Night, Aurora, and Fey all looked to the south. There were hordes of dragons flying around. Some were fighting each other, and others were simply hunting. Everywhere they looked were dragons flying in groups of all shapes and sizes. They were all as intimidating as any dragon Night had ever seen.

“Well… this is what we came here for… right?” Aurora tried to hide the fear in her voice, but even this was too much for the pegasus. Night did not blame her one bit; she felt the same as Aurora. One look at Fey Light was all it took to confirm that she and Aurora were not the only ones that were afraid.

The captain maintained his stoic posture, but it was due to her familiarity with him from the last few days that Night was able to see through the griffon. That left her with a detailed knowledge of his tells. From the way in which he carried himself to the way he gripped his spear. It was all a dead giveaway to anyone watching, provided they were familiar with how he normally looked. The captain was scared.

Night could not tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She considered it a good thing because fear is a great motivator. Fear checks your actions by giving you something to consider, and he had a lot to be afraid for, most noticeably his charge, her sister, Aurora’s safety.

It was also a bad thing because if the captain could be afraid… what did that say about their chances? Then again, Night was not counting on him for their safety; if push came to shove, she would take care of that herself. She had made that very promise and if there were only one thing she would never do, it would be to break a promise. As Rainbow always told her, “Your word is you bond. Don’t make a promise you know you can’t keep, and don’t break a promise if you can help it.”

Night glanced over at her sister. Aurora was so strong, so fast, and she had the force of will to match. It was hard to remember at times that she was just a pegasus. She had no magic, no large amount of power to use at a moment’s notice. Night would often forget that about her big sister.

Even now, Aurora showed a lot more confidence than Night felt. Even with the fear in her voice, it was hard to spot any break in her resolve. Night’s eyes instinctively went down to Aurora’s belly, and the foal that was growing there. After losing Orion Knight, for Aurora to come out here, she had to have complete faith in Night’s abilities.

Night vowed one more time not to let any harm come to her sister. Regardless how many dragons she might have to fight. Even if that put her against every dragon in the kingdom, she would fight them all to save her sister.

“You ready?” Aurora turned and asked her younger sister, startling Night in the process.

Night paused before answering, this is what they came for, but now that she was looking at it, doubt hung over her head. ‘For Ataxia.’ Night thought. She could do this; she would do this, for her friend’s sake. After what happened, Night owed her that much, at the least.

“Yes, let’s go.”

Fey Light gripped his spear ever tighter as Night gave the command. She almost chuckled at that. It was somewhat comical to the alicorn.

“Don’t worry captain; I’ll protect you if something goes wrong.”

“Night, don’t tease the captain.”

“Ruin my fun why don’t you?”

“Big sister’s prerogative, besides, he’s my captain of the guard. That means I’m the one who gets to tease him.” At that, both sisters started to laugh. For Fey Light’s part, his gaze never moved from the dragons in the distance, or more specifically, the three that were rapidly approaching the group.

Night noticed him raise his spear; she looked in the direction he was staring. Her disposition immediately changed as the happy smile from her sister’s joke faded in an instant. “Aurora, we got company.”

Aurora looked over as well. She gulped when she saw what was on the way. “You have a plan, right?”

“Somewhat….”

“Somewhat? Night, that doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“I… I don’t think it matters right now what I sound like. A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” Night said as she quoted from General Firefly’s personal notes.

“So, wait… just so I understand, you flew to the Dragon Kingdom without knowing exactly what you were going to do when you got here?”

“I figured I would just wing it.” Night said sheepishly.

“Just wing it? Remind me to kick your flank when we’re done.” Aurora gave Night a look that said ‘what the buck is wrong with you?’

Night was more than used to ignoring her sister’s condescending attitude. She thought about it for a second. There was not good idea that came to her head, not a one… however, there was one thing, and it was one thing that no one would think would be a smart move. One most would consider a stupid, idiotic, and dumb idea. It was just the sort of thought that Rainbow Dash would have, that part made Night smile and frown in equal measure.

‘Perhaps I am more like Rainbow than I thought.’ Oddly, that thought almost made her chuckle. “I know what to do.”

“Yeah, what did you just think of?” The look on Aurora’s face said she had anything but confidence in whatever featherbrain plan Night just came up with.

“Oh, I could explain it, or I could just do it.” Night said with a smile.

“Night! What are you going to do?!” Aurora shouted. It was too late, far, far too late to stop her sister. As Aurora spoke, Night began to channel her power into her horn. She built up enough power to cast a glamor spell on herself. One that changed her appearance into that of a huge, dragon sized alicorn.

Fey and Aurora could only watch, stunned into inactivity, as Night’s form disappeared. A pure white, glowing, magically created, dragon-sized alicorn replaced it. The huge creature cast a light spell from its horn that shot out in every direction, blinding those who looked directly at it.

It had the desired effect. The three approaching dragons stopped in their flight, hesitant about just what they were going against. Every other dragon in eyesight turned and looked in their direction, unsure just what that was or how they should respond to such a threat.

It was not long until one of the larger dragons took flight. For the dragons, your authority was dictated by your size. The larger the dragon the older it was, as a dragon only got old by being the biggest and the strongest. It was in essence a perfect example of a might makes right culture. Anyone could rule, provide you had the strength to back it up.

The dragon that approached was easily twice the size that Spike ever was. While it was not the largest dragon that Aurora had ever seen, that honor going to the dragon that lead the attack against Warclaw, its size was still quite impressive to the pegasus.

Shimmering Night maintained her form until the last possible second. When the huge green dragon landed in front of her, she let the glamor spell go and transformed back into her normal look. The look of disbelief on the dragon’s face was almost comical; almost, if it was not for the fact that she could easily eat the largest buildings in Warclaw for breakfast.

When the green dragon spoke, she did so with a deep, greeting, voice. “Who are you? What are you?” There was real curiosity to her question. That spell was powerful, very powerful, it was obvious she had seen many forms of magic in her life, but this was on a new level. She had never seen a being cast such a large glamor spell.

“I’m an alicorn, Princess Shimmering Night of Equestria.” Night stated; she removed all uncertainty in her voice. This was something she was good at, something she had always been good at. Diplomacy had always come easy to the alicorn. She just had a way with anyone who would listen. Anyone who would give her the time to explain the situation.

“I’ve never seen a real life alicorn before.” The green dragon’s entire posture changed, it almost looked defensive, as if she expected an attack at any time.

“That doesn’t surprise me, there are not that many of us around, There are only four of us to be exact."

The dragon nodded at that, she had obviously heard of them. “Tell me, what brings a Princess of Equestria all the way down here? Have you come here to take what is ours? Again? Just as your kind did all those years ago?”

Night was taken aback by that, this was the worst news she could have heard right now… if the alicorns of old really did drive off the dragons, just as Ataxia’s story said they did, did that mean everything else was true as well? ‘Remember, the best lies are the ones cloaked in truth.’ She had to remind herself of some of her old lessons with Twilight.

“I promise you, we are not here to take anything from anyone; I’ve come seeking information, nothing else. Information that can only be known by somepony… somedragon that was alive thousands of years ago. I’ve come to talk with the… the… the Dragon King.”

The green dragon let out a puff of black smoke. To Aurora, it almost seemed like she was laughing. “We have no such title; there is no ‘Dragon King!’” She said with no small amount of hatred and venom in her voice; it was the sort of statement that implied the exact opposite of what the words indicated.

Night did not look convinced by that, whatever this dragon meant by that statement, she obviously had her own prejudice against whomever had that title, her body posture and venomous tone said that in ways that words never could. However, she would have to augment her approach to keep the conversation going in a productive direction.

“Then… was there ever someone who went by that title? Some dragon that the others would refer to as such? Ever?”

“There is one who the others claim to be a king. They do so simply because he is the oldest of us. I will never refer to him as such. Not since…” She stared off in the distance, a lost expression on her face, one that quickly turned to anger.

“Can I talk to him, please? It’s a matter of life and death.”

“The lives of ponies have no value here. What do we care if ponies die? The only reason I spare your lives is because you are royalty. Now go and be gone, before I really lose my temper.” The green dragon let out a flame breath into the sky, letting everyone know that as far as she was concerned, this conversation was officially over.

Aurora stepped back a little at that; she had not intended to, but she could not help but feel a little fear. Almost as if this was simply too much for the mare. Her last encounter with these dragons had not ended well, the pegasus almost died during their attack on Warclaw. Even if these were not the same dragons, they were still dragons.

Fey Light stepped up to her side; she found his presence reassuring for the simple fact that he too seemed scared. Something her sister showed no sign of being. That alone was rare, Aurora had always been the strong one growing up, and she was the one who always took care of her big brother and little sister. For the roles to be reversed like this…. What had happened that caused this change? Was Ataxia truly that scary that Night had no fear of this dragon?

Little did Aurora know that Night felt the exact same way about her. The two were pushing each other to not be afraid. Their courage was due to the other being there, the support they were giving each other.

Night spoke aloud, her voice brimming with confidence, even if she did not truly feel it, she could still fake it. “Because… the creature attacking us, she is very special to me. We’ve come to know her as a dragacorn, and she was... is my friend. I cannot go home without knowing how to save her from what she has become.”

“Dragacorn…” She knew that name, the look on the green dragon’s face told Aurora that much. “So, It’s finally happened.”

“What’s finally happened?” Aurora asked, shocking herself with her boldness, yet she would not let Night upstage her.

The green dragon turned her massive head to the new speaker, she was so small, so tiny, so weak, yet she dared talk to her like an equal. “You, little one, what is your name?”

“Empress Princess Aurora Flash.”

“That’s quite the title; tell me Empress Princess, what makes you think you can address me?”

Night went to step in; she turned to look at her sister. The look on Aurora’s face told her that she had no need to step in; Aurora could handle this all on her own. “Because, dragon, I am a ruler of two separate nations. I am the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Rainbow Dash. Both of which have enough power to destroy this world several times over if they so desired it. I won the heart of the Emperor of the Griffin Empire. Yes, I am nothing more than a pegasus, yet I command the respect of those much more powerful than me, and I did it all despite not having any magic. Now tell me, what have you done in the past forty years that’s half as impressive as any of that?”

The conviction in Aurora’s voice said it all; she had long ago gotten accustomed to being known as the ‘weakest’ of Twilight’s foals. Yet those who thought that way were gravely mistaken. True, she did not have the magical abilities that Dayspring did. His affinity for magical spells and love of learning were only surpassed by Twilight. Night always suspected that had her brother lived he would have surpassed Twilight, maybe not in raw power, but in pure capability.

Aurora was not born special, well not in the way Night was, Night had been born an alicorn, the first one ever. She was marked out from that one fact alone that there would be great things coming from her. No, Aurora did not have any of these qualities. Yet, when it came to pure force of will, the natural talent to command others to get exactly what you wanted when you wanted. Aurora was a natural. She always had been.

Yes, magically speaking she was the weakest, but as far as Night was concerned, Aurora was by far the strongest of all of them. Her being here was more than proof of that.

The green dragon saw it too; she lowered her head in submission. Yes, she was stronger, but raw strength does not prove you right. She could not lie to herself; this pony was impressive. “Nothing.”

“That’s what I thought. Moreover, this dragacorn, if we don’t stop it, what do you think is going to happen? You said yourself that the alicorns drove you from your land, if this dragacorn can kill them, what do you think it could do to you. To all of you if it so desired?”

Fey lowered his spear in response to the dragon’s slight change in body posture. She seemed to accept this new truth, this new set of facts she had not considered before.

“Now tell me, what about the dragacorn? You seemed to know that name.”

“It’s a legend, a myth from thousands of years ago, he said it would one day happened. I never believed it myself; however, it is not for me to explain. I will take you to him” The green dragon stated, no small amount of hatred in her voice.

The green dragon took flight, heading south. She was followed closely by Night, Aurora, and Fey; Night flew up to her sister. “And I thought I was the diplomat in the family.” She joked.

“You are, and that wasn’t diplomacy.” Aurora said with a smile.

“That’s true.”

“I’m still going to kick your flank in when we get back, or maybe I’ll just let Rainbow do it after I tell her what your epic ‘plan’ was.”

“Or maybe we’ll just all get eaten by this dragon we’re here to see.” Night said with a hopeful smile. One that Aurora did not share at her little joke.

Fey Light was not too happy about it either, but he simply wrote it off as the banter between two siblings. Still, that did not stop him from flying just a little closer to the pony that did not just make a joke about being eaten by dragons.

Night shrugged when she saw that. Part of her wanted to smile over his behavior; he showed all the loyalty and dedication that the Canterlot royal guard had. Yet… as much as she did not want there to be, as much as she wanted to get past it, there was still something off about him. Something that she could not quite get past.

Night added a little more speed and caught up to the green dragon, she wanted to get some more information before they talked to this ‘Dragon King.’ Even if it was a touchy subject with the green dragon, any little bit of information would help.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is this dragon you’re taking us to like? He’s not just going to eat us, right?”

The green dragon laughed. “You three would be nothing more than a morsel to him. It would not be worth the energy to digest. No, you have no fear of him eating you. Not unless you tick him off.”

“What’s he like?” Night repeated the question. “You seem to have a personal connection.”

“You’ll see for yourself.” The disdain was obvious in her voice. Something had happened between her and this ‘Dragon King’, something that caused her no small amount of hatred towards him. Night did not need to use her magic to see that much.

She knew that pushing for more information would be a bad idea, whatever good will she bought or coercion that Aurora used would not matter one bit if this dragon got truly mad at them. She only had to take a quick look around to know that they were flying deeper into enemy territory. If this dragon decided to attack, Night might be able to handle her, but all the attention they would garner would be a whole another story. Worse, it would ruin any small chance they had of figuring out how to save Ataxia. It was a lose-lose any way she ran the numbers.

Shimmering Night shrugged and reduced speed to fly next to her sister.

“What’s wrong Night, not enjoying the conversation with our oh so pleasant guide?” Aurora asked sarcastically. Night just rolled her eyes at that. It was so like her sister to poke at her during a time like this. Night had learned over the years to deal with it, after all, they were family.

“Princess, empress, are you sure this is a smart move? We have no idea if she is leading us into a trap. She could be taking us deeper into her territory to eat us.” Fey Light looked concerned.

“Griffin, if I wanted to eat you, I wouldn’t need to take you anywhere.” The green dragon responded. All three heads turned to look at her; she was flying forward, but her head was staring directly at the three of them.

“I… I…”

Night liked Fey like that, speechless and shown up. She could not say why, but seeing him knocked down a few pegs just made her happy.

“Sorry, the captain of my guard did not mean anything by it, he’s just… concerned about my safety is all.” Aurora did her best to apologize for the captain; she made a mental note to lecture him about proper protocol later. Mainly, not speaking so bluntly without permission.

“And yet he let you fly into the Dragon Kingdom despite your… condition.”

Aurora’s hoof instinctively fell to her stomach. Still, she had to set the recorded straight about one thing. “He didn’t let me do anything. I go where I want. It was my husband who insisted he come along.”

The green dragon smiled at that and looked back in the direction she was flying. She could respect a mare who took what she wanted.

“Ma’am, how far are we going anyway? I only ask because…” Night was flapping her wings harder; the small rest earlier was cut short due to the unexpected arrival of the dragons. It was apparent that she still needed to rest her wings some.

“We’re about a half day’s flight out, and none of that ma’am stuff. Call me Qurnem Flame.”

“Qurnem Flame… thanks.”

Qurnem looked back at the purple alicorn; it was obvious she was struggling to keep up with the group, the dragon laughed a little at that. The little pony was easily the strongest of the three creatures that came into the Dragon Kingdom, yet she was struggling to keep up. ‘Perhaps, for them, strength is not measured purely on the physical?’ That thought made her smile. It was so alien to the dragon.

“You’re welcome to rest on my back while we fly. In fact, both of you should probably do just that. Not you though, I won’t have you touching me.” Qurnem looked at Fey Light when she said that. Aurora just shrugged; Fey had a reputation in the Griffin Empire with the sheer number of dragons he had killed, which was part of the reason why he had been made the captain after all. It made sense that the dragons would know him as a butcher of their kind.

Night was not sure why, but to her it looked like there was pure venom in her eyes. Qurnem seemed to dislike Fey far more than Night did. She shrugged it off, whatever the reason; it was simply one more thing that Night liked about this dragon. It was a small list, but it was growing.

“I’m fine, I don’t need to rest.” Aurora said. She was, the mare could easily stay in the air for days at a time. She just counted this whole thing as a way for her to stretch her wings and let loose some built up pressure. Normally something Icarus would help her with, but even he could only go for so long. Unlike her sister, Aurora never slouched on her training. It was part of the reason why she was able to maintain her figure.

Night landed on the back of Qurnem and teleported her sister right next to her. Aurora looked at her with daggers in her eyes that she would dare do something like that without permission. Night simply smiled back. “I know you don’t need the rest, but your foal might. There is no reason to put undue stress on your baby, Aurora. You should know that by now.”

Aurora huffed, she hated when her sister was right, as many a griffin had told her the exact same thing. Still, she did have to reinstate her status as older sister. “Don’t think this gets you off the hook with Rainbow. I’m still telling her about your lack of training and that featherbrain plan.”

“Yeah, I know.” Night looked defeated at that.

True to her word, it did take half a day for the four to arrive at their destination. Night never once stopped looking around. She knew, without a doubt, that no pony had ever been this deep into the Dragon Kingdom before. This was a once in a lifetime event and she loved every minute of it.

About thirty minutes into the flight, Night conjured several pads of paper and ink to begin taking notes. Aurora looked over her shoulder in interest in just what she was writing. To her, nothing of any real note was occurring, or at least nothing that was worth writing down.

Her sister obviously did not feel the same. Aurora sighed and gave up trying to figure out what was going on in Night’s head. She went and got into her stockpile of cookies that she brought along for this journey, noting with some distain that there would not be enough to last for more than a few days. Well, not the way she was going through them anyway. Her pregnancy had only increased her sweet tooth.

Once she was done, the mare settled in for a little nap. She was not tired, per se, but she could not find fault with Night’s earlier comment. It was smart to rest herself as much as she could, for her foal, if not herself. Her doctors, and husband, had told her as much. Now that her sister said the same thing, well, she could no longer find fault with it.

As she closed her eyes, Aurora’s final sight was of her sister’s goofy grin as she saw something in the distance that drew her full attention. ‘Never change, Night. Never change.’ Aurora thought before sleep overtook her.

….

“Aurora, Aurora, wake up!” Night shouted at her sister.

“Five more minutes.” Aurora said, never once opening her eyes.

“No, we’re here. C’mon, get up.” Night began prodding her sister’s more ticklish spots, something that caused the mare to jump up. Aurora hated it when her sister went there.

“Stop it!”

Night just laughed, she knew from experience over the years just how much she could get away with before Aurora got really mad. She was at that line now. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Very funny, Night. Why did you wake me up?”

“Trust me, I wouldn’t if I didn’t have too, you’re much easier to deal with when you’re sleeping, but we’re here.”

“And I want you two off my back.” Qurnem Flame stated, reminding them both that she was still there.

“That too, I had to convince her not to just roll over and let you fall off.”

“Thanks.” Aurora said to both of them, one was genuine one was sarcastic; she just was not sure which was which. Aurora spread her wings and took flight. Night soon followed and Qurnem Flame went in for a landing. She put down on the ground, stretched her back, and wrapped her wings around her body.

Aurora took a moment to look around. The surroundings reminded her of the red rocks around Warclaw, with a few noticeable differences. The primary one being the heat. Without the speed of their flight to keep her cool, the entire area was like a sauna.

“Hang on, it’s time to lower the sun.” Aurora watched as Night went to work lowering the sun. She knew that even after it went down the heat would remain for most of the night.

Qurnem Flame watched with fascination as the small pony lowered the massive object in the sky. She had been right; the light purple alicorn was quite impressive. When it was down Aurora landed next to her sister. “You know, I’ve always known you would be amazing, Night.”

Night smiled as she looked back at Aurora. It had been her sister’s first time watching her at work moving the sun. That brought a feeling of immense pride and sadness to the alicorn. Pride over her sisters remark, and sadness about them not being as close as they once were. There was a time when Aurora would have been there every time for her sister’s achievements. That was a long, long time ago. “Thanks, what can I say, I had quite the role model.” Night rubbed up to her sister’s fur. She felt the sweat pouring off her sister and the heat she was just radiating.

“You’re burning up?”

“It’s just… just the heat. I’ll be alright.”

Despite Aurora’s comments about her being ok. Night knew how she felt, she was in the same boat as far as that went, but her sister’s needs had to come first. “I know what to do.” She focused her horn and cast a spell over both of them. Twilight used the same shield spell in Gehenna all those years ago. Both mares instantly felt thirty degrees cooler.

Fey Light landed next to them, his spear back in his claws. “Captain, you want me to shield you too?” Night asked.

Fey Light shook his head. “This is nothing compared to my training, I’ll be alright.”

Night simply shrugged. Fey Light was a big boy, she did not really care if he wanted to suffer. All she was concerned with was her sister, and with her health no longer in doubt, Night continued looking around. They had landed at the base of a mountain…. A volcano to be precise. The entire structure was embedded with diamonds and gems of all sizes. Some bigger than boulders.

Night could easily tell without being told that this was the lair of a dragon, and not just any dragon but that of a dragon king. It could be nothing else. There was not another dragon around for miles. While she could see many off in the distance, she could tell that they were all keeping a set length away. Almost as if, they were afraid of coming any closer. For a dragon to be afraid of a location with this many gems, it was either their king, or a Titan, and the latter were all dead.

The only exception to that was Qurnem Flame, whose expression seemed to be more pissed about having to be this close to some place she did not want to be. Night did not understand why, but she did not need to. Qurnem Flame and this ‘Dragon King’ obviously had some sort of history, but if Qurnem did not want to talk about, Night would not force it. There was no point in bringing up painful memories that would not help anyone.

The entrance itself was studded from floor to ceiling with gems. So much so that Night suspected even Rarity would find it overdone. The other dragons had obviously left these gems as some form of tribute to the dragon that lived here. Even more evidence that this was the lair of their king.

Night looked at Qurnem Flame. She was disgusted by this whole affair; just looking at her told Night that this was the last place that she wanted to be. “Do we just walk in or do we need to be announced?” Aurora asked. Unsure just what sort of protocol needed to be followed before going to see this particular dragon.

Qurnem Flame just looked at her, her expression said it all; there was no way she was going to walk into that lion’s den. “I think we just go in, Aurora. If you want, you can wait out here. There is no need for you to go any further.”

Aurora cuffed Night across her ear. “I’m with you to the end, sister. You don’t even need to ask.”

“Thanks.”

Fey Light moved closer to his charge. Aurora just looked at him. It was a look that stated if he took one more step it would be his last. She made it official with her order. “Captain Fey Light, stay here. Whatever is going to happen inside, your services will not be required.”

“Empress I-“

“That’s an order, captain.” Aurora said; her voice allowed for no discontent from the griffin guard. To his credit, he was quick to understand when he was not wanted. The griffin smartly saluted and took off, he began laps around the areas seeking to provide early warning for any sort of threat that may come their way.

Night rightly suspected that his efforts would be wasted; whoever this dragon was, the rest of his kind was obviously staying as far away from him as they could. She highly doubted that even the presence of the three ponies would cause them to forget who lived here, much less to be daring enough to try anything.

She turned as her sister brushed up against her coat. “Lets get going.” Aurora stated.

“Yeah, this is what we’re here for after all.” Night and Aurora walked into the cave. Despite the shield protecting the two from the heat, Night could still feel the immense heat coming from down below, she knew, without a doubt, that if it were not for the shield the two would not last long in this cave, they would both faint from heat exhaustion before they even made it to the center. Night glanced over at Aurora and was immediately jealous of her older sister. Aurora just radiated confidence, she did not hesitate to put one hoof in front of the other, Night could not say the same.

Sure this was her mission, but if this truly was some sort of king of dragons, they were about to talk with one of the oldest creatures on the planet. Night paused as a thought popped in her head. She had been in the presence of Gods. Her mother was an Avatar to the God Gaia; her best friend was the Avatar to the God Chaos. She… if everyone else was to be believed, was a demigoddess herself.

She should not be afraid of some dragon. Regardless how powerful, big, old, strong, or dangerous it may be.

‘Yeah… keep telling yourself that.’ Night thought. It was one thing to think it, quite another to actually do it. Sure, she had power, real power. Yet, she knew not how to use it, or even what she might be able to do with it. To this point, she had only been using her stronger spells as a reaction. She was still unsure how she coerced her mom’s energy like that. Such a thing should be impossible. She knew of no spell that allowed its caster to change someone else magic.

Night lit her horn as the two sisters walked farther into the cave. It was massive, easily able to fit buildings side by side through it. If the outside was covered in gems and precious metals, the inside put that to shame. Gold coins, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires lined the floor of the cave. In fact, there was no sign of the cave floor anywhere Night looked. Everywhere was simply treasure, as if the place was built from it.

“There is more treasure here than in all of the Griffin Empire.”

“Aurora, don’t think about touching any of it.”

“I wasn’t! I was just saying…”

“Yeah, I know what you’re saying, Aurora. And just don’t, ok?”

Aurora pouted a little at that, she did not believe that this dragon king would actually miss a little bit of gems given that he had so many. However, she had not studied up on dragons the same way Night had. Night knew that dragons would know, it was just in their nature. Steal one piece of treasure and they would hunt you down to the end of the world to get it back.

Therefore, Night kept one eye on her sister and one eye going forward. Part of her could not believe that this cave was so long, she still could not see the end of it. It was just… dark. Regardless how much power she put into her horn. What was odd though was that the darkness had a color to it… it was purple.

“What the-“Night did not finish the sentence. The wall, the edge of the cave. It started moving. She poured enough power into her horn to teleport half a city in one go. The entire area lit up from the sheer amount of power. She realized something, something that made her stop in her tracks.

The cave was even bigger than she realized. And the path they were walking down was not the floor at all. They were walking down a tail, a tail that was buried in gems. One that started moving when the entire area lit up.

Night and Aurora took flight as they saw that there was even more gems in the area than they thought. This was easily more treasure than existed in the rest of the world combined. The treasure started moving, an avalanche of gold and gems as the creature under it all woke up.

The dragon king, if ever there was a creature that could easily outclass Ataxia it was him. He was the size of a mountain, more so when taken into account the fact he curled up on the floor. The creature opened its one massive eye, the other lost centuries ago to some unnamed foe. That one eye, it was starting directly at the two ponies that dared enter his domain.

His eye focused on one in particular. He stared directly at Shimmering Night. When he spoke, his voice was ancient, it was one that had not been used in hundreds of years. The voice echoed around the cave, making it impossible to tell from what direction it came if you did not know where the head of the dragon was.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY CAVE?” It was a low growl, yet it echoed, almost deafening those who heard it speak.

From the tone of his voice, Night knew this creature did not consider them a threat; they were more of an annoyance than anything else. “Are… are you the Dragon King?”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY CAVE?” He repeated the question.

“We… we’re looking for the one known as the Dragon King. There is information we need from him, nothing more. We’ve not come to steal anything if that is what you’re worried about.”

The creature’s laughter said it all; he had long grown past the point of worrying about anything. “LITTLE PONY, YOU HAVE INTERRUPTED MY SLEEP, BE GONE BEFORE I CAST YOU OUT, OR WORSE.”

“No.” Aurora surprised herself with that remark; she would not see their mission ended at this stage, not when they were so close. “No, we’re not leaving until you talk to us.”

“NO?” The creature lifted his head as more treasure than what existed in all of Equestria fell to the ground, the sound of it echoed all around the cave. Aurora could only watch as the largest head she had ever seen in her life removed itself from its resting place. It was obvious this dragon had not moved in hundreds of years. How he came to be so buried in treasure she would never know.

Aurora did not lose her resolve. “I said no, we’re not leaving, I don’t care how big you are or how threatening you look.” The mare landed on the Dragon King’s large snout.

She glared in the dragon’s eye. A Large marble that was bigger than any she had ever known. The pupil alone was larger than the throne room in Warclaw. The dragon breathed deeply, its very breath caused the temperature in the room to increase by ten degrees.

“LITTLE PONY, IT HAS BEEN A MILLENNIUM SINCE THE LAST CREATURE AS EVER SPOKE TO ME AS SUCH. HIS CORPSE STILL SITS OUTSIDE OF MY CAVE.”

“You think I’m scared of you? You think you’re intimidating to me?!” Aurora was getting angry, something Night did not want to see happen.

Night knew where this one going, Aurora was more than used to getting her way, she would stare down anyone from princesses to kings to that end. She would do the same to this dragon; regardless of the fact this dragon will kill them both without thinking twice about it. Something he was just about to do.

Flames shout out from the dragon’s mouth. “YOU’RE A FEISTY ONE AREN’T YOU, I WONDER IF YOU WILL TASTE SPICY GOING DOWN? ASSUMING I TASTE YOU AT ALL.”

The dragon moved his head with a speed that beguiled his size. Aurora fell off his head, her natural instincts caused her to immediately spread her wings and fly. The dragon opened his mouth and went to devour her whole.

His jaws never shut. Several magical columns appeared in his mouth preventing them from shutting. He looked on confused, unsure just what had prevented him from enjoying this new snack.

Aurora’s brain took a minute to figure out just what had occurred. “You… you tried to eat me…”

While she had not been chewed, Aurora was in the dragon’s mouth. Down the dragon’s throat, she could see the fire building up as it started to come straight for her.

“NIGHT!” Aurora yelled.

Night concentrated hard and teleported her sister away before the fire hit. He let it loose in the cave. If it was hot before, this new temperature put that too shame. Even with her shield up, Night felt like she was on the verge of passing out.

“Chill out!” Night yelled at the top of her Lungs before she fell unconscious from the heat.

…………………….

When Night opened her eyes. The sight of it was that of a dream. It was snowing…. She had not seen the snow in months, and should not have seen any for another three. It brought back memories of Hearth's Warming Eve, back with her family during the better years.

“I wonder if it will ever be like this again.” Night said to nopony in particular. She denied it every time she was asked but she could not deny it to herself, she missed the old days more than she could ever say, more than there were words to say. Given a million times a million words, she did not think she would ever be able to express it.

The times she spent with her moms, sister, and brother. They were the best in her life. Waking up to such mornings, going out, and playing in the fresh snow. All of it. It was all precious to her; she would give anything to have that time back. Sadly, that was not possible; Dayspring was gone… Aurora had her own responsibilities, so did Night. Those days… they would have to stay in her mind. At least there she could treat them like the treasure they were.

Even if she would occasionally have memories of Bright Dawn, try as much as she did, she could not quite forget him. Some memories were better than others.

“You ok, Night?!” Aurora yelled as she flew closer to her sister.

Night looked around; she had not been expecting that here. Not in her dream at least. What she saw made her realize that this was anything but a dream. She was still in the cave, except… it was anything but. It looked… it looked almost comical; the entire cave was covered in snow, snow that was still falling.

Aurora, she was flying down to her, her blue coat turned white from the layer of snow that constantly refreshed itself. “What… what happened?” Night asked her sister.

“Well, dipshit there tried to eat me, but you stopped him, you teleported me out of his mouth and when he tried to fry you… well…”

“YOU COVERED MY ENTIRE LAIR WITH SNOW.”

That got Night’s attention in a big way, she looked up at the dragon, part of her wanted to smile, this huge dragon, this creature, the only creature she had ever seen that was bigger than Ataxia… bigger than a Titan even, he was coated in snow. She could not see any of his purple scales from the white snow that covered him.

The dragon closed his eyes and concentrated, building up the fire inside of him. Night watched as all the snow on his scales melted into water and then evaporated. The cool mist sent chills down the alicorn’s spine.

“How… how did I do that?”

“We were hoping you could tell us actually. He said he’s never seen anything like this before.”

Night looked at the dragon; he just shook his head in confirmation of her sister’s words. It was almost funny, almost, if they had not just about been killed by the creature. “You were out for about a minute before we saw you get up. Sorry we couldn’t find you sooner. However, well… you… you were well camouflaged.” Aurora laughed at that.

“Yeah, I bet.”

“LITTLE PONY, IT SEEMS WE DO HAVE A LOT TO TALK ABOUT.”

“Oh, so now you are willing to talk?”

At that moment, Night wished she had some way to shut up her sister. They really, really did not need this right now.

“Aurora, can you give us a minute?”

“Night?”

“Aurora, I agreed to let you come along, but I expect you to follow orders. Now please, give us a minute, it’s my mission and I want to talk with him alone.”

Aurora looked dejected at that, but Night held firm, despite her sister’s ‘But mommm…’ Look, Night was not going to fall for it. She was not Aurora’s mom or her lover, she was her sister and despite being the younger sister, in this case she knew best, or at least, she hoped she knew what was best. The dragon could still easily eat her. ‘Even if that happens, I won't have to see Aurora’s ‘I told you so’ look. So… win-win.’ Night thought to herself.

“Fine.” Aurora turned to leave, shaking off the fresh snow from her wings and coat she took wing, Night recast a shield spell around her, she knew it was cool in here, but that did not mean it would be outside. She strengthened it just for that reason alone. With the sudden decrease in temperature here, it would be that much more of a shock on Aurora’s body when she did step outside.

When she was gone, Night turned to the Dragon King. “Thank you.”

“YOU THANK ME? I WAS GOING TO EAT HER AND FRY YOU.”

“Yes, but you stopped yourself. So much has gone wrong over the past few days… we needed a break, while it wasn’t your original intent, I do thank you for talking with me. I suppose I should start from the beginning?”

“NO, I HAVE A BETTER IDEA. BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO TRUST ME.”

Night thought about that. ‘Trust him, well… I guess if his intention was to kill us he could have done it already.’ She nodded at the dragon. The large creature raised one of his gigantic claws. The claw itself was larger than an entire tower of Celestia’s Palace, the tip looked like it could cut a mountain in half. He lowered it slowly towards Night. She almost took a step back… almost; the sight of this huge claw coming straight after her checked her resolve about this whole situation.

To her credit, or perhaps stupidity, she held still. When the tip of the claw was hooves away from her horn, the dragon spoke. “CLEAR YOUR MIND.” The claw tip made contact with Night’s horn and in that one second, her entire world melted away.

…………..

When Night came to, she was in Ponyville, or at least that is where her mind said she was. She looked around, all over the place there were ponies going back and forth, without a care in the world. She smiled as she saw this place, it was nice, good, and something she remembered. She remembered all of this actually. From the decorations all around, Night could tell what day it was, it was Hearts and Hooves Day….

“I’ve… I’ve been here before.”

“I know you have, these are your memories after all.”

Night turned around, directly behind her was a dragon, one that looked in his teenage years yet still carried an aura of mysticism about him. He was winged, purple and without a doubt, a little cute.

“It’s you… the Dragon King.”

He bowed before the princess, “That is what others call me yes, not a title I ever wanted or sought after. Yet one I am stuck with all the same.” He seemed bitter about that, Night did not know why.

“Why… why are we here?”

“We’re here to learn about you, Princess Shimmering Night. You intrigue me, and I want to know more.”

“I don’t have time for this; I need your help to save my friend!”

“You mean her? Or her? Or her?” Several different versions of Ataxia flashed before Night. The Ataxia that Night was first introduced to as a filly, the Ataxia that Night saw get her cutie mark, the Ataxia that Night saw broken when Dayspring and Aurora told her to buck off. The Ataxia that Night made friends with, the Ataxia that Night grew up alongside with, the Ataxia that Night knew as an adult, and then later as a dragacorn.

“Yes…”

“I know all about her, she doesn’t interest me anymore, I want to know more about you, or more precisely, I want you to know more about you.”

“But… but… but…”

“I’ll make you this promise, you help me learn about you, with you, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know about her. Sound fair?”

Night thought about it and nodded. “I don’t know what you could possibly want to know about me for, I’m not that interesting.”

“Really?”

More scenes played out before her, Night talking with Discord in Ataxia’s mind. Night drawing the energy away from a Titan, Night conjuring a magical circle to help Ataxia defeat Lord Tirek, Night conjuring several more to help stop Ataxia. Night transforming Twilight’s magic to save her friend.

“I would say any of these bear more study, wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know… they don’t seem like that big a deal to me.”

“Modest as well…” The dragon smiled. “Consider my curiosity peaked, demigoddess.”

“Please, don’t call me that.”

“Oh, but it’s what you are. You are a demigoddess.”

“I know, but…”

“But what? You are unique, Princess Shimmering Night. You have not one, but three mothers. Unlike your other siblings, you were born from their love of each other, not from excess magical power.

“What are you getting at?”

The dragon sighed. “I thought you would have caught on by now, I guess I’ll have to do this the long way.” Three ponies appeared before the two: A purple alicorn, a cyan blue pegasus, and a golden pegasus filly. Night recognized all three of them, even though she wished she would have never laid eyes on the filly again.

“These three beings are your parents.” The dragon king stated it, it was not a question.

“Yes, those are my moms, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. That filly, she is the God Gaia. I doubt that is how she actually looks, but that is the form she showed us after Twilight was killed by Tartarus.”

The dragon king nodded to all of that, his one good eye focused on the alicorn. “Indeed, yet as I said before, of all your family, you are unique, your brother and sister.” Two more ponies appeared before them, one hurt Night to even look at. “They were created by Gaia’s excess power.”

Night nodded, she heard the story many times growing up. “Yet you, Princess Night, you were created by Gaia wanting to have her own offspring, she empowered your parents, using their love for one another and sprinkled her own magic onto it. She used her command over life itself, mix with their love, to create you.”

“So?”

“I’m getting to that. But first let me ask, your cutie mark, it is unique, yes?”

Night nodded. “Yes, I was the first pony ever born with one.”

“So growing up, you never learned what your special talent is, did you?”

Night shook her head. Most fillies and colts would spend their childhood trying to find out what their special talent is in life, Night never did, there was no need, as she already had her cutie mark. It did not make sense to go crusading for something she already had.

“Much like you, it is very unique.” A large picture appeared before the two, one of a dragon and a griffin holding up a golden crown, an exact replica of Shimmering Night’s cutie mark. “By not exploring just what this is, by never knowing what your special talent was, you have missed what you are truly capable of.”

“You know what it is? What it represents?” The dragon king nodded his head.

“Yes, and I think you know too. Don’t you?”

Night thought about it. She recalled everything Discord had told her, her battle with the Titan, with Tirek, and with Ataxia. “It’s… it’s… it’s magic.”

The dragon king nodded again, “I knew you were clever, but what exactly about magic?”

Night shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

“Princess Night, I think you are sure. When you fought the Titan, what did you do? What was it that you wanted to happen? How did you defeat him?”

“I wanted the magic to leave him; I wanted him not to be protected anymore. So Luna could finish him. Discord, he… he told me I was special. He told me Gaia was my mom too… I… willed away the energy from the Titan… I just wanted it gone, and… and it obeyed.” Night looked up, she was beginning to understand what he was getting at.

“When you two fought Tirek, what was it that you wanted to do? What was is that you wanted to happen?” The dragon king repeated his question for the new situation.

“I… I wanted to increase Ataxia’s magic, to ensure that she would be victorious. I wanted Ataxia to win; I wanted her magical blast to be enough. I wanted to increase its power.”

“And against Ataxia?”

“I… mom… she told me to hit her with my strongest attack, that I should not hold back at all.”

“Why did Twilight tell you that?”

“She… she thought I was weak, that my attacks wouldn’t be able to hurt her if I held back.”

“Did you hold back?”

Night looked at the ground. She had always done as Twilight had asked of her, no questions asked. Yet, on this one scenario, she had gone against what Twilight wanted to her to do. She had not been sure why, she still was not sure why. “Yes, I did.”

“Why?”

“Because… because I was afraid.” The truth was like a weight lifted from her. Saying it made it real.

“Afraid of what?”

Night was really beginning to hate this game of twenty questions. “I was afraid of what I could do if I gave it my all. Afraid that if I went all out, I might kill her, or everyone. I think… I know I have power, more than anyone else thinks I do. I just… I just don’t know how much, or how to control it.”

The dragon smiled, it took some work but they had finally reached the apex of the conversation. “You should be, you should be afraid of that much power.”

Night looked up at him at that comment. “What do you mean?”

“Princess Shimmering Night. Think about it. When you defeated the Titan, you willed the magic protecting him away. When you fought Tirek, you willed Ataxia’s magic to be stronger. When you fought Ataxia; you willed your power to be strong, yet even then you held back. In doing so you created a blast the likes of which have not been seen since Princess Twilight Sparkle fought against the reaper.” He paused to let that sink in.

“Let me ask you one further question. How long as it ever taken you to learn a new spell?”

Night thought about it, back to the days when she would train with Twilight and Dayspring. Those memories hurt, not physically, but because of how much she took those times for granted. How she wished she could get those times back. “I… I… I’ve never had an issue learning a new spell.”

“I know, I’ve seen your memories, you learned every spell you were ever taught the first time, didn’t you.”

Night wanted to deny it, that she was not the prodigy that her brother was, but it was true, she never had an issue learning something new. It was just her complete lack of caring about such things that prevented her from going further with it. Perhaps, that is why others never noticed either? Twilight would never force her to learn something she did not want to learn. Rainbow, of course, had no knowledge of the magic she was doing, and Dayspring, well he just seemed happy to bogart all of Twilight’s attention. ‘He was always such a mommy’s boy.’ Night thought, more than a hint of jealousy in her thoughts. She never said anything but it always bugged her how much time Twilight would spend with her only son.

“I guess…”

“I don’t. I’ve seen your memories; I know it to be true.”

“What’s your point?”

“She still doesn’t get it. Very well, I will explain it to you. Princess Shimmering Night: The first alicorn ever born, the only pony ever born with her cutie mark. The Demigoddess, the daughter of Gaia, God of Life and Magic. The daughter of Princess Rainbow Dash. The daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Your special talent, your magic, your very birthright, they are all one in the same. Princess Shimmering Night: You. Command. Magic.”

To say Night was flabbergasted at that would be an understatement. However, the dragon king was not done. “You've never cast a spell in your life. Everything you have ever done has been you willing magic to do your bidding: You told the magic to leave the Titan. You commanded Ataxia’s magic to grow exponentially in power. You willed your magic spell to increase several thousand times more powerful. You are the Demigoddess of Magic itself. The command of magic, all magic, falls to you. It is your birthright.”

“When you told me to ‘chill out’ in my lair, the entire cave filled to the brim with snow. The magic of the world obeyed your wish, even though you knew not how you did it, you still did it.”

“But… but… but…”

The dragon king smiled. “No buts, Night.”

She shut her mouth. It was all too much. “I… I command magic?”

He nodded his head. “It may take you decades to learn how to fully control it, I suspect up until now you have merely been acting on instinct, your strongest emotions forcing their way to the forefront. Like for her.” A vision of Ataxia being rocketed to the moon by Twilight’s magic came before them, and Night redirecting that magic to perform a very different task. “Your love for her allowed you t-“

“I don’t love her!” Night shouted, a little louder than she intended to. “Not like that anyway….”

The dragon king smiled. “You can lie to yourself, Princess Night. But you can’t lie to me.”

“It’s not a lie….” It sounded weak even to Night.

“I see… too bad you do not.” With that, the entire world changed. To be replaced with a brand new one, one she remembered clear as day. They were out front of the Ponyville schoolhouse. They saw Shimmering Night as a little filly, she was flying along with Rainbow when the two heard a noise from below. Night was only four when this occurred but she would never forget it.

“Tell me, what happened on this day.”

Night watched for a moment until the memory cemented in her mind, she could never forget this day. “This was the day when Dayspring and Ataxia got into their fight.”

“Indeed.”

The two watched as Dayspring approached a younger Ataxia. It caught both Rainbow and Night’s attention. The shouting and the yelling begun seconds after. It was after the fact that Night learned that Rainbow would not interfere. This was Daysprings doing; it had nothing to do with her. She had promised Twilight, that unless it was life threatening she would let her kids live their own lives.

Watching it again, it once more broke Night’s heart. Dayspring, Aurora, and Ataxia had been so close. She still did not agree with her brother’s decision. Shortly into the fight, Aurora showed up. Ataxia sought some form of compassion from the pegasus, but, just as she had all those years ago; Aurora took Dayspring’s side.

Ataxia ran off, she did not want to look at her former friends anymore. For the first time in her life, Night left Rainbow’s side and flew off after Ataxia.

Night did not need to see what came next. That was the day her and Ataxia became best friends forever.

“I know all of this.”

“Indeed, let’s keep going though.”

More scenes played out for the two, visions of Night and Ataxia playing together, of Ataxia showing Night some new and exciting spell, one in which she easily duplicated. Of Ataxia running away from home for the thousandth time. Night found her easy enough. She would always run to the same spot.

Visions of Ataxia’s fight with Tirek and the closeness they shared since that day. Of the large number of times they would spend together, times in which Night now saw in a completely different light, for both Ataxia, and her. Visions of their date….

“Stop.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to see that.”

“You’re not ‘seeing’ anything, these are your memories.”

“That was one of the worst days of her life. I don’t want to relive my friend’s pain.”

“Then don’t, as I told you before, I’m not interested in Ataxia, I’m interested in you. Watch your reactions, watch them the way she saw them.”

“How is that possible? I can’t have her memories.”

“Princess Night, more bonds exist between two souls than just the literal, I’m surprised you don’t know that already.”

Night turned and went to speak at that comment, yet nothing came out. She closed her muzzle and turned back to the show. They were indeed watching her own reactions during the date. For with all she knew, she could call it nothing else, it was in fact a date.

“She looks… I look, happy.”

“You look more than happy.”

They watched as Night teleported away the two ponies to the jail cell in Canterlot; they watched as Ataxia led them to that museum, they watched as Ataxia comforted Night after seeing the statue of her brother. They watched as the two came so close to kissing.

It paused there.

“Tell me, what do you look like here?”

Night could not deny it. Not looking at herself, not right now, that was the look of a pony who was about to kiss someone she loved for the first time. Her eyes were shut, her mouth slightly open. There was just a look of utter… utter content on her face that could not be denied.

“I… I… but I’m not a fillyfooler.”

“So you’ve said, yet your heart, and your body, both say something different. Tell me, what would be so wrong with loving another mare?”

“It’s… it’s… it’s…” Night did not have an answer for that.

“You’ve let the prejudice and the biggity of others take root in your heart. You’ve allowed yourself to be ruled based on how others might perceive you. And in doing so, you denied a portion of yourself. Shimmering Night, you and you alone created this crisis.”

The images changed to that of the possible; Ataxia’s attack on Equestria, Night cringed as she saw buildings destroyed, villages burn, and ponies die by the thousands. “Make no mistake, your friend is coming back, her heart has been corrupted by dark energy, it found purchase through the hole in it, but, you are the one who left that hole in it, who let the evil into her very being.”

“I… I... I don’t know what to do.”

A new memory played for her, something recent. She was with her sister in the throne room of Warclaw. “How can you help Ataxia if you’re so conflicted with yourself?” The words played over and over, as if they were on some sort of broken record.

“I… I…”

“Say it.” The dragon stared at her, she could no more lie to this creature, one of the oldest on the planet than cut off her own horn.

“I love her.”

The dragon smiled. “How do you feel?”

“Like a weight has been lifted from my back.” It was the truth, simply saying the words, making them real; it released a burden Night was not even aware she carried. A weight she did not know she had on her until it was removed. “I feel good.” She smiled. That alone surprised her, but in a good way.

“Princess, you hid your own emotions and feelings behind the bigotry of others and in doing so, you denied a portion of yourself.” He paused to collect his thoughts.

“I’ve been alive longer than I can remember. Remember these words; if there is one true sin in this world, it is to deny who you truly are.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, it was all you. It’s always been you.”

“Now will you tell me… how can I save her?”

“I already have, there are many ways, but it’s up to you to find the one you want to use.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ataxia told you the story. I know, I have seen your memories. However, she did not tell you the whole truth.” The scene before the two changed yet again, they were in a cave with dragons all around them. “This is the land that would be known as Equestria during the coming of the first alicorns, the ones that drove us from the land.”

“Ataxia said something about that.”

“Indeed.” The scene played out before them, the arrival of Discord, his promise, him implanting a gift into the dragon king. His advice on leaving, and then the dragon’s departure. To Night’s surprise, it kept going.

“How… how are we seeing this? I don’t have any memories of this.”

“Indeed you don’t, these are my memories.”

“But didn’t you leave at this point?”

“Yes, but I looked back. I may only have one eye left, but it sees more than most.”

The scene kept playing; Night looked on in disgust as Lord Tirek stepped out of the shadows. She could not make out what they were staying but it was irrelevant, it was not what this dragon wanted to show her. The scene went on until; at last, Discord pulled out the wheel and spun it.

The scene stopped. Night walked forward to look at it, to truly look at it. it looked like some sort of carnival game. “What is it?”

“That, Princess Night; is the right question. It took me centuries to figure it out. That is the wheel of fate.”

“There is no such thing as fate.” Night repeated her mother’s words.

The dragon laughed. “Yet the wheel exists. This creature, whom you know as both Discord; Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, and the God Chaos. He created the Universe. He created it to be chaotic in nature. Your own memories of your experiences and the stories of others told you as much.”

Night just nodded her head.

“He created causality, cause and effect, random chance, it all came from him.”

Again, Night nodded.

“As with all things, he cheated.”

“Wait, what?”

“Keep watching.”

The wheel began spinning again, until it landed on an image of the Tree of Harmony, Night watched as Discord slammed his lion claw against the wheel, every image on it fell off, to be replaced with an image of Ataxia.

“You see, it took me ages to figure out what this meant, he rigged the deck, he fated this creature, this dragacorn, Ataxia; he fated her to kill off all the alicorns. She cannot be stopped or killed until she completes this task. Fate will not let her. Every time fate must intervene, she will come back, stronger and faster than before, until she completes her mission.”

Night wanted to be sick, she felt sick. Yet nothing came out. “But… but… but…”

“I told you she bores me, there's nothing worse than playing a game when you already know who the winner will be.”

“I… I… I…”

The dragon looked at her. it was one of sad acceptance. “As long as there are alicorns left, or she carries this destiny, this will happen. I’m sorry, your friends and family, they will fail to stop her.”

Night paused; something he said made her think. “She told me… she told me when she fought Tirek, that she escaped her fate when she gave him her power….”

“It is true, Tirek had the ability to steal magic away from others; however, he can only take what is available. Ataxia’s power is limitless, as fate will supply her with all she needs.”

“Tirek, can only steal magic, what about someone who commands magic? Can’t I command Ataxia’s magic to leave her, forever?”

The dragon king smiled. “I knew you would put the pieces together. Although, I should warn you, it would be the equivalent of cutting off a pegasus’s wings, or crippling an earth pony. You would be taking away everything that makes the mare who she is.”

“I… I know.” Night said with an air of defeatism in her voice.

“But I-“ She stopped, eyes wide as she felt something, the dragon king felt it too. As one, they both looked to the north.

“It seems as if we are out of time.”

The world faded as the two ended up back in the cave. Night opened her eyes as the world changed back to the one she had left only a few minutes ago. Aurora was standing over her; it looked like she had been worried sick.

“Night! You’re up! Never, never, never do that again!”

“What?”

“Night, you’ve been unconscious for almost a day now!”

Night got up to her hooves. Memories of everything came back to her, everything they had discussed. “A day?” She looked over to the dragon.

He opened his one good eye. “IT TAKES A WHILE TO SORT THROUGH THE MEMORIES OF OTHERS. I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND, I USED YOUR POWER TO RAISE AND LOWER THE SUN WHILE YOU WERE UNDER. BESIDES, I THINK YOU HAVE MORE IMPORTANT BUSINESS RIGHT NOW, DON’T YOU?

Night nodded at that. “Thank you. Aurora, we’ve got to get back, now.”

The tone of Night’s voice left no doubt in her mind. “Ok… but it will take a few days to travel all the way home.”

“No, it won’t.” Night smiled.

“What happened?” Aurora looked at her strangely; there was a new aura around her sister. A slight change, but one she could never miss.

“I know what I am, I know who I am, and more importantly, I know how I feel. You were right sister, that was the key all along.”

Aurora was more confused than ever, but Night took off. They had waited long enough. As the two flew out of the cave, Night paused one last time and looked back. “By the way, for the sake of my curiosity, what is with you and Qurnem Flame? She seems really mad at you for some reason.”

The great dragon just laughed. “SHE’S MAD ABOUT OUR EGG; IT’S A LONG STORY, ONE YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR.”

Night just shrugged and continued flying. As the two left the cave Fey Light joined them. Aurora was right about one more thing; normally it would take at least three days to get back to Equestria, but that was before Night knew what she did.

All creatures have some form of magic; this was true for griffins and ponies too. Earth ponies had a special connection with the ground, allowing them to grow food in all but the most inhospitable of places. Night suspected, no she knew that certain ponies, such as Pinkie Pie, they had other things they could do with their magic. Pinkie’s pinkie sense for instance.

This was also true for griffins and pegasus. Their wings were how they channeled their magic, using them they could fly. Otherwise, they would be grounded as their wingspan alone was insufficient for proper lift. Shimmering Night willed, no, commanded the magic around her, Aurora’s, and Fey Light’s wings to increase in velocity. The three blasted off at speeds that only Rainbow had been able to achieve before now. She knew, with training she would one day have no need for flight, she would be able to teleport herself anywhere she wanted, but that would have to wait. It was too dangerous to try right now.

They were going fast, too fast. Night created a magical spear to protect them from the wind pressure. Aurora gasped and looked at her. “How are you doing this?”

“It’s a long story, one we don’t have time for.”

“Why not?”

“Because, an alicorn has died. I sensed it in the cave when I was talking to the dragon. I can’t explain how I know, but I know.”

“Mom?”

Night did not know.

“Princess, I take it you found a way to stop her?” Fey asked, his professionalism never left him.

“I did, I think I can take away her magic.”

Fey nodded. “An equitable solution.”

Aurora just looked at Night in shock. “You would do that to her? Take away part of who she is?” Aurora could only imagine what that would be like for Ataxia. She shuddered at the thought.

“You don’t understand, Aurora; Ataxia is a weapon of fate itself. She can’t be stopped.”

Aurora did not know what to say about that.

“I’m not saying I want to do it, but if left with no choice. If it’s that or someone else I love dying before me, I will.”

Aurora just stared at her sister in silence.

“You were right about one thing. I… I cannot deny it any longer. I love Ataxia, but I will not let her kill someone else. She would never forgive herself or me if she knew I could stop her. I know you two had a falling out, but she is a good mare and I do love her.”

Aurora flew closer to her sister as the ground flew by. “I know she is. All those years ago, I sided with Dayspring because… because we thought it might change her. To be honest, she did change; she changed when you two became friends. That’s where we went wrong, she did not need tough love; she needed a friend. I’m… I’m glad it was you there for her.”

“I didn't let her down then, and I won’t now. Consider it a promise.” Night said as she commanded even more magic around the group, increasing their speed exponentially.

Author's Notes:

Shimmering Night, Demigoddess of Magic. What's her plan? Will she make it in time to help her family?

Can she stop fate? Can fate be stopped?