Equestria, a land for everyone, or everypony as it were. A land of friendship, love and generally so many rainbows and sugar induced comas that you would probably think this is some kind of fantasy world created by a drug induced high.

Was it weird that Celestia was being so cynical today? Most would consider it out of character for her, but there was nothing to be happy today of all days, in fact there had been no real happiness for how long? A year now? Oh it wasn't because of the fiends or other disasters, it was something else entirely.

Something worse than the worst monster.

What had happened around a year ago? Why! Let me tell you, because at the time Celestia didn't think it was so important. Oh, certainly, she loved to hear of such things, more so when Twilight decided to inform her for some reason, and she enjoyed how cutesy she had made it sound. But a year after the fact it had been brought to her attention that the one event that she had almost overlooked with little more than happiness and a nod, was more important than she thought.

One year ago the Cakes had their foals. They had been the last foals to be born in the land of Equestria.

True that some foals had been born close to them as far as time goes, but unless there had been a mistake, no more foals had been born, and even if there had been a mistake, well, the problem is that from this year forward there would be no more births anyway. In fact, after so long, it was literally impossible for a new foal to be born because ponies had been basically cursed.

Genetic, magical or poison of some kind, Celestia didn't know. She did know that Carrot Cake and Cup Cake had been the last lucky pair, and during this last year, excluding some hectic times, most of Celestia's free time had been dedicated to research.

Why? How? When? The three key questions everypony seems to ask every time something breaks for whatever reason. To utter them under this kind of duress helped little more than fanning a burning fire, trying to douse it. The questions brought more questions, the apparent answers garnered frustrations, and revelations gleamed even more problems.

She would never say this in front of her subjects, after all, at worst, she would use the friendly version that even her student dared to use when she was really mad.

But seriously, for all her niceties and neutrality in the face of adversity, Celestia just wanted to say.

"Fuck."

Then she giggled, placed a hoof over her mouth and looked around to ensure nopony had heard her. Exploring the one solution given to her had made sure to grant Celestia a lot of new vocabulary and many other things that no pony should absorb this fast. She was sure that Twilight would faint if she was presented with half the things Celestia had seen just by inspecting a magic mirror made out of water.

Speaking of magic mirrors, Sunset Shimmer was still pouting somewhere after Celestia had accidentally destroyed the one she was tasked to guard. At least she was happy being the new captain of the guard if nothing else.

"Sister! Good news!"

Asking for Luna to visit was almost like asking for Pinkie Pie to stay calm. It was both improbable in the sense that it would happen, only to end in a way that no one expected.

Celestia turned, faced her sister with a smile and offered her a place to sit in front of her table. Her room was neatly kept, though no one would be able to notice that she had, in fact, made sure that it was clean not long ago. It had been an utter mess less than an hour before, much like Celestia herself, but things had luckily changed for the better once the first bit of good news that had to do with the actual problem came through.

Luna didn't notice or didn't care. Much like she had been for a while now, Luna was actually very chipper and open with those that had befriended her, though she still used the royal We when somepony she disliked tried to talk with her, or when she was nervous. Between games, comics and other entertainment that she used to fill her hours in the land of the awake, as she was still not as sought as Celestia, but she was in fact seen by many more ponies than Luna ever thought possible, the nightly diarch was hardly in any kind of negative mood at all.

Except when she was asked to do some royal duty that didn't involve any kind of excitement, yelling or eating contest. She disliked boring speeches, hearing the stuck up ponies out or similar things. Celestia always thought, and she was proven right, that her sister was going to be forever a foal at heart.

"And what are those good news you speak of, my dear Luna?" And as such, Celestia was to be the responsible elder sister.

"I finally found my offspring!"

Luckily, for Luna that is, she wasn't drinking tea at the moment.

"I see..." Celestia placed her hooves together "Would you mind enlightening me about... your offspring?"

Luna snorted in a very unladylike manner "I mean my descendants, much like that eyesore Blueblood is to you."

"Oh" The white alicorn did her best to hide the fact that she wanted to wipe the sweat from her brow "Wait..." Until the gears clicked that is.

"What? You are not the only one that could have flings and hide it with magic, sister." For a moment Luna thought that her sister's ears were spouting smoke "Why is it so hard to believe?"

"But... you said you felt neglected and..."

Luna shrugged "Thestrals always revered me, dear sister, and back then I did have many knights close to me... some closer than others."

Celestia did her best to bleach that knowledge clean from her brain "I understand." Nodding and smiling always worked in these situations "You will have to get us together, dear sister. I would like to know my extended family as soon as possible" And, luckily for her, Luna smiled in return "But I did call you here for something serious, something that cannot wait."

"What is it, sister?" Luna wished for some pastries to be present, Celestia always had the most sweets in one place, but today the room was devoid of them. Many joked about it, but they didn't know how much energy it took to move the sun or moon "You were a bit... nervous after you meet with Twilight and the yak representatives, but..."

"Our race is dead."

Luna shut her mouth.

"Sorry sister, but there is no easy way to put it, and while there is a solution for the problem at hoof, it requires magic that only the leader of the alicorns can use, and since there is no single leader in modern times..." Celestia trailed with a hoof "I required your undivided attention for this, as abrupt as I made it happen."

Luna bit her cheek, hoping for it to go unnoticed "Explain."

"Of course." Celestia nodded, sighing as she prepared for the lecture "Do you remember the last time you heard a birth took place?" Of course she did not, so Luna shook her head "It was almost a year ago" And her eyes widened when Celestia shared the knowledge "With nearly eleven months between conception and birth, it is understandable that, even with our large population, some days are devoid of births at all. Almost twelve months? Preposterous and impossible, all in one."

"At the time I didn't notice it, in fact it was simply the last birth that day. There were others foals that were born then, so it was a normal day like any other." Celestia did her best to shrug as if it was not important, but it obviously was "This was not brought to my attention until Cadance said that Shining Armor was sterile."

"Pardon me?" Luna was unable to contain herself "Shining Armor? Sterile? One of the few unicorns that could shut that annoyance of a royal we have as part of our family in every sense of the word? Better magic, better genetics, better charisma... The only thing Shining Armor lacked was a tie to royalty, and he ended in a better position than Blueblood!" The dark blue alicorn was trying her best not to giggle, then got serious "How can Shining Armor suddenly turn sterile? We were both sure that Cadance would be with foal within days."

The daily diarch chuckled "If I remembered correctly, my bet had her pregnant BEFORE the wedding, and since we know that Chrysalis didn't get Cadance until a few days prior to the ceremony, it should've been more than possible." Her smirk turned into a frown as quickly as the smile had appeared "Cadance made her crystal ponies run some tests. She even made them compare it with most the royal guard in hopes that somepony was sabotaging things somehow, or to see if it was a changeling drone and Chrysalis had attempted something once again. She was truly desperate when she told me."

"Wouldn't you?" The question from Luna was beyond rhetorical. In any case, it was also true; Celestia would've been worried in Cadance's horseshoes.

Still, Celestia just nodded "The investigation showed something, alright: Every male was sterile" Luna looked ready to swallow her moon, stars included if she opened it a bit more "I asked her to run test on every crystal pony and any normal pony of any tribe that had moved to the Crystal Empire. Every male was the same, and quite a few females too." Celestia shook her head "Any hermaphrodite within the mix was also a negative, and the few non ponies that were with ponies also came as blank."

"Even... even mixed pairs?" Luna's mouth was having difficulty closing.

"Yes, a diamond dog with a mare" Celestia gave a light chuckle "Personally I think it is weird how most of the smarter diamond dogs tend to come to live within Equestria quite happily, but this is no time to speak on the marvels of crossbreeding." She turned her neutral face back on "I asked almost every city to run tests and to keep it hush, hush. Usually we tell the public everything but..." She bit her lip for a moment before she dropped the bomb "There is no fertile male in all of Equestria. Even semen sent from different countries dies when it is applied to a mare. There is no actual explanation for this."

Celestia got up and started pacing around. This was done more out of nervousness than anything else. She was hardly at a lost with anything, but while magical creatures had long lifespan, ponies were also adventurous. A long life was possible, cutting it short was equally plausible.

"I have gone through every book in our possession, as has Twilight and most of our top researchers." Celestia took some air, either for a dramatic pause or knowing that her sister could explode when she explained "And I mean EVERY book." Luna almost murdered her with her gaze "Yes, even the forbidden tomes don't tell specifics. It could have been a curse, poison, degenerating disease, ANYTHING." The white alicorn finally sat on her hunches, feeling defeated "The only thing that seems to be obvious is that only those interested in mares, or semen that is to be applied to mares, ends unable to reproduce. How has this been proven? There are a few stallions with other species that have managed to have kids during the last year, but they are no citizens of Equestria."

Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof, thinking for a moment. The good news today didn't outweigh the bad, at all, but still... "If it is a magical problem in any sense, then there isn't much we can do. This world would die without magic, we would die without magic. Nothing can live without it, and forcing it to change usually spells doom."

"That is true, and it is also why we have a new captain of the guard."

"Sunset? Why is she a captain because of this?" Luna had perked up instantly. Sunset was a bit of an egomaniac, like Rainbow Dash. It wasn't surprising that the two had caused enough ruckus when they were together to be categorized as a national security risk "And why did you make her captain, period?"

"Because she was tasked with protecting a very special mirror, one that I had once thought of sending to the Crystal Empire for safe keeping since it was rumored by an old friend of ours to be a door to a non magical world." Luna's eyes widened as she easily guessed who that old friend was "Starswirl found it and studied it for a long time. He ran some tests that, supposedly, showed him a world devoid of magic, at least devoid of magic to the level of Equis, leaving just the bare minimum to survive and maybe cast some spells if the average unicorn recharged for a few days and absorbed enough ambient magic."

Luna tapped her hooves together for a moment, then looked up at her sister "Didn't you say the mirror was broken not too long ago?"

"That is why Sunset was reassigned, yes." Celestia nodded "We both have the power of the celestial bodies." And calling them that was what gave Celestia quite a bit of ego back in the day "We are very powerful, but unlike Twilight, whom has a very practical use for magic that translates to her overall greater power, or Starswirl the Bearded, whose special talent was any and all kinds of magic unlike us, we aren't fit to use certain spells."

Her sister's eye twitched.

"You broke it." She half whispered half shouted "You foal! You broke the one thing you say could save our flanks!"

Celestia rubbed one hoof in circles around the ground "It was an honest mistake."

"Uuuuugggggh! Celestia!" The shout was almost yelled with the royal Canterlot voice "You have cake for brains!"

"At least I don't go around placing Tiberius in key spots to scare the manure out of royal visitors." Celestia poked her tongue out "Besides, it was a calculated risk."

"Calculated?" Luna had calmed down the bare minimum, just enough to not yell "How can a 'minimal' risk translate to 'solution is broken, please, call the repaircolt'?"

Celestia chuckled at that reference "I tested how possible it was to cross, and it was indeed possible to do so." She explained, calming her sister slightly "In fact I made sure to copy the location with the seeker stone I used." With a flash of light, Celestia brought a perfectly oval stone with small glowing runes carved on its surface "Artifacts aren't my thing, but the scientists onboard thought it much safer than just traveling. I have to agree after the fact... there was no way back otherwise."

Luna gasped "That is how you broke it! You... you tried to get back the stone and it shattered the enchantment."

"But it came back." Celestia smiled "However, after some studies, we noticed that it came back after a whole month on the other side. Its magic was almost depleted." Luna's eyes widened once more. Time displacement? Only a month was nothing worth mentioning, but it was a new world... a possibly dangerous one "Luckily the stone wasn't even touched, except for some animal remains." Celestia frowned "After some studies done to THOSE, analysis that I don't want to talk about, it was theorized that the animals on the other side lack much intellect, if they have anything above instincts. Then again, they could only identify a few species, but when we compare them to our own..."

"Very few animals lack some form of sapience." Luna hummed "Chickens, some fish, a few species of pig and the most feral monsters, such as most species and subspecies related to the Timberwolves."

"Exactly." Celestia nodded at her sister's assumption "Lack of magic probably means no sapient or truly sentient species, except maybe one, and they could be either savage or very developed. However, without any kind of magic their development would be technological, if we are right with our hypothesis." And what she had seen.

Luna pursed her lips "Technology without magic just generates pollution and refuse that is harmful to a world."

"I know that, but it is not the only possibility." Though Celestia knew perfectly well that it could be a very likely one "However, it is one realm we need to investigate."

Luna nodded. She wasn't happy, but she knew if this was just magical in origin, then it was part of magic's nature. Not even the elements would work if this was part of the essence of the world. Celestia hadn't mentioned it, but both of them knew that with the usage of the elements, quite a few times in fact, the balance had been tipped. Was this the way that harmony had to balance things out? That, sadly, was Celestia's fear, and even Twilight had to admit the idea had merit, but it was just another theory.

Then again, if it was the truth, balance could be achieved, but it required sacrifice. Not in the literal sense, mind you, but it required for things to change once more so magic would have a new variable to take into account. The idea? Traveling to that world, of course. If a mare became pregnant without the aid of magic, then it could start tipping the balance back on track.

Of course, even if it worked, there was a problem.

"The problem with this is that we need incredible power to send somepony alongside a Seeker Stone." Celestia knew her sister knew, but this had to be said, otherwise either one of them could go into denial "Using them for long range teleportation is already extremely taxing, and painful, so you know why they are used as nothing more than guides." Luna grimaced at the memory. Who knew that an alicorn could be depleted so painfully when using those things? Well, thanks to the princess of the night everypony knew "Twilight and Cadance gave me a link to their magic pool, but if we are to do this, I need your consent."

"Tia..."

Celestia knew why Luna had gulped and turned pale "Sister, if we force a rift between worlds, our immortality will be no more. We will still have around two hundred years, maybe two hundred fifty, I don't remember when we ascended anymore." She chuckled without much mirth "But we will age..."

"Tia, I... am scared of that." Luna looked away "Couldn't Discord...?"

"Discord disappeared after the test." Celestia's mood turned sour "He said something about imminent chaos that he could not partake in, and another place needing him more than us." She sighed as she looked outside her balcony. Sometimes she wanted to be as free as that damn mad god "Either way, it would've been unfair to ask him to do this."

"Possibly, yes" Luna could be quite emotional, more so than her sister, but she knew that forcing others against their will was indeed something she should not do, not anymore "But... I am scared... I can't help it, Tia, it could go wrong in so many ways..."

"I know that too, my dear sister" Celestia approached her little sister, sitting beside her, giving her a gentle hug "If you accept we will tackle this together. But think on the positive side of things." She offered her sister a smile "We would be freeing Twilight and Cadance from a life of immortality and all the pain it entails, as well as thousands of years doing the same thing, it can turn quite dull" The white alicorn's attempt at a joke did at least get a chuckle "And who knows... we could get lucky."

Luna looked at her sister, tilting her head "Lucky?"

"This kind of spell is very ancient, sister, and it had to be modified. Twilight assured me that, if it goes as she and the researchers designed it, the seeker stones we have in storage will seek mares willing to have or expand their family." Luna's lips formed a little 'o' shape "Married couples, herds, lonely mares... If they want a family they could be selected. I know some ponies wouldn't be happy. Imagine if Shining Armor found out that Cadance was sent to another world to be impregnated!" Celestia giggled at the thought. Shining was so cute when he looked at other mares and got scolded, mostly because he was a very envious stallion "But I am sure all of them could work it out."

"But sister." Luna shook her head. Celestia looked pure and innocent, but she was quite the naughty mare. She had, after all, a thousand of years of solitude to make up for "These spells usually have a price, and I do not mean only for the casters. They are very powerful, very unstable... And we would be sending ponies to a world without magic! The shock could do many things to whatever is on the other side."

Celestia grimaced at the thought, remembering the warning "Yes, yes I know. Twilight said that the seeker stones would probably latch to a possible candidate for the mare, or mares, in question. They would fixate on the creature's signature and keep it safe, but if there was anypony else there..." She bit her lip "The magic could change them to be ponies though, a solution to more than possible magical poisoning."

Luna gasped at the thought. Transformation? It could do more than just harm those it was used on.

"Sister!"

"I know, I know, and I do not like it one bit." Celestia sighed "I managed to gleam a lot from the seeker stone, sister, I had seen what is on the other side thanks to a scrying pool. The world IS technological, and there IS a singular sapient species." She avoided her sister's accusatory glance "But there is no way to force harmony to balance itself. It is either extreme measures, or our species will not live more than a few hundred years."

"So you would willingly risk others?" It was not a fair question, not when a whole species was in danger while only a few individuals could be harmed, if harmony decided that only a few were needed to tip the balance.

"It is either hope for the most plausible solution, a solution that requires going around harmony to try and make it balance itself by causing some harm, or hope for a miracle to make the balance to tip in our favor at some point in the next two to three hundred years." Celestia's smile was grim "I do not fancy being the last one of our kind alongside you, Cadance and Twilight. It would be a very miserable existence if we wait and things don't change. And considering that this is most probably magically induced, then trying to fix it with magic directly would most certainly make it worse."

"I do share your sentiment on that point: Failing would grant us a solitude worse than the moon." Luna scowled at the thought "And if this is of magic origin, of harmonic magic to be precise, then trying to fix it with magic would just make something else turn sour, like a sickness or something." Luna shook her head "This sounds bad no matter how we tackle it."

"But remaining inactive would only burn time, Luna, time that we have, but we have it NOW." Celestia looked sternly at her sister "Harmony may allow us to be able to have children almost at any age, but what kind of mother would like the idea of having one if they are old enough to just give birth before passing? That is if we don't count the fact that our species tends to be more adventurous that most ponies give themselves credit for. We could end losing most just because they decide to play sports." She snorted, thinking about Rainbow Dash of all mares "I know I am looking at it grimly, but I have been bearing this burden for quite some time now." Celestia rested her head against her sister "I am slightly burned down, sister. I would prefer to know if we are going along with this or if we will sit and look pretty until it blows over... if it ever does."

"Let's do it."

Celestia suddenly found herself flopped on the floor while Luna got up, a face of determination on her, so sure of her path all of sudden.

"What?" Celestia, though, was just confused.

"Let's do this! I can't take you being all mopey, that was my job when I came back and it drove you up the walls." Luna sighed as she remembered those days "Honestly, Tia, being sad won't help anypony, and when you are sad you raid the kitchen without need. Last time you almost depleted Canterlot's ice cream reserves, ALL of them."

Celestia gave her sister a way too cute pout for someone as old and as 'mature' as her "But it was yummy."

"And trying to cope with it by being silly won't work now." Which earned Luna a huff "Look, I am afraid Tia, and you know how I deal with my own fear."

"I stuff my face, you tend to break things" Celestia chimed with a grin "Going to break a poor guard?"

"No, I deal with fear by tackling the problem. I deal with frustration by breaking things... And I also tend to hide from my fears until I need to tackle them, which ends in frustration, so I break a lot of things." Luna chucked nervously "You, on the other hoof, turn dramatic, pessimistic and even depressed, if not outright silly to hide it all."

"Everypony copes differently" Celestia tried to give a nonchalant shrug "But are you sure? Do you want to do this?"

Luna sighed and slumped down "I have lived for as long as you, Tia, having a normal life would be everything but bad, and maybe we will make alicorns a common species instead of just the few and powerful." She sneered at that. Oh how things change, for now Luna had been getting tired of power itself when she had wanted all of it so long ago "And... and maybe this time I will have a lover I will not outlive, children that I will not need to mourn..."

"Shhh sister, calm down." Celestia did her best to approach her sister without bothering her in any way. It was true that she was much more in tune with herself, enough to calm her thoughts in most cases, even if she was hard pressed right now. Luna was much more likely to explode "If you are sure, then we can do it right now. We will use the original seeker stone and do the deed."

"You... you think we will be the first to go?" At this Luna sounded hopeful "If we are, then we can make sure that everything is okay, we can study how it works, what problems it creates... This magic may do more than simply affect others that aren't supposed to be with the one it latches to."

"It more than likely will have more than one side effect." Celestia frowns at the thought. It was practically impossible that this wouldn't create any complications "Twilight theorized that the longest time between sending and summoning would be three days, so three months on the other side. During that time anything could happen to both ponies and whoever else is affected, as well as the one that the seeker stone attunes to. Considering that they will also be pulled back..."

"This is too complex, sister." Luna's frown matched her sister "But it hasn't upset the balance to send the stone, though it is destructive when it comes back, is it not?"

Celestia shook her head "Not really. If we prepare a summoning circle the stone returns without causing any harm, we did send this one a few more times" Celestia enveloped the stone with her magic, levitating it in front of Luna "It does cause a small ripple in magic though, and tires those involved in the spell for a while, but it should be safe as far as we summon it in the right place"

Luna looked at the ceiling for a second, then she let her gaze venture outside. How much would everything change if they did it? How much would it change if she backed away? Celestia was scared, and she saw that her sister was too. This could sincerely end in disaster.

"How do we start this then?"

At least Luna could show more courage than even her sister sometimes "It is easy." And Celestia did thank her for it, sincerely, otherwise she would have been the one to chicken out "I'll pour all the magic required, you just share yours with me, here" She levitated the stone between their horns "Start giving it magic and I will do the rest."

Luna nodded and did as told. In matters of warfare she had once been the best, and magic had been easy to channel. Nowadays she knew more about games and fantasy than young colts and fillies, but she still had complete control over her magic.

Simply channeling it to bond it with her sister's was pretty easy.

In a moment she saw it happening: Her own magic aura enveloped the stone, with her sister mixing soon after, followed by two more auras almost obscuring the stone form within them. It was eerily similar to saturated magic, similar to what Spike described when he gave Rarity a certain book, or when somepony like Trixie used the alicorn amulet. When these things happened it usually meant problems, very powerful magic or a mix of both.

"I can see it sister... the first creature to be bonded to the stone..." Celestia smiled, though Luna knew not why. Her eyes were almost purely white, signaling just how much magic she was using. At least the ambient magic wasn't causing any problems "I can even see the first mare to go! It is... Wait... I feel a problem."

"Tia?" Luna tried to push away. If the connection was severed then the magic should stop. Trying to do it, however, caused physical pain and she yelped in surprise.

"Luna! The magic is forcing something to happen!" Celestia cringed as she felt it. Harmony was trying to balance this solution. It was channeling the ambient magic back in the world, Celestia could feel it "It... it is making a prison!"

While Luna wanted to stop and was unable to, Celestia just was powerless to do much. The magic was doing things on its own, much like when most dire problems were 'solved' with any kind of magic. Things do not work that way, they never do, for you can't solve them with ease and without learning something in the complicated process. Be it by nature or a test by magic itself. There is never an easy way out.

Harmony wanted to make it clear, and it did as a flash blinded both sisters.

It felt like minutes for Celestia, and Luna had it worse. The daily diarch was used to the sun on her face, literally, but Luna was literally blinded, and she was sure that it would stay that way. It wasn't painful, luckily, but somepony knew she was going to be guided around by the hoof for a few hours if nothing else.

"Tia! I can't see a thing!" No one said she would be decent and calm about it.

"Relax, sister, calm down." Celestia groaned, blinking away the dots forming around her vision "It seems magic has decided to once more give us a lesson. It appears you can't be too old for that to happen." She groaned even more when she noticed that she wasn't healing as fast as she once had. If nothing else it was obvious that the price, at least, had been paid as expected. Celestia had to wonder how Cadance and Twilight fared the shock "Luna, we need to tell everypony. There is no way around it now."

"Sister, I can't see anything and you want me to make a speech alongside you?" Luna huffed, being helped by her sister once Celestia got up. She couldn't see it, but she knew the stone had disappeared, its duty done "What happened?"

"I..." Celestia bit her lower lip as she embraced her sister with a wing to help her around "I saw... a bubble... a magic shield formed around the bonded one's house. It is invisible for the naked eye, for the creatures without enough magic, but it is there to impede the ones within to escape. It will slowly expand over time, the magic told me so, but it will force those within its border to interact, to connect... I wanted to solve the problem and instead I have ensured that magic itself forces those that go into a prison that will endanger them."

"Why? There should be other creatures out there. Lacking magic or not, they should help each other." Luna would've waved a hoof, but she wasn't about to lose any kind of balance in the state she was in.

"Yes... they should" Celestia wasn't as confident as her sister. "But if they don't connect, if the bonded one and the mare, or mares don't work with each other, they will be banned from each other's world, sister. It would be like forcing a bond and then break it. It could spell such pain, or worse, for those involved." The elder sister felt as if she had condemned someone to death "I just hope Miss Cake forgives us, and that whoever else goes after does the same."

Luna scrunched her muzzle at that "Mister Carrot is going to sick Pinkie on us."