Luna paced back and forth for what felt like the millionth time in front of the mirror portal, at her side were at least a half dozen crystal pony guards, all of whom were surprised she hadn’t worn a groove into the stone floor by now. It had been three days since Dominic had gone through the portal, and since then she had been a nervous wreck. She couldn’t sense him as she had before, his dream signature had just vanished, and even though it had been weak she still longed for its presence, to know that he was somewhere in the world.

The room was much brighter now, thanks to more torches that had been mounted on the walls. Luna didn’t care about the lighting however, she wanted Dominic to return, she wanted him to emerge victorious from that portal, but she knew that it was very likely she wouldn’t see him for some time. Still she could hope for something of his to come through, a message or maybe a gift, anything that told her he was okay.

She could still remember the feeling of his lips against hers, the tight hold of his arms, the wave before he’d passed through the mirror. It took all of Luna’s force of will not to run through that portal to find him, not to help him and bring him home. That was why when she heard a bit of noise from the mirror she let out one of the happiest yelps of her life, both in surprise but also in joy. Through the portal the cart emerged, loaded down with odd boxes and other items that Luna had never seen before. Pulling it were Rolling Thunder and Fortress Wall, both of whom appeared very relieved to be on the other side, at least they did right before they tumbled forwards and slid across the floor.

Her gaze shifted to the back of the cart where she saw Shining Armor rubbing his head quietly, her heart began to pick up in pace. At first she couldn’t see Dominic, she didn’t know what happened, but then.

“Son of a cussing cuss word, my head!” Dominic’s familiar gravel baritone echoed through the room, she saw the man sit up and rub the side of his forehead. Apparently the landing had caused him to fall forwards and bump his forehead on the wood of the cart, with a groan he’d stepped out of the cart and looked around. “Everyone in one piece?” A couple groans answered that question. Luna noticed that he had a book under his arm, and no Sunset Shimmer, she supposed the book had something to do with that. “We’ll get someone else to get the gear loaded on a train…”

Dominic spotted Luna standing across the room as the six crystal guards approached the cart to aid the Americans and Shining Armor. Dominic walked past them and straight up to Luna, seeing as she looked like she was rather nervous. The mare quickly walked up to him and wrapped her wings around him in a tight hug, Dominic felt like all the air would be squeezed out of his lungs, but despite this he returned the hug. When he was finally able to breathe he took a step back and smiled, patting himself down to show her he was in one piece.

“Told you I’d be back soon.” Dominic said, Luna smiled and teared up a bit, just happy to see that he was okay. He held out the book in his arm to Luna. “This is the solution to Sunset Shimmer, it seems she’s not the only thing over there that could be dangerous, so she’s gonna send us messages through this… And be Celestia’s newest pen pal.” The lunar mare took the book in her magic and looked it over carefully, then nodded. “Figured you’d wanna hear about that, since she isn’t here with us.”

“We’re more concerned about thou.” Luna said as she looked at the bump on his head, his helmet seemed to have spared him most of the blow. “Didst thou see what was predicted?” Dominic shook his head quietly and pointed back at the portal.

“It wasn’t spot on, and that means it's unpredictable… That thing needs to be guarded.” Dominic’s words caught the ear of Shining Armor. “With Shining Armor’s prediction… I think it would be best if I took it with me. We’re out in a desert, if anything comes through it’ll do less damage and you’ll have more time to contain it…” The unicorn stood up and began trotting towards the man, a look of surprise on his face.

“Perhaps this should be discussed later…” Luna suggested, Dominic nodded without taking his eyes off of the mirror. He straightened his helmet and looked down at Shining Armor, he could tell that the answer was already going to be yes. Shining was afraid of what was on the other side of the mirror, and Dominic understood why. Meanwhile several crystal guards were carrying the various items from the cart out of the room, Fortress Wall and Rolling Thunder were helping them. Luna walked to the exit with Dominic and Shining behind her, pausing to look over her shoulder at the mirror for a moment before continuing out into the large cavernous stairway.

The trip back up the stairway was a silent one, the only noise being the sound of hooves and boots on the sturdy stone floors, until finally the three of them had emerged on the main floor of the Crystal Palace. The others were still a fair bit down the steps, giving them ample time to talk as they waited. Luna quickly looked at Dominic and Shining expectantly, she was unsure of what to say herself.

“It’s not dangerous now, in fact, that’s what the book is for… Sunset Shimmer is going to keep an eye out for paranormal stuff and we’ll be able to get it through there.” Dominic explained again, Luna nodded and looked at the book questioningly. “What she described that helped her reform herself is what has me concerned, a demon girl... Apparently Sunset defeated her and earned the trust of the element bearers on the other side, they all corroborated it in person.”

“Hearing that, I have to agree with Dominic’s proposal.” Shining said, looking at the president with a nod. “He’s located relatively far from large Equestrian populations and has a more than ready defense force, if anything were to happen it would best happen with him.” Luna nodded quietly, somewhat agreeing with what was being said, then she looked at the book in her grasp.

“Perhaps it is better left in thine care as well…” She said, Dominic looked at the book for a few moments. “From what we have heard, our sister would love to hear from Sunset, but that is what couriers are for…” Hesitantly the man reached out and took the book into his hands once more, running his fingers over the cover. “Shining, please, see to it his items and soldiers are made ready to depart on the next train… We must have a word with our new student.” Shining nodded and went off back down the steps to help the upcoming guards, and to somehow figure out how to get the mirror up the stairs. Dominic looked to Luna and removed his helmet, earning a small smirk from the mare as she made her way off down a random hallway. “Thou solved the situation with Sunset Shimmer very well, better than we had hoped.”

“Thank you…” Dominic replied, trailing off a bit, he wasn’t sure what to call Luna at this point. Just Luna? Master Luna? Just Master? The princess giggled at the look on his face, she knew all to well what he was puzzling over, she’d seen it before. She cleared her throat before becoming serious once again.

“An appropriate title for us would normally be Master, but as you are a head of state, that could look very bad…” Luna explained, thankfully ending the argument in Dominic’s head. “Teacher, or any variation on that thou chose, will suffice.”

“Insegnante…” Dominic said, Luna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Teacher in Italian, but it sounds more noble.” Luna nodded with another smile as they continued to stroll through the crystal hallways, Dominic taking a few seconds to observe the designs in the walls.

“As we had said, thou hath exceeded our expectations.” Luna went on as they walked. “We had thought thou would return battered, and somehow reformed Sunset Shimmer yourself.” Luna paused to examine a bit of artwork that had been carved into the crystal walls, a pair of ponies hugging and forming the shape of a heart, something about it was rather haunting. “We sense thou hath used words rather than violence when it was very much an option….”

“I did not want to fail you, Insegnante…” Dominic replied as he too looked upon the art, Luna only hummed in response. “I have a question.” Luna looked at Dominic silently. “How will you train me if we’re in separate countries?”

“We shall not be in separate countries, Celestia knows we have chosen thee as our student, she has made preparations already.” Luna explained as she looked back to the artwork. “Twilight will take our place temporarily, we shall return to New Liberty with thou.” Dominic would have protested for her sake, but instead held his tongue, he could see Luna was serious about it. The two of them remained in silence for minutes after that, the both of them staring at the odd piece of art, finally Luna spoke again. “Doth thou know why we hath chosen thee as our apprentice, Dominic?” Dominic was about to speak up, she’d said something to him, but he suspected were entirely different in this context.

“No, Insegnante.” Dominic replied.

“Thou art the only one with the will to kill, but the heart to spare.” Luna said quietly. “Our sister has made it so our subjects have lost their fight, something that is good in a way, but it is not perfect…” The mare sighed quietly. “We are not immortal, Dominic, despite what many will say, neither is our sister.” Dominic continued to listen to her. “For this reason we have guards, but they have proved to be inadequate in recent times…” Luna touched her hoof to the artwork and ran it over the crystal. “Our bodies use magic in many ways, with alicorns it is to prolong our life indefinitely. We can be killed, but we cannot age… For this reason we must choose a warrior to personify our values… Incase a risk should arise that is too great for us... We hath chosen thou.”

Luna quietly brought her hoof back to rest beside her, meanwhile Dominic was contemplating what Luna was saying. Was she selecting him as some sort of champion? He was flattered, but he wasn’t sure he was ready. The mare looked at Dominic quietly, she had been thinking lately about his ‘immunity’ to magic, she feared that perhaps it was something more than ‘immunity’. For that reason she would not speak of it, not in front of him, and not in front of the other humans.

“We were here when these walls were nothing but crystal, before Sombra… Seeing them now, after so many years…” Luna trailed off and cleared her throat. “It has only made my decision that much clearer, when we return to New Liberty, we shall train thee to be our warrior.”

“Thank you, Insegnante.” Dominic said, bowing his head forwards as he did so. Luna turned around and began to walk back to the main hall of the Crystal palace, Dominic following beside her quietly as she did. “The box you refuse to open… It contains a sword, does it not?”

“It does.” Luna replied, not taking her eyes off the hall ahead as her hooves echoed through the hallways. “A sword we hath forbidden from use for centuries, one thou shalt receive once thou hath been prepared properly…” Dominic nodded once again, his face becoming stoic as he walked along beside Luna. “For now, let us make our return to New Liberty, we can discuss this further when we’ve arrived.”

“As you wish, Insegnante.” Dominic replied quietly, eventually the two of them returned to the large main hall where both of them could see that Shining Armor was directing his guards to carefully handle the boxes of radios and other items to the train. “Perhaps I should go and help them.” Luna nodded once again, prompting Dominic to walk off.

Watching him go, Luna felt the joy in her heart spring forth and she couldn’t help but smile, but the smile began to fade from her face as she contemplated her theory. She’d seen Dominic take on extraordinary odds, he hadn’t come out unscathed, but he’d come out nonetheless. Luna wasn’t sure how she should have felt about her theory, only that she feared how a man like Dominic would take it.

She watched him carry a couple boxes with him outside, when he did Luna began to follow once again. She hoped that it would all turn out well in the end, she just wanted Dominic to be happy.

[♦]

Mizu and her guards crested the plateau that overlooked the jungles of The Mysterious South and stopped to look down. The architecture of the ‘Hive of Wasp’ was easily visible, yellow and black hexagonal spires that rose from the misty jungle underbrush, and banners that flew in the wind. These banners were black and yellow as well, with three horizontal stripes dividing them. Illusion stepped forwards and brought a spyglass to his eye, peering down at the city in the distance.

“I do not think we have been spotted yet.” He commented as he watched the workers and warriors of the hive in the distance go about their daily lives. “Do you wish for us to scout the area first, your highness?”

“No…” Mizu replied thoughtfully. “They will undoubtedly think it is a trick, perhaps even a prelude to American invasion…” Illusion nodded quietly as the Queen’s heir adjusted the sword on her belt before pointing down at the hive’s gates. “Let us make haste, our brothers and sisters are counting on our success.”

“It shall be done.” Illusion said with a bow, the other honor guards bowed as well before their wings began to buzz. They had flown most of the way from the northern hive, but the changelings in the Queen’s honor guard were trained to ignore just about everything, including pain. The group took flight and dropped low, flying just above the treetops of the misty jungle below. Mizu narrowed her eyes at the approaching gate, she could see there were several Wasp guards standing at the ready, at least ten or so.

When Mizu and her guards landed the wasps immediately readied themselves for combat, Mizu’s soldiers put up their own defensive stance and a breeze began to blow between the two groups. Silently Mizu pulled her hood up, revealing the runes upon the front, the wasp soldiers spotted them but nonetheless continued to prepare for battle. Mizu walked forwards, past her guards, all of whom were prepared to die for her.

She stopped twenty feet in front of the large wooden gate, it had been decorated with spikes and even a few animal skulls. The wasps had all of their weapons trained on her, but her faith in her commanding presence held firm. She was the heir to the entire kingdom, they would not dare fire on the heir. Silently she stood there, glaring upwards at the massive door, after several minutes there was a thud and the gate opened outwards.

From within emerged a large waspling, his armor was painted and striped, and he towered over Mizu by a head or so. Mizu’s glared did not waver as he stopped in front of her and tried to deliver his own, the massive sword on his side still remained in its scabbard.

“Who are you?” He asked in a two toned rasping voice, Mizu used her magic to push her hood back. Her mane had grown considerably and was now blowing in the breeze, her eyes became intense, and she could sense fear from the massive creature in front of her.

“I am Mizu, heir of Chrysalis, her voice and her ears.” Mizu said sternly, the massive waspling paused for a moment before dropping into a respectful bow. The soldiers on the walls lowered their weapons and stopped their magic before some of them dropped to their own bows, a fact that was not lost on Mizu. “I have come to speak with your queen.”

“Of course, your majesty.” The large waspling replied as he rose from his bow, he turned and began to walk back inside the gates with Mizu and her guards behind him. The honor guard fell into a sort of parade formation on either side of Mizu as they passed through the wasp city, on either side workers would stop and stare. Mizu could see a few ponies among them, they looked tired and beaten, some of the mares looked like they’d been treated horribly. It made Mizu sick, and she was glad that the peace treaty forbade slavery of any kind. It was the sign of a weak hive in the eyes of Chrysalis anyway, and she’d been set to implement a ban on it just before the war.

The larger architecture up close was surprisingly ornate, each hexagon had some form of picture carved within it, and all of them seemed to depict an elegant scene of the jungle around them. The stone was as gold as honey, save for the places where green vines creeped up the sides. The houses were far less advanced, mainly comprised of wood and thatch. As the group walked along Mizu kept her head held high, this allowed her mane to flutter in the breeze and give off an air of authority.

Eventually the large waspling stopped outside of a tall pyramid structure with the same honey gold stone construction, a large staircase lead straight to a small structure. Four banners fluttered atop the building and there were large glass windows built into the stone room. The large waspling bowed silently and gestured up the steps.

“The Queen is there, your majesty. I cannot escort you further, she has forbidden commoners from ascending into her temple.” He said apologetically, Mizu was surprised by that, especially since forbidding subjects from one’s throne room was against changeling law, and had been for nearly three centuries.

“Thank you for your assistance.” Mizu said as she began to climb the steps, her honor guard marching behind her. The climb was methodical and slow, granting Mizu time to reflect upon what she would do. It seemed that this Queen lacked the discipline that Chrysalis expected from her daughters in command, something that Mizu knew she would have to correct, lest she return to Chrysalis a failure. Mizu stopped just short of the top and turned to her guards, all of whom kneeled in anticipation of her commands. “If I need you I shall call, for now I shall continue alone.”

“As you command.” They said quietly before Mizu turned around and pulled up her hood, she ascended the steps and stopped just outside a pair of wooden doors that had been carved to depict the city as a whole. Silently Mizu pushed them open, allowing the sunlight to better fill the room and to reveal the Queen of the Hive of Wasp.

She was tall with a flowing mane of black and yellow, faint stripes covered her body, her eyes were a brilliant green and a stinger had taken the place of her tail. Silently the two of them stared at each other as the moments continued to pass. The Queen was resting upon a soft looking bed with numerous papers scattered about, when she finally stood Mizu could see her wings unfold. Most changelings had two wings, but she had four, a sign of her status as a Queen. In the corner of the room was a fountain that depicted the Queen in some regal pose.

“So… You are the Queen’s heir…” The queen said, her two tone voice barely hid the arrogance in her tone, something that was made evident by her lack of a bow. She may have been a Queen, but she still had to differ to Chrysalis, the Queen of Queens, and by extension Mizu. “I had expected some-ling older…”

“Mother has sent me to warn you of your disobedience and your refusal to accept the war has ended.” Mizu said firmly as she walked further into the stone structure.

“I had hoped that it was but a ruse, but now I hear that our kingdom has been bested by an ape...” The Wasp Queen replied with a bit of scorn in her tone, she closed her eyes before she turned to glare at Mizu. “She may have lost her fight, but we will not lose ours!” The heir’s eyes widened at the declaration. “The Legion of Wasp will defeat the American’s once and for all!”

“Do you realize what you will doom your hive to!?” Mizu roared, her magic flaring to life as she drew her sword from her sheath and pointed it towards the queen. “The American’s will retaliate with the totality of their strength, as will the rest of our kingdom! Your city will burn!”

“Do not try to scare me, child…” The Wasp Queen replied as she looked at the sword. “You’ve been taken in by the enemy, it’s clear to see… You have neither the mettle or the-” The Queen was cut off, quite literally, as Mizu took a swing with her sword and lopped off a good portion of her mane.

“Do not test me.” Mizu said coldly as the Queen stared at her fallen mane in horror, the blade was floating inches from her head now, the horror on her face quickly shifted to anger and her horn glowed a bright yellow. With a blast of magic she’d jumped back from Mizu’s blade, from beneath her bed a sword of her own emerged.

“I will do more than test you.” The Queen said bitterly, Mizu briefly contemplated calling for her guards, but decided against it. Defeating the treasonous Queen would cement her power in the hivemind. She was going to contemplate how that would feel, but she was called back to the fight as the two of them circled around each other, their swords floating in their respective fields of magic.

Mizu charged forwards first, using her magic to wield the blade into a swipe at the Queen’s throat. The Queen brought up her own blade and parried the blow, then brought her hoof out to try and punch Mizu aside. When she connected she sent the heir hurtling into a wall, but even after such a hard impact, Mizu stood to her hooves with her blade at the ready, green blood dripping down from her lips as she spat out a tooth. She let out a yell and walked forwards, blade at the ready as the Queen charged towards her. The Queen’s wings buzzed, boosting her speed while she prepared to slice through Mizu’s chest.

The younger changeling brought her sword up just as the Queen’s sword came down, a massive cloud of dust formed and Mizu felt herself pushed back across the floor. She was panting heavily, and as the dust cleared she could see the smiling face of her foe, it infuriated her to see such smugness, such disobedience to the Queen of Queens, to her mother! Mizu wanted nothing more than to slice that grin off of the traitorous snake!

With a mighty roar her magic flared to life and she blasted the Wasp Queen back across the room, this time it was her turn to slam into the wall. Groggily the Queen looked up and stood to her full height, glaring at Mizu with burning malice and bringing her sword out in front of her. Mizu responded with another blast of magic, forcing the Queen to jump to the side. The spell hit the wall and caused it to explode outwards, scattering debris down the side of the building and filling the room with thick dust. Mizu couldn’t see through it, but she knew her foe remained, somewhere.

The heir looked to her sword, tied around the handle was the strip of cloth that her friend Jen had given her in New Liberty when her eyes had changed. Quickly she untied the fabric and blindfolded herself, only then could she see clearly where the Queen was, the aura of the traitors emotions guided her blade. The red aura of anger and disgust was in front of her near the wall, just to her right. With her magic she propelled her sword outwards, there was a hiss of pain, she could see fear form in the aura.

With another yell Mizu began taking swings at the Queen, some of them were blocked, others caught her foe and drew blood. The Queen was on the defensive now, Mizu could see her fear growing with each passing moment, until it changed to relief. There was another blast of magic and a tremendous wind, Mizu felt herself flying through the air before she landed on the stoney floor. Weakly she pulled up her blindfold, to her shock she saw the entire top of the structure had been obliterated, the dust cloud had been carried away by the wind, and the Queen was floating angrily in the air.

Mizu tightened her blindfold turned head band, the fabric fluttering in the wind as she saw for the first time the damage she had done to the Queen. Her sides and part of her face were bleeding, undiluted rage was displayed upon her features and her horn was beginning to glow brightly. Mizu could feel drops of water falling around her, she looked to the side and spotted what remained of the fountain, she wasn’t sure she had the time to take control of the spraying liquid in that moment. Her attention was drawn back to the Queen, whose sword now lay on the ground, as her horn glowed brighter and brighter.

Mizu dropped her own sword and prepared her magic, closing her eyes tightly as she built up the most powerful spell she’d ever conjured. The Queen let out a shrieking roar as she let loose her spell, one she was certain would splatter Mizu into paste, but Mizu cast her own magic. The two beams of energy met in the middle with a tremendous boom that shook the building, Mizu opened her eyes and glared at her foe, she could feel her spell was slipping. Her entire body ached, her horn burned, but she wouldn’t fail her mother, not after all that had happened. Thoughts of Chrysalis ran through her head, all the times she had cared for Mizu, all the times Mizu had cared for her, from Canterlot to the war with America. All the love that had been shared.

Mizu narrowed her eyes and let out a determined yell, her light blue aura of magic glowing brighter and brighter, to the point where onlookers around the city had to shield their eyes or look away. The Queen stared in shock as her spell was pushed back further and further, until she could feel the burning heat of Mizu’s magic against her skin. A scream of fear left her throat seconds before the wave of magic hit her, another tremendous boom shook the area and a shockwave of energy expanded out over the city, clearing away clouds and the mist from the surrounding jungle in a massive circle.

The Queen fell to the floor, burned and bleeding, barely able to stand. Her horn was fractured, her mane completely gone, her wings bent and torn like tissue paper. Mizu panted heavily as her nose began to bleed heavily, every part of her body felt like it had been beaten with a baseball bat, she could barely move. The two of them glared at eachother, until weakly the Queen began to rush at Mizu, her horn lowered to impale. Mizu’s horn flared to life as she used the last of her strength to interact with the spraying water beside her. A stream of it appeared and she quickly formed it into a flat pane, then she thought of something cold, the coldest thing she could think of. Rapidly the water turned to Ice and she let it fall to the ground, it shattered into numerous pieces like glass.

The Queen didn’t notice, all she could see was red, all she wanted to do was destroy her enemy. Mizu weakly picked up a chunk of ice and shot it forwards with her magic, like an arrow it flew straight and true. With a sickening noise it impaled itself into the Queen’s chest, causing her to shriek loudly and blood to spray from the wound like a fire hose. Mizu barely reacted when she felt the green liquid coat her face and what remained of her robes, the headband still fluttering in the breeze.

Moments later Illusion and the rest of Mizu’s guards charged up the steps, weapons at the ready, but they were surprised to see Mizu was still somehow standing. Illusion walked towards her and said something that she couldn’t understand, all she did was blink and weakly turn to look at him. Several seconds later she fell unconscious into his hooves.

Author's Notes:

Hello again! Not much out of me today in the way of Author's notes, except I'm a little nervous about some of the stuff that's coming up. I've been hinting at it for a while, since the beginning, but I still worry about how it's gonna go down. But that's next chapter.

Anyway, here's the clip of the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EruIvmLlLBU

Have a good one.