Author's Notes:

Twilight is Magic read order

Nighttide frowned when she felt the stallion in her hooves pull away from her. Her fur bristled at the thought of him no longer being held close to her breast. His movements were subtle—as if he were trying to crawl out of bed and not wake her up.

Yeah, fat chance of that ever happening, she thought. It was the same every morning: He’d get up early and try to sneak out of her grip to let her sleep in. And today, just like all the days prior, it’d wake her up anyway.

Not his movements, Prince Taz was a restless sleeper on the best of nights, and he had a tendency to snore. Rather, it was him leaving that did it. It was the loss of the warm body pressed against her fur, the loss of the heat and the closeness that it would bring.

Nighttide opened her eyes, seeing the night-black earth pony stand on his hooves. She chuckled a little as she saw him throw back his long blue and purple mane. He looked back at her, locking his magenta eyes on her sky-blue ones. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Nighttide chuckled. “If that were true you wouldn’t have gotten out of bed.”

Taz blew her a raspberry in response, a gesture meant to be dismissive, but the things he could do with that tongue…

“Keep that up and neither of us are leaving this room today.”

“Last time we did that they sent Ataxia in to fetch us.”

“You mean yesterday?”

“I never said I regret it,” Taz said as he got to the mirror to do what he could for his mane. Nighttide smiled as she got up and pulled the brush from his hooves.

“Let me do it,” she stated, as, with her magic, she pulled the brush from his hooves and started to run it through his mane. Nighttide caught their combined reflections in the mirror and paused to admire the two of them. She was a dark-blue pegasus whose coat matched Taz’s shade, although hers was not as dark as his, but one could only know that when one stood in front of the other. Her sky-blue mane and tail were kept longer than Taz’s, she had matching eyes, and, unlike Taz: a cutie mark. Nighttide’s mark was a blue lighting bolt with matching fire.

Nighttide chuckled as the big tough stallion she shared her bed with pulled back in pain when the brush pulled at a matted spot in his mane. “You big baby,” Nighttide said with a laugh as she worked the knot out.

“That hurts,” Taz complained as she started in on his other side.

Nighttide laughed. “You enjoyed making the mess, I think you can handle cleaning it up.”

He chuckled and sat still. “I love you.”

“So you’ve said, about twelve times in the last twelve hours if I remember correctly.”

“Oh, is that right? I need to step up my game.”

“You’ll have to, soon,” Nighttide whispered under her breath.

“What was that?” Taz asked.

“I said I love you too.” At that, she kissed Taz on the side of the muzzle and started to clean up her own mane.

Taz gave the mare one last, questioning look. Nighttide simply smiled and hummed to herself as she kept working her brush with her magic; it was strange seeing a pegasus use magic, but he had quickly adapted to it. Nighttide’s mom was none other than Nightmare Moon herself, birthed during her thousand-year banishment to the moon.

Her father… well, there was only one pony Taz had ever sworn to kill in his life. He was that one. Nighttide’s father was a demigod. No, stronger than a demigod, he was a pseudo-god. The large red unicorn had haunted Taz’s dreams on more than one occasion.

Red was the name Taz had given him; he did it just because it pissed him off. His real name, not even Red knew that. And that was exactly the problem right now. All of this, all the heartache and pain they had to suffer through, it was because Red wanted to know what his real name was.

“I promise I’ll kill you for what you did to her,” Taz whispered as he renewed the vow to himself. He took one last look at Nighttide before leaving the room to head for breakfast. She had revealed everything to the stallion. Nighttide lived four hundred years of torture under her mom and Red. She had been torn limb by limb on more than once. Forced to suffer and endure, her only chance of relief was to grow more powerful. It was might-make-right in the worst kind of way.

As he saw her now, one would never know. She was smiling, laughing, playing, and so sweet; at least to him.

He took pride in knowing that was because of him; because of him her true nature was able to shine through. Despite her parents, her “family”, and how she was raised, she was still a diamond; just one that needed a chance to shine.

Every single time she could, she showed him just how much she loved him and vice versa. They renewed their bond as often as they could, simply not getting enough of each other. Taz felt like he would drown in an ocean of love every time they made eye contact.

With reluctance, he closed the door behind him as he heard her slightly complain from fixing her own matted mess. They had been… reminded—on more than one occasion—about keeping that door shut. After the third time Twilight walked by during their… activities, she’d threatened to wall it up with them inside if it happened again. Since then, they’ve both kept a closed-door policy.

Taz supposed he couldn’t really blame his mom; it must be difficult to adjust to your fourteen-year-old colt suddenly being very sexually active. Not only that, but living in the same room with his marefriend. But then again, with the number of times he had walked in on her and Rainbow together, he didn’t really think she had a right to bitch. Not that he had really given her a choice in the matter. Almost five months ago, he pretty much laid down the law that this was going to happen.

He could do that for one reason and one reason only. Taz is a blank. Magic, all magic, simply cannot affect him. Born from the unusual combination of three very different powers, Taz was born a null. He couldn’t be affected by magic, and over the last few years, he had even learned that he could extend this ability. Not only could he make the area around himself into an anti-magic area, but he could also remove his very presence from the perception of others.

Using these abilities, he had almost defeated Red himself, almost. Yes, Taz’s ability is absolute, being able to cancel out magic, even a god’s magic. But… beyond that, he was just an earth pony. Something, Red—with his greater bulk and physical strength—took great pleasure in reminding him of.

He sauntered down the hall and to the breakfast table. Today, just like every day, his family would be gathered to talk. And, just like all those times before, he already knew the topic of discussion.

Ataxia awoke to a tear-stained pillow. She had been crying again in her sleep. It really didn’t surprise her anymore, the number of days she woke up crying outnumbered the days she had woken up not crying.

Raising her head, Ataxia looked over to the alicorn on her left. Shimmering Night was back asleep after they had woken her up to raise the sun. The lavender alicorn was breathing, but just barely. For almost six months, she had been the sole alicorn of Equestria: Luna having been turned back into Nightmare Moon, Cadance dead, and while Twilight was still, technically, an alicorn, her power was cut off. It left the responsibility of raising and lowering the celestial bodies to her.

Even that wouldn’t have been a problem, if not for the poisoning Night underwent getting them all out of Tartarus that is. For almost six months, every library in the world had been scoured for a possible cure. None of them came up with a single solution.

How do you cure being poisoned by a dead god’s magic? Ataxia thought.

There was only one answer she could think of.

You can’t.

And that’s why Ataxia woke up to a wet pillow every single morning. In her sleep, she accepted what she’d never accept in the waking world. The bed she shared with Shimmering Night—it would be the alicorn’s deathbed.

More tears fell as she looked over her wife’s sleeping form. Shimmering Night, the first alicorn ever born, she looked like the perfect cross between her two mortal parents—Twilight and Rainbow. She had Twilight’s coat and build, with Rainbow’s mane. Her cutie mark was a dragon and a griffin holding up a crown, a cutie mark that symbolized her birthright, her power as the demigoddess of magic itself.

Night could barely breath. Every rise and fall of her stomach was labored. Even when they coaxed her awake long enough to change the celestial bodies and eat something, she only managed that with the help of a group of unicorns augmenting her power.

Ataxia had heard rumors of a cadre of unicorns training to do it themselves. They were getting ready for the day she didn’t wake up.

Ataxia was a unicorn of fate; one born to Rarity and Spike. She was the avatar of the god Chaos and his Occulous, Discord. In Warclaw, her true form was revealed: She could transform at will to a dragacorn; a dragon with a unicorn’s horn. Throughout her life, anything she wanted, anything she willed to be, simply happened.

Fifteen years ago, Ataxia was tricked into almost killing everyone she loved, everyone she considered a friend. Since that day, she found herself afraid of her own power. And then, six months ago, when her wife poisoned herself to save them all, she found herself facing her own worst nightmare.

She was powerless, completely helpless to what was happening around her. What she wanted was denied to her; and now she was faced with the reality of being about to lose everything.

She didn’t question why the tears were there; she only questioned why there were so few of them. The mare she had loved her entire life, ever since the day—some forty-seven years ago—when Night wrapped a wing around Ataxia to comfort her, was dying, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

“H-how is she?” Starlight stammered.

The question caused Ataxia to do a double take on who had asked it: it was her daughter. The blue coated unicorn kept her rainbow mane and tail cut short. Everything about her, from her ears to her constellation-tree cutie mark, looked to be in sorrow. She looked up at her mom with piercing green eyes.

Night might have been Starlight’s birth mother, but neither her nor Ataxia held any such distinction when it came to their two foals. Starlight was as much Ataxia’s daughter as Ana was Night’s.

Starlight was a natural when it came to all things magic as her talent took after her grandmother, Twilight, in that regard. Yet, even still, six months ago the mare had been set on fire from head to tail. One would never know it by looking at her now though, for Night had gone out of her way to try and heal all their foals, something that no doubt took months off her life.

“S-she’s…”Ataxia wanted to lie—she wanted to tell Starlight that Night was getting better—but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. “She’s dying, Starlight. She’s dying and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”

“You know that we won’t give up, none of us. Grandma Rainbow says there is always hope to change something,” Starlight whispered.

Ataxia fought the urge to kick and scream, doing so might wake Night, and that was something she didn’t want to do. “Tell me, tell me the difference between trying and failing, and not trying at all?” Her voice was subdued, defeated, un-Ataxia like in all regards as she got up off the bed.

“Why do you assume we’re going to fail?” Starlight asked.

Ataxia huffed and looked her daughter in the eye. “Do you honestly believe we’ll find a cure?”

“Mom,” Starlight pronounced the word hard. “We’re not failing and we will try until something comes up and works. I. Do. Believe. There. Is. A. Cure!” Starlight stomped on the ground.

Ataxia walked up and wrapped her daughter in her hooves. The sudden squeak she got from Starlight almost made her smile, something she hadn’t remembered doing in almost six months. “You’re a good daughter, Starlight. I wish I could share your confidence.”

Starlight felt tears fall upon her coat: Ataxia’s tears. “Mom, have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?”

“Starlight, I think I’ve had my fair share of prophecies in my lifetime, I don’t want to hear another one.”

“Well, too bad, you’re going to hear another,” Starlight stated as she hugged her mother tighter. “A self-fulfilling prophecy is when your pre-conceived belief that something will happen makes it happen.”

“That sounds… totally asinine.”

“That’s a big word for you,” Starlight stated as she pulled back to look Ataxia in the eyes. The purple mare looked bad: Her long, dark-blue mane was matted to the side of her face and her green eyes looked defeated. Even the three question marks of her cutie mark seemed off.

“Starlight, I wish I could believe that everything will be okay. That everything will turn out fine. I just can’t. I’m at her side, every day and every night. I can see it and I know… I know that it might be the last time I get to hold her every time,” Ataxia whispered.

Starlight looked down at the floor, gathering her words. “But mom”—she looked up again at Ataxia’s face—“if you don’t believe in her, if you don’t tell her you want her here, if you give up, she might quit fighting.”

“What… what do you mean?”

“She’s fighting for us, to stay with us. If we give up on her, she may give up. Don’t you see? We have to believe in her, believe she’ll pull through, otherwise, there’ll be no hope.”

“I—”

“I’ve read all the stories about what happened all those years ago. Even as your mind was poisoned, she got you back to us and everything turned out all right. What makes you think that you can’t bring her back to us? It’s… hard for me to say this about my parents, but the others are right. Your love is strong and it can survive anything, you two just gotta fight for it.”

Ataxia lowered her head, letting her mane fall over her face, obscuring her features.

“I know the situation is grave, they try and hide it, but I know. I’ve heard the rumors. They talk when they think I’m not listening, I know her pregnancy is not helping things, and she’ll be lucky to last long enough to deliver. But I haven’t given up on her, I haven’t given up, despite the facts that say I should, that it’s hopeless. Let me ask, have you?”

Ataxia did the one thing she hadn’t expected to do today, she started to chuckle. “How did we get blessed with such a smart daughter?”

”I called dibs on Night’s genes,” Starlight said.

“Oh, you,” Ataxia scowled playfully, nudging Starlight.

“Now let’s go, you need to eat something,” Starlight said as she gestured to the doorway. “The doctors will watch mom while you’re gone.”

“Food sounds good,” Ataxia admitted as her stomach agreed. She looked up at one of the waiting doctors that were on standby twenty four seven. “You’ll alert me to the slightest change?”

“Yes, princess.”

Ataxia grunted as they walked by. She hated that title almost as much as Rainbow Dash did. “So tell me, how’s your sister?”

Starlight had bite back a moan herself. “Ana’s in a bad place.”

“A year ago I couldn’t go five minutes without her by my side. Lately, it feels like I go weeks between seeing her.”

“She still blames Night for Taz running away.”

“I know.”

“And for sending him back to Tartarus.”

“I know.”

“And for him getting with Nighttide.”

“I know.”

“And for—”

“I KNOW.” Ataxia chuckled.

“You asked. It’s not her fault that we have to drag you away from Night these days.”

“Is there anyway… in case, you know, she’ll forgive Night, before…”

“You still don’t think we’ll find a cure?”

“I do, but… in case of the slim, miniscule chance that we don’t, I don’t want this to hang over her head the rest of her life.”

“When did you get so mature?” Starlight asked her mom, sarcastically.

“When you have foals of your own, you’ll understand. I only hope they’re half as smart as you, at least then they’ll be twice as smart as me.”

“Insulting yourself isn’t complimenting me.”

“Who said it was an insult?” Ataxia replied. “Maybe I just think you’re that smart.”

Starlight pressed her blue coat up against her mom’s purple one. “Well, thank you, I think. But I don’t know if I’ll ever have foals.”

“Oh? Going to be too busy with your studies? Trying to be the next Twilight Sparkle?”

“Even Twilight had foals,” Starlight said with a huff.

“Exactly,” Ataxia added. “Whatever you do, Starlight, find the time for it. I promise you it’ll be the greatest decision you’ll ever make.”

“Was there a slight compliment there?” Starlight asked with a grin.

“That obvious? I’ll have to work on that.”

“Mom!”

“Oh, relax, let’s get your sister and join the rest in the dining room. Unless I need to go fish Taz out of his room, again.”

“Those two are fucking like bunnies.”

Ataxia laughed. Taz and Nighttide were two horny teenagers—or at least, Taz was, while Nighttide was a four hundred sixty-two year old mare in a sixteen-year-old's body. Neither of them had any qualms about acting on their physical lust for each other. Besides, it wasn’t like anypony could stop them. Had she had the desire, Nighttide could sweep through their forces with ease, the mare was crazy-strong. Of course she’d never, not now anyway, not with Taz by her side.

But if something happened to him… Ataxia shook that thought off. They had enough problems, no reason to tempt fate.

“I’ll tell you this, the kid has some moves in the sack,” Ataxia said with a smile as she remembered seeing them go full steam at each other yesterday. In a way, she kinda envied Nighttide. Taz was well endowed to say the least. It was little wonder Nighttide couldn't keep her hooves off him.

“MOM!”

“Hey, you’ll find a stallion that will make you happy someday too.”

“Or a mare.” Starlight chuckled.

Ataxia paused, before smiling and hugging her daughter again. “Or a mare. Who knows, maybe your first time will be like mine.”

“I don’t want to hear about the first time my mom had sex.”

“Twins they were.”

“MOM!”

“Oh and they knew how to use their tongues like—”

“That’s it!” Starlight said before taking off in a sprint to get out of hearing distance of her mother’s sordid tale.

“Where are you going‽ I hadn’t even told you the best part!” Ataxia yelled out as she chased after her, all the while laughing.

“Uncle, uncle, uncle!”

Dayspring Gleam grunted when Blaze crash-landed on his bed. He bowled over as the weight of the fourteen-year-old colt—who acted more like an eight year old, in his opinion—fell upon his stomach while asleep.

“Blaze, ugh… I told you I’m your first cousin, not your uncle,” Dayspring grunted as he lifted the colt up from the bed in his magic.

The white pegasus looked ready to pout while being held in his magic. Dayspring couldn’t help but groan as he stared into his cousin's light-blue eyes, Blaze’s matching mane hanging in front his face. “Fine, call me whatever you want.” Dayspring gave in and let him down. The spunky pegasus colt smiled the same toothy smile he always wore when Dayspring let him go and allowed himself to be hug-tackled again.

Dayspring knew—logically—they’d have to do something about Blaze one of these days. He was far—far too immature for his age, but, right this second, Dayspring kinda hoped Blaze would stay this way forever.

“Sorry about him, Dayspring,” Flash stated from the entrance to his room. Dayspring looked over to see Blaze’s twin staring at the two of them, just smiling over his brother’s antics. The two, Flash and Blaze, were identical twins. They both had the same mane, eyes, and coat, with identical builds. Indeed, if you would put them side by side, one wouldn’t be able to tell them apart, save for their cutie marks. Flash’s was a yellow lighting bolt, Blaze’s was a red one.

However, beyond their looks, the two couldn’t be more different. Blaze was a fun, loving soul that simply sought everyone around him to be happy. He’d play pranks and go out of his way to make one laugh. Flash, he was loyal to a fault. He’d stick up for anyone and everyone that was being treated unfairly, even placing himself at great personal risk to do so.

The twins had suffered more than almost any others these last six months. Their mind-controlled grandmother, Princess Cadance, had killed their mother, Princess Firestar. Cadance then took her own life when she was about to be used again to hurt her son, Radiant Star.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Flash.” Dayspring said as he hugged the pegasus in his hooves tighter, even going as far as to nuzzle him playfully. “We’re just playing.”

“Bet you never thought you’d be doing that at almost sixty, huh?” Radiant Star replied as he walked into the room to gather up his errant sons.

“Speak for yourself, old man,” Dayspring said, blowing his best friend a raspberry. “Physically I’m closer to forty, you’re the one in his sixties.”

It was true, Radiant Star was born over sixty years ago. His off-white coat, teal eyes, and short red mane spoke of a life spent in combat. Not that his cutie mark of two swords clashing wasn’t a dead give away.

“I could still take you,” Radiant said with a grin.

“In your dreams,” Dayspring replied, placing Blaze back down on his bed.

That was true as well. Dayspring was, quite easily, the third most powerful magic user in all of Equestria. Only his mother, Twilight, and his sister, Shimmering Night, would beat him in a battle of bloodshed; although, not right this moment. Officially he was third, right now he was first. But even if that wasn’t the case, the only real toss-up was Ataxia, and that was only in her dragacorn form. A form she hadn’t assumed in fifteen years.

Radiant chuckled as he watched the light-purple unicorn with green eyes play with his sons. Dayspring Gleam’s mane and tail were an exact match for Rainbow’s; however, he had Twilight's love for studying, something that was apparent by his square academic cap cutie mark.

“You ever… you ever think about having kids yourself?” Radiant asked.

Dayspring paused. “I… after—”

“Grim Night wasn’t your fault.”

Dayspring shuddered at that name. They told him that, heck, he told himself that, but believing it was something very different. He lived with that… that creature in his head for longer than he cared to remember, the night revenant. He listened to it taunt him with everything it was going to do, everything it did do to his family.

At times, in his darker moments, he wished it had left him dead, that it hadn’t sacrificed the entire town of Appleloosa to bring him back from the dead.

“You okay, uncle?” Blaze asked, worried.

Dayspring shook it off. No, this is worth what happened.

“If the right mare comes around, I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Dayspring said with a smile. “If not, well, I have these little guys to play with all day long.” At that, Dayspring jumped on Blaze, eliciting squeals of laughter from the colt.

“And however many nieces and nephews Taz and Nighttide will give you,” Radiant said.

“Yeah, that too.” Dayspring laughed.

“Can you two hurry up? It’s breakfast time,” Flash complained.

“Captain Buzzkill, to the rescue,” Dayspring said with a role of his eyes.

Flash blew him a raspberry and turned to leave.

“Flash, wait up!” Blaze said, squirming his way free of Dayspring and flying over to his brother.

Dayspring watched him go with a smile. He could have stopped him, of course, but there was no reason to. Besides, truth be told, he felt kind of hungry himself. “Let’s go eat,” Dayspring told Radiant.

Radiant cocked a smile at him, but it was a sad smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s… it’s, well, it’s good to have you back.”

“You’re not going soft on me, are you?” Dayspring asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nah, I know I said it before; I just… I just wanted to say it, again.”

Dayspring walked up and pressed his coat to Radiant’s. It was about as emotional a moment as the two ever really had with each other, but to them, it meant more than words could ever describe. “It’s good to be back.”

Radiant cocked a real smile as the two quickly changed the subject.

Empress Princess Vela awoke the same way she always did. She woke up to her brother’s hind legs kicking out against her, almost like a cat.

However, rather than being mad, she simply rolled over and gripped him tightly with her claws. Little Dayspring was her precious treasure, the only soul she had ever truly cared about—well that used to be the case anyway. Now he was one of a few.

Emperor Prince Dayspring, the hippogriff; born to Princess Aurora Flash and Emperor Icarus, he had brown fur with blue feathers and cobalt eyes. Vela was a hippogriff just like her brother, albeit she had a dark blue body with pearl white feathers, her eyes were the deepest green.

Both had the body of a pony with a griffin’s head and tail and pegasus’s wings. Their back legs were hooves, their front, claws, just like a griffin’s. And they were both the apple of their mother’s eye.

Empress Princess Aurora Flash—the ruler of the Griffin Empire, and its capital city of Warclaw after her husband’s death—was the twin sister of Dayspring Gleam. Her life had been luxurious and decadent until reality caught up to her. Her death at the claws and teeth of shadowbeings woke her up in the worst possible way to what really matters, to what one should value in life.

And even the life of a supermodel didn’t make the list. In one go, she went from being envied by everypony in Equestria to intensely loyal about her family, which lead her to meet Icarus and, after an unusual courtship, the two were married and had two wonderful foals.

Although there was some resentment when Aurora's sister became impregnated with his third foal, she couldn’t exactly hold that against her.

Aurora raised her head and watched her daughter cuddle with her son. It was a mark of pride to the mare that Vela and Dayspring were so close. Dayspring was like a shot of morphine to the rather rambunctious Vela. He seemed to be the only thing stopping her from picking a fight with anyone she came across.

Vela was always a hippogriff with a temper; she got that from her father, Icarus. Her—often brutal—honesty would lead to more than one griffin wanting to rip her head off. However, Dayspring’s presence always calmed her down, mellowing her out to a point.

Dayspring, named after his former-late uncle, was the definition of generous. He’d give away anything and everything to anyone that needed it. At one point, it got so bad that Aurora was almost tempted to step in and forbid anyone from accepting his ‘gifts’.

She didn’t have to worry, for Vela laid down the law, she laid it down by almost killing someone that refused to put it right back into his room. Since then, an understanding was reached with everyone that spent time with Dayspring. They’d graciously accept whatever he gave them and put it back in his room later.

It kept Dayspring happy to help others, Vela happy that Dayspring was happy, and Aurora happy that Vela didn’t kill anyone.

When Aurora saw Vela starting to tickle Dayspring awake, she stretched her own long, dark blue legs. Her distinctive purple, blue, and orange mane fell into her dark green eyes. Yawning, the pegasus rolled over and got out of bed they shared.

After Icarus’s death, she had tried twice to sleep alone. Needless to say, it wasn’t a mistake she was going to make a third time.

Vela smiled at her mom as she watched her get out of bed. “Love you, mom.”

Aurora blinked twice. “Love you too, Vela.”

As Vela watched her mother spread her beautiful, dark-blue wings to give them a quick once over, she blushed, even after all this time the memories of their lessons still managed to bring a smile to the young hippogriff’s face.

She was about to ask if her mom needed any help, but Dayspring attacked her right before she could ask. “Dayspring!” Aurora yelled excitedly.

“Gotcha, sis!” Dayspring said back.

Their play was only interrupted when they were a little too rough on the bed. The bed hit the long golden spear that was resting by the side. With practice ease of one who trained every single day with the same weapon, Vela caught the spear in her claw.

“Oh, sorry,” Dayspring said in a whimper.

Vela stood up, holding her father’s spear, Siros’s Vengeance, in her claw. It was impressive in every definition of the word. It was a god weapon, enchanted with the full magic of Twilight Sparkle, Cadance, Shimmering Night, and even Princess Luna.

It was also the only reason she was still alive.

And when she was awake, it never left her person; after all, her father’s last act before he died was to toss the weapon to his daughter, saving her life and sacrificing his own in the process.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Vela said with a tear in her eye as she spun the spear around with well-practiced ease. The blade cut through the very air in the room as it sung out.

It was an amazing weapon of destruction, but it’s true purpose was anything but. It was a weapon of protection. In the grip of those who would use it to protect the ones they love, they’d be all but invincible.

Icarus had tested that theory, and, when the time came to choose between his own life and that of his daughter’s, it turned out it wasn’t really a choice at all.

“C’mon you two,” Aurora said as she finished giving her wings a thorough once-over. Even though she was two years shy of sixty, the mare still looked amazing. “Let’s get something to eat.”

“Beckfist!” Dayspring said with a laugh.

“Breakfast,” Aurora corrected with a grin.

“Yeah, that!”

The eight-year-old hippogriff waited until Vela slotted the spear on her back before hopping on himself. “C’mon Vela, let’s go!”

“You know, you get much bigger and you’re not going to be able to do that anymore,” Aurora stated with a small smile.

“He’ll always be my little brother,” Vela corrected her mother with a raspberry.

Aurora only laughed as she held the door open for her two foals to walk out. She knew this couldn’t last. There were already a hundred things waiting for her back at Warclaw, which was effectively without a leader while she stayed here. And while Twilight helped as much as she could, eventually, they’d have to go back.

Not until we avenge your death, Icarus.

Aurora’s smile only became a frown for a second, she shook it away. Whatever hate she had personally, she had to stay strong, her kids were counting on it.

Rainbow and Twilight sat together at the long table as several serving ponies came by and placed plates and food out for everyone to enjoy. Normally, Twilight would have just done it all herself. Normally, she wasn’t barred from her power by the essence stone attached to her hoof. Her power, the power of a god, was denied to her. On the eve of their victory against Red, he had dropped his trump card, her son, Dayspring Gleam.

Against a foe such as Red, their momentary lapse was all he needed to seize victory. Attaching essence stones to both Twilight and Rainbow’s hooves, he blocked their power and sealed his victory.

Twilight looked down at her hoof. Specifically, the essence stone attached to it. It had absorbed the natural talent of her son, Taz, and started to radiate it when it was attached to her and Rainbow. In truth, she didn’t mind hers; yes it was a painful to go without her magic, but it was Rainbow’s that bothered her the most.

The pegasus was without flight. Rainbow’s beautiful magical golden wings were taken from her with the essence stone. She was a flier who couldn’t fly, a butterfly with its wings clipped. It made Twilight cry just to even look at her somedays.

Rainbow kept a stiff upper lip about it, but it was obvious to her wife. They had been married forever, and as such the two couldn’t keep secrets from each other anymore after so long. Twilight simply watched as she dove into her stack of pancakes.

Across from Twilight on the other side of the table sat Ana, Ataxia, and Night’s foal, one of Twilight and Rainbow’s grandfoals. She looked, in one word, pissed.

The dark-blue unicorn with red eyes and a cutie mark of a long mane with a golden hairbrush running through it was always pissed these days. Her permanent expression was a frown. They had all tried talking to her, but with the object of her hatred now living under the same roof as her, it was of no use.

A year ago, the words Ana and hated would never have been used in the same sentence. She had been the definition of kind hearted, always trying to help everyone she could, always concerned with the feelings and well being of those around her.

However, she loved a stallion, one that loved somepony else. Growing up with him, Ana always had a foal-hood crush on her uncle, Taz. Everypony assumed that one day, when she matured, she’d get over it.

She hadn’t, she didn’t, and she wouldn’t. When Taz and Nighttide’s relationship started going full steam. Ana’s crush turned into jealousy, her jealousy turned into anger, and that anger became hatred.

No words could heal a broken heart, for only time could do that.

Twilight’s attention was pulled away from Ana to the stairs behind them when she heard a ruckus coming down it. The source of the disturbance soon made itself known in the form of two white pegasi twins.

“Grandmas!” Blaze and Flash yelled out as they fully on charged the two mares sitting at the table. Rainbow leapt up and intercepted both, tackling them to the ground before they could reach Twilight—playfully of course.

Twilight just chuckled, she tried explaining that her title was great aunt and not grandmother, but with these two, it was just better to go with the flow at times.

Rainbow rolled and played with the two twins, enjoying this moment of family bonding. Twilight smiled as she watched her wife play with them. A long, long time ago, Twilight never would have seen Rainbow as a mother figure. But life has a tendency to change a mare.

Not drastically, but Rainbow was still Rainbow and had a more… liberal view of parenting, especially when it came to things like fun, sex, and the like. But seeing her now, it was hard to imagine what Rainbow would be like without her family.

Twilight was so distracted by it that she failed to notice Dayspring sitting down next to her, which is until the stallion wrapped her in his hoof for a hug. “Hey mom.”

Twilight smiled. “Love you, Day.”

“Love you too.”

Radiant Star didn’t say a word as he took one of the eight seats on the other side of the table, the seat directly across from Day. There was a time when the white unicorn would have teased Dayspring about public displays of affection right in front him, but, truth be told, he’d give anything to be able to hug his own mother one more time, or his wife for that matter.

“Dad, are you okay?” Flash asked as he managed to squirm his way away from Rainbow to join everyone at the table.

Rainbow released Blaze and stood up to see what the problem was. Radiant had a tear in his eye. “He’s fine, Flash. They’re just cutting onions in the kitchen.”

“Oh… okay.”

There were no onions being cut in the kitchen.

Rainbow took her seat right next to Twilight's left. Flash sat down one seat down from his father to left, Blaze sit between them. Between them the mood was… solemn after that, although the twins didn’t know why.

Blaze made to blow in his milk, a little trick that generally got a laugh out of at least Rainbow. He was stopped when Rainbow placed his hoof on his shoulder. “Not now, please.”

“Okay…”

On the other side of Radiant, Ana huffed, but said nothing.

“There you are!” A voice yelled out from the staircase. Every set of eyes turned to see a blue unicorn with a rainbow mane walk down the stairs. “Told you if Ana wasn’t in her room she’d be down here,” Starlight stated as she looked back up the stairs.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ataxia stated as she glared at the young mare.

“Hey… mom,” Ana said as she looked up at Ataxia, torn between wanting to simply be pissed and wanting to run up to her and hug her with all her might.

Ataxia’s eyes went wide at that. She smiled, and with a wisdom normally not known in the mare, simply walked over and sat down right next to her. Ana slowly started to lean over to her mother, that is until Ataxia got bored and simply pulled her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry, Ana. I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you as much as you needed. I swore I’d never do that to you, and... and I did.”

Ana shed no tears; Twilight could have sworn that she saw a smile upon the young unicorn’s face; a smile that went away when Rainbow opened her muzzle. “How is she?”

Starlight answered this one as she sat down next to Ataxia. “Seriously? You spent almost all day yesterday at mom’s side.”

“I meant is she doing any… better?”

Ana frowned and pulled away; Ataxia brushed her mane out of her face with a hoof. “No, no she’s not. But we… I haven’t given up hope.”

Starlight hugged her mom at that.

“I’m getting another shipment of books in today from Warclaw, apparently they found some old ones that have been lost. They might have something in them,” Dayspring added.

“You’ll be careful, right?” Twilight asked.

“I’m… well versed in the darker spells, mom. I know what to look out for and not to cast a spell without knowing exactly what it will do.”

“Ha, it took Twilight years to learn that lesson,” Rainbow laughed.

“I wouldn’t have become a princess if I learned it earlier,” Twilight replied, hitting Rainbow playfully in the gut with a hoof as she did so.

“And if you pull that same shit again, I’ll break into Hades and kick your flank up and down the River Styx,” Aurora said as she walked down the stairs with her daughter and son.

“Mom said a bad word,” Dayspring chipped in from on top of Vela’s back.

“She’s allowed to, she’s an adult,” Vela told him.

“How do you get away with it then?”

“Big sister’s prerogative.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

Before the two could go on, Dayspring Gleam interrupted. “I’d do it again in a second, even with the well-deserved flank kicking that’d come with it. After all, that’s the job of the older brother: to look after his younger siblings.”

“You’re five minutes older than me.”

“As I said, older.”

“Hey,” Twilight said as she placed her right wing upon Day’s back. “Don’t even joke about that. Please, it’s not funny.” There were tears in her eyes when she spoke.

Dayspring ran his hoof through his mane. “Sorry, I forget sometimes that this is still kinda new to all of you. I’ve had years to come to terms with it.”

“And you should’ve come back years ago,” Rainbow added with a scowl.

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Aurora cuffed him over the head with a hoof as she took one of the seven seats on Twilight's side of the table, the one right next to her brother’s right. “You don’t deserve to, dork.”

Vela smiled as she saw her mom and uncle sitting together. She had never known Dayspring Gleam before his return. Of all the foals, only Taz knew him before six months ago. Still, from what she had learned of him in the last six months, he seemed, in a word, cool.

Not that she’d ever tell him that.

Her eyes looked at the empty seats left. There were a few empty chairs still to take, but only one near her mother. If she wanted to sit with her brother, she’d have to take the two empty seats next to Rainbow. Of course, that’d force Nighttide and Taz to divide up, something she didn’t really want to do.

Her eyes fell upon a certain white pegasus with a yellow lightning bolt cutie mark and the empty chair to his left. “Hey, Day, would you mind sitting with mom today?”

“Umm… okay?” Dayspring said as he jumped down from Vela’s back and took the chair to Aurora’s right.

Vela grunted a little as he jumped off. Her mom’s words proved to be true: the eight-year-old was getting bigger. She shook it off and walked to the other side of the table to take the seat next to Flash and across from her brother.

Flash cocked her a little smile when she did, something she was quick to return. He saw it even though she did her best to hide it from the others.

No pony or hippogriff saw when Vela grabbed Flash’s hoof under the table. The pegasus looked ready to jump out of his fur at the sudden act, but, wisely, said nothing.

Things had been… weird between them for almost six months, and he didn’t have a clue why.

“Told you we’d end up being the last ones down here,” Nighttide stated as they walked down the stairs.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you look so sexy in the shower,” Taz added with a grin.

“Who told you to come back into the bathroom?” Nighttide faked her complaint.

“What do you mean? I had to pee.”

Starlight chuckled as she saw Twilight all but bury her head in her hooves.

“Totally called it, morning nookie, in the shower!” Rainbow cheered. “Hey, Twi, you owe me two bits!”

“All. Day. Yesterday. And. Again. This. Morning.” Twilight moaned every word.

“Oh, please, it’s not like you two haven't done worse, or did you forget the two weeks you locked yourselves in your home?” Ataxia added with a shit-eating grin.

The blush on the alicorn’s face was rather cute.

“Maybe Taz has magic after all, it’s just all confined to his cock?” Rainbow asked.

“RAINBOW!” Dayspring Gleam, Aurora, Radiant, Ataxia, Taz, Flash, Blaze, Starlight, and Twilight all shouted at the same time.

“What?”

“It is,” Nighttide said with a blushing smile.

“I knew it!”

Taz had to resist the urge to hide his muzzle right now. Every face at the table was either blushing, envious, or pointedly looking someplace else. Every face but one that is; Ana was glaring at Nighttide with venom in her eyes.

Seeing those piercing red eyes glaring at Nighttide, Taz was worried she might actually try something. He wasn’t worried that Nighttide might actually be in danger, the mare was more than capable of handling herself, but he didn’t want either of them to be hurt.

“Let’s take a seat, I’m kinda hungry,” Taz whispered.

“Can’t survive on a diet of just my taco?” Nighttide whispered back, teasingly.

Taz laughed as the two made their way down to the end of the table, he took the seat next to Rainbow in effort to keep Nighttide as far away from Ana as he could. She simply kissed him on the cheek as she took the seat on his other side.

Rainbow wrapped her son in a hug and gave him a noogie. “Mom!” Taz exclaimed.

“Don’t ‘mom’ me!” she said, increasing her pace.

Nighttide giggled as she watched her love get noogied by his mom.

Dayspring Gleam smiled as he watched his little brother getting a well-deserved punishment. That smile faded as he saw the look of concentration on Twilight's face. He had spent many hours with Twilight and knew when his mom was lost in thought. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

“ Nothing.”

“C’mon, Twilight, just spit it out,” Rainbow said as Taz managed to pull away from her.

“Well, I just…”

“Ugh, she’s been wondering why Nightmare Moon hasn’t plunged the world into eternal night!” Rainbow spat out.

Most eyes turned to Nighttide when Rainbow said that. Nightmare Moon was the mare’s mother, or at least, she was the mare that gave birth to her. ‘Mother’ was a rather strong term to use.

She had been anything but motherly.

Nighttide looked down at her hooves; it was her fault Nightmare Moon was back, and that Luna wasn’t with them anymore. She couldn’t deny it. She had been tricked into believing that Nightmare Moon actually cared about her, and that Luna stole her mother from her.

I didn’t, I hadn’t; I don’t want to hurt anyone. I didn’t know that… her thoughts were like a broken record playing over and over again. The truth was: Luna was her mother, or the only real one she might ever know. If not for Mindsink’s interference, Luna would have been with her right now. Tears started to fall down Nighttide’s face.

It was Rainbow’s usual tact, IE none, that caused those tears to fall. Yet Taz couldn’t deal with is mom right this second, he had to deal with Nighttide. They had all been walking on eggshells around the mare for the last six months. Even bringing up the subject of Nighttide’s mother would cause her to break down and cry.

“If you want we can go back to our room,” Taz said in a whisper as he held her.

“No… I-I needed to face this someday.”

“Too bad you didn’t face it six months ago,” Ana spat out.

Radiant had to resist the urge to smack her upside the back of the head.

Ataxia had no such compunction about holding back.

“OWW, what in the…”

“You deserved it, young lady!”

Taz glared over the table. “I still consider us friends, Ana, and I don’t want you to get hurt. But I won’t let you attack my marefriend like this!” he stated, his voice dripping with venom as he held a scowl at her.

Ana’s eyes went wide and she opened her muzzle to reply something, but quickly shut it. She could see that he was being serious about it.

“I think Nighttide paid a price for it,” Taz continued. “She lost everything she was hoping for.”

“And yet I won something wonderful I never thought of before,” Nighttide whispered lovingly as her frown turned into a smile.

Most of those present smiled at the turnaround the mare showed. It was obvious to anypony that looked at them how in love they were, how much one being happy simply made the other happy. Indeed, there was only one that refused to accept it, the very same one Ataxia had smacked upside the back of her head.

“But… mom’s right,” Taz admitted. “It’s been almost six months since Luna was… changed. Last time Nightmare Moon returned didn’t she attack immediately?”

“She did,” Rainbow confirmed. “That was the day I met Twilight actually.”

“And I doubt Night could put up much of a challenge right now if Nightmare Moon fought to keep the moon up,” Radiant stated. Then turned guilty to Ataxia. “No offense.”

“You’re itching for a smack upside the back of the head too, huh?” Ataxia asked.

“It’s gotta be Red,” Rainbow stated. “It must be against his plan to do so right now.”

“Why would Red care if Nightmare Moon brought about eternal darkness or not?” Aurora asked.

“Maybe he really does love her and doesn’t want to risk losing her again?” Starlight asked.

Taz tried to hold back his laughter, he tried, but failed. “Seriously?”

“Well, they did have a foal,” Starlight said.

“My mom doesn’t… didn’t love anyone,” Nighttide stated.

“How can you know? She even fooled you, and it worked quite well. We wouldn’t face this mess now without you being…” Ana was silenced by Ataxia’s glare that could cut through steel and a tremble of her body. Ana gulped and immediately shut her muzzle.

“It’s a good theory,” Dayspring Gleam stated. “I mean, Nightmare Moon was locked in the moon for a thousand years with Red, maybe he really did fall in love with her?”

“So… he’s not letting her cause eternal darkness out of love?” Taz asked.

“Well, he might not want her to do it because of the amount of power it’d take. We’d be able to trace it to her location easy enough,” Dayspring Gleam stated.

“He doesn’t want to risk losing her,” Rainbow said aloud.

“Is she really that big of a threat?” Vela asked. “I mean, shouldn’t we just be focused on stopping the unicorn that foal-napped Taz?”

“You shouldn’t be focused on anything, young lady,” Aurora said.

“Hey, I can take care of myself, maybe even better than you sometimes, mom,” Vela snorted with a smile.

“Do you think we can use Nightmare Moon against Red?” Ataxia asked.

“I don’t think so,” Nighttide started and all eyes snapped to her. “In the last four-hundred years, my father never let himself get weak for anything. Not even if it was on the head of his brothers. He will continue, no matter what we do to the Nightmare. I have the bad feeling that he will ignore everything we do to it and just continue with his plans, whatever they might be.”

“If we could just cure Night…”

“We’re trying,” Twilight spoke up with tears in her eyes. “We have every library in every city in every country looking for a cure. We’re… we’re…”

Rainbow wrapped a hoof around Twilight. “We’re trying,” she repeated.

“He’s really doing all of this for a name?” Starlight asked, perplexed. She had heard the story before, but this just seemed cruel over something so small.

“He’s a god, or a wanna-be god anyway,” Rainbow stated.

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Twilight added, “he is indeed a god, born to Eros and Tartarus, but it sounded like he wasn’t complete without his name. He said for gods, concepts like names and ownership are taken to extremes. He implied that without his name he's only a fraction of a fraction of what he should be. That’s why he’s trying to resurrect Tartarus.”

Ataxia noticeably shivered at the mention of him. As one of the three ponies that actually fought Tartarus, she didn’t relish a rematch.

Coming from Ataxia, that was saying something.

“You know…” Taz started to say, then stopped. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” Radiant asked.

“I… it’s dumb.”

“Spit it out, little brother,” Dayspring said with a kind smile.

Taz rubbed his chin with a hoof as he tried to remember what Red had told him. “Well… when I was in Tartarus, Red said that control is knowing what you have and what you want, and that power… power—”

“Power is having something someone else wants and cannot have,” Nighttide finished.

“Yeah, that. Maybe that goes double for gods?” Taz asked.

“So if we had Red’s real name, we’d have power over him?” Blaze asked.

“Great, so all we need to do is resurrect a dead god ourselves, and ask him to pretty-pretty please give us his bastard son’s name,” Ataxia chipped in with a roll of her eyes.