There were several ways Phaedra knew her brat of a sister was still alive and kicking. For one, no matter how hard she tried, the moon and the stars would not move when she commanded them. Only when their guardian Alicorn is too weak or dead will they be malleable enough for another to control them. Also, none of her loyal guards had brought Luna's sorry flank to cower before the might of the Sun Goddess, so she was still on the loose. It was rather infuriating. Phaedra controlled everything else; all the ponies, all the guards, and all of Equestira bowed down in awe of her brilliance and might. Luna was a nightmare in haven. This one pesky pony was ruining her perfect world. Then Phaedra was going to ruin her world.

Luna's power came from the moon and stars, as hers did from the Sun. There was no way to break that link, unless...

Phaedra let a wicked sneer ripple across her face.

The caves were not exactly dark, as stray rays of light continually flickered around the tunnels, but it was confusing and the leading cause as to why so many ponies had died was because they all become disorientated and lost. Luna lived for the night and darkness so it did not bother her as much as it would ordinary ponies. But then again, she was not an ordinary pony.

A clatter of hoofsteps reverberated around the tunnel and Luna spun around, eyes turning fierce. A shadowy figure stood at the corner she had just turned from, one hoof raised in the air. The impression of wings were outstretched. Metal armor glinted in the faint light. Luna growled. The guards had found her. She prepared to fight.

A bright light blue eye opened and turned to look at Luna. It was opened wide in surprise but relaxed once it recognized Luna. Luna released the offensive pose she was holding, but stayed on her guard. Just because the mysterious pony was not a royal palace guard did not mean they were not a threat to her. The shadowy figure stepped forward into better light and Luna saw a grey pegasus release a held breath.

"Phew. I thought that you might be some pony on Phaedra's side, but with those wings and that horn, you must be Luna. Huh. I always thought you would be taller, and more like Celestia."

"You're not with Phaedra? You're dressed like a royal guard. Aye, I be Luna. Who are you?"

"My name is Ulysses. Yeah, I was with the guard until everything went to Tartarus yesterday, but I managed to get away before things turned crazy. I don't think I was meant to be a guard, always running away at the first sign of trouble." He gave a little chuckle before going on. "Phaedra, whoever that is, started attacking all the guards and killing folk who were out on the street. Before long the guards all had weird glowing eyes and were helping burn down the city. I hid in a tree until everything died down, and by then there were guards on every corner, either keeping folk in their homes or forcing them out and making then work on some project in the city center. It was mighty creepy. And then the sun didn't go down for a while, and it just kept on getting hotter and hotter. When it finally did there was no moon and no stars and the folks were all worried that you were dead. Speaking of mighty Alicorns, do you know where the Princess is? Princess Celestia? Some ponies hiding with me think she's ok because the sun was up and all-"

"She's gone."

Luna turned away from Ulysses, not wanting to think about the terrible events that led up to her sister's demise. Guilt that had been suppressed and ignored flowed through her like a river, and it was all she could do not to cry in front the pegasus. She had to be strong. She had to be tough. For ponies all across Equestria she had be strong enough to complete her challenge. She sniffed and turned back to Ulysses.

"So you saw me come down here and followed me to make sure I wasn't one of Phaedra's supporters. That took bravery, Ulysses. Would you like to accompany me? I'm going to make sure Phaedra never hurts any pony again."

"For Celestia's sake, I'll follow you to the edge of the mortal plane. Also, I don't know they way out of these caves."

The two started to walk again, side by side this time, deeper into the caves, and were soon swallowed by darkness.

"Tell me about yourself"

The pair had been trotting down through the sharp crystals for almost an hour now, and the talk of the tragedy that had unfolded grew less and less as the decent grew steeper and sharper. They were quite deep into the caves now, far past where the mining tracks had ended and Luna had to light her horn up to see where they were going. She didn't really know the way- it had been a long time since she was down last, so she was working mostly on instinct. Strange whispering sounds flowed around the two ponies and Luna was filled with dread. It was probably the spirits of the dead ponies reaching out into the mortal world, and it scared the living daylights out of her. She wanted Ulysses to talk about something, anything, to keep her mind distracted. Luckily, he was happy to oblige.

"I've lived in Canterlot all my life, but my folks came from the old city near the Everfree forest before it was abandoned. I'm not the most athletic individual, which suites me fine, because my special talent is retelling the stories of old. I was thinking about turning it into a career, making it into a subject at that new Academy, but they weren't too interested. I became a soldier in the meantime until I could work out what I wanted to do."

"What kind of stories do you tell?"

"I like to tell the very old ones about the past. I managed to get a book from the ancient Zebraca Lands translated and once I told the tale about the first Alicorns- well I got my very own cutie mark!" He turned to her and she looked closely at the tattoo. It depicted an hourglass on the page of a book. She'd never seen one like it before.

"What story was that?"

"Would you like to hear it?"

"Very much so."

Ulysses started to speak in almost a sing song voice as he recounted the tale he had learnt off by heart. The ponies hooves started to match up as Luna drew closer to hear the story better. Luna had a vague understanding of the first Alicorns and the creatures of Before,but it had all happened so very long ago, before even Celestia was around. She wondered how old Celestia was.

It was probably too late to ask.

"In the beginning, our Faust created the first Astral Beings- the Four who stood Before. They were Good, Evil, Harmony and Chaos, or Disharmony. These beings existed outside our mortal plane and inhabited the Astral plane. They took the forms of a Star Whale, Capricorn, Spirit and Dragonesque. Together they crafted the mortal plane. Good and Evil spread across it first, and worked together to create the first three Alicorns: Time, Space and Self. Faust admired the work of Good and Evil and set out to create some creatures of her own. She made the earth as we know it so they would have a place to live and flourish. She made the unicorn first, but it was too lumpy. She then made a pegasus, but it would never stand up properly. Then she made the earth pony, which looked proper, and that earth pony was the first real pony on earth. Later she made better unicorns and pegasus. Faust made the first Alicorns protectors of the earth, and granted the ponies (and later other creatures) notions of time, space, and self.

"Evil then took Time and turned it against the ponies, making them mortal and die. Good took Space and helped the ponies craft simple tools and explore the land around them. Faust took Self and created innumerable new creatures and mysterious magical places for the ponies to discover and make their lives easier.

"I suppose that these caves would be one of them, eh, Luna?"

Luna's head snapped up and she smiled and nodded. She had been so focused on the story that she responded almost mechanically to Ulysses. She leapt over a chasm and spread her wings, gliding over the expanse, Ulysses following close behind. Ulysses grinned at her, eyes wide, mane blowing behind him, alight from within with the power of the story he was telling. Soon they were immersed again in the legend.

"Faust was upset with what Evil had done, and she turned him into a prison on the Astral plane, so he cannot directly interfere with the lives of mortals. I think the prison is called Tartarus. For a time everything was good in the world.

"But then Disharmony came into the mortal plane and caused chaos among all creatures. It was only when Harmony followed him down many years later did a solution come to be, for Good could not fight him as Disharmony was not Evil. The First Alicorns had ascended to the Astral plane by this time, weary of the mortal world, and the newer Alicorns were not powerful enough to stand against his tricks. Not much is remembered of this time, and Alicorns fell to his trickery. the Alicorn of Justice was locked inside the Evil prison and the Alicorn of Chance and Fortune was trapped in a crystal. The Alicorn of Hope was turned to stone and it seemed like all was lost until Harmony, seeing the destruction of the world, split herself into six parts, the six Elements of Harmony, that balance could be brought back to the world.

"That's the end of the account. I don't think anyone knows how Disharmony was stopped, but we do know some of what happened next. Most of the Alicorns were freed and they Ascended, which was good, but several bodies stopped moving across the sky like the sun and moon. I think it was quite some time until rivers started flowing again, and oceans churning, forests growing. Details are very sketchy, and I'm quite sure most of it is a guess, but it makes a good story. I'm glad i had the privilege of knowing it."

They slowed down at the lip of a gaping hole. Hot steam blew upwards and whipped their manes around. The bottom could not bee seen and the hole almost felt like it was growing larger, trying to swallow the tiny ponies. Luna had a very vague recollection of the place, a whisper of forgotten fear from a long time past. She swallowed, and nodded. This was the place.

"Shall we go in then, Princess?"

Together they dived into the hole, wings spread wide, and they circled down. Luna's light barely dented the all consuming blackness that surrounded them. She kept it going because it was the only way Ulysses could see her and know where to go, even if the effort left her tired. The hole was so big it felt like it had been open forever, and stretched onward to the edge of the world. The rising steam slowed their descent to a comfortable pace, but it did not quite remove the chill of the hole. It was so huge and so deep that clouds had formed at the ceiling of the cave and created wind currents and storms.

They descended for over an hour, the air getting increasingly hotter and wetter as more and more steam rose up. They had to move their wings closer to their bodies to have less air resistance, or they would be buffeted upwards. It got stiflingly hot, and sweat poured off their faces. Luna narrowed her eyes, determined not to let the conditions affect her. This was the safest place in all of Equestria, where no ordinary pony had gone before.

Hooves gently hit the floor and the two leaned heavily on the other, panting and trying to catch their breath. It had been a long journey to the bottom of the cavernous pit, and Ulysses was proud that he had managed it. Luna leading, they plodded to what Ulysses guessed was the middle of the pit's lowest point, mane still blown upwards by the steady rising steam. A glow appeared and the air grew even hotter, not so much humid any more but boiling. The glow grew until Ulysses saw red molten rock shifting around on one side of a cavern. On the other side sat an arrangement of six stones.

Luna smiled when she saw her goal come into view. The Elements of Harmony were finally right before her, four of them gleaming, two of them tarnished and cracked, but still there. One of them, depicting a lightning bolt, flashed red and then cracked, and dark crystals spread across its surface. Luna's eye's widened in shock at what had happened, and then turned around-

-A blast of light shot at her, and threw her against the rocky wall. Phaedra stepped into the cavern, looking unbothered by the heat and sneered at Luna.

"Look what the dragon dragged in."

Author's Note

Ulysses- You. Less. ee's.

Next chapter is the stunning finale, expect around three thousand words. A reminder that the gore tag is there for more than just show. Looking forward to seeing you there!