The Unknown History and The Magical Future

Several days after the banishment of Metus and the realization of the damage of his assault, Princesses Celestia and Twilight Sparkle began to plan for Ambrose's funeral. Since his return he had conquered a great deal of the southern part of the world. During his assault he would swiftly destroy the southern empires and impersonate their leaders, sending messages back to the alicorn sisters stating that everything was fine. Metus's forces were also extremely powerful. He had enslaved every dark, hideous soul in history that had been banished to the underworld. Even one of his undead generals was Luna's alter ego: Nightmare Moon. Another general was the Crystal Empire's tormentor: King Sombra. The long list of demonic creatures and black spots on history raged on and on, but all returned to their spots in Tartarus as Metus was defeated. The key was then placed deep in the unexplored region of the Barren Lands, and had heavy enchantments placed upon it. In the few days since the banishment Luna had been distracted by the duties of taking care of and repairing the land that Metus had conquered, but as the funeral arrived and more and more of the land was being taken care of by Celestia, Luna was brought back to reality. Ambrose was dead.

The day of the funeral arrived. People from all over the Known Land gathered to the funeral of the pony who sacrificed himself for them. In the crowded hall people paid their respects and laid flowers around his coffin. All the commotion stopped as Luna entered the room. Every head turned to the queen draped in black silk with a dark veil that hid her face. She slowly approached the open coffin, and stopped at its side. A single flower then gently landed on his breathless body. It was a weed with twelve pedals, of rainbow hues and each with an obsidian seed at its center. It would remain beautiful and healthy forever living off Luna's love for the dead Malhornesi. She then turned, and although nopony could see the tears in her eyes, left.

Later that night...Celestia roamed the castle in its silence and darkness. She looked out of one of the tall blank windows. The night sky was stripped blank with only a single rock hanging almost sadly in the sky. It had a dim light that gave everything a gloomy, depressing look. Celestia lowered her head and continued walking. She heard a small sound from down the hall. She followed it and as she came to the entrance of the great hall she saw what was emitting the sound. Her sister, Luna, wore the dress she had on her wedding day. She was draped over the side of the coffin, sobbing. All the stars of the night sky colored the air in the room, and high above them the ceiling was covered in the light clouds of the night. Luna's eyes were shut tight with a constant stream of longing tears running down her face. Celestia stood and watched paralyzed by the sight. She had never seen her sister in such a state. She was about to walk in to comfort her sorrowful sister. Celestia stopped and thought for a minute, Luna needed to be alone. Celestia turned and continued down the long maze of twists and turns, her own eyes filled with tears and pity.

In Saddle-Arabia...Pandora flipped through the pages of the book with the King of the land standing behind her. "You can't do this, even with your great wisdom and skills, you cannot complete such a feat." The King begged his friend.

"I've learned every spell and incantation in this kingdom, everyone expect for this one. I'm ready." Pandora responded. "I have to do this not only for myself but for Luna." The King sighed and left the room knowing his argument was an act of futility. Pandora finally found the page she had marked since her first appearance at the desert empire. The incantation to resurrect the dead. She spoke loud and clearly summoning the spirit from the dark abyss of time and space. The room shook and the alicorn amulet that rested around Pandora's neck glowed with the rose hue. Her horn shined brightly and the two auras forged together. The Malhornesi's teal irises darkened with red and blended to become two purple pools of magic.  The smell of brimstone filled the air and the King who was secretly watching from the doorway gasped. A holographic image of Ambrose appeared, all except the eyes which were pale white. The design of the third generation Malhornesi slowly turned darker becoming flesh and bone.

Halfway through the transformation, the amulet around Pandora's neck flickered and returned to an inactive state, having no more power to give. The ongoing spell now was feeding off of Pandora's life force. She stumbled back concentrating trying to break the spell. The King rushed to her side and brought his horn to hers in an attempt to shatter the incantation. As his horn grazed hers there was an explosion of magic and he was tossed into the air and was slammed into a nearby bookcase. He looked up to see the force of the endless hole of death act on Pandora. The spell couldn't be stopped, he had warned her. The half constructed body of Ambrose melted and turned to a puddle of lava on the floor. The hole to death remained open sucking Pandora into it.  The hole in reality shut and the library remained silent and in darkness, all except for the red glow of the alicorn amulet.

"And with the right concentration you can..." Priscilla said as her horn glowed and the desk came to life in the front of the class. It lifted one leg at a time walking across the floor and nudging Priscilla with its corner. She and her class laughed but her laugh turned to a cough. She had had the cough for a week now and it was getting progressively worse. Her horn shined brightly again and the object became inanimate again. The class tried hard to copy her and bring their desks to life. One of them succeeded and everypony gathered around admiring the skill. Priscilla patted the chartreuse unicorn on the back and congratulated him. The bell rang and the students all hurried to their next class. All except one, the small female unicorn approached her teacher.

"Umm, Ms. Priscilla, I have a question about today's lesson." She said a bit quietly.

"Yes, what's your questio--" Priscilla began before she broke into a fit of coughing. The student waited patiently for the cough to cease, but it didn't. Priscilla's normally purple face, slowly turned red as she became short of breath.

"Ms. Priscilla?" The student asked. Priscilla looked at her, eyes wide. They rolled to the back of her head and she fell over. The student rushed out into the hallway, shouting for help.

A medical team loaded the unconscious Malhornesi into the back of a carriage and the two pegasi drawing it took off. Celestia met the carriage at the front of Canterlot Castle. She helped bring Priscilla into her bed, and dismissed the medical ponies. Celestia had seen this only a few times before and was gripped with pity, and despair. First Ambrose and Leech, then Pandora, and now Priscilla. She felt that neither Luna or herself could withstand another death. Priscilla had an incurable ailment: expiration.