Luna set down the stack of books with a sigh. The spells that she had used to bind Lilith all those years ago were incredibly complex, and portions of them had even been lost to time, only living on in the memory of herself and Celestia. This was partially purposeful; the less ponies knew of summoning and the succuponies, the better off they would be. Still, recombining those elements would prove a difficult task.

“Luna! There you are.” Cadence came into the library, looking around in surprise. “I had no idea how…vast your personal collection was.” She commented, impressed. When Cadence had learned of what Lilith was doing, she had offered to help in any way she could. Celestia had though that the Princess of Love might be able to provide an effective counter to Liliths power. Naturally, Luna welcomed the aid of her fellow Princess and Alicorn.

“Yes, and much of it is hidden from our subjects.” Luna remarked, facing Cadence. “They’re simply not ready for some of it. Let us turn our attention to the pressing matter, however. Equestria is slowly falling into Liliths clutches. The binding spell is old magic, and will take time to prepare.” She levitated the book she was reading from over to Cadence, who looked over it interestedly.

“How can I help?” Cadence asked, once she was done reading over the diagrams on the page.
Luna nodded at her. “Join with the Elements of Harmony and ensure they are alright. And anything you can do to help ponies resist Liliths lust would be extremely helpful.” Her face took on a grave look. “And do not underestimate Lilith, Cadence. She is as powerful as an Alicorn, and cunning. If you’re not careful, you’ll wind up kissing her hooves.”
Cadence chuckled a bit at that. “You sound as if you speak from personal…experience.” Her smile faded when she saw the look on Lunas face. “I’ll be careful, I promise. You should get some sleep, Luna. You look exhausted.”

“I am. I’ve spent the past couple nights awake into the late morning hours.” Luna looked down at her books, troubled. “I can not help but think, if I had been more careful with the binding, or when I left Twilight here, Lilith would never have escaped.” She was going to fix this…she had to.

“Luna.“ Cadence said, surprisingly firmly. “You just told me to be careful, right? I don’t think you’ll be able to resist Lilith if you can’t think from being half-awake.” Cadence smiled at her. “I can take care of things for a few hours.”
Luna nodded and headed up to the bedroom she kept here, yawning. Before she retired, though, she cast a spell around the room, protecting it from intrusions from the dream realm. Safe from Liliths attacks, she finally allowed herself the mercy of sleep…

“…Luna…” Lilith said, her tail stroking the younger Princesses cheek. “I heard you’ve been hunting succuponies, very naughty…”

Luna turned away. “Celestia is determined to cleanse the land of your kind.” She replied, looking out the window. “She wants to build a kingdom of harmony. Our defeat of Discord encouraged her, and I can’t say I disagree with my sister.”
Lilith used her tail to turn Lunas head back towards her. “Is it harmony if every race is subject to pony rule?” she stepped forward, breathing on Lunas neck, licking the heart imprinted there. “I’m sure we could convince her, my dear.” Lilith added, looking up again, tail waving.

Luna shook her head firmly. “No, Lilith. You’d only be proving her right. Give me more time, I’m sure I can find a way to compromise.” She kissed Lilith, then smiled. “Once we find a place for the succuponies, I’m sure Celestia will let me be the personal envoy…we’ll hardly be apart…”

“I should have enthralled her.” Lilith said to herself musingly, as Sapphire licked her nethers. The blue mare had proven to be quite easy to break in, and she almost regretted retreating after their session. If Pinkie had signaled the others, however, Luna would have come running. She wasn’t quite ready to face the Princess directly. “I enjoyed toying with Luna, but leaving her free will was a mistake. No, the moment they started banishing my sisters to Tartarus, I should have taken Luna and used her to get to Celestia. I won’t make that mistake again. Midnight!”

Liliths most devoted follower came to her side. Lilith smiled, seeing that Midnights pelt had turned to a healthy, dark blue. “I have a job for you…”

~

Rarity sighed as she looked around the room. Only three ponies and a dragon left. “Surprise, how could you sleep through Rainbow Dash getting captured?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I’m reallllly sorry, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie replied, giving her best puppy dog eyes. “I expected it to be loud and noisy but I didn’t hear a peep out of Rainbow until she was completely gone.”

Applejack shuddered, slightly removed from the group. This Lilith was taking out her friends one by one with seemingly no problems at all. She had faith in all her friends, but she never pictured Rainbow as the one who would fall. If what Rarity was saying was true, Lilith and Twi would be giving her a proper induction to the dark side. Could Applejack really face down Rainbow Dash when it came down to it? Would she really want to?

“I’m not interrupting, am I?”

The ponies gathered in the room looked to the door as a new pony entered.

“Of course not, Cadence.” Rarity said with a smile. “Please, come in. We were just preparing our plan of attack.”

Cadence nodded, smiling at the ponies gathered. “Looks like I’m just in time, then.” Her horn glowed pink, a stack of books floating with her. “Luna sent these books; she says that they’ll help you.”

Rarity took the top book, flipping through it, her eyes shining. “Yes! This is magnificent! With these spells, we’ll have an even chance against Lilith at last! Oh, thank you, Cadence.”

“I’m glad I could help.” Cadence replied, her gaze settling on Applejack. “I’m hoping this will all be resolved soon.”

~
The sun filtered through the window, casting an orange glow over the sleeping form of the Princess. Luna stirred in her sleep, rising all at once, casting aside the sheets with a single spell. Her horn still glowing, she turned to a darkened corner of the room.

“Hello Princess…” said the figure, stepping out of the shadows.

“Twilight…”

Author's Note

Sorry if it's a bit rushed, everything came together all at once.

I have plans, big plans, that depend on this foundation. Right here.