Twilight Sparkle bolted up in her bed with a scream as if somepony had woken her up by splashing her with a bucket of water. She looked around frantically to find herself in a guest room at Castle Canterlot; the exact place she had fallen asleep in.

Her scream was answered by a loud crash as the door to the room was knocked clean off of its hinges and Applejack rushed in, followed by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.
“What’s wrong, Twi?” Applejack cried, scanning the room for anything that could have distressed her alicorn friend.
“Yeah, we heard you scream! And not like a good, ‘I just had a surprise’ scream; more like an ‘I saw a spider and now it’s gone’ scream!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Twilight looked at her friends with a confused expression. “I… I don’t know. I just felt this unusual feeling, like a massive surge of magical energy coming from far away. I had better see the princess!” she exclaimed, leaping out of bed and running for the throne room, hoping Celestia could tell her what was going on.

Princess Celestia sat in her throne with her head bowed sadly, hardly able to comprehend what had just happened. She knew, with a heavy heart, that her beloved sister was no more.
“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed as she burst into the throne room, I have something I must ask you!” She slowed her excited approach, however, when she saw the mournful look that the solar princess now wore. “What’s wrong?” she asked kindly.

Celestia sighed. “Twilight Sparkle, I am afraid that my sister, Princess Luna, is dead,” she said simply, her head still bowed and her eyes screwed shut. “I have suffered much in my many years of ruling Equestria, but this is one tragedy I never thought I would have to endure.”

Suddenly, Celestia looked up, her face now grim. “I assume you felt the disturbance, too?” she asked quickly, changing the subject.
Twilight nodded. “It was unlike anything I have ever felt before. What was it?”
Celestia stepped down from her throne and led Twilight across the room. “Since this is your first time, you may not be able to pinpoint the origin of the release, but I have felt this kind of energy before,” the alicorn explained. “Quite recently, in fact,” she added.

Twilight looked up at the solar princess. “How recently?” she inquired.
Celestia stared straight ahead, her face now unreadable. “The last time I felt this kind of energy release was the night you became an alicorn,” she said in a low voice.
Twilight gasped. “So, you’re saying that there is another alicorn? Where?” she asked excitedly.
Celestia looked at her former student with an expression that made the young princess stop her celebration. “The source of the blast,” she said slowly, “came from the Crystal Empire.”

Twilight looked confused. “Why do you seem so upset? Wouldn’t another pony becoming an alicorn be a good thing?” she asked.
Celestia nodded slowly. “Under normal circumstances, yes. However, there are two problems. First, this alicorn has never had any sort of training before, so the path that their powers take them down is uncertain; they could be good, like us, or their power may corrupt them, make them a target for those who would wish to steal that power,” she said darkly.
Twilight nodded understandingly. “What is the second problem?” she asked quietly.
Celestia turned to her student, a genuinely worried look on her face. “It is not a pony that has become an alicorn.”

~-~-~-~-~

When my senses returned, I found myself lying on my side once again amidst the rubble of the Crystal Palace. I reached forward with my right arm and saw my hand was still a hoof, and planted it on the ground in an effort to stand up.
Well, I guess that was pointless, I thought dejectedly as I rose to my feet, but suddenly lost my balance and fell on all fours. I looked down with wide eyes to see that both of my arms were now covered in coarse, dark-grey wur, and my hands were now hooves.

Or, maybe not, I thought victoriously, and looked over at a piece of wall that was still standing to see my reflection.

I now stood about one or two feet shorter than I used to, with a coat of grey fur covering my entire body. I had a long, luxurious mane that stretched down to my shoulders, a pair of feathery, angel-like wings, and a much more defined horn now spiraled from my head.

I looked forward to see Sanguis staring at me, seemingly enraged by my new appearance.

“Let’s see how you can handle me now,” I growled as a layer of crystal covered my horn, turning it into a glimmering sword.
Sanguis bared his teeth and swung his sword forward into a ready position. “Yes, let’s,” he said in agreement, and we charged at each other without another word, our blades meeting in the center of the clearing with a loud crash that rang out for miles.

“You cannot defeat me, boy,” Sanguis growled as he struggled to push me aside and disrupt my footing, “I am immortal! Every enemy that falls by my blade simply makes me stronger.”
I grinned dangerously. “Then that means I’ll enjoy killing you that much more!” I shouted, and my horn-blade began to glow a bright white. Sanguis’s followed suit, taking on a smoky, black aura.

I leapt back, spreading my wings to get extra distance, and swung my head downwards, causing a crescent of energy to shoot from my horn and fly at Sanguis. The warlord countered with a black crescent of his own that collided with mine and caused a massive explosion that blew my mane back.

I gritted my teeth as I drew closer, rapidly swinging my head side to side and firing more of the attacks, each one being countered flawlessly by an equally powerful strike from my enemy.
When we finally met in the center again, we pressed our blades together, each empowered by our energies, and struggled against one another’s strength as we stared each other down.

“SUBMIT!” Sanguis demanded, “just give in now, boy, and I may make your death swift!”

I glanced behind him and saw a massive piece of debris sticking upward at an angle like a massive spike and grinned slightly.
“No,” I said defiantly, “I will not submit.” As I said this, my body started to take on a white aura, making my dark grey coat appear silver. “I will never give up; not when I have too much to fight for!”
I suddenly found my strength was slowly increasing, allowing me to push him backward slowly.

Sanguis clearly hadn’t caught on to what I was doing, because he was smiling sadistically. “And what is it you fight for, boy?” he asked smugly.

I thought of a brave and gentle unicorn who had believed in my abilities, and stood by my side to the very end.

“FOR SHINING ARMOR!” I shouted as I swung my head left, firing off a blast that, although it was effectively blocked, pushed Sanguis backward even further.

I thought of a beautiful alicorn princess that loved me with all her heart, that I would gladly have died for, had it not been the other way around.

“FOR LUNA!” I screamed and swung my head to the right, shooting another wave that pushed Sanguis so his back was mere inches from the spike, and knocked his sword from his grasp.

Sanguis looked at me, finally looking afraid now that he was unarmed as I stood in front of him, my powerful aura causing the debris to shake violently as I charged up the spell I had been trying so hard to master before his army attacked the Empire. As I did, I thought of a brave and caring man who wanted nothing more than to show his son how much he loved him, and ended up paying the highest price.

“For my father,” I said quietly, and fired a Bolt spell from my horn, all of my anger and sorrow channelled into that one white ball of magic. My spell hit the warlord dead-center in his chest, exploding on impact and sending him flying backward. I heard a metallic crunching noise as the spike penetrated his armor and impaled him, and he fell limp instantly.

I stared at his body for a long time with a grim expression, and turned back to where Luna still lay on the ground.
I walked over to her and carefully kneeled by her side, closing my eyes and focusing my magic on her.

Please, I begged silently, what good is my power if I can’t protect the mare I love the most?
I heard a voice calling from behind me. “You can’t bring her back,” Drayke said sadly as he approached.

I looked up at him angrily. “Shut up. Don’t you dare say something like that,” I snapped, and went turned back to Luna and continued to concentrate.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Drayke said sympathetically. “You can’t bring her back. Not on your own.”

I turned back to him with a confused expression. “What do you mean?” I asked with a shaky voice.

Drayke smiled and looked off into the distance. “Even you, with your now god-like powers, can’t bring the dead back to life. Even if you didn’t have an alicorn’s body and magic, there would eventually come a day when you would have to face that. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, that day has already come, hasn’t it?” he asked, looking at me sadly. “I’m sorry about your dad, and your buddy Shining Armor. You’re already aware that I’m all too familiar with what it’s like to lose someone close to you. Which is why,” he said as he kneeled beside me and extended a closed fist, “I’m going to let you borrow this.”

I watched as he uncurled his fingers to reveal what they had been concealing: his crystal.
“Why?” I asked slowly, “why are you trusting me with this?”
Drayke laughed. “I’m not. I know there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from sealing me back in this thing with no hope of escape, so I am not ‘trusting’ you with this. I am, however, letting you borrow it so you can bring your dead girlfriend back to life.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’ll ask again,” I said as I levitated the crystal from his palm, “why?”

Drayke gave me an honest look. “I may be an asshole, but I do have a conscience. I’m not going to stand by while a kid has the love of his life torn from his grasp. So, charge that thing up and press it against her horn; that should do the trick,” he said as he stood up and strolled away.

I stared after him. “Where are you going?” I called curiously.

Drayke laughed as he looked over his shoulder. “I’m taking the train back to Canterlot; I’ll see you when you get there.”
“How am I supposed to get back if you’re taking the train?” I protested.

“You’ve got wings now, don’t you? Use them! Or, I don’t know, teleport, or some shit. Whatever works for you,” he called back.

Oh, right, I thought with a roll of my eyes, and turned back to the lunar princess. Here goes nothing, I thought as the crystal slowly hovered to the midnight-blue alicorn, a spark shooting from it as it touched her horn. A ripple of energy traveled across her coat, and her body jolted twice as if she were hit with a defibrillator. Then, after several tense moments of silence, her chest began to rise and fall, and her eyelids fluttered open.

“...Allen?” Luna murmured tiredly, as if she had just woken up from a nap, “What happened?”
I choked back a happy sob. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I cried as I threw my forelegs around her.
Luna laughed quietly. “Allen, I’m happy to see you too, but what happened here? Why is the Crystal Palace destroyed? And why are you an alicorn?” she asked as we continued to tightly hug each other.

“I beat him, Luna,” I whispered happily, “I beat Sanguis. It’s over.”

As I said those words, I felt a sort of weight lifted from my shoulders, like I had reached the end of a long journey. Then again, I guess I had, what with being thrown back and forth between two worlds-one my own and the other a place of my wildest dreams-and being hunted by all sorts of adversaries, ranging from living, crystal statues, an asshole with a god complex who ended up being a potential friend, and an ancient warlord who wanted nothing more than to cause every living thing he met unending pain and torment.

Life is like a shattered mirror: It can appear jagged and dangerous at first, but it can also be beautiful if you look at it right. Every single piece of that mirror is part of a much bigger, more beautiful picture. You’ll never get to see the whole thing on your own, though, because some of the pieces are missing. Those you’ll have to find in the hearts of those you meet in your journey. And, much like the shards of a mirror, if you’re careful, and you don’t hurt yourself on the edges, you just might get a glimpse of the beautiful picture of life.

I have seen that mirror of life, but not the whole thing; I still have a ways to go before I earn that privilege. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from it, though, it’s this: you can never get anywhere on your own, but you won’t get far just depending on everyone else, either. Like I said, sometimes the people, or in my case, ponies, you meet along the way will have some of those pieces, but others you’ll have to find within yourself. That is something only you, and you alone, can accomplish.

Just then, I remembered what I was going to do before Sanguis attacked the Crystal Empire.

I broke away from Luna’s hug and looked her nervously in the eyes.

“Luna,” I began, “will you…” I trailed off, desperately trying to think of the right words to say.

Luna giggled cutely. “Yes,” she said simply, and kissed me passionately as the world around us blurred from the ruins of the Crystal Palace to the throne room of Castle Canterlot.

We broke our kiss and stared deeply into each other’s eyes for a long time, until several “awww”s interrupted our romantic moment.

I looked up to see Twilight staring at me teasingly. “So, you finally asked her, huh?” she said with a laugh.
Pinkie jumped up and down excitedly. “Ooh! Ooh! What did he ask her?” she asked quickly.
Applejack gave herself a facehoof. “Pinkie, I swear, sometimes I wonder if you have the sense of a tree. Allen asked Luna to marry him!” she exclaimed.

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Marry? That means a wedding, and that means a PARTY!” she cried, pulling out her party cannon and firing off several confetti-filled blasts.

I laughed, and turned to see Celestia approaching. “Luna!” she exclaimed, and Luna quickly jumped up and ran to nuzzle her sister.
“I thought I had lost you again,” Celestia said with relief, and then she looked up at me thankfully. “I cannot thank you enough, Allen, for what you have done today,” she said proudly. “Not only have you saved all of Equestria for the second time, but you have also brought my sister, who I thought was gone forever, back home safely.” With this, she bowed respectfully.

I nodded appreciatively. “What was I supposed to do, just let the world end?” I asked rhetorically. “Anyways, I guess that’s it, huh? No more adventures?”

Just then, the door to the throne room burst open and Drayke ran in, gasping for breath.

“Holy shit, that’s a lot of stairs!” he exclaimed. “Anyways, no, there’s still one more adventure for you, Allen; I heard you just proposed to Luna, and I’ve got dibs on organizing the bachelor party!” he cried triumphantly

I stared at him incredulously. “Have you forgotten that there are no human chicks here, right?” I asked cautiously. “You throw a bachelor party, and you’ll have a bunch of miniature horses all over you.”

Drayke’s eyes widened for a moment, and he threw his head back. “SON OF A BITCH!” he screamed, and fell to his knees as the rest of us laughed.