The Princess of the Night paces about the deck of the ERA Salt Lick, formerly unit B-2 of the Concordia’s ill-fated escort fleet, and one of the two ships of said fleet still airborne. Under her orders, it hovers at a standstill a respectable distance away from the action unfolding in the vast skies above Canterlot Fields. The captain of the vessel nervously waits beside the Princess as he watches the battle between the Dawn Star and Harbinger unfold along with her.

“Your Highness, should we not intervene? With your leadership, I’m sure the Salt Lick is more than capable of—”

“Nay,” she replies, not even bothering to turn to face him. “And also, effective immediately, this ship’s name is now the Nightshade. We shall need to have a talk with the pony responsible for naming these vessels during commissioning. Based on the examples seen so far, we are not impressed.”

“I see...” the captain’s eyes dart toward the comatose yellow pegasus unceremoniously sprawled on the deck by the Princess’ other side. “And about this mare, what are—”

“Ignore her. Trust us, it’s for the best.”

The captain backs off. “Y-Yes, Your Highness. I’ll inform the crew of the change in designation at once.”

“See that you do.”

The stallion scurries off and the Princess sighs just as Fluttershy’s two cyan eyes blink open.

“W-Where am I? This doesn’t look like my house...” She turns her head and sees Princess Luna staring back at her. Naturally, she starts to tremble. “Am... am I having another one of those dreams again?!”

The Princess of Dreams grins. “Ah, we know of the dreams of which you speak. They must be good inspiration for your works. But we are not dreaming, Fluttershy, we are currently upon the deck of the Nightshade, and we are awaiting our opportunity to act.”

“Oh, okay,” the pegasus squeaks. “W-Wait, when you say ‘we’, do you mean the royal ‘we’ or the ‘we’-’we’? Because I really don’t think I—”

Luna holds up a hoof. “Fear not, the task at hoof is simple, and we shouldn’t need your assistance, so you are free to stop trembling now. We mean it.”

Unfortunately, the little pegasus continues to shake. “B-B-But if that’s true, why did you bring me here?”

The Night Princess perks up immediately, her eyes shining. “In truth, we happen to be one of your biggest fans and are hoping to use this opportunity to discuss your upcoming works while we wait!”

The little pegasus’ heart stops and her eyes go wide. “Um... I-I have no id-d-dea what you mean, so...”

“There is no need to hide it from us,” Luna scoffs. “It took the considerable resources of the Kingdom’s vast spy network to uncover the real identity of the famous author using the pseudonym ‘Mistress Notfluutershai’, but in these last few weeks the investigation has finally borne fruit. In hindsight, given what your dreams normally consist of, we suppose it should’ve been fairly obvious.”

There’s a strange sound that resembles the bleating of a goat, and the butter yellow pegasus is down for the count again.

Luna sighs. “Curses. Did we say something wrong? Truly, modern speech and interpony dialog is vexing to us...” She taps her hoof in thought. “Perhaps we should resume our acclimation lessons upon the resolution of this—”

The sound of the Harbinger teleporting interrupts her thoughts, and Luna’s eyes quickly dart to the distant Dawn Star to watch as it nearly collides with the massive ship.

The clopping of the captain’s returning hooves rings in her ears. “Your Highness, I’ve informed the crew of the ship’s new name. I’m afraid we can’t re-brand her until we next return to port, but—”

“Prepare to move us into position as we instructed previously. It seems our assistance will be needed shortly.”

The captain salutes. “Yes, Your Highness, understood!” He scurries away, and soon enough Luna can feel the ship lurch as it moves toward the battle in progress.

As they approach, she watches the movement of the smaller airship intently. It maneuvers into a position next to the Harbinger’s ARC sphere, and the Princess flutters her wings with excitement.

“Huzzah! An ideal opportunity! Thou must take it, Sister!”

The warmth of the building magic can be felt even this far away, and to her relief she knows her advice was taken, even if she couldn’t directly voice it. Unexpected, though, is the Harbinger’s follow-up teleport, which shouldn’t be possible at the given time. Luna watches as the beam passes harmlessly through the empty air and curses under her breath.

What could this mean? All magic has a cost... if the ship teleported again so soon, something has changed. If it was capable of doing so before, Twilight would’ve used the ability to escape her final attack if it became necessary. Something’s not—

Wait, is the beam really heading toward...

“Nay...”

She watches as it streaks forward, on a collision course with the Castle’s tallest tower.

“Nay, nay, nay...”

The beam slices through the structure, and the Princess witnesses the severed tower section slide down and shatter upon the castle’s courtyard. A single tear rolls down her midnight blue cheek and falls to the deck.

“Our... our observatory. Our room. Our ancient stamp collection...”

She fights back a sob as she takes in a lungful of air. The surrounding bat ponies who take notice of the situation quickly cower and cover their ears. As soldiers in her service, they’re deeply aware of what comes next.

“SSSSSSIIIIIIIISSSSSSTTTTTTTT—”

“—TTTTEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR~~~~~!!!!!!!”

Ah, there it is.

Luna’s Canterlot Voice-empowered scream rings out across the sky just as Cel deflects another bolt with her barrier. You plug your ears as you maneuver the ship away from a freshly launched batch of storm torpedoes, tearing through the nearly cloudless sky with exhilarating speed. You easily shake them and turn back to place the Harbinger’s faraway silhouette in front of your bow.

Celestia turns to you, a sheepish expression on her face. “I... I fear that with this, I might not be long for this world, my human.”

You laugh and tap the pilot’s console. “Don’t worry. If we need to run away from Luna after this is over, I’m willing to take you anywhere you want to go.”

“I know,” she replies with a smile. “But I suppose we should focus on current matters. It appears we have Twilight’s full attention now, which I suppose is for the best. And now that we know how the beam reacts to magical amplification, I should be able to fire it faster on our next few attempts.”

You nod. “That’s good to hear, but do you think it’ll be fast enough to beat out that teleport? Looks like we didn’t really understand how it worked after all.”

Celestia shakes her head. “No, we did understand it, but circumstances have changed and I suspect I know why. I won’t tell you not to worry, but I will say that even with this, our chances are not zero.”

You raise an eyebrow. “And I’m guessing the reason you didn’t give me an actual number there is because...”

Her sheepish smile returns.

“…Great.”

A lightning bolt dances past you, completely missing the frame. It sounds like everything now hinges on your crazy plan. You have two shots left, and no margin for error remaining. All you need to do is get in the proper firing position to hit an object that can instantly teleport away while avoiding lightning bolts, homing torpedoes, and vengeful ghosts, any of which would instantly cripple your ship should they manage to connect. No pressure, right?

Despite her crazy ramblings, Twilight was right about one thing: if the Dawn Star falls, whatever odds of beating the Harbinger you have fall with it. There’d be no chance to hit the thing from the ground given its mobility, and the other ships in the fleet are nowhere near as fast. You have to pull through here, no matter the cost...

“We shall have a long talk about all this when we return to Canterlot, Sister...”

You nearly jump out of your skin as a projection of Luna appears on the deck.

“However, for the moment, we wish to report that the Nightshade is in position and ready to assist.”

“Thank you, Lulu,” Celestia flashes a cautious smile, her ears folded back. “And sorry.”

“Hey! Is this thing on?!” A ghostly Rainbow Dash appears as well, twirling in the air with confidence. “Hey Anon, hey Princess! We made it and the SS Awesomeness is ready to go!”

“That’s not the ship’s name...” you hear a voice mumble from somewhere behind her.

From the corners of your eyes you can see both surviving ERA airships approaching at a steady pace.

“Okay, looks like we’re ready,” you say, attempting to steel your nerves. “Pinkie, AJ, can you get the fillies in place at the rail? I’m going to need you guys to watch and tell me immediately where the thing ends up.”

Applejack tips her hat. “You got it, Captain.”

You smile at the two projections. “I’ll do my best, guys, but be ready to make adjustments if my aim’s off.”

“Indeed.”

“You got it, Anon!”

They fade away as you press the intercom button, your body starting to tremble as a fresh batch of adrenaline kicks in.

“Mac, I need 100% of her for this.”

There’s a moment of silence before the static-filled reply comes.

“Aye aye, Captain... always wanted ta say that.” You catch Applejack rolling her eyes at her brother’s comment.

Like before, you pull back on the throttle as the ship shudders and the engine output gauge rises. You mutter a quiet prayer, hoping against hope that she’ll hold out long enough to get the job done.

As your fingers nervously tap the throttle, your gaze turns to Cel, her multicolored mane and tail waving in the astral breeze.

“You ready?”

She smiles softly. “Whether it be climbing a waterfall, or galloping across an endless snowfield, or flying through the sky, I trust and treasure you without hesitation and without fear. That, in itself, is a part of the joy I feel when we ride together, be it you upon my back or with the both of us here.”

She walks over to you and places a simple kiss upon your lips.

“Anon... I told you before that this sky is yours now. Wherever it is you choose to guide me within it, I’ll be certain to follow, now and forever.”

You close your eyes and run your fingers through her dancing mane as you touch your forehead to hers, just below her horn.

“No matter where I take you, it’ll always be in search of a way to repay you for all that you’ve given me,” you tell her.

She nuzzles you, whispering, “And I could say the same, my human.”

“Then I guess our journey’ll go on forever, won’t it?”

She closes her eyes and a few tears escape. “In my deepest dreams, it will.”

Celestia moves away from you to take her position at the ship’s bow, as the other ponies who’re acting like they totally weren’t watching your tender moment together nervously trot to their own positions as well.

Looks like everything’s in place, Anon. All that’s left is...

“D-Don’t listen to her, Anon.

Even if what she’s saying is true, my love is greater. You’ll see...

You’ll see...that my love is boundless...

I can love you more! I can love you forever! I can give you everything!

You won’t need anything other than me!!”

All that’s left is to finish it.

You close your eyes as the sound of the Harbinger’s next teleport echoes all around you.

“You can give me everything but my freedom, you mean. You can give me wings to fly as long as I don’t leave my little cage...”

Pinkie’s voice rises above the din, “She’s right there! Behind and below us, Non-non!”

Your hand grips the throttle. You hear countless storm torpedoes launching from the dark portals swirling upon the stone ship’s back.

“But Twilight, that’s not boundless love. Not even close.”

Instead of slamming the throttle forward, you pull it all the way back into full reverse. The ship rockets backwards at its true top speed, and you spin the wheel to make a hard turn as you move. The ponies on deck cry out and hold on as tight as they can. Celestia remains unmoved, watching intently as the Harbinger’s frame appears across the bow, directly to the front and below.

“And if you don’t understand why...”

The storm torpedoes, their tracking confused by your sudden and unexpected high-speed movement, fly off into the distance, losing you completely. The Dawn Star pauses in the air for just a moment as you adjust your altitude to bring it in line to where it needs to be and shift from full reverse to full forward.

“...then there’s still a lot Cel has left to teach you!”

And in an instant, the damaged ARC sphere is right in front of you, and for the second time today, you have the perfect shot.

“NOW!”

Just as before, seven gemstones rise as the spell is cast, and just like she said, this time the entire process is much faster. You watch the gems melt away as the beam is released, its aim true.

And just as before, the Harbinger teleports again despite having done so only a moment ago. The beam rips through the black mist left behind before continuing onward into the distant sky...

...where Luna’s Nightshade awaits.

The butter-yellow pegasus’ eyes flutter open once again.

“W-Where am I? This doesn’t look like my house...”

She turns her head and sees Princess Luna staring at the giant magical death beam bearing down on both of them. Naturally, she starts to tremble.

“Why does this keep happening to me? Why do I keep waking up in all these weird places? D-Do I have a sleeptrotting problem or something?!”

The beam’s shimmering light moves ever closer as Luna levitates a filled gemstone into the air and holds it right in the destructive magic’s path. Though her natural response would normally be to faint again, Fluttershy can’t bring herself to look away. Slowly, the conversation she had with Luna before she last fainted becomes clear in her memory...

“What is she...?”

That’s right. The Princess said she was ‘waiting to assist’ the others. Is this what she meant? Could this be what she wanted Rarity to do too?

Before she can ponder things further, the beam is on top of them. She shuts her eyes, fearing the end, but it never arrives. Instead, the levitating gemstone absorbs the entirety of the beam until there’s nothing of it left.

The gem hovers there, shining like a second sun, and Fluttershy is forced to avert her eyes. But from what she can still manage to see, Luna is struggling to contain the immense energy. Her second shadow, cast by the gem’s surging light, dances wildly as she grits her teeth and turns to face the section of sky where the Harbinger has now reappeared.

The Princess’ lips curl into a satisfied smile.

“We have a gift for thee, Twilight Sparkle...”

And with a surge of magic from her horn, the gem shatters and the captured beam it held fires directly toward the great stone ship. The force of the magic sends Luna tumbling backwards, and Fluttershy scrambles to catch her.

“Princess, are you okay?!” she cries.

Luna’s cyan eyes reflect the pure light as it slams into the Harbinger’s side and rips through its hastily-formed barrier, further damaging the hull before finally dissipating, and her smile widens.

“Indeed, we are feeling quite exuberant at the moment.”

A cheer erupts from all the ponies aboard the Dawn Star. You watch with elation as the purple shield surrounding the Harbinger is absolutely shredded by the blast, which then goes on to burn even more of the runes spread across its surface away and further damage the central sphere.

Just the fact that your insane plan to redirect the beam from another airship after it was fired worked is enough to make you almost jump for joy. Not to worry, though, because there’s a pony who’ll do that for you.

“We did it, Non-non! We did it!” Pinkie yells as she bounds into your arms and pulls you into a hug.

Applejack holds her hat in her hooves, completely awestruck. “Ah... ah can’t believe it actually worked!”

The three fillies are running around the deck with joy.

“Well done, Captain! Eeyup.” Hell, even Mac chimes in over the intercom.

You set Pinkie down and focus back on the Harbinger. The ship doesn’t collapse or rip apart, but you weren’t exactly expecting it to. It did take quite a beating, though, and just one more hit’ll finish the job.

“We’re on a time limit now, Anon,” Celestia says, her gaze directed on the ship as well. “We need to hit her again before she has a chance to restore the barrier.”

“I know, Cel, and I’ll be sure to make it happen!”

The Dawn Star is already screaming through the skies toward the crippled vessel before you even finish the sentence. This is it... you can feel it.

“S-So... that was your plan...

To redirect the attack using s-spare gems...

Very clever, Anon. I should’ve... expected as much from you.

But I know how many... you used to drain my magic at the wedding...

And it won’t work... a second time...”

You ignore Twilight’s taunting and press on. Nothing will stop you now, not even the fifteen storm torpedoes flying directly toward you, nor the arcs of lightning you deftly avoid, your speed making the need for Cel’s barrier obsolete, nor the ghosts emerging from the ARC as you approach it.

The Dawn Star lines up yet another perfect shot, but you decide to abandon it at the last moment when you realize the positioning of the other airships isn’t ideal. Given that they’re far slower than you, it takes them much more time to move to spots that’ll be useful to reflect the beam after the Harbinger teleports.

The ship’s wheel spins wildly as you bank around, shrugging off the trailing torpedoes. You line up the shot once again, this time with Luna’s airship positioned in the distance should it be necessary. The shrieking pony spirits are nearly on top of you now, but that won’t matter once the beam is fired.

A bolt of lightning just barely clips your helium frame as you slide into position. Almost there...

Almost...

“NOW, CEL!”

She responds without hesitation, your last set of seven gems shining in the air. The great magic spills forth, vaporizing the spirits and aiming for a decisive blow.

And the Harbinger teleports. No surprise, but now comes the hardest part. You take a deep breath, because all you can do is watch as the beam travels on and the Nightshade moves to capture it.

And capture it she does. Like before, the Princess of the Night holds the radiating magic for several key seconds, then releases it toward the Harbinger’s new position. Another cheer rises up from the ponies on deck as the beam streaks toward its mark once more.

And the Harbinger teleports...

...but not before it fires a bolt and manages to puncture the Nightshade’s helium frame. The ship begins sinking rapidly, and all at once you’re confronted with the fatal flaw in your plan.

The other airships have no way to defend. They can’t form a barrier without a fully powered alicorn on board, and they’re not fast enough to dodge the lightning...

The beam cleaves through the mist, heading toward Unit B-5, the airship with Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and your heart sinks when you see the stone behemoth appear in the sky nearby, its cannons shining...

“Heads up, Rarity, the beam’s coming this way!”

“What?! It is?! But... but... I have no idea how to stop that thing! I had no idea what they were even talking about before!!”

“You what?!”

Needless to say, the situation on the SS Awesomeness is not going too well. Ponyville’s premier dressmaker is having a bit of a nervous breakdown on deck, and the brash pegasus pony by her side certainly isn’t helping matters.

The poor bat pony soldiers nervously glance at each other, wondering if they’re all going to die when the beam slams into their ship...

But, as always, Princess Luna’s orders are absolute, and they make no move to change their position.

“Darn it, Rarity, quit whining and just catch the bucking thing already! I dunno anything about magic but it can’t be that hard!”

The unicorn turns to face her friend, fire burning in her eyes.

“Oh? Is that so? Well I don’t know anything about flying, but none of those petty tricks you normally do seem that impressive. Why, I’m sure anypony with wings could easily do half of them or more!”

Rainbow gasps. “Hey! That’s not true! You take that back!”

“I only said it to demonstrate how ridiculous what you just said about magic happened to be. Hmph!” She turns away and stomps a hoof. “And for your information, I am NOT whining, I am—”

“Eek!” She opens her eyes to see the beam nearly at the ship’s bow. “W-why haven’t we moved yet?! Do these bat-themed ponies with their gaudy armor and coloration and disgusting untrimmed ear-hair have a death wish?!”

Rainbow facehoofs as the surrounding soldiers grumble. “No, idiot, they’re waiting for you to do your bucking job!”

Rarity’s horn lights up, levitating a filled gem. “FINE! If I must die, I shall do so with the utmost fabulosity! At least I won’t need to worry about running into you in the afterlife, as you’re no doubt going to Tartarus...”

Rainbow scowls. “Yeah, right! Last time I checked, I heard they were building a mansion there for you so all the monsters won’t have to put up with—”

And then the beam is there. It flows into the levitating gem, and Rarity immediately yelps and kneels as the raw power threatens to overtake her. Only by pushing back with all of her magic is she able to get the gemstone under her control again. Slowly, she rises back up on unsteady hooves, her face turned away from the radiant light.

“I... I did it. I...” The unicorn immediately rears up on her hind legs, a huge grin on her face. “WA~HA~HA!”

But her smile fades as the sound of crashing waves rings out and the Harbinger appears close to the airship’s port side.

“Shoot it, Rarity!”

“I’m... I’m not sure how!”

Before Rainbow can reply, a bolt of lightning erupts from the Harbinger and rips through the airship’s helium frame, critically damaging it. The impact causes Rarity to lose control of the gem and it shatters, sending the beam of energy off into the sky, far away from its target.

The two ponies watch it fly away in silence for a few moments before the billowing smoke from the now capsizing ship begins to obscure the light, and the remaining hope it embodied, from view.

“AJ, Pinkie, round up the fillies and get the lifeboat ready.”

Two emerald eyes find their way to you. “...Captain?”

“Now! I don’t have time for you to ask questions!”

From the very moment the Harbinger reappeared, you began acting on instinct. No room for thought. No room for consideration. Only the direct series of actions you take now, in the little time you have left, will salvage this.

So there’s no holding back. Not anymore.

“Mac... I need all of it. Everything she’s got.”

The intercom crackles back, “Anon, if ah do that—”

“EVERYTHING, Mac! And when you’re done, head to the lifeboat with your sisters!”

“... ... ...Aye aye, Captain.” The intercom goes silent, and the ship shudders. You keep the throttle at max and watch the output gauge climb as your speed increases to a level you’ve never before experienced.

Output: 105%.

The bolt of lightning strikes, crippling the distant airship.

Output: 110%.

Rarity loses her hold on the beam and it escapes, traveling parallel across the horizon from your position, away from the Harbinger. You adjust your course.

Output: 115%.

Celestia says nothing, because she already knows. She simply remains where she stands at the bow, her eyes never leaving the glimmering light as it cuts through the sky.

“It’s... over... Anon...”

Yeah, normally it would be. The math is straightforward.

Twenty-five gems. Twenty-one reserved as ammunition, with four remaining left over to reflect the beams. Anyone who came up with this type of plan would’ve divided the four extra gems evenly between the ponies on the other two ships, allowing for the most possible versatility in choosing firing angles where another ship could possibly intercept.

It’s only logical, right?

Yeah, it is. It’s what anyone would do.

But your gut instinct told you to hold on to one, just in case, leaving two for Luna and one for Rarity.

Why? Well, it’s tough to say with things like these. Kind of like with matters of the heart, sometimes you just can’t explain it. But your best guess... well, it’s simply because you figured the spergy little alicorn, with her OCD tendencies and firm adherence to logical patterns, would never even consider it. After all, a certain pink pony was the one who told you to listen to your heart instead of your head more, and from the stories you’ve heard, she forever remained an unsolvable mystery to Twilight.

That definitely counts for something in your book, and it’s what you’ve decided to bet everything on...

“You have... n-nowhere... left... to run...”

The Harbinger teleports directly in front of you, and you turn to avoid her, still chasing after the beam. More storm torpedoes launch into the air, but they have no hope of touching you now.

Output: 130%.

If the beam was traveling directly away from you, there’d be no hope of catching it, but it’s not. You’re flying in a straight line now, your course locked in on the point you believe your paths will intersect.

Celestia levitates the final gem, you near the light and...

...

...

...

She captures it!

In that very moment, you hear a groan from the ship’s belly; the beginning of the end, but still you press on, turning in a wide arc back toward the Harbinger, to line up one last shot.

One last, perfect shot.

And it rings true.

The pure light punctures the ARC sphere. It goes straight through it, and the whole thing shatters like glass. Since the entire ship was designed around the sphere, the rest of it quickly follows. All of the runes fade, leaving only normal stone behind, and the mighty structure crumbles away in the air before your very eyes.

But you’re given precious little time to admire it, because the Dawn Star’s engines shred themselves to pieces only a second later.

“Anon!” you hear Applejack cry out over the sound and fury of the explosion that tears away a huge portion of the stern.

“GO!” you yell back, and your thundering heartbeat slows somewhat when you see the lifeboat detach from the ship’s frame and its sails unfold, your trusty crew inside, safely gliding down to the fields below.

The helium frame, punctured in countless places from debris, begins to leak and the ship starts to roll. You watch the horizon tilt before your eyes, fingers drumming on the console, reluctant to leave it. A pony nose nudges your hand and you caress her muzzle in return. She leans into your touch, a sad smile on her face.

For the last time, your special somepony curls up on the deck of the Dawn Star to allow you to straddle her back. And with a kick of her hooves and a beat of her wings, the two of you leave the second home you shared together behind for the open sky.

You close your eyes for a moment, waiting for the sound of the crash as the crippled ship smashes into the earth. You can’t bear to look, and you only open them again after you know it’s passed. What you see as you move away from the column of smoke pouring from the ruined ship causes a lump to form in your throat. The two last airships of Wing B have long since crashed into the fields alongside your own.

But the Harbinger...?

Well, it’s still in a million pieces, but those pieces stubbornly refuse to fall. Instead, they slowly orbit around a small sphere of darkness that ominously hovers in the section of sky where it was torn apart. It’s like looking at a galaxy with stone fragments in place of stars and a massive, visible black hole forming its center. The shrieking pony spirits circle around it, their attention focused on nothing else.

Your hands grip Celestia’s mane even tighter at the sight. “Cel... what is that thing?”

“It’s...” her breathing hitches. “It’s the gateway that was forming within the Arcane Resonance Chamber. But I don’t understand... it should’ve collapsed when the chamber was destroyed, as there should be no more magic left to feed it...”

Though you can’t see her expression, you can feel her body shudder when the realization hits her at the same time it hits you.

“Unless... Twilight!”

Immediately, your alicorn turns in the air and carries the two of you toward the series of floating stones. You scan them, desperately searching for a sign of that familiar purple coat...

“There!”

And you find her. The little alicorn lies panting on a large piece of stone as it slowly moves in its orbit close to the black sphere. Celestia attempts to approach, but suddenly cries out in pain and turns away when she nears it.

“What’s wrong?!” you cry.

She shakes her head and quickly beats her wings a few times, stabilizing her place in the air.

“It... it feels almost as if I were returning to Equus with my full power. Like the island was rejecting me...” She ponders for a few moments, her eyes focused on Twilight. “I think... yes, the gateway links to the Dark Star’s chamber, which must be buried beneath the island itself! There was no way for us to tell where it was during the Trials as the cavern was completely sealed off from the surface, but if that really is the case then a portion of Equus’ magic field must be flowing through the gateway as well! I don’t think I’ll be able to approach...”

“If it’s that strong, then what about Twilight? She’s right next to the thing!”

Celestia turns in the air and flies toward one of the pieces of stone on the outermost edge of the orbiting ring.

“We need to retrieve her at once! I don’t know what effect prolonged contact with a weakened version of the field will have on an alicorn, but...”

You can feel her body tense as the memory of a past trauma enters her thoughts... a memory of the brother she lost. You pat the side of her neck reassuringly as you dismount, your feet steadying themselves on the floating piece of stone alongside her hooves.

“Anon...?”

The countless moving pieces of broken rock continue to orbit all around you, the silence broken in places by periodic shrieks from the remaining ghosts.

“I’ll go get her. The field shouldn’t have any effect on me.”

Celestia rears back. “What? Anon, it’s too dangerous! The path is broken and unstable, you can’t fly, and with the spirits near the gateway... no. No, I’ll go and find a pegasus to assist us. I can’t—”

Your hand clamps down on her muzzle, silencing her not so much due to the action itself, but the suddenness of it.

“You just said we need to save her now, so that’s what we’re gonna do, Cel. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m not afraid, because if I stumble and fall, I know you’ll be there to catch me.”

You pull your hand back to find the worry in her face replaced by a slight smile. She closes her eyes and shakes her head.

“Go.”

You leap from the first stone to the second, then try to find a suitable one for your next leap. You didn’t notice it before, but it looks like the stones in the outer bands are moving faster than the ones in the innermost bands. You’ll need to plan your first series of moves carefully to make sure you end up in a position close to Twilight.

And speaking of Twilight, you can’t see her anymore. Your stone’s already moved to the other side of the black sphere. Timing is definitely going to be key here. You take your next leap, and then another as a suitable platform immediately appears, and then you’re forced to duck and cling to the piece of rock for dear life as a ghost nearly flies into your face.

Carefully, but as quickly as you can, you make your way to the center of the debris field. There are some near-misses, and some extremely close calls the closer you get, but with one final leap, you find yourself on the same stone as Twilight.

She lies on her side, her eyes closed and tears running down her face, taking deep gulps of air between sobs as if she can’t get her breath. She looks absolutely exhausted; like she just ran a series of marathons back to back, but as far as you can tell she doesn’t appear to have any severe injuries.

You rush over to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

“Twilight? Twilight, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

Her eyes open, the violet irises capturing you in their gaze, though the tears don’t stop. She says nothing for several moments, then looks away, taking a few more breaths.

“Anon... she was right. It was just another lie... after all...”

Her voice is little more than a whisper, and she struggles to speak without having to pause for a breath.

“Twilight, I’m going to get you out of here. Cel thinks that Equus’ magic field is leaking through the gate. It’s making you weak.”

She chuckles. “Don’t... don’t be ridiculous, Anon. If that were true... I’d be able to feel it. I’d know.” Her eyes close again and she takes a few more breaths. “It’s... it’s just magic fatigue... like I told you back at the wedding. I used... everything I had... and when that wasn’t enough... I kept digging... and found even more...”

Your mind wanders back to the battle. Come to think of it, her voice started getting more and more strained each time she spoke to you.

“How...” she continues. “How could I not? I didn’t... have any other choice... after Luna damaged the ARC... its magic started to fade... so I... I had to supplement it... with my own...”

You feel a chill run down your spine. There’s just no way. It can’t be possible, but...

After the Harbinger was damaged, it suddenly started teleporting without any sort of delay. There seemed to be no limit to it, and you didn’t understand why. But if what she’s saying is true, then every single time the ship teleported after that moment, it was because she was feeding it the magic to be able to do so.

Luna... she used up almost all of her magic to be able to move the sinking Concordia. But how many times did Twilight move the even larger Harbinger? Eight? Ten? Twelve? And all that after losing an inordinate amount of magic upon breaking the Geas! You can’t fathom it... it’s unreal!

Just how powerful is this little pony?!

You stumble back a bit in disbelief, and Twilight lets out a little chuckle between breaths.

“D-Don’t... don’t act so surprised, Anon... I’m the... Element of Magic... and teleporting is kind of... a specialty of mine.”

You hear a rumbling in the distance and notice a few of the floating pieces of stone near the outmost edge of the field begin to drift away before falling back to the earth. It looks like whatever magic that’s causing them to float is starting to fade away. You kneel down next to Twilight and carefully lift her into your arms. She remains perfectly docile, not attempting to struggle at all, and when you stand again with her she even smiles a bit.

“C’mon. Cel’s waiting for us.”

“Anon...” she breathes out again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...”

It’s hard to describe exactly what you feel as you stand there and hold her.

Maybe you’ll never really be able to articulate it. This little pony... she was your tormentor. She caused you so much grief, so much pain, so much stress...

But as you hold her, and feel her little body take each labored breath, you remember that before all that... before everything...

She was your friend.

And that’s why you know, despite everything that’s happened, and despite all the hurt and anger and sadness, that the next words you speak are true.

“It’ll be okay.”

She relaxes in your arms and her body goes limp. You feel a pang a fear in your heart until you realize she’s still breathing. She’s just sleeping.

You shake your head. When she’s not trying to capture you, or force you to marry her, or convince you to do unspeakable things with her, or, hell, all of the above, she’s actually kind of cute.

Best to not mention that, though. Ever.

Another rumbling reaches your ears and you see even more stones start to fall. Based on what she said, Twilight’s residual magic was holding the gate open and these stones aloft, so now that she’s unconscious it must be fading away.

You don’t see any real point in attempting to make your way back across the stone field. Your special somepony will be there to catch you, so you might as well just wait, though maybe signaling her about it beforehand would be the most prudent thing to do. With Twilight still in your arms, you walk to the edge of the stone to see if you can spot her when she next appears, when you feel your shoe tap against something.

You look down, and there, right next to your feet, is a jagged piece of black crystal. It shimmers with a faded ruby aura, and there’s no doubt about it:

This is the Dark Star Shard.

Before you know what’s happening, a strange compulsion overtakes you, and you find yourself holding the Shard in your hand. The aura around it pulses, and then you see...

Home.

You see the way home.

You see your friends.

You see your family.

Everyone that you lost.

There’s a way to return to them... back to Earth.

It’s so simple. You could easily do it yourself... build the device that would bring you back. The knowledge necessary... it’s within your grasp, right now.

And then you find yourself standing atop the floating stone again, your smile reflected in the Shard’s dark surface.

“Nice try, but I don’t think so.”

Maybe, before all of this started, that would’ve been your greatest wish. But a knock on your door late one night changed everything, didn’t it? And all because of the little pony still sleeping in your arms. In a way, you owe her more than you can ever hope to repay.

It’s those thoughts that drive you as you turn to face the gateway. Upon closer examination, you can make out the walls of the Dark Star’s crystal cavern, flickering lights and all, within the inky black surface of the now shrinking sphere.

You glance down at the Shard again. This thing has been an unimaginable pain in everyone’s ass. Cel told you before that they were never able to find a way to destroy it, only seal it away in the Archives since, as alicorns, they could never return to Equus.

And yeah, the Archives is a pretty safe place for it, you guess. Until you think about who actually has access to them.

The wily, moody and unpredictable Night Princess.

The slumbering purple alicorn in your arms. (Need anything more be said?)

Hell, even Cel has her eccentricities. What if the kingdom ever ran out of ice cream? Would she turn to using the Shard’s forbidden knowledge to conjure up some Rocky Road? Probably not, but do you really want to risk it?

No. No, you don’t. So without a second thought, you toss the Shard through the gateway and watch as it tumbles through the darkness of the cavern to be reunited with its source.

The gateway closes as the black sphere continues to shrink until it’s the size of a marble, and then it vanishes from your sight. The last of the floating stones fall soon after, including the one that held you.

You clutch Twilight close as you tumble through the air. Instead of facing the oncoming ground, you turn so that your body is oriented toward the bright blue sky. The sun shines overhead. Thin, white clouds soar past you, carried by the wind...

And strangely, but maybe not so strangely, you get the feeling that you are home.

Because after all, her gift wasn’t just the Dawn Star, was it?

It was the sky.

You close your eyes and smile, just as a pair of angelic white wings find their way into your view.