The streets of Canterlot were cold and frost covered. The capital of Equestria had been reduced to a frozen ghost town in a single day, as all signs of life seemed to have been wiped from the once beautiful city. Nearly every building in sight had three foot long icicles hanging from its gutters, while others seemed to have their wooden frames completely frozen over. Icy wind ripped through the deserted streets, chilling anyone to the bone that was foolish enough to be outside. In a spectacle of emerald energy, two such fools emerged from a nearby alleyway, sputtering as their lungs instantly begged for oxygen in the moistureless air.

Sunset and Daybreak fell over each other as their entire bodies numbed within mere moments of witnessing the cold. Daybreak instinctively pulled Sunset close to his chest as they lay in the frozen dirt, igniting a small flame in his palms. He hoped to at least warm their bodies enough to keep moving.

"W-why t-the f-f-fuck...didn't w-we b-b-bring...c-coats?"

Sunset smothered Daybreaks small flame within her hands, basically throwing her body on top of him to try and warm herself. "It w-wouldn't m-matter...I've f-felt t-this cold before...I t-think F-Famine is using W-Wendigo's to change the weather."

Daybreak groaned aloud, he hoped Sunset was wrong. As if the Horseman and Jackie weren't enough trouble on their own.

“Wendigo's...great...” The horse shaped specters always appeared in areas of great despair or carnage. They fed off the negative energy of humans, while perpetually freezing over the entire area until nothing was left but a frozen wasteland. Unfortunately, Canterlot came pretty close to accurately describing that scenario right about now. Though Daybreak hoped they were here for despair, not carnage.

Daybreak sneezed, sputtering curses under his breath as his nose stung against the air. At least they were wearing long sleeves and pants. He was glad Sunset had borrowed Rainbows clothes, he couldn't even imagine her being out here in a skirt right now. Not that he was fairing much better in his midnight sweat pants and shirt. But it was something at least.

Once Sunset had smothered herself long enough to warm her body, she placed her hands just above his. With a small jolt of energy, Sunset added her own fuel to his energy, and it more than doubled in size. Now instead of a tiny candle, it became a blaze the size of Daybreak's head. Nodding to each other, they both focused their attention on the miniature inferno, and slowly, their auras began to encase it in a pool of energy. The aura flowed like a calm stream of water to encircle both their bodies, warming them while creating a perpetual heat source from within that extended outwards only a few millimeters from each other. Eyes clenched shut, Daybreak expected the backlash from their mixing auras to come any second, but it never did. As he began to relax and they both opened their eyes, he couldn't help but smile even as they started their march towards the castle.

"That felt very...pleasant. Your aura is surprisingly compatible with mine. I'm even more impressed by how easily you picked up on what I was trying to do."

Sunsets cheeks flushed, but she scurried slightly ahead to hide it. However in this weather, with her skin so incredibly pale, it was all too obvious. Plus, she couldn't move too far away or she'd risk breaking the field keeping them warm. "Well you know, I use flame magic too. Sooo...I guess it's only natural we sync up."

He snorted "There's nothing natural about that. Flame magic is common among sorcerers sure, but my flames usually eat other peoples fire like snacks. Besides, me and Rainbow couldn't be more in tune with each other, yet her aura mixes with mine about as well as water and oil. Just look at the meds she has to take because of my energy sitting in her belly..." He paused for a moment, as if considering something to himself "...For as long as I can remember no one has ever been able to sync with my aura, not even Twilight. Yet your energy took to mine like it WAS natural. No backlash or side effects...I think I'm liking you more and more Sunset Shimmer. As a friend I mean."

Even more color flooded her cheeks, giving her face a much warmer feeling than their current energy fields could ever achieve. Daybreak spotted this with ease, even as Sunset tried to turn and hide it. "Did I say something to embarrass you? I'm not trying to flirt or anything...I'm just impressed, and intrigued I guess."

Sunset shook her head rapidly, refusing to look at him "I k-know you're not flirting. It's just...no one's complimented my spell work in awhile. Twilight is so used to me succeeding as her student that her comments have become a bit lackluster, and no one else really appreciates magic like her. So you're the first in awhile to really compliment me, and have it feel genuine."

With Sunset caught up in her thoughts, she failed to notice them approaching the castle gate, and the guard tower that stood on its walls. Daybreak, spotting this through the frost, grabbing Sunset by the back scruff of her shirt. He gave her a hard yank, pulling her out of sight around a street corner before they could be spotted by any potential watchmen. Sunset nearly tripped over herself as Daybreak pulled her against the wall, putting his finger on her lips before she could say anything. Slowly, he motioned with his hand, and pointed across the street. Sunset peeked around, and he watched the color drain from her face.

"I almost gave us away right at the beginning! How could I be so careless?!"

"It's alright" he assured her with a pat on the shoulder "I can see no one's up there. The frost in this air is thick with magic, but my eyes can easily distinguish the aura of livings creatures. So you're good either way. Just try and focus from now on, we might not be so lucky as we get closer to the castle."

Sunset nodded, reaching over her shoulder and withdrawing a map from her bag. Plopping down in the snow covered slush, she set her back against the wall and pointed to approximately where they were on the map.

"So if we are here. Then the best entrance to use is the one I went through when I broke in, since its the closest. It also bypasses the two patrols that I know of." She drew her finger up the next street, and towards the first wall, pointing at a man-hole cover just below the window to the guards quarters. Daybreak kneelt down beside her. Using the sewers made sense to him, it would be considerably easier since there was only ever one patrol that went down there, to his knowledge. Much simpler than when he'd broken in. He'd ninja'd his way through the whole castle the hard way. Not something he really needed to repeat.

He took the map from her and looked it over for a moment. "Are there any kinds of traps or barriers in the sewers that might be a problem?"

Sunset chuckled aloud "Not even a detection spell. Most of the time the guards are pretty heavy around the sewer entrances, but its like a maze down there. So there's no need to really protect it. The sewers don't lead directly into the castle, at least not anywhere we can exit. That is, unless you want to climb up and out of a toilet to get in?"

Daybreak felt a shiver travel through his spine that had nothing to do with the cold "Not a chance. But if it doesn't get us inside the castle, why bother going down there?"

"Because." Sunset started, snatching the map back from him, and pointing across the street to the man-hole cover. "One of the exits bypasses nearly every guard patrol, then we can just climb up and in through a window. With this weather I doubt most of the patrols are even roving, but just in case we should act as if they are and try to avoid their outside routes."

That seemed pretty well thought out. Since his experience with breaking in the castle had involved high powered magic and all inside work, he was forced to trust Sunset's plans until they were inside the castle. Then he could take the lead.

He offered Sunset a smile "I've got your back. After you."

She nodded, as a small pulse of energy echoed outward from her body. Her eyes narrowed while she mentally prepared herself for the task ahead. He could feel it, she was completely focused and her entire demeanor was changing. The energy flowing around him from her magic shifted as she did. It spiked in potency, beginning a much rougher flow around their bodies, like her adrenaline levels were rising on their own. She moved ahead so suddenly he was almost left behind in the slush! They crossed the street within eyesight of the guard tower. in total silence. It was such a soothing thing. The quiet calmness of it. Daybreak had almost forgotten what it felt like to be so focused on an objective. Those moments where nothing else mattered.

When his eyes closed to activate his magical vision, Daybreak found he couldn't even hear the sounds of their footsteps across the ice and frost. What a beautiful thing. They moved in perfect sync and made no noise. His left, her left, his right, her right. What perfection!

They turned another corner, making a quick dash across another street until they were directly under the guard tower. Now the man-hole cover was only a few feet away. When Sunset did not move for it, Daybreak thought perhaps she had momentarily lost her nerve. But a moment later, he realized what he had missed.

A light blue shape took form in his eyes...aura from a human body! He looked straight up, following the trail it left with his gaze. There was indeed one person on the guard post directly above his head. Daybreak saw the human shape clearly through the floor, but was shocked that he had failed to spot him until now. What was even more surprising was that Sunset had noticed him first. She looked back, and they locked gazes. Slowly she extended one finger, placing it against her lips. With her spare hand she pointed towards her chest, then upwards towards the floor of the tower. Daybreak nodded with understanding, taking a seat in the crunchy ice while Sunset moved.

Slowly she removed her pack, reached inside, and withdrew a thin, two foot copper wire. Wrapping one end around her right wrist, she reached up, and gave herself a boosted jump with magic. With supreme elegance, Sunset glided upwards to grip the bottom of the guard post that barely extended over the edge of the wall. She held absolutely still, careful not to swing back and touch the wall, lest she potentially set off any silent intruder spells it may posses. Daybreak watched on in awe, as the shape of the guards aura, turned, and took a few steps to the other side of his post. The shack was barely a six foot by six foot wooden box that stood overlooking the street and this section of the wall. The only way inside was the ladder that led directly down onto the other side. Meaning theoretically, it could only be accessed from someone on the inside of the wall. But because of the way this particular box extended ever slightly over the edge, to grant any roving guard the ability to look directly down over the wall, there was another way in. A way Sunset was now exploiting quite nicely. With the guards back now facing towards where she silently hung, Sunset wiggled her hips, and swung one leg up onto the wooden platform. As noiselessly as possible, she swung her other leg up, then pulled herself inside the tower.

Daybreak had to focus his gaze to make out what happened next. When Sunsets aura came close to the guards, things started to mesh together with all the magical energy in the air. But he was still able to make out the basics of what was happening. Slowly, Sunset came up behind the guard. The other end of the wire was now coiled around her opposite hand. In one fluid motion, she slipped the wire over and under the guards helmet, then pulled him back against her chest. The near silent sounds of gurgling drifted down to Daybreaks ears. It sparked the smallest flicker of excitement within his chest that made his face flush. After a moment of struggle the sounds ceased, and he watched the guards aura dim any outward flickers of energy. He was unconscious.

Only a moment passed between the lack of sound, and Sunsets reappearance. When she shimmied her way back down the guard post, and landed in front of him, Daybreak saw she was now armed with the guards magic stun lance. Sunset gripped either end of the lance and twisted. The lance shrunk to less than half its size in an instant, now it was barely a foot long, practically pocket sized. With a satisfied smirk, Sunset pulled a leather strap from her pack and wrapped the miniature staff around her waist. Daybreak was left with his jaw agape.

"You're secretly a ninja, and you can use a stun lance?!"

She shrugged her shoulders "Yeah." As though it wasn't any big deal.

Without a word she pulled her bag back onto her shoulders and moved over towards the man-hole cover, leaving Daybreak confused and...slightly excited. This Sunset was nothing like the one he had experienced so far in their short time together.

"Rainbow might get that three way she wants after all."

Once the duo were inside the sewers, things became much simpler. The passageways were narrow, there were twists and turns everywhere, but Daybreak could easily keep track of any approaching life with his magic vision now that they were out of the frost filled air. The stench certainly didn't help their morale though. Dank, putrid and smelling of wet rot were the first three things that came to mind when he tried to take note of their current surroundings. With all the frost formerly clinging to Daybreaks hair, he could now smell the wet stink of the sewer seeping into his scalp. It made him cringe with disgust.

Each step was like a thunder blast compared to the near silent walk they had taken outside. There was a small stone walkway just above the sewage, but the filth coated water constantly splashed onto it, making each step just as loud as if they were giving a standing ovation while they walked. Splish, splash, splish, splash. Every step of the way.

Even with all the moisture and the damp conditions, the temperature had not really improved. The sewage refused to freeze over, luckily for the citizens above, but bits of frost and ice still lined the walls, and Daybreaks breath still came out thick as fog. So any chance of saving energy by dispelling their magic was gone.

The one good thing was, that Sunset seemed to know which way she was going, for the time being at least. Daybreak was constantly reminding himself how fortunate it had been that he'd brought her along. He'd only explored the Canterlot sewers once, and that was over ten years ago. If he'd had to come this way on his own, he might have gotten severely lost before ever finding his way out. Then again, if he'd been alone he likely would have taken a very different method to entering the castle. A much louder method.

They rounded a sharp corner and Sunset held up her hand. Daybreak came to a stop right at her heel. Pulsing his vision father down the passage like a sonar, he squinted to find what she had spotted that he did not. But he saw nothing. Normally, this would have been enough for him to keep moving forward, but he decided to wait and see what Sunset was up to before jumping the gun. For a minute, they simply stood in silence. Waiting. For what, he did not know, but he chose to trust Sunsets judgement.

Splish. Splash. Splish. Splash.

The sounds of closing footsteps trudging along the walkway reached his ears. He squinted, pulsing his eyesight farther and farther until it hurt. But he saw nothing. No masses of aura appeared for him. He did not understand. He spun in place, silent as he could, looking in every direction. Perhaps they were approaching from a separate tunnel? But again, he saw nothing. His magic sight filled his world with nothing but black and white. No colored aura to grace his gaze. Something was wrong.

"Three guards are coming. Just ahead." Sunset whispered, crouching low to the muck. Daybreak followed suite, despite his magical senses swearing there was nothing ahead of them.

"Are you sure?" The eagerness for her to be wrong was very noticeable. But he doubted she knew why and it didn't matter, because his ears confirmed her words. The footsteps were obvious now, and growing closer.

"Absolutely. I think its the single patrol that occasionally comes down here. They shouldn't be a problem. But we need to take them down quick, all the patrols still have S.O.S scrolls ready in case of attack. I noticed it when I jumped the other guard. If any of them manage to burn one, we could have every guard in the city on us within minutes."

Daybreak remembered those scrolls. He'd made brief use of one when he'd made his own break in last time. Simply take out the scroll, burn it to ashes, and it sends out a constant magical pulse alerting every other person holding one to that location. If he remembered correctly, he'd stolen one, moved to the opposite side of the castle, and burned it there. Then he'd been able to simply stroll right into the study without a single guard in his way.

It would be considerably more convenient if he could pull of the same trick twice, but he had a feeling Sunset might have different plan in mind. As she pulled the copper wire from her pack once more, and posed down in a pouncing position, he had a feeling he knew where this was going to go. Banishing his magical sight, he prepared himself for the attack. Tapping Sunset on the shoulder, he motioned towards himself, then held up two fingers. Sunset nodded, understanding.

The guards would have to pass around this corner to continue onward through the sewers. Most of the twisting and winding tunnels were behind or in front of them. But the particular passage they were in right now was a straight shot except for a single turn, that Daybreak and Sunset now crouched on the other side of.

The footsteps grew louder, the group was close enough now that Daybreak could pick up on their conversation.

"So I said, 'sure Sergeant, we'll take the sewers for todays shift, tomorrow too while we're at it!' Last thing we want is to be around for that speech Princess Celestia is giving. Those things always cause such a ruckus with the crowds."

It wouldn't be long before they turned the corner and the trap would be sprung. Daybreak could feel the beads of sweat forming along his neck. He heard another voice answer the previous.

"Yeah man. I don't even get what the big deal is. It's just a speech. Princess Celestia gives those every other week. Why's this one so important?"

Sunset held up both her palms, and starting lowering her fingers one at a time. Ten seconds. The third voice answered the two men, though this one sounded older, like he'd swallowed some charcoal in his youth.

"You two don't pay enough attention at morning meetings. The speech today is about the current crisis. I hear she's gonna announce who's to blame and how she plans to deal with it...My money is on Discord...or that brat of hers running loose in Ponyville."

Daybreaks eyes widened. His fingers clenched. Sunset saw his eye twitch and tried to stop him. "Daybreak wait-!"

But he was already moving. As the first guards foot turned the corner, Daybreak jumped out and planted a fully magic powered knee strike into his chest plate! The guards golden plate bent inwards, and a loud crunch echoed across the tunnel! He might have broken one or two of the mans ribs with that strike. The young man dropped to his knees and fell over silent before the other two guards could even react to what was happening.

Daybreak wasted no time in attacking the other two, not wanting to lose the advantage their current shock gave him. As the second young man fumbled for his stun lance, Daybreak took a step, planted his foot, and spun into a roundhouse! The kick swept the mans lance from his inattentive hand before he could extend it to full length...and may have also dislocated his wrist. Daybreak didn't stop to consider. As his leg came back around, he reached out with his right hand, and grasped up the disarmed man in his aura. With barely a swipe of his wrist, the guard was lifted into the air, and slammed against the side of the tunnel repeatedly! A second, but much louder crunch echoed throughout the tunnel, and the man dropped to the ground like a rag doll. It was likely his shoulder had shattered. He did not get up again.

By this point the third, and much older guard had withdrawn his lance and activated it. The three foot pointed spear in his hands was a formidable weapon, and one Daybreak couldn't afford to be struck by. If he was stabbed, cut, or even slightly scraped by the tip of the weapon, his entire body would instantly numb and he'd lose all motor functions. Added onto that, the spear emitted a small field that resisted levitation magic, so he couldn't simply toss the man or his weapon aside like the other. The older gentleman stood his ground, gently tossing the spear between hands like a baton, baiting him. The guards feet shuffled, not stepped, as he inched closer to Daybreak, his eyes resting on his (now) enflamed hands.

Daybreak knew he had to act before the man could think of reaching for his scroll. But he also couldn't afford to be careless. One scrape and it was over. Daybreak smiled, the mans eyes narrowed.

Daybreak feinted forward, his right hand igniting further for a fiery punch. The man fell for it, and thrust his spear out. Daybreak snickered aloud, easily twirling about the spear and coming up on the rugged man, aiming a fiery punch straight for his mouth. The guard made no attempt to dodge, instead he leaned back, raising his free hand to shield his face. Daybreaks eyes widened in shock as he saw what his hand held. The S.O.S scroll!

Too late to pull his punch, Daybreak forced himself to trip, missing the scroll and the mans face by mere inches. As he stumbled forward and the older man grinned, Daybreak knew it was over. The guards elbow came down on the top of his skull, dropping him to the ground, with stars in his eyes. He lifted his foot to stomp down atop Daybreaks face, but never made it through the motion.

A current of red lightning sparked to life behind the mans body, encircling him, electrifying him in a glorious display of lightning magic! The mans mouth opened in a silent yell as his whole body was swiftly fried, then his eyes rolled back and his form crumpled to the muck. As the guard fell, Daybreak spotted Sunset Shimmer standing behind him with her own lance extended, and her aura flowing along the spears tip.

Daybreak smiled as she strode forward and extended him her hand, pulling him up "I had it handled."

Without warning, Sunsets hand found the back of his head, swatting him right where the guard had struck him moments ago. "What the hell was that? You nearly got yourself stunned! Idiot."

He rubbed the back of his sore head, while she restored her spear at her hip "Whatever. I took two, and you got one. That was basically the plan anyways."

Her eyes narrowed, she dangled her copper wire in front of his face, along with the S.O.S scroll the guard had pulled on him. "If you had let me take the first one like I planned, you could have dispatched the other two without incident. You nearly got us caught! That guard played you, and made you nearly set his scroll on fire for him! What would we have done then huh?!...Since when do you let people get to you so easily anyways? Those guards didn't even know you were here when they said those things!"

“That's the problem, stupid Canterlot pricks...” He muttered. Sunset saw his eyes flash a brief azure, but a moment later it was gone and he was wafting his hand at her dismissively “Anyways lighten up. I let it go when you fucked up earlier, so let's call it even...I wanted one of them conscience, by the way."

Sunset pointed back towards the youngest of the three, the one whose ribs were most likely broken. "The first one is still awake. What are you hoping to learn anyways?"

Daybreak moved past her and rolled up his sleeves. "You'll see."

He approached the first guard, reaching down and tearing his bent chest plate off him, along with his helmet. He pulled the young man to his knees by his shoulder plates. "Tell me when and where Celestia's speech is taking place."

“Fuck you.”

Daybreak narrowed his eyes “Let's try again. Tell me why I can't see your aura.”

The young man spat in his face, eyes burning with defiance. Daybreak felt his eye twitch. "Right then." His right hand burst into flames. He allowed the young man to view his hand, before he began to slowly move it towards his face, showing that he intended to grab him around the mouth. The mans eyes widened in fear, but his lips remained closed. Daybreak had a subtle admiration for his determination to duty. But that wouldn't stop him from burning the guards skin off his lips.

Sunsets hand appeared on his shoulder, she pulled his arm back "My way is less messy."

Grumbling, Daybreak allowed her to get between him and the young man. She took hold of his shirt, and placed her free hand upon his forehead. "Just relax" She whispered softly, before her eyes and his ignited in a flash of white light.

It lasted less than a second, and Sunset released the boys shirt. The guards eyes rolled back into his skull, and he dropped, out like a light. Sunset stood and dusted herself off “Their armor distorts their aura, making them nearly impossible to detect by magic, that's why you couldn't see them.”

Daybreak smiled, he was impressed. “What did you do to him?”

She smiled "I probed his mind. I'm very good with mind magic. Enough so that if I touch someone's forehead, I can usually see all of their thoughts and memories. Unless their mental blocks are extremely advanced. I'd probably have trouble with someone like you or Twilight."

Daybreaks eyes darted to the unconscious guard, now drooling in the muck. He briefly recalled back to when he'd first met Sunset and tried to probe her mind. Now it made sense why she'd so easily deflected him. "Does it always knock out the victim?"

"Not always. Only if I want it to." She stepped over the unconscious man and moved to check the condition of the other two "The speech is tomorrow at noon by the way, at the center of town. Apparently a protective barrier is going up to keep citizens warm. If you want to hear it, we need to get inside the study tonight. We can catch some sleep there and try to get back out in time to hear it. Why are you interested anyways?"

Daybreak pointed at the three guards, shooting three quick sparks out of his fingertips to their bodies. The small streams of magic coursed through the air and sunk into the ground beside each man. Cracks appeared in the floor around them as several gunk covered vines erupted from the ground and bound the men to the floor. "There, that should keep them here until we leave Canterlot." He cracked his knuckles before speaking again. "If Celestia has a real plan to deal with Famine. I want to hear it."

"You aren't gonna do anything reckless are you?" Sunsets concern was well reserved, but she couldn't hide it from him.

"No." He answered quickly. "Like you said, I have more important concerns now than whatever Celestia wants. I just want to know if her plan makes sense. That's it, then we're gone."

"Fine. Let's get moving then." Sunset still sounded unsure, but it didn't matter. He knew she'd help him regardless of how she felt about the situation, that's just the kind of person she was.

The rest of their journey through the sewers passed without incident or excitement. Daybreak was almost disappointed, thrashing those guards had been enjoyable. Especially when he got to see Sunset show her true colors. It was her true self after all. That's how he felt about her more focused, more mission oriented attitude. All her awkwardness and quirks vanished from sight when she was focused like she was now. On only the mission. Just watching her move was a testament to his theory. No movement was wasted, each step was precise and with purpose. Even her strides grew larger when she was focused. So much so that he was struggling to keep pace without breaking into a jog.

The final corner found them, and with it, the man-hole cover that was their exit. Sunset disappeared up the ladder like she'd teleported, leaving only her hand behind, extended downwards to help him up. With a smile, he gladly accepted her aid.

The cold was the first thing to greet him again, sending a familiar feeling straight down his back, and prompting a slight intensifying of their warming spell. His eyes temporarily saw spots as the light greeted him next. While they adjusted, he made out the shape of the guard barracks window just above their heads, one story up. Sunset had been right, of course. They were exactly where they had planned to be. Which meant all that was left was to sneak in through the window.

Sunset stared at the building before them, particularly, she stared at the wall. This time, Daybreak knew what she was doing. There were likely a multitude of intruder charms and spells placed on all of the buildings to prevent anyone from entering quietly. The trouble was usually discovering which ones there were and how to disarm each one. That could take considerable time. However this was where his own skill set came in handy. His method for entering the castle would likely still be effective, even after all these years.

"Sunset, back up a sec. I got this."

She back retreated from the wall without question, but eyed him with curiosity. There was a certain satisfaction he took behind his method of entry, and he was likely radiating that smugness so hard Sunset could have smelled it. Although that might just be the stench of the sewers still upon him. He reached into his bag, and withdrew another drawing. It was a detailed interpretation of the side of the castle. Slightly different surroundings though, likely a different quadrant of the castle. It also had two differences Sunset knew were his own additions. There were stairs leading up the side of the wall, and a person sized hole at the end of the those stairs leading right into the side of the building. Daybreak sat down crossed legged and withdrew some colored pencils from his sack. "This should only take me a minute or so." His smugness was like a cloud of hubris hovering over his head.

Despite the creativity of this plan, Sunset couldn't help seeing an obvious flaw in it. One she had to voice before Daybreak got to engrossed in his art.

"Don't you think Princess Celestia would expect something like this from you? I mean...wouldn't this obviously be something you'd do?"

The smug smirk on his face grew to inhuman proportions. "It would. If Celestia knew I could."

"She doesn't know you can do that?!" Sunset was flabbergasted that Daybreaks own mother wouldn't know the limits of his abilities.

"She has no idea! I never once showed her my drawings could bend reality when I lived here. I drew of course, but only for enjoyment. Never for magic. I learned this all by myself! Of course, daddy dearest helped me push the limits a bit. But besides that, this is all self taught!" Daybreak laughed aloud, swiping his colored pencil across the page like he was slicing a piece of imaginary bread. The laugh was a little too loud for her comfort. Even in the current weather climate, she didn't want to press their luck that one or two guards might be stuck in the cold patrolling. But there was no point in asking him to quiet down. By the time she considered it, he was already focused back on his drawing again.

"Wow..." She wasn't sure what else to say. A trump card like that in his pocket was certainly something worth hiding. Then another thought occurred to her.

"Does Twilight know?"

The pencil stopped dancing for a moment, but only for a moment, before resuming its work. "No...I showed her once when we were kids. I drew her a doll, and made it sprout out of the page. But she didn't know it was chaos magic back then, she just knew it was advanced. So she was impressed and I never had to explain myself."

"Oh...ok then. In that case I'm honored you trust me enough to show me."

She sounded sincere enough, but there was something else there. Daybreak just wasn't sure what. "I didn't even think about it honestly. I mean, it's obvious I trust you. So I just did it trusting you'd keep it yourself."

"I will."

Sunsets voice was a little too soft for his liking. But he ignored it, content that she would return to her badass self when they resumed their task. Instead he focused on the finishing strokes of the picture. This magic relied heavily on attention to detail. To make his pictures become reality, the most insignificant details had to be near completely accurate, else he could face backlash in many forms. But he'd mastered detailed artistry long ago in his solitary travels, so things like the simple editing of a previous drawing were child's play. With a final few precious strokes of his pencil, he shaded in the last segments of the stairs he was about to add to the side of this building.

The final shades finished, Daybreak held the paper aloft, and examined his work. With a satisfied nod of approval, he released the paper to the air. Sunset gasped, probably assuming the sheet would float away with the wind, but it stopped and held itself crisp and still. A paperclip sized ball of energy appeared in Daybreaks palm. He twirled it over his hand until it rolled to the edge of his fingertip, then he flicked it at the drawing. It struck the paper and shattered into light showering of colorful sparks. The sheets outlines glowed in a bright light, surrounding it in a beautiful coat of energy.

“Edit.” She heard him whisper under his breath.

Sunset watched on in awe as the bricks of the building before them began to shift and turn, building themselves outwards. Daybreak bobbed his head, as if moving to the beat of the moving stone and danced his way up the shifting blocks of the wall. It was an odd, yet enticing thing to behold. He bobbed and shimmied his way up the building blocks, until the bricks carried him up to a Daybreak sized hole now forming in the side of the wall. The bricks ceased their movement, and just like his drawing showed, there was now a perfect little staircase leading up to a hole, within which Daybreak now stood.

Daybreak bowed to her silent applause "Do join me milady."

Sunset chuckled and hopped her way up the stairs. While she hopped Daybreak decided to warn her ahead of time. "Careful not to touch anything other than the stairs, don't want to set off the intruder spells."

Sunset was able to understand how he had gotten in so easily alone last time. He didn't tamper with any of the spells or protections Celestia had in place, he likely just worked around them. With a skill like this at his disposal, they could walk right through all of the traps that awaited them in the study rooms tunnels without issue. This was going to be easier than she thought.

"This, might be harder than we thought." Sunset commented bluntly as her and Daybreak hid around a thin corner from a large squad of guards.

Once inside the castle, the walk to the study was relatively easy. With both their knowledge of the area combined, they had bypassed all the major points of foot traffic. The royal guard barracks gave them a straight shot past the throne room doors to the Princesses study on the other side of the room. The only problem was, the giant twin doors that led to the throne room had about twenty guards standing in front of it. They had to make it across to the opposite side of the room, so they could slip through a small door there, and descend to the study. But if those giant doors opened any time before they could get past this room, or any of the guards spotted them and gave shout, they were done. There was little doubt in either his or Sunsets mind that, with their luck, both Princesses were right on the other side of those doors sitting on their thrones, just waiting for them to fuck up and get caught.

Since it was night time, it was actually more likely that only Princess Luna was awake, and Celestia was asleep in her chambers. But Daybreak really didn't want to take that risk. Even though Luna liked him, he doubted she'd simply let them pass if she caught them here and learned where they were headed. Sunset seemed to be sharing the same problem in her head, as she too peeked around the corner and shot silent death glares at the platoon blocking their way across.

"I could always distract them long enough to let you pass?" Sunset quietly offered.

Daybreak dismissed that idea instantly "That leaves us with you getting caught for sure, we're trying to keep you out of that remember? Unless you think you can take out twenty armed royal guards, completely silent?"

Sunset giggled "Just testing you. I wanted to see what you'd say."

"Not the time for a friendship test Sunset." He said, half annoyed. "Abandoning you never even crossed my mind."

"I know, I know. Back to serious mode now." She fell silent and went back to glaring. Perhaps that was her trying to think of a solution.

There were many possible solutions to this problem, sure, but nearly all of them involved making some kind of noise. There was no way they were knocking them all out without at least one or two making some loud sounds. So violence was out of the picture. Stealth could work, maybe, but the odds of sneaking by that many men and women without even one spotting them were just as low as them knocking them all out. Sunset ruffled her own hair in frustration, which meant she had nothing. Turning her attention to Daybreak, she hoped he had a better imagination.

Although the look on his face was clearly one of a plan forming, it had a certain devils grin to it that she knew she wasn't going to like. Almost afraid to ask, she tugged on his sleeve. “Got any ideas?”

His grin widened “I've got the perfect plan actually...How good is your Celestia impression?”

Sunsets head tilted “My what now?”

“This is ridiculous!” Sunset mumbled aggressively in the voice of Princess Celestia, as she strode out from the behind the corner where Daybreak now stood alone, shooting her a double thumbs up.

“There is no way this is going to work” She thought to herself, despite the absolutely perfect disguise she now wore. When Daybreak had started to tell her his plan, she'd known instantly she would hate it. And she was right. Now here she was, warped by chaos magic to look and sound exactly like Princess Celestia, and striding towards a platoon of armed guards.

Despite her assurances that his plan was the dumbest thing they could have come up with, the disguise itself was actually quite perfect. With an impressive display of artistic skill, Daybreak had drawn up a perfect model of Sunset, then drawn Princess Celestia over top of that drawing. The transformation itself had been unpleasant, but no one could argue with the results. Sunsets entire being now felt and looked just like the Princess. She almost wished it wasn't so realistic, it was taking her severe effort not to slouch against the weight of her ridiculous chest size.

“How does this woman walk with these?! I guess a thousand years does that...” She cursed Celestia for having such a massive chest size. Seriously, it was beyond realistic. The rest of her form had been perfectly replicated as well. Her long silk white robes and regal golden relics adorned her skin. Even her crown had been perfectly replicated.

As Sunset strode forth towards the platoon of guards, she watched each of them slowly catch sight of her. It only took a brief second for the highest ranking among to quickly shout “Attennnnntion!” and the whole group snapped upright and still. Sunset, with considerable effort, walked over to the man who'd shouted the order. She did her best to seemingly peer over the group, as if she were assessing them. The sweat was visible on some of the guards, while others shivered in their armor. Though this couldn't have been from fear of her, more likely from the frigid temperature even inside the castle.

Sunset locked eyes with the most forward man, taking quick care to notice his rank. “Captain!” She did her best to speak with authority. The man who called the platoon to attention stood up even straighter than before “Yes Princess?”

She paused for effect, taking one last sweeping glance across the small crowd before speaking again. “You and your men...go take a rest and warm yourselves in the barracks. This cold is grueling and I need you at your peak for tomorrow. Be back here in one hour!”

There was a moment of light murmur amongst the crowd, during which the Captain began to visibly sweat. When he did not respond or move Sunset raised Celestia's brow. “Is there a problem here Captain?”

“No ma'am!” The scruffy Captain swiftly spun in place to face his men “You all heard your Princess...fallout to the barracks for one hour!”

As the men and woman turned to leave, the Captain stayed behind until the last one had exited the area. Then he followed suite, but not before snapping to attention again and exclaiming “Thank you ma'am! They really need this!”

Sunset struggled not to blush and nodded slowly “See to it that they return on time.”

The captain popped a salute, then quickly followed after his troops from the room. Once the last of the guards had cleared out, Sunset breathed a visible sigh of relief and motioned for Daybreak to come out. Together the pair quickly scurried across the room throwing open the small door to the private study. Once they were inside and down the first flight of stairs Daybreak stopped. Unable to hold it in anymore, he burst into laughter!

“That was brilliant! Absolute perfection! Bravo! Bravo! You should take up acting!” He applauded her as he clenched his gut.

Sunset groaned aloud “Yeah, Yeah. Whatever. Just get me out of this stupid thing. You can't imagine how heavy your mothers freaking chest is.”

A few more giggles and chuckles escaped Daybreak as he steadied himself against the stone passageway “And I have no desire to find out. Let's keep moving, I'll draw up the counter spell while we go.”

Agreeing with little more than a groan, Sunset ignited a small light in her palm to guide their way in the dark passage. As the duo moved farther and farther down the stairwell, she began to notice her body becoming increasingly lighter. Looking down, Sunset was able to physically see her chest shrink back to its proper size and her skin return to her preferred shade of orange. The golden crown and relics evaporated from her body into wisps of air, while the white silk robes rolled inwards to fold back into the sweat pants and shirt she'd borrowed from Rainbow. By the time they reached the bottom and stood in front of the door to the study, Sunsets form had completely returned to normal.

“I never thought I'd be so happy to have my boobs shrink!” She exclaimed, squeezing her chest together through her clothes.

“Can we keep the conversation off my mothers tits please, or yours, thank you....geez some woman I swear.” Daybreak grumbled as he leaned over to examine the locked door.

Sunset blew a raspberry at him “You'd get it if you had to lug them around all the time!”

“Yeah well, maybe next time I'll turn into my mother and we can see how that goes. Now please focus. This lock is different than the one I remember from before.”

Sunsets hand appeared by his face, igniting the lock with more detail as she held her light beside it. “Does it even matter? Just draw us a passage through the wall. With your power we can skip every trap and obstacle here.”

Daybreak turned to her, a scowl scrunched into his brow. “You know, that stuff isn't easy. Turning you into Celestia, wasn't easy. I have to physically alter reality or matter when I do things like that. The drawing itself is simple for me but, actually summoning the magic to make that drawing into reality takes alot of power directly from my magic reserves. I need to use that sparingly, I'm not like my father. I can make us a couple of shortcuts depending on what's in our way, but for things like this...just pick the damn lock Sunset.”

His harsher than normal tone told Sunset she had struck some kind of nerve. Sunset threw up her hands in immediate defense. “Whoa, I um...didn't know. Sorry.”

Daybreak turned away from her “It's fine. I didn't mean to get upset. I just don't want you, or anyone, to rely on my chaos magic. I may hate my mother, but her flames are more suited to me than my chaos powers. I can actually control my fire...let's just move on.”

“Right.” Sunset knelt down to the lock. The sensation of freshly displaced gravel dug into her knee. This was odd since they were the only ones down here, but she ignored it for now. The lock was indeed different than the one she remembered from last time she as here, but to her that only made sense. After two burglaries, anyone who wouldn't upgrade their defenses in some way was a fool. But still, upgraded or not, the lock was no match for her. The magic sealing the door was still ancient, as ancient as the padlock looked to be, with it rusted design and gritty feeling. This would normally have been a good thing, as most intruders would not be versed in the simple ways of ancient magic. Modern magic was complex, requiring spells overlapping other spells, so anyone trying to break through this would likely become perplexed at the simplicity of the charm. But not Sunset. Her studies into ancient arts were nearly on par with Twilight, she'd spent hours back in her youth brushing up on ancient spell work. This was simple.

The lock was surrounded by a protective field, with one simple charm encasing the keyhole to protect it from damage or any normal lock picking. The aura that coursed over the hair on her skin as she reached for the lock, pulsed out on word in her head. Lock . Plain and simple. This would hold up nearly anyone for an extended period of time, because a burglar would likely spend hours trying to divulge the specifics of the binding spell. Lock for what? Lock against what? Against who? What kind of lock? These kinds of questions were always on potential thieves minds. It was why modern magic was so complex. Each spell cast as protection usually only protected against a specific thing. “Lock against any but the owner” or “Lock against anyone who is alone”. The specific parameters of each spell was what allowed burglars with time and experience to break down and break through any safe guards.

Meanwhile the charm on this door merely pulsed one word in her mind. Lock . So this would leave any overly analytical burglar at a loss. But the solution was as simple as the charm.

Sunsets fingers danced over the air just above the lock. The magical energy surrounding the lock sizzled over her fingertips as her skin barely brushed the outer edge of the energy field. She leaned over, until her lips were also inches from the field and whispered. “Key” waving her fingers just outside the keyhole.

The sizzling ceased and the padlock open with a definitive click . Sunset smiled “Cake.”

She turned to Daybreak, gesturing inwards with her arm as the door to the study swung open before them. “After you good sir.”

Daybreak responded with a nod, holding out his palm and casting a light energy around it to guide their way in the darkened room.

When the pair entered the study, Daybreak had expected to find the room as he had before, thick with dust and cobwebs, the smell of stale oxygen bleeding throughout the room. But it was not the case this time around. The room had undergone some spring cleaning since the last time he'd been inside. The rotten wooden table, had been replaced or renewed. The tiny candle sticks that had once littered the oversized desk had been replaced with small oil lamps. The formerly cluttered desk had been cleared and the untidy scrolls returned to their proper shelves. The dank smell of stale oxygen and old paper, now smelled of a freshly cut grass, like someone had hung one of those tiny air fresheners somewhere inside the room. Daybreak knew it had been a good couple years since his last escapade down here, but he hadn't expected to find the room so different. Even back when he was a student here, it had always been painfully obvious the Princesses never used their private study for anything but a cluttered storage closet. Guess sometime in recent years they must have redeveloped a need for the place again. And recently too.

Daybreaks nose detected the faint trace of a familiar female scent in the air as he neared the overly sized desk. The chair was also pulled back from its usual spot, indicating someone had been sitting there recently. The desk, although cleaned and clear of paper, had the smallest traces of fresh ink blotches across its surface. They were cleaned up well, and would likely have been hard to notice in the near darkness of the room. For anyone except Daybreak, whose eyes were well trained for spotting these small details. Clearly this room had been used recently, possibly even in the last twenty-four hours.

That small issue made Daybreak uncomfortable as he withdrew Jackie's instructions from his backpack. It was a little too convenient in his mind for someone to have just been here before they were. But he put that thought away for now, and focused on what he came for. Holding his glowing palm to the surface of the paper, he walked around the room, searching for the hidden entrance described in the instructions. He noticed Sunsets own glowing hand appear over his shoulder, along with her eyes, attempting to peer at his information in his hand.

“Can I help you?” He asked dryly, her attempts were in no way subtle.

Sunset took a step back and placed a hand on her hip “It occurred to me that I never followed up on one of my conditions for going on this adventure. I thought I might recognize the hand writing on that paper. But I don't...So who told you about the hidden room?...Also the mechanism is a bit more to the left.”

Daybreaks fingers ceased their crawling along the painting which he was currently fondling and looked back down at his instructions. “Oh” He moved over slightly, and shoved two fingers inside a small statue of the sun that adorned a tiny marble model of the solar system. Inside he felt a small button, which he pushed with delicate precision, then quickly withdrew his fingers in case of any trap that might lay within. When he heard Sunset snicker at his reaction, he turned to her scowling, even as the wall before them moved forward and aside to reveal a passageway.

“If you know the details, you could save me alot of time ya know.”

But Sunset just waved her had at him dismissively “Someone went through the trouble of writing those instructions down for you, I'd hate to let them go to waste. And once again, you've avoided my question. Who told you about the room.”

Daybreak turned, intent on moving ahead, but this time Sunset wasn't content to wait. He felt her hand on his shoulder, turning him back to face her. “Daybreak, you agreed to tell me.”

She sounded serious. Her mood was back to how it had been before the Celestia transformation. Honestly it was the mood of hers he preferred. It was also the mood of hers, he didn't want to get on the bad side of. He submitted with a sigh. “Alright, alright. You win...It was Jackie.”

The information seemed to take a minute to fully process in Sunsets brain, since she just stood there blinking at him. “As in Jackie Blaze?”

“Do we know another?” He spoke plain, but blunt. He knew what was coming.

“And...you thought it would be a good idea to listen to her? The woman who sliced up Twilight's eyes and wants to send you to literal hell, you just trusted her? That sounds like a great idea!”

Daybreak couldn't tell if Sunset was mad at him or not. Her voice raised slightly, but her features barely changed as she spoke. Maybe she wasn't even surprised.

“What does it matter? She was right, I knew that the moment you confirmed the place existed. Trust has nothing to do with it. I don't trust her. But she was right. I don't care what her game is, whatever knowledge is down here about me is mine to know. I deserve to know it!”

He might have placed a little too much emphasis on his words, because now Sunset looked surprised. Shocked even. Despite that, she still sounded calm. “Daybreak...whatever is down there, Jackie clearly wants you to find it. You know that means it can only be bad.”

“I don't care.” Daybreak spoke plainly as he stepped forward into the passageway behind the wall. He peered ahead, holding his palm aloft casting the light as far ahead as he could. The passageway descended downwards quite a bit. Enough that he couldn't see beyond it. Sunset came forwards from his rear, and stepped in front of him. Now in his way, but not necessarily blocking his path Sunset put a single hand up to halt him.

“Daybreak, I agreed to help you. And I will. But I need to know that no matter what you find down there, you'll still honor your end of this agreement.”

When he responded with nothing more than a raised eyebrow, she clarified “When we are done here, you take Rainbow and leave. No side trips.”

Sunset certainly sounded much harsher this time around. It was understandable considering what she must be thinking, but stung nonetheless. Because it meant she doubted his word.

“Sunset, haven't we been over this already? I said I'd go.”

“This changes things. Say it again.” Her words were blunt and her eyes narrow. She was serious, and likely untrusting. Daybreak felt like spitting in disgust.

“Nothing's changed for me. Unlike you, I already knew all this beforehand, and I agreed anyways.” His eyes narrowed, meeting Sunsets equally harsh gaze. She opened her mouth to retort him, but he cut her off before she could utter a word.

“Don't , insult me or my word Sunset!” He gripped at his shirt, hands burning with a growing agitation. A rough growl escaped from the depths of his throat as he pulled fiercely against fabric around his neck, revealing the spot where Rainbows element resided within him. He placed his hand over his chest, where the element had nearly burned a mark into him hours prior. “My word is my pride Sunset Shimmer! Rainbow entrusted her element to me and until it melts through my chest, you have no reason to be doubting my loyalty! Got it?”

Sunsets lips quivered. Multiple things she wanted to say tottered on the edge of her tongue, but she thought better of it and simply nodded. “I'm sorry. Please understand Daybreak, I wasn't trying to insult you-”

“I know. Apology accepted. Now lets keep moving.” He turned, and headed down the passage, making it clear their conversation was over.

Even as Sunset followed behind him, wordless, a growing feeling of dread was beginning to take shape within her gut. Something felt wrong, and she had little doubt that the source of her anxiety lay at the end of their journey here. She could only hope that her instincts were off.

Princess Twilight Sparkle sat at the edge of her hospital bed, her feet dangling just above the floor as she pulled her patients gown back over her body. A knock at her door had roused her from sleep, and now she moved with as much effort as she could muster to answer her visitor. The familiar feminine voice of her nurse trickled to her ears from underneath the door.

“Princess Twilight...you have a visitor. May I come in?”

“Yes, go ahead. Who is it?” She replied, pulling the last sleeve of her robe into place. The door creaked open slowly, while Twilight fumbled her feet around the floor, searching for her slippers. A single pair of footsteps were audible entering the room, then the door shut instantly behind them. “An old friend” A voice echoed forward, a male voice, that sent a shiver of fear down her back. “Now, now, don't trouble yourself for me Princess. As the Lord of Chaos I've seen Celestia in much less, why don't you just get...comfortable.”

Twilight's lips parted in a scream, but no sound escaped her as a rough set of fingers appeared behind her and closed around her mouth. Discords surprisingly strong arms pulled her back roughly against his chest, his voice hissing inside her ear. “Now, now Princess, no need for that!” Twilight struggled against her captor. She twisted and turned against his grip, but his fingers held her tight against him, refusing to release her and clasping over her nose as well. A sigh of disappointment escaped her assailant “Princess if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. Stop fighting and just relax, or I'll have to put you to sleep for awhile.”

The futility of Twilight's struggle was more than obvious to her, but still, to be made helpless by this man...it was beyond damaging to her pride. However, as her lungs began to burn, and her lips begged for breath, her pride started to matter less and less. Another moment or two of struggling, and Twilight finally fell still. Discord brought his lips to her ears. “Now I'm going to release you Princess, kindly don't scream.”

Twilight felt Discords fingers slip away, dragging roughly over her lips and leaving her feeling dirtied just from his touch. Upon her freedom, Twilight's legs buckled and she dropped for the floor, but Discord caught her under her arm pits and helped her steady her body against the metal rim of her bed. Twilight bent over the rim, gasping for breath, heaving in great lungful's of air as she attempted to right herself. Discord took two steps back, giving her space as she regained her composure.

“I swear, you princesses, always so dramatic. What, were you going to fight me off all by yourself in your blind and helpless state?”

“Helpless?” Even out of breath, her words came out like a snarl. A gust of wind swept throughout the room as Twilight stood herself upright towards the sound of Discords voice. Crackles of dark purple energy swam up Twilights legs and encircled her body, forming pools of energy bubbles at the base of her palms. The air in the room became heavy with the weight of her latent power “I'll show you helpless!”

The beginnings of two dangerous looking beams of energy were forming in her hands. The energy cracked menacingly around her knuckles, as she slowly raised her palms in Discords direction.

Discord snickered “Oh my, still as fiery as ever. But I didn't come here to fight, dear Princess. I came to talk. So kindly put out that fire in your gut and sit down. This is important.”

Even though his voice still wreaked of deception, Twilight had a feeling he was being sincere. It's not like he couldn't have already killed her if he'd wanted to. The energy in her hands dissipated, as Twilight took a step back and sat down on her mattress.

“Ok...what could you possibly want to talk about?”

Discords gaze fell on her, she could feel him looking at her injured eyes. His next words came out soft, and old sounding, like the thousands of years he'd lived caught up to him all at once.

“I want to talk to about you about the future, Princess Twilight, and how you may be the only person who can change it.

“What is this place?”

The words escaped both Sunset and Daybreaks lips as they exited yet another moving stone passageway. But instead of dumping them into even more empty tunnels, they came out inside a room shimmering with radiant crystalline light. They had been wondering dark, empty, trap filled tunnels for so long the light stung their eyes. Sunset brought her palm to her face, shielding her gaze from the painful shine of unknown light sources. The room looked completely different from any area they'd been in the past hours. No hidden arrow traps, moving stone walls, or swinging pendulums in sight to try and kill them. Just a single, open, circular room, with walls lined ceiling to floor in a rainbow barrage of crystals and colors.

The floor of the room stood in contrast from the rest of the area. No crystal touched the surface of the ground, which was instead covered in a perfectly trimmed line of lime green grass. The grass had been trimmed in such a way that made it appear to spiral inwards on itself towards the center of the room. Within that center stood a tiny marble pedestal, extending upwards about six feet from the floor. The starch white marble held only one item on its thin, pancake-like stand...a small, sky blue, crystal basket. Even from the entrance Daybreak could see crystals making up that basket were different than any other in the room. While the other crystals within the odd cavern shone brightly, radiating their light like tanning lamps, this one gave off no such brilliance. Even as Daybreak entered and approached the center of the room, attempting to look at the basket from different angles, no light refracted off or through its surface. It was dull, and as he approached closer, gave off a overwhelming feeling of sadness.

“This feels...familiar.”

Daybreaks fingers found themselves reaching for the object. Ten plus years of magical training told him not to touch mysterious objects. But he needed to touch it. Something in its sad, melancholy color called to him. He could hear it. But before his fingers could graze its surface, Sunsets hand appeared on his shoulder, pulling him back from the object.

“What are you doing?” She asked, as Daybreak stumbled back, shaking his head to clear the fuzzy thoughts within. “You don't know what that is!”

“But it's calling me.” He'd spoken much calmer and more confident than he'd thought he'd sound. Sunsets gaze drifted to the dull basket. As her eyes gazed into the crystal, she felt something within her chest lurch forward. Her fingers twitched in its direction, but only briefly. The fleeting feeling passed like a small breeze, but Sunset found herself stepping back from the object.

“I don't think we should be here Daybreak. This isn't the room I found before...Hey are you listening to me!?” Daybreaks gaze did not break from the basket, he barely even acknowledged Sunset until she gave him a shake. “Hey! Did you hear me? This isn't the place we want!”

“But it is, mon cher.”

Sunset spun in place, twirling back around to face the entrance of the room, and the all too familiar voice. Jackie Blaze stood, leaning against the stone entrance way, which was their only exit from the room. Her patients garb had been replaced by a long black cloak, which dangled off to her side as she leaned against the wall, revealing her familiar crimson red bikini underneath. She offered Sunset a smirk “Did you miss me?”

Fire mixed with orange energy swirled upwards from the floor, entangling Sunsets body like tendrils from an octopus, and coming to rest around the ends of her hands. “You should have stayed in the hospital. At least there you wouldn't have had the misfortune of meeting me away from my friends.”

“Oh? Going to take me on all by yourself?”

Sunset knew Jackie was baiting her, but she would not be fooled. “Me and Daybreak are more than a match for you.”

“You might vant to check again mon cher.” Jackie raised a single finger in her direction. Sunset tensed her body, preparing for an attack. But none came. Jackie just pointed. Sunset bit her lip, knowing it was probably a trap, a very obvious trap...but she took the bait anyways and looked. Turning her back to Jackie for just a moment, she saw Daybreak had moved from his previous position. He was once again next to the basket, but now his right hand was extended forth and was gripping it's crystalline edge. His eyes appeared glazed over when she looked at him, like he was in a trance. In fact, it was like he wasn't even aware Jackie was in the room at all.

“Daybreak?” Sunsets voice was fearful. It was unlikely she could defeat Jackie all by herself, she knew that much from witnessing Daybreak fight her.

“He can't hear you. He's listening to another voice right now.” Jackie's voice was full of venom and glee, but she still made no move to come any farther into the room. Actually, now that Sunset looked closer at her footing, Jackie technically wasn't in the room at all. Her entire body was neatly placed outside the boundaries of the crystalline room. Not even her toes touched the grass, mere inches away from her. That was curious.

“What do you mean? What voice? What did you do to him?”

“Ha! Me? I just got here.” Jackie mocked “I haven't had to do a ting since he left my room. No, he vas simply destined to arrive in zis place. It vas only a matter of time.”

Sunset took a threatening step forward “What is happening to him? Tell me!”

“Or vat?” Jackie goaded “Vat will you do?”

Sunsets hands glowed brightly, two powerful orbs of fire resting neatly in her palms and growing larger by the moment. “Do you really have to ask? I'll burn you to a crisp like he should have at the beach!”

Now Jackie just snickered at her. Clearly not taking her as any sort of threat. “You don't have it in you. None of you Elements do. That's vhy you're Elements. You're good. Ze only one among you who could haf finished me off vas your precious prince. And you stopped him. Like I knew you vould.”

Sunsets entire being was now glowing as red hot as the fireballs resting in her palms. The aura swam around her body, resting around her like a cloak of energy that was still building to greater power.

“I only stopped him because the others were there. Had it been my choice, I'd have let him end you. But that's not the way the others do things, and I wasn't about to go against them in front of Daybreak. But if you really want to see what I'm all about, step on in here and find out!”

“Oh zat vould be vonderful! But sadly, pas à moi. You see I can't enter zis place. Ze magic in zis place keeps my type out. So you see, I am just here for...ze show, as you might say.”

Sunset lowered her hands, just slightly. That would certainly explain why she hadn't just attacked them already, but still. “Like I'd believe a word of yours. Show me proof!”

Wordlessly, Jackie raised her hand, and attempted to extend it outwards, past the borders of the room. As she did, a field of sparkling energy erupted forth from the ground, catching her hand in its web, and holding her still. “See?” She said as she retracted her twitching limb. Sunset imagined that field was less than pleasant feeling, judging by the way Jackie now cupped her hand. She hoped it stung. Nevertheless, it proved her words, so Sunset dispelled her field and turned back to Daybreak.

“So if you can't enter, then you can't stop me from pulling his arm off that thing?”

Jackie shrugged “Go right ahead. Of course if you do zat, you'll jumble ze message in his head, and likely do much more harm to him zen vat he's seeing right now.”

“What is he seeing?” Sunset asked, as she put her previous plan from her mind, and simply took a seat in the grass next to Daybreaks legs.

Jackie, seeing this, smirked at Sunsets resignation and also took a seat, in the gravel beneath the entrance.

“He's seeing...ze truth.”

Daybreaks skin tingled, like the nerve endings encompassing the entirety of his being were activated at once, shimmering in unison with some strange magical presences that flowed throughout his body. He looked around, his head felt hazy, and his body numb. The energy crackling and swimming over him seemed to pass through his arms like he wasn't truly there. He looked down to his shoes and realized, he could see straight through them. His whole body had become translucent! What was more, as he attempted to touch at his chest, he watched his hand pass straight through his body! Repeating this process several times to be sure, Daybreak found that his whole being had indeed become intangible. Perhaps he was dead, and he'd turned into a spirit? That was unlikely considering he remembered exactly what he'd been doing before he'd been taken here. It was doubtful that simply touching that basket had killed him. What was more likely was that he was being shown something...whether a vision or a memory he was not yet sure of. But the only way to be certain was to observe his surroundings.

The castle in which he now stood looked very similar to Canterlot...if someone had dropped several small bombs inside of it first. The stone walls were nearly all blown apart, or layered with holes throughout the structure. The many stain glass windows usually adorning those walls lay shattered across the rubble coated floor. Weapons, the likes of which Daybreak had never seen, lay scattered in the debris, alongside their golden clad owners. He recognized the many golden bodies as the royal guard, spread out over the broken scene. Their armor melted to their skin, or contorted into horrific positions of death and agony. Across the room, the sounds of steel scraping steel drew his ears attention. Looking over, towards the spot where the grand thrones of the Princesses should stand overlooking the room, Daybreak saw two figures kneeling in the aftermath.

As he approached, he began to make out their appearances with more ease through the dust filled air. At least this cleared up whether or not it was a vision or memory. The kneeling figures revealed themselves to be his aunt and mother, clad in battle armor and slightly younger in appearance. Daybreak had only ever seen dusty pictures of the royal battle armor the princesses had dawned during the war, but they truly were as magnificent to behold as the stories claimed. His aunts armor glistened midnight blue, matching her skin and aura but shimmering with a much more sinister brilliance than she gave off. Her armor was much less conservative than Celestia's, covering much less of her body and hugging tightly against her skin. It's sinister yet lean appearance was much more appealing to Daybreaks eyes than his mothers garb. Princess Celestia wore much more regal looking armor. Golden clad and official like her royal guardsmen, but more robust looking and clearly protected with latent magic. It was gaudy to look at, in Daybreaks opinion, but it did give off an aura of respect and dignity. Too bad it was wasted on Celestia.

The closer he got to the two women, the more certain he became that he was seeing a memory of the Thousand Year War. Perhaps just after its conclusion, if the princesses conversation was anything to go by. Daybreak walked until he was directly behind his mother, and listened.

Luna spoke first, pushing herself to her feet by the blades of her two swords and leaning against a fallen beam to stay upright. “Sister...you should have told me sooner....Is it painful?”

Celestia did not rise as Luna did, she stayed kneeled, her palms pressed against the plate covering her belly. The sweat poured off her in pools, trickling off her brow as her breathes came in ragged rasps. She sounded so different from the Celestia of today.

“It is sister...incredibly so...I never imagined this was his plan all along. I thought...”

Luna stepped through Daybreaks form, a feeling he wasn't exactly sure how to describe, and placed her hand upon Celestia's shoulder. “I know what you believed. I wanted to believe it was so...don't worry, I'll help you through this. You don't have to have it, we'll get rid-”

“No!” Celestia aura flexed around her body, causing a nearby pillar that was on its last leg to crumple into dust. Luna stepped back as her sister forced herself to stand, leaning herself against the hilt of her golden spear for support. “I want to have it. I won't let him win. Even if it's half of Discord, we can make it good. We can make a real family out this nightmare.” Celestia reached out her hand, towards her sister. Luna took it instantly “Together sister. We'll do it together.”

Daybreak watched as the sisters leaned on each other for support, and limped away from the destroyed throne room together. The scene melted away into smoke before Daybreak could blink. His body lurched forward, as if he were going to vomit, and a new setting erupted forth from the darkness, filling his gaze once again with light. He had no time to ponder what he saw before the next scene appeared before him

Again he found himself in the throne room, except now it had been seemingly restored to glory. The shimmering stained glass windows glistened in the sunlight. The stone walls looked strong and new, and the thrones had been rebuilt to match their current day design. The two sisters sat upon their chairs, their faces smiling and filled with joy he'd never seen either wear. Even the royal guards looked more joyful than he remembered them being. They still stood at perfect attention of course, but instead of blank stares, they all seemed to wear smiles underneath their helmets. Celestia's smile was the most unusual of all. So pure and genuine, shining as brightly as the sun itself. It made him smirk just looking at her. Her hand rested neatly upon her belly, which had grown a small bit in size, but was well hidden beneath her robes. Only someone with keenly accurate eyesight could likely spot the bulge, and not mistake it as just another layer of clothing. Daybreak guessed that at least a few months had passed since the last memory.

It must have been time for court, or near that hour, since Daybreak found himself completely surrounded by people on all sides. Groaning aloud to himself, he rolled his eyes and began the most odd walk of his life. Taking advantage of his current ghostly situation, Daybreak walked straight through the growing crowd of people, towards the thrones. Literally straight through them. It was an experience he still didn't know quite how to describe. With nothing to get in his way, Daybreak reached Luna's side just as his mother stood, with considerable effort, and proclaimed to the crowd “Citizens! Court is now in session!”

Upon her proclamation, the room feel quiet. When silence completely blanketed the room, Luna extended her right arm forth, beckoning the crowd while her voice boomed across the hall. “NOW THAT WE ARE IN SESSION, IF THERE IS ANY ISSUES YOU WOULD SEE BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION, PLEASE FORM AN ORDERLY LINE AS PER USUAL! WE WILL HEAR EVERYONE WHO IS PRESENT, PROVIDED WE CAN GET THROUGH ALL BEFORE COURT ENDS! HOWEVER IF YOU ARE NOT HEARD THIS DAY, FEAR NOT! ANY WHO ARE LEFT UNSATISFIED, OR UNHEARD, MAY SPEAK WITH THE TWO GENTLEMEN BEYOND THE THRONE ROOM! GIVE THEM YOUR NAMES AND YOU SHALL BE FIRST HEARD NEXT TIME! NOW LET US BEGIN!”

The crowd moved with excited purpose, while the sisters waited patiently for the first citizen to step forward. The crowd meshed itself together, struggling to find some form of orderly fashion. When one person did finally manage to form the front of the line, the rest fell more or less neatly into place behind him. The remaining people formed a large line from just before the mighty thrones, to the very back of the room, then spread out towards the back corners.

The first citizen to step forth was an older looking gentlemen, whose long hair that had likely once been a spectacular baby blue, was dulled pale with apparent age. The man wore modest clothing that hung loosely off his frail form and a small smock covered in flour around his waist. He kneeled before the first of three steps that led upwards to the thrones. Princess Luna seemed to recognize this man, because she leaned forward in her chair, eyeing the older gentleman with a small gleam in her eyes. “Citizen. What is it you would ask of your Princesses?”

“Your Grace” The older man began, his voice sounding nothing like he looked. Although the age was apparent in his speech, he radiated an aura of apparent dignity that made him seem respectable. “My bakery was demolished in the final assault of the war. I have done what I can with the repairs...but Discords army used magic that rendered much of my food and home beyond restoration...I do not have enough healthy ingredients left to make an adequate living, nor do I have the funds to cover this kind of damage. I have come here to humbly ask for the aid of your royal guardsmen in removing the remaining debris, and if possible, restoring my food from its warped state, your highnesses.”

The man remained kneeled after he spoke, not even glancing upwards to see the two princesses reaction to his request. Daybreak watched his aunt eye the man for a moment, before leaning over to Celestia and whispering something in her ear. Celestia smiled, and nodded before regarding the man.

“Rise gentle baker. We have reached a decision.”

The older man looked up, and slowly stood, his knees wobbling from the effort. Princess Luna waited until he had fully risen and was steady, before standing as well.

“MY FAITHFUL SUBJECT, WE HAVE HEARD YOUR REQUEST! I MYSELF HAVE IN FACT TASTED THE SWEETS YOUR BAKERY HAS TO SERVE! THEY ARE DIVINE, AND LOSING SUCH A MAGNIFICENT SHOP WOULD INDEED BE A TRAVESTY! HOWEVER, WE HAVE NO ROYAL GUARDSMEN WE CAN SPARE AT THE MOMENT TO GRANT YOUR REQUEST! THEY ARE EITHER SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE CITY SEARCHING FOR THE LAST OF DISCORD'S MEN THAT HIDE WITHIN OUR WALLS, OR STATIONED BEYOND. PURSING THE ONES THAT FLEE!”

The old mans eyes lowered, glistening with water and sadness. “I understand your highness...”

“I AM NOT FINISHED CITIZEN!” Luna's voice boomed, startling the baker into silence. He dropped back to his knees in fear. But Luna chuckled, smiling as she continued “I SAID WE COULD NOT SPARE ANY MEN...SO I SHALL COME TO YOUR BAKERY TONIGHT AND PURIFY YOUR INGREDIENTS MYSELF!”

The baker looked up, meeting Princess Luna's gaze. There were tears streaming down his cheeks, and a smile spread across his face. Luna smiled back at him “DOES THIS DECISION SATISFY YOUR REQUEST MY SUBJECT?!”

“Y-Yes your highness, thank you. Thank you very much!”

Princess Luna resumed her seat while Celestia waved her hand, dismissing the baker. “Will the next citizen please step forth!”

The baker stood again, and gave a final bow before he made his way out of throne room. The next citizen to step forward caused Daybreaks heart to give a slight jump in his chest. The familiar black and yellow hair stood out to Daybreaks eyes with ease, as Stormchasers father approached the throne. He kneeled just as the baker had, but unlike the baker he did not speak in the most polite of tones, and he did not wait for either of the princesses to acknowledge him before he spoke.

“Your highnesses, my wife was murdered at the hands of Discords men during the first wave of his invasion here. Since that occurred my son has not spoken a word, he barely eats, and refuses to leave his room. I...I cannot find it within myself to forgive Discord or his men for what they have taken from my family...I can't...” Stratos fell to temporary silence as a sob freed itself from his chest, and his knuckles clenched upon the floor. Princess Luna opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as her sister held up her hand. Celestia stood from her own throne and spoke, her voice booming like her sisters had before.

“I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU FEEL, AND I UNDERSTAND YOU CANNOT FORGIVE WHAT YOU HAVE LOST! I TOO HAVE HAD SOMETHING TAKEN FROM ME BY DISCORDS HANDS!”

Stratos' knuckles clenched further as his head rose to meet Celestia's gaze, his eyes were not full of tears, but were instead red with hatred.

“That is precisely what I have come to ask of you, your highness!” There was a pause in his words, during which Celestia and Luna exchanged confused glances, but Stratos clarified himself very quickly “Why? Why if know what he is and what he did to you, are you still going to have his cursed son?! How can you concede to that your highness?! You should kill that accursed thing before it has a chance to bring more evil into your kingdom!”

Princess Luna stood rapidly from her throne, her aura glowing dangerously around her body. “YOU DARE-!”

“It's alright sister.” Celestia's calm but powerful voice silenced Luna instantly. The sun princess stepped down from her throne towards Stratos, her lengthy robe dragging behind her as she did. Daybreak watched Stratos begin to visibly shake as Celestia approached, perhaps from fear or anger, though Daybreak could not tell which from where he stood. When Celestia stood directly in front of Stratos, she leaned over...and placed her palm on the underside of his chin.

“Do you really want to know why?”

Stratos trembled against Celestia's fingernails, but his emotions were still impossible to read. Celestia smiled “I have chosen to have his child because I believe in something. I believe we can make him better than his father...or his mother.”

Stratos stood abruptly, the royal guards all fidgeted simultaneously, but were held back by Celestia's raised hand “Surely not your highness! None could surpass you! You led us through a nightmare that lasted an eternity!” Stratos' knuckles shook at his sides “My father, my grandfather, my great grandfather, and every one down the line, never lived in a time of true peace...but thanks to your leadership we have it! I just...I just can't bear to think about that might happen if this boy grows up to be like his father! Is it really worth risking the lives of your entire kingdom just on the chance he might be like you?”

Celestia continued to smile, but Daybreak saw her demeanor change. Something about the way her eyes stared ahead had changed, like a shadow had suddenly crossed her features. The sun princess turned from Stratos and made her way back to her throne. As she seated herself back down, she forced her smile to persist and her voice to remain calm, but Daybreak could see something was slightly different. Her eyes looked harder than they had moments ago. “My dear subject, if the day should come where he is revealed to be as you fear, I will personally see to the...needed solution.”

Stratos took a step forward, his foot resting on the first step to the throne. Every guard in the room placed their hands upon their various sheathed weapons. “Meaning what, your highness?”

Celestia grimaced, but before she could speak a voice boomed across the hall louder than any previous and shaking the very walls with its volume!

“YOU OVERSTEP YOURSELF!” Luna now stood from her throne as well, her aura sizzling dangerously around her body, startling Stratos and the royal guard. Realizing he had gone too far, Stratos took a step back and dropped to his knees “Forgive me your grace!”

Luna, taking heed of the startled and fearful looks across the crowd, resumed her seat in silence, while Celestia sighed with disappointment. “My dear subject...I think you and I both know what I meant...does this decision satisfy your request, my subject?”

Stratos nodded, and left the court without a word. As the twin doors closed behind him, the scene once again evaporated into gray smoke. This time Daybreak was left in the emptiness long enough to take in what he had seen, but not long enough to come to a conclusion about what it meant.

The next scene appeared before him, and Daybreak found he was standing within the throne room for third time. Looking to his right, he found he was standing next to his mothers throne, as she sat upon it...and in her arms...was a small child with only a few locks of pale green hair. Daybreak stared down at himself in his mothers arms...and found he could not withhold his tears.

Water gathered in his eyes as he watched the affectionate embrace his mother held him in, so close to her body. As Celestia lightly bobbed him up and down against her lap, Luna leaned over his face and stretched her own cheeks apart. She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at him. “Bleeeeeeeeeh! Auntie Luna's gonna eat you up little one!”

His aunt ran her prickly blue fingers over his tiny belly, tickling him and releasing several high giggles from his younger self. Daybreak noted that even a few of the royal guardsmen posted near by were attempting to lean slightly closer, to catch a glimpse of the royal baby. Daybreak watched as his younger self reached up, and grasped hold of his mothers index finger in his tiny little hand. The little boy squeezed his mothers finger with all his might, but it barely had any affect except causing his mother and aunt to laugh.

“Look sister, look. He already challenges you for the throne.”

Celestia smiled down at him, gently booping his tiny nose with her free hand. “He has an iron grip for sure sister, buuuut I don't think he's quite there yet.” She leaned over and nuzzled her nose against her child's belly, sending him into a flurry of giggles as she did. Luna smiled at her sister happiness, and Daybreak felt the tears in his eyes begin to flood down his face.

Princess Celestia withdrew her face from her child's belly, and propped him up against her chest, allowing him to look around the empty golden room. “One day little Sol, this will all be yours.” She turned him around to face her and held him up in her hands “Everything here will be yours, and the princess you choose to share it with.”

His aunt chuckled “If he's anything like his father, the girls will be all over him in his teens...though I guess the same will happen if he's anything like you were back then too. Stars above, one can only hope he wears more clothing than you used to.”

“Luna!” Celestia's face grew red. Several of the guards around the room had to scrunch their faces to keep from chuckling and remain still.

Daybreaks hand moved on its own. He reached out, towards his mothers shoulder. It was so close, he just wanted it for a moment. To feel that affection his mother felt for him right now. His arm passed through Celestia's shoulder with no resistance, just as he knew it would...but it still hurt to fail.

He couldn't look away from the scene. He wanted that. That affection that he saw now...where had it gone?

“Why...” His voice fell out of him, stuttered, broken, and pathetic. “Why mom...what did I do?...Why do you hate me now...” He pleaded to the vision, hoping with all his might she might answer him but knowing in his soul it was pointless. The tears were flowing so much it was blinding, but he couldn't bring himself to stop, or look away.

Then a voice spoke. It was one he did not know, and it was not directed at him. But it grabbed hold of his attention like a constrictor snake.

“That day may come sooner than you think Princess Celestia.” The voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, yet it filled the room with a chill and echoed off the walls.

The doors to the throne room slid open, and a cold mist flooded inside. Celestia's smiled faded, and Luna stood from her throne! The guards all readied their weapons at the twin doors and prepared to face whatever creature may enter through them. It took only a moment for the speaker to reveal themselves. A person stepped forth from the mist, a figure shrouded in a hooded brown cloak, their features all hidden except for the mouth. The figure stepped forward into the room, and every guard moved to intercept the intruder. They formed a large, golden wall between the thrones and the advancing intruder, lowering their stun spears threateningly. The most forward of the guards spoke, his voice young, but confident. “Stop where you are intruder! We will not hesitate to use force if you take another step!”

The intruder stopped in their tracks, mere feet from the guard who spoke, and slowly reached up to remove their hood. Everyone tensed as a cold voice slithered from underneath the fabric. “I am no threat to your princesses young man, see for yourself.”

The hood fell away to reveal the wrinkled and grey face of an old woman. Her hair was braided in many places, stained starch white, and with additional black stripes moving horizontally across. The woman was clearly of some tribal origin, the strange markings and red colors tattooed over her face confirmed that much. Despite her appearance, the guards did not lower their weapons. The younger guard spoke once more.

“Your age does not determine if you are a threat madam, I'm sure you're aware our princesses succeed you by several centuries?”

The elderly woman smiled, her teeth were oddly white, the one thing about her that looked to be in perfect health. “Oh I doubt that young man, very highly.”

The guard gripped his spear tighter, but then Luna's loud voice drew him back. “Stand down Sergeant, she is no threat! We were notified of her visit. That woman is a seer, look at her eyes.”

Daybreak enhanced his gaze and found the older woman's eyes himself. They were completely white, no retina or pupils, just completely white, and giving off the faintest glow of aura. The woman gave a small curtsy and proceeded forward towards the thrones. The guards quickly removed themselves from her path and returned to their positions around the room. The Seer, as she was called, ascended the three steps to the thrones, and came to stand in front of the sisters.

“I have traveled a very long way to be here your majesties. From far beyond the reaches of your kingdom.”

Both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia gently bowed their heads to the mysterious woman. Celestia looked quite happy to see her, despite the sinister aura radiating off her person.

“We were surprised to get your letter. The last time you were here you prophesized a bloody end to the war...and the time before that, it's beginning...”

That meant that this woman was at least as old as Celestia, if not older. The seer showed a toothy grin, though her voice did not reflect her expression in the slightest. “It seems I've never come to visit you with good tidings, have I?...Well I'm sorry to say that this time will be no different.”

“We figured” Luna's face lowered to a frown. She placed her elbow on the arm of her throne, and rested her head in her palm. “Well...” She motioned forth. The seer bowed, her blank eyes lingering on the little prince.

“Your majestey...my prophecy this time, I believe your son...well...perhaps it's best if you just hear it yourself.”

Celestia's grip on young Daybreak tightened, Luna placed her arm on her sisters shoulder. “Sister, we don't have to-”

“Let me hear it.” She spoke with authority, Luna nodded, then Celestia allowed her voice to boom across the room “GUARDS! LEAVE US!”

Although clearly apprehensive, the guards did eventually start to move from the room. They exited through the double doors, then pulled them closed. As the last man left the room, Celestia regarded the seer. “You may begin.”

The seer answered by merely raising her hands to the ceiling and chanting aloud “I, Shan'qar, First Seer of the Champions, herby recite the Fourth Noble Prophecy!”

Upon her words, a white mist blew from beneath her robe, and burst upwards towards the ceiling. The seer's eyes began to shine white hot, and mist began to spill from her eye sockets to the floor, pooling at her feet. Daybreak had a feeling this was an extremely painful process to go through, considering he could feel the waves of heat radiating off the seer, and he wasn't even in the same timeline as her.

When the old woman next spoke, her voice had deepened to a tone with so much bass, Daybreak was almost convinced there was a man hidden somewhere else in the room speaking for her.

Author's Notes:

Ok so, a few things here.
1) Everyone should commit that prophecy to memory if you plan on following this series from now on.
2) Do you think I should have had a longer stay inside the tunnels with our dynamic duo? Dodging traps and whatnot, or perhaps a later chapter showing all the traps they avoided before reaching the crystal room?
3) Holy cow this was difficult to word! I had to write things so meticulously for them to work down the line.
4) Hope you enjoyed