None of it made sense. D27 had reviewed the data countless times, but the raw information always produced the same results. He had run it across various distributions, possibilities, and mathematical frameworks, but it always came out to the same result.

It had begun with his curiosity about the spell that Twilight and her friends had nearly used to kill him. He had been curious about its nature, and intended to attempt to generate a way to counter it in the future. In the process, he had reviewed the data he had collected from the initial generation of the spell. What he found was, despite all efforts at producing a solution, impossible.

The magic itself, he found, did not originate from the ponies themselves. It was greater than the sum of their contributions, pulling magic from a quasi-external source. The form of magic was, essentially, a catalyzed anti-entropic spell that was then overwritten with superimposed magic of a nature that D27 could not possibly hope to understand. Just the basic nature of the spell, however, indicated that the type of magic was unique. It was not just Order: it was the type of magic that could only be produced by a living, active Lord of Order.

Which was where the impossibility arose. Clearly, there was no Lord of Order present in Equestria. Over one million years ago, D27 had stopped the last one from being created. He had rendered the Finality Core inactive, and destroyed Nil. He supposed that, technically, it was possible that Void- -who had been unaffected by D27’s interference- -had constructed another Finality Core. It was even possible that Void had used the same set of Spheres that Nil had summoned.

Except that D27 knew from experience that life on Equestria still existed. A Lord of Order would have, by its very presence, eradicated everything living from the world. It was, by definition, impossible for a Lord of Order to exist with the disorder of life.

Just in case, D27 sent his external bodies to as many libraries as he could reach, scanning through as many books as possible. He was looking for information concerning the impossible- -that a Lord of Order was existent on Equestria. His plans for the death of Luna were momentarily put on hold- -Nil’s Finality Core was not nearly as much threat as a living Lord of Order would be.

D27 knew what a Lord of Order looked like. They were, however, normally quite large- -for a world the size of Equestria, one would be a sessile being as high as ten miles tall. Such a thing on Equestria would be impossible to miss- -at some point, somepony would have mentioned it, or D27 would have seen it.

Eventually, he gave up on searching. He put the majority of his bodies into stasis in thousands of locations over Equestria and focused on triangulating the trace signal from Twilight Sparkle’s spell. He searched the entire planet, each dormant body reacting just long enough to follow the trail of Order. It was weak, but with the sun mostly gone and the moon oddly week, finding the signal was still possible.

To his surprise, the signal proved to be relatively close to Ponyville. Geographic overlays indicated that it was somewhere in the nearby Everfree Forest.

D27 began preparations of a new external body. The Finality Core would need to wait. Due to Twilight Sparkle’s influence, he had managed to detect the possibility of a viable, fully developed Lord of Order- -no doubt the benefactor that had allowed her to become an alicorn.

It was unclear what D27 would find at that location, but he knew that it was a threat. His entire purpose and reason for being had shifted. He had to protect Equestria. He would stop at nothing to reach that location, and to destroy whatever he found there.

From the blood-red skies, Luna descended. Even in her state of weakness, her wings had managed to hold thought the flight. She had reached Canterlot at last. Her sister’s shield, to her horror, had fallen- -adding more evidence to force her to believe what she already knew in her heart had happened.

She descended into the unprotected city. It was not as welcoming as it had been before. The red light saturated the white marble and buildings, making them seem like an inflamed wound. The conditions of the city were also decaying rapidly- -from above, Luna had seen what she thought were fires throughout. When she got closer and finally landed on the cobblestone streets below, she saw that the city was largely abandoned and strewn with wreckage. Windows were shattered, carts overturned, and there was indeed a smell of acrid smoke permeating the city.

Images flashed to Lunas mind of the First Era, when she had just been a filly, just after she and her sister had gained their powers. The times of war and destruction around her, and the far more brutal destruction that Celestia had rained upon the land for centuries. It looked like a war zone, and Luna momentarily wondered if Canterlot had been invaded, or even bombed.

A noise attracted her attention. She walked slowly to a large broken window at street level. As she approached, two colts suddenly jumped out, carrying bags filled with what Luna immediately realized to be looted goods.

“Please, give those back!” cried a voice the voice of an elderly pony within the broken shop.

“Quiet, geezer, or I’ll kick you again!” yelled one of the colts. His head was turned when he was speaking, and, not seeing where he was going, bumped into Luna.

“What is the meaning of this?” cried Luna, disturbed that her subjects would resort to looing in a time when ponies needed help and comfort. “What are you- -”

“BLUE PONY!” screamed the colt. He and his friend immediately jumped back, dropping their bags, which fell to the sound with a metal clang. “BLUE PONY!” They both suddenly galloped off down the street, leaving their stolen goods, screaming in abject terror.

Luna did not understand. She was not unfamiliar with ponies fleeing from her, but it was usually in response to believing her to be Nightmare Moon- -whose turquoise now watched her from the red-tinged shadows. Ponies fearing her for being blue was entirely new to her.

Still confused, Luna picked up the bags in her magic and peered through the broken shop window. Inside was an elderly unicorn mare with and bruised, swollen eye.

“Here,” said Luna, returning the bags of goods. “As a Princess I must apologize for the behavior of my subje- -”

She was stopped short as a blast of pink energy shot into her face. Simple unicorn magic could not truly harm an alicorn, especially Luna, but it was surprising none the less and forced her to drop the bags.

“Filthy Blue!” screamed unicorn. “Let go of my toasters! Get away from me!”

“I do not understand,” said Luna, blinking to clear her eyes of the dazzling heat that would have permanently blinded any other pony. “I am Luna. I am only here to- -”

Another bolt of magic flew past her head. “Help!” cried the unicorn. “Monster! Blue! Somepony help!”

Luna stepped back.

“It seems they fear you now as much as they fear me,” whispered a voice from her mind.

“There she is!” cried a real voice. Luna turned to see the colts from before, pointing at her. Behind them was a mob of angry, disheveled ponies.

Though she did not know what was going on, Luna approached the group. She saw that they were carrying torches, as well as any vaguely weapon-like instruments that they could find including kitchen knives, sports equipment, garden tools, or even scraps of lumber, either in their mouths or in their magic.

“My subjects,” said Luna, trying not to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. “I do not understand what is occurring. Please explain to me what has happened.”

“Shut it, you filthy Blue!” screamed one of the larger earth ponies at the front of the pack. “You think you can just come into our city? Destroy our shops?”

“She’s probably the one that killed the Princess!” cried a female voice from the crowd.

That was enough to catalyze the mob’s anger into action. They rapidly surrounded Luna.

“Get her!” screamed one of them.

“Don’t let her fly away!” yelled another, and Luna felt somepony grabbing her foot.

“I want to eat her heart eat it eat it and become a princess,” said an armored unicorn, grabbing Luna’s shoulders, his horn sparking and his bloodshot eyes wild with psychosis. “I want wings too!”

Luna kicked him away. “Subjects!” she yelled. “Unhoof me this instant!”

“Cut off her wings!” screamed one of the crowd. “Cut them off!”

“No,” whispered Luna, her body suddenly freezing. “Not my wings…”

From in the crowd, she saw a black figure smile. She felt her mind slipping, and felt the blue magic of her horn blacken. She would not allow it to happen again. She felt her mind targeting all the ponies around her. A single shot would be all it took to save herself.

Before she could slay them, though, a sudden surge of violet magic pushed the crowd away. Luna looked up to see a white unicorn stallion dressed helmless in earth pony battle armor, flanked by other unicorns and crystal ponies.

“Shining Armor!” cried Luna.

“Princess,” called Shining Armor. “Come with me! It is not safe out here for you!”

His magic formed a shield behind Luna, and she moved forward to his side. The other ponies pushed forward, the crystal earth ponies taking shields from their back and the unicorns projecting magical ones. As Shining Armor led Luna toward the castle, his soldiers formed a line and forced the crowd back.

When he reached a line of soldiers behind him, he released a signal with his horn. Several Pegasi and a griffin flew overhead, dropping a fine powder over the crowd. Luna heard immediate coughing and screams of pain.

“My subjects,” she said, turning back to them.

“It’s pepper dust,” said Shining Armor, pulling her forward. “It won’t hurt them. But they will hurt you if we don’t get you back to the castle!”
` Hesitantly, Luna let Shining Armor lead her forward to the castle in the center of the city.

The castle was far more heavily guarded than Luna had left it. Oddly, though, none of the guards were the same. Celestia’s heavily armored soldiers and their ancient weapons had mostly been evacuated. They were instead replaced with a far more heterogeneous selection of ponies: earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns in various coat colors, as well as numerous crystal ponies. Luna was even sure that, at one point, she saw a griffin fly overhead wearing Crystal Empire armor.

The outer gate was opened immediately on their approach, and it was closed shut behind them almost as rapidly, giving just enough time for Luna and Shining armor to enter while a formation of guards marched outward, many armed with only their magic but others toting any energy weapons they had managed to find.

Passing through the inner gate was not so easy. As Luna approached, the guards drew weapons and assumed a defensive formation. A unicorn stepped forward.

“Stand down,” ordered Shining Armor.

“Sir,” said the unicorn guard. “With all due respect, she needs to be checked.”

“Use your head, private,” said Shining Armor, his annoyance clearly noticeable. “If she is Princess Luna, do you know what the scanning spell will do to you?.”

“I am willing to take that risk, to safeguard Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight, sir!”

“Use your magic,” said a clear voice from Luna’s left. She turned to see an all-black pony standing beside her, looming over her. A pony that nopony else could see. “Obivion’s magic is limited. He cannot perform most spells.”

Hating herself for obeying a suggestion from Nightmare Moon, Luna aqueiesed. She needed to get into the castle as soon as possible, to get to her sister and to alleviate her confusion about what was happening around her. She lowered her head, and cast her magic around the guard. She easily lifted him into the air.

“The Choggoth is not able to use levitation spells,” said Luna. “From my magic, please determine that I am the true Luna. Please. I need to pass.”

“Right, right,” said the guard hastily, motioning for the other guards to stand back from the door. “My apologies, your highness! Please, put me down!”

“Oh. My apologies.” Luna released the guard, and he flopped to the floor. She then passed through the gate, led by Shining Armor.

“My apologies for my men,” said Shining Armor as they moved quickly through the dim, red-lit halls of the Canterlot castle.

“I do not understand their actions,” said Luna.

“It’s the Choggoth,” explained Shining Armor. “It has infiltrated virtually all of our cities.”

“Like a changeling?”

“No. Intelligence indicates that it isn’t actually all that convincing as a pony. It always takes the same form: a blue pony.”

“The riots outside…”

“Race riots. No doubt intentional, meant to distract the military. Ponies all over Equestria have started attacking ‘Blues’, like yourself, out of fear.”

“Your father…” began Luna.

“Is safe. We have managed to safeguard eighty seven percent of known Blues in the castle, including my father. My ponies are currently scouring the city for any who remain, and doing their best to quell the riots.”

“And my sister?”

Shining Armor’s face, which had before displayed characteristic military stoism, suddenly collapsed into a deep frown. He was barely older than his sister, but suddenly looked so much older than he really was.

Before he could answer, however, a pair of figures emerged from the red light, their hoofsteps oddly silent and their eyes glinting in the shadows of the hall. Even in the darkness, Luna immediately recognized them as a pair of her guards; specifically, Nightwatcher and his brother, Darkseer.

“Your majesty,” said Nightwatcher, his voice deep but accented with an echo of inaudible high frequencies. “Please forgive us for our failures, our crimes against you.”

“Crimes?” asked Luna, confused. The shadow beside her was smiling.

“By failing to protect you, we put you in grave danger,” said Darkseer, his voice identical to his brother’s. “This is, to us, and surely to you, a crime worthy of dire punishment.”

“No,” said Luna. She did not have the time to tell them that she had wanted- -even needed- -to be alone, at least not in full, because it would mean informing them that she had been intending to end her life to prevent the rebirth of Nightmare Moon. Mentally as well as physically, she shifted into her royal stance. “Do you dare to suggest that I, Luna, Princess of the Night and Goddess of the Moon require protection from mere mortals like yourselve?”

“No, your majesty,” they both said, their bows deepening until their heads were touching the floor below.

“Rise,” said Luna. They did, and stared up at her, although they were careful not to meet her eyes- -in the old times, that would have been considered an immense slight against royalty. “I appreciate your loyalty, and value it to no end. You are like children to me. But you must know that there are some things that I must do alone.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“If you two are finished,” said Shining Armor rather harshly, “return to your posts.”

“We do not take orders from you, wizard-prince,” snapped Nightwatcher, his eyes narrowing. “Our place is at the side of our Princess.”

“Then come with me,” said Luna. The situation was draining to her, and, although she did not show it, she was terrified. Having the stoic, blue-clad chiropterans at her side was comforting to her, and she would need as much help as she could get to face the challenges ahead.

The three of them ushered her rapidly to the throne room. The grandest of all the rooms in the castle, it had been designed by Celeatia largely for herself. For a moment, Luna managed to make herself believe that when the grand doors were opened, she would see her sister sitting upon the throne.

Instead, when the doors swung open, she was met with a different princess. In the center of the dimly lit, dead looking room, stood Cadence, discussing orders with several of her personal guards. She was clad in ornate crystal armor, her mane tied behind her head. Luna shivered, remembering how her predecessor had once worn very similar armor in his own time.

Despite wearing the accoutraments of a military leader, Cadence looked profoundly out of place. Her narrow pink body caused the armor to look effeminate instead of threatening, like jewelry instead of a practical piece of equipment. Her shape and mannerisms exuded far too much kindness and love for her to pass as a military commander.

Cadence was not alone, either. Aside from her military advisers and a number of guards, she was also accompanied by two of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, the orangish earth-pony Applejack and the Pegasus Rainbow Dash- -the latter of whom was wearing a lightweight Pegaus scout uniform, complete with wing blades. The blades, Luna noticed, were on upside down, and forcing Rainbow Dash’s wings into an uncomfortable position.

“Luna!” said Cadence, nearly double performing a double take as she looked up. Like her husband, she too looked profoundly aged. Her magic, it seemed, was contributing to the protective seals around the city- -but only at a fraction of what Celestia’s had.

“Princess Cadence,” said Luna, somewhat surprised. “Should you not be defending the Crystal Empire?”

“I wish I were,” said Cadence, “but the Crystal Empire seems to be the only place in Equestria that it can’t reach.”

“But why are you here?” said Luna, not wanting to accept what she already knew to be the truth.

Cadence sighed. She looked to the floor, and then looked directly into Luna’s eyes. “Because until your return just now, I was the senior Princess of Equestria. Luna, I’m sorry, but Celestia…”

“Is my sister dead?” demanded Luna.

“No,” said Cadence. “She is alive but…but only barely.”

“What is her condition?”

“Luna…”

“Cadence. I demand that you tell me!”

“It is a parasite,” said Cadence. “Or so they tell me. A piece of that…that thing…”

“The Choggoth,” said Luna.

“Yes,” said Cadence. Luna could see that she was in almost as much pain as Luna; Celestia was her “aunt”, but they were virtually family. “There isn’t…there isn’t anything left…”

“Your majesty, and Princess Cadence” said Nightwatcher. “If I may spare the Crystal Empress the pain.”

“Please,” said Luna.

“The beast has consumed your sister internally. Her organs have been removed completely. She consists of little more than a shell of bone and skin. She is presently unconscious, but the doctors have informed me that they are detecting some brain activity.”

“How dare you?” said Cadence, stepping forward. “You are talking about Celestia. Show some respect!”

“No,” said Luna. Her heart ached at what she had just heard. “No. I needed to hear it, to know.” She turned to Cadence. “Can it be removed?”

“No,” sighed Cadence, suddenly unable to meet Luna’s gaze. “It has assumed the function of her organs. It is keeping her alive…but barely. If it were to be removed, she would…”

“I understand,” gulped Luna, holding back the tears. “Have you informed…informed Princess Twilight of this?”

“Twilight was the first to find her,” said Cadence. “She…she’s been at her side since. Despondent. She won’t stop crying. Not even Shining Armor can reach her.”

“How did this happen?” demanded Luna, part of her sadness crystalizing into anger. She turned to Shining Armor. It was certainly not his fault, but as de-facto leader of the last of the Canterlot security forces, it was his duty to accept the blame. “How did it get inside her?”

“There is no way that Oblivion could defeat Celestia in a fair fight,” said Nightmare Moon, still invisible to everypony else in the room. “He is far too weak. He must have poisoned her.”

“Ah thought the protection spell was ‘sposta be unbreahkable,” said Applejack, stepping forward with Rainbow Dash.

“It used this,” said Shining Armor, motioning for one of his guards to approach. The guard came, a cushion on his back containing a long, needle-like purple crystal.

“Cerorite,” said Luna under her breath.

“It somehow penetrated the shield,” said Shining Armor. “The spear is hollow. A piece of the enemy was inside it. When it came through, it attatched to a guardspony’s weapon and used it to attack other guards.”

“Were there injuries?” asked Luna.

“Nineteen were injured,” said Shining Armor solemnly. “Seven critically, including a unicorn whose horn was…it was ripped out of him, at the root. In addition, there have been six deaths.”

“Deaths?” said Luna. Such a thing was virtually unheard of in Equestria, even in times of war. Ponies were sometimes eaten by various monsters or felled by accidents, but never outright murdered. Even Lord Tirac had not slain a single pony in his attempted coup against Celestia and Luna.

Luna felt the pain of the loss of her subjects, but also felt the pain that was filling the room. She could see it in their minds, the horror they were experiencing. They, like her, realized that they were fighting an enemy who would not hesitate to destroy anypony or anything in its path. To this monstrosity, nothing was sacred, not even the lives of ponies.

“In addition,” said Shining Armor, “we have suffered substantial casualties in our attempts to regain control over Canterlot. No deaths yet, thank Celestia, but substantial injuries. The infirmary is filling rapidly.”

“I am immediately ready for deployment, sir!” said Rainbow Dash, standing at attention.

“Denied,” said Shining Armor, sounding as if he were saying it for the hundredth time. “Not that you would be a poor soldier, but being a Blue, you would be put in undo danger. My sister would never forgive me.”

“It’s not just Canterlot, either,” said Cadence. “When Celestia was…injured, the sun changed, and riots have erupted all over Equestria. We have already lost contact with Manehattan, and Cloudsdale has initiated an rather brutal interim government under ‘governor’ Spitfire.”

“Our soldiers are no longer fighting Choggoths, but our own ponies,” said Shining Armor. “The entire military is engaged right now, and we’re still losing. We have lost control over much of the military already, especially the unicorns, who have now become dangerously unstable. Without Celestia, there is nopony to maintain command.”

They all looked to Luna. She suddenly understood what was happening. Cadence was a fine ruler of a kingdom based on love and harmony, but she was not experienced enough to handle an anarchic revolution. Even with Shining Armor by her side, the Equestrian military was simply not large enough to take back control. The Choggoth, it seemed, had never intended to invade- -it had instead corrupted the fabric of Equestria itself, turning ponies against each other.

“My sister,” said Luna, “the true ruler of Equestria, is on her deathbed. Equestria is in flames. Our military has failed, and our cities are lost to us. All while an enemy that we can neither find nor stop plots against us. And your expectation is for me to lead you.”

“You are the only one that can,” said Shining Armor. “Princess.” He bowed to her, and the others followed suit- -even Cadence, who was by right Luna’s equal. Only one figure in the room refused to lower her head to Luna.

Luna felt the tears running down her face, and to the surprise of all the ponies in the room, suddenly burst into laughter. They looked up at her, confused.

“I cannot,” sighed Luna through her sobs of laughter. “I do not have the strength to rule in this time of crisis…”

“Of course you do,” said Cadence. “Please, Luna, don’t give up on us.”

“Cadence,” said Luna, more tears welling in her eyes uncontrollably. “Please believe me. I only want to help Equestria. I know now that I need to do the right thing. It is a ruler’s duty to know her limits. Please forgive me for what I must do to safeguard the kingdom.” She smiled, and then screamed into the room. “Do you hear that!” she called. “You win! I cannot win this fight! I am too weak…” She reached her hoof into the gap between her necklace, the crystal still glowing weakly, and her neck. “I need strength!”

With one stroke, she tore the necklace free. It landed against the marble floor and shattered.

Cadence heard the screams. Screams of agony and fear, greater than she had ever heard from a pony or even though possible. Her mind momentarily failed to comprehend that they were coming from Luna, that somepony she loved could produce such sounds in her presence.

She did not understand what was happening. She had seen Luna tear away the strange necklace, but not known why. Then, as she watched, the black stain around Luna’s cutie mark suddenly surged forward, reaching out and pulling its way across her hairless flesh, digging into her and spreading rapidly.

“Luna!” she cried, rushing forward. She stopped when Luna suddenly opened her eyes. They were not longer the eyes of any pony- -they were blue-green, with slit pupils.

She watched as Luna’s flesh was darkened, her body blackened and warped into a new shape, and she listened as the screams collapsed into laughter. Luna straightened herself and stretched her wings, but she was no longer Luna.

Standing before Cadence, in the center of the Canterlot throne room, was a fully resurrected Nightmare Moon.