felt her begin to cry.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

“Shhhh little sister,” said Celestia as she nuzzled into her coat, “its ok, its ok. I know I’m a little late for this, but I’m here now, and that’s all that matters.”

And with that they both broke, the years of separation and turmoil bubbling forth and falling away as they cried into each other’s embrace, happy to be reunited at last.

Revelations: Part 4 (Revised)

Luna watched as the two alabaster alicorns eventually broke the hug, Celestia flying up to them as Anastasia left to the other balcony. Celestia looked down at Twilight, who began to stir as Celestia heard a purr of content from her mind, causing bile to rise in her throat in realization.

Twilight opened her eyes, looking up at Celestia before whimpering and moving up close to her, seeking comfort from the ordeal she had just gone through.

After a brief hug they stood, Celestia walking over to her sisters with Twilight in toe, Ixen walking up beside Celestia as they traveled and nudging her to get her attention.

“I assume you have told them about the history that has been covered up yes?”

“Only part of it,” said Celestia, “I stopped last night after telling them all about you, and I was planning on telling them the rest over the next few days.”

“I may have a better option,” said Ixen, “you remember my first born daughter Eris yes?”

Celestia looked rather surprised at Ixen; she had not heard that name in some time, “Yes I do, what about her.”

“I have brought her with me, though I left her at the far edge of the Everfree at her request, for she said she had some business to take care of. I was thinking that we could let her finish the tale, as she knows it as well, if not better, than any of us. That way the elements can know the full story, and we sisters can catch up on old times.”

Celestia thought about it for a moment, weighing the options as she stared up toward the sky. While she did want to continue telling the story to Twilight and her friends, she also really wanted to sit down and talk with her sisters after being parted for so long.

There was also the fact that Ixen was right about Eris; she did know the story as well as them, though Celestia still wondered how she knew it so well, for she should have been too young to know all the major parts of it.

“Very well, you send a message to Eris telling her to go to the meeting hall, I’ll have Twilight and her friends wait for her there.”

It had been several minutes since the message had been sent to Eris, and Celestia couldn’t remember laughing so hard in all her life, sitting in her chambers with her sisters and all enjoying freshly served food that had been left by a completely flabbergasted cook, who had not expected to walk into the room and find seven alicorns all gathered around and talking merrily. Celestia sat next to Anastasia, who despite their recent fight, was smiling and chatting with her like it was the old days, simply happy to be back with her big sister.

The talks started out rather somber when, after much hesitation on her part, Celestia had informed them of Marmora’s death, it hitting them all in turn but it hit Mercury the hardest, for she had been the one who had searched for her the longest out of all of them.

After a moment of silence and a few sniffs, Dreamstride finally spoke up, “Has anypony heard from sister Siren Gale?”

“…No,” said Fantasia, “well at least I know I haven’t spoken to her since she swore never to speak with any of us again, which if I remember was some time after Luna was banished,”

“What, why would our sister do such a thing” asked Luna, who looked highly confused

“…She…she said she would not suffer us the luxury of her presence, not until we mended our ways and stopped blaming Celestia for our kingdoms plights.”

“That sounds just like her,” said Ixen sourly, “she never could handle conflict between us that well could she?”

“No she could not,” said Celestia, “but it does bring up a question I have wanted to ask the rest of you.”

Celestia, looking at the Mercury, Dreamstride and Ixen in turn; breathing in deep before asking the question she had been holding in all night. “I already know Fantasia’s and Anastasia’s stories, but what happened to the rest of you after…after I…?”

Ixen held up a clawed hoof, shaking her head before speaking. “You don’t need to say it sister, we know why you did what you did, and in retrospect we should have been there to help, then maybe things could have been different.”

She then straightened herself, looking up as the ceiling as her mind raced back over those thousand years.

“After you left the last time, things went downhill for us. You know how my land is full of the wildest creatures imaginable, from dragons to manticors to hydra. After you left they began to change, becoming wilder and more hostile as they lost touch with what made them more then wild beasts. There are only a few dragons left who have not been consumed by their greed for gems, my mates included, and even some of my own kirin have become wild feral things, no semblance of true self left within them.”

She looked down, turning to Dreamstride and nodding, indicating that she should go next.

“Things did not fare much better in my realm,” she said, “my ponies as you know are deeply connected with the land and the creatures that live in it, drawing strength from the harmony of the land we lived in. But after you left things changed, and the land became dark. It stopped supporting us like it used to, stopped feeding us the love and care we needed, and due to this some of our ponies began to change. They started to drain the love from other Fey to feed themselves, for they no longer could feed off the love provided by our forest home, and so the changelings were born.”

“So those came from your land,” said Celestia, “I thought they were from some wasteland near the outskirts of my kingdom…so that was what Chrysalis meant when she said…”

There was a loud crash as Dreamstride shot forward over the little table in the room, grabbing Celestia in her hooves with a wild look in her eyes. “You have seen my Chrysalis…where, where is she?”

“What…you know her?”

“Know her…KNOW HER! OF COURSE I KNOW HER SHE IS MY DAUGHTER!”

Celestia stared at her in stunned silence along with the others, the shock of this revelation hitting them all in turn. But after a moment Dreamstride let her go, calming down and backing away, her eyes growing clouded and her coat taking on a foggy white color as she spoke.

“I…we are sorry, it’s just we lost her long ago, in the most horrible way imaginable. She…she tried to help some of the ones that had been changed, little ones who my ponies had nearly put to the torch. We tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t leave them to that cruel fate, for they were just foals, not knowing the curse they had been beset with, and so she…she let them feed off of her love. She…she used her love to restore them to what they once were…but at the cost of her becoming like them…”

She broke down crying after that, Ixen getting up and wrapping a foreleg around her to comfort her while Celestia just sat there distraught…how could she have not known about any of this.

However she heard Mercury clear her throat nearby, and turned quickly to face her, for she was most eager to hear what events had led to her current state.

“…well, here goes nothing I guess. Like with the others things started to go the Tartarus after you left, by then we had constructed great works of technological and magical might, magi-science fueling all our endeavors. But after you left, our magic began to fail, making it so that we could no longer produce the spectra our technology had become dependent on, which we created through our magic. Our technology began to fail, so I tried using my own magic to produce the necessary amounts, but the shear quantities that were required day after day started taking its toll on my own body, which is how I ended up like this.”

She gestured to the mechanical parts of her body after saying this, smiling sadly before starting again. “It was after my heart started to fail that I realized I could never supply the amount of spectra necessary to keep my ponies alive, and we only had one option left…an option I had kept from my mind till one of my unicorn scientists brought its proposal to me, and I…I…”

She could not continue, but she didn’t have to, for Luna brought her hooves to her mouth before speaking, “You…you started to harvest spectra directly…didn’t you?”

Celestia and the rest turned toward Luna, shocked that she would suggest Mercury would do such a horrible thing. They of coarse knew what Luna was talking about, all ponies new about spectra, and how there were two types of it. One type was the type of spectra that was produced naturally in a pony’s blood, which allowed ponies to perform the magic that was akin to their nature, like the Earth ponies ability to manipulate the land or the Pegasus’s ability to control the weather, or even the Unicorns ability to use pure magic.

The other kind of spectra was the one created through unicorn magic, which was less powerful but could be used for a variety of things, especially the kind of technology Mercury’s ponies were dependent on. But what Luna had suggested was barbaric; harvesting spectra directly would mean killing the pony in question, for it came from the ponies’ blood, and without it a pony could not function. But as they turned toward Mercury they saw her head was hung in shame, tears falling from her eyes as she spoke one word that confirmed all their fears.

“…Ye…yes…” she said, her body shaking with continued sobs.

Celestia felt bile rise in her throat as images began to flood her mind, and she could tell that the others were sickened as well, Fantasia actually levitating a trashcan to her side and throwing up. After she stopped retching, Fantasia looked up at Mercury with revulsion, “How could you do such a thing to your own ponies?”

“I had no other choice, my ponies were dying, we needed a solution if we wanted to prevent total economic collapse…and that’s not even the worst of it.”

“Not the worst, how can anything be worse the harvesting your ponies for spectra?” asked Celestia in disbelief.

Mercury bit her lip before speaking, her fears climbing to the surface as she continued. “Even after we began harvesting spectra, things only improved slightly. Most of the spectra had to go to the machines which run the cities and businesses, and also to help control the weather. That didn’t leave much for the farms and food production facilities…and we were back at square one once we realized we didn’t have enough food to feed a nation, even with the…‘culling’ that was happening due to spectra harvesting…Until one of my governors came to me with a solution…he looked sickened even suggesting it, but after a few days of contemplation I was finally forced to agree with his solution, and I set it into motion…”

“What did you do,” asked Luna, fearing the answer that might follow.

“…we…we began to round up the dead and…and process them into food.”

Celestia used her magic to rip the trashcan from Fantasia’s magical grasp and it made it just in time as she threw up her most recent batch of food, her sisters having similar reactions, Dreamstride’s normally rainbow like coat turning a sickly green color to reflect her disgust, Fantasia vomiting again, having found a vase to dump the contents in, Luna had put her hooves to her mouth as bile rose to her throat, Ixen looked like she was going to be sick, and Anastasia patted Celestia on the back with her hoof, keeping her gaze turned away from Mercury.

Celestia couldn’t believe it, Mercury, the one mare who would move heaven and equis to keep from doing wrong, was keeping her people alive through sanctioned cannibalism. Finally she was able to lift her head from the trashcan, looking at Mercury with pure disgust that was not at all hidden in her voice when she spoke.

“Do your ponies know about…about this?”

“Know about it, how could they not know Celestia…it’s kind of hard to hide the fact that bodies are disappearing instead of being buried, no matter how well the cleanup crews work. I know what I did was wrong, and even offered to step down as president after announcing the terrible news…but after I got back to my office I found it flooded with mail telling me not to do such a thing, that they understood the hardships I was going through and that I had no choice, they even said they supported my decision.”

Her voice cracked up as she said this, a shaky laugh escaping her lips. “They supported me sister, do you know how sick with myself that made me feel, that they supported my discussion to put hundreds of their friends and family to death and then serve them back to them on silver platters.”

She chuckled again, trying to keep herself composed, and then she continued. “I tried for many years after to find solutions; I even tried to manipulate the life blood of Equis to see if we could…”

She was cut off as a green aura of magic grabbed her and slammed her against the wall behind her, catching everypony off guard as Celestia turned to the source of the magic, which turned out to be Dreamstride, her eyes ablaze as her mane tail and coat swam with the colors of fire, reflecting her rage as she stared at Mercury.

“HOW DARE YOU DEFILE ONE OF MOTHERS MOST SACRED TREASURES! WE CAN OVERLOOK YOUR CRIMES AGAINST YOUR PONIES DUE TO THE NECESSITY OF THE SITUATION BUT THIS WE WILL NOT STAND FOR!”

“Sister calm down,” said Ixen, who then backed away as Dreamstride turned her gaze toward her.

“CALM DOWN, I THOUGHT YOU OF ALL PONIES WOULD UNDERSTAND THE DANGERS OF WHAT SHE HAS DONE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU FIRST BORN SON AND DAUGHTER AFTER THEY TOUCH THE LIFE BLOOD OF EQUIS!”

“I remember sister, but that does not excuse your actions at present, now put her down before you crush her to death!”

Dreamstride stopped, and then looked at Mercury before quickly letting go of her when she saw the state she was in, many of the metal parts had been bent and crushed under her magic, and the glass panel over her heart had cracked in the shape of a spider web, blood leaking from it as Mercury slowly rose. Luna and Fantasia immediately closed on her, Luna’s magic already patching up what she could to keep the pony from dying, but the wounds were extensive, and much of it was old scar tissue that had hardened from centuries of healing.

Mercury herself opened up a panel in one of her legs, grabbing some tools out and beginning to work on her damage parts, only for Fantasia to slap them out of her magical grip.

“No,” said Fantasia quickly, cutting off any words Mercury was going to say as she raised her left foreleg to her open mouth. Fangs appeared inside her mouth then, allowing her to bite into her foreleg and draw blood, before letting go and offering it to Mercury.

Mercury looked at the offered leg for a moment, then shook her head violently, “no…no not again!”

Mercury made to get up and run, only to have not only Luna’s magic pin her down, but Celestia’s as well. “Mercury, you need to do this…”

“I said no,” screamed Mercury, struggling against their hold as she tried to get away. “I won’t get addicted to it again, not after the last time, I won’t!”

“Sister it won’t be like the last time,” said Fantasia as she looked her in the eye, “for this time I will be there to help you wean yourself from the blood, I promise you, now you must drink.”

Mercury looked into her eyes for a long while, her defenses wearing till she finally nodded, but she held up a hoof to stop Fantasia before speaking. “Wait…we need to remove the plating first, otherwise it may interfere with the healing process.”

They all nodded, and quickly as a gentle wind, they began to take off the plating covering Mercury’s body. It was slow going, for many of the parts were held together really well, but finally they had it all removed.

All the parts that had been covered by metal were scarred and dead, her left horn was broken, and the left side of her face was so scarred there was no indication she had ever had a left eye. However Fantasia was undisturbed by such sites, moving close to Mercury and once again offering her left foreleg, which Mercury finally put her muzzle to and began to drink.

The effects weren’t immediate, but slowly the old wounds began stitching themselves back together, century ancient wounds being erased in a matter of seconds by the magic in Fantasia’s vampony blood.

Finally after a long while Mercury let go of her sisters foreleg, lifting up her head breathing in deep, enjoying the lack of pain from her lungs before turning to Dreamstride, who looked ashamed for what she had done earlier. Mercury however only smiled at her in reassurance, “I know what I did was wrong sister, but when I said tried, I mean that we only got so far as tapping one of the veins before all hell broke loose. We lost an entire part of one of my major cities due to the disaster, and any living thing left there was vastly mutated from what they once were. So we gave up, resigning ourselves to what we had, though it still keeps me up at night knowing what I am doing to keep my people alive.”

They all nodded at her, but Celestia was lost in thought over all she had been told. She scolded herself for being so blind to everything beyond her borders, but she had been too concerned with her own kingdom to really watch what was happening outside them, like she used to before things went downhill. She was their sister after all, their big sister; she should have been there for them. But she shook the dark thoughts away however, looking up to see her sisters mingling happily, which brought small comfort to her heart, so she cleared her throat to get their attention.

“It is getting late dear sisters, and I am growing quite tired. I have had rooms prepared for you to sleep in, so I suggest you use them. I will have servants wake you in the morning, for we will have a lot to discuss tomorrow.”

With that the sisters rose to their hooves, everypony walking to the door and bidding Celestia good night, till finally only she and Luna remained, Luna walking up to her sister slowly and shaking her head in disbelief of what she had heard.

“To think such things could have happened so far away, it is little wonder they never came to find you after my banishment those years ago.”

“Yes,” said Celestia, “little wonder indeed, I’m just surprised they don’t hate me.”

“Tia we could never truly hate you,” said Luna, walking up and leaning against her. “You’re our big sister; it would take a lot more than that to destroy such bonds.”

Celestia looked down at her young sister, smiling down at her with appreciation of her kind words, before biding her good night and heading back to her bedchambers, hoping to get a good night sleep before the morning.

Revelations: Part 5 (Revised)

Twilight and the others walked along the path to the meeting hall, absorbed in her conversation with Shadow Spark, who had heard that they were going to meet Eris, who was Shadows cousin. The young pony was amazingly smart for his age, having been taught by some of the greatest minds in all of The Shadowed Lands, and was deeply interested in what Twilight had to say about his aunt Celestia.

Behind them the other mares were speaking with the six ponies who had accompanied Anastasia, and Lyra was accompanying them as well, having sent Bon-Bon to the guest room Mercury was staying in.

“You know I’m surprised you know so much for being so young Shadow, your mother must be proud.”

“Yeah she is,” said Shadow with a smile, “but it’s not really that hard to be so learned, I am actually older then I appear due to alicorn offspring aging much slower than normal ponies do.”

“Really, well that’s interesting, how old are you if you don’t mind me asking?”

“No I don’t mind, and I’m fifty three years old this month,” said Shadow without batting an eyelash.

Twilight had to focus to keep from tripping over her own hooves at that last statement; fifty three years old, the colt looked like he could be Apple Bloom or Sweetie bells age. The fact that he said it so calmly shocked her the most, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what life would be like knowing you were going to live so long, and possibly live beyond your friends and relatives.

“But sugar cube, yah don’t look no older then mah sister. Didn’t…didn’t yah find it odd when other ponies started to grow up faster than yah,” asked Applejack, looking at the colt.

“Well it was hard at first, and yeah there was confusion on both sides, but it didn’t stop me from making friends and sticking with them through the years. Heck one of our greatest scholars Moon Sung used to play with me when she was just a little filly, and we still hang out.”

“Well…that must be interesting to experience to say the least,” said Rarity, looking at the colt with an amused glance.

They soon reached to room in question, the door opening before any of them could make a move to do so, and an oddly familiar voice beckoned them to enter. They slowly moved in and the seven other ponies, including Lyra, ran from the side of the other six to greet the pony who stood at the far side of the room. Twilight and her friends however were caught off guard by the pony’s strange appearance, for she looked oddly familiar to them.

She stood straight on her mismatched hind legs, one arm which looked like an eagle’s talon hanging at her side while another, this one looking like a panthers paw, held a staff, and her face was hidden by the cowl of a cloak that she wore. The pony laughed as the others joined her, especially when Shadow Spark wrapped his fore hooves around her thin waist, smiling brightly.

Twilight watched as they spoke, and then walked up to introduce herself, clearing her throat to get her attention.

“Hello Miss Eris, my name is…”

“…Twilight Sparkle,” said the mare, her eyes flashing green and red under the cowl as she spoke. “Yes I know your name; I have known it for many years, long before you were all born in fact.”

Twilight and her friends were caught completely off guard by this, which was in stark contrast to the ponies around Eris, who looked like they were used to this sort of behavior.

“Cousin,” scolded Lyra, “you know you’re supposed to warn ponies before you start that, you know it scares most of them.”

That seemed to snap Twilight out of her shock. She looked at the mare, composing herself before speaking again. “You know of us, but how is that possible?”

“That will be a little hard to explain, but first I think some illumination is in order for those present.”

She let go of her staff, which remained fixed where it was, and lifted her hands to her hood, pulling back to reveal her face. Twilight and the others gasped, for the face that greeted them bared a shocking resemblance to another face they knew, the face of Discord. She grabbed her staff again, looking back at them with a warm smile as her eyes watched them, their red irises piercing them each in turn.

“I expect you see the resemblance between me and my twin brother Discord, we’ve always made a matching set him and I.”

“Wait,” said Twilight, “your Discords brother, but that would make him…”

“Ixen’s son, very astute Miss Sparkle, as I knew you would be.”

Eris turned her gaze toward her, smiling as she spoke to her. “It is no wonder my aunt Celestia took you as her prized pupil, but as too you're earlier question, I know of you because they told me of you.”

She gestured toward them, and at once the Elements of Harmony began to glow, and whispers could be heard coming from them, but none of them could make it out.

“Wait hold on a second,” said Rainbow Dash, “are you telling us these things can actually talk?”

“All sentient things have a way to communicate Rainbow Dash, even if some are not able to understand.” said Eris; walking away from her cousins to sit at the table. “But for now let us sit down before more questions arise, we have much to discuss.”

They all moved and began sitting at the table, Eris and her cousins sitting at the far side while Twilight and her friends sat at the other side.

“Before we start this,” said Eris, “I had some questions I wanted to ask you.”

“Well shoot away sugar cube,” said Applejack.

“Well actually,” said Eris, “the first question I have is for you Miss Pinkamena. If you could…Tell me, how is my brother doing?”

The others looked toward Pinkie at after she said this, who looked embarrassingly at them before speaking to her, “He…he’s doing good.”

“Hold on a second, Pinkie how the hay can you know that, we haven’t seen Discord since we turned him back to stone.” said Rainbow

“That…that isn’t entirely true,” said Pinkie, giggling nervously.

“Why dear whatever are you talking about,” asked Rarity.

“…Well,” she said nervously, “ok it started when I went to the Canterlot gardens when I was young, I found Discords statue and then I blacked out and next thing I knew I’m talking with him. He told me everything about him, what had happened to him and why he had been imprisoned. After that I kept visiting him, and when I got older the visits evolved into something more and we started seeing each other romantically. Then a week before he broke free he told me if he escaped to not acknowledge that we knew each other and that if things got out of hoof I would have to imprison him again. I kept visiting him after that and in fact that was the reason I left the guest room last night, I was visiting with him because I hadn’t seen him since the wedding.”

Everypony stared at Pinkie with looks of shock on their faces, but they all jumped when Eris burst into laughter, clutching her chest in an urge to calm herself.

“It is good to see my brother still has a good taste in mares, and I am glade he has found you Pinkie Pie; it is good for him to be around such a chaotic personality as yours.”

Pinkie nodded, blushing as she looked sheepishly at her friend’s expressions. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you girls, he said you wouldn’t understand.”

“Your dam right we don’t understand,” shouted Rainbow, “how the hay could you not tell us that you were shagging it up with Discord!”

“Because he told me not to Dashie…”

“Don’t you Dashie me Pinkamena Diane Pie, we're your friends and that was important information that could have compromised all of us. Did you ever once think what would have happened if you weren’t able to go through with it, and did you once think what he would have done to Equestria?”

“I know that Dash and I know what might have happened but he told me not to. He said it would have resulted in you guys not trusting me and then we wouldn’t have been able to turn him back to stone, he…”

“Oh he told you that huh, and why would an insane chaos god tell you…?”

“He isn’t insane! He…”

“GIRLS,” Twilight yelled, causing both of them to jump.

They both looked to see that the others were looking at them with surprise; Rarity looked like she was on the verge of fainting again, and Applejack looked extremely confused. Fluttershy and Twilight on the other hoof looked at least sympathetic.

“Dash,” said Twilight, “while I agree with you that she should have told us, it does not give you the right to shout at her, and plus if you remember right we are with company at the moment, so could you save your interrogation for later please?”

Dash looked at her with a little resentment, then nodded and sat back down at her chair.

“Thank you Twilight,” said Eris, “now I have just one more question, this one for you. How far along was Celestia into the truth before my mother and aunts showed up.”

“She had just gotten done with telling us about her sisters last night, I assume you’re going to pick up from where she left off?”

“Yes, but I have to warn you, my method of sharing stories is a lot more…intense than that of my aunt. Before we do this I must have your full permission that you are willing to go through with this, because once this begins there will be no going back.”

“Now hold on there, you’re making this sound pretty dangerous sugar cube, what’s so problematic about just showing us a bunch of memories?”

“Because I won’t just be showing you these memories young Applejack, you will be experiencing them along with me, as I did when they were gifted to me many years ago. This sharing will be very intense experience, and can be very traumatizing if you are not willing, which is why I have to be sure you want to experience this before I go through with it.”

The others looked at each other, concern etching their faces as they thought it over. They talked amongst themselves for a time, nodding occasionally before lifting their heads, Twilight speaking up.

“We know it might be dangerous, but we have faced worst over the years, we are ready for whatever this might entail.”

“Very well,” said Eris, “let us begin.”

She closed her eyes, and then stretched out her talon, which began glowing with green light. The light began to reach out, moving toward them as it began to pulse brighter, and the last thing they saw before it reached them was her eyes opening and shining bright before the world went black.

They slowly woke up as the feeling of leather and feathers around their bodies filled their senses, Twilight looking to see that they were being held within Eris’s wings, which were larger then she had suspected, for she had not been able to see them with her cowl and cape on. She smiled at them as she drifted down through the darkness, landing down upon a patch of solid blackness and let them down. As the others looked around at the strange place, Twilight focused her gaze on Eris, noting that she was almost a perfect match for her brother.

“You know this probably is a bit late in all this, but do you mind if I ask what happened to you and your brother, I mean you both used to be Kirin right?”

“That is correct Twilight, and it is no trouble. What happened to my brother and I was caused when we did the most forbidden act known amongst almost all the kingdoms of our world, for we touched The Life Blood of Equis.”

“Life Blood of Equis,” asked Twilight.

“Yes, The Life Blood, the very energy which leaked from my grandmother’s belly when she created this world, which now flows throughout the world bringing life to all of Equis. We were curios creatures back then, my brother and I, and we had always wondered what the life blood of our world felt like. But…But when we touched it, it changed us, making us into perversions of our race as a punishment for touching it.”

“I…I see,” said Twilight, looking downcast.

Eris patted her back, giving the young mare a reassuring smile before looking to the others, “Alright everypony gather round, it’s time we get things started.

They all gathered closer to her, then she spread her wings wide, the area around them shimmering as images began to form.

“As you all heard from Celestia, each sister that left went and formed their own kingdoms, but some kingdom’s formed outside their rule, little nations that forming between the areas that held the lands ruled by the Divine sisters. These kingdoms grew and prospered, and peace rained throughout the world, even with the great differences as the nations of the other races began rising, such as the zebra’s, griffins and minotaur’s.”

Images swirled around them, showing ponies and other races trading with each other, and some minor squabbles here and there, but most of these were quickly solved by the rulers of the other kingdoms.

“But this peace was not meant to last, for there was one being that had survived throughout the ages, living off her hate for the world which her sister had created.”

The images shifted, and soon they found themselves on the surface of the moon, standing behind a grey coated pony. Her mane and tail shone sky blue as it waved and swirled in an invisible breeze and she stared at the planet with red glowing eyes, her gaze full of hatred for what she gazed upon.

“Why,” the being spoke, “why did you have to exist, why in the name of Tartarus did you have to take my sister away from me?”

She stood, her body glowing bright as her eyes flashed yellow; her anger growing as her voice shook the stone. “WHAT MADE YOU WORTH MORE THEN HER,” she screamed, “WHY DID YOU DESERVE TO LIVE MORE THEN SHE DID, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PLAGUE HER DREAMS AND DRIVE HER TO THROW HER LIFE AWAY FOR YOU!”

She lashed out at the surface of the moon with her magic, scaring the surface with the rippling waves of power, which were felt by the group as it washed over them. Then the being looked back to the world that had drawn her ire, tears coming fresh to her eyes as she began to speak again.

“Why couldn’t you wait sister, why couldn’t you just wait for me to figure it out,” she sobbed, but soon wiped her tears, squaring her shoulders and looking at the world with determination in her eyes. “But I will fix this sister, I will right the wrongs that have taken you from me and we shall see each other again. It has taken me two thousand years to formulate this plan, but now I know what I must do to bring you back, and I will see you again, this I promise you.”

She then spread her great wings and took off from the surface of the moon, flying down to the surface of the planet below.

“What was that girl talking about,” asked Applejack.

“Discordia and her sister Harmonia originally dreamed of the world we all live in,” said Eris, “and Discordia, in her anger over her sister’s disappearance blames us for her sister’s giving her life to create us. Discordia seeks one thing above all; to reverse what her sister did and return what she considers was stolen from her sister to her.”

“But, but that would mean…” said Twilight, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“Yes, it would mean that we would be returned to what we once were, life energy flowing inside our benevolent creator,”

Eris lifted up her paw then, making the world shift and change, speaking up as it reformed anew.

“She knew that she would need to create objects that could counteract the forces which protect this world, ones which would be able to tap in and begin to manipulate what was her sister’s alone to control. So she found a place far from the site of her sister’s children, so that she might call to those who could help her begin the process of creating her elements…and those who she herself could help.”

They watched as Discordia flew down in front of a large cave entrance, using her magic to enchant it and then she turned, sitting down in front of the entrance and as the moon reached its peak, and then she began to sing.

Her voice echoed over the land, stretching out to the cities of the kingdom in the distance. As she continued the sing, they could see young colts and fillies begin to crest the horizon, some walking while others were flying, some alone while others carried little foals with them as they followed the sound of her voice.

“Wha…what are they all doing,” asked Fluttershy, looking scared.

“They are coming to her call, as she hoped they would,” said Eris, looking out across the field as the children drew closer to the source of the singing.

“But wouldn’t anypony take notice of children that were just disappearing?” asked Twilight, looking concerned as one of the children reached Discordia, nuzzling up close to her as she smiled down at the child.

“They would, if these were children they actually cared about. The children she focused on were the ones that had been lost, the ones society had abandoned and tossed away into the dregs. These children were already overlooked by society, thus when they left they were not missed.”

“That’s…that’s just sick…” said Rainbow, looking disgusted.

“It was the reality of the world at the time Rainbow, society wasn’t as bright as it is now, especially for the young.”

They watched as the last of the children arrived, and then Discordia rose to her hooves, guiding them all into the cave behind her and vanishing, the children not far behind as the world around them went dark once again.

“Discordia took the children to a place where they could be hidden, and where she could take care of them and nurture them with her power. She told them about the past, telling them of the dreams that had plagued her sister and caused her to give up her life, though she spun it in a way that painted it like it was a waste. Once they were convinced that what she spoke was the truth, she told them how they could help her to bring her sister back, and so they began to help her create the elements of Discord.”

They watched as Discordia and the children, now altered by her “nurturing” magic, gathered into six circles. Discordia stood in the center of the circles, and began to activate her magic as the children began to focus.

The first circle focused on their hatred, letting it build as they raged and screamed at the injustice done to them.

The second circle concentrated on their greed, telling of the things they would take and keep for themselves, and of the things they had already taken from others.

The third Circle focused on their treachery, focusing on the ponies they had stabbed in the back to survive, and the ponies who had betrayed them in turn.

The fourth circle focused on their lies, speaking of the falsehoods they had committed against others to get what they needed to live, or the ones they had tricked with simple words and falsehoods.

The fifth circle focused on their cruelty, speaking of the pain they had caused to others and the enjoyment they had taken from causing such pain.

But it was the final circle that caused many of the friends to gasp, for in the final circle a group of unicorns were being consumed by dark magic, their eyes glowing green and red with purple energy leaking from the side of their eyes.

And in the middle of it all Discordia stood, her magic flowing into each of the circles and forming crystals above them.

As the crystals took shape, marks starting to form on them, but before they could get a good glimpse they floated to Discordia. She smiled at them, and smiled at the children as they gathered around her. “We are ready my loves,” said Discordia, looking down at the children as they nuzzled up close to her, “it is time we set the next part of our plan in motion.”

The world blurred, and Eris began speaking again, her voice shaking a bit.

“As you can see, she used the children to form her elements, forming a deeper connection between them and her through that process. With the elements completed she could accelerate he plans, and began sowing the seeds of fear and hatred between the five main kingdoms, using the children of each kingdom to fuel the fires that eventual lead to only one conclusion."

New surroundings formed, showing Discordia invading the dreams of five of the sisters, showing their ponies getting stolen away in the middle of the night, stolen by ponies from the other kingdoms. When the rulers awoke, it was to the reports that ponies had been kidnapped, and they saw the rulers immediately jump to conclusions as the world blurred, reforming on the scene of the sisters sitting around a great table, arguing amongst themselves over the recent occurrence.

“I will not hear any more of your lies Anastasia,” yelled Fantasia, her hoof slamming down on the table as she looked over at her fellow alicorn. “We saw your people making away with some of our young ones, and if you do not admit it and return those you stole from us along with the perpetrators who took them we will be forced to take action.”

“Forced to action will you,” yelled Anastasia, “you and your lies, it is you who are abducting children, as well as you!”

She turned on Ixen, her eyes flashing with anger; “We have caught many a glimpse of your reptilian counterparts flying away with our children.”

“You dare accuse me of such crimes,” roared Ixen, “I shall not admit to such depraved acts as those, it was you…!”

“SISTERS PLEASE,” shouted Marmora, using her royal voice to grab their attention. “This senseless arguing is getting us nowhere; none of you has actually caught anypony in the act, so we don’t know who is truly behind this.”

“I’m sorry sister dearest but I would have to disagree,” said Mercury, “we have enough eye witness reports to fuel our claims, the only problem here is none of you will admit to your crimes…”

“Says one who committed such crimes and then denies any affiliation with them,” yelled Dreamstride, her rainbow coat turned fiery red as she glared at her sister. “I am sorry, but I will not sit here and listen to your lies, for I can see now that you will not see what you have done as wrong, but that will not stay my hoof, tomorrow my ponies march for war!”

Silenced rained in the room, none of the sisters speaking, till finally it was Celestia who broke the silence, staring at Dreamstride in disbelief.

“Sister…you can’t mean that?”

“She most certainly does,” said Fantasia with a growl, “and I will not stand by while you make such threats, we to shall prepare for war!”

Celestia, Luna and Marmora could only watch as the meeting dissolved, the five leaders leaving one by one with promises of war on their tongs. When the last sister left, Luna broke down in tears, Celestia clutching her tightly to try and reassure her.

“We don’t understand Tia, what just happened?”

“I don’t know Luna,” said Celestia

Eris waved her talon, the world fading away as the six turned to her, Twilight noting the tears in her eyes.

“Celestia, Luna and Marmora tried to stem the tides of war, but nothing would convince the five rulers from averting their course. By the time the month was done, war had erupted between the five powerful kingdoms. Siren Gale, who ruled over the oceans and was the only sister not to attend the council, stayed out of the war…she could only watch helplessly as her sister’s kingdoms began tearing each other apart.”

The world changed again, and everypony gasped at the scenes that were presented to them. Ponies were fighting against each other, magic and arrows flying as freely as the pegasi soaring through the burring skies. The Kirin were doing the most damage out of all the ponies, their natural claws, breath weapons and their natural armor protecting them from most of the weapons sent against them.

But they weren’t the only ponies to have an edge, Mercury’s people brought with them technologies of war, great catapults and trebuchets that hurled fire and brimstone into the landscape, and siege cannons that blackened the skies with their smoke as they bombarded the battlefield.

“It was during this war, a war that would be forever known as the War of The Lost Ones, that the five rulers and your own rulers found their special talents. Fantasia was the first, discovering her connection to the dark realm of Tartarus.”

The world shifted to Fantasia standing before the gates, the guard dog Cerberus growling at her as it she approached. But when she stepped right up to him, the beast lowered its heads; nuzzling her gently as she rubbed it behind each of its ears.

“Good boy,” she cooed, rubbing its belly as it rolled over and looking over the beast towards the gates, smiling to herself as her horn glowed bright. “It’s time for you all to come out and play,” she said, and then she opened the gates, her mane beginning to flow on an invisible breeze as her cutie mark appeared on her flank, looking exactly like the symbol that adorned the gates to Tartarus.

“The second to discover her talent was Anastasia, binding herself to the elements that kept their world together, and turned them into weapons against her enemies.

They watched as Anastasia stood atop a great hill, her horn glowing as the earth began to quake and the waters near the area began to rage. Lighting began to rain from the skies as she continued, and great gouts of flame began to erupt form the earth, burning all those that were caught within. She smiled sadly as she looked back at her flank, watching as the symbols of her cutie mark formed their, a testament to the new power that she wielded.

“The third was my mother Ixen Vrak, who bound herself to the most coveted art of Dragon magic, their voice. This power was sacred to the dragons, and is all but lost to them in this age. But when she bound herself to it, she became its absolute master.”

The images shifted again, showing Ixen flying over a heard of charging Earth ponies form another kingdom, her eyes glowing with hatred as she opened her mouth to speak.

“OPOSS DI IXEN!”

As the words left her mouth a magical shockwave emanated from her, and the ponies below looked up in horror as fire began to fall from the skies. Ixen landed amongst the scattering horde, shouting another indescribable phrase that caused the ground to crack under hoof, many ponies being skewered by rocky spikes as they shot up from the ground.

“Dreamstride was the next to discover her talent, nature responding to her call to aid her ponies as her enemies began to burn down her forest home.”

They watched as Dreamstride walked through the woods, the trees beginning to rise up from the forest floor to walk beside her as creatures from the woods joined her as well.

“The next one after her to discover her talent was Mercury, and out of all the sisters, no pony racked a higher body count due to her most lethal power.”

They watched as Mercury landed amongst a group of ponies, a black aura surrounding her body and stretching out, ripping into the pony’s bodies and killing them instantly. But it was what happened after that caused most of them to turn white from horror. The bodies of the ponies began to rise, their eyes filled with the same black light that had covered them earlier, and they turned on those that still lived with an animal like hunger that frightened those that new them. They attacked them as Mercury walked past, her gaze showing her disgust at what she was doing.

“Mercury was gifted with the power over death and unlife, a power she hates with a passion. But as the war raged on, the unicorns that had been in charge of raising the sun and the moon had begun neglecting their duty, forcing Celestia and Luna to pick up the slack and take up their sacred charges.”

The next images showed Celestia and Luna taking command over their respective orbs, their manes begging to flow with the great power flooding them as their respective celestial bodies rose into the sky.

“Even during the war though, more children would disappear, more fire to fuel the motivation behind the war started by Discordia.”

“But why start a war in the first place,” asked Twilight, “I mean I know that Discordia wants to get her sister back, but how does this help her achieve that?”

“Because Twilight, it spreads strife and disharmony between all the sentient creatures of our world, which fuels her elements and make them stronger. This war was all so that she could get them to the point where they could surpass the Elements of Harmony, and she almost succeeded.”

“What do yah mean she almost succeeded?”

“She made a grave error when she was getting more followers to her cause, for Luna, who was the youngest of the sisters, was still young enough to hear her enchanted voice and followed it to its source. When she discovered who was actually stealing away the children, she told the rest of her sisters, who stopped the war and united to go face off against Discordia herself. But unfortunately the damage had already been done.

The images shifted to show seven of the sisters, excluding Marmora and Siren Gale, as they landed near Discordia, surrounding her and staring at her with loathing.

“Where are the children,” asked Celestia, her mane flowing as the sun rose behind her, the others glaring at Discordia with equal ire.

“They are safe,” said Discordia flatly “far safer than they ever where with you. Now let us cut with the pleasantries my dear nieces, for I shall not keep my dear sister waiting any longer!”

The seven alicorns charged her, there magic leaping from them as they tried to catch her off guard. Discordia just smiled, her eyes flashing as she launched a spike at Fantasia, hitting her and then using her blacklegs to kick Ixen into a nearby boulder which cracked under the force of her impact. She then leaped at Luna, grabbing her by the throat and using her momentum to slam her into the ground like a rag doll, the ground cracking under the blow.

Celestia and Anastasia combined their magic, sending a great ball of flame at the stronger alicorn, only to have it deflected into Dreamstride who buckled under the attack. Mercury suffered one of the worst wounds, Discordia grabbing her horn in her mouth and breaking it, causing her to scream in agony. Anastasia fell soon after, leaving only Celestia, exhausted and bleeding on the ground as Discordia walked up to her.

Twilight was crying, holding on to Fluttershy as she looked at the broken battered form of her mentor and lover, disbelief etched on her face.

“I’m not going to kill you dear niece,” said Discordia as she brushed a hoof lovingly though Celestia’s mane. “It would be too easy, and your mother would never forgive me if I deprived her of the chance of seeing you again before you fade. No, instead I am going to let you live, so you can watch as I tear down everything you and your sisters built. Goodbye, my dear Celestia.”

She then bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek, causing her to shiver in disgust, and then she turned and walked away, leaving the battered forms of her nieces behind.

“She thought she had won…but her gravest mistake was in her ignorance of something she had been ignoring since her sister had vanished, something that she was…and still is blind too to this day.”

The world stayed as it was, and everypony save for Eris gasped as a new alicorn appeared in the field. She looked as if she was not completely there, her entire being appearing see through as she walked past some of the prone forms, walking right up to Luna and kneeling down.

The alicorn in question had a pearl white coat, and her mane and tail were a deep royal red, flowing on an invisible breeze like the alicorns around her. Her eyes, sky blue and shining in the sunlight, looked down upon the youngest of the sisters with concern in them.

She soon bent down, brushing Luna’s mane out of her face and nuzzling her gently to try and wake her, smiling as Luna shifted under the loving nuzzle.

“Luna, daughter, you need to wake up now.” Said Harmonia softly, using her wing to gently rub against Luna’s side.

Luna slowly rose, looking up and gasping as she saw who it was sitting next to her. “Mo…mother?” she asked, looking both frightened and confused.

“It’s ok my daughter, it is me,” she said, wrapping Luna in her feathery embrace. “I have missed you so much.”

“I missed you to,” said Luna, nuzzling into her chest with affection. “But where were you, we all thought you were dead?”

“I didn’t die Luna…but I lost my ties to this plain, I can no longer manifest psychically here like I used to, or like my sister does now.”

“But then…then why can I see you, and why does your sister think your dead?”

“Luna, you are the night’s keeper, and therefore you can see into the world that exists beyond this one, the world me and my sister come from. As to why she thinks me dead…my sister blinded herself to the old world long ago, and therefore cannot see me as I am now.”

Tears began to fall from Harmonia’s eyes as she said this, her sense of betrayal clouding the thoughts she needed to convey. “But that we must wait for another time to discuss, right now there are things I must tell you, things that can help you to stop my sister.”

She pulled back from the embrace, using her magic to form a copy of the planet they were on, before looking to Luna and speaking again.

“I need you to promise me this Luna, you need to remember everything I tell you, can you that for me my little Luna?”

Luna nodded her head, the other unseen observers noting the fear in her eyes as she watched her mother.

“I need you to tell all you're sisters but Celestia that they need to search for places in their respective territories that harbor old magic, places that have not been touch by pony nor beast. You and Celestia however must go here,” said Harmonia, pointing to a particular spot that Twilight and her friends recognized as the land that would someday be Equestria. “You must go there and go deep beneath the earth; there you will find what you need to defeat my sister.”

“But what are we looking for,” asked Luna, looking extremely confused.

“You will understand when you find them; just know that they are the key that will save us all, now I must leave. I leave you this gift, a bit of my magic to help heal your sisters. Just stay safe, and I will see you again soon.”

She smiled then, fading as a green magical aura entered Luna’s body, causing her eyes to glow bright with the temporary gift of magic.

“Luna healed her sisters, and told them what they needed to do, but she didn’t tell them how she knew of these places. But the sisters trusted each other, and rallied to the cause, heading deep into the hearts of their respective territories while Luna and Celestia went deep into the land that would become your very home. But before we continue, I wonder if you girls can guess as to what they were looking for?”

Eris looked expectantly at them, not letting her gaze drift and possibly give them any hints. But she didn't have to wait long, and Fluttershy leapt to the conclusion almost before Twilight did.

“Their looking for the elements,” they both said at the same time.

Eris smiled at them, nodding her head in confirmation as her eyes tinkled in delight. “Yes it is indeed the Elements of Harmony they were seeking, for Harmonia knew her sister would never understand her sacrifice, and had created the elements as a sort of counter measure against her inevitable attempts to seize back that which Harmonia had willingly given up. The sisters found the locations that were described by Luna, and went down deep into the earth, finding the elements and proving to the souls inside that they were worthy to carry them from their resting places.”

“And how exactly did they do that,” asked Rarity, looking worried.

Eris looked at her and grinned, her eyes beginning to glow as magic flooded her hands. “Why through the only way beings of that type could prove themselves, through conflict.”

She lifted her hands, and multiple worlds surrounded them, showing the sisters each entering great chambers that stretched beyond sight. As they entered forms began to take shape, mystical energy flowing from the elements themselves, forming into the shapes of alicorns as they rose from the ground, looking at the intruders with glowing eyes. The effigies all spoke then, their voices sounding oddly familiar to the six watching the images, and the emotions in their voices traveling into their cores.

“WHO IS IT THAT CALLETH UPON US, ARE THEE THE ONES WE SEEK?”

The sisters introduced themselves in the most polite way possible, telling the spirits why they were there and what they needed their power for.

“…THEN THOU SHOULT BE AWAKENED TO THE CREATURES HELD WITHIN YOU, AND IF THOU CAN TAMEST YOUR INNER DEVIL, OUR POWER WILL BE YOURS TO DIRECT AS YOU WILL.”

Their horns glowed, and then they watched as the sisters bodies began to pulse, their bodies beginning to shift and change form as their cutie marks glowed brightly.

Celestia and Luna were the first to change, and while they knew what to expect with Celestia’s transformation, they were utterly shocked with the display given off by Luna. Her coat turned night black and filled with stars, her mane, tail and wings becoming a field of stars and galaxies that swirled together. And when her eyes snapped open, they were pure white, and glowed with the divine energy of the moon.

The next to change was Ixen, her form transforming into that of a massive dragon, her wings spreading out to great heights as she stretched her neck, breathing fire into the empty air above her.

Dreamstride was next after her, her form becoming green as roots began to grow out around her hooves and her antenna turned into antler like tree branches. Her mane, wings and tail changed as well, becoming billowing cherry blossoms that danced around her, forming a beautiful pink field of petals over her as she walked.

Anastasia and Fantasia were next, Anastasia’s entire body changing to flow with all the elements that formed their world; that of light darkness fire earth air and water, the elements rolling along her body and changing as her eyes glowed with a deep blue light.

Fantasia changed into what could be described best as an arch demon, her body growing to twice its size as her forelegs transformed into arms and her wings mane and tale turned to red black smoke as two great horns grew alongside her face, lining up with her jaw as her eyes became great red pools of death.

Mercury’s change was last, all the flesh melting from her body till nothing but her bones remained along with two inky black fields of energy that represented her mane and tail, and two glowing blue embers that resembled her eyes.

The alicorns who had awakened this power rose, and then charged the newly transformed sisters, their magic clashing in a violent display of power that shook the caverns they were trapped in. But no matter how much power the sisters sent against the beings before them, the attacks seemed to just absorb into the beings bodies.

“…that’s…I know that spell, or at least a variation of it,” said Fluttershy, looking at the battle with wonder.

“Wait what?” asked Twilight as the others turned to look at her, “you’ve seen this kind of spell Fluttershy?”

“Well just a variation of it, Luna taught it to me a while back when I was practicing tattoo magic with her; it’s called the Shield of Consumption. It takes in the magic thrown against it and converts it to power for the pony to use against its enemy. The more powerful the user of the shield in question, the more power they can take in and use against their opponent. Usually the shield appears around the casters body when the energy hits it, for it takes a real powerful practitioner for the shield to not show itself.”

The others just stared at her in silence as the battles between the alicorns continued, but then something happened that brought their attention back to the battle at hand. Celestia had stopped attacking the being in front of her, and was instead stalking slowly around it, soon to be followed by her sister. No longer did Celestia’s eyes contain that wild look that had appeared in them when she had first been attacked by the entity, there was intelligence behind it, a cunning that showed she was now thinking with more than her instincts.

Soon the others followed suit, and as they did the entities smiled, lifting their wings and causing a bright flash of light. When the light dissipated, they all appeared in the same chamber, the entities staring at them and smiling at their accomplishment.

“THOU HAST PROVEN THINE POWER AND CONTROL, AND WE SHALL ALLOW THEE TO WIELD US. BUT KNOW THIS, IF THOU OVERSTEP THINE BOUNDS AND ABUSE WHAT WE HATH GIVEN TO YOU, THEN WE SHALL CUT OUR TIES WITH THEE, AND RETURN TO WAITING AGAIN FOR THE ONES WE SEEK.”

The entities transformed back into energy, forming into familiar objects which attached to the princesses as they returned to their original forms, all save for the element of magic. The element of magic formed into two crowns instead of one, landing on both Celestia and Luna’s heads.

“I’m puzzled about something,” said Rarity, watching as the world around them faded and returned to its original state.

“What is it that puzzles you Lady Rarity,” asked Eris.

“The elements spoke that they were seeking somepony, but whom were they seeking?”

“I thought that would have been obvious, the elements were looking for you, all of you.”

They all looked stunned, but as one of them opened their mouth to speak, Eris held up her paw to silence them.

“I know you want to know why, but that is not something I can tell you, you will have to wait till they are ready to tell you themselves. Now…” she said, letting the blank landscape fill once again with new details. “With the elements of Harmony in hoof, they flew to challenge Discordia again, and succeeded in robbing her of her physical ties to this plane.”

They watched as the princesses landed around Discordia, who laughed until she spotted the items they bore, a note of fear coming into her eyes and then anger.

“So that’s how you want to play this is it, fine, I guess it’s time to see if my elements are ready for the challenge!”

With that she summoned her elements, the crystals forming into jewelry and attaching to her body, forming into a crude set of armor. The jewels glowed, responding the close proximity to their sister elements, and they leaped at each other to engage in battle. But it proved a futile fight in the end and as the smoke cleared from the skies, it revealed the sisters standing around the six Elements of Chaos, Discordia's from vanishing on the wind as the light of the sun breached the clouds above.

“Discordia was defeated, but the sisters were left with new problems to deal with. One was they could not find where the children had been hidden, Discordia’s magic still held far more power than theirs alone, and therefore continued to hide the children she had taken from their sight. The other problem was the elements that had been left by Discordia after she had vanished, for no matter how hard they tried to destroy them, they could not break them.

They also had to mop up some of the lingering effects that had been left by the war, such as the arrant rampage of beasts that roamed many of the countryside’s and the occasional battle still breaking out between the smaller kingdoms that had existed outside the five kingdoms, including the three tribes you all know well from the tail of Hearths Warming Eve. I would prepare yourselves girls, for these scenes are going to be far different from what you have portrayed in the plays depicting these events.”

A new scene formed, depicting an eerily familiar scene that they had all acted out, but the characters looked nothing like what they had envisioned. The three leaders looked frightfully battle scared, including Princess Platinum, though her armor still shined as though fresh from the smithy.

Commander Hurricane was missing one eye, her one good eye shining crimson as she glared at the other leader in the room, Chancellor Puddinghead.

She was nothing like she had ever been portrayed, for instead of the comical costume that they had always seen Pinkie wear when she portrayed her, she instead wore a ragged looking set of plate mail and propped up against her shoulder was a notched and bloody battle axe.

“We are here again to discuss the recent crisis that has befallen our land,” said Puddinghead, her gravelly voice revealing the utter hatred she held for the two who sat on either side of her. “The winter has not let up, and we are beginning to run out of food…”

“I don’t see how that can be,” interrupted Hurricane, her one eye glaring at Puddinghead in contempt. “You're earth pony magic is supposed to be able to work in any sort of weather, including this, so I don’t see why you can’t meet the quota that we have set for you.”

“We for once agree with you commander,” said Platinum, turning to Puddinghead with a look of disbelief on her face, “your magic is strong; there is no reason you should be suffering a food shortage.”

“Oh really, and have either of you been down from you fucking thrones to see what has happened to my land,” asked Puddinghead, “the ground has become impossible to grow on, and the soil has frozen solid and has become impossible to till and plant seeds in. So if you pegasi don’t get you shit together and do something about the weather we are going to die from starvation!”

“And as I have said in the countless meetings before this we are not in control over this storm, it is being magically manipulated by other means which can only mean…”

“Us unicorns right,” said Platinum with a laugh, “we have been over this before, we are not doing anything to manipulate the weather. We even lost control over the sun and the moon when that blasted war between the Divines was in full swing, now they have control over it. Who’s to say it isn’t them behind this whole affair?”

“Because we are more concerned with our own lands,” said a new voice, and Twilight and the girls gasped as Celestia walked into the room, followed closely by Luna and Marmora.

The other leaders stood, Puddinghead and Hurricane going for their weapons, but Platinum looking at her with mild surprise. “Celestia, I did not expect you here of all places, to what do we owe this most unexpected…”

“Save your pleasantries Platinum,” said Luna, “we came because Clover told us you had been spreading some frightful rumors about my sisters and I.”

“Oh ho, I should have known my loose tongue would get me into trouble around the consort of a goddess, I shall have to discipline her later for going behind my back to you.”

Luna growled at this but Celestia restrained her, glaring at Platinum before speaking, “Trying to provoke us won’t solve anything your majesty; we came here to offer your people help if you want it.”

“And what kind of help would that be huh,” said Hurricane, “the only one who actually looked out for us during you’re fucking war was Discord, and even he can’t help us with this fucking crises. So why don’t you just leave and let us handle this ourselves, if we want help from the gods, well call on the one we trust.”

Celestia just nodded, and when they left the meeting dissolved into more bickering, at one point it looked like Puddinghead was about to attack Hurricane till Platinum adjourned the meeting.

“This is nothing like the pageant,” said Rainbow, looking disgusted as the images faded.

“Yeah,” said Pinkie Pie, “that Puddinghead is nothing but a big mean meanie head!”

“And the idea of Discord helping…it just seems so…out of character…” said Rarity.

“I forget that you are used to the image of Discord as a crazed spirit bent on causing chaos everywhere he can,” said Eris. “In the old days, he was a wise and noble soul, always looking out for the betterment of mortal kind. While most of us “gods” were engaged in the War of The Lost Ones, he had focused on helping the smaller kingdoms survive during that strenuous time, using the power he had gained when we had been changed to help them, but the magic that was fueling this storm could not be altered even by his magic. So the leaders went back to their respective areas, to talk with their seconds to try and figure out what to do.”

Again familiar scenes formed around them, showing the interior of Platinum’s castle as she burst through the door of Clovers chambers, using her magic to throw aside the table as she advances on her.

“You,” she yelled, trying to grab Clover in her magic but having it deflected by the skilled unicorn. “You had to tell your harlot of a lover about the rumors didn’t you, and about the meeting! You tried to bring the alicorns into interfering with our way of life, what kind of cockamamie plan could your brilliant little mind have come up with to come to that conclusion?”

“Because we cannot govern ourselves anymore,” yelled Clover, standing at her full height and towering over Platinum. The size difference between them was staggering, for Clover was almost as tall as Luna, which made her imposing as her magic swirled to protect her form Platinum.

“What the…how come she’s bigger then Platinum,” asked Applejack.

“Because she and Luna were lovers back in that time,” said Eris, “she was her first life mate, and that came with certain special magic’s that transformed said lover, making them more compatible with their perspective mate.”

“Magic?” asked Twilight, “Like the magic Celestia told be about when I…?”

She fell silent, but Eris nodded in understanding, “yes, it is that same magic Twilight. But for now we must press on, we still have much to cover before this ends.”

The scene began to move again, showing Platinum backing away from Clover with hatred in her eyes, “I cannot believe you; you would side with her rather than me, your ruler?”

“I am only trying to do what’s best for our ponies, for if we continue this fighting then we will all die, no matter who wins!”

“Well then it is a good thing we won’t have to be dealing with these ruffians anymore,” said Platinum with venom in her voice, “for we are leaving this place to find a new home, pack what supplies you can dear, we shall be leaving on the morrow.”

The scene faded and reformed, showing the dungeons of the pegasi castle, dark and foreboding and with the stench of ages past. The others gasped as Hurricane opened a cell door and threw a sword inside, which was caught by an armored pegasus who they knew to be Private Pansy.

“You’ll be happy to know that you’re being released early, I need you to help me get us organized.”

“What for,” asked Pansy, her eyes flashing bright due to the black tattoo’s surrounding her eyes.

“We’re leaving this place, the talks failed and neither of those pathetic tribes are willing to compromise. Now get you’re flank moving, I need you to get the more skittish recruits in line. Oh and you also might want this back as well,” she said, tossing a bladed whip to Pansy, who cradled it lovingly as she stood up and left the cell.

The scene faded a second time, reforming onto the scene of Puddinghead walking slowly into Smart Cookies house, a grim look on her face.

“Get the villagers to start packing up the provisions we have stowed away and get them ready to move, we’re leaving this place.”

“Where are we going,” said the battered earth pony, walking over as Puddinghead spread out a map on her table.

“Were going here,” said Puddinghead, pointing to a spot on the large map. “From what the traders said before all trade stopped, that was where the Divines found the Element of Magic. From everything they said that land was the most fertile and untouched land that anypony had ever found, so if we go there we can not only survive, we can thrive, and we will never have to deal with the pegasi or the unicorns ever again.”

“Of course the chancellor was wrong,” said Eris as the scene faded once more. “They all were heading to the same place after all, drawn by the same things that Puddinghead described. My brother followed close behind, hoping that the new land would cool off their hatred for each other, but of course as we know, things did not work out that way.”

The scene reformed, showing the tribes showing up in the same spot and turning on each other, and up above in the heavens, the windigos circled and fed of their hate. The land began to freeze, the leaders and their seconds being forced into a cave nearby. The leaders argued more, becoming frozen as their seconds gathered around each other, staring up at the creatures descending around them.

“Long time no see eh Clover, you’ve gotten bigger since we last met,” said Pansy, her whip slashing at one of the windigos, missing only by a hair. “I see Luna has finally given you that gift they keep talking about.”

“Not that I am not happy to catch up but as you can see we have some pretty hostile company at the moment,” said Clover, using the sword she had formed to keep another one of the windigos back.

“Don’t you know any spells against these beasts Clover,” said Cookie, “that Starswirl had to have taught you something that can work against these things.”

“He mentioned a spell,” said Clover, her blade carving into the hoof of one of the monsters. “But he said he could never get the spell to work, said it needed something he never had.”

“And what was that exactly did he didn’t have?”

“He said he needed friends to make the spell wor…”

“Clover you dumflank,” yelled Pansy, “what do you think we have been this entire time. If ponies that stay together while their leaders tear at each other’s throats aren’t friends then I don’t know what is, now cast the spell damit before we all freeze!”

Clover cast the spell, and pink flames flew from her horn and formed into a heart. The windigos began crying in fear at the sight of the flame, and Pansy grinned evilly at that. She slashed her whip through the flame, the fire attaching to the bladed weapon as she lashed it around one of the windigos, causing it to scream in pain from the contact of the fire. The others followed suit, and soon the windigos that could escape were driven off by the growing flame and their fire infused weapons.

“After they drove off the windigos they managed to free their leaders, but not before they called for the aid of the Divines. They told them that they needed new leadership if their people were ever going to survive, for even though the leaders knew that their continued bickering would bring the windigos back, they still could not get over their bitter hatred of each other.”

The scene changed, forming on a great meeting chamber that held all the divine alicorns, and many of their already growing families. Clover and her friends were there as well, standing in front of the great table in their new garb that indicated their appointment as the temporary leaders of the three tribes.

“We come before you to ask that one of you great ones take help us to lead our growing nation of Equestria,” said Clover, looking toward the two lead sisters, Celestia and Luna. “We know we ask much of you great ones, but we have seen what your wisdom has accomplished even in your darkest moments, and we ask that you lend that wisdom to us and help us to make our new nation prosper.”

Silence dominated the room for a while, and then Marmora spoke up, looking at Clover and her friends. “We will need time to discuss it my dear Clover, if you would please wait with your friends in the other room?”

Clover nodded and walked out with her friends, and after they left, Marmora rubbed a hoof over her face, weariness setting in as she looked at the others around her. “It seems you were right Celestia, but what should we do now.”

“We lend them our support and leadership,” said a much younger Eris, sitting next to Ixen along with Discord, who was blowing pink smoke rings our of a clay pipe. “They need new leadership, the fact that they had to take power away from their original leaders says as much.”

“Well…if it’s not too bold,” said Celestia, the hesitance palpable in her voice, “I was thinking that Luna and I could help lead this new nation.”

“……as noble as that is Celestia, I am afraid I will have to say no to that suggestion,” said Marmora. “We still need you as the neutral party among us, as I will no longer be able to take a neutral stance.”

“What do you mean sister,” asked Luna, looking confused.

Marmora sighed, “I guess there is no point hiding it anymore,” she said; her horn glowing and her form changing. Her entire body began to glow like that of the crystal ponies, her main flowing gracefully on an invisible breeze as her siblings gasped in wonderment.

“I found a place out in the ocean a while back when I was looking for a way to contain the Elements of Chaos, and I found a continent with structures completely made out of crystal, crystal that responded to both the Elements of Harmony and Elements of Chaos. I also found a group of ponies there, ponies whose coats shined like mine dose now, and I asked them how this had happened. They told me it was a tree that made them this way, so I started experimenting with it. As you all know my talent is love in all its forms, well I started to mix that magic with that of the tree it responded to it, and changed me along with my cutie mark.”

She showed them her flank, which originally had held a bright red heart on it that was now turquoise and looked like it was entirely made out of crystal. “With this magic I was able to drive out the beasts in their land through the creation of items I call Crystal Hearts, and they made me empress of them, calling me the Crystal Empress. I was going to tell you sooner, but you all were so busy with other matters that I held it off till now. So as you can see I can no longer remain a neutral party alongside you, you must stand alone on that front from now on.”

“But then who can help lead them,” asked Dreamstride, “if Luna and Celestia are to remain neutral then who is left, none of us can do it.”

“And I cannot,” said Siren Gale, her back fins flaring as she inspected a scaly hoof with her fishlike eyes. “My domain is the oceans that surround all lands; I cannot and will not rule over land dwellers.”

“Then if I may make a suggestion,” said Ixen, “I think the best pony for this task would be my son, Discord.”

Discord began coughing as he took too big a drag on his pipe, thumping his chest with his lion paw as he tried to get his breathing back under control. “Mother…you can’t be serious; I am in no way capable of being a leader.”

“Says the same pony who risked his life to help those in need," said Ixen. "The one who ignored his mother and her sisters to protect those you helped, even as a war raging around him."

Ixen smiled after saying this, patting her child on the shoulder before speaking once again. “You led them to safety and even made them set aside their differences for a time, till that whole mess with the windigos happened. You can lead Discord, and it would be foalish to deny yourself this opportunity to test your worth, and to live outside my influence for once in your life.”

“And,” interjected Eris; placing a reassuring hand on her brother’s shoulder. “I will be there to help you get into the swing of things, for ruling isn’t all that hard brother, if mother can do it so can you.”

Discord laughed at this, but nodded his head in agreement. Twilight and the others however turned at the sound of crying, seeing the real Eris behind them wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, “these memories affect me more then most…this moment always makes me blame myself for what happened to him in his later life. Any way…” she said, waving her hand to keep them from asking questions “…after he agreed he and I left for the new land of Equestria along with Clover and her friends, meanwhile Celestia and Luna went to help Marmora spread the Crystal empire over the other kingdoms.

They deduced that the Crystals Hearts could be used to channel the power of the Elements of Harmony and contain the Elements of Chaos, so six cities were built, one in each of the kingdoms near where the Elements of Harmony had been found. These cities were all connected to each other through the Crystal Hearts, which sent the magic of the Elements of Harmony to the central hub in the center of the Crystal Empire, the Tree of Harmony. The Tree of Harmony united the elements magic when they were not being wielded by the sisters, and so could form the prisons that could contain their dark counterparts.

The scenes reformed to show a familiar looking sight, the original spot they had thought to be the Crystal Empire. It showed Celestia walking alongside Marmora through the crystal palace, Marmora talking happily about her work.

“The Element of Magic has already been installed at the top of the tower, once we reach the lower levels, we will be able to complete the prison that will be able to contain the Elements of Chaos.”

They moved down a flight of stairs, walking along the till they reached the bottom level where a dais similar to the one that held the Crystal Heart in the town square above stood.

“Once we place the Element of Dark Magic in there, it will unite both the energies of the Elements of Harmony and Chaos to create their prison; just place it in the dais when you’re ready.”

Celestia walked forward, floating the Element of Dark Magic onto the dais. When it floated into place, the Element began to glow, and energy began to flow around it. The energy formed into bands, and the minute the bands began to get close to the element energy began to rise from it, writhing as it took on the shape of an alicorn as it roared for release. Celestia recoiled, looking at the monstrosity with fear as it writhed and squirmed inside the energy bands, its screams of pain sounding hauntingly like those of the windigos that had plagued the three tribes.

“Just wait a little longer,” said Marmora, her excitement barley contained as she watched the entity struggle. Slowly the bands began to retract around the entity, pushing it back into its crystal as the creature’s cries became quieter and quieter, till they died completely as the bands bound tightly around the element.

“There, it’s done,” said Marmora, looking happy that it had worked.

“You sure this will keep them contained,” asked Celestia, looking at the prison with a little worry.

“Yes, as long as the Elements of Chaos continue to feed energy into the Elements of Harmony, they will continue to provide the chains to their own prison.”

The scene faded abruptly then, Eris coughing suddenly as she kneeled down on the ground.

“Eris what’s wrong,” asked Twilight, walking over to the coughing mare as she pulled out a handkerchief from thin air, green blood leaking from her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” said Eris, “It has been…several thousand years since I did something like this…it tears at my body in every conceivable way…but I…I have to do this, I just need some rest.”

She waved her hand, a cave forming around them with several beds and throw pillows scattered on the floor. “I suggest you rest as well while I recover, and you don’t have to worry, no time has passed while we are here; so you don’t have to worry about us staying here too long.”

She crawled into the largest of the beds, her form going slack as she fell asleep. The others sat around on the pillows, looking at each other as the mares body rose and fell as she slumbered, one of her arms dangling from the bedside.

“This…” started Rainbow Dash, her voice shaking as the shock of it all crashed around her. “…How could she hide all this from us, how could they all hide this from us?”

“Ah’m not sure sugar cube, but from everything ah have seen…some of this just is too much tah take in…ah mean they got tricked into fighting a war over foals…a horrible war, and they found their talents during that war…that’s just bucked up.”

“Applejack…” said Twilight; putting a hoof on her friends shoulder. “They had their reasons for covering this up, I’m not sure why, but they did.”

“But that’s the thing, why would they do that, ah mean were not even finished with everything and something tells me the next bit ah history is going tah be worse than what we have seen so far.”

“Well whatever do you mean dear?”

“Yah all saw that fight between Celestia and Anastasia, Celestia was begging for her sister tah kill her, yah can’t tell me that don't mean anything.”

“Celestia was feeling guilty for abandoning her…”

“No there was more tah it then that, Celestia said she stole something from them, but she never said what. Now what could she have stolen that would cause her tah feel that much guilt, it had tah be something that protected them all, like the Elements of Harmony…”

“NO!”

Everypony jumped at Twilight’s outburst save for Eris, who slept soundly through it. Twilight meanwhile was staring at Applejack in disbelief, “How could you even say that, Celestia would never do something like that.”

“Yeah and ah also remember you saying the same thing about her lying tah us, and we all know how that ended. She lied tah all of us, especially you about our entire history, how do we know she didn’t do something that could have compromised the safety of her own sisters. You saw what Mercury looked like; she looked like she had walked through Tartarus and back, that kind ah stuff don’t just happen without a reason behind it.”

Twilight just stared at her, the weight of what she had said slowly pulling her down. But then Pinkie slapped her hoof down, an unusual look of seriousness stretched across her normally cheery face.

“That’s not fair Applejack, like Twilight said they had their reasons, and until Eris shows us we have no way of knowing what Celestia possibly stole, or the reasons why she did it even if she did steal the Elements. Now lets just get some sleep, we’ll need it tomorrow, especially seeing as how I know what’s coming next.”

With that she got up and went to one of the beds, turning her back on everypony as her hair deflated from her anger. The others started at her for a moment, then got up and went to the beds, each falling into a fitful sleep due to the thoughts racing through their minds.

Revelations: Part 6 (Revised)

Lyra and the others laid the last sleeping from on the bed, watching as Eris’s hands continued to glow with magic. They had each been taking turns watching over Eris the past hour; for they needed to make sure she did not overtax herself while using her power.

“Lyra,” asked a voice, causing her to turn from watching Eris. She saw it was her cousin Ursula, who smiled and sat down next to her.

“Hey Urs,” said Lyra, “It’s been a long time, how are you doing?”

“Better than most,” she said, her eyes turning toward Agatha. Lyra glanced over as well; noting that she was talking calmly with Shadow Spark, but there was sadness in her eyes as she talked with him.

“She is still recovering from Shadow’s rejection,” said Ursula, her voice sounding somber. “We have been trying to comfort her, but she still kind of…obsesses over him.”

“That girl never could handle rejection well,” Said Lyra, “you remember Cloud Caller?”

Ursula laughed really hard at that, “god I forgot about him, what has it been, 500 years since we last thought of him?”

“Yeah, gods I remember that guy used to be so devoted to her, guy would sing the clouds into messages just for her.”

Ursula laughed again, hugging the mint colored mare affectionately as she spoke. “Ah such good times, I’m just surprised you remembered it, you were what five, maybe six years old at the time?”

“I was seven if you remember,” said Lyra with a giggle, “gods it’s been that long?”

“Yeah,” said the taller mare, and then she nudged Lyra with a suggestive hoof bump. “So I saw the little mare you had with you, you given her your gift yet,” she asked, a sly smile on her lips.

“Well…no not yet,” said Lyra, “but I gave her something a lot more special.”

“Oh, do tell.”

Lyra looked around nervously, and then leaned in to whisper into her ear, “Me and Bony had a foal…”

Ursula screamed loudly, causing the others to look in her direction, puzzled over the sudden outburst.

“OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH!!!” She screamed, grabbing Lyra by the shoulders as she swung her around, “That’s so amazing, I can’t believe you’re the first of us to have a foal! What does she look like, she’s a filly right, how long have you…”

She stopped as Lyra shoved her hoof in her mouth, looking up at her scornfully as Lyra spoke.

“Ursula I didn’t want everypony knowing about it yet, my mother hasn’t even seen her yet, and hell my kid doesn’t even know she has a grandmother.”

“What, but why,” asked Shadow as he and the others walked up. “Didn’t you tell her where you’re from?”

“Oh sure cousin that would be rich, 'hey Scoots, guess what. Me and your mother are not actually from Las Pegasus, we were actually sent here from a place called The Adeptest Republic as spies. Oh and your grandmother also happens to be one of the long lost sisters of Princess Celestia, so your technically royalty because of that,' how do you think she would react hmmm?”

“Um…not well I would wager,” said Shadow.

“So her name is Scoots,” asked Agatha, looking at Lyra with a bemused grin.

“Actually her full name is Scootaloo, her mother’s idea,” said Lyra, a slight chuckle escaping her lips.

“So you’re the father,” asked another one of the cousins, the brown stripes in her white coat identifying her as Darla.

“Hehe…ye…yeah I’m the dad in the relationship,” said Lyra, giggling nervously.

“Oh come on, don’t tell us your ashamed to be so, why look at us.” Said another one of Anastasia’s children, gesturing around with a smile on her face, “we were born from the mating of two mares, and we know Anastasia is not ashamed of having sired us. Now why don’t you go see to your mare, we can handle things from here?”

“What, but I…” Lyra started, but stopped as Ursula put a hoof to her lips.

“Go, we got this covered, so there is no reason why you should deny yourself of such wants. Just make sure to treat her well, she is after all your consort, so you should treat her as such.”

Lyra nodded, all too happy to concede as she ran out of the door, running to her chambers. The others laughed as she left, then they returned to watching the sleeping ponies in the room, waiting patiently for them to reawaken.

Twilight and the others awoke in the cave after a short nap, a few getting up and looking over to where Eris slept soundly, her body rising and falling with each breath she took. Twilight looked at the others, noting Pinkie’s mane still was straight and she walked over to the pink pony, placing a hoof on her shoulder to get her attention.

“You ok,” Twilight asked, looking concerned.

“Kinda…,” said Pinkie, looking at Twilight as she spoke. “It’s just...” she sighed “…the part where Discord went mad is coming up soon…and it always tears me up when I see it…”

“You’ve seen it before?”

Pinkie nodded, “He didn’t want to show me, but I asked him…and the first time tore me apart. We had already been…intimate by that point, and seeing somepony you love change like that…becoming and animal bent on nothing but destruction…it nearly tore me apart.”

She gulped, keeping her mane pulled over her face to hide it.

Twilight wrapped the pink pony up in a hug, trying to comfort her as best she could. She understood in her own way what Pinkie was talking about, due to having seen the other side of Celestia herself. “You said the first time…does that mean you asked him to see it again?”

“Yes,” said Pinkie, “I had to know what I would possibly be facing…if he ever broke free from his prison…I know you girls thought I was all happy go lucky when it all started…but the truth is I was terrified. Twilight, you never got to see what the monster inside him was truly capable of back when you met him.”

“Pinkie, I am pretty sure we did…”

“No Twilight, all the things that monster did to Ponyville and to our friends and loved ones were just child’s play compared to what that thing is truly capable of…the thing that was controlling him never intended to win…it was just toying with us to test us…”

Twilight stared at her looking stunned, for she could tell Pinkie was totally serious about what she was saying, and that made her terrified. But then something Pinkie had said caught her attention, “Pinkie, you said the monster inside him…what do you mean?”

Pinkie wiped her eyes, shaking her head in response and to quite further questions. “It’s better that you see it for yourself…it’s not something I can explain.”

Twilight nodded in understanding, letting go of her and walking to wake the last of their group. However when she approved, she noticed that part of the room had become sectioned off, and as she walked past the barrier, she noted an odd smell and gasped when she saw who was behind there.

“Applejack! Dash! Wha…what the…?”

“Ah horse apples!”

“Pony feathers!”

Twilight watched as Dash and Applejack disentangled themselves from each other, their manes and coats matted from both sweat and love juices. Rarity and the others soon peaked around the barrier, gasping as Applejack blushed and pulled her Stetson tight over her face.

“Hehe…guess we got something to ah…tell you,” said Dash with a sheepish grin…her cheeks burning red despite her blue coat.

“I am afraid that will have to wait,” said a voice, causing them all to jump. They turned to see Eris standing behind them, smiling at Dash and Applejack as she waved her hand, cleaning up their mess.

“A word of caution next time girls, I may have been asleep at the time, but that did not prevent me from experiencing your…activities during my slumber, so I would suggest in the future restraining yourselves when in someone else’s head.”

The two nodded as she waved her hand again, the cave disappearing and returning to the blackness it had once been, before raising herself up to speak.

“Now we return to the events of the past. When last we left, Marmora had successfully helped her sisters to create a prison that could contain the Elements of Chaos, and after that life returned to peaceful slumber, the kingdoms prospering but drifting apart to create a safety protocol in case anyone tried to start a similar war like the War of The Lost. But beneath it all a shadow stirred, for Discordia was not vanquished as they believed.”

They watched as the images formed on a scene which caused them all to gasp, for it showed all the children that she had foalnapped, a lot much older than when they had been taken but most still as young as they used to be. Then the gasped further as another familiar figure walked out of the shadows, causing Twilight stand and yell in shock.

“That’s….that’s Nightmare Moon…but that would mean…?”

“Twilight calm yourself,” said Eris, placing a paw on her shoulder. “I know that may look like the mare in the moon you once faced, but that is not her. The creature you see before you is named Nyx, one of only two direct descendants of Discordia who lives, now watch,”

“Hello my little ones,” said Nyx as she walked amongst them, occasionally nipping and nuzzling one of the ponies around her like her mother before her. “It has been a thousand years since our mothers bonds were cut by her sister’s children, and those same children have grown quiet and complacent in the peace we have allowed them.”

Evil chuckles rippled through the crowd around her, causing the ponies that were watching the memory to shiver because of the malice hidden inside it. “We have waited patiently, and now I think it is time for us to begin silencing the magic of the Elements, so let us begin.”

The children all began to glow with a great bright light, and a magic began to pulse and hum as they all began to sing, Nyx’s voice dominating them all as they hummed with the magic. As they sang the magic pulsed, and the scene shifted, showing the crystal cities and focusing on the chambers where the Elements of Chaos were held.

Eyes formed behind the cadges that held the elements, purring as the music fed them the magic of their creators, causing their power to grow and strengthen. The scene zoomed up to the top of the towers, showing the Elements of Harmony begin to keen from the growing power of their sister elements, Twilight and her friends actually cringing at the sound.

“The Elements of Chaos began growing in strength, and to compensate, their sisters had to grow in time with them, becoming silent to those who could talk with them, namely me…and my brother Discord. It was when his favored element, the Element of Laughter went silent that he came to me so that he might try and…divine what might be coming.”

“Divine…you don’t mean…”

Eris held up a talon to stay her, “As you know Twilight my brother and I touch the life blood of Equis, and it changed our bodies. But it also changed our magic, and when we merge our magic…it allows me to see forward in time.”

They watched as the scene reformed, showing Discord walking into the very cave Eris had conjured for them to rest in, walking over to a younger looking Eris with concern etching his brow.

“Brother, what are you doing here?”

“Sister…I have…have you heard any reply from the elements of late?”

Eris paused, but then shook her head slowly, “No…I have not…not for some time.”

“That’s what I feared,” said Discord. “I have been feeling…trepidations of late, like…like something from the past is rising and trying to disrupt all that we hold dear. I have come here to ask…if we may try and peak past the veil, to see if what I fear will come to pass.”

Eris paused, looking at her brother with concern. “Discord, you know it is impossible to stop what we see, usually we cause what we see by trying to stop it.”

“I know sister, but I must be sure before I do what I was going to do before I came here…so, can we begin?”

Eris hesitated, and then nodded, holding out her claws palms up toward him. Discord placed his palms in hers, and their magic began to glow and mingle, Discord’s magic flowing into Eris and causing her eyes to begin to glow. She looked forward, looking as though she was looking past him toward something only she could see.

“The one who birthed Elements of Chaos shall be reborn, drawing upon the power which she left behind to reform her bonds to this plane. She will return from her slumber and exact vengeance on the one who stalled her plans, and caused her the greatest of griefs.”

Her eyes then slowly stopped glowing, the magic separating and disappearing from their clasped hands as Discord drew away.

“Thank you sister…I know what I have to do now…”

He then placed his hand on her shoulder, griping it tightly, before speaking his finally words. “I am sorry, but you will not see me again.”

Then he snapped his fingers, vanishing before Eris could react.

As the scene began to fade everypony heard the real Eris sob, her body shaking as she clutched her paw to her mouth. “I am sorry…but…this…I have spent over a thousand years going over this moment in my mind…always wondering if I had said something different…or if I had denied his request…”

“He never blamed you.”

Everypony turned to see Pinkie staring at her, Pinkie walking over and hugging the mare around the middle as she spoke. “He was already going to do what he did…he just wanted a glimpse…he never intended to hurt you. He felt he had to do what he did, and he knew what he was going to do might cause events to play out as you saw them, but he couldn’t just stand aside when he could possibly avert such trouble to protect his ponies.”

Eris hugged her, gripping her tightly in thanks, before finally letting her go to speak. “Thank you Pinkie, but until I see him free again…I will forever be plagued by this guilt. Now…” she said, turning back, “this next scene will be extremely…distasteful…but you must all stay strong. Pinkie, stay by my side, I have no doubt you have seen this before, and it will comfort me to have another who shares similar pain to stand beside.”

Pinkie nodded, walking up to the mare as the new images formed. They watched as Discord walked into the chamber that held the Element of Dark Magic, watching him reach in and grab a hold of it in both his claws. As his hands wrapped around the element, he started chanting, his claws glowing with power as he began to speak.

“Mrith sia lexri si relgr wer vrrarral zyak batobot si nomag jikmada wux vur shirr wer ousch, vur persvek zyak tirir pok wer bekilip batobot wux ornla dronilnr!”

With each draconic word uttered, a crack formed in the crystal as its occupant began to writhe and scream. When the last word was uttered, the crystal shattered into several pieces, one of them flying directly into Discords heart and burying in deep.

He screamed as the other shards flew away from his hands, falling to the ground as they flew out of the building to parts unknown. After a moment however, Discord began to rise, chuckling and then beginning to cackle madly as his eyes turned yellow with madness. He teleported to the center of Canterlot, which looked different but still familiar to the six to still look like the old Canterlot of their time, but just different enough that they could tell it was different.

He began wreaking havoc among the populace, but this was nothing like they had seen when he had broken free almost a year ago. There were no cotton candy clouds, no chocolate rain, and no upside down buildings or ponies running around acting in funny manners. No, instead there were fires in the streets, ponies fighting amongst each other and some even killing each other, and all the while Discord hovered above it all, laughing manically like they had never heard him laugh before. The laugh was crazed, the kind of laugh that sent shivers down the spines of the ponies watching.

“DISCORD,” a voice shouted, and they saw Ixen and the other sisters flying in his direction, the elements in their possession as the faced the crazed Kirin. He laughed, snapping his fingers and not even flinching as he sent a spear into his mother’s side, causing her to scream in pain as she fell from the air, only to be caught by Luna as the other five charged him.

He laughed as he went to work, slowly and systematically taking down each and every one of them till they all lay in bloody heaps upon the ground, Discord cackling even louder as he slapped his bloody claws against his knee.

Celestia and Luna were the first to rise, the element of magic appearing and splitting into its twin crown form as the other elements appeared and attached themselves to their current wielders. Discord continued to laugh, even as they unleashed the power and turned him to stone, and he continued to laugh even then.

After he was completely sealed in stone, Ixen collapsed into a sobbing wreck at the foot of the statue, screaming in both regret and rage at what they had been forced to do. The scene faded, and the others turned to see Eris and Pinkie comforting each other, tears falling from the pink mare as she held tightly to the pony who knew her love as well as she.

“There there Pinkie dearest, it is alright, you know he meant none of it.”

“It…it still hurts…every time…”

“I know,” said the older mare, hugging her tightly and rubbing a clawed hand through her mane to comfort her. “But you have brought comfort to his long aching heart, and in so doing brought comfort to mine, take comfort in that.”

Pinkie nodded, hugging the mare again. “Thanks sis,” she said before pulling away, walking over to sit next to her friends and ignoring the surprised looks on their faces.

Eris nodded, and then turned to continue. “After my brother was imprisoned, it was discovered by the sisters that the city that the Element of Magic had been held in had been taken over during Discords mad attacks by a new enemy, one whose power they could not match even though he presented himself as a mere unicorn.”

The scene formed upon a fierce battle being raged between the sisters and a lone black shadow, a shadow they all recognized as King Sombra. The ponies watched as he battled with the seven, only to be slowly encased in ice as he screamed in rage. But just as his icy prison sealed shut, there was a great flash of light, and everypony watched as the great City of Magic vanished before their eyes.

“Unfortunately for us back then, after my brother broke the Element of Dark Magic, he unwittingly created a way for Discordia herself to influence our world again. Even though she could no longer take physical form, she could still influence those she had touched with her magic. She had left a spell inside King Sombra; a spell that insured that even if he failed in his task, that part of the Crystal Empire would be removed, thus weakening the protection provided by the Empire. And with the magic weakened…her first born decided it was time to return their mother to the board.”

The scene reformed, showing a black alicorn standing amidst a group of ponies of all ages, an alicorn they now knew was Nyx. They watched as all the ponies in the chamber began to glow, yellow strands of light flying off their coats and from their manes and beginning to swirl around the center as the black alicorn known as Nyx rose above the growing bundle. Her horn and eyes glowed then, and the strands of light began to rise and twist together, forming shapes as they did so.

They watched as the strands formed first into bones, then muscles and organs, tendons and nerves, veins and skin, and finally fur and feathers. As the last of the strands entered the newly created mare, her main and tale exploded forth, the sky blue hue glowing bright as the newly resurrected alicorn rose from the ground. She opened her eyes, their red irises gazing into the turquoise ones of her daughter, whom she hugged gently.

“I thank thee, my dearest Nyx,” she said, her gaze then turning to the ponies all around the room, “and I thank all of you my children, I know I chose correctly when I placed my bonds in your hooves.”

“Stop!”

The ponies who had been watching turned, seeing Rainbow Dash looking at the scene before her, looking sick. “That…that bitch used them…used all of them! H…how could she do such a thing…why would she do such a thing to foals…?”

As the last word left her lips it became too much for her, and she collapsed on the ground, crying her eyes out as Applejack went to comfort her.

“I know this will be of no comfort,” said Eris, “but it must be said. Discordia may call them children, may show them affection, but she only sees them as a means to an end. Beyond what they provide her, they mean absolutely nothing to her; the only thing she cares about is getting her sister back.”

“But that doesn’t make it right!” yelled Dash threw her sobs, looking up at the mare above her. “No foal deserves to be used like that, especially by a pony that they trust above all others…”

She buried her face into Applejacks chest, crying harder as Eris walked over and kneeled down, placing a reassuring paw on her shoulder in sympathy. “I know, but that is the reality of the creature we face, and you must know it if you are to ever be ready to face her.”

Dash nodded, letting go of her marefriend and leaving the comfort of her embrace, watching as Eris returned to her speech.

“After she was brought back to this plane, Discordia began working her magic again, sowing the seeds of famine and drought among the other kingdoms, all save for Equestria, which she could not touch. While the other kingdoms began to see steadily growing hardships, Equestria only grew and prospered, guided by the light of the two sisters Celestia and Luna, who had taken up leadership after my brother’s fall. After a healthy length of time to let the other sisters start to build their own resentments, Discordia finally decided to enact her revenge on the one who laid her low all those years ago.”

They watched as the scene reformed; showing Nyx flying towards the ancient palace that had once held the elements, landing in front of the gates and asking if she could have an audience with Princess Luna. The scenes then shifted, showing Nyx walking into a garden, in which Luna was tending to some night flowers. Luna turned to see who had entered the garden, only to dawn a look of shock when she saw her.

“Hello your majesty, my name is…”

“…Nyx?”

The amount of recognition that came from Luna’s voice shocked almost all who stood next to Eris, and they were even more shocked by the look of happiness that came into Nyx’s eyes.

“You…You remember us?”

If Luna’s behavior had shocked them earlier, what she did next left them all wondering where all the sanity had gone from the world. She swept up Nyx in a tight embrace, kissing her fiercely as her horn glowed, the light mingling with that of Nyx’s as their kiss intensified.

They soon broke the kiss, Luna staring lovingly at the dark mare before her. “How could we forget you, our first love…our mare of the moon.”

“OK, hold on one cod picking minute,” yelled Applejack as the scene froze, looking at Eris with confusion in her eyes. “What the buck is going on here, you can’t be telling me that our princess and that monster were…!”

“Lovers,” asked Eris with a cold grin, “yes…sadly they were at one time, for Nyx and Luna found each other long ago before the events that led up to the War of The Lost started, drawn together due to unknown forces. They had been involved for some time when Nyx made the mistake of telling her mother who she was involved in, and she was imprisoned on the dark side of the moon for two thousand years as punishment.”

She nodded as they collectively gasped, “Yes I know it sounds harsh, but compared to what she does to the other ponies she calls children, I consider that her one saving grace.”

“But wait a minute, if they were lovers how the hell did she end up with Clover the Clever, and why the hay would she kiss her like that if they are still together,” asked Pinkie.

“To the first question, after Nyx returned from her banishment, she was forbidden from ever contacting Luna again unless Discordia said otherwise. As to the second…Clover the Clever was killed during the Discord Crises trying to stop him. Now pay attention closely here, for this is where the whole incident of Nightmare Moon truly begins.”

The scene unfroze, Luna nuzzling the dark mare before pulling away. “Come, walk with us, we have much to talk about you and I.”

The walked along the garden path, Nyx unfurling one of her large wings and draping it over the smaller mare; causing her to blush softly as she did so. “You must tell us where you have been all these years; after you left we could not find you anywhere, not even on our moon.”

“We had family matters that needed to be taken care of, which took longer than I expected. Also By the time I returned, you were already in the hooves of another…so I decided to keep my distance out of respect of you choosing her as your…as your life mate.”

Luna nuzzled her close, hearing the hurt in her voice. “You were gone love, and I needed to move on. Clover was everything I could want in a mare, and I felt the same attraction for her that I did for you back then, so I pursued her. But now…”

“We know,” said Nyx, “we felt the bonds between you two cut when her flame died out, and we felt thy cries echo through the moon. We wanted to come sooner, but we were forced to wrap things up at our end before coming to see you. But now I am here for you, as I was meant to be.”

The scene faded, reforming some time later on a scene of the royal bed chambers, showing Nyx using her mane to preen Luna’s wings under the light of the sun. Nyx watched as the ponies went about their daily routines, not even paying attention to the moans she was eliciting from her recently regained lover, for her eyes were full of confusion.

“Luna, one thing has puzzled me over the last few years, why do the ponies of your kingdom not worship your night the same way they worship your sister’s day?”

“That is because normal ponies need sleep Nyx, unlike you or I. I do not mind that they choose that time to sleep though, for how else would they be able to go about their affairs during the daylight hours.”

“But love you put so much work into those nighttime skies…does it not bother thee that they go unappreciated, and thus by extension you go unappreciated?”

Luna stared at the dark mare with confusion, but her face became grave as she pondered what she had said. “We…we do admit that at times…we feel that they could show a little more appreciation for the work we do.”

“Then why not ask your sister if you can extend the night, maybe for a full week so that your people can truly appreciate the work you put into each night you create. What’s the worst that could happen?”

The scene blurred then, reforming soon after on the same room, this time showing Nyx sitting on the bed alone, reading a book in the moonlight. She suddenly dropped the book as the doors to the bed chamber burst open, Luna walking in with tears streaming down her face as she walked towards Nyx, who got up and wrapped her up in a feathery hug.

“She…she rejected our proposal, she said it would cause too much unrest with the ponies because of what happened with Discord…and she…she yelled at us when we wouldn’t drop the issue…”

“Shh shh, it’s ok my love, its ok. We are sorry she rejected your proposal, but you should have known it would happen that way.”

“But why,” cried the younger alicorn, looking up into the dark mares dragon like eyes for answers.

“Because my sweet,” she said, lowering her head so that her mouth rested right next to her ear. “She is jealous of you,” she whispered, “all Celestia has is the sun, but you have the moon and the stars at you beck and call, which allow you to create a beautiful mosaic of starlight that is far grander than anything she could conjure. Thus she is jealous, and because she is jealous she denies you the right to show that beauty to your ponies; are you really going to let her do that?”

“But what can we do…she said no…”

“To Tartarus with what she said,” yelled Nyx, startling Luna. “We both control the moon and the stars, and we know a way that we can make your sister listen to you.”

She got up close then, her horn touching Luna’s and beginning to glow. “If we merge together, we can show your sister the true beauty of the night, and she will see that what you ask is reasonable, do you trust me?”

Luna nodded, and they watched as Nyx’s form began to dissolve, melting down and pooling around Luna’s feet. The black mass began crawling up Luna, spreading up her legs and around her body. It wrapped around her neck and wings, slowly climbing up her face till finally it completely covered her, turning her coat a sickly purple black. Her eyes snapped open then, pure pools of turquois with no sclera or irises to speak off, and the being laughed then, sounding distinctly like Nyx as she did so.

“You were always too trusting my love…it is a pity that you will not be able to watch as I tear down everything you hold dear…”

“THAT BITCH!!!” yelled Fluttershy, causing her friends to turn and then jump back in fright. Her eyes were glowing pure blue and lines had appeared all across her body and wings, glowing as brightly as her eyes as magic crackled around her, her mane and tail billowing in an ethereal wind and sparkling in the darkness.

“Fluttershy…”

“THAT WHORE, SHE USED THEIR PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIP GET HER TO DROP HER GUARD! IF I EVER GET MY HOOVES ON THAT HARLOTOS NAG I WILL…!”

“FLUTTERSHY!”

Fluttershy snapped out of her growing rage, breathing hard as her mane fell around her face, still looking angry. “Sorry girls, I just don’t like seeing my life partner manipulate like that…”

“Flu…Flutters? What was that?”

“I told you…I learned tattoo magic with Luna…I don’t use it that often though due to how…draining it is…”

Twilight nodded, her horn lighting up and beginning to restore her magical energy, before turning to Eris to speak. “Eris, continue with what you were doing…I will help with Fluttershy ok.”

Eris nodded, returning to the scene and started it again.

Nyx chuckled then as the scene unfroze, “Time to go play,” she said, and with that the monster took off into the sky, the moon turning blood red as she flew toward a town nearby. They watched as she attacked the town, attacking ponies and draining them of their blood, her coat soon turned red from all the blood she was spilling.

Soon Celestia flew into the area, her eyes widening in horror at the town full of corpses and the blood soaking the ground as she stared at the beast that had taken over her sister. From the side lines Twilight read the princesses body language like a book, noting that Celestia somehow knew that this monster was not her sister, for there was no recognition in her posture nor held within her eyes.

“What are you, and why have you taken my sister?” said Celestia as she stepped forward, her eyes never leaving the creature now walking towards her.

“Oh I am the same as you cousin,” said Nyx with an evil grin. “My name is Nightmare Moon, humble daughter of Discordia Chaotica, and as to why I am here; it’s complicated, but let’s just say its vengeance for your sister severing my mother’s hold on this world.”

“She was not the only one who fought your mother…”

“But she was the one who told you all of the elements, thus she was the cause. Of course…” said the dark mare, circling around Celestia with an evil grin. “…This would never have happened if you had just done what your sister had asked.”

“What are you…?”

“She came to you yesterday didn’t she, to ask you to let the night last into the day for a week? You should have done as she asked, then she would not have run into my comforting embrace and given me full control of the moon.”

Celestia growled her body shifting as she changed into Solaris. “I will not let you possess my sister any longer, I don’t care what it takes, but I shall drive you from my sister witch.”

The dark mare chuckled, “oh I doubt that,” and without even lifting a hoof Celestia was hit with a massive blood red ray of light, which caused an explosion that sent Celestia into a nearby building, her form shifting back to normal as she collapsed to the ground. Celestia tried to stand, but was slammed back down by another blast of debilitating magic as Nyx walked forward, grinning boldly as she spoke.

“You’re out of you element Celestia, I have full control over the moon and the stars, and as long as my night rains here your power shall stand for naught. Good by Celestia, and thank you for helping me get what was rightfully mine, I could never have done it without you.”

She cackled madly then, leaping into the air and vanishing in a blinding flash of light. Celestia stood up soon after, spreading her wings gingerly as she took off into the sky.

“Celestia knew she could not face the monster possessing her sister, so she did the only thing she could think to do, she went to her other sisters for help. She went to my mother’s kingdom first…but sadly, the outcome was far from what she had ever expected.”

The scene reformed upon Celestia landing on a balcony in the side of a mountain, walking up to Ixen with a look of concern on her face. “Sister, I need your help, Luna has been possessed by a monster…a daughter of Discordia. I tried to challenge the beast but she was too strong for…”

“So Equestria finally has a problem to deal with…about dam time,” said Ixen with a grimace, staring at Celestia with a cold glare.

“Wha…sister what are you talking about?”

“Are you really so blind,” asked Ixen with an evil chuckle, “I guess you must be, seeing as how you could not see the growing plight effecting your sisters kingdoms, and you called yourself our oldest sister.”

“Sister…what has brought this ire towards me?”

“Just look,” Ixen growled, grabbing Celestia by the shoulder and spinning her about so that she could see the dying land around her. “My kingdom and the other kingdoms have been suffering various plights for years now. My kingdom suffers from famine and drought, Mercury’s has been thrown into a civil war, Anastasia’s kingdom is suffering from malfunctioning magic, Fantasia’s has been visited by a madness plague, and Dreamstride’s people have had their own forest turn on them. And what have you been dealing with, a few troublesome laws and one little batch of forest that has gone wild, so don’t expect sympathy from me when my kingdom is slowly going to hell while yours stays all nice and cozy.”

“But…but sister, Luna is in trouble…if we don’t…”

“Oh she is in trouble is she, well maybe it’s just nature’s way of finally evening things out, it just sounds like she is finally getting her just…”

She didn’t get to finish as Celestia’s hoof collided with her face, sending her into the nearby wall. “YOU DARE SPEAK SUCH WORDS IN FRONT OF ME WHEN I COME TO ASK FOR YOUR AID! I AM YOUR ELDER, AND I WILL NOT HEAR SUCH WORDS UTTERED AGAINST THE YOUNGEST OF US WHILE I STILL DRAW BREATH, NOW WILL YOU HELP ME OR NOT!”

Ixen fixed her with a cold glare as she responded; her response coming out as a snarling growl.

“NO!”

Celestia looked both hurt and angered by this response, “Then you leave me with no choice sister,” she said, leaping into the air and flying strait toward the tower that held the Element of Generosity. She blasted her way inside, ripping the element from its pedestal and then vanishing with a bright burst of light as the guards attempted to stop her.

Eris waved her hand, making the scene fade away as she turned toward Twilight. Out of all the ponies in the room, she knew that the sun goddesses chosen mate would have the hardest time accepting this dark chapter in equine history. She expected anger, possibly sadness at her mentor’s actions, but what she did not expect was the look of total understanding in Twilights eyes as she looked at her.

“Twilight, are you alright?”

“She didn’t see any other choice did she; her sister had been taken by a monster that was more powerful than her, and Ixen was standing in her way, she didn’t see any other option at that point did she?”

Eris was genuinely surprised, but nodded all the same. “No, she didn’t see any other option at that point; I think she figured that if my mother reacted that way…the others would do the same. And after she secured the other elements, she went to confront Nyx herself, praying that she would be able to save her sister from the monster.”

They watched as the images reformed, showing Celestia bearing down on the dark mare, the elements all attached to her body as she landed on the ground. Four of the elements had attached to her hooves, becoming plated boots with a jewel in each of them. One had become her chest plate, while the final piece had formed into a crown, glowing brightly as she turned her gaze onto the monster.

Before Nyx could react, Celestia unleashed the power of the elements, wrapping the monster up in rainbow light. But just as Celestia began to exert some control on the elements, they suddenly detached themselves from her, flinging her back and transforming into their ethereal forms as the Element of Magic turned to stare at her with hatred.

“What are you doing,” shouted Celestia, only to be quitted as Magic slammed her hoof down.

“WE WARNED YOU NOT TO OVERSTEP YOUR BOUNDS CELESTIA, AND THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT THAT WARNING, BY TRYING TO USE OUR FULL POWER TO HELP THYSELF INSTEAD OF OTHERS!”

“Please, I only wanted to help Luna…I had no choice!”

“YOU HAD A CHOICE, AND NOW YOU AND YOUR SISTER SHALL HAVE TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT CHOICE!”

They watched as the elements used their magic to send the monster skyrocketing toward the moon, and then covered their eyes as the moon exploded in a blinding flash of light. When the light cleared, they looked up to see the moon had taken on the appearance it had before the events of Luna being freed, and they saw that the elements had transformed back into the familiar spheres, dropping to the ground as Celestia burst into tears.

“Sadly, this would not be the last bit of sadness to visit Celestia. For two days after Luna and Nyx were banished to the moon by the elements…the Crystal Empire finally fell.”

A scene formed that Twilight was familiar with, but she stayed silent for the sake of her friends. They watched as Marmora, Empress of the Crystal Empire, landed on the balcony of Celestia’s bed chambers. Celestia ran up to her, grabbing her and guiding her to the bed as a small filly rested comfortably against her mother’s chest.

“Marmora, what has happened to you, you look like you have been attacked?”

“The crystal empire has fallen…I was betrayed…should have seen it coming…too…too blinded by my own love…”

“Sister, what are your talking about, who betrayed you?”

“Not important…dead now…not long for world myself…didn’t know who else to turn to…”

“Sister?”

Marmora let the foal she was carrying down slowly, passing her into Celestia’s fore hooves and laying her head on the bed. “I…I need you to promise me…promise you will look after my daughter…she is all that I have left…”

“Your…your daughter?”

“No time…just promise to look after her…she shares my power…a power which should not be lost…please promise me this sister…before it is to late…”

Celestia hesitated for a moment, taking that moment to look down at the little foal in her forelegs and then nodding her head. “Yes…I promise…just tell me sister…what is her name?”

Marmora smiled, her eyes drifting slowly closed as she uttered her last words.

“Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza…my……little………Cadance…………”

“…sister…..Sister…….SISTER!!!”

The scene finally faded, and Eris turned to see everypony in tears, Twilight most of all as she clutched to Rarity for support.

“Events played out normally after that point…the other kingdoms fell upon worse tidings after the elements had been removed by Celestia, and Celestia herself took up the task of both raising a foal and running the kingdom alone. I know this is all a lot for you all to absorb…but it is the truth, and I hope you can forgive Celestia and the others for keeping this all from you for so long.”

They all nodded. “Good, then let us leave this place, it is time we return to the land of the conscious world.”

Shadow Spark watched as Eris and the others stirred, quickly getting his cousin’s attention and then running to her side. Eris slowly woke, Shadow helping her to her feat as the others helped Twilight and her friends, each using their magic to help the six better recover from the trying ordeal.

“Thank you Shadow,” said Eris, patting the young stallion on the head as his magic finished its work. She looked around, noting that somepony was missing from the group. “Where is cousin Lyra, we thought she was still here when we went under.”

“We sent her to go tend to her marefriend,” said Agatha with a grin. “We thought she needed some time with her mare to relieve some of the stress this whole situation no doubt caused, and plus we could handle what needed to me taken care of here, so it wasn’t necessary for her to stick around. So I guess you caught them all up?”

“On the important topics yes, the others I expect will be filled in by the sisters in time. But before you all leave for the night, is there anything you wanted to ask?”

“Yeah I did,” said Rainbow, startling everypony. “I was bit too shocked by the whole thing when it happened, but I wanted to ask why the elements banished Luna as well instead of just freeing her from Nyx?”

“What you must understand Rainbow is…well…Like I told you all earlier the elements are in a sense a part of you, they were only allowing the sisters to wield them till they could find you. When Celestia used all the elements together, she overstepped the bounds set by the elements themselves, and so they sought to punish her for doing such. They figured because she had gone through so much trouble to try and help Luna…their punishment would hurt all the more if she was deprived of the very thing she had sought to help. I know it seems cruel, but the way they saw it their trust as well as their own power had been violated, so they sought to make sure Celestia would never do so again.”

“Dam that is harsh, still it makes sense.”

“And how do yah figure that sugar,” asked Applejack.

“Well think about it, they basically told her through banishing Luna that if you do this again we will take something important from you. Celestia may have a lot of siblings, but I don’t think she would be stupid enough to test the elements if it cost her another sister, especially after what happened to Marmora.”

“….wow Dash, I’m really impressed,” said Twilight, walking over and patting her friend on the back.

“Yes, it was very impressive and insightful, now I suggest we all retire for the evening. But Pinkie, if it would not trouble you, I would be most happy if you would allow me to accompany you to my brother’s statue so that I may speak with him, for it has been too long since last we spoke.”

Pinkie nodded her head as the others began to leave, and then left with Eris toward the Canterlot gardens as everypony headed off in different directions, sleep calling to them and their minds abuzz with what tomorrow would bring.

From her perch on the tallest tower, the dark mare watched with her magically enhanced eyes as the ponies went to their separate rooms, smiling slowly to herself as she went over all she had witnessed these past few days. Many things had caught Nyx’s interest during her spy mission, but the thing that had caught her attention the most was the little yellow mare that had been glued to her Luna’s side, which had proved a big distraction for the dark mare.

She knew she stood no chance at ever getting her Luna back, not after what she had discovered after being freed from Nyx’s protective control, but Nyx still felt they belonged together. Luna was the light side of the moon and Nyx was the Dark. Luna controlled the stars, while Nyx held domain over the empty blackness of the dark stars, otherwise known as black holes. She knew such attractions were foalish however, her mother had seen to that right quick before banishing her to the moon for two thousand years, but she still saw Luna as hers.

She slowly shook the thoughts from her head however, for there were more pressing matters at hand, especially considering what Eris had most likely revealed. She may not have seen what Eris had shown them, but she knew the magic well, and knew this would put a dent in their plans unless they acted fast. So she got up, spreading her night black wings and leaping off the tower, making her way toward the Everfree Forest as her and Luna’s moon passed overhead.

In The Dark Of The Night Evil Will Find Them (Revised)

Trixie wept as she stumbled along the dirt road, not even caring where she ended up at this point. She had been driven out of another town, had been shunned and attacked because of all the lies and slander that had been spread due to that purple stuck up show off. She cursed the day she had ever gone into Ponyville, for it had been the beginning of the end for her glorious stage life…now she was nothing.

“Oh you poor child,” said a voice behind her, “out in the cold all alone.”

Trixie spun around, expecting another attacker coming up behind her. What she did not expect was a tall black alicorn standing there, her starry mane and tail billowing in the wind as she stared down at her with bright turquoise eyes.

“Who…who are you,” asked Trixie, due more to an odd sense of familiarity with the mare rather than her wanting to actually know who the mare was.

“My name is Nyx, and we have met before you and I,” said the alicorn, “but you were just a foal when we met, so I do not expect you to remember me. I knew your mother long ago, for we are distantly related.”

“You knew my mother,” asked Trixie in surprise, for she had never met a pony who had actually known her real mother.

“Yes I did, and she was a very gifted unicorn, one who held a unique talent for magic, something you and her share I would wager.”

Trixie’s face fell at that statement, “No…Trixie has no talent…she is a two faced fraud that cannot even battle an Ursa when the need calls for it…”

“Oh I doubt that,” said the alicorn, walking around the mare with a loving look in her eye. “For you have talent Trixie, the problem is that your talent has been misguided due to magic I placed on you long ago.”

“Magic…what magic?”

“Protective magic to hide your true talent from the world at large, But I have come to lift that protection, for you are finally ready to embrace your true gift, if you wish it.”

Trixie stared at the alicorn mare with surprise; for what she was purposing was…well…impossible. “Are you saying Trixie’s cutie mark is a cover for her true talent, are you saying Trixie was never meant to be a show mare?”

“That is what I am saying my beautiful Trixie, but it is better that I show you.”

“Your wha…” started Trixie, but stopped as she felt a burning sensation on her flanks. She turned and gasped, for her cutie mark had changed drastically from what it once was. The wand had disappeared from the star, which had become green and had been emblazoned with a red dragon’s eye in its center, and surrounding the star was a field of dark purple mist, sparkling with black stars. She looked back at Nyx in wonder, unable to speak due to her shear amazement.

“Trixie doesn’t…I don’t know what to say…I don’t know why, but this mark feels…right?”

“As it should Trixie, but why not test your new power, just to be sure how right it is.”

Trixie nodded, closing her eyes as she focused on the new power welling within her. Her horn began to crackle with dark magic as she focused her thoughts, choosing a nearby boulder as the target of her new magic. She didn’t really think about the spell she was casting, she just instinctively knew which spell to use. She grinned as her eyes snapped open, purple energy leaking forth as she blasted the boulder apart, and then she turned toward Nyx.

“What is this…this power…I mean it feels so right…yet it feels wrong at the same time.”

“It’s ok Trixie,” said Nyx, “the magic you have just used is dark magic, the magic used long ago by Sombra long ago. It is a rare breed of magic; a kind of magic unicorns of this world have a hard time using. But you my beautiful blue mare can bend that kind of magic to your will, because your talent is dark magic, and thus it responds to your call with ease.”

“My…my talent is dark magic…” said Trixie, her mind abuzz with all the possibilities this presented one in particular snagging in her head. “Does this mean we are the opposite of Sparkle?”

She expected a lot of reactions, hatred at the idea or even an explanation about how they were supposed to work together. What she did not expect was the evil grin that stretched across Nyx’s face as she leaned closer. “Why yes my beautiful blue mare, it does mean you are Twilights opposite. Your magic’s conflict with each other, which is why you knew she was your rival even before she embarrassed you in Ponyville.”

“Yes I knew it,” squealed Trixie, but then something Nyx had said caught her attention. “Wait a moment; you called Trixie your beautiful blue mare, why did you call Trixie this?”

Nyx smiled, bending down and kissing Trixie straight on the lips, freezing the former show mare in place. Nyx pulled away after the long kiss, giggling to herself as she stared at the lovely mare before her. “Because we were betrothed to you long ago Trixie Lulamoon, our mothers promised us to each other long ago, and helped us to form a bond, surely you felt it when you saw me?”

Trixie simply stared, then leaned forward and kissed the alicorn again, pushing herself into those beautiful dark lips. Nyx spread her dark wings around the mare, a smile breaking out on her face as she returned the kiss.

“She may not be my Luna,” she thought, “but she is mine, and that is enough for me.”

Cheerilee sighed as she looked at the new history books that had been sent for her student, browsing one of them with a small smirk. These books were all lies, stories created by the Princesses to cover up the truth about their past…about what they had done. Normally a teacher would be against teaching such lies to her students, but not this particular teacher.

Truth be told the experience excited her greatly, for she held a deep love for spreading such lies. She was good at lies, both in telling them and seeing through them, and she had been ever since she had been a foal.

For instance, she knew her cutie mark was not in fact her real cutie mark; it was just a magical cover to hide her true talent, for who would ever trust a pony whose talent was lying better than any other pony in all of Equestria. But she knew at least, unlike some magical covers she had seen over her short years, her cover could trick even the best magicians, for like any good lie, her cutie mark was laced with truth. She did have a talent for teaching after all, it was almost second nature to her like her other talent, and thus this fake cutie mark was the best dam decoy she could ever hope for.

Still, she occasionally was visited with the insatiable need to use her true talent, but had always kept that urge quit; only doing it sparingly in order not to have ponies get suspicious. She smiled as she remembered talking to Princess Celestia once, asking her pointed questions about Equestrian History and the lands beyond Equestria. That day Cheerilee had come up against the poker face, not just a poker face, but The Poker Face that set the standard for all other poker faces all across Equestria…and she had seen through it like it was nothing but crystal clear glass.

She marveled at how easy it was to just know when a pony was lying, it had helped her get her modest fortune that she kept in the basement when she had visited Las Pegasus a few years back, and it had also come in handy on many a date with both stallions and mares. Of course on those dates she would be lying as well, no sense in letting her little one night stands have all the fun.

She would say that they were the best in the world; that no pony could compare to them, but of course it was all bucking lies. For the truth was she was betrothed, betrothed and destined to become a fellow herd-wife along with two others, whom she had met at one time or another.

She drooled as she thought of her mares, specifically the one they would all be serving, who she had seen on the night of the Summer Sun Celebration. She had been so beautiful, her elegant black coat and starry blue mane and tail shining in all their glory, for she had been perfect. She became lost in her own thoughts then, so lost that she didn’t see the dark grey alicorn enter her school house and walk up to the desk, jumping in surprise when said alicorn cleared her throat to get her attention.

“Hello Cheerilee, pleasant thoughts?”

“Discordia,” Cheerilee squealed, leaping up and hugging the alicorn, happy to see the mother of her betrothed. “What are you doing here,” she asked as she pulled away from her, “aren’t you worried you might get caught?”

“Oh please, you and I both know Celestia is too blind to notice me when I hide in plain sight dear, and plus the news I have just couldn’t wait.”

“What kind of news?”

Discordia smiled, “the first is actually a kind of congratulation of sorts; my daughter has finally decided to commit to her vows.”

Cheerilee’s eyes widened as a smile spread across her face, “you…you mean Nyx is finally ready to…?”

“Yes, she is ready to form the herd, and she has already gone to greet your first herd wife, and I will be bringing the second one after we are done talking and I take care of some business.”

Cheerilee squeed at this, getting up and jumping about like a young school filly due to her excitement. She was going to finally see her Nyx and her fellow herd-wives, after years of waiting she was finally going to be with the mares she had so longed for. She turned her attention back to the matter at hoof though, for she knew Discordia had more important news then just family matters.

“So what was this other news you wanted to tell me, I know your daughters happiness can’t be the only reason your out here.”

“Quite correct,” said Discordia with a grin. “The second bit actually concerns something I am pretty sure you are well aware of, it seems my sisters daughters have finally mended their long standing differences, so I felt it time that I gave you this.”

Discordia pulled out a magnificent necklace, one that Cheerilee recognized as the Element of lies. She reached out a tentative hoof, grabbing the dark metal necklace and bringing it closer, hearing a whispered purr come from it at her touch. She brought it close, and then whispered to it, almost worried that it wouldn’t respond back.

“…we are ready when you are…Cheerilee my love,” said the element, the crystal’s flashing with anticipation as she placed the necklace around her neck. She purred at the contact of metal on fur, feeling the crystals pulse in time with her heart beat as its magic began to flow through her. She felt a burning sensation on her flanks, and smiled as she saw that her true cutie mark had finally shown through, depicting which was her three flowers each holding a new face on them, the last one licking its lips with a silver tongue.

Cheerilee clapped her hooves together, and then used her newly gained magic to hide both the necklace and her cutie mark, turning back to Discordia with a smile on her face.

“So…can I go see my heard mates now?”

“Of course you can, in fact Nyx insisted on you heading to meet her after I was finished. You will find one of your fellow herd wives waiting for you on the outskirts of the Everfree forest, but before you go…” Discordia leaned in, an evil grin stretched across her face, “can you tell me…were Mister Clyde Pie moved his family?”

Prince Blueblood glared at the new set of tax laws that had been shoved onto his desk by his “aunt” Luna, ever since that bitch had returned she had been making things hard for his underground empire. Back before she had come back, Celestia had been too busy to notice all his little underhand deals and back ally bargains, but now…

He slammed his hoof down on his desk, grabbing his lucky dice and began rolling them around his hoof, staring at the intricate patterns on them. They weren’t really lucky in the normal sense, they were lucky because he had rigged them to be lucky, his lucky loaded dice. He rolled them over again, stopping them to examine the intricate cutie mark design that took the place of the six. It was the mark of his one love, a love that had been stolen by none other than Princess Celestia herself; it was the cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle.

He growled as his mind brought forth the memories of when he had confronted the princess about it. He had been betrothed to Twilight from an early age, and had expected her to be waiting for her dutifully when it came time for them to marry. When he had stumbled upon her and the princess…saying sweet nothings to one another…the experience had made his blood boil. He had waited till the next day before confronting the princess, and the conversation still came clear as crystal as he remembered that fateful day. They had yelled, argued, and finally Celestia had left, thinking it best due to how angry she had gotten.

He had gotten filthy drunk after that, torn up by the betrayal he had endured, it was not fair! He was the pony that stabbed ponies in the back, it was he that stole betrothed wives from out from under unsuspecting husbands or wives, not other ponies betraying or stealing from him.

That night he had broken into Twilights bed chambers, figuring to take what he still considered his by force rather than by law as it should have been. He had not gotten far, only managing to pin the unfortunate love of his life onto her stomach before being blasted off by an enraged Celestia.

They had fought, but Blueblood had inevitably lost, though he had dished out his fair share of punishment. The worst blow came later though, for after that incident Twilight had visited him in his cell, condemning him and renouncing her love, which had broken his heart.

“I see your still glowering over your loss eh Blueblood?”

He sighed, “What do you want now Sombra!”

Blueblood turned his chair around, not at all surprised to see the bat winged alicorn in his office, sitting down in a comfortable chair and munching on some of the fruit he often left for guests.

“Oh nothing much; just that Discordia is accelerating her plans, and felt it was time to present you with this.”

He tossed him a dark metallic necklace, which Blueblood caught as wonder stretched across his face as he stared at it. It had an elegant design, the metal surrounding a crystal which was shaped like his cutie mark, except it now held a crack down the middle, the mark of one who had betrayed his destiny. He smiled, for he knew what this crystal was, and he put it on without hesitation, smiling as the power flooded him and granted him his true cutie mark.

“I see you hold no qualms against what this will imply,” said Sombra, his face still a blank mask as he watched him. “Then again I should not be surprised, considering your nature.”

“I only hold allegiance to one being, you know that Sombra.” Said Blueblood with a grin; using his magic to hide his recent change and the Element of Treachery. “It’s not my fault you don’t actually want to play your role in all of this, but that’s what you get for growing a conscious and settling down.”

“Don’t you dare bring my personal matters into this,” growled Sombra, his eyes flashing as he glared at the prince.

“Oh touched a nerve have I, well let’s leave it alone for now. Now I’m going to guess that with your dear mother's plans getting accelerated, she’ll be wanting more foals form the orphanages wont she.”

Sombra growled a bit, but nodded, “Yes…she will need more foals.”

“Just make sure you send ponies to pick them up this time, Luna’s been breathing down my neck about child care and safety ever since she came back from being banished; I’ll take care of the paper work and other matters.”

Sombra nodded, bidding the element holder goodnight as he left, leaving the prince with a smile on his face as he turned back to the now friendly looking paper work, knowing soon it would no longer matter.

Clyde sat at the table, shaking as thunder sounded from outside. A storm had been raging outside for the past hour, and he did not know why, but it did not feel like a normal storm. He sat at the table going over the daily rock charts when he heard it, a voice that pierced both the rain and the thunder.

“Come little children

I’ll take thee away

Into a land of enchantment

Come little children

The times come to play

Here in my garden of shadows”

He froze, recognizing the voice in an instant, and after a moment the voice began to sing again, but this time it was accompanied by a second voice, the voice of his daughter Inkie.

“Follow sweet children

I'll show thee the way

Through all the pain and the sorrows

Weep not poor children

For life is this way

Murdering beauty and passions”

Clyde got up, running outside as he followed the voices.

“Hush now dear children

It must be this way

Too weary of life and deceptions

Rest now my children

For soon we'll away

Into the calm and the quiet”

“INKIE!”

“Come little children

I'll take thee away,

Into a land of enchantment

Come little children

The time's come to play

Here in my garden of shadows”

He saw them at the edge of the rock farm, the large grey alicorn wrapping a wing around his daughter as she leaned against her. He charged toward them as she turned, looking toward him and grinning before teleporting away, leaving nothing behind but the rubble they had been standing upon. He stood there, disbelief etched on his face as he heard his wife burst through the door, coming to a stop beside him as she stared around the field.

“Clyde, where is she, I heard you shout for Inkie…was…was it…”

“Yes…it was Discordia…it’s finally happening.”

Sue hugged her husband, comforting the old colt as uncommon tears leaked from his eyes. “You better get to Canterlot then; the princesses are going to need to know about this. I’ll send out the message to our friends, and then I’ll meet you there.”

Clyde looked up at his wife, not really believing his ears. “Hon…you don’t mean…?”

She nodded, “It’s time Clyde, tis time for the gathering.”

Tis A Gathering (Revised)

Celestia breathed calmly as she rested her head against one of her pillows, feeling tired after everything she had heard today. However before she could shut her eyes the doors opened, and she saw Twilight walk in, which brought a smile to her face as she raised her head from the pillow.

“Twilight, everything go ok with Eris?”

“Yep, everything went just fine. Though I will admit that…some of the things she showed did trouble me and the others…especially concerning you.”

Celestia frowned, knowing of the events Twilight was most likely hinting at. “Twilight, I didn’t see any…”

“It’s ok,” said Twilight before she could finish, “I understand completely, you didn’t see any other choice at the time, and you didn’t know if your other sisters would react in the same manner as Ixen did. Honestly that’s not what troubled me the most though…can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can Twilight.”

“Well…everything I saw happen was mostly caused by Discordia’s magic, and one thing puzzled me. Why is her magic so…harmful to our world?”

Celestia pondered for a moment, trying to find the best words to describe something even she didn’t fully understand. “Well you see Twilight…my mother was not meant to create this world alone, for originally their parents intended for them to create the world together. But because things happened the way they did, we only got one side of the coin as it were, and Because of this every time Discordia introduces her magic to our world, it has far more harmful effects then it would normally have if she had helped create the world alongside my mother. At least that’s what my mother told us before she left, and I still have never met these “parents” of hers, but I hope to someday.”

“Ok…though I admit the idea of you having grandparents is kind of weird, then again you having a mother is also weird so…”

This brought a laugh from Celestia, who wrapped a wing around her lover as her form shook with joy. “I know it’s odd, but even we immortal goddesses have parents, and some of us even have children as you have seen.”

“Yeah I did,” said Twilight, “I just didn’t realize the age difference; did you know Shadow spark is fifty three years old, he still looks about Apple Bloom’s age.”

Celestia chuckled, “that is not really surprising, for there are many factors which go into the alicorn aging process. For example; me and Luna may have been the same age, but in regards to how we grew, I grew up much faster than our youngest sister, while she remained a filly for the longest time. So you see the drastic difference between Shadow’s physical age and his actually age are actually quite normal, at least in the case of us divine alicorns.”

Twilight nodded, “and um, are there any other factors that could cause an alicorn to mature besides just waiting?”

“Yes, but it is extremely rare for it to happen before our body actually matures to the proper age.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well from what Marmora told me once, if one of us Divines were to find their special somepony while their body was still young, then their body would accelerate the aging process so that they could be with their mate. She never told me how she found this out, but seeing as how she understood the magic of love better than I did, I feel comfortable supporting what she told me.”

Twilight nodded again, and then leaned against Celestia, breathing in her sent as she steadied herself for what she was going to say next.

“Speaking of that…I know this is probably sudden but…Celestia, I think I am finally ready to be your life mate.”

Celestia stared down at Twilight in shock temporarily caught off guard, and she opened her mouth to speak, only to have Twilight place a hoof on her lips to silence her.

“I know what you’re going to ask, and I have had enough time to think about it, and about what it will mean in terms of my friends and family. I know it will hurt to see them pass on while I stay young, and that I will probably know many life times while watching the world around me change. But I know I can make it through all that pain, because I will have you, Luna, Fluttershy, my brother, and Cadance to help me through it all. And plus…” she said, moving a hoof along Celestia’s belly, “we will be able to have a foal together, a foal that we will never have to worry about out living. So please…give me the gift of being forever yours, and being able to call you forever mine.”

Celestia hesitated, and then nodded. She lowered her head, touching her horn to Twilight’s and letting their magic begin to flow together, mingling with each other as they passed between the two. Their breathing became more labored as the magic flowed faster, their bodies glowing as Celestia poured all that she could into Twilight while receiving bits and pieces from her herself.

Twilights body began to change then, growing in size as the magic finished with its internal changes, and after about 20 minutes the changes stopped along with the glow, and Celestia opened her eyes. Before her sat Twilight; looking her directly in the eyes instead of up at her due to her new size, smiling brightly. Celestia examined her closely; making sure everything was in order before looking back at Twilights face, smiling as she leaned in to kiss her.

Twilight herself was still trying to process the whole thing as they kissed; she could tell she was a little taller than Celestia, which she knew would present problems when she finally left the palace. “Oh how the rumor mill will run with this one,” she thought with a laugh, returning the kiss Celestia gave her and then giving her a seductive smirk as she traced her hoof over Celestia’s cutie mark.

“Thank you for this Celestia, now…” she said, rolling her former teacher over and moving so that she was above her, looking down as her powerful new muscles rippled with excitement. “Why don’t we take this new body for a spin, because we have a foal to make you and I?”

Celestia nodded, and then used her magic to make the lights go out, the harsh candlelight fading as the two lovers embraced under the soft light of the moon.

Clyde, Sue, Maud and Blinkie left the train station and entered the streets of Canterlot, still a bit intimidated by the modern structures that surrounded them. Clyde had insisted on waiting for his wife to finish with her letters, and then they had went to Ponyville and boarded the first train to Canterlot; Clyde still shaking from his daughters kidnapping. Blinkie lead them along, for she had been to Canterlot before due to her and Inkie's geological work, so she knew the city quite well.

They reached the palace gates, Blinkie managing to get them into the palace due to being the marefriend of the new captain of the guard, but got stopped when they reached the throne room.

“I’m sorry sir and madams but you will have to come back another time, the crown is busy at this moment with other duties.”

“Don’t yah sass me Blunt, we got important business that is of vital importance tah both the princesses and the elements of harmony, so yah better get in there and tell them that unless yah want me talking to your boss, who yah know I have under my hoof.”

Blunt Blade looked like he was going to protest for a second, but shook his head and left. Sue grinned at her daughter, patting the girl on the shoulder as they waited for him to come back. What they did not expect was a squeal form down the hallway and a flying ball of pink colliding with Maud and hugging her tight.

“Pinkie, Pinkie let me go…Pinkie your crushing me.”

The pink mare let go of her, giggling madly as she stared at bother her mother and father in turn. “I’m so happy to see you guys, it’s been forever since I’ve seen you, what are you doing here?”

She got worried when she saw her families faces fall, and then noticed that one of her family members was missing, her hair deflating as she looked toward Blinkie.

“Where’s Inkie?”

Blinkie didn’t want to speak, but could not deny her sister, “she…she got ponynapped last night…”

Pinkie started to tear up, not noticing the looks her parents and other sister shot Blinkie. She was walking a very fine line she knew, but she didn’t want Pinkie to know the truth, not yet any way. She grabbed Pinkie as the doors to the throne room opened, and Blunt came out looking annoyed.

“The princesses will see you now.”

He held the door open for them to enter, and they marched in. When they got close to the throne however Blinkie heard Pinkie gasp, and looked toward where she was staring to gage what had made her do so. She gasped as well, for standing next to both of the princesses were Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle, but they now stood shoulder to shoulder with the princesses.

“What in tarnashion?”

Everypony turned around to see Applejack and the others walking in, all of them staring at Twilight and Fluttershy, Twilight giggling nervously as she waved at her friends.

“Um…hi girls…guess we got some things to talk about later…”

“I should think so dear,” said Rarity as she walked up to her friend. “I mean I am going to have to work on an entire new set of dresses for you dear, none of the old ones will even fit you now that you’re like this.”

“You…you mean you’re not surprised,” asked Twilight, looking confused.

“Come on Twilight, after we saw what Clover looked like in those weird memories, how could we be surprised.” Said Rainbow Dash with a grin, patting Fluttershy on the back as the now large pegasus mare tried to hide behind her mane.

“I see,” said Celestia, nodding her head in approval before turning to the gathered family before her. “But for now let’s stave off any celebrations; for it seems the Pies have visited us with something they say concerns all of us. Good sir and madams, please tell us what has brought you here this morning.”

“Well your highness…I know your probably not going to believe me when I tell you this…but our daughter Inkie Pie had been taken by the alicorn known as Discordia Chaotica…”

Everypony in the room froze, looking at the three Pies as if they had gone mad. “How do you know that name,” asked Celestia, looking toward Sue who had been the one speaking.

“Because we have met her before, as well as your mother Harmonia after she had gone. But before you ask…” said Sue, holding up a hoof to stop Celestia’s question as the others in the room looked even more confused. “…I will explain in time, for now to prove what I say is true I was bid to give you this, she said you would recognize it.”

Sue pulled a feather from out of her pocket, holding it up and allowing it to be taken from her grasp as Celestia grabbed it with her magic. Celestia brought it close, then after a quick magical scan her eyes began to tear up, and she slowly passed it too Luna as Twilight pulled her into her embrace. Luna sensed instantly why her sister had started to cry, for the magical signature of the feather belonged to one being and one being only; it was the signature of Harmonia Ordae.

“Where did you get this,” she asked, looking up from the feather with the faintest trace of tears in her eyes.

“I will explain once the others have arrived, and actually if I am not mistaken four of our group should already be here by now knowing them.”

As if on cue there was a knock on the door, which opened afterwards to reveal four ponies; two of which were recognizable due to having been prominent guests at Shining Armor’s wedding.

“Mom, Dad!” cried Twilight, forgetting that she was now taller as them and running up to grab them in a big hug.

“Whoa there honey, it’s good to see you to,” said Velvet with a chuckle

Night Light chuckled as well when Twilight put them both down, giving his daughter a funny look. “It looks Shining wasn’t the only one to take a fancy to Princesses, well glad you at least got out of your books long enough to find some pony.”

Twilight blushed beat red, looking like she had just did something really embarrassing.

Over on the other side of the hall Rainbow was chatting happily with the other group of ponies that had walked in. They were her parents, Firefly and Rainbow Blitz, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“What the hay are you two doing here?”

“Well we got a letter from our old friend Sue telling us to get on over to canter lot throne room lickity split.” Said Blitz with a grin, “said it was time for a gathering or some such, any way with all the bad energy that’s been flying around I was just wondering why it hadn’t happened sooner.”

“Blitz, you know we didn’t have any evidence yet,” said Firefly, shaking her head in exasperation. “Oh and where the hay is Falls, I told that girl to keep up…”

Dashes face fell when she heard that name, looking at her mom with pleading eyes, “Mom…please for the love of Celestia tell me you didn’t…”

She was interrupted when something tackled her to the ground, and everypony turned at the sound of commotion, seeing that she had been pinned to the ground by what looked like a pale unicorn version of herself, except that her mane and tail were well kept and stylized and her cutie mark depicting a rainbow stretched across two clouds.

“Dashie darling it’s been ages,” said the pony above her, moving and helping Dash up as she tried to contain a fit of giggles. “I hope you haven’t been too busy with work, I told you those weather jobs work you too hard dear, I mean look at what it has done to your beautiful mane.”

“Why Dash who is this charming individual,” asked Rarity as she walked over while Applejack walked up to Dash’s parents; a nervous grin stretched across her face.

Dash was about to speak when her sister squealed in delight, grabbing Rarity by her hooves. “OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH, it is such an honor to meet you Miss Rarity; I absolutely adore your work. My name is Rainbow Falls, Rainbow Dash’s twin sister and owner of Spectrum Threads.”

Rainbow gagged as the two fashion ponies began to converse, walking over to her marefriend to seek comfort away from such a horrifying sight. As the hours passed more families showed up, first Rarity’s, who immediately hit it off with Firefly and Blitz, both Blitz and Magnum having played hoofball together when they were young. Then Fluteshy’s parents arrived, Posy and Butterscotch both looking a little surprised to find their little girl now a good head taller than both of them.

Conversations filled the room as the ponies talked amongst themselves, one in particular causing the most absurd blushes.

“Mom I need to tell you something,” said Twilight.

“Not now honey I’m trying to catch up with Posy, now what were you saying dear…”

“Mom I really don’t think this can wait…”

“Dear you will just have to wait your…”

“Mom I got Celestia pregnant!”

The room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop; Twilight Velvet looking up at her daughter in surprise, her mouth agape as she tried to process what she just heard. Lucky for her her husband was quicker to draw. “You did what,” he yelped, looking from his daughter to Celestia, who was now standing beside Twilight with a sheepish grin. “You…you mean to tell me my own daughter knocked up one of the co-rulers of Equestria!”

“Ahem” said co-ruler coughed, blushing bright as she looked at the accusing eyes of the father of her love. “Yes, she did…knock me up as you so put it, but it was purely consensual, and way way after our honeymoon so…”

She suddenly felt like two daggers were staring into the back of her head, and from the look on Night Lights face she assumed the worst. She slowly turned, meeting the menacing eyes of the one thing she knew all in Equestria feared and she must now face, for they were the eyes of a mother who had missed her daughter’s wedding.

“So,” said Velvet, glaring at Celestia like she wasn’t the pony that controlled the sun. “You’re telling me that you married my daughter, and I wasn’t invited?”

Celestia giggled halfheartedly, her mane parting to reveal the horn ring that was upon it, while Twilight used her magic to reveal her own horn ring. Velvet glared at them both, and then sighted as she clapped her hooves together with a determined look.

“Well I guess we got a wedding to plan along with this whole mess, I may have missed the first one but dam me to Tartarus if I am not getting my wedding photos! Hey Magnum, do you know when the last two are supposed to show up?”

He was about to speak when the throne room doors burst open, and a voice with a southern drawl filled the room.

“Sorry were late yall, what’d we miss?”

Next to Rainbow Dash Applejack froze, for that voice was one she had not heard since she was not but a little filly. She turned, seeing a tall yellow mare with bright read mane with a light purple stripe running through it, and a bright red tail tied like her own.

Standing next to that mare was a large Stallion built like Big Macintosh, his dark pink mane and tail standing in stark contrast to with his dark yellow coat, and a black Stetson cowpony hat adorning his head, roughed up from what looked like years of travel.

They spotted her instantly, walking up to her as she parted from Rainbow Dash, the mare grinning at her as a sad smile came to her eyes.

“Hey there sugar cube,” said Apple Spice, “been a while hasn’t it?”

“Mah…Pah…wha…what are yah doing here…granny said…”

“We know what Granny told yah sugar,” said Tex, looking a bit down trodden. “Me and your Mah had a run in with some unsavory folks when yah was little, and we had tah disappear for a while. It wasn’t ideal ah know, and we especially didn’t want tah leave Apple Bloom due tah her being so young and all, but we couldn’t risk yah three knowing where we were in case those unsavory types decided tah go after yah…can you forgive us that?”

Applejack couldn’t speak; she just grabbed both her parents in a big hug, tears leaking from her eyes. They finally parted after a long hug, and then Applejack reached and grabbed Rainbow Dash by the shoulder, pinning the mare to her side.

“Mah, Pah, ah’d like you to meet my marefriend, Rainbow Dash.”

Both parents looked surprised by this, but then Tex got a fiendish grin and turned toward Blitz, his eyes shining.

“Hey Blitzer, fork over the bits looks like I won our little bet.”

Everypony stared at him with shocked expressions, but when Blitz pulled a bag of bits out of his saddle bags Firefly rounded on her husband.

“Rainbow Blitz are you telling me you bet on your daughter’s sexuality?”

“No,” said Blitz, smiling but failing to reassure his wife, “I was betting on whether or not an Apple would be able to attract one of our daughters, I lost.”

“Well you should be ashamed of yourself,” said Firefly, shaking her head while putting a comforting hoof on her daughter’s marefriend. “But I am happy to see that my daughter at least found somepony to distract her from her Wonderbolt obsession.”

“Mom it’s not an obsession,” said Dash, turning to her marefriend with a grin.

“Well as much as I know you all wish to catch up,” said Celestia, using her magic to form a long table. “We best get down to the matter that has seemed to have brought you all here, shall we sit down?”

Everypony sat down in groups, each of the elements sitting with their parents, while Celestia and Luna took up seats next to their respective mates.

“Well this isn’t exactly how I envisioned the gathering being held,” said Velvet, looking around at the seated ponies with a smile stretched across her face.

“You mean you planned this,” asked Celestia.

“Well sort of,” put in Firefly, looking amused by the princess’s confusion. “We all knew that one day this might happen, especially after we heard that are daughters were the elements, we just always assumed your other sisters would be here as well.”

Now Celestia was intrigued, “other sisters, why whatever do you mean?”

“Now don’t play dumb sugar, we know your lying.” said Apple Spice with a smirk, “ah believe their manes were Mercury Waters, Fantasia Elmora, Anastasia Elmora, Dreamstride, Ixen Vrak, Siren Gale, and Cadance’s mother Tu-El Marmora Clairvoyance.”

Celestia was impressed, and finally convinced that they spoke the truth. “Well the first five are in the palace, I can send for them if you wish to wait. As for Marmora...she perished a thousand years ago, and as for Siren gale she…”

“She hopes she is not interrupting anything important?”

Celestia turned fast, not really believing her ears. Standing at the entrance of the hallway was a pony she had not seen for nearly two thousand years, her shimmering silver scales catching the sunlight as she strode in, her gills clamped shut and her large fin like wings held closely to her side. She walked up to Celestia’s side, bowing down to the older mare, and then wrapping her up in a hug.

“We are sorry for not contacting you for so long; we just couldn’t stand such hatred between our sisters.”

Celestia hugged her back, reassuring her with the silent hug. After a while they broke apart, smiling at the ancient sea pony monarch as she ran a hoof through her seaweed green mane. “You don’t have to apologize sister, I understand how much you hate such pain, and I wish it had never come to pass in the first place.”

Siren nodded, walking around to take a seat. Celestia called for a servant to go fetch the rest of her guests, including Shining and Cadance, who were staying in one of the guest rooms to monitor the situation, both being already informed due to Cadance’s heritage and Shining being married to her. After an hour of waiting the doors opened yet again, first Cadance and Shining Armor walking in, and then the other five celestial sisters and their families, who all squealed like school fillies at the site of Siren Gale, all mobbing her as a now bull horned Scootaloo hopped her way next to Celestia.

“Hi aunty,” she said, hopping upon an empty chair next to the sun mare.

“Scoots,” cried Lyra as she ran up and grabbed her foal, looking up apologetically at Celestia. “Sorry about her, she has been dying to say that ever since she met her grandmother,” she said, pointing toward Mercury as she hugged Siren.

Celestia giggled, while Twilight stared next to her in surprise, “She’s yours!?”

Lyra nodded, pointing to her horn with a sheepish grin. “Bony likes the kinky stuff, just don’t tell her I told you that, now if you’ll excuse me…” and with that she took off, taking a seat next to her mother as the rest of them sat down and were filled in by Luna, a lot of them shooting surprised looks at the mortals seated around them.

“Well now, ah guess we can finally make this an official gathering eh Velvet,” said Apple Spice, looking toward the mare with a grin.

“Yes we can,” said Velvet, lighting her horn and conjuring up a large globe that represented the world.

“Ok, we all know the story behind how Harmonia created our world and left her sister thinking her dead…”

“I’m sorry to interrupt so soon, but Harmonia is dead, there is no question that…”

“Harmonia is not dead,” said Luna, interrupting Ixen, “for it was our mother that told me where the Elements of Harmony were located.”

The sisters stared surprised at this, and then Ixen rounded on Eris, giving her a stern look. “Did you know of this?”

Eris nodded, causing Ixen to face hoof as she growled in frustration. “We will talk about this later, now go on, you were saying miss…”

“Velvet dear, now as I was saying, after our world was formed, Harmonia and Discordia both used their magic to gift certain ponies with magic, magic that would tie them to their own elements.”

Lights formed on the map, which Velvet pointed to. “These indicate the first ponies gifted with the blood of Harmonia, and that one black dot indicates the only one gifted with Discordia’s blood that we know of.”

“Why do you only know of one,” asked Ixen, looking puzzled.

“That is because unlike us of Harmonia’s descent, Discordia’s mortal descendants did not keep in touch with each other, we think they were told to stay apart to maintain secrecy, and the only reason we know of the line of Despair as we know it is because of a happy accident.”

To emphasize she pointed at Pinkies parents, Clyde nodding in confirmation.

“The Pies have been part of the line of Despair since my great great great great grandfather married into the line, passing on the traditions and the responsibility of being a part of that line…as well as a the hatred for the world we lived on. After I met Pinkies mother though everything changed , for I started to contemplate a life outside being a possible for Discordia’s mad schemes. Even when Discordia had shined favor on Inkie I still thought there was a chance somepony else would take up the mantle…but that day never came.”

Velvet nodded, taking up speaking again as he fell silent.

“Thanks to that we also figured out how differently both the sisters’ act when looking for the ones the elements have chosen. When It comes to Discordia‘s mortal descendants, she looked at every descendant that was ever born from the first ones. But when it came to us, Harmonia only looked at the females who were born, completely ignored the male descendants.”

Celestia grinned, looking toward Velvet with a smug expression, “I hope you aren’t implying my mother was sexist Velvet.”

“Not at all, I am implying that the elements themselves are, due to them being female themselves. The elements will only bond with those that are as close to their spirit as possible, so merging with a male would be unthinkable to creatures such as them. From what we can guess about the Elements of Chaos however, we figure at least one or two might be male, we just don’t know which ones or who they have bound themselves to at this point. The problem this presents is that we will be unprepared for who the wielders are, for we only know two element holders by name, and most of the ones we don’t know are mortal.”

“Most, what do you mean most?”

“Well,” said Clyde, looking nervous as he spoke. “After Discordia shined her light on Inkie as the wielder of Despair, another alicorns image appeared next to her, an alicorn she introduced as Nyx.”

He stopped as the room suddenly filled with a deathly chill, every one turning towards Luna as the lights began to dim. Luna was looking directly at Clyde, her eyes glowing as raged filled her very being.

“What was that harlot doing there,” she asked coldly.

“She…she was there to bind our daughter to her…in betrothal…”

Every one stared in shock for a moment, and then Pinkie got her father’s attention. “But…but dad, what do you mean bind, I never saw anything Inkie was betrothed to such a mean meanie pants.”

“Pinkie, she did leave something that marked her as hers, where did you think those bite marks on her neck came from. She said all her betrothed were gifted with similar bites, and that she would come for them one day, when the time came.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Twilight gasped, standing up as her eyes widened in horror.

“We have to go NOW!”

“Twilight, what’s going…”

“Celestia we don’t have time, we have to go now; I know who one of the other wielders is.”

“You do, but when did you…”

“Again we don’t have time,” and with that she charged off, closely followed by everypony else as she ran towards the outer doors of the palace.

Out on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked up at the night sky, noting that it was going to another long night bucking apple trees. After a brief rest, he got back to his work, becoming so engrossed in his work that he did not the fuchsia specter walking toward him till she spoke.

“Hello Big Mac,” said Cheerilee, her green eyes flashing with their own light as she stared at him from the shadows.

“Well howdy there Miss Cheerilee, what yah doing out here this fine night.”

“Oh many reasons,” said the mare, walking out of the shadows and causing Big Mac to gulp. Her body was glistening in the moonlight, which seemed to enhance her features as she stepped up closer to him. “Namely though, you were why I came here Big Mac,” she said, his name practically dripping out of her mouth as she spoke it.

“Wha…what are you…” he stopped as she clamped her mouth around his own, silencing him. She used the advantage to push him onto his back, parting from his lips and looking down at him with an evil grin on her face, for she could already see the effects of her magic working on him.

“I need you to listen to me Big Mac ok; I am going to ask you a question, one simple question. If you answer truthfully-” she said, using her tail to tease him as she kept his eyes locked staring at her own “-I will reward you. But if you lie to me Big Mac, I will know, and I will not reward you; do you understand?”

She watched him nod; giggling at the enthusiasm he poured into such a simple head movement. “Good,” she cooed, “now tell me, where is Apple Bloom?”

“She’s in the house with her friend Sweetie Belle, their having a sleepover, but why do you ask?”

Cheerilee grinned, lowering her body down Big Mac’s with a hungry smile stretched across her face. “It doesn’t matter, now-” she said, licking her lips as she moved further down his body, “-let me give you your reward.”

We'll Fight Till We're Broken (Revised)

Twilight, Celestia, and all that had come to the gathering appeared outside Ponyville, all looking scared as they shook off the effects of the mass teleport.

“Ok, Celestia you take your sisters and go check the school house. Mom, Dad, take your group and search Ponyville. Me and the girls will check Sweet Apple Acres, now let’s move ponies!”

Everypony nodded, galloping in separate directions as Twilight and her friends took off toward the farm.

“Twi, why the hay are we checking the farm,” asked Applejack, racing along and barley keeping up with the much larger mare, cursing her newly gifted long legs.

“Call it a hunch,” was all Twilight said, picking up speed as they reached the tree line. As they ran though the threes to the farm they heard a groaning noise, turning toward it and finding Big Mac lying up against a tree, looking pale in the dark moon light.

“Big Mac,” cried Applejack, running over to him as he tried to rise. “Big Brother, speak to me, what happened to yah?”

He opened his mouth, trying to speak through the dryness he felt in his throat. Finally after what seemed like hours, he croaked out one word.

“Chee…Cheerilee…”

Every one save Twilight balked at this, Twilight walking up and using a rejuvenation spell to help Big Mac get some color back in him. “You’re saying Cheerilee did this to you,” she asked, her face growing grim after he nodded, “what did she want?”

Big Mac seemed to grow scared at being asked this question, but he answered all the same, struggling with his words as he tried to speak.

“She…she wanted Apple Bloom…I think she plans to take her…”

Applejack’s blood ran cold, and she turned, not even stopping to think about what she was going to do, she simply charged in the direction of the farmhouse. The others followed suit, but she was too fast for them to catch up, and when they reached the edge of the farms front yard, they heard Applejack wail in sorrow from inside the house.

When they entered, they found Applejack clutching the body of Granny Smith, tears streaming down her face as she cradled the lifeless form in her hooves.

“Applejack, hon,” said Rainbow, her demeanor changing into one of comfort as she walked up to her marefriend, “A.J. we gotta go, we have to save Apple Bloom remember?”

Applejack slowly calmed down, but when she raised her head from where it had been laying, Rainbow Dash had to back away, for the look of pure anger and hatred that was flowing from her eyes looked strong enough to cut through dragon scales.

Applejack rose, the element around her neck beginning to glow as she turned, instantly sensing where her opposite was. She neighed, the noise sounding almost feral as she took off through the back door, her hooves tearing up the ground as she charged in the direction of the mare who had stolen a piece of her family from her.

They arrived at the base of a hill, all of them spotting Cheerilee who was silhouetted against the moon, her eyes the only thing showing as the rest of her was cast in shadow.

“Why hello girls,” she said in a seductive voice, her eyes glowing as she stared at them with a piercing gaze, making all save Applejack uncomfortable.

“Where is Apple Bloom?”

“She and the other one are safe my dear Applejack.”

“The other one?”

“Sweetie Belle,” said Cheerilee, licking her lips as she thought of the little filly.

“Sweetie, you better not have laid a hoof on her!” Yelled Rarity, here horn glowing as she prepared magic to send against the fuchsia mare.

“Oh I haven’t done anything to the little angels; well…at least not yet any way. Now if you don’t mind, I actually have somewhere else to be at the moment, but don’t worry, I know not to leave a mare wanting for release.”

Cheerilee then reared on her hind hooves, opening her mouth and letting loose a haunting scream.

All across Ponyville, the Everfree, and Canterlot beyond could be heard a blood chilling screech echoing through the air. The ponies of Equestria cringed as they heard it, but the ponies hiding in the forest heard it and answered, hollering as they all started to stream out of it towards the two prominent locations, all those on hoof charging into Ponyville, while all those with wings flying at breakneck speeds to reach Canterlot, Nyx in the lead as they tore through the night sky.

As she finished her scream Twilight and the others watch as another form appeared next to her, composing itself fully into the being known as Discordia, who smiled down at the elements as Cheerilee left for Ponyville, not needing to see what would come next.

“So you are the famous elements of harmony my daughter Nyx has told me so much about,” said Discordia with a smug smile, “I must admit I expected something more…complete.”

“What are you doing here Discordia?”

“Oh I don’t know,” said the goddess, smiling as she walked around them. “I just wanted to see how you had shaped up from the last time I had toyed with you, after all-” she leaned close to Twilight, her voice changing to match Discords perfectly, “-I am Discordia, spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.”

Twilight backed up, looking at her with shock, but it was Pinkie that spoke up first, “That was YOU!”

“Why of coarse dear,” said Discordia, glancing at her with an evil grin. “You didn’t really think that Kirin whelp could control such power did you, he was simply a puppet to be used then discarded, and thankfully after today I will never have to use such again.”

She polished her hoof on her chest as she backed away, giving them a better target to aim at.

“Well ah don’t care what your planning on doing, we ain’t letting you out of our sights without a fight, come on girls!” Yelled Applejack; all of them activating their Elements and sending the all too familiar rainbow light Discordia’s way. It wrapped around her, swirling around her at a fast pace till suddenly, the light turned black and shattered, leaving Discordia untouched. She shook her head, and then fixed them with a look that chilled them to their core, a look of utter disdain.

Celestia blasted another group of enemy unicorns aside, using her wings to shield the group of fillies and colts she had found fleeing from Discordia’s raiders. She would have loved to send somepony over to Canterlot to fetch the royal guard, but if the black cloud of winged ponies surrounding it told her anything, she would be lucky if the city stood long enough for them to return.

“EVERYPONY TO THE TOWN HALL!” she yelled, grabbing up the children and running toward the location herself. She had just reached the half way mark when she was hit with a massive blast of magic, causing her drop the children as she was knocked off her hooves.

“Back off she‘s mine,” shouted a familiar voice, which caused Celestia to raise her head, her blood boiling when she saw who it was, even though he now was much taller and now possessed his own pair of wings.

“BLUEBLOOD!”

The former unicorn smiled at her as she quickly stood, getting into a combative stance as he prepared to charge the monarch. “You don’t know how long I have waited to do this Celestia, you stabbed my back, and I shall stab yours for taking what is mine.”

“So that is your entire reason for this, for siding with a monster that wishes to destroy our way of life?”

“Well, that and because I was born to it, it is what my cutie mark tells me after all,” he said, showing off the cracked compass on his flanks.

Celestia could not believe her eyes, but at the same time she knew it was truth. She had been harboring the enemy in her own kingdom, in her own bucking court, another black mark on her life.

Blueblood noticed the effect his admission was having on her and pressed the advantage, forming his signature rapier and charging forth. Celestia barely got her own weapon formed in time to block his first strike, the golden bladed claymore singing as the rapier struck it.

She used the advantage of her weapons weight to overpower her foe, but the moment she swung at his neck, her blade was blocked by another, and then she was kicked in the face, sending staggering her. She looked up to see Sombra, standing tall as his wings kept him aloft as he stared down at her with cold eyes.

“So you’re here to,” she asked, keeping the foals behind her as raised her sword. Sombra didn’t answer, instead just raising his sword in front of him and bowing respectably to her, as was custom. This seemed to piss off Blueblood some, who could not help voicing his opinion on the matter.

“What are you doing bowing to her you ingrate…”

“Etiquette demands it Blueblood, something you should remember being a prince and all, now leave us.”

Blueblood looked like he was going to protest for a fraction of a second, but seemed to decide against it, instead opting to fly toward a nearby battle.

“So, you sent him away so you could get revenge yourself, for what I did you all those years ago?”

“No, I sent him away so I could thank you.”

Celestia looked confused, and then got even more confused as Sombra’s form bust into green flames, becoming a creature she knew all too well.

“Chrysa…” she started to shout, only to have Chrysalis clamp her mouth shut with her fore hooves.

“Be quite, we don’t have the time.” said Chrysalis, letting go of her muzzle before continuing to speak. “Look I know we have had our quarrels in the past but that is null and void at the moment, I and my changelings have come to aid you.”

Celestia was about to laugh when her eyes caught something, and she moved to get a better look. Her jaw dropped open then, for fighting amongst her own ponies against Discordia’s hordes were the changelings, using their numbers to help drive back the black tidal wave and also to help the with the wounded. Also she could see in the skies above Canterlot that another mass of flying ponies was now battling with the swarm that surrounded her beloved city, trying to take back the skies to even the odds.

She turned toward Chrysalis, her face a mask of suspicion as she spokel, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because thanks to somepony I love my ponies and I are no longer starving, and I can finally think clearly without the nagging hunger clouding my thoughts. I am also doing this for many other reasons, but the main one is because of her.”

She looked behind her, and Celestia saw Dreamstride fighting alongside a group of changelings, helping guard another group of ponies that were unable to fight. “I need to show my mother that we are not monsters, and that we wish to coexist with others and not consume them. But that will have to wait, for now we must be quick. Discordia is in the Everfree with the elements, so you must gather your sisters and go help them; I will remain here and protect the foals.”

Celestia looked hesitant for a moment, but then nodded, leaping up into the sky to go find her sisters. Chrysalis moved in front of the foal, forming her bow and knocking an arrow, a look determination setting on her face as the first group of enemies charged her way.

“……I find myself…disappointed,” said Discordia, not even surprised as Applejack charged toward her, she being the first to recover from her shock. Applejack spun around when she reached Discordia, planning to buck the alicorn goddess with all her strength, only to have her grab her right leg in her mouth. Discordia grinned, deftly breaking Applejack’s leg and then flinging her into a nearby boulder, causing it to crack under the force of her impact.

“I would have thought-” she said, sidestepping Fluttershy as she tried to attack her “-that you would be more of a challenge than this.” She finished, grabbing one of her wings and ripping it out of its socket before kicking her through a tree. She chewed on the wing, crunching bone and feather alike as she heard a defining boom overhead, looking up to see Rainbow Dash charging toward her like a bullet shot out of a gun, a trail of rainbow light following in her wake.

She blew a strand of her mane out of her face, not amused by the spectacle. “Please Rainbow Dash, your one hundred thousand years too late to catch me off guard with a sonic rainboom.”

Her horn lit up, a bolt of lightning flying forth from it and blasting apart both of Rainbow Dash’s wings, causing her to crash into the ground and cause an explosion to erupt from the impact site.

Rarity and Pinkie attacked next, Rarity getting her horn bitten off like Fluttershy’s wing and blasted into the same rock A.J. had gotten sent into, causing it to completely crumble this time. Pinkie on the other hoof got herself trampled upon by the larger mare, who then kick her into the air to land next to Fluttershy as Discordia made her way to the last element standing.

Twilight stared in horror at the mare in front of her, watching her crunch Rarity’s horn as bile rose in her throat. Her eyes narrowed as anger began to well up inside her, and she growled as she tapped into her reserves of magic, archaic runes appearing on her body as she unleashed a torrent of magic at the alicorn. Discordia sent out a torrent of her own magic, the two rays meeting in the middle to collide and lock together as they struggled to reach their intended targets.

Twilight visibly struggled as she tried to force Discordia’s magic back, but Discordia wasn’t even sweating as she stared with what looked like a mask of shear boredom. After several moments Discordia finally sighed, for she had seen enough. “You know, out of all of them Twilight I had though you would at least prove more of a challenge, seeing as how you have embraced your element like my chosen have done. Oh well, board now,” she said; her magic fluxing and causing Twilight’s horn to shatter.

Twilight stood there, her eyes widened in shock as she watched the pieces of her horn fly away from her, not even feeling the pain as another blast hit her body, sending her flying. Discordia chuckled as she turned to leave, but as she started walking away she heard a defining roar behind her and looked back, smiling as she saw the flaming form of Celestia flying toward her, followed by all her transformed sisters as they drew closer.

“Looks like the fun has been doubled,” she said, smiling as she turned to face her nieces.

We Rise And Fall (Revised)

In the gardens of Canterlot Nyx and her kirin guard walked through the hedges, looking for the statue as she kept close to Trixie. Trixie hugged her side, not out of fear, but out of total comfort and excitement as the battle raged around them, stretching her wing around the dark mare and leaning her head against her, smiling as they walked. Nyx smiled as well, relishing the feeling of her mare’s new wings, and relishing the battle that was raging around them, their guards keeping their trek peaceful as they made their way through the gardens.

They finally reached the place, the statue of Discord standing in the middle of the maze as the guards spread out, Nyx turning toward Trixie and pulling her in for a kiss. They eventually broke it, Nyx smiling as she brushed her mares mane out of her face, “don’t worry, soon we shall be able to restore that which is yours.”

She kissed her again, and then turned towards Discord, her horn lighting up and breaking Discord out of his prison.

Discord slowly rose, shaking of the rubble as he looked up to see who had broken him free, growling when he saw who it was, “You!”

“Hello sugar-bear,” she said in a sickly sweet voice, forming her giant katana and pointing it directly at Discord as he formed twin battle axes in his hands, prepared to battle the evil witch that stood before him. But then he noticed the mare standing next to Nyx, and saw the floating shards that swirled around her, and his eyes widened in horror as he realized who and what she was. He made to throw an axe at her, and then jerked forward as the last shard ripped out of his chest, causing him to fall to the ground as it floated over and began swirling around Trixie.

Trixie focused her power, tapping into the other elements that were scattered around the two cities, the elements answering the call and lending their power. She rose into the air, the shards flying together and forming a bladed crown, and a tower of energy erupting from the ground below her and piercing into the sky.

Back at the Everfree the goddesses turned to see the pillar of energy erupt from Canterlot, Discordia smiling as she saw it, cackling madly as the sisters turned toward her. “Looks like the deed is done, so we shall end this game here and now!”

Discordia lifted her hooves up and slammed them down, cracks forming in the ground as dark smoke erupted and swirled around her form. After mere moments however the smoke cleared, and Discordia floated out from what remained, her new form looking like a more harmonious version of Discord’s mutated state, only three times his size.

She had a long slender body, her mane now stretching all the way across her back, ending in a large tuft of hair at the end of her tail. Her fore hooves had transformed into majestic claws, each one looking as sharp as a blade.

She didn’t waste any time when the smoke cleared, her long tail lashing out to slam against Ixen, smashing her into the ground as the others dodged out of the way.

The surprise didn’t last however, and soon Discordia was being hit with multiple attacks, which she was able to shrug off. She turned on Siren Gale next, but before she could lift her tail she roared, for Ixen had recovered and started tearing into her tail.

Discordia swung her tail to the side, flinging Ixen into Siren gale before unleashing a torrent of blue flame at Dreamstride, lighting the poor mare on fire.

The next pain Discordia was made to feel was a horn stabbing into her chest, Mercury having flown underneath her guard and ramming into her. She made to move in and bight the offending mare, only to roar in pain as Fantasia grabbed her by the back of her head, one of her claws digging into her eye as she yanked her head back, before delivering vicious blow to the side of Discordia’s head.

“They’ve improved,” thought Discordia with a grin, lashing out at Fantasia with her claws, while moving one of her hooves to kick Celestia as she made to trip the chaos goddess, only to get tripped anyway as Luna went for her other hoof.

“They’ve really improved,” she thought, “but let’s see how they work on the fly!”

She snapped her fingers, and suddenly the world turned upside-down. Anastasia, who had been flying up in order to get a better angle of attack, suddenly found herself crashing into the ground. The others were also having similar problems, for the world was not responding as it should have when they moved, and in the middle of it all stood Discordia, not affected by the change.

“Not so easy when the laws of your reality work against you is it,” said Discordia, her hands glowing as she crossed her arms in front of her, before slamming them down upon the ground, sending out a shockwave of energy as the ground cracked around her.

Parts of the ground began to float away as gravity ceased to be, though thankfully orientation returned to normal, though they still had a problem. With all the ruble flying around, Discordia had just given herself hundreds of disposable weapons to use against them.

But Celestia then got a wicked idea, using her magic to commune with Anastasia, who donned her own smile as she got to work. As the others distracted Discordia, Anastasia called all the ruble to her, the mass of boulders melding and fusing together till they formed into a giant snake, one that easily towered over Discordia as she looked behind her in surprise.

“Oh fu…!”

She never finished, the great serpent slamming its tail into her side and sending her flying, before it coiled and sprung after her, clamping its jaws around her and bighting down hard as the others followed suit.

“They have gotten too good,” she thought, “I have end this now!”

She grabbed both parts of the serpents jaw in her claws, growling as she ripped them away before firing a blast down its throat, causing it to explode as Anastasia was expelled from its corpse. Next to fall was Luna, getting hit by a spear from the regurgitated remains of Rarity’s horn.

She then grabbed both Fantasia and Ixen, electrifying them before throwing them into Siren Gale and Dreamstride, electrocuting them as well. Then with her tail she grabbed Mercury, crushing her till her bones broke before finally digging the claws of her right hand into Celestia’s shoulder, causing her to scream as her transformation was suddenly ended.

“Hm, now were have I seen this before?” asked Discordia mockingly, twisting her claws in Celestia’s shoulder and coaxing another cry of pain from the mare. “Oh yes now I remember, I had you in a similar position many years ago didn’t I, this is so sweetly…familiar.”

She leaned in then, and kissed her niece on the forehead.

Bile rose in Celestia’s throat as Discordia kissed her, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder and kick the mare, but she could not. She knew why, the claws were having more of an effect on her than normal ones, for they were draining her of her strength as her aunt pulled away, that evil grin on her face like before, violating her very being with her red eyes.

Discordia pulled her claws out of her shoulder then, turning around and facing Canterlot with a hand over her chest.

“All I ever wanted was to bring my sister back from death, but every time I try you insist on standing in my way. I may not choose to kill you my niece, but I must show you the error of your ways.”

She lifted up her empty hand, and Celestia watched as the clouds above Canterlot parting as a ray of light came crashing down upon the city. She watched from afar as the city cracked and fell, its supports breaking and sending it crashing down the mountain side, like it was nothing more than hunks of trash.

Discordia turned back to Celestia, cupping her chin in her claws as she began to fade in the moonlight. “I am truly sorry,” she said, and then she faded completely, vanishing in the same moonlight.

Her Foal, Her Goddess (Revised)

Discordia appeared on the main balcony inside her pony’s lair, reverting to her normal form and walking down the stairs, intending to go to her chambers. As she walked Nyx landed next to her, excitement rippling along her form as she practically bounced next to her mother.

“We brought in such a good haul mother, we were able to capture many foals in the raid, even when the changelings attacked us, we managed to hold them off till Trixie re-forged the Element of Dark Magic.”

Discordia nodded, not really paying attention as the mention of foals dominated her thoughts. “Yes, so I heard from one of the Ponyville scouts that we got two new foals from there as well, is this true?”

“Yes, they were captured by my herd wife Cheerilee.”

“Excellent, have her bring them to my bed chambers, I shall break them myself.”

She kept walking, but soon noticed that Nyx had stopped, turning to see that she wore a strange look on her face.

“You do not approve,” asked Discordia, hoping this not to be the case.

“No…it’s just I promised those foals to Cheerilee, for she was their teacher before joining us, and wished to break them herself.”

Nyx expected her mother to just order her to give her the foals anyway, for she knew her mother loved breaking foals more than anything else she did, which in the private part of her mind Nyx found sickening. What she did not expect was Discordia to grin and nodded with approval, “I commend her for not being squeamish about her wants, but she is inexperienced. How bout this, have her bring the foals to my chambers and I’ll teach her how it is done, that way she doesn’t accidentally do something wrong, is this acceptable?”

Nyx nodded fervently; though secretly she wished she had never agreed, but she had to keep appearances. She turned and flew away then, leaving Discordia to continue her way to her chambers, a smile stretching across her face as she thought of her perverse education plan.

Cheerilee walked slowly along the hallway toward Discordia’s chambers, closely followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The two were scared due to the fact that their teacher had undergone some drastic changes, but she was still recognizable enough to put some of their fears to rest.

“Um…Miss Cheerilee,” asked Apple Bloom, getting the mares attention.

“Yes Apple Bloom, what is it dear?”

“Um…where are we going exactly?”

Cheerilee smiled, patting the filly on the forehead before continuing to walk, “You will see my dear, you will see.”

They reached the end of the hall and entered the room, the two filly’s eyes immediately drawn to the large grey mare. They could not explain it, but she exuded a sort of motherly presence, a calming aura that made all their fears and doubts wash away. “Hello young ones” she said, her voice calm and reassuring. She got up, walking over to them and leaning down close to Sweetie Belle, giving her a warm smile before speaking. “Your name is Sweetie Belle correct,” Sweetie nodded, causing the mare to smile and beckon her to follow.

As Sweetie followed Apple Bloom was pulled to the side by Cheerilee, who led her onto a bed and pulled her close, turning her head so that she could watch the other mare and Sweetie Belle.

Discordia let her eyes wander along the little filly’s body, imagining everything she would do to such a young specimen. Sweetie Belle noticed Discordia eyeing her, and opened her mouth to question this when Discordia grabbed her muzzle with her own. Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened in shock as she tried to pull away, but Discordia grabbed her by the back of her head and held her there. As she deepened the kiss Sweetie felt something enter her, a sort of heat that spread throughout her body and heated her up, her eyes becoming half lidded as it continued.

Discordia deepened the kiss further, shoving her tong into the little filly’s mouth as she began the next part of the spell. The spell she had crafted herself, and it came in two parts. The first part awakened the sexual desires inside the filly or colt in question, causing their newfound lust to begin to boil. But it was the second part she enjoyed the most, for that was when she imparted all her knowledge on those carnal desires, thoroughly corrupting the child.

Apple Bloom watched this with rapt attention, not even noting Cheerilee leaning closer to her. She turned to ask Cheerilee what they were doing, only to have Cheerilee kiss her in the same way Discordia was kissing Sweetie Belle, and after a moments shock she melted into the kiss, her mind going blank and filling with lust and desire.

After many hours of sleep, Discordia awoke, her body blissfully relaxed after the coupling she had with the young filly. She noticed Cheerilee and the other filly were already up, Cheerilee grooming her with practiced grace.

Apple Bloom was acting just as Discordia expected her to, accepting the ministrations but eagerly awaiting the chance to leave the care of her “teacher” and practice what she had learned with more of the young ones. She moved her legs, intending to separate herself from Sweetie Belle. But when she tried, the little filly tightened her grip and snuggled closer to her, causing her to look down in confusion.

“Sweetie, you need to go now, you must share yourself with the others.”

“No, I won’t go.”

It was not a denial; it was a statement, a statement that held power behind it. She could not explain why, but it intrigued Discordia a bit, which was a very rare emotion for the long lived goddess.

“Well, I suppose you can stay with me for one more night, but only one more night you understand?”

Sweetie did not answer; she simply snuggled closer to Discordia, sighing as she breathed in the mares scent. Discordia told Cheerilee to take Apple Bloom to the other young ones for the bonding, and then curled her body around the filly; smiling as she went back to sleep.

When the two left the room, a transparent figure dropped from the ceiling, landing on the floor and turning toward the bed that held her sister and the filly who she had bedded. Harmonia gazed upon the two, silently cursing herself for what she had done to the filly wrapped in her sister’s embrace.

When Discordia had opened up the filly’s mind to the carnal pleasures, Harmonia had cast a subtle spell, opening up the filly’s heart to her sister, giving the filly the chance to fall in love in a way none of the others before her had. While the rest of her horde loved her like a child would their mother, Sweetie now loved her like a she would a mare or stallion, and she hopped that if enough time passed, that he sister would develop similar feelings for the filly.

She knew it was risky, she knew it might fail, but she also knew it was important if her world was to survive. She bent over the two, kissing them both on the forehead before sitting beside them, turning her face away as she spoke.

“I am sorry my child, but you must reach to a place in my sister’s heart I was never able to touch, and show her the value of our world…before it is too late for her.”

She turned back to them and smiled, and then planted one last kiss on her sisters cheek before vanishing, leaving only the sounds of the two mares breathing as they slept in quiet bliss.

One Breathe In This Moment (Revised)

Celestia carried Twilight on her back as she limped her way to Town hall, where everypony was gathering the injured due to the hospital being overflow with wounded. Luna followed behind, her face a mask of rage and grief as she carried her beloved Fluttershy. The others were being carried by Celestia’s sisters, Ixen and Siren taking up the rear and keeping an eye on the skies. After they got inside they placed the six elements inside the mayor’s office, Luna beginning to try and heal their wounds as Celestia turned to the rest of her sisters.

“What the hell was that,” said Fantasia with a grimace, using a bit of her fire breath to burn shut one of Siren’s wounds. “She never had that kind of power when we faced her before, that bitches power has grown.”

“No it has not,” stated Mercury; her recently restored body now scared anew as she glared at Fantasia. “She has always had the power, the only reason she never used it is because she never had to, hell she didn’t need to use it now. This entire thing was…”

“Sister!”

Celestia and the others turned to look at Luna, and the reason for her distress became clear. The elements bearers were still injured; Luna’s magic seemed to not have touched their wounds. Celestia was about to speak when the sound of screaming came to their ears, and they turned to see the doors to the mayor’s office burst open, revealing a large kirin male that they all recognized as Discord. But he no longer looked like the mutated creature who had massacred Canterlot all those years ago, now he was returned to his natural state, looking at each of them with fear in his eyes.

“Where is she,” he breathed out, barely managing to speak the words aloud. Luna pointed at one of the prone forms and Discord walked over to her, kneeling down as tears began to fall from his eyes onto Pinkie’s pink cheek. This seemed to bring the small mare back to the world, who looked up at Discords face, not really believing her eyes. “Di…Disey?”

He nodded, pulling her into a gentle embrace, which she could only feel partially due to part of her body being completely numb. She didn’t know how he was here and she honestly didn’t care, he was here now, and he was real.

Discord looked up toward his mother, not really seeing the others as he spoke.

“She…their…”

“We know my child, and Luna has already tried to heal their wounds but…they appear irreversible,” said Ixen, looking crestfallen.

“That’s not entirely true,” said a voice, causing everypony to turn and see Eris walking in, one of her forelegs horribly mangled, but otherwise she looked fine, for she too had returned to normal. She stumbled toward them, Luna catching her as she began healing her injuries.

“What are you talking about Eris,” asked Celestia, the desperation evident in her voice as she moved in front of her.

“Twelve stars will be born, six from the dark, six from the light, born from two mothers of creation. Six stars shall awaken, brought together by the hoof of the dark mother, and the dark mother shall mark the other six stars with her magic, forcing the oldest of the light mother to awaken them before their time.”

Celestia pondered it for a moment while Luna continued heeling Eris’s wounds. Twelve stars, six of the dark and six of the light. The dark stars she could surmise as the ponies she had seen this night, the ponies that she had used distract her while she dealt with Twilight and her friends. The stars of light most likely spoke of Twilight and her friends, and the dark mother was most likely Discordia herself, which would make the oldest of the light mother…

“No.”

Eris sighed, expecting the reaction. She opened her mouth to speak, but then another voice interrupted her.

“Let me speak to her child.”

Celestia and the sisters froze; Celestia turning toward the source of the voice in disbelief. For there, standing within the doorway and looking as transparent as ever, was her mother Harmonia.

“Mo…mother?”

“Come here my child,” said the regal alicorn, beckoning toward her with a hoof. Celestia got up and flung herself into her mother’s forelegs, Harmonia crying as she held her. The others held back, not even daring to come forth, but then Harmonia gestured to them as well. The others sprinted forth, and even Luna ran forward to embrace her.

“I have missed you all…so much,” said Harmonia, tears falling from her eyes as she looked at them all. Then she noticed a face was missing, and she pulled away, a question forming in her eyes before she spoke it. “Where is she…where is my Marmora?”

The looks on their faces said it all to her, and the tears that fell from her eyes turned from those of happiness to those of sorrow. “When,” she asked; her voice breaking as she turned toward Celestia.

“She died a thousand years ago…after I banished Luna to the moon.”

Harmonia closed her eyes, whispering a silent curse under her breath before looking back at Celestia, “I shall grieve for her latter, right now you must help these mares.”

“But…mother; I can’t force this on them…not now.”

“Celestia you must,” said Harmonia, turning her gaze to the mares who held her most precious of gifts. “Celestia this must happen, I know you don’t want to do this to them, but it must be done for the safety of the world, too much of what I have done and what must be done hinges on their survival.”

“But…but I…”

“Celestia,” said Harmonia, grabbing the mare and looking at her with a sad smile. “I know this is hard, but it must be done.”

She then turned her Celestia till she was facing Twilight, and whispered gently into her ear, “If not for the world, do it for her.”

That was all it took, Celestia rising to her hooves and walking over to the six, motioning for Discord to move away. Her horn lit up, and she felt her mother begin to channel her magic through her, turning her magical aura from gold to blue. The magic enveloped the six ponies, and as it surrounded them, Celestia and Harmonia both spoke.

“One breath in this moment.”

Twilight slowly awoke, finding herself in a very unfamiliar place. She rose to her hooves, noticing that the others were with her as well, all of them looking bright and healthy, as though the damage Discordia had inflicted never happened. Twilight looked around then, noticing that the place seemed to be made of stars, hundreds of them, all scattered, but most forming into a platform to hold them up.

“Twilight, where are we,” asked Fluttershy, looking around nervously as she spoke.

“I…I don’t know…I have never seen any place like this before.”

The looked around, some moving out to see how far it went, but then everypony froze when a voice sounded from behind them.

“You have finally made it.”

Everypony turned to see seven large alicorn mares walking toward them, seven alicorn mares they all knew from the visions Eris had shared with them days earlier. Each of the alicorns walked over to their respective wielders, two of them walking around Pinkie Pie.

“Hm,” said the pink one with the poofy mane and tail as she looked at Pinkie Pie, “are you sure this is our holder sister?”

“I am sure sister,” said the pink one with straight mane and tail, “I mean just look at her, she has your cute and bubbly mane. And-” she said, reaching into Pinkie’s tail and pulling out the party cannon, “I believe we only have let one other use this before am I right?”

“Hey,” said Pinkie, grabbing the cannon and shoving it into her mane, “how the hay did you know how to do that?”

“We know a lot of things about you Pinkamena Dian Pie,” said the two pink alicorns in a singsong tone, “for we are the Gemini Twins, or as you call us the Element of Laughter.”

The others alicorns each introduced themselves in turn. First was Virgo, Element of Generosity, then Libra, Element of Kindness, then Sagittarius, Element of Loyalty, then Leo, Element of Honesty, and finally Aquarius, Element of Magic.

“Long have we waited for this day,” said Aquarius, gazing at Twilight with a smile on her face. “The day when we finally become one with you and awaken you to your true selves, as it was always meant to be.”

“Wha…what are you talking about.”

Aquarius looked confused for a moment, and then shook her head knowingly, laughing at herself. “I see, you have been sent here before the proper time, so I shall explain. Each and every one of you possesses a drop of alicorn blood, the same drop of alicorn blood that was given to the first of your ancestors. This blood has the potential to merge us together like the sisters are merged with their beasts, and in so doing turn you into alicorns like them.”

Twilight and the others stared at them, the shock on their faces confirming Aquarius’s suspicions. “Two of you I know will have no trouble with this decision, as you are already immortal blood due to joining with the princesses,”

She nodded her head to Twilight and Fluttershy, before turning to look at the others and speaking. “But you four,” she said to Pinkie and the rest, “you are not of the immortal blood, and therefore your choice is much harder. If you accept this gift from us, you will become divine alicorns, severed from the chains of mortality and cursed to live for all eternity, watching those you love, and those you care for die around you. I know we can’t force you to do this…but it is either this, or death.”

“Death, what do yah mean by death,” asked Applejack.

“Can’t you feel it Applejack,” asked Leo, her green eyes staring into Applejacks. “Your confrontation with the dark mother has left harmful magic on you, harmful magic that is slowly killing you. If you do not become divine alicorns, the magic will destroy you, and you will die.”

“But…but…” started Rarity, looking scared. “That doesn’t leave us with any other option, we have to…”

“No you don’t,” cut in Virgo, “Rarity immortality is as much a gift as it is a curse. Some of the divines, including Celestia herself longed wished for death because of the pain and anguish they experienced. Even we have wished for our own end, because sometimes we just couldn’t stand the eternity of waiting. What I am trying to say with this is that we are not giving you these options so that you might live, we are giving you these options so that if you choose, you may die.”

Every one stared at the alicorns, surprise evident at the statement Virgo had made. While the other four turned to talk to each other, Twilight looked at Aquarius, questions flooding her mind.

“There’s so much I want to ask you,” said Twilight, staring up at the creature before her.

“I know sister,” said Aquarius, hugging the mare close. “And there is much I wish to tell, but until the decision is made, much of what I have to say I must withhold.”

Twilight nodded, turning back and waiting for the others to finish talking. After what seemed like hours they finally walked back over to them, Applejack stepping forth with a look of determination on her face.

“We…we know it will be hard, but we know that if we chose to die…other will die because of that choice, and ah know ah for one can’t live with that on mah conscience. We’re ready to accept our destiny, we chose life.”

Aquarius nodded, “Then stand before your respective elements, and then we shall begin.”

Everypony got into position, and then the elements horns started to glow. They were bathed in mystical energy, and as it wrapped itself around them, they began hearing voices inside their heads. They didn’t know why, but they knew that these words needed to be spoken, and so they opened their mouths, speaking the words along with the Elements of Harmony.

“One breathe in this moment,

We’ll stay till we’re chosen, and through it all.

With our eyes wide open,

We’ll fight till were broken, we’ll rise and fall.”

“Go on, go on come on, go on go on dive in,

Go on go on go higher, we’ll rise and fall”

“We rise and fall, we rise and fall.

With our eyes wide open,

We’ll fight till were broken, we rise and fall.'

'With our eyes wide, with our eyes wide, with our eyes wide, with our eyes wide,

With our eyes wide open, we’ll rise and fall!”

Everypony in the mayor’s office watched apprehensively as the mares began to glow, and then started to back up as energy began to swirl around them, lifting them off the floor. Energy rippled around them, causing there forms to begin to twist and reform as rainbow light wrapped around them. The light slowly wrapped around each of the mares, transforming them before exploding out from them, temporarily blinding everypony in the room.

When the light dissipated, Celestia and the others gasped, for standing where the former young mares were, stood six majestic alicorns, each clad in golden regalia that held the symbol of their power.

The true Elements of Harmony had finally awakened.

Slight Reprieve (Revised)

Celestia and the others just stared at the six new alicorns before them, Celestia slowly walking up to Twilight, a look of wonder in her eyes.

“Tw…Twilight?”

The mare nodded, hugging her close as the others examined themselves. As the celestial sisters went over to examine the other elements; Pinkie Pie sauntered her way over to Discord, sitting down next to him with a happy smile stretched upon her face.

“You look better,” she said, nuzzling up close to him.

“And you my dear look fantastic,” said Discord, looking her over as she wrapped a wing around him.

“I’m glad you said that Disey, because I was thinking-” she said, leaning close to whisper in his ear. Discord listened, and then blushed as she felt Pinkies now ethereal tail rub against his lower body. He called upon his old draconic powers gifted to him by his mother, thought up the word for teleport and quickly whisked them away.

Their disappearance wasn’t noted till Celestia asked where Pinkie was, Ixen immediately looking around, her mind already leaping to a certain conclusion; which were proven fact when she saw that neither the pink one nor her son were anywhere in sight.

“Males,” she said, face hoofing herself in exasperation. “I believe the pink one has taken my son away for some nighttime activities, which means we will most likely have to wait to speak to all of you till…wait a moment, were is sister Luna and miss Fluttershy?”

Everypony looked around, while Celestia lit up her horn. Celestia focused on places she knew her sister liked to go when she wanted to be alone, and upon viewing one place she immediately cut off her magic and started rubbing her hooves against her eyes.

“Argh my eyes,” she yelled, damming herself for looking. “Well that’s it, I have gone too long without any and seeing as how everypony else is doing it I might as well, come Twilight, were going to bed!”

She reached the doors to leave when she felt a cold chill run down her spine, and then a voice spoke behind her, chilling everypony in the room.

“What have I told you about making demands of me my student,” said Twilight, her glare piercing Celestia as she walked forward.

“I…I’m sorry Miss Sparkle, it won’t happen again,” said Celestia, her voice carrying with it submissive tones, shocking everypony in the room.

“Good, now that we have that settled, I want you to head over to Golden Oaks library, and I expect you to be well prepared upon my arrival there.”

Celestia nodded, leaving out the door as Twilights horn glowed. After it was finished she turned to Rarity with a smile, “I transported Spike to the boutique, can you watch him till me and the princess are done?”

Rarity just nodded, watching the mare saunter her way out of the mayor’s office with a light spring in her step. Everypony in the room shook off their confusion, meanwhile Anastasia walked over to Harmonia, giving her a questioning look.

“Mother, I’m afraid to ask, but did you ever…”

“Know that my oldest had submissive tendencies, yes I did. Did I know how they would show…no Anastasia I did not, and I am really wishing I had never been privy to such information.” Harmonia shivered, a little disturbed by the thoughts running through her head.

Nearby, Ixen had walked up to Rarity, getting her attention by taping her on the shoulder. “Celestia’s life partner mentioned a being named Spike, I must confess this does not sound like a pony name.”

“Oh Spike’s not a pony dear, he’s a dragon.”

Ixen’s ears perked up, for it brought forth memories from when she had still been close to Celestia. “Te…tell me, do you know how Twilight got this dragon?”

“Why yes, she had to hatch him when he was still in an egg for her magic test, I believe he was a gift to the school by Celestia herself, why do you ask?”

Ixen breathed out a sigh, her hopes and fears confirmed. “Because I think I might know of this dragon, and if it would be alright with you, I wish to go to your boutique and meet him.”

Rarity nodded, and they left. After they were gone, Applejack stretched her new wings, “Whelp ah need to get back to the farm, so if you’ll…”

“Oh hell no you don’t!”

Before she could turn around Rainbow Dash was beside her, one of her wings wrapping around her as she slid next to her. “You are so not going to the farm; you got wings now, so you’re coming home with me.”

“But Rainbow I’ve been away from the farm for days, and I got tah…”

“No buts sugar lips unless it’s your beautiful butt on my face, now you’re coming with me.”

Rainbow Dash then grabbed Applejack by the tail, dragging the blushing mare out of the door and then taking off into the sky.

The others began to leave, till finally it was just Harmonia, Mercury and her family. “Well-” started Mercury, “-seeing as how my quarters at the palace have been leveled, and most likely the wounded and homeless from Canterlot will be filling up all other buildings, I was hoping I could stay in your lovely home till…”

Then she noticed the looks Bon-Bon and Lyra were shooting each other, and she growled. “Oh for the love of all that is holy, fine, I will watch Scootaloo, but please make sure you’re…”

Before she could finish Lyra and Bon-Bon were out the door. She sighed, turning to her mother. “I am sorry about that; I don’t know what the hell is with them.”

“They think the world might end tomorrow,” said Harmonia matter of factly. “Things like that tend to make a pony want to spend as much intimate time with their loved ones as possible. I’m surprised you’re handling it so well.”

“My kingdom is a lot different than Equestria; we deal with crises situations during breakfast and wrap up world ending cataclysms before dinner. But it was the behavior that caught me off guard; I mean I expect it from Scoot’s parents considering where they come from, but the others?”

“Are your people…more liberal with physical displays of affection,” asked Harmonia.

“More liberal would be a grouse understatement, I think if I hadn’t introduced public decency laws when I had, my people would be bucking in the streets. Gods the Element of Honesty is going to have such a hard time adjusting to that society when she arrives, for I assume that is the plan correct,” she asked, using her horn to place a sleepy Scootaloo onto her back.

“Yes, that is the plan. The elements will go with each of you to your kingdoms to help fix what my sister has broken; I just hope I have not entered the game too late.”

She sighed, thinking about all the damage and destruction that had happened today, and what she could have done to prevent it.

She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and turned to see Mercury looking at her with a sad smile. “Mother, there was nothing you could do, even you have limits.”

“I know…it’s just some days I think if I had just talked to her more…things might have been different.”

Harmonia sighed again, and then smiled, looking at her daughter. “Let us go, I think a nice walk will do us both some good.”

Mercury nodded, and they both left the office, heading out into the cool night air to find a place to rest.

Cadance and Shining walked through the streets of Ponyville, taking comfort in the fact that they had not been in Canterlot when the destruction happened.

“I can’t believe their helping,” said Shining, his gaze lingering on a group of changelings helping carry some of the wounded still being filtered from the ruins that had once been Canterlot.

“Are you really that full of hate for what we are,” asked a voice, causing both Cadance and Shining to turn around. The speaker walked out from the shadows, revealing herself to be Chrysalis, which caused Shining to growl and step in front of his wife.

“What the hell are you doing here,” he growled, his horn lighting up with a readied spell.

“Not to quarrel if that is what you’re after, but I simply wish to speak with your wife…and apologize.”

“Apologize,” asked Cadance, looking skeptical. “What makes you think I would accept such from you, after what you did to me?”

Chrysalis sighed, “I know you will probably never forgive me for that, but that was done out of starvation and need…my people were dying, and we had nowhere else to go. I accept that what I did to try and save them was callous and cruel to you, so I leave you this, and hope that someday you can forgive me.”

She placed something on the ground, then turned and left, heading in the direction of the Whitetail Wood.

Cadance bent down and picked it up, gasping when she saw what it was, “Wh…where did she get this?”

“She got it from me.”

Cadance and Shining turned toward the voice, and Cadance’s eyes widened when she saw who it was. Walking out of the shadows was a large thestral mare, who stared at Cadance with a motherly quality that belied her masculine stance and demeanor. She walked up to Cadance, looking down at the alicorn mare before smiling softly, tears coming to her eyes as she spoke.

“Hello…my little Cadenza…”

Cadance’s eyes filled with tears, and she wrapped up the mare in a tight hug, burying her face in the mare’s chest, “Papa.”

“Shh, its ok, I’m here,” said the mare. The mare then looked up to see Shining staring at them, and smiled at him. “You must be Shining Armor; my name is Daydream, Cadance’s father.”

Shining stared in shock for a moment, but then nodded, understanding showing in his blue eyes. “She said that you were a mare, though I never would have really believed it had I not heard about what happened with my sister and Celestia.”

Daydream chuckled, “Well glad to see my former wife’s sister finally gotten some, from everything Marmora told me that girl had gone pure celibate. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi to my daughter before I got some rest, I’ll speak with you tomorrow.”

She gently nuzzled Cadance one more time, whispering into her ear before breaking the hug, and then she turned and left. Cadance walked back to Shining, a sad smile on her face as they embraced.

Deep within Whitetail Wood, Chrysalis sat alone amongst the grass, watching as her ponies slowly walked in to lie down beside her. She chirped lightly when she noticed a group of foals, calling them over to her and then giggling as they nuzzled up close. She rolled onto her side, sighing as she felt two of them go for her teats, allowing them to feed while the others laid down to sleep.

“Is that normal,” asked a voice, causing Chrysalis to look up, and she had to repress the urge to flee when she saw it was her mother.

“Y…yes, this is normal, at least for changelings.”

Dreamstride walked over and sat down, gazing down at her daughter as she continued to feed the foals. “So, all female changelings can do this, how do the children know who their parents are?”

“…it’s kind of hard to explain.”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I wouldn’t mind hearing it,” said Dreamstride.

Chrysalis hesitated, and then spoke up. “All changelings have a unique pheromone that identifies them, so all a youngling has to do is follow their nose to find their parents.”

“I see,” said Dreamstride, who then motioned to the nursing foals. “What about this, dose this happen often?”

“Yes, though usually there are others to help…it’s just that these ones I have been taking care of for a while now, they were orphaned after our attack on Canterlot, and I sort of…well…adopted them.”

Dreamstride looked at her for a moment, and then wrapped her up into a hug, surprising the changeling queen as she wept. “I’m sorry I forced you to run away…I never should have done that to you.”

Chrysalis hesitated, then hugged her mother back, letting tears role down her face. After a moment they broke apart, and then Dreamstride motioned again to the foals. “So, what are their names?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if I want to get to know my grandchildren I have to know their names.”

Chrysalis smiled, hugging her mother once again, and then proceeded to introduce her to her grandchildren.

Celestia woke up first, shaking her head and noting that it was still too early to raise the sun. She laid her head back down upon Twilight’s large chest, enjoying the feel of her strong muscles as she breathed in her scent. She had to admit while she missed Twilights small body of old, her new body came with a whole list of advantages.

For one, she was larger and stronger now than even Celestia herself, which made sense given the way alicorn magic worked. Twilight was the dominate party in their relationship, the male in all respects, therefore her size and strength had grown in accordance so that she could defend her mare.

Still, Celestia was worried, it had been a full day since she had gotten pregnant, and she had already endangered herself. Sure, she had only got stabbed in the shoulder, but it could have been a lot worst, and she berated herself for endangering the life that was growing inside her. She needed some advice, so she got up while being careful not to wake Twilight, and then she left the library.

She did a quick scan with her magic, getting a positive response in the direction of park and headed over there. When she reached the park, she found Fantasia sitting on a black blanket, her sun resting peacefully in her forelegs as she sung him lullaby.

“Hush child, the darkness will rise from the deep and, carry you down into

Sleep child, the darkness will rise from the deep and, carry you down into sleep.”

Celestia cleared her throat, getting Fantasia’s attention. The younger alicorn smiled, motioning for her to sit beside her. Celestia walked over, carefully sitting down as to not disturb Shadow; then turning her gaze up at the beautiful stars in the sky.

“Couldn’t sleep sister,” asked Fantasia, her red serpent like eyes gazing at her regal sister.

“No…sister, I wanted to ask…how did you handle it?”

“Handle what Celestia,” asked Fantasia.

Celestia looked down at the ground, sighing before speaking again, “How did you handle being pregnant?”

Fantasia looked startled for a moment, and then smiled at her, draping a reassuring wing over her older sibling. “It was rough at first; the kingdom had an uproar when they found out, especially because I had to hide who the father was.”

“Why did you have to do such a thing?”

“The royalty of my land are split into six clans, the Onyx clan, the Ruby clan, the Sapphire clan, the Emerald clan, the Amethyst clan, and the Diamond clan. These clans originally worked together, but after you stole the element of loyalty from our lands…they started not trusting each other. Eventually they had a falling out, and eventually an unspoken rule about not mingling between clans came into effect.”

“I see, but what does that have to do with the child’s father?”

“Well-” began Fantasia, “-because of my red markings, I was counted as part of the Ruby clan. I was fine with it for a while…at least…before I met him.”

Fantasia looked up into the sky, her eyes getting a faraway look as she thought about her mate. “Ebony Shield, the captain of my royal guard, he was dutiful, he was selfless…but he also did something nopony ever did before. He treated me like a normal pony…like I wasn’t some divine goddess with the power to bend the will of demons to my beck and call. We started hanging out when he was off duty, when I wasn’t busy. It started as simple talks at first, then dates, then…more intimate displays.”

“After about a year, I finally decided to take it to the next level with him, and…and gave him the gift. The public was told he was given more power for his station…that he needed more power to perform his duties as my guard. Lies of course, but nopony questioned it, and we continued with what we were doing. It was a few months after I gave him the gift that I found out I was pregnant. I of coarse had to tell them, I couldn’t exactly hide it, especially when I started showing, but I couldn’t tell them who the father was.”

“Why not, what could they do to you,” asked Celestia, looking confused.

“It’s not what they could do to me…without me the spell protecting the land fails. But…but they would execute him…if they were to find out…”

“What!”

“I know you will never understand, but the clans are near zealots when it comes to enforcing the rule of no inter-clan relations. Ebony is from the Sapphire clan, and they are hated by the Ruby clan. But I didn’t care…I wanted to tell them, to come clean with what I had done and make them stop with these stupid feuds. Ebony stopped me though, he said we should wait…at least till Shadow was born.”

“Wh…why?”

“He said depending on what his markings looked like when he was born, that would be the deciding factor in whether we told the people or not. When he was born, he shared my markings, and my cutie mark, and after that Ebony said we should hide who the father was…said it was better that the for us all, but some days I wish he had been born different…then I wouldn’t have to hide anymore.”

Celestia hugged her sister, quietly whispering as she felt the mare shake from sobs. “Shh, its ok sister, you did the right thing…from what you say it was the only way to make sure he would live.”

Fantasia nodded then looked at her, smiling again as she spoke. “Thank you sister, that really helped. As to your earlier question, I handled my pregnancy as any mare does. I would suggest going to the doctor when you’re ready, and make sure to read up on Marmora‘s book. Now you need to run along, you need to raise the sun soon, I’ll round up the others when its time.”

Celestia nodded, getting up and heading back in the direction of the library. Fantasia smiled, turning back to her child and gently brushing his mane out of his face, giggling as he nuzzled up closer to him.

The Departing (Revised)

“You sure she said the moon was being usurped from her, not just one side of the moon.”

“Yes I’m sure,” said Fluttershy, “she said the moon was screaming, and then she fell as a scar appeared on her cutie mark.”

Harmonia just stared at her a moment, then got up and looked to the moon, frowning as she looked at how it had changed. She felt the presence of Celestia behind her, staring at her with what she knew was a gaze that was looking for answers. “The only thing I can guess at this point is that my sister has used Nyx’s connection to the moon to usurp it from both of them and keep in the sky, I think she is trying to create The Final Night.”

“The Final Night, what is that?”

“It’s something we older immortals used to do; it’s our way of setting the stage for the final conflict. If I know my sister, we will have one month till the sun aligns with the moon, and then the final battle will begin.”

“A month, but mother I control the sun, not her.”

Harmonia turned to Celestia, a sad smile on her face as she nodded to her, “then move it if you can.”

Celestia looked a bit surprised, but decided to lite up her horn anyway. She reached out with her magic to the sun, but then grimaced as it lashed out at her, preventing her from touching it with her magic.

“You see, the sun has already given its consent for this ritual, even if the moon didn’t.”

“What do you mean the moon didn’t?”

Harmonia walked over to Luna, sitting down and then placing a hoof onto her scared cutie mark, activating what remained of her power and began to heal the wound. “The sun is wild but wise, and knows when it is time to bend a knee to one stronger then it. The moon however is calm but also arrogant, not wanting to bend a knee for any reason, and because of that Luna and Nyx were harmed.”

She got up after finishing with her work, leaving Luna to rest as she walked back over to the window. “She is continuing to accelerate her plans…so we must accelerate ours. Twilight,” she said, turning to the Alicorn of Magic with grim determination. “Send word to all involved to meet at the edge of Ponyville, it is time for our mission to commence.”

It didn’t take long to gather everypony around, though the group now appeared much larger due to all the extra’s that had showed up. Everypony was talking, but soon fell silent as Harmonia appeared before them.

“Gathered ponies, as you have all no doubt seen, the moon has been locked into the center of the sky. All of you gathered here know what has been going on, and this recent occurrence is part of it. Due to this, I am afraid we will have to accelerate our plans if we are to meet the challenges that are to come, so to that end, will The Elements and my daughters please step forward.”

The Elements and the Celestial Sisters stepped forward, bowing low before rising to hear her speak. She walked up to Twilight then, who was standing at the head of them all. “Twilight, as leader of the elements your task is both the easiest and the hardest, as you must stay here to make sure the elements have a home to return to once their task is done. With your control over your element already mastered, you must stay with your wife and dear Luna to make sure Equestria remains safe.”

Twilight nodded, and then Harmonia walked over to Fluttershy. “Dear Fluttershy, you must travel with my daughter Dreamstride to the Forest Le-Fey, the birthplace of your element. I know it will be hard, but you must find the courage to bring kindness back into that once beautiful land.”

She then moved over to Rarity, passing a hoof over her face as she spoke. “Lady Rarity, your task will be to travel to the kingdom of my daughter Ixen, and help her to balance out the greed that has torn her land apart.”

Rarity nodded, and then watched as Harmonia walked over to Rainbow, who was standing proud at Applejacks side as the kept their wings intertwined. “Rainbow Dash, Applejack, as much as I know loved ones are needed at times like these, I am afraid you two will need to stay apart for a time, at least till your tasks are done. Rainbow, you will be traveling to the Land of Shadows, to attempt to re-forge the loyalties between the feuding clans. Applejack, your task will be that hardest, for you must travel to a land that will be utterly foreign to you, choked by lies and secrets that threaten to tear it apart.”

She then moved to Pinkie Pie, smiling at the bubbling mare as she clung to her mate. “Your task should not be so hard, for you are already close to mastering your element. You must travel to the Kingdom of Spires, to return happiness to a land long bereft of it.”

With that said, she then backed up and looked to her daughters, “I leave the task of watching over them to you my daughters, as I will be staying here to help prepare, so say your goodbyes, you may not see each other for a long time.”

The group started to talk to each other again as Harmonia walked over to Cadance and Shining Armor, “follow me, for I must speak with the both of you alone.”

They both looked surprised, but followed her a ways till they were out of earshot from the group. Harmonia then turned to them, looking a bit saddened by what she was about to say.

“I have a separate task for you two, one that will be important once the final battle comes. You two must travel to the heart of the Crystal Empire, to reawaken the Tree of Harmony so that we will have its protection when the time comes. I know this will not be easy, especially for you Cadance, but you must not let the past prevent you from completing this task. Be safe, and go with care.”

“Wait, what about Twily, we can’t just leave her alone.”

“But she won’t be alone; she has her wife, her parents, and her sister in law Luna to care for her. But this task must be done, for if the Tree of Harmony is not revived by the time we defeat my sister, the energies that are inside her body will not be able to mix properly with the energy of our world, and it will destroy us all. So you must go now to insure your task is complete before the climax to this story unfolds.”

The two hesitated for a moment, and then nodded before turning to go, Cadance using her magic to enchant Shining Armor before taking off into the sky with him, leaving Harmonia to return to the group alone.

Harmonia returned to find the mass of ponies gathered into various groups, all saying their goodbyes to each other as tears were shed.

“Oh I wish you didn’t have to go,” said Twilight to Spike, who were the closest pair to the old goddess.

“I know, but I will finally get to see my real parents, and my Jennu Dask says it is best for me to at least see my homeland at least once.”

“Jennu Dask?” she asked, puzzled over what Spike had just said.

“Sorry,” he said, “I sometimes find myself lapsing into draconic every now and then, I’m still getting used to all these new changes that have been happening to me of late.”

“You can speak draconic?”

“All dragons are gifted with the ability to speak draconic when they hatch,” said Ixen, smiling as she did so. “Usually this is done by their Jennu Dask, or “Great Mother” in Equestrian. As I was not there at Spikes hatching, I was unable to gift him with the draconic tongue, at least until today.”

Twilight nodded, and then hugged Spike again. “You come back in one piece you hear me, I’ll be expecting you back to greet your baby stepsister.”

Over on the other side of the group Pinkie was bickering with Discord, for they had just discovered the existence of their magically created daughter Screwball, and were now deciding what to do about her.

“You take her,” Pinkie said, staring down Discord due to her imposing height, despite him being a male.

“You take her, she was your creation after all,” said Discord, not intimidated in the slightest at his mates attempt to intimidate him with her height advantage.

“Oh wait just a minute mister dragon britches, she only exists because your magic fueled my wants for a foal, so she is still your responsibility mister!”

“I was only trying to make you happy…”

“ENOUGH,” roared Screwball, using her alicorn enhanced voice to shock them both into submission. “Jesus Christ on crutches will you two stop it, I am staying here to help with the war preparations and that’s the end of it!”

“But honey, we…” started Pinkie, only to have the mare place a hoof on her mouth.

“Mom I know what you’re going to say and its ok, I wasn’t exactly going to drop the whole “hey I’m your daughter bombshell” right after you guys just doused pops. Now you two listen to me, neither of the places you are going to sound very good to a pony like me, but I have talents that can be useful here, so I am staying.”

“Talents, young lady ponies only ever have one special talent,” said Discord with a frown.

“Not me daddy, for I have the Everfree cutie mark.”

Discord looked confused, and became even more confused when Pinkie squealed and hugged their daughter. “Oh my gosh you got the Everfree cutie mark, that’s so awesome!”

“Pardon me Pinkie but what the hay is an Everfree cutie mark?”

“Oops,” said Pinkie, who then cleared her throat and started speaking in a very teacher like voice. “The Everfree cutie mark is gifted to those whose talent energy is so massive that it cannot be poured into one simple talent, but is instead spread over thousands upon thousands of talents. Because of this the person possessing the Everfree cutie mark can change their talent to whatever they want whenever they want with no magical repercussions whatsoever.”

Discord stared at her for a moment, and then placed a claw on her shoulder, “Dear?”

“What is it honey muffin?”

“I love you, but never talk that way again; you sound kind of scary with that voice, I for some reason got images of you mutilating ponies while listening to you.”

Pinkie Pie giggled, deciding not to tell Discord that there was in fact a version of her in another dream where she did indeed mutilate ponies. “It’s ok honey; won’t happen again, and you can stay young lady, a talent like that would be wasted exploring with us.”

Over on the other side Rainbow and Applejack were saying goodbye to each other and their parents in turn, all caught up in a big group hug.

“Ah am going to miss all yah so much, I just wish I could take you all with me.”

“Ah quit getting mushy on me AJ, you’ll see us again.”

Nearby Fluttershy was nuzzling Luna, saddened that she had to be parted from her lunar mare. “I will miss you love, I don’t know what I will do without your comfort.”

“Shh my sweet butterfly, we will always be by your side, for as long as you can see the moon, you need but call and we shall come to thee.”

Last to be saying her goodbye’s was Rarity, who keeping her discussion well hidden with the use of her wings.

“But I can’t tell them now, we don’t have the time to talk about it, and I don’t have the…”

“Dear you need to tell them, now is not the time for lies,” said Magnum with a stern look.

“But daddy I can’t, how would they look at me if they knew the truth, I can’t just drop this kind of bombshell on them now and then leave.”

“Well you will need to tell them soon, for you can bet your ass…”

“Father, language!”

“Sorry honey but seriously, this is the kind of thing Discordia can use to her benefit, she will figure it out eventually.”

“Please refrain from mentioning that foal molesters name, I am still having a hard time digesting the news that my Sweetie Belle is in the hooves of such a monster!” Rarity quickly took a breath to calm down, and then wrapped up her parents in a quick hug. “I will miss you both, and I promise to tell them eventually, just not now.”

After she broke the hug she walked over to her friends, wrapping them up in a quick hug. Then they all went to the side of the rulers that they would be traveling with. Harmonia then walked in front of them, spreading her wings as her mane began to billow about her, casting a quick hastening spell on the ponies before her. “Fly now with speed, and let not your resolves be shaken, as long as we hold to our faith, we shall all live to see the dawn again.

Then they took off, leaving behind trails of color as they flew fast in various directions, all with one goal in mind.

But what they did not see was the smiling form of Discordia watching from her perch upon a grey cloud, smiling as she watched them speed off toward their destinations. “So, the game has finally begun, this will be fun.”

The Long Night Begins (Revised)

“Um Ixen?”

“What is it,” asked the kirin, turning to face the Element of Generosity.

“I was hoping you could wait at the boutique for me, I have a few questions I must ask your mother before I return.”

“I can do that young one; just do not take too long, I have a feeling important things will transpire once you return.”

Rarity nodded and then ran in the direction she had spotted Mercury and Harmonia had run off to, catching up to them soon after and getting the goddesses attention.

“Ah lady Rarity, what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Your highness I…I wanted to ask you what are your sister plans for mine, you see she was captured by your sister and I…I want to know…”

Harmonia froze, not knowing what to tell the recently awakened alicorn. She knew she deserved the truth, but then she knew the inevitable questions of why she did nothing would arise. But she had to answer her, so Harmonia decided to settle for part of the truth; she deserved that much at least.

“I can reassure you Rarity that your sister will not be harmed by Discordia…but most likely Discordia will have made her into one of her children by now…which is not a very pleasant process to discuss.”

“Please, I must know.”

Harmonia sighed, “Very well, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Have you ever heard the pegasi axiom about how to make the perfect soldier?”

“Of course I have heard it, everpony has heard of it. It states that to create the perfect soldier you have to get them young and train them so that all they know is the way of the soldier.”

Harmonia nodded, “My sister is of the same mindset…but her methods of converting such children to her ways are rather…perverse…”

“What do you mean?”

Harmonia sighed, “My sister is a creature of many vices, and a creature of many lusts. One particular lust focuses around…around the wanting after the young. She…she awakens them to the carnal pleasures…to their lusts…and in so doing she makes them hers…”

“You…you mean my sister is in the hooves of some sex fiend, what kind of sister is she?!”

“She is my sister, and while yes it is wrong to you what she is doing, that is the way her society runs.”

“Society, how can a society run on morals like that, it's unpony like, it can’t exist!”

“But it does,” said Harmonia simply, “and it’s the world your sister has been taken into…though if I know my sister she will most likely take special interest in her.”

“If you’re trying to reassure me it’s not working, how can her taking interest in my sister be any better?”

“Because ones who don’t get sent among the masses to help with the “learning process” as they explore their new wants. She believes that “breaking” them in this way allows them to form much stronger bonds with each other and thus be a much stronger army, and from what I have seen this has sadly held true, her “children” are not only driven by their belief in their cause, but by the bonds they share with each other.”

“But what of Sweetie…what would such…such liking of Discordia get in regards to her status.”

Harmonia hesitated, sighing before she spoke. “The only thing that will change is how the others see her, beyond that I am unsure.”

Rarity couldn’t accept any of it, turning away from the regal pony with a huff and walking off, heading back to the boutique.

Rarity made it back to her home, finding Ixen inside, Spike wrapped comfortably in her claws as she looked up at Rarity.

“Ixen wha…what is going on here?”

“I am sorry lady Rarity…I just couldn’t wait any longer…I had to see if he was the one…”

“The one what, you’re not making any sense dear.”

Ixen looked down at Spike for a moment, brushing a claw over his face as he snuggled up closer to her. “Could you come and sit please, this will take a little while to explain.”

Rarity walked over and sat, watching the way she cradled Spike, and watching the way he clung to her. “It’s almost as if he thinks you’re his mother,” she said with a laugh, only to spot a look on Ixen’s face that gave her a puzzled look. “You can’t be serious, you’re his mother!”

“Not directly no, but one of my wives is. It was long ago, and she had become very sick, so sick that she had become unable to take care of her egg. Unfortunately this meant I had to take the egg far away, someplace where she could not find it.”

“Why is that,” asked Rarity.

“Dragon females are very protective of their young, so protective that even when deathly ill they will try and protect them. I couldn’t just take care of the egg myself, nor hand it off to another mate to look after because if it was close to her, she would try to find it and become worse. So I did the only thing I could think of at the time, I took it to my sister Celestia. I put spells on his egg, to make sure that he would not hatch till his mother became healthy enough to care for him. But then I lost Discord, and then the elements were stolen…so I wrote Spike off as lost.”

She rubbed Spike’s head, smiling as he grumbled and batted away her claw. “It only took one look, and he knew who I was, and he ran into my arms…I…I thought I would never see him…”

Rarity hugged her, letting the poor mare sob on her shoulder, and after a while the mare lifted her head off her shoulder, and then looked at Rarity. “Lady Rarity, I know this might seem imposing, but I need the Fire Ruby that my son gave you.”

“What, why for?”

“Lady Rarity, have you ever wondered why my son fell for you the way he did?”

Rarity shook her head, and then watched as Ixen lifted up one of her claws, a flame appearing in her palm. In the flame appeared the image of a beautiful female dragon, her scales pure white and her spike's purple, but it was the dragon’s eyes that fascinated her the most, for they looked exactly like hers. “She…she looks like me, who is she?”

“This dragon is Cleopatra, Spikes betrothed.”

“Spikes betrothed, how is that possible?”

Ixen smiled, “When a new egg is born, it is common for the older families such as mine to come together and chose mates for our children. We can sense what gender our children are before they ever hatch, and thus we are able to play match makers if we choose. Their eggs were placed together for a little while, long enough that the magic that lives in all dragons allowed them to touch in a way, letting them know each other before they even took their first breathes. He instinctually knew what his mate looked like, and sadly when he saw you, his instincts mistook you for Cleopatra.”

“But why dose that require you to take my fire ruby from me?”

“Because Fire Rubies are sacred to dragons and kirin, for when a dragon or kirin carves a Fire Ruby into the shape of a heart and gives it to somepony, it is treated as a sign of utter devotion, and unless you give me the ruby, he will be unable to return to his intended while you hold it.”

Rarity stared at her in shock, not wanting to believe her ears. “You…you can’t be serious, it’s just a rock.”

“Gems are not just rocks Lady Rarity; they are magic made solid, trapped potential waiting to be freed. Dragons and kirin are creatures of magic, thus gems are the perfect food source for us, for it keeps our magic healthy and stable. Fire Rubies are the most magical of these constructs, and when a dragon or kirin carves one into the shape of a heart, it infuses some of their being into the gem. So when he gave that Fire Ruby to you, he gave a part of himself to you, a part that was meant for Cleopatra. Now please, could you go get it?”

Rarity hesitated, realizing she didn’t really want to give up the precious item, for she had become deeply attached to it, and through it Spike. “I…I don’t know if I can do that…I…I must admit I have grown rather fond of…of your son…maybe we…”

Ixen placed a claw over her mouth, “Lady Rarity, as much as I would love for him to fall for you…you cannot be with him.”

“You don’t know that…”

“Lady Rarity believe me, you cannot. I know it probably sounds romantic to you to be in love with a dragon, but the fact is if you try and be with him, even if your current state, he will kill you.”

“What, Spike would never…”

“Not intentionally no, but it would happen none the less, and believe me, it would not be good for either of you. I have seen it happen many a time, a dragon thinks he can be gentle enough, a pony thinks they have figured everything out, but it always ends the same.”

“Then how can you do it, you have mated with dragons, yet here you sit.”

“That is because I am kirin, so I only come away from my matting with mating scars.”

She moved her mane to the side, showing Rarity the deep scars and bite marks along her shoulders and neck. “Mating is a very violent act for both dragons and kirin; that is why you cannot be with him, now I ask you again, will you bring it to me.”

Rarity hesitated for a moment, then got up and left the room, returning moments later with the fire ruby in her magical grip. She handed it to Ixen, who gently set it down before getting up, turning to the white alicorn with a serious face. “Alright, there is one more thing I need you to help me with.”

Applejack and Rainbow slowly walked back to Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow keeping a wing draped over her depressed marefriend. After the initial excitement of Applejack having wings had worn off, she had realized that Applejack had been yelling at her the whole flight, and had gotten a rude reminder of what had transpired earlier. Now they slowly walked, Applejack trying to stay strong, Rainbow wishing she would just let her feelings out.

They finally reached the farm, and saw that Applejacks parents had arrived, Apple Spice crying over the body of her dead mother as Tex tried to comfort her. They spotted Rainbow and Applejack walking up the road, both of them looking a bit surprised by the sight of them as alicorns, having not been in the mayor’s office to see the transformation, but soon returned to what they had been talking about.

“Honey yah can’t blame yourself for what happened…”

“We knew Tex, we knew that once the elements chose them that our families would be in danger, and now they have mah baby!”

“Honey we’ll get her back, yah know Discordia won’t hurt her.”

“...Do you guys need help with…with the burial,” asked Rainbow as they reached them, still keeping Applejack close to her. The two nodded, and then picked up the body, carrying it with them as they headed over to the Zap Apple Field. When they reached the field, and then went over to the first tree that she had ever planted, knowing where it was by heart.

“Granny always wanted to be buried here,” said Tex, “this place always reminded her of the good old days.”

Rainbow nodded, and then caused them all to gasp as she lit up her newly gained horn. She didn’t know how, but she knew how to use it, and dug a perfect grave for them to place Granny in. The group laid Granny in the grave by hoof, then Rainbow levitated the pile of dirt back inside, and then she carved words into the tree over her grave, which read…

Granny Smith

Loving Mother and Grandmother.

Great Apple Mare

They were simple words, but they fit her perfectly in Rainbows opinion. She then walked over and sat down next to the grave, bowing her head to the tree before speaking. “Goodbye Granny, I…I will miss our talks…”

Tex and Apple Spice were next, saying their peace before Applejack walked up, sitting down and then leaning her head against the tree, crying as she spoke. “Goodbye Granny Smith…I will miss you, ah just…Ah just hope heaven needs you more than ah do right now…”

She then got up and walked back to Rainbow, letting her strength melt away as she leaned against the her, hoping beyond hope that this would be the last loss she would ever have to experience.

Rarity gazed at the construct she had helped build outside, wondering again why it was needed. It was a sphere entirely composed of amethyst crystals, built around Spike at the behest of Ixen.

“Ok, now we are ready.”

“Ready to do what, I still am wondering what this is for?”

“Spike has been asleep in his egg longer than I ever intended, as such he is far younger then he should be, so I am going to help him grow into what he is meant to be, a fully grown dragon.”

“What, but why would he need to be a fully grown dragon, what purpose could that server.”

“Because,” said Ixen as she placed her claw on the sphere before continuing to speak. “Once everything is decided tomorrow, I will be taking Spike home.”

Flames then surrounded her claw, leaking down over the sphere as it started to pulse, rising into the air as its magic began to take shape. Rarity watched as the silhouette of Spike appeared inside the sphere, convulsing and growing as the sphere pulsed rhythmically with the crackling magic that surrounded it.

Finally the sphere melted away, leaving Spike lying on the ground, the fire ruby clutched tightly in his hand as he lay curled on the ground. From what she could see he was about as tall as an alicorn now, which struck her as odd as she turned back to Ixen. “I…I thought you said he was going to be made a fully grown dragon?”

“He is a fully grown, for his age at least. I thank you Rarity for helping me, I just hope his guardian will understand once I decide to take him home with me.”

“I am sure she will, Twilight will understand, and Spike deserves to know where he came from.”

Ixen nodded, then walked over and laid down next to Spike as another dragon showed up, landing and wrapping himself around the pair. Ixen lifted her head up, smiling at Rarity as she spoke, “Go home dear, Spike is in safe claws, and you need your rest.”

Rarity nodded, and then walked back inside the boutique.

Fluttershy giggled as she undid the last of Luna’s ropes, letting the regal goddess roll back onto her hooves as she giggled as well. “That was fun dear Fluttershy, and it was especially fun with your new little tricks you used with your horn.”

“I’m glad you liked it, I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, though you could have warned me about how intense horngasms were.”

Luna giggled as she blushed, but then cringed as a spike of pain shot through her head.

“Luna what’s wrong?”

“So…somepony has usurped the moons hold from me, she is screaming…it hurts…”

Luna then collapsed on the floor, convulsing as a scar grew over her cutie mark, causing Fluttershy to gasp in horror. Fluttershy quickly went into action, picking up the princess and running outside, not noticing the look of the moon as she charged off to find Twilight and Celestia.