CHAPTER SIXTEEN: NIGHT MARES (PART TWO)

Ponyville

10:31 P.M.

"So… You and Applejack, you never…"

"No!" said Rarity emphatically. It came out more indignant than she had intended. Bryn, seated close to her at the dining room table, stifled a grin. "Of course there were… signs, and that one night at Rainbow Dash's fourteenth birthday party."

She dropped the subject with an imperious air and hoped Bryn would do the same. But he leaned forward on his elbows and gazed over the rim of his teacup, with those bewitching green eyes that she couldn't resist, and obviously he expected her to continue. Even now, five years after that night, Rarity blushed uncomfortably.

"What happened at the party?" he asked.

"A lady never kisses and tells," said Rarity, and realized too late what she had just said. Bryn fell onto the table from laughter. "Bryn Hansen, I will have you know that four ponies kissed me before the night was through. We were all wild from Applejack's cider and Pinkie Pie had decided to start a game of truth or mare."

"Truth or dare, you mean?" He knew the rules to that game, having played it once at his friend Aaron's house.

"No, truth or mare. One pony asks a question, and if the other answers it wrong, they have to- kiss somepony else, a mare of their own choice. Colts or stallions aren't allowed in the game. I never saw the attraction, personally, but I was only a teeneigher and it was just the five of us, in Applejack's barn. Long before we met Twilight." Embarrassed by the part she was about to tell, Rarity drank more tea and pulled her shawl tighter.

A fire crackled merrily in the hearth, propped on a twinkling bed of coals that inundated the kitchen of Carousel Boutique with light and warmth. Several candles still burned in the showroom and in the hallway heading upstairs, an oil lamp hung on the wall. The kitchen was always the warmest place in Rarity's house. Its lavender drapery and warm woodcarvings made it feel cozy and inviting even with no heat; with a fire close at hand, it was perfect, and the chill in Bryn's chest was thawed in short order by the tea and the company. There was no place warmer than at Rarity's side. It didn't escape his notice that she chose the chair nearest him, and the closeness was exciting.

It was late. Outside the windows of the Boutique was murky frigid blackness. Upstairs, Sweetie Belle was already asleep, with a belly full of clover soup and exhausted from playing with the other Crusaders all day. Bryn and Rarity were still up and sat at one side of the dining room table, wrapped in knit blankets. They had intended to head right to their respective bedrooms after dinner, which was a quick and subdued affair, but found themselves still resolutely awake.

Back home, thought Bryn, I wouldn't even be thinking of going to bed yet. I might be playing my guitar or reading to Serena or playing video games… The lack of artificial light was still startling to him. This far into winter, dusk arrived with startling speed, and by six in the evening most of the light was already gone. Business was conducted by lamp or candle. His mind and habits told him to stay awake, but his exhausted body disagreed, and besides, he was finally enjoying some exclusive time with his pony hostess. For once, there was no appointment to keep, no friend to rescue, nothing except each other. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the unicorn. Wrapped in a baby blue shawl with her mane let down and bathed in firelight, she was a vision of perfect loveliness, and he wanted to make the most of his time with her. He fought the fatigue.

Rarity, meanwhile, was being kept awake by the tea (caffeine affected a pony much more strongly than it would a human) and by the aftereffects of an adrenaline-fueled adventure. Given the opportunity, she would fall asleep in minutes.

"On their birthday, it's tradition for a pony to receive gifts, but only after the party is wrapped up. You know Rainbow Dash. She had just moved from Cloudsdale that spring and it was her first birthday in Ponyville. Even then, she could never do things quietly or simply. It just had to be the finest party that bits could buy. The poor Cakes worked on her birthday cake for hours, and between her parents and Pinkie Pie, the party lasted all day.

"Then, there was a lovely dance and the opening of presents, out at Applejack's place. One thing leads to another and we're up way past our bedtimes. Applejack starts passing out more cider," continued Rarity with flushed cheeks, as if she was determined to finish the story now that she had started it. "Now keep in mind that Rainbow Dash is only fourteen. Pegasi aren't known for their resistance to alcohol, and she was never big for her age. She's tossing back mug after mug like the world's running out of cider. It was my turn, and I asked her what Equestria's fashion capital was. Everypony knows that it's Manehatten. Well, except for Rainbow Dash."

"Manehatten…" Bryn shook his head at yet another, to him, silly horse-related pun, but he was getting used to it. He wanted to tell her that there was a Manhattan in his own world. The coincidence was puzzling, yet Rarity was still telling her story, so he kept silent and listened.

"Hush, you. Anyway, Rainbow doesn't know and couldn't give two horseapples about fashion, so she has to kiss somepony. She can barely see but lays one on Applejack- I think because she was the closest. Now Applejack picks me, and asks me how many cows were on her farm. I say ten. It turns out there were twelve, but-" and here Rarity's cheeks blazed scarlet. She missed Bryn's worried expression.

Bryn, of course, was thinking not of Rarity's giggly story, but of its ramifications. He did some quick mental math in his head. Five years ago, and Rainbow Dash was fourteen. Would that make Rarity… twenty-one?

I'm only fifteen. How am I supposed to tell Rarity, and if I do, will that make her think of me any differently? Am I considered a child in her world? She's an adult in mine.

The irony was that he looked much older than fifteen. His classmates would doubt their sanity if they could see him now. Dressed in Rarity's handmade ensemble, he stood straighter and carried himself with more authority. Perhaps it was the strange Equestrian air working wonders on his health, but if he had looked into a mirror at that precise moment, he would have thought himself much older and stronger. Gone was the gangly, awkward teen from Eureka. I might pass for eighteen here, but back on Earth they'd see right through it. Rarity doesn't need to know how old I am.

She doesn't need to know about my powers, either.

Rarity's voice brought him out of this train of thought. "…and now I had to choose a pony to kiss. Applejack was to the right of me and all I can remember is how she was looking at me. Like she was hungry and I was a slice of apple pie. Before I knew what was happening, she leaned forward and kissed me. I was going to pick Fluttershy, to be honest."

All the talk of kissing was making Bryn sweat. "Umm… and how was it?"

"Messy," admitted Rarity. "And Applejack didn't want to let go. Pinkie eventually laughed loud enough to break us apart, but she was kissing me like I was her special somepony. She must have felt that way about me, even back then. Those times she wanted me over for sleepovers, or ice cream nights, were her way of getting closer to me." She heaved a great sigh. "And then two weeks ago, we ran into each other outside of the quill shop and she made her feelings clear. I was shocked and dismissive… I should have been more caring."

A shadow crossed Rarity's face at the mention of Pinkie Pie. Her disappearance still sat at the forefront of their minds, as the search of the forest had been unsuccessful, and they had agreed to address the problem in the morning.

Morning was not far away and here they were, fighting the night with each tired blink of their eyelids. Bryn took Rarity's hoof and held it in his hand. "We'll find Pinkie, Rarity. We can put up signs and get your other friends to help."

"I know." To Rarity, the touch of Bryn's warm strong hand was like a jolt of magic. A tightening sensation coursed through her body. It happened every time he touched her, and she was defenseless against it. She had to look away from those piercing eyes. He kept his hand locked around the dainty white hoof; Rarity didn't pull away.

"Do you think it's wrong for… two mares to feel that way about each other?" wondered Bryn, after a long pause. He seemed to be talking more to himself than to her. "I mean- back where I come from, people are always saying stuff. There was this kid at my old school, he liked boys instead of girls, and these bullies would call him 'gay' and 'faggot' and beat him up. If someone likes who they like, it's their business. Big deal."

Rarity's eyebrows furrowed at the strange terms, but his conviction would have moved somepony much more stubborn than her. She sighed heavily. "Whatever Applejack feels about me, the fact is that she's my friend, and that is what matters."

"I hope she's okay..."

"Me too. I want her to know that I love her, as a friend, just not in the way she wishes I could love her." Rarity bit back the remainder of what she was going to say, because her voice became thick and wavering with tears.

She saw no easy way to help her farmer pony friend through this difficult problem. To agree to Applejack's wishes and accept her advances would be lying to herself, because dishonest love wasn't love at all, and to snub her completely only left Applejack with the pain of a broken heart and a love that would never be experienced. Bryn came to her rescue. "Tomorrow we'll go to Sweet Apple Acres and settle things… maybe we can help her with the barn too. We'll be too tired to help if we stay up much longer, though. I'll do the dishes if you want to get ready for bed first."

Yet he held her hooves for a moment longer than was necessary. He blew out the candles in the showroom and gathered the mugs and stacked plates into the sink. Without unicorn magic to assist him in washing and drying, the process took a few extra minutes, but he stacked the clean dishes in the rack and made sure the fire had enough fuel for another hour or so.

In the three hours Bryn had kept the fireplace burning, as well as the fuel needed to stoke the cookstove and prepare dinner, the entire stockpile of logs in the back mudroom was consumed. Well… I did promise to do all the chores. I'll just carry a few in from out back so it's ready for tomorrow morning.

The fire threw excellent heat. Even so, it had its limits, and he found them when he opened the Boutique's back door. A creeping corona of subzero air pressed in on the house. It made its way past the back door and even into the corners of the kitchen. He put his bare hands on the doorknob and had to bite back a cry of pain: the metal was coated with hard frost and painful to the touch. Already uncomfortable and on the way to shivering, he hurried to scoop up an armful of logs from the outside pile and brought them inside. He stopped on the way back in and made the mistake of looking at the forest only a stone's throw away.

Staring out from Rarity's back porch was like staring into the depths of a dark and mysteriously empty closet. Or, Bryn thought, like the attic in my old house. It had that trap door on the ceiling and if you looked up into it, all you would see was blackness, but something more as well. The sense that the space was not yours. Tonight, it was darker than a night had the right to be. If there was a moon present, the low-hanging clouds kept it hidden, and the surrounding trees were so shadowy that they drank up the surrounding gloom, like a black hole of branches. They played tricks on the eyes if he stared at them long enough. He quickly hurried back indoors, feeling suddenly nervous about standing so close to the tree line, and shut the cold out with the creeping fog.

He turned and Rarity was right behind him. He jumped.

"Everything all right, love? Perhaps I should-" and her horn glistened. The door's lock engaged with a rusty but reassuring click. Around him, each blind and windowbox and shutter followed suit. He watched as she wandered around Carousel Boutique's ground floor and cast a variety of spells on the windows and doors; then, a shimmery glow burst from her horn into the canvas walls where it clung like dewdrops.

"Reinforcement charm," she said matter-of-factly. Noticing his curious stare, she gave a little shudder. "I just feel better locking the place up tight tonight."

Looking once more at the back door, which separated their snug kitchen from the frozen darkness on the other side, he couldn't argue with that logic. They blew out the kitchen candles and headed upstairs to bed.

Bryn was afraid the second story would be unbearably cold, but the fire's warmth had wafted upward during the past few hours. The hallway at least was pleasant. The silence, though… that was different. Not a single puff of wind or creak of heavy tent fabric broke the calm. "See you bright and early tomorrow, Rarity?"

"Mm-hmm," she said quietly. In the dim hallway, Bryn bent to hug her goodnight. Kneeling down put his head slightly below hers. He held the unicorn close to him, with one hand behind her ears, and planted a kiss on her snowy white cheek. It wasn't something he consciously thought about; it was a simple kiss, although one loaded with emotion, and perhaps Rarity read more into it than was intended.

He was halfway down the hall to his bedroom when she called to him in a low voice. "Bryn?"

"Yeah."

Even at seven feet he could see the blush rising on her cheeks. "Umm…" Like a filly, she fidgeted and looked at her hooves. Bryn had never seen her act like a love-struck teenager before. In a flash, she appeared to master her emotions, and she took a deep breath. "My room is awfully cold. I was wondering if… well, if you might help a lady stay warm tonight."

"Sure." Right now he hated the sound of his voice, and hated the fact that he had nothing flirty or confident on the tip of his tongue. He felt much like he had when he met Caitlin for the first time. Even though he knew that there was nothing to fear, it was unexplored territory that he was about to venture into, and his heart thumped so rapidly he was afraid Rarity could hear it. He followed her into her bedroom. Dollhouse meets magical fairy kingdom? The sheer girlishness of it all took his breath away. This was Rarity's room, though, and he had to respect it.

A girl's room is like her diary: private, safe, confidential, and for her alone. Only those she trusts completely are allowed access. He couldn't know that Rarity's room looked a lot like the inside of a Barbie dollhouse for a reason. The furnishings were many of the same ones she had had since foalhood. Each pillow and hoof-carved table were tied to memories, and the four-poster bed hung with billowy lavender curtains was the one and only bed she had ever owned. True, the room had been updated with a sprinkling of modern Manehatten design trends, but these objects and surroundings made Rarity feel at home, and therefore they stayed. Bryn was now stepping into her most private sanctuary. Not only that, but she had invited him.

"My bedroom," she said. Her hooves made no noise on the teal carpeted floor. She pulled back the sheets with her magic and sat down on the bed, her flank turned toward him suggestively. "You should get undressed first, you know. There's plenty of room for us both."

Is this a dream?

A slender ray of moonlight broke through the cloud cover. Some cosmic roll of the dice, some random chance, made it land just outside the window; its light caught Rarity and he wondered if moonlight had been invented only for her coat. She shone as if she were made of liquid argent.

Somehow his hand got stuck trying to undo his cloak's buttons. Then the pants refused to part ways with his body, and all the while his pulse raced. "Um... you might need to help me."

"It is quite all right," she soothed, sensing his panic. As she spoke, Rarity slid across the sheets to him. "There is only the two of us sharing our warmth on a cold night."

She cast a spell. His buttons unfastened themselves, and he was only in his boxers while the winter moon shone down on the darkened land and the frosty air made goosebumps rise on his arms and legs. His bare feet were faring much worse. Getting in bed with Rarity was the prudent thing to do, but that wasn't why he hesitated. His desire to lay close to her was eclipsed only by his fear of doing or saying the wrong thing- what if my shyness turns her off? What if she wants more and I don't know what to do?

Rarity's eyes and body told two different stories: she sat up with crossed back hooves like an attentive student, waiting for his response, but her eyes had a devious twinkle in them. She glanced at his bare chest and bit her lip with the tiniest of winks. He stared back with a multitude of emotions raging inside him. She was too perfect, too beautiful, and to ruin the moment with his clumsy presence would be unforgivable. Anything that hurt her feelings was even worse than that.

Yet he joined her in bed because he knew that if he didn't, he would regret it for the rest of his life. "Pants are overrated anyway."

Rarity's answering laugh broke the tension. He lay down and she pulled the fluffy quilts up around them. "See? That wasn't so hard, Bryn darling. We just need to keep warm through the night and I know just the way."

Before he could blink, a very warm and soft unicorn pressed her body against his. She lay in a spoon position with her back to him. Due to her size, her head rested near his collarbone while her hindquarters settled comfortably alongside his hips, and her back legs reached to his knees. Too comfortably. She was all baby-soft white fur and contented ladylike sighs. The way she moved against him awoke something deep down inside his core, and he fought to control it.

She's a pony. I'm a human.

But this feels so right… and I love her.

No experience could have told him what to do. He wasn't even sure which parts of her were acceptable to touch. Instinctively he put his free left arm around her chest, giving her a gentle squeeze, and Rarity responded instantly. She moaned loudly and arched her back into him. "Oooh Bryn, you certainly waste no time getting down to business. I like that in a stallion." Little did he realize that if Rarity had been human, his hand would have been cupping a breast or, perhaps, resting between them. Apparently it was just as sensitive an area for ponies as well. She rolled over in bed and kissed him.

Afterward, he would be hard pressed to describe exactly what it felt like. He had no kisses with an Earth girl with which to compare it. He could, however, recall the moment just before their lips met, and how his heart pounded as her round equine face moved closer and closer. Her long-lashed eyelids closed. His followed suit. By then he was enveloped in her completely, her scent, the softness of her mane, his hand touching her cheek and her ears. Had he ever kissed a human before, Rarity's kiss would have felt at once awkward and foreign to him. His lips were not a perfect fit to her muzzle. Her tongue was slightly larger than his own.

But what significance did any of that have? None, to Bryn. He existed for that simple moment. The sweet taste of her mouth, like fresh strawberries in summer… their bodies coming together… only these mattered.

Some time passed. They looked at each other hungrily. "Was that your first kiss?" Rarity asked.

Play it cool… But he couldn't lie to her, or spin half-truths, or add to lies he had already hatched. Not telling her about his true age was distasteful enough. "Yeah..."

"You certainly fooled me." They kissed again, this time a quick and chaste peck. Rarity giggled and he felt her whole body vibrate against his; she looked into his eyes and whispered, "Do you want to know a secret? You are the stallion I've waited so long to find."

"And here I thought I was just hired help."

"Since I was a foal, I thought I would grow up to meet a beautiful prince and be his princess, like all the fairy tails say. I'd live in his castle and never want for anything. And of course he would be handsome and strong and have the kind of eyes that make my flanks tingle-"

Now it was Bryn's turn to burst out laughing, and Rarity playfully swatted at him. "Ahem, as I was saying, last year I finally met a real-life prince and he was quite dashing. But also the most inconsiderate horse-faced oaf in all Equestria who expected mares to fall at his feet simply because he was royalty. To him I was only a momentary distraction. Love has to go both ways, you know." She snuggled closer to his chest. "My friends have set me up on a few dates since then and I've met stallions with good hearts. There is always something missing, though. Either they are too slavish in their affections or too selfish. None of them have ever come close to you, Bryn."

There was something in the way she said his name, he thought, that was different. She said it as if she was holding something precious and delicate in her hands. "Rarity…" he said, not quite certain of the words that would come after her name, and realized that he was doing it too.

Rarity's eyes blazed with fierce passion. "My handsome and strong and caring prince? My prince who would go to the ends of the world for me? He's right here."

"Your prince wonders if he can kiss you again."

"Your princess- begs you to kiss her." She ached for him. He leaned in to grant her wish.

---

Above the Everfree Forest

Each beat of her great wings sent a stabbing pain through her chest. A cracked rib, perhaps, but nothing that couldn't wait until later. It was a dull annoying pain that built over time. She might even be able to repair the bone herself, but to do so would require a landing and a complicated transmutation spell, and she had time for neither.

Her chest was not the worst injury, either. The bones in her rear left leg were shattered just above the hoof. The limb hung useless and in excruciating pain; before taking off she had magically bound it to a length of wood and hoped for the best. Its soreness was less noticeable than the one along her ribcage, except when a sudden gust of high-altitude wind would strike her and grind the jagged fragments against each other, and then it was all she could do to keep from screaming in agony. The jetstream winds made this happen far too often. Blood from a deep cut on her forehead had dripped down into her eyes and then flash-frozen from the temperatures that seemed just too cold to be real. Each blink of her eyelids stabbed her with tiny spears.

But Princess Luna could endure cold. Her flight feathers could take much more abuse than a little bit of frost. The armor she wore was padded with insulation, and would keep her warm and well-guarded had it been in good condition, which it wasn't. The battle had relieved her of half the pieces. The chest plate and greaves remained, but were broken beyond repair and painted red with the blood of the wounded Pegasus she carried across her back.

Fluttershy was fading fast, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The Princess's horn glowed as she flew on through the night. She was using an old battlefield healing technique to hold the mare's broken body together and retain what blood remained in her body. It depended on her concentration, and if it failed, Fluttershy would surely die. On my honor as a ruler of Equestria, I will save her life if it is my final act as Princess. Luna soared fast and high, as fast as her tortured wings would propel her. Even her great reserves of magic had limits and she did not want to exceed them, especially after they had been nearly exhausted in the battle with that- horror. She had no other word for it. Holding Fluttershy aloft was also quickly becoming difficult, because the pony was nearly one hundred pounds of dead inert weight on her back. That weight only added to her heavy thoughts.

The Undercity expedition (only an hour ago, but what felt like days) had been a failure: Pinkie Pie was still missing, a factory lay in ruins, and more mysteries abounded than could be counted. Luna made the climb back to ground level with no clues upon which to operate. Whatever evidence that was not destroyed in the blast had conveniently disappeared with the owner of said factory: a griffin, known by the remaining work ponies to be a merciless taskmaster, and doing suspicious experiments. The Lower Canterlot police were investigating further. None of it made an ounce of sense to Luna. Was Pinkie Pie lost in the explosion? Is it somehow connected to that monster in the forest?

To clear her head, she flew back towards the ruins of her and Celestia's old castle- on a gut feeling, perhaps, or just checking on the weather patterns the Cloudsdale Pegasi kept complaining about- and chanced on the clearing where Fluttershy faced death. The Undercity situation was dire; she would discuss it with her royally inept sister later, but it paled in comparison to what she had just seen. What she had just fought, and nearly perished as well.

Nopony would ever know how close to the edge she came, tonight. When Fluttershy was about to be ripped in half and butchered, when her own strength was failing, she had tapped into a darker part of herself. I lay there on the forest floor with my armor shattered and my leg broken… and it had an Element holder in its grasp… what could I do but counter its wickedness with my own?

Even now it feels like my horn is infected. My soul is tainted with the evil I once wielded, and tasted once again tonight.

That beam of dark magic, that ray of destruction that boiled with violet hatred, had struck the monster through its slimy chest and released its grip on Fluttershy. It had given her the time to bind her own leg and scoop up the fallen pony, but only just. Whatever malice protected the creature, her nightmarish magic had only wounded it. Maybe just made it angrier.

The Elements of Harmony had once freed her from the grip of Nightmare Moon. So the common ponies claimed, and the fairy tails parents now told their foals at night… nothing could be further from the truth. Could the stars be freed of their light? Could the very earth be freed of its gravity? Nightmare Moon lay within her skin, as familiar as a lover, and only a few selfish thoughts and a dark incantation away from breaking free. Every night that she woke and raised the moon was another battle with her sinister twin. The worst part? It is so easy. So alluring, to reach for that power and be lost within it forever. It is a drug with no antidote. Tonight I used it only in my greatest need, but what about tomorrow?

As it did when she thought about important matters, her thoughts adopted the vernacular of an age long past. Must I forever host this abhorrent darkness within mine chest? A mere taste of it nearly was mine undoing. I hath done this to save thee, Fluttershy, and if I must, I would choose thus again.

Canterlot's lights shone like the beacons of a lighthouse in the distance. She was almost home. Her own moon hung heavily in the western skies. With renewed energy she sped on, the wintry air screaming beneath her wings. Hath I made this sacrifice for naught? Between the wind and the effort to maintain the spell, there was no way for her to check if Fluttershy was still breathing- or alive at all. Only the royal physician could. It was to her solar that she now directed her flight, as the Equestrian capital grew larger and larger in her eyes. If the old scattermane was asleep, she would blow her door down and force her to accept Fluttershy into her clinic.

The royal physician lived on the second floor of the East Tower. Mine sister's tower. Luckily, most of the guards on duty would be her own Night Guard and would not question her purpose or her appearance too closely. She passed within the city limits and glided high over the Palace's spires, a shadow amongst shadows, unseen by anypony below. Past midnight, only the hardiest were still out on the streets, or those returning tipsy from the Undercity bars.

It wasn't until she made her final spiral down to the Palace gates that she remembered Darkmane. She had left her commander, three hundred pounds of rock-solid and unwaveringly loyal stallion, to stand watch in the throne room after escorting Rainbow Dash to her room for the night.

Rainbow Dash… Confused about the trial and about the Undercity affair and whatever it held in store, the poor pony had agreed to wait until the morning for a meeting of the Sisters as to what should be done. No doubt her night was a sleepless one as well. Luna touched down at the gates and nearly toppled over, Fluttershy's weight threw her off balance, and she was forced to land on three limbs. To their great credit, the two unicorn guards flanking the front gate bowed their heads with a respectful "Your Majesty" without even looking up.

"Your Majesty!" growled Darkmane, when she had entered the foyer with her gore-splattered burden. "You are injured! Let me assist you-"

As stoic as he was, he still recoiled a bit from the grisly sight. He and two other guards were the only ponies present in the room; they opened their mouths in alarm. "Darkmane… Help me carry this pony to the infirmary. She must be saved."

He put Fluttershy on his back and followed her through the throne room. It was a testament to his dedication that he didn't question her, or waste time wondering about her well-being.

The infirmary was at the top of a spiraling flight of stairs and down a corridor to the left. Never had she cursed a staircase before, but her broken leg required her to climb them with a comical hopping motion, and at the top she was light-headed from the pain and growling obscenities at these stairs and all the other stairs ever built by ponykind. The walls swayed sickeningly. "Take her in, Darkmane. See that she gets treated by the royal physician and let nopony else know she is here. I must see my sister at once."

Her sister, at the top of the tower. More stairs. Seven flights of them, to be exact, and the mere thought of them made her leg throb with a dull nauseating pain.

Darkmane disappeared down the dimly lit hallway with Fluttershy draped limply across his broad back. She was in good hooves, and Princess Luna was certain she would survive. She had to. Luna could spare no more worry for the Pegasus, because there were more important matters to be addressed, and they lay in the golden pinnacle of Celestia's tower. She took a deep breath and began the climb, hopping like a hog-tied foal and cursing every second of it.

On the fourth floor, she was almost done for when her shattered leg brushed against one of the stone steps. She could feel the jagged pieces of bone grate against each other, and the scream ripped from her throat before she could stop it. "BUCK!"

Such a curse was unladylike and one more tiny instance of modern ponykind influencing its very archaic ruler. And of course, it had to be in her Royal Canterlot Voice. No doubt Celestia and half the castle had heard that one. Eyes watering and barely able to stand any longer, she continued up to the seventh level, past the kitchens and the armory where two sleepy Royal Guard earth ponies stood. Guarding Celestia's door was a very familiar Pegasus. This Pegasus's presence was the latest in a night full of occurrences that made no sense. Much like the stallions below, he gawked at her bloody armor.

"Flash Sentry," said Luna breathlessly, "stand aside. I must have an audience with your Princess."

For the first time that night, a pony came as close to straight disobedience as possible. Flash actually blushed and shuffled his hooves nervously before bowing. "My deepest apologies, Your Royal Highness, but Princess Celestia was quite insistent that nopony disturb her for any reason."

"Who gave you these orders, and why are you standing here instead of asleep in your bunk? Upon returning from the Undercity, I gave you strict orders to escort Rainbow Dash to a room in the Palace and then to report to your commanding officer, Shining Armor."

Flash bowed lower. He was apparently as confused as she was. "And I carried out those orders to the letter, Your Majesty. Commander Shining Armor was not on duty when I returned to the barracks. He was called back to Manehatten when news reached us that the chaos there was too much for the local police to handle. Bright Blade was in command and he ordered me to personally stand guard at the Princess's chambers, by wish of the Princess herself. Only ten Guard were left in the Palace."

Luna knew the protocols. Except in the event of a major attack, the guard presence was concentrated on the lower floors; in the event of castle breach at the gates or through the windows, any invading forces would be held back by superior numbers. The private royal rooms were supposed to be guarded at the base of the stairs by four ponies, not by one posted at the very door to the bedroom beyond. Flash's presence here was in direct violation of that standard.

"Princess Celestia ordered you here?" exploded Luna, trying to bridle her anger but failing, because a sudden revolting thought came to her. There was only one reason Celestia would insist on absolute privacy… and even thinking of it made her grit her teeth and snarl wordlessly.

"If you value your commission at all, or indeed your very life, you will allow me to pass." The razor-sharp rage in her voice was enough to make Flash practically jump out of her way, and because part of her anger might have been because of the pain, she tried to soften its blow. "You have done your duties well tonight, Flash Sentry." The poor pony was more frightened than before, although he stood straight and didn't show it.

Her left hoof knocked on the golden door, three urgent taps, before she opened it with her magic.

Several things happened at once. There was a feminine gasp from behind the white silken curtains of Celestia's bed, followed by a scuffle and an unfamiliar mare's voice that fearfully whispered, "What's going on?" Then some hushing sounds from her sister. The pony she had come so far to see appeared from the other side of the bed, her usually perfect pastel mane a tangled mess. The room was quite dim but Luna's night-accustomed eyes caught everything.

Celestia saw Luna with one eye swollen shut, battered armor pieces stained with both Fluttershy's and her own blood, and the broken leg held limply above the floor. She uttered a little shriek.

"Dear sister, what happened?! You are covered in blood!" She took a step toward her, although whether it was out of sisterly concern or just plain shock, Luna couldn't say.

Luna, however, watched the bed that Celestia had just vacated. She saw the telltale shift of the blankets. Another pony was sharing the Princess's bed tonight. A young mare, by the sounds of it, and she felt a hideous fury building within her chest like fire. To keep her voice level took all of her willpower.

"And you, dear sister, are covered in the sweat and scent of another mare. Do not presume to think that I am blind to it."

Celestia at least had the sense to look guilty. For a moment, anyway. "My orders to not be disturbed had no effect, it would seem, but- what in the name of Starswirl happened to you? Was there another dragon attack? I parted ways with you in the throne room nearly three hours ago and you seemed in perfect health. Do you need medical help? Tell me everything."

To Luna, it was only verbal babble designed to take her mind off the pony hiding beneath the bedsheets. She ignored it.

"How kind of you to be concerned about me, while you lock yourself in your tower and give in to your perverted desires. How very like my perfect sister. Which pony was at your side tonight? Another in the long line of useless aristocracy who would sell their foals into slavery for an invitation to the Gala?!" The ferocity in Luna's voice would have made a normal pony sink beneath the floor. "Perhaps a night in which one Element holder is mysteriously missing, another lies on death's door, and a monstrous creature is loose in the Everfree Forest is the wrong night to invite another one of your perfumed whores into your chambers."

At the words perfumed whores there came a strangled gasp from the sheets. Celestia stepped defensively in front of the bed. "Who is missing? And why are you hurt? Please, sister, rest yourself and tell me what has happened. I will send for the royal physician."

"Are you truly concerned? Or simply trying to cover up the evidence of your depravity? Tell the truth, Sister."

"I- was not expecting company tonight," said Celestia lamely. The elder alicorn's cheeks turned bright, boiling scarlet.

"At the moment, the royal physician is occupied with saving Fluttershy, who lies at Tartarus's door. I have also led an expedition to the Undercity on a fruitless search for Pinkie Pie, who seems to be missing, and returned to bring you this news. One of many mistakes I have made this evening."

"Pinkie Pie is- missing? And what of Fluttershy?" Celestia exclaimed. The pony in the bed inhaled sharply, which was not missed by Luna.

"As I just explained, she is gravely wounded, by a strange creature of the Everfree Forest I barely escaped with my life. It is upon this matter that I needed your help and counsel, but by what I have interrupted, clearly I should look elsewhere than to a Princess who commits disgusting acts with mares while her empire bleeds. Now you will answer my question: who is concealed in your bed?"

For the first time, Celestia sounded frightened. "That, sister, is not your concern."

But Luna had already acted. The air thrummed with magic, and the gauzy hangings and sheets flew into the air like freed swans. Beneath them lay Twilight Sparkle. Luna's face went from shock to apoplectic fury in seconds.

"You would dare to bed your APPRENTICE?!" Luna screamed, at full volume. The last words shook the room. "AN ELEMENT HOLDER? THE PONY WHO WE ARE SWORN TO PROTECT, NOT CORRUPT!"

Celestia's spell crackled across the space between them. It caught her full in the chest. "Rein in your tongue, Sister! You know nothing of this matter!"

Luna was beyond words. She took the blow, even as it drove the air from her lungs and made the cracked rib sear with blinding pain. Her answering charm was not energy, but magical chains conjured from thin air. It was not a pretty spell. They bound Celestia's horn as well as her wings, nearly crippling her, and still the other alicorn fought against the sharp strangling metal. The Princess of the Night then cast a repulsion hex and her sister crashed hard against the wall.

"Princess!" Twilight wailed, jumping from the bed to her lover's side. She faced Luna with tears streaming down her face. "Please don't hurt her! I love her! What's the matter, Princess Luna- what did she do to make you so angry?" Her voice quavered and broke. "Please-"

"Stay silent, Twilight Sparkle, or I shall bind you too." Every part of Luna's tired, battle-weary body ached like it had never ached before. The effort of maintaining the spell was making her head spin. I must do what I came here to do. "And now both of you will listen to what I have to say."

She looked contemptuously at Celestia, not meaning for the brunt of her anger to fall on the sobbing unicorn at her side, but continuing anyway. "For hundreds of years before my exile, I watched you take both mares and stallions as lovers… whatever pony took your fancy, but always ones with talents useful to you. Starswirl the Bearded, for example. It seems, after I have spent a thousand years on that accursed rock in the middle of the void, your devious ways have not changed. I care not for whom you use to warm your bed at night. I care about Equestria, and its well-being. At a time when this kingdom needs its rulers the most, I arrive tonight to find you oblivious of your duty and further endangering it. And bedding the Element of Magic, imposing your unnatural ways on a pony responsible for the most vital of the Elements- have you lost all sense?!"

Celestia rattled the chains and forced herself upright, to glare at Luna with livid but remorseful eyes. "We have discussed this, Sister."

"Yes, we have discussed it, and you spat at my advice."

"Did you come here to criticize my rule, or to lament your lack of fulfilling love because you are envious of mine?" said Celestia.

Luna stepped forward and brutally backhoofed the helpless alicorn across the face. The blow knocked her head sideways into the stone, and Celestia looked up at her sister with grim satisfaction. "It appears I have touched a nerve."

She raised her hoof to strike even harder, and stopped. Not because Twilight screamed and threw herself over her mentor's body as a shield, but because of the incalculable sadness she saw in Celestia's eyes. It was the sorrow of too many years gone by and perhaps some of the same feelings that Luna now felt: she had no desire to fight with her only sister, any more than Luna herself did. Was this all part of her alter ego taking over?

Deep breaths. Conceal it, do not feel it. To feel it is death.

With difficulty, she restrained herself, and when she spoke again it was in a much softer tone. "Ever I have put Equestria's welfare above my own. I took no lovers and made no secret alliances. You have the gifts of diplomacy, where I possess only the gifts of magic and strength. You waste them on personal gain and politics. There is already bridle gossip among the Guard and the court that their Princess is a- well, a mare who lies with other mares. And the workers in the Undercity had very choice words for Equestria's rulers. They blame us for their hardships, the Princesses who 'sit in high towers and profit on the common ponies' suffering'. Are they wrong? And now you toy with the heart of the pony who, along with her friends, is responsible for defending our kingdom. It is unforgivable."

The blow from Luna's armored foreleg had opened a deep cut in the elder alicorn's muzzle; slow drops of blood fell on her chest, shockingly red, like rose petals on marble. In the interim, Twilight clutched at her lover's breast and sniffled.

"I am sorry that you feel so, Sister. Know that Twilight Sparkle is with me tonight out of love. I would fight the darkest shades of Tartarus for her, and defend her with my life. You have never loved, never known the bliss of another pony's heart beating in time with yours, and I cannot expect you to understand."

Luna sneered. "And I suppose she loves you with the fervent, ill-fated love of a student to her teacher. You should 'educate' her on your past students and all the apprentices you bedded."

"Past students?" whispered Twilight.

"A lovely bedside chat for you both." Luna's head throbbed. The fight had drained whatever strength that was left in her body; remaining standing was a deadly battle. Each breath stabbed at her chest. She looked at Twilight wearily. "It is not a suitable for a Princess of Equestria to do such things, even if our society now accepts them."

"But Equestria doesn't accept them, even after all this time!" Twilight cried. "And they should! What difference does it make as long as two ponies are happy? Don't you want your sister to be happy?"

The remnants of the fire crackled dully. Its light cast Luna's features into sharp, angular relief, and in that moment she appeared carved from ageless stone. "My happiness, or her happiness, is not of importance when Equestria is in danger."

"Free me from these horrid chains," grumbled Celestia. "We can speak without casting spells or insults, can we not?"

Luna dissolved the chains with a flick of her horn. "It remains to be seen."

"What is upsetting you so, Sister?"

"I am upset at your apathy and foolishness, Celestia. Nothing more." Luna turned away and faced the window. "I am sorry I struck you."

"If I recall, you did far worse to me as Nightmare Moon. There must be something else that troubles you."

Luna looked long and hard at Twilight before speaking. This is my secret to keep, she thought. Not even another thousand years could wrench it from me. Twilight Sparkle, do you recall the Nightmare Night when you taught me to fit in to an Equestria that had long since passed me by? Nopony ever gave me a greater gift. And when you did… a part of my heart longed for yours. I envied my sister's luck in having such a kind, caring and diligent apprentice, one who held friendship in the highest regard and gave a fallen Princess the chance to redeem herself. I wanted to know what that felt like. I wanted to know more about you. I wanted to ask you, at Princess Cadance's wedding, but the words would not come.

Seeing Twilight in her sister's bed was like a knife being driven through her ribs. The worst part was her utter failure now, as then, to be able to put this feeling into words. It wasn't betrayal, because neither Twilight nor Celestia had willfully hurt her, and it went far beyond simple jealousy. It was nothing to do with sexual lust, either. It was a crushing and hopeless emotional longing for somepony kind enough to see past her walls to the vulnerable mare within. When Celestia greeted her, heavy with the sleepy scents of her lover's body, Luna needed a more nuanced word than jealousy for the bitter resentment in her heart. Once again, her sister was favored, in luck and adoration and now love as well. This was the way it had always been and always would be. It made Luna want to curse that regal smile right off of her regal face. But that would hurt Twilight…

Tonight was not the time to bare her heart. Certainly not to the present audience. "If you do not understand by now, you never will." How pointless are emotions, if they leave us weak? Her traitor voice began to crack. Celestia wisely changed the subject.

"We can talk about this in the morning… you look unwell. Perhaps we should go to the infirmary and check on Fluttershy."

"Yes…" Unfortunately, 'yes' was the last word that Luna could manage. She took a step toward Celestia. Her weight landed on her rear right leg, the leg she had put out of her mind during the disagreement. It happened quickly: the pain, the dizzy shimmering wave of shock, the floor rushing up to meet her.

---

The two ponies lay in adjacent hospital beds, separated by a white curtain. The room's walls and floor were whitewashed stone of a similar style as the rest of the castle. This contrasted with the modern brass sconces and the examination table, stacked with medical instruments and test tubes. Twelve of the fourteen beds lay empty. Fluttershy was closest to the wall and barely recognizable as a pony. The physician had wrapped her in so many protective bandages and casts that she resembled a cotton ball with legs and a tail; her tail was the only uncovered part of her, save for her muzzle. Straps held her legs elevated and secured them to the bed.

"This Pegasus will be fine, I think. Those puncture wounds are sewed up and I've got her under a Healing Spell and heavy sedation."

The royal physician, Red Star, straightened the sheets. She was an older unicorn with streaks of matronly gray in her lime-green mane. She turned to the room's other unconscious occupant. "I was more worried about Her Majesty. I'm not sure how she was even able to walk and speak, let alone fly or fight, with that broken leg and the two ribs almost puncturing her right lung. In twenty years of serving the Palace, I've never seen a break this bad. The entire lower half of the leg was shattered. She won't be walking for a while but she will be just fine with a little rest."

"Sister… I am so sorry…" said Celestia. "I should have been more understanding."

"What are we going to do?" said Twilight. She looked desperately around the room. "And she couldn't find Pinkie Pie either-" and she let out a fresh howl, more tears staining her lavender cheeks. "What's happening, Princess?"

"I am not sure, Twilight. She spoke of a monster in the Everfree Forest. We will have to wait for her to recover before we can learn exactly what she saw and what she meant to tell me." As Twilight sobbed, Celestia extended her wing and tried to pull Twilight into a comforting embrace, but the smaller pony stepped back.

"And what did she mean about 'past lovers'?" Twilight's voice was raw, like she had swallowed metal. "Were there other ponies before me?"

She already knew the answer. Of course there were… she's eighteen hundred years old. That's the lifetime of twenty-five normal ponies, or more. She couldn't have lived so long without falling in love with somepony. Maybe even apprentices like me. And then they would grow old and die and she would stay the same.

The lovers before me, did she tell them the same things that she told me? That they were special and beautiful and the only one for her?

With difficulty, she choked out the words. "What happened to her? Your last apprentice."

"She was much like you, Twilight. Brilliant and enthusiastic and eager to prove herself. Unfortunately we did not see eye to eye on many matters, magic most of all, but love as well. It… did not end well. Six years ago she disappeared from the Palace and I have not heard or seen her since."

The memory troubled Celestia. Twilight could see that much by the moisture that built up around her eyes.

"Her name was Sunset Shimmer."

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